Chapter 55.

William headed for the secret conference room for one of the regular meetings. There were many ways to get to the secret conference room, his personal favorite being teleportation.

Teleportation, however, was like the final boss of spatial magic, which required enormous mana and complicated formulas. Even William could not use such complex spatial magic without the help of a magic circle. Moreover, the secret conference room was set up at the heart of the palace, making it even more impossible if it weren't for the hidden magic circle in the audience chamber.

If someone tried to teleport inside from outside the palace, the giant magic circle encircling the palace would without a doubt vaporize the intruder into tiny molecules. The magic circle covering the palace was so monstrous that even William couldn't do anything about it. Without the access cord worn on his right hand, he would not even be able to move near the emperor. So it was clear how monstrous the magic circle protecting the monarch was.

William headed to the secret conference room through one of the numerous secret passages inside the palace. He always wrote short papers in his mind during this time because it took time to walk through the long, secret passages to the secret conference room.

However this time, he wondered who his niece, Yuria, was interested in.

Before sending Yuria and Alphonso to Arscilla's boarding house, he received information about the current residents from Prime Minister Arcanta. As such, two names emerged as potential candidates- Lisbon and Den.

Of the two, Lisbons information was detailed, but it was of a typical knight. Being a knight was something that Alphonso might be interested in, but not something that Yuria cared for. On the other hand, there was too little information on Den. All that was known was name, origin, and age.

William recalled the moment he saw Den in person not long ago. His formal behavior and tone seemed somewhat highly educated, which came out immediately when he spoke. It would be difficult to act so formal without a high level of education.

William's close friend, Bloody, was born and raised in an overly unrestrained Crow Tribe village. Because of that, he spent a lot of time learning court etiquette and was still learning.

When William and Den shook hands, it was with the window wall between them. The layout of the restaurant was designed such that people of higher status would be seated at a higher position. Not to mention, there was an obstacle between them, which undoubtedly made shaking hands more difficult.

Usually, a person would take a step closer to try to shake hands more comfortably, but Den remained where he was. One could dismiss it as a simple step, but one would usually, subconsciously, move to be in a more comfortable state.

That meant Den felt uncomfortable coming one step closer to him. As evidence, the boy tried his best to avoid meeting eyes when talking to him.

William thought that it must have been because Den felt uncomfortable meeting his gaze. He came to the conclusion that his analysis did not reveal much. Of course, theyd met for a brief time, so perhaps it was only natural.

But a persons behavior revealed many things. To list out William's analysis:

-It was assumed that Yuria had good feelings for someone.

-Of the two who came into contact with Yuria, a fellow named Lisbon did not have elements to attract her interest.

-And there was not enough information about Den.

-Combining the mana he sensed and Dens slim physique, there was a high chance that he had learned magic.

-If so, the one with the element to gain Yurias interest would be Den, rather than the one named Lisbon.

-Looking at Dens behavior, he seemed well educated and uncomfortable around William.

Combining the above analysis, William reached one hypothesis.

Does Den like Yuria?

It was a ridiculous hypothesis, but William oddly felt confident as he became accustomed to the idea. So he was uncomfortable while being polite and formal at the same time when they first met.

Just looking at it, isn't this the behavior you come across when meeting the parents of the person you like?

He continued to support his hypothesis, thinking that it was not unusual for someone to fall in love at a glance with a beautiful girl like Yuria.

But there was still a lack of information.

William decided to withhold this hypothesis for now. However, it didnt feel bad thinking about the young who secretly had feelings for each other. He decided to keep a close eye on Den to find information that would support his hypothesis.

Thinking that if Den knew, he would have screamed, "Dont! It's a misunderstanding William reached the secret conference room.

-o-

The long-awaited day of action arrived. It was already mid-August, it took longer than I thought for the preliminary investigation.

After sneaking out of the boarding house, I searched the area from on top of the bell tower near the great temple in the center of the capital. As it was early in the morning, the scenery was completely different from mid-day.

I flapped the cape I bought in Granwell and struck a pose like a god from a myth.

Always crawling towards the bountiful treasury! It's Lupin!

As Lupin had been inactive for a while, the number of patrolmen wandering all night had decreased noticeably. There would be more tomorrow, but they wouldnt have to worry as long as no one provoked me again.

By the way, the Great Temple was a very large temple as its name suggested. It was so large that I couldnt even see the top of the temple from the bell tower. As for breaking-in, there w