Ryan: I'll Never Be Able to Repay Her-Grand Duchess Maganna's Kindness Is Truly Beyond Repayment!

The sheriffs froze for a moment, then all nodded. "We understand, we understand. Captain, you go on ahead."

After saying that, the one who had been guarding the door added, "Adler's younger mistress is only seventeen this year. She's gorgeous, and she lives at the end of the left corridor on the second floor."

Ryan: "?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Nothing. It'll make it easier for you to investigate and gather evidence, Captain!"

Something felt off, but Ryan could not be bothered to think too much about it.

He entered the large villa.

A woman and a child were sitting in the first-floor living room. The woman was around twenty-five and was Adler's wife, while the child was only about five.

When she saw Ryan enter, the woman clutched the child tightly, her face full of tension.

Ryan swept his gaze around before walking up to her and asking softly, "Do you know who I am?"

The woman answered uneasily, "Y-you're Captain Ryan."

"How did you know me?"

"I saw you in the newspaper."

Good. She did not know him personally.

The possibility was slim, but what if Adler had said something wrong in his sleep?

"Where is Adler's room?"

"Second floor, in the middle."

"What about the study?"

"It's connected to his room."

The woman told him everything she knew.

It looked like she truly knew nothing about Adler's affairs.

That made sense. A noblewoman had to obey her noble husband completely. With Adler's power and status, all she needed to do was enjoy her life in peace every day. Even if Adler kept mistresses in the house, it was none of her business.

Ryan went up to the second floor. The rooms on both sides were probably the mistresses' rooms. He pushed open the door at the far left and saw a girl about five foot three, dressed in Lolita fashion, sitting at a desk with a book in her hands.

Because they had been confined, they could only pass the time every day.

When she saw Ryan, the girl shrank back nervously.

"Don't be afraid. I'm a good person."

"..."

"Do you know me?"

The girl shook her head.

Golden hair, rosy cheeks, and at least an eight out of ten in looks. Damn Adler—an old bull still grazing on tender grass every day.

Ryan made a round of the room, but there was nothing worth inspecting. The wardrobe was full of clothes, all of them rather strange.

The mistress in the room on the far right was much more uninhibited. She actually tried to use her body to bargain with Ryan for her freedom, but Ryan refused without hesitation.

"If you squeal like a pig again, I'll lock you up."

After leaving that behind, Ryan went to Adler's room.

There was nothing else worth paying attention to.

"Strange. He hid nothing? It's this clean?"

Adler's room was plain to see: a bed, wardrobe, chairs, and an adjoining study on the other side filled with books. Nothing suspicious stood out for the moment.

"Could there be a Secret Chamber?"

Ryan searched all around but found nothing. He could only return to the first floor and check the other rooms, where he finally noticed something wrong.

A Transcendent's senses were far stronger than an ordinary person's.

"This room is much shallower."

The room Ryan was in corresponded to the space beneath Adler's study.

According to basic house design, rooms directly above and below each other were usually the same size. Yet the width of this room was clearly off.

He walked to the inner wall and knocked on it. It sounded hollow, so he returned to the second-floor study and estimated by feel. The missing width downstairs was almost exactly the width of a bookshelf.

And a bookshelf happened to sit against the inner wall of the study.

Ryan walked over and tried to push the bookshelf, but it would not budge. After becoming a Transcendent, he was much stronger than before. Even if he could not lift the bookshelf, he should at least have been able to shove it a little.

"A mechanism..."

Where?

Maybe it was one of the books.

Ryan searched, but naturally found nothing. Those scenes where people spotted it at a glance on television really were lies.

He returned to the first-floor room again, pulled the Cross Sword from within his body, and stabbed its smaller form into the wall. With a slash and a bend, he finally carved out a rectangle.

The sword's sharpness was downright terrifying.

Ryan pushed the cut-out section of wall inward.

Crash—

It really was hollow inside.

Ryan kicked open a person-sized hole in the adjacent wall with two or three strikes. Before long, he saw a staircase sloping downward. It did not cross one floor, but two. The stairs turned midway and were narrow, yet a single bookshelf's width was not enough to conceal them. Only then did Ryan realize that there was something wrong with the wall behind the room as well.

He followed the stairs down and finally found Adler's Secret Chamber.

The Secret Chamber was about the same size as the study and had a similar layout: a desk, a telephone, and several small boxes. Ryan found more than ten thousand Soul Jades inside. There were also two relics: a short blade and a Silver Pistol.

[Demon Breaker Blade]

[Quality: Second Tier · Excellent]

[Effect 1: Constitution +3, Magic Power +5]

[Effect 2: Demon Breaking. The target's Magic Circulation efficiency is reduced upon being hit.]

[Equipment Requirements: Spirit 17, Magic Power 20]

...

[Silver Wings]

[Quality: First Tier · Excellent]

[Effect 1: Constitution +2, Magic Power +2]

[Effect 2: Guaranteed Hit. Has a 20% chance to hit the target without fail.]

[Equipment Requirements: Constitution 10, Magic Power 12]

"Good stuff."

Although their tiers were not high, both weapons had quite good effects.

If the Demon Breaker Blade's demon-breaking effect was combined with the Magic Nullification Domain, spellcasters would basically be reduced to tears.

As for Silver Wings, Ryan had obtained this thing in the game before. It was excellent starter equipment for the shooter class.

Most shooter classes in Empress Online did not use bows and arrows, but firearms—pistols, rifles, even sniper rifles. However, such equipment required magic power, and firearms made with Imperial technology were still nowhere near that level.

Ryan kept Silver Wings for himself. As for the Demon Breaker Blade, he would give it to 'Lin Qi.' The Blade of Erosion was already falling behind the times.

"These two things were useless to Adler anyway. Lucky me."

Why else would people say confiscating property was the most profitable job?

"Everything on these shelves is good stuff."

Ryan looked toward the shelves behind the desk. There were several bottles on them that he had not paid much attention to earlier, but with one glance, he spotted Mana Potions among them.

Just as he was preparing to identify them carefully, the mirror against the wall suddenly rippled.

"Hm?"

"What is that?"

Ryan froze and cautiously walked toward the mirror.

He had always thought it was just an ordinary standing mirror. Now, it seemed otherwise...

As he was thinking, a White-haired Loli appeared in the mirror.

"Adler, I have something to tell you... Hm? Who are you? Where is Adler?" Magana's delicate brows furrowed, then suddenly relaxed. "Oh, it's you, Ryan. Nice to meet you."

Ryan: "???"

The air suddenly fell silent.

5k. I'm working hard on writing—there will be another update today!

Ryan: I Can Never Repay Grand Duke Marganna's Kindness!

Help! What should I do if I confiscated Grand Duke Marganna's property? Waiting online, urgent!

Ryan stood before the mirror, wondering whether he had been hit by some kind of mental illusion. Otherwise, why was he seeing things for no reason?

Look, what did he see? Grand Duke Marganna, a popular character in the game!

Look at this White-haired Loli. Hahahaha, how could that be possible? How could he possibly see her in a mirror? That was Magana! How could she be connected to insignificant Adler? And she even knew his name?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

There had to be some relic in this Secret Chamber that affected the mind!

"Um... what's wrong? Ryan Bask, I'm asking you a question." Magana said unhappily. "Don't tell me you don't even recognize me?"

"Ah, Grand Duke Marganna, um..."

Ryan's mouth twitched slightly. All right, this was not a mental illusion.

"Where is Adler? Call him over. I have something important to discuss with him," Magana said.

"Well... Grand Duke, Lord Adler probably can't come see you."

"Hm? Where did he go?"

"He returned to the embrace of the God of Death."

"Huh? What happened?" Magana crossed her arms. "Tell me. What exactly happened?"

She did not seem to care about Adler's life or death. Compared to that, she cared more about Berman City's situation—after all, Cassidy was there.

"It was all that damned Cassidy! She joined forces with the League of Fire to set a trap, lured Lord Adler in on Mass Day, and killed him!" Ryan said grief-strickenly. "That damned Princess, that damned League of Fire—and the people from the Gate of Janus too! I could have saved Lord Adler, but because the Gate of Janus was there, I couldn't make a move. I could only watch helplessly as he was killed!"

"Lord Adler! He died just like that! I'll avenge him! I'll avenge him!!!"

"All right, all right, calm down. How are you supposed to get revenge with that little strength?" Magana waved a hand. "You said just now that the Gate of Janus was involved too?"

"Yes."

Ryan wiped away his tears and explained what had happened.

"So that's how it was. That idiot Adler—I told him reinforcements would arrive soon, yet he still could not resist acting. I really should not have expected him to accomplish anything," Magana said, clearly holding Adler in low regard.

"What about you? They didn't suspect you, did they?"

"They didn't suspect me. It's just that Cassidy might not be too happy. She originally wanted to capture him alive, and Lord Adler's death was partly because of me. I fired a few shots."

"Good shooting. Ignore Cassidy. As long as the League of Fire doesn't suspect you, it's fine." Magana rested her chin on her fingers. "Hm... Since that guy is dead anyway, why don't you take charge of Berman City's affairs?"

"Huh?"

Ryan froze.

"Most of the people over there will be dead soon anyway. You're the only one left who knows Berman City's situation best. Creed will send people over in a few days. I'll tell him to have those people follow your orders."

"Wouldn't that be inappropriate?" Ryan smacked his lips. "Grand Duke, I'm only a First Tier Transcendent. I'm afraid I won't be able to command them."