South Los, the midnight chis had passed.
Marinda, who had dozed off for 15 minutes, opened her eyes—the practice of sleeping for 5-15 minutes at both noon and midnight was not only Marinda's habit but also an ancient secret technique.
It was said to have existed even before the Imperial Age.
Combined with ditation and breathing thods, it could achieve astonishing effects.
However, the ditation thod and breathing thod had long been lost, but just a short nap at these two specific tis could significantly restore one's energy.
Marinda had a deep understanding of this.
To maintain her robust energy, she had received such training since childhood.
One could say it was precisely because of this sleep habit that she was able to effortlessly manage those various complicated matters.
But lately, it had not been enough.
For the first ti, this lady felt overwheld.
'Damn, Arthur!'
This lady cursed silently to herself as she picked up her pipe—this ti, the tobacco was not ordinary, but dicinal herbs.
The kind that could refresh the mind and stimulate alertness.
This lady needed to make herself quickly alert and focus her attention.
Because the spread of ssages like "Entrant" and "Blood Descendants" had once again stirred undercurrents in South Los—even though she had anticipated such a situation, the ssages told her that she had underestimated the energy generated by two 'Entrants' coming together.
Especially when one of the 'Entrants' might be a 'Blood Descendant,' it naturally necessitated thorough investigation for so people and powers who had participated in the 'Night of Extermination'.
Just these past few days, she had confird that scouts from the Marquess of West Berlin and the Marquess of Ainhars had been sowhat active in South Los.
This had never happened before!
Therefore, even if Arthur's proposed plan to increase the rewards for the 'Swordsmanship Competition' was good, the competition was still so ti away.
In the anti, who knew what these powers might stir up in South Los?
Moreover, to so extent, what they eventually stirred up.
If nothing happened, this lady would be even more terrified.
'They must be 'ward up' a bit!'
This lady thought silently.
As for how to warm them up?
This lady already had a rough idea.
After all, she had a 'conspicuous package' by her side.
However, to get this 'conspicuous package' to exert effort was not so easy; it required presenting real silver and gold directly in front of the person.
And currently, her finances were sowhat strained.
It was not easy to deal with the deeply rooted Bernice family in South Los.
To counter the potential blowback from them, she had to be fully prepared.
That left only secret techniques and props...
The forr, she had been scheming all along.
The latter?
Yes!
But none could be moved, for they all had their masters.
And to use her own props?
Unless Marinda went mad, she would not do so.
Marinda was very clear why she held her current status.
So, she had to exchange a few hidden ssages, didn't she?
With this in mind, Marinda rode in her carriage to No. 2 Cork Street, where she took out a key—acquired from Arthur.
As Arthur's 'lover,' she held such privileged access.
Especially while Arthur was away on a long trip.
She scanned over the courtyard; it was clean, and the cat grass and catnip were ticulously maintained.
Clearly, the kid nad rlin had been diligent.
As she entered the room, Wuni had already co through the skylight and landed on the table in the Spirit dium Parlor—
"Good evening, Marinda.
I feel we must have a special fate.
Otherwise, why would we both be so eager to see each other?
Have you anticipated my unexpected discovery at 'Yumir Manor'?"
Arthur, speaking through Wuni's body, greeted her warmly while his words made Marinda roll her eyes.
Given their relationship, her initiative in visiting had already explained everything.
Faced with her proposition, Arthur was always as enthusiastic as this ti.
Greedy fellow!
The lady judged inwardly, but her eyes revealed a trace of admiration—because Arthur had honestly shared that he had made so discoveries at "Yumir Manor."
Such a discovery surely required her assistance.
This honesty was, in a way, truly fascinating.
"If only Arthur were a woman."
The lady thought regretfully while her business instinct sparked a thought—that she could let Arthur "warm up" for her for free and still make him pay a little sothing.
Such opportunities were quite rare.
But imdiately, the lady shook her head.
After all, she was a businesswoman, but not purely so.
She had far greater goals.
Or should we say...
Ambition!
This ambition made her realize that such "deceptive" thods were not sustainable, even if she profited this ti, she might lose everything next ti.
Or because of this wrong approach, she might lose Arthur as a long-term ally.
This was sothing the lady absolutely did not want to see.
Moreover, given Arthur's intelligence, he must have guessed sothing already!
That's why he was being so honest now!
Even, everything about "Yumir Manor" must be the other party's subsequent arrangent.
Thinking this, the lady couldn't help but glare at Arthur again.
"Damned man!"
With such a thought in mind, the lady went straight to the point—
"The scouts from the Marquess of Seberlin and Marquess of Ainhars families have been unusually active these past few days, and with the Bernice family's issues, I no longer have the energy to deal with these guys, but I worry that more and more people gathering in South Los will create trouble and affect my business and the celebration of my succession to the peerage.
So, my dear, since you've already made preparations, could you please help out?"
Marinda asked, smoking a pipe.
If it hadn't been for Wuni's bird's beak, Arthur would definitely have made a scoffing gesture at the lady in front of him.
Testing!
Again, testing!
Everything about his partner was fine except for her overly suspicious nature, taking three steps forward only after testing the ground three tis, as if her young, kind-hearted, upright, and naive "spirit dium" was the kind of person who would deceive his allies?
When had he prepared early?
Wasn't it all just coincidence?
He just thought that since the lords of various regions would not allow arms trafficking, he might as well sell the arms directly to the Earl of South Los himself.
It definitely wasn't because he wanted to earn the Countess's money while using her transport fleet for the arms to lure out those who might be testing him, thus killing two birds with one stone.
Absolutely not!
The young "spirit dium," full of grievances and using Wuni's body, softly said—
"I've found a large cache of arms at 'Yumir Manor'!"
"What?"
Marinda imdiately stood up from her chair, then the lady said to herself.
"You dare to secretly hoard a large amount of arms, I give you three days to go back to South Los and surrender yourself to the Lord Count, don't think about running away, you think you can avoid the barracks, enter the Mount Gale region then take the secret forest path, avoiding the hidden sentry posts in the forest, enter Marquess of Seberlin's territory following the river down to Inner Bay and be safe! You better not let see you, I'll kill you in a minute if I do!"
The lady said this as she walked outside.
Arthur's dumbstruck expression was genuinely displayed on Wuni's bird face.
In the bright light, the bewildered crow stared at the lady's receding figure, standing still as if questioning its own existence.
Only when she reached the door did the lady turn around, frowning.
"Was it really an accidental discovery?"
"Heh."
Arthur scoffed, unwilling to respond, and using Wuni's body, he lifted a claw and gave the woman the 'middle finger.'
The lady, however, completely ignored this 'middle finger.' She paced around the Spirit dium Parlor twice, a smile uncontrollably appearing on her face.
She stared at Arthur and whispered—
"My dear, do you fancy playing a thrilling ga?"
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