Chapter 171 – Three times is a pattern

Two weeks after the incident in The Black Market Dungeon, a battalion of knights in shining plate armors walked down the ramp of the flying ship, in two lines. As they stepped on the ground they moved aside forming two lines at the sides of the ramp.

Right after them down the ramp walked Archduke of the North Region of the Moonstar Kingdom, followed by the Royal Investigator surrounded by a team of four personal guard knights.

While Archduke measured with his stern gaze the two women meeting them, the Royal Investigator looked around the place with interest.

"The team is too small for an all-out war." Whispered Cassandra looking in front with a haughty expression on her face.

"That's a good sign. But it's too early to relax."  Answered Theressa with a murmur.

Once the whole group of Archduke's and Lord Belmont's entourage was on the ground they moved toward the two women.

"Duchess Threadweaver, today I have come to discuss the matters that were left unsolved at our last meeting." Said Archduke as he stopped in front of widely opened forged metal grate gates, looking at the two women on the other side of the gates. "I see Duchess Vespertine decided to join us today as well." He said, turning his gaze to Cassandra.

"As a ruler of this domain, it is my holy duty to meet Your Excellency in person when your esteemed self wishes to tour my domain." Said Cassandra with her head raised high meeting his gaze without fear.

"I am honored that Your Excellency considers me worthy of meeting in person for a discussion." Said Theressa. "I see that you are escorted by an esteemed Royal Investigator today as well, just like our previous meeting. It looks like we are gathered in the exact same group once again." She added bowing to Lord Belmont.

"Indeed. However, today I stand before you in a different role. I am representing a third party instead of being a bystander as in our previous discussion." Said Lord Belmont nodding back at her.

"Will we be offered a welcome?" Asked Archduke, watching Theressa with his cold gaze through the barrier wall that ended right at the gates and the dilapidated fence that they were attached to running around Threadweaver mansion's territory.

"I, Theressa Threadweaver Duchess of Twin Creek Valley, Head of Threadweaver household, and Master of the Threadweaver mansion welcome you two esteemed guests and everyone that comes with you as entourage inside my territory and swear an oath of hospitality upon the mentioned as long as thee mean well upon me and mine." Said Theressa gazing back at Archduke and studying his expression.

Archduke nodded a few seconds later and took a step forward crossing the barrier, followed by the whole group that stood at the door.

As they walked through the barrier each person passing through the wall was met by a bright white light that flashed for a split second, surprising the Archduke and his knights for a moment but as they saw no harm they continued inside in silence as white light kept flashing brightly with every newcomer.

"What may that have been?" Asked Lord Belmont, raising an eyebrow. As he walked in he turned around to see the same thing happening to everyone that walked through the barrier and his interest was piqued.

"Preventive measures against uninvited guests. Signals of someone crossing the barrier." Said Theressa nonchalantly. The eyes of Lord Belmont squinted while Archduke simply nodded his head and walked further.

"I have not seen such an effect before. It is custom-made?" Asked, Lord Belmont.

"It is my own design." Said Theressa.

"I see." Said quietly Lord Belmont following the Archduke.

Once the group was inside the outer barrier of the Threadweaver mansion, instead of the grassy fields and forestry that was shown to them when they stood outside, they saw a beautiful garden with an alley of young trees at the two sides of newly repaired cobblestone road leading to the Threadweaver mansion.

Several luxury carriages stood on the side of the road pulled by the group of giant spider monsters. People in long dark capes with their entire bodies covered by thick cloth sat in the coachman seats. Another group of similarly covered from feet to head people stood at the sides of carriages as guards.

Archduke and Lord Belmont walked toward the carriages without batting an eye at the team of Vampires and Giant spiders, the amount of which was undoubtedly overly much for simply pulling carriages, and sat inside with the two women.

As they rode from the gates toward the mansion, Lord Belmont gazed into the window with a smile on his lips.

"I see that things are going well for the Threadweaver household." Said, Lord Belmont. "The situation differs drastically from what was reported by the observers over the last years. It seems as if the young Count's coming to your household breathed a new life into it." He added turning to look at Theressa.

"Our business is indeed going better lately. As for Noah's input? You could say so. His love and attention give us the strength to move forward. The situation may be not quite easy for our Household, however, we strive to be better in his presence." Answered Theressa.

"I see. Love is truly a mighty force." Said Lord Belmont with a smile. "Too bad Count's own family is not capable of doing the same."

"I am afraid I do not understand what you are implying." Said Theressa, her eyebrows creasing.

"As I heard his family's business is not going well lately. And it feels like his family lacks that care and attention that is so helpful to you." Said, Lord Belmont.

Archduke glanced to the side studying Royal Investigator before turning back to gaze at Duchess Threadweaver, noticing a slight confusion in her expression.

"I am afraid we have not discussed the matter of his family, Your Excellency. So I can't give any comment on that. You would have to speak of it with Count himself."

"I see. I would do so then. However, I noticed that Count had not come to meet us." Said, Lord Belmont.

"There is a strong reason for that." Said Theressa. "I will explain it to you once we get to the mansion if you don't mind." She added.

"I hope we did not come in vain, today. That would not look good on you, Duchess Threadweaver." Said Archduke in a cold voice. "Not good at all."

"I assure you that is not the case, Your Excellency." Said Theressa.

"We shall see." Said Archduke, nodding.

Cassandra clenched her fist as her gaze went cold but Theressa's out her palm on her hand calming her down.

The carriage stopped a moment later as they reached the front door of the Threadweaver mansion.

The knight guards following them outside around the carriage opened the door and the group walked out of the carriage.

Archduke gazed at the main door taking notice of the house servants' team meeting them at the front entrance, as was required by the noble etiquette when an esteemed guest with a rank above the master of the house visited the household.

His gaze stopped at the two Dryads in elegant maid clothes woven from the Arachna silk. He recognized in them the very women that attended the Ball of Vespertine household last time.

Lord Belmont's gaze, however, only stayed on the maids for a second, before sliding to the side where it lingered for some time on the four women who were not dressed as maids. Two women had elegant and very beautiful black short dresses, while two other women wore black business suits with pure white shirts under their jackets. Their clothes screamed of luxury beyond what any servant would be allowed. At the same time, it looked stylish and accentuated the beauty of each of them in a unique way, showing that every dress was hand-made to suit the person, yet when gazed at all four of them as a group it seemed the four dresses complemented each other as if they were meant to be a uniform.

"Although I have been aware of your unique situation with Dryad maids, I am afraid I missed the information regarding your other employees." Said, Lord Belmont.

"They are a new addition to our household, Your Excellency." Said Theressa. "They have been employed slightly after the last visit of an esteemed observer." She added.

"I see…" Said Lord Belmont thoughtfully.

"They are human." Said Archduke.

"Indeed." Said Theressa. "But I trust their professionalism, so it is not a problem."

"They are ex-adventurers?" Asked Lord Belmont casually.

"They were employed purely on the recommendation of an acquaintance. They served as guards their whole life and had not been registered with the guild before."

"Is that so?" Said, Lord Belmont. "It's a funny  coincidence though." He added as if nonchalantly.

"What coincidence may you be implying to, if I may ask?" Asked, Theressa.

"Oh, just that there has been a matter regarding a group of four women, that the guild asked for our help with." He said as if it was a light matter he did not wish to dwell on.

"Do my employees perhaps look similar to those women?" Asked Theressa.

"Not at all." Said Lord Belmont as his eyes shone slightly when he studied the four women one more time. "Not at all." He added once more, nodding with a thoughtful expression a second later.

"I see. That is no more than a coincidence then. But I wish you luck in finding them." Said Theressa calmly nodding in return. "Let us proceed inside then." She added.

The group proceeded inside the mansion as the servant team bowed to the guest.

However, Lord Belmont's gaze lingered on the four women the whole time as his eyebrows creased.

Was this really a coincidence that four human women appeared in Threadweaver mansion right after the incident with Black Market dungeon and Silver Gale village? The investigation result of both incidents screamed about the wanted Wild team's involvement, while Threadweaver household was the anonymous tip provider that pointed them toward both incidents.

Time and circumstances were just too good for it to be a coincidence, yet if he relied only on his skills that made him the best Royal Investigator, then he would have to refute this guess here. All the skill he used on these women a moment ago, confirmed one thing - they were different people. Their faces, levels, system types, and everything he could peek at told him they had nothing in common.

When guests walked into the mansion, servants raised their heads and Aster glanced over her shoulder with a cunning smile.

"Told you. Nothing to worry about. No one would see through Master's skill this easily." She whispered to Samantha standing behind her.

*****

Behind the closed door with mansion servants and knight guards out of ear reach, the four people sat on the comfortable couches across from each other.

"I think I was clear in my words last time that you were to bring Count in front of me to prove your words." Said Archduke, his voice going cold. "And I don't see him here."

"There is a reason for this, Your Excellency." Said Theressa. "If only you would give us a chance to explain."

"There is not much to be said if he is not here to confirm it himself. Your words alone mean nothing…." Said Archduke but his words stopped as Theressa placed a box on the table opening it so that the two guests could see the contents.

"Is this…?" Asked Archduke, turning to look questioningly at Lord Belmont.

The Royal Investigator moved closer to the box looking at it wide-eyed.

"May I?" He asked Theressa as he raised his hands to take what was inside.

"Of course. This was meant as a gift of apology by Count, for not being able to attend this meeting." Said Theressa.

Lord Belmont picked a small green blob from the soft velvet pad inside the box and studied it in his hands before turning to Archduke and nodding approvingly.

"This is indeed the very poison slime that I have presented to the King last time. However, in a much better state. It looks lively as if…"

"New." Confirmed his words, Theressa.

Lord Belmont immediately took out two special boxes meant to preserve the slime in healthy condition for a long time and stored the two slimes that were in Theressa's box in them. He gave one box to Archduke while taking the second for himself.

"That is an interesting box you have, Your Excellency. May I inquire about its effect?" Asked Theressa, her interest clearly piqued by the strange box.

"A special product of The Magic Artifiser's guild and Royal Magic Academy made to preserve these slime from declining for a long time."

"If it is not too presumptuous of me, may I ask to have a look at it? It piqued my interest as a crafter." Said Theressa, her eyes shining as she studied the two boxes from a distance.

"It was made in a limited number, however, I do have one more." Said Lord Belmont taking out another box from his pocket ring and pushing it toward Theressa. "May this be a small gratitude present from me for your great gift then?"

Theressa nodded happily, storing the gifted box immediately.

"Alright, I will hold off from taking any drastic measures for now, seeing as you do indeed have legible proof of your words about Count being the Tamer that was hailed as a hero in Greenville Town. However, I still wish to meet him." Said Archduke, his voice going a lot softer.

"Thank you, Your Excellency. The reason for his absence is that he is at a crucial part of his system's evolution and needs solitude. He promised to visit you as soon as he passes this crucial period. Until then, however, he trusted me to be his representative in our deal." Said Theressa.

Archduke studied the two women for a time before nodding.

"In our latest conversations through the far-talking device, Count made an interesting proposal that I may say would indeed be proportional to make the Royal family close their eyes on all… misconducts that Duchess Threadweaver has been implicated in." Said, Lord Belmont.

"Although the recent situation with the Black Market Dungeon tip indeed tilted the King's impression in your favor, it was not enough proof to trust you and young Count in being capable of achieving what you promised." He added straightening in his seat.

"She sold the whole fucking dungeon, what more proof do you need?" Said Cassandra who sat silent this whole time.

"The information could be received in any other way." Said Archduke

"Yeah? Then why you could not get it yourself?" Threw back Cassandra with spite in her voice.

"Maybe because we are not the ones neck deep in the deals with that treacherous organization?" Threw back Archduke, his voice going stern.

Cassandra opened her mouth to answer him but stopped her word attack on Archduke as soon as Theressa raised her hand in a stopping gesture.

"We understand your concern, Your Excellency. We indeed ask you to believe us on pure words alone too much. His offer to you may need some time and he is not even in attendance today as he promised to you in our last conversation through a far-talking device. We lose credibility. I understand.  However, Count McDaniels is able to prove himself. Even though he is busy with his personal matters he does not renege on his promise and we will start to realize it immediately."

Lord Belmont and Archduke glanced at each other in silence as if they spoke with eyes before sitting back and nodding.

"Very well." Said, Lord Belmont. "When will we be waiting for the first results?"

"Clearing the entire North region of all black market dungeons as my mate promised, would take time for planning and information gathering. And of course, we wish to rely on your help in this as well Your Excellency as we have no fighting force." Said Theressa toward Lord Belmont.

"That much is obvious. The question is whether you can achieve it?" Asked Lord Belmont.

"It is a grand promise. We understand it well.  None of the Investigators including you, Your Excellency has been successful in this. And trusting a young man who is barely starting his adult life to be able to achieve this is indeed laughable. But all we ask is more time." Said Theressa.

"He promised me results within two weeks and we postponed this meeting as he asked. Now you ask us for more time." Said Archduke.

"I am afraid, Archduke is right, Duchess." Said, Lord Belmont. "The Crown demands results. Either result in young Counts promise to clear North Region underworld dungeons, or result in bringing you to justice for your crimes."

"I understand. In this case, we wish to bargain this additional time with more crucial information that would be helpful to the Kingdom enough to close its eyes for a bit more times." Said Theressa.

"We are listening." Said, Lord Belmont.

Theressa opened her mouth starting to tell the information that she had and the eyes of both the Royal Investigator and Archduke went wide from shock.

"We will confirm this. If this is true, you have my word that the Crown will postpone their decision and give Count the time he needs." Said Lord Belmont with a serious look.

"Would you have anything else to add, Archduke?" Asked Lord Belmont but only saw him shake his head.

"In this case, this meeting is over. Until the next time, Duchess Threadweaver, Duchess Vespertine." Said Royal Investigator standing up and nodding to both women in succession.

Archduke only glanced at the two women one more time before standing up and turning to leave.

"Do something about the landing spot." Said Archduke walking out of the door. "Making your guests land in the middle of the field doesn't give you much face." He added and walked away.

"Well, that went better than I even hoped," Said Tessa sighing and sinking into the backrest of the couch after seeing the guests out of the mansion.

"Fucking bastards. You give them a meaty bone this good and they still make it look like they do you a favor." Said Cassandra.

"It can't be helped. After all the negotiation we hold is between my execution and a full pardon for all my crimes." Said Tessa. "They are not bound to wait until I gain the pardon. The gains from my execution would have been quicker if only far less than what we promised them. So they can milk this negotiation as they like until I gain that pardon." She added.

"Still…Clearing all Underworld Dungeons in the entire region? Is this even possible?" Asked Cassandra.

"With his skills? Yes. He can do it." Said Theressa.

"Alright." Said Cassandra sighing with relief and sinking into the backrest as well and silence settled in the room. "But, damn you trust that kid too much." She added a bit later.

"You're the one to talk." Said Tessa raising an eyebrow as she looked at her friend and saw Cassandra's face going red from shame.

"I think I should go! There are other important matters waiting for me." Exclaimed Cassandra jumping up to her feet and all but ran out of the room escaping the uncomfortable mood, as Tessa smiled into her back.

*****

"Seeing their confidence I start to believe that your conjecture was right, Lord Belmont." Said Archduke as they came over to the outer barrier of the Threadweaver mansion's territory. "It seems like the young Count McDaniels indeed has a unique skill allowing him to sneak in and out from dungeons as he pleases."

"No, Your Excellency. It is not just conjecture. I am now totally assured of it. Moreover, I now understand what kind of skill it is and where this confidence comes from." Said, Lord Belmont.

"What did I miss?" Asked Archduke.

"Did you hear of a three coincidence rule, Your Excellency?" Asked Lord Belmont.

"One is an accident, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern?" Asked Archduke.

"Indeed. At first, there were no clues of what was going on when the Duchess contacted us with a strange tip, offering Count's proposal. And when we investigated the crumbling dungeon I saw no connection there. It seemed like she got this information from other sources and tried to mislead us. However, after seeing that every case had the same people involved, I finally saw a pattern. This visit allowed me to finally figure out that pattern."

"You piqued my interest. Do tell me that you found out." Said Archduke with interest in his voice.

"It is a skill to camouflage not only appearance but also system windows." Said

"What? Wait but that would mean that he can pass by every known identity check…"

"Yes." Said, Lord Belmont. "He can sneak into our rank without us even realizing it. He can enter your sleeping chamber without you realizing it. Or even the King's sleeping chamber. Hell, he might be pretending as one of your knights right now and you would not be able to know unless you make an in-depth check on everyone." Said, Lord Belmont.

"How do you know it is such a scary skill?" Asked Archduke looking over his battalion of knights.

"As I said, there was a pattern. The butler of the ruined auction hall in the Black Market that suddenly betrayed the master. Samantha Wild's team that we recognized from the few captured auction workers and finally Shadow Squad of Central Cathedral. Three groups always cross paths."

Archduke opened his mouth but Lord Belmont raised his hand stopping him.

"Yes, I know. At first, there seemed to be no connection between that strange butler and Count McDaniels. Also, we were unfortunate in letting him be killed by a sudden wraith attack in the middle of transportation before we were able to interrogate him. Wraith could not be interrogated too as soldiers killed them on the spot. So his identity perplexed me for a time." Said Lord Belmont

"But then a few days later when I arrived at Silver Gale village on the Duchess' second tip and saw that this supposedly dead man was involved in this case as well I finally saw the truth, but could not get any evidence. I finally had all my questions answered today." Explained Royal Investigator.

"I see. So what is it that I missed?" Asked Archduke.

"First. If we believe Duchess Threadweaver that Count is The Tamer from the Greenville town, then that would mean he was able to register in the guild twice, successfully overcoming their identity check." Said Lord Belmont raising a finger.

"Second. We are aware that Shadow Squad had a fight with him in Greenville Town that led to his disappearance." Said Lord Belmont raising a second finger.

"Third Wild ex-adventurers that are wanted for kidnapping were in that region at the same time. These are the three groups that were sighted in one spot at the same time. And this may have been an accident. I assume young Count crossed paths with them at some point at that time." He said, raising a third finger before closing them again.

"After that, we see only two groups involved again but instead of young Count there is strange treacherous butler Vernon who decided to commit suicide by going against the most respectable man in the whole dungeon without any clear plan."

"But the third time in the Silver Gale village put everything in its place. There I saw the supposedly dead Vernon, Samantha Wild's whole team, and just an hour before my arrival there, that village was investigated by a shadow squad. They thought that they were sneaky and erased all traces of their presence there, but they were no match for my skill. I found their traces."

"I see. If we assume that young Count was wearing a camouflage of that Butler Vernon, this all turned into a pattern. But what proof did you find in their mansion?" Asked Archduke thoughtfully.

"Oh, two things actually. The first was right when we crossed this very barrier." Said Lord Belmont pointing at the gates. "The flash of light. It is a brilliant way to prevent the shadows squad from sneaking in and there is only one reason it would be here, they know how to fight them off. Meaning they have a reason to."

"I assume that this flash works in such a way that it creates a unique pattern of light that is possible to release the skill of Shadow Squad if they were hiding within your shadow. In this case, when we passed the barrier, they would have been released from our shadows and would be left outside the barrier, unable to enter with us." Explained Lord Belmont. "Now how exactly they figured out this unique light pattern, is a question I am more interested in. What other skills does the Count have that allowed him to escape from them in Greenville Town, in Dungeon, and then in Silver Gale village?"

"Three is a pattern. He has a way to fight them off." Said Archduke thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"Indeed. The young Count does not stop to amaze us." Said Lord Belmont and crossed the barrier, walking outside the barrier of the mansion followed by the Archduke and the rest of the knights.

"You said two things." Said Archduke as they walked toward the flying ship that they landed in the small clearing in the forest outside the barrier.

"The second was the team of four human women. I am quite sure that those four were Samantha Wild and her team, yet I could not see through them at all. All my skills were simply useless. And if I can't see through it. Meaning that he can use his skill on others. That's why they are so confident in being able to fulfill the promise. He can sneak the whole squad into the black market dungeon and get to the dungeon master. Something that we failed to ever achieve." Said Lord Belmont

"Wait! You are saying these wanted women are here and you mention this only now?" Exclaimed Archduke.

"Yes, because I decided it is more beneficial for us to close our eyes on it." Said Lord Belmont calmly

"Why? They are criminals wanted by the whole Kingdom!" Exclaimed Archduke.

"And he seems to be caring about them. More leverage in our favor. And let's be honest, Your Excellency." Said, Lord Belmont. "It is better to have Count McDaniels as an ally than ruin a relationship with him, no matter whether he achieves what he promised or not. I believe this skill alone would serve enough of a bargain with the Crown to pardon the Duchess. If he achieves his promise I will demand him as my disciple and next Royal Investigator."

Archduke gazed back at the barrier still hesitating whether he should return and demand the women to be handed over.

"And if he achieves even greater things, like wiping out the underworld in the entire country, Crown would approve of pardoning them, his family that seems to be involved with Dark Association or whoever the hell he wants. The more people he has that we may put to noose the more he would do for us to protect them. Think of this as an investment, Archduke." Said Lord Belmont with a smile before turning away and walking up the ramp to the ship.

"Damn, you are a cunning fox as always." Muttered Archduke, entering the ship after the Royal Investigator.