Meanwhile, Abium turned his gaze towards Helena and spoke.
"Teach these two the advanced sword arts and warrior path techniques. They must improve their strength quickly." Although it could harm one's soul, Abium didn't seem bothered much about it.
As a matter of fact, he used the warrior technique in the past but never suffered repercussions.
'It's better than nothing anyway.' He thought to himself.
"Is it okay to share those techniques?" Helena got startled by his suggestion and asked hurriedly.
"Yeah, they will be no use for me now." Abium nodded his head, turned his gaze towards Lord Baron, and added,
"Lord Baron, you must teach your disciples and elite soldiers these advanced techniques. It would be best if you strengthened your territory quickly. There will be more chaos in the future." His words made Baron's face turn grim.
"It seems you are preparing for something big, Baron Abium." Baron Auguinare felt something was amiss and finally nodded.
"I'll trust your words."
Abium smiled lightly and turned his attention towards Lily and Sara.
"But are you planning to keep these two on your side?" Baron Auguinare asked in puzzlement. After all, they were nothing but extras.
In truth, Abium would've long discarded them if not for Lily's unique skill.
'Until I have that skill from her, I'm not planning on letting her go.'
As Abium was in deep thoughts, Baron Auguinare suddenly thought of something and asked.
"Why not ask for some advice from your teacher? Lord Zivior might help you, right?"
Abium firmly shook his head at Baron Auguinare's suggestion.
'Even though he is kind to me, I don't fully trust Mage Zivior.' After a slight pause, Abium took a deep breath and spoke.
"I am planning to bring them to my territory, Lord Baron. That would be the safest place for both of them right now."
Baron nodded his head in approval and commented.
"Good idea. Yes, this city is no longer a safe place for her. Most of the nobles already knew who she was."
Before Baron could finish his words, Richard barged into the main hall with hurried footsteps and interjected their conversation.
"The Adventurer's Guild put a bounty of 3000 white gold coins on the Assassin's head, teacher. Can I also join with the adventurers and try my luck?"
On the other hand, Baron's lips twitched.
"No. You've some other work to do." Baron Auguinare paused for a moment and then added.
"First, go and lock the mansion's main gate."
As Richard stared at Baron Auguinare, he slowly turned his gaze towards Butler James and ordered.
"James, you also go and wait outside. The Royal Family might send a knight sooner to summon the nobles."
"Yes, My Lord." Butler James nodded solemnly and soon dragged Richard out of the main hall before locking the door from outside.
As they disappeared from everyone's sight, Lily quietly moved towards the nearby sofa and sat with a pale face.
"That soon? It seems they are hell-bent on capturing my sister."
At that moment, Abium also frowned and muttered slowly.
"3000, huh? That amount might even tempt some first-tier mages." What worried him more was Lily's identity.
"Does anyone know your identity, Lily? If Duchess Margery could find Sara's identity in a matter of minutes through her strange artifact, we can't rule out the possibility of her finding your identity too."
"That's almost impossible, sir. We never revealed our relationships to anyone other than Iskax. Even in the kingdom's intelligence records, Lily is just a thief working under a slum leader, not a skilled assassin. But in reality, she is the one who did most Assassin under my cover." Sara said in a solemn tone.
"I hope everything goes as planned," Abium muttered solemnly.
'I also have to get back to the magic tower and get some materials.' He thought of returning to the magic tower after the funeral ceremony.
As they continued to discuss in the main hall, Butler James opened the entrance door fifteen minutes later and interrupted their talk.
"What is it?" Baron turned his gaze towards the front and narrowed his eyes.
Rather than shouting, Butler James walked closer to Baron Auguinare with fast steps and whispered something to him.
After a few seconds, Baron Auguinare nodded his head and spoke.
"As I thought, the Royal Family has summoned all the nobles to the Palace. Moreover, your teacher is also waiting for you at the Palace, Baron Abium."
"The mages are back?" Abium nodded his head in understanding before continuing.
"Let's go, Lord Baron."
Saying so, Abium turned towards the entrance door and started walking.
After a few seconds, Baron Auguinare and Abium walked out of the mansion, entered Baron Auguinare's luxurious carriage, and moved towards the Royal Palace.
...
Royal Palace Entrance, Royal Street.
Two black-hooded figures stood on the Palace entrance gate's opposite side and silently watched the commotion. One was a middle-aged man with tall stature, while the other was a frizzy grey-haired woman with black eyes.
The woman moved her hood back a bit to make the moonlight flash on her face and asked.
"Why can't we just go and ask someone, Rilos?"
"Don't you know who is inside? 'He' will end our organization's scheme if he finds out we are lurking in this city." The middle-aged man scolded her.
Yes!
Both were the necromancers who killed the black-robed mage Hogg a few minutes ago and now came here to gather information.
As they were about to ask someone, a luxurious carriage came from the left and stopped in front of them.
A blonde-haired young elf in his formal dress walked out of the luxurious carriage and glanced at the surroundings like a cautious bodyguard. Closely after him, a middle-aged man in a military uniform walked out and signaled the coachman to drive the carriage away. Rilos guessed both must be noble and focused his attention on the young elf's face.
The next instant, his russet brown eyes squinted.
'Hm? Have I met this kid before?' He felt that this young elf looked so familiar but couldn't recall where he had met him before. While Rilos was pondering about this, Yalya already went ahead and initiated the conversation.
"Excuse me? Do you know what happened here? Why is there so much commotion?" Yalya asked Abium with a warm smile.
Meanwhile, Abium was also surprised by the sudden question and turned his attention towards the hooded due.
"His Majesty passed away due to severe illness during the Royal Banquet, My Lady. The Royal Family will make an announcement officially sooner." Abium replied without a second thought.
At that moment, Baron whispered some words to his ears and quickly walked away from there.
Meanwhile, a frown appeared on Abium's face as he stared deeply at the woman.
Although he hadn't seen this woman in his past life, he felt she wasn't an ordinary person.
A second later, a small amount of spirit power came out of his body and scanned her. But to his shock, question marks appeared on the status bar instead of her basic information!
'She is way stronger than you, lad.' Azolla spoke in his mind.
'A second-tier mage?' Abium raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned his gaze towards the other hooded guy. At that moment, he also sensed the same amount of spirit power oozing out from the other hooded guy and felt something was not right.
'Why would two second-tier mages stand outside the Royal Palace entrance and ask me questions instead of going in? Are they from Rath Institute?' Doubt appeared in Abium's mind.
As he pondered, his amber eyes soon caught the skull-shaped tattoo on her neck.
'No good! She is a Necromancer!' His black pupil dilated for a mere second and soon returned to normal.
"We too heard similar answers from others, but we want to know the real truth, Mister," Yalya said with a smirk and waved her hand to cast some mind-reading spell. But a hand gripped her shoulder from behind and stopped her action.
"Are you the newly titled baron, young elf?" Rilos suddenly took a step forward and asked.
'Sh*t! That was close. Although I could use the [Blink] spell to escape, I don't think it will be simple. This lady is dangerous.' Abium thought to himself.
After a slight pause, he turned his gaze towards Rilos and nodded.
"Yes. I didn't expect you would recognize me so soon."
"Well, you are the only elf in this kingdom, young elf. So, I made a guess." Rilos said with a smile and signaled Yalya to back away.
Meanwhile, Abium hid his nervousness, stared into Rilo's russet brown eyes, and probed further.
"Do you need anything else, sir?"
"No, Lord Baron. We will be taking our leave. Let's go, Yalya." Rilos quickly pulled his companion away and soon vanished, leaving Abium alone at the entrance.
'What was that all about?' He shook his head, turned around, and walked into the Palace gate.
...
A few hundred meters away from the Palace's entrance,
Yalya and Rilos stood on a building's terrace and glared at each other.
"Why did you stop me?" Yalya asked in annoyance.
"That elf was long prepared to cast a spell, Yalya. If both of you had started a fight, that monster inside the Palace would have noticed our presence and captured us in mere seconds." Rilos said with a sigh and continued.
"That young elf is sharp, Yalya. If my guess is right, he was already aware of our organization's symbol. There is also a rumor that this elf has some deep connection with the Crown Prince." Rilos replied while pointing his finger towards that tattoo on her neck.
"Hm? Isn't this reason more than enough to kill him now?" Yalya licked her black lips and asked.
"It's not the right time to reveal ourselves to the public. Don't act like your impulsive elder brother." Rilos shook his head in disappointment.
"Don't compare me with Grazius, Rilos." Yalya humped and then asked.
"Who is going to take care of this elf?"
Rilos fell silent as he heard that question. After a short silence, he made up his mind and spoke.
"I heard this young elf had chosen the Alastall Woodland as his territory. If I'm not wrong, my disciple Murius is now staying in that woodland. I think he should be more than enough to kill that elf."
"Hmm? I thought you sent him there to protect Began's daughter, though. Aren't the Holy Knights searching her all over the place?" Yalya asked while narrowing her eyes.
"Don't worry. That child is also staying with him in that woodland. She is slowly recovering from the trauma caused by her mother's death and seems to be in good shape." Rilos said in a solemn tone.
"Those religious lunatics. They killed her mother, brainwashed her grandparents, and even turned them into fanatics. They will pay for all these crimes." Yalya gripped her fist tighter and cursed at the Light Church members.
"That's why we are going to end the Holy See's tyrant rule," Rilos said with a heavy tone.
Yalya nodded her head, and they soon disappeared from the scene.