Conspiracy

It was late at night, and the three mages had already left Caleb's manor.

At this moment, Caleb dismissed the servants, went to the door of another house in the manor, pushed open the door, and went downstairs.

He gently closed the door behind him, then turned to look at the intruders he had tied up there.

There were five intruders in total. After confirming their identities, Caleb also brought over a man who had been captured by the guards at the city gate, and they were all bound here.

The intruders were all tied to wooden frames, and although their infiltration training included techniques for untying such bonds, the method of tying them up was rather crude.

However, they were unable to untie themselves because the ropes binding them had a special magical effect, preventing them from having the strength to break free from their restraints.

"Why would spies from the Kalai Kingdom come to our Magic Alliance?"

With a slight wave of his hands, he loosened the restraints on one of the territorial agents, and then heard Breden panting heavily.

Breden forced a smile and looked up at the mage.

As spies, they seriously underestimated the mages' abilities, resulting in all of them being captured by the mage.

"I'm the captain... If there's anything you need... just ask me."

Breden said weakly that the rope's magical effects were still present, but he could only do some simple, effortless activities now.

He knew they were doomed; the entire team was bound by this mage.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind as he tried to discern which pieces of information he could share and which he couldn't...

However, he was soon discouraged. Even after countless training sessions, he might not be able to withstand a spell that would force him to speak and say everything he could and couldn't say.

Before he came, he didn't think much of it, assuming that those mages were just slightly more powerful lords who would be exposed by their excellent espionage skills.

But the thought of that strange door sent chills down his spine. He simply couldn't understand why he would faint instantly no matter where he stood, as soon as he opened that door.

Whether they use a stick to open the door from a distance or use an unconscious companion to open it, they will be affected by the trap on the door.

This was a part their spies couldn't access—the spell traps set by those mages.

Caleb looked at him with amusement, staring intently into his eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"I heard you guys wanted to steal the Territory Token I finally got my hands on. So, do you still want to?"

Breden's heart skipped a beat; he paused, momentarily speechless, and forgot how to reply.

He hadn't expected his purpose to be exposed so easily. Why was that?

Kate, who was taken away, only knew that she was looking for something strange, but she didn't even know what it looked like, and she herself didn't bring the paper with the information recorded on it.

Why was this monk able to immediately discern their purpose?

Seemingly in answering Breden's question, Caleb continued, speaking to himself:

"Isn't this easy to guess?"

"A group of spies from the kingdom would never be here to steal my magical materials, and those precious jewels are certainly not your target either."

"If we eliminate those, then it's just the thing I got a few days ago. I didn't even know what it was at first."

"But your actions gave me a clue, and I finally managed to test the true nature of that thing using the relevant test items."

"A token of territory; whoever holds it claims ownership of that land, and upon actually conquering it, becomes a lord."

Caleb then turned around, not looking at Breden, and took out a ring from his pocket, putting it directly on his finger.

Then he turned to Breden and continued:

"This item is useful to those lords, and very useful to Duke Theodore who launched the rebellion in Antir, but for me..."

"This thing seems only useful for studying a few properties of items with slightly indestructible characteristics; it's completely useless."

"Because I do not possess the noble surnames or glorious bloodlines of those lords, they will not acknowledge a mage ruling this land."

"Am I right? Simply put, without blood ties, one cannot truly occupy that land."

Breden was somewhat puzzled at this point. These words might not seem out of place if you put them into the context of a First Order Profession who couldn't obtain a territory because he didn't have a bloodline.

Those people had long been resentful that Knight Master, despite having no talent whatsoever, could inherit a territory and extraordinary powers simply because of a worthless surname.

But what are you, a monk, complaining about? Doesn't he remember that monks are people who believe that knowledge is power?

"A mage once conducted an experiment and discovered that this bloodline is indeed a bloodline in the objective sense. Even if you disguise yourself as a family member and gain the trust of others, you still cannot gain the territory's recognition."

"It seems there are only two ways to obtain a territory: either become a servant under those knights and, if you perform great deeds, they will reward you with a knighthood if they are in a good mood, or you can inherit a title from your own family."

"It seems this thing is useless to me."

Caleb looked at Breden with a smile that sent chills down his spine. Then Caleb did something that made his pupils dizzy with shock.

With a wave of his right hand, he removed all the ropes, and Breden landed safely on the ground, while the other members, having been bound by the ropes for too long, fell to the ground.

"What do you want to do?" Breden looked at the other man warily, slightly cracking his wrists.

"I want to make a deal with your ally Duke Theodore."

He wore a terrifying expression, as if he wanted to devour something.

"I have already given that token to a mage who is going to the Antir Region."

"If only Duke Theodore could help me get rid of a mage named Zeno Harper, who is also in the Antir region."

"I will provide information about the mage who carried the token after I see his head."

"It wouldn't have needed to be this complicated..." He lowered his voice at the end, so that no one else present heard his last sentence.

Breden stared intently at the mage before him, somewhat puzzled as to why this mage would hire someone to kill another mage.

Aren't all you mages in the Alliance?

"Um..." He was about to say that Duke Theodore might be hesitant to act because of the Alliance, and wanted to use this opportunity to discuss the deal further.

But Caleb interrupted him immediately:

"I know Duke Theodore has hired the Blood Wolf Knights. Just let them do it. There's no need to haggle with me. If you accept, you can leave; if not..."

"Why?" Curtis, who was struggling to get up from the ground, asked. He was curious as to why the other party would go to the trouble of killing a mage, and couldn't help but blurt it out.

"Nothing, I just want Zeno Harper dead." Unexpectedly, Caleb answered his question with a complicated expression.