Clatter—clatter—
The sound of the train was enough to make people drowsy.
Combined with the cool breeze blowing in from outside, it made one even more eager to rest.
But the two people sitting in a corner at the rear of the train had no desire to sleep.
The noble girl flipped through the Romance Novel she had read yesterday, seemingly immersed in it and thoroughly enjoying herself.
Amy pursed her lips. Her gaze passed slightly over Angela and looked toward the other nobles in the carriage. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention did Amy finally speak:
"Where is it?"
"Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean."
Angela's tone remained calm and cold, as if she were completely disinterested in everything in the world.
Amy took a deep breath and leaned forward slightly, her tone becoming heavier as she said:
"I know you were the one who took it!"
"Hehe." At that, Angela suddenly laughed.
Though it was somewhat embarrassing to admit, Amy still froze for a moment when she heard Angela's laughter.
This was the first time she had seen the cold noble Angela laugh. She could not see her smile, but her laughter sounded lovely.
Amy quickly recovered, however.
Because Angela, sitting before her, was holding the Green Cylinder wrapped around the blueprints.
Her beautiful eyes fixed on Amy, curving slightly as she asked:
"Ms. Amy, do you mean this?"
"Give it to me—"
Amy instinctively reached out to take it.
But Angela merely turned her hand over, and the cylinder vanished.
It was as if she had performed a magic trick.
"Sorry, but I won't give this to you until I get off the train."
Angela spoke leisurely, then picked up the book on the table and began reading again.
Amy gritted her teeth and glared at her.
She had spent all day hunting birds, only to have one peck her in the eye. Amy had never expected that the 'prey' she had chosen merely to pass the boring journey home would now become the hunter.
The identity of the girl before her was definitely not simple.
She certainly was not the Angela Angulo Amy had happened to see on the train ticket.
After all, an ordinary baron's family could never raise someone this clever and eccentric.
Taking a deep breath, Amy forced herself to calm down.
Putting aside who the blueprints belonged to, judging from Angela's attitude, she apparently had no intention of reporting Amy.
That was good news.
The bad news was...
Amy had no idea what Angela intended to do.
"What do you want?"
Taking several deep breaths, Amy asked solemnly.
Since the other party had neither reported her nor returned the blueprints, she must have conditions of her own.
If there were conditions, they could be negotiated. And if they could negotiate, Amy had a chance to get the blueprints back.
Amy thought Angela might make an outrageous demand.
But unexpectedly, Angela merely said indifferently:
"Don't bother me. Don't bother me after you get off the train, either. I'll return this to you once you get off. Otherwise... I'll hand it to the guards."
"That's... all?"
Hearing such a simple condition, Amy found it unbelievable.
Angela nodded slightly:
"That's all."
"..."
Amy met Angela's eyes and could read the seriousness in them.
Angela was serious. This really was her condition.
"Then I..."
Amy was just about to say something when an unopened folding fan suddenly appeared before her mouth, blocking the rest of her words.
The folding fan was only a few centimeters from Amy's lips. Following it, Amy saw Angela's hand, wrapped in White Silk Gloves, and the slender arm beyond it.
Amy looked at Angela in confusion, then heard her say:
"From now on, Ms. Amy, please be quiet."
"..."
Amy's mouth twitched. She closed it and stopped speaking.
But as she fell silent, a trace of resentment also welled up inside her.
Am I really that unwelcome?
At last, it was quiet.
Seeing that he had finally subdued the spy of unknown nationality before him, Li Qi also breathed a small sigh of relief.
That's right. The 'Confidential Document' the other party had taken was the solution Li Qi had come up with.
Li Qi's idea was simple.
Since having the spy's identity exposed would drag him into trouble, he might as well prevent the spy from being exposed.
As it happened, while using his superpower to observe Amy, Li Qi had noticed abnormal magical energy flowing from somewhere on her.
It was probably a Magic Item used to seal something. The special magical flow on it was extremely conspicuous to Li Qi.
Therefore, unless something unexpected had happened, the Confidential Document stolen from Amy had to be inside that Magic Item.
So Li Qi had tried using the Card Cheating Techniques he had learned in the Gambler World during his Past Life to steal the item from Amy.
The result proved that Li Qi had guessed correctly. He had completely seized Amy's weakness.
He had made her afraid to act rashly, successfully silenced her, and gained some rare peace and quiet.
This time, the Card Cheating Techniques had truly done wonders.
Li Qi had never expected that the Card Cheating Techniques he had learned from the Dark Gambler out of boredom in his Past Life could actually prove useful here.
After all, in his Past Life, only the Dark Gambler cheated at cards. The upright gamblers competed with skill and... superpowers.
Well... there was no point dwelling on what the hell was wrong with the distorted worldview of his Past Life. In any case, thanks to the Card Cheating Techniques, Li Qi had been able to steal the item without being detected.
He had a feeling that if he truly had no other way to make a living in the future, he might even survive as a thief...
As his thoughts ran wild, time flew by.
Before the sun could set, the train finally reached its destination.
Before getting off, Li Qi went to the door first. Amy followed closely behind, and the two of them got off one after another and headed toward the exit.
When Li Qi was about to meet up with Generro, Amy finally could not hold back any longer:
"What about my things...?"
Li Qi turned his head, opened his fan, and held it before his mouth as if concealing a smile. He said with a grin:
"You spoke, Ms. Amy."
"...?"
Amy's expression nearly crumbled. She clenched her fists, the corner of her mouth twitching nonstop.
Seeing this, Li Qi stopped teasing her. He spread open his left hand, and a Dark Green Cylinder magically appeared in his palm. He handed it to Amy.
Amy swiftly took the cylinder, put it away, and tucked it into her bosom. Then she heard Li Qi say:
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Amy, but I hope we won't meet again."
With that, Li Qi closed his fan and turned to leave.
Amy watched his back from behind. Only after seeing him join her butler did she take a deep breath and carefully leave the station.
Regardless, she had retrieved the item without incident. To avoid any unexpected developments, she had better leave Uno as soon as possible.
The nobles got off and left first. The Guard Captains watched their departing figures, clenching their fists with unwilling expressions.
His instincts told him that the Confidential Document might be hidden among those nobles, but he could do nothing about it.
Because the Guard Captain was merely a commoner.
Even if the marshal could find a noble in this border province willing to help him investigate, it would still take time.
At the very least, an investigation was definitely impossible today.
But once today passed and the nobles scattered, who knew whether he could still find the secret blueprints?
It seemed the marshal had been right. These nobles... truly were tumors on the nation...
The Guard Captain was thinking this deep down when he suddenly heard the Guard Lady's anxious voice:
"C-Captain! Come and look at this!"
Her voice came from the noble carriage, making the Guard Captain frown.
"What kind of panic is this? What happened?" he asked the Guard Lady unhappily as he entered the noble carriage.
He then saw the Guard Lady hurrying over with a document scroll tied with a Gold Ribbon.
"Look, is this the Confidential Document we're looking for!?"
"!?"
The Guard Captain's eyes widened instantly.
With the situation urgent, he did not have time to think. He quickly removed the Gold Ribbon and opened the document for a glance.
When he saw the contents, the Guard Captain's pupils contracted, and he promptly closed the document again.
The Guard Captain could not understand the contents, nor could he confirm whether this was the so-called Confidential Document.
Because what he had been ordered to find was not the blueprint in his hands, but a document box sealed with a Magic Lock on the outside.
Even if this was not the Confidential Document he was looking for, he still could not afford to be careless.
After all, the lower-right corner of the document bore the military's seal.
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