Ansel’s Palm

Having successfully entered the manor's main house through a window, Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief. 

The young girl clenched her slightly sweaty palm and muttered in the darkness, "The guards seem unusually formidable... Could there truly be hidden treasures here?"

Initially, she had approached the manor with a try-and-see attitude, not expecting the security to be so tight. As a monster-class hunter who could venture deep into the jungle for hunting at the age of ten, Seraphina's stealth abilities were naturally exceptional. Even so, she had nearly been discovered several times. 

An empty manor with such strict defenses clearly indicated valuable items within!

Excited, Miss young wolf rubbed her hands together, "In that case, I might as well take some other things along the way… Humph, after all, that scoundrel's money was plundered from us." 

However…

Gazing at the dark corridor, Seraphina fell into contemplation, "In such a vast manor, how am I supposed to find the place where the treasures are hidden?"

Muttering to herself, Seraphina followed her intuition and walked straight ahead.

The luxurious manor of the Red Frost family was like a maze to Seraphina. Having always thought that Ansel's residence was already extravagant, she once again refreshed her understanding of the nobles' extravagance.

The young girl moved forward in the darkness, and since she was unsure whether there were still guards within the enormous manor, she continued to hold her breath. Her powerful body was as light as a cat at this moment. 

"The Count of Red Frost should have some sort of treasure vault," Seraphina thought, "It should be hidden in a particularly secret place... Well, it seems I can only trust my intuition." 

As she thought this, she suddenly heard barely concealed footsteps coming from one end of the corridor.

Were there really guards patrolling?!

Startled, Seraphina looked left and right, finding no place to hide. She could only take a deep breath, quickly step on the wall and wall decorations, and nimbly flip onto the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. 

Curled up in the chandelier, Seraphina listened as the footsteps grew closer, but she remained calm. Escaping and hiding after encountering powerful prey during hunting was a common occurrence for her.

"Nomad, how much time do we have left?" 

…Uh? What did that mean? 

The speaker didn't sound like a guard, but they didn't conceal their voice either.

"The etheric concealment scroll the professor gave us can last for a maximum of half an hour, but there are too many inhibitions in this Red Frost Manor. It can probably only shield us for... fifteen minutes."

Ah? Shielding? Inhibitions? Wait, inhibitions…what were inhibitions again? 

Seraphina pondered in her heart. Although she hadn't paid much attention to the classes at the Frost Tower, she still had some basic understanding of the concepts related to spellcasters. 

Oh! She remembered, they were like traps!

The realization shocked Miss young wolf—so there were not only guards here! 

So… I had taken advantage of their shielding scroll to sneak in? 

What a turn of events!

"If it weren't for the professor sending us the scroll at the critical moment, we might have had to return empty-handed." 

The one called "Nomad" sighed, "Even though the Count of Red Frost is dead, it seems that Gray Fox hasn't given up. He has preserved many assets of the Red Frost family, preparing to continue competing with Ironblade for the Red Frost territory. That's why he values the preservation of these assets." 

"And that Hydral, no idea what's damn wrong with his mind, letting Stoneheart's private soldiers in," another female voice complained, "Even time isn't on our side." 

"It was always a difficult mission. We were prepared for failure before we came, weren't we, Sting?"

As the footsteps and conversation faded away, Seraphina grew anxious. 

Although she didn't understand at all who the other party was, even a fool could hear that their goal was almost the same as hers—to obtain the treasures hidden in the manor!

Instead of wandering around aimlessly, it would be better to quietly follow them. They would likely lead her to the treasure vault! 

Meanwhile, the increasingly distant Nomad and Sting were communicating telepathically.

"Has she followed us?" Nomad asked.

"Yes, she's an extraordinary expert. If it weren't for a momentary fluctuation in her mental state, I wouldn't have detected her," Sting replied with a somewhat heavy tone in their telepathic communication.

"Are you sure she's not an enemy?"

Sting closed her eyes and sensed for a while before shaking her head, "There's no hostility. Nomad, who else would sneak into the Red Frost family's manor? And for what purpose?"

"Purpose? What other purpose could there be for sneaking in here?" Nomad scoffed, "As for who... I think I know."

"What?"

"Those who want to seize the assets of the Red Frost family can only be their competitors and enemies. And in the Red Frost territory... the only true enemy of the Red Frost family is one."

Sting hesitated for a moment, "You mean... the Stoneheart family? But the Count of Stoneheart doesn't seem like such an irrational person. He shouldn't need to—"

At that moment, another voice interrupted their telepathic conversation:

"I have some bad news for you," the third person said, "The one you mentioned, I've confirmed that there are no traces of her sneaking in outside—absolutely NONE. It's infuriatingly clean."

"...What do you mean, Snowhawk?"

"It means that she either has powerful support to cover her tracks, or her own abilities are unfathomable. In either case, we've already fallen into a trap, both of you." 

Snowhawd, who was monitoring the movements of all the guards outside, whispered.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," he said, "On the very night when the Count of Stoneheart's numerous private soldiers are about to enter Red Frost City, forcing us to make a choice, an exceptionally skilled and well-connected individual has also infiltrated the Red Frost Manor."

Nomad's eyes narrowed slightly, "Once that 'friend' encounters any trouble or reaps a fortune, she can easily alert the guards, direct all accusations towards us, and leave without a care."

"No wonder there's no hostility. Heh... the seemingly benevolent Count of Stoneheart is not a good person either."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend—although a friend who can be discarded at any time."

His eyes were filled with a hateful cold light, "Unfortunately, we will switch roles."

"...What do you want to do, Nomad?" Snowhwak asked.

In the telepathic link, Nomad confidently laughed, "Since they want to reap the benefits and then throw all the blame on us..."

"Let's see who will be the first to be abandoned."

He turned around and spoke loudly towards the empty darkness:

"Wouldn't you like to come out and meet us, friend?"