Chapter 593 – Not Welcome.

Roland looked at the grinning man before him but gave no response to the statement. The soldiers around him also remained silent, waiting for the order. The men who had escorted them showed slight nervousness at the lack of reaction. Their numbers were limited, and only one of them held a tier-three class.

“Captain.”

“Yes, High Knight Commander?”

Roland did not move. He simply spoke the word. The man he summoned appeared in front of him, wearing armor that set him apart from the rest of the soldiers. His gear marked him with the rank of Knight Captain.

“Take the soldiers to the outer district and wait for further instructions.”

“Yes, Sir.”

There was no surprise in this. From the moment they entered the district, it had been clear that Arthur’s entourage would be reduced. Before arriving, they had been forced to choose who would accompany them. Roland had decided not to involve Robert and Lucille. Together with Wischard, they had remained behind to protect their newly acquired holdings in the region taken from Theodore Valerian and Albrook. This left Mary, Gareth, Moiren, and Roland himself as the primary force responsible for Arthur’s protection.

The soldiers who accompanied them were intended for show only. They would remain stationed outside until the noble gathering concluded. There was a limit to how many individuals of their power could be positioned near Arthur, and while they could have brought a few more, only those who could be fully trusted were selected. Some tier-three knights were available, but they had chosen not to include them. Their prosthetic limbs would likely draw unwanted attention from the other nobles.

‘Things should be more manageable with the five of us.’

To some, this number might seem small, but all were tier-three class holders, including Arthur. In Roland’s view, escaping with a small group of elites would be far easier than managing a large contingent of soldiers. High-class fighters could unleash devastating attacks, and in a chaotic situation, having too many people nearby increased the risk of friendly fire and confusion.

“Very well, then. The maids will take care of your luggage.”

The butler bowed politely as the Knight Captain led the soldiers away, then spoke. His tone remained mostly the same, though it now carried a subtle hint of triumph. Just as he had said, the mansion where they were staying already had several servants assigned to them, which explained why they hadn’t brought any of their own. It was clear that these people were affiliated with the Valerian household, but that did not mean they could be trusted.

Roland did not move his head, but inside his helmet, his thoughts raced. Several people were watching them, some even hiding behind buildings or other structures. It was clear they were being observed, though he could not determine by whom. Perhaps they were hidden guards sent by the Duke for protection, or maybe spies working for one of Arthur’s brothers, gathering information. There was also the unsettling possibility that someone more dangerous was involved. Regardless, his duty was clear. He had to monitor the situation and ensure Arthur arrived safely at the gathering in two days.

“There is no need. I have my own personal maid.”

Arthur said. There was no luggage in the traditional sense. All their belongings were stored in spatial containers, which were light and easy to carry. Nothing remained that required extra handling.

“As you wish, Young Lord.”

The butler replied, inclining his head.

“Should you find our staff lacking, do not hesitate to make a formal request. We are here to serve.”

His words were polite, but the tone was strange. The man’s presentation revealed no obvious faults, so there was little they could do besides let him be. Arthur gave no further response. He simply gestured for Gareth and Moiren to enter the residence while Mary lingered behind him. The butler’s eyes lingered on them for a moment before he turned and rejoined the small group of guards who had accompanied him.

“I bet he’s going to report to his master, whoever that may be.”

Roland spoke to Arthur as their group moved toward their temporary mansion. Although it was one of the smaller houses in the area, it still appeared spacious and luxurious. It had clearly been built for a high-ranking noble. Several maids stood in a line on one side of the path leading to the mansion and bowed as Roland passed by with Arthur walking behind him. On the other side, more servants waited, some of them likely cooks and others appearing to be stablehands who would take care of the carriage and horses.

The young noble lord was flanked by two knights on each side while Mary guarded the rear. Everyone kept a close eye on the servants, treating them as potential threats, but for now, none of them seemed strong enough to be a real danger.

“Welcome to Isgard, My Lord.”

One of the maids stepped forward. She was much older than the others, probably close to fifty. Though her face bore some wrinkles, she concealed her age well. Her uniform was slightly different from the rest, suggesting she was the head maid in charge of the mansion. Before she could continue the greeting, Roland raised his hand to stop her. He turned to Arthur and signaled for him to ask the question they had agreed on earlier.

“Are there any servants left inside the mansion?”

“No, My Lord. All the servants have come out to greet you, My Lord.”

“Good. High Knight Commander, if you would.”

“Yes, Lord Valerian.”

Roland nodded and pushed the door open. He then turned to the surprised head maid and said.

“For the time being, no one is allowed to enter this mansion. Is that clear?”

“Ah… Yes, Sir.”

The maid understood and did not press for answers. It was clear that she had experience and knew better than to question a noble’s decision. Confronting Arthur or his soldiers could easily lead to trouble, so the maids stepped aside and allowed Roland to enter. Once inside, he closed the large oaken door behind him and began scanning the room.

‘I’m getting some readings. Let’s set up the cancellation barrier first.’

Without saying a word, he moved his hand over his chestplate. Ever since passing through the teleportation gate, he had been using his new skill to conceal some of his runes. Now that he was in a place without prying eyes, he activated them. The runes on his breastplate lit up, and a pulse of mana spread out in all directions, forming a grid of perfectly aligned squares. This was a basic scanning spell, designed to sweep through the entire mansion quickly.

‘As I thought, this whole place is filled with enchantments.’

It did not take a genius to realize that Arthur was being watched. There was likely a reason he had been assigned to this particular mansion, located near the outer district of the castle. Even before entering, he had noticed concealed magical threads running toward another district, likely where someone was monitoring them.

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‘Now then, let’s just feed them some false information.’

Although Roland could have easily blocked the signal from escaping, that approach carried too much risk. If everything were suddenly cut off, it would raise suspicion. Whoever had installed these enchantments would immediately know something was wrong. It was far better to appear less capable and less aware. Feeding their enemies false information would create a false sense of security and lead them to lower their guard. When the time came, that overconfidence would give Roland the advantage they needed.

‘Let’s get this over with. They’ll grow suspicious if I stay here too long. First, I need to deal with the dummy enchantments.’

Roland quickly realized that their enemies were aware a rune specialist was among them. Various enchantments, not all written in the same magical language, had been placed throughout the mansion. Some were clearly meant to serve as decoys to obscure the real ones. He decided to disable the most obvious enchantments, since leaving them intact might make them appear careless or incompetent.

Once the initial scan was complete, he summoned a few of his floating golems. They began sweeping through the rooms, identifying potential threats. For someone like Roland, who had studied monitoring magic extensively and had developed an entirely new system back in Albrook, what he encountered here was rather primitive. There were no visual spells meant to record them, only audio-based enchantments and presence-detection spells similar to his own mapping devices.

‘Is it that kind of spell?’

As he moved through the mansion, he discovered even the toilet had been bugged with enchantments. This particular spell appeared to create a replica of the building in another location, with phantoms mimicking the movements of anyone inside. Multiple enchantments had been placed at key positions, allowing someone elsewhere to watch these phantoms and listen in on their conversations. He had no idea why someone would go to such lengths, but he had prepared for this possibility.

‘That should do it.’

His golems completed their sweep. Roland disabled the more obvious dummy enchantments along with a few of the difficult ones, though he intentionally left several untouched. This allowed whoever was watching to continue their surveillance, giving them no reason to grow suspicious. Once the cleanup was done, he activated a program that would feed prerecorded conversations into the surveillance network. These recordings, created with Arthur before their arrival, were filled with routine discussions and generic dialogue. For the next two days, no one would notice that what they were hearing was artificial.