Dreik City lay in the southwest, with a population of over a hundred thousand. Several hundred li separated it from Lute Village-not exactly close, but not particularly far either.
The atmosphere inside the lord's grand mansion was heavy. Several guards knelt on the floor, trembling beneath their lord's anger.
The lord of Dreik City paced back and forth, shouting at his subordinates in fury, "What good are any of you?! How many times has this happened now? Living, breathing people have simply vanished!"
A hunched old woman dressed in white, her hair tied into two braids, sat in a chair sipping tea. She narrowed her eyes and said, "All this talk won't help now. We need to find a way to catch those thieves. And how many times have I told you? As a martial artist, you must never let impatience and anger get the better of you. That is precisely where you fall short, which is why..."
The lord of Dreik City hastily bowed in apology. Some of the anger faded from his face, but his expression remained dark.
"I'm sorry. You're right, teacher. I was too impatient. But those thieves are simply too brazen. They don't even spare ordinary people, and now they've abducted the city's apothecaries, smiths, and mages as well. Everyone in the city is on edge, and they're beginning to lose faith in me as their lord. Those above me have already started looking into this. If I don't resolve it soon, I'm afraid I'll lose my position."
"You aren't to blame. Those thieves are no ordinary foes. They have an endless array of tricks, and their strength cannot be underestimated. Even my Peerless Transformation Style couldn't stop them. Still, I've called on several old friends to help over the past few days. If those people dare show themselves again, we'll surely capture one. Then we can interrogate our prisoner and find out who is behind all this."
The old woman set down her teacup and spoke calmly, a frightening glint flashing through her cloudy eyes.
"There are fewer this time."
In a hidden basement, Ye Uchiha surveyed the people the manifestations of Hassan of the Hundred Faces had brought back. There were roughly twenty or thirty, a third fewer than in the previous days.
One Hassan casually dropped the unconscious craftsman he was carrying onto the floor, then knelt on one knee before Ye Uchiha. "My deepest apologies, Master. Our operation was discovered, forcing us to withdraw early."
Ye Uchiha frowned and asked, "What happened?"
In Ye Uchiha's eyes, Hassan of the Hundred Faces possessed some of the finest concealment techniques in the Nasuverse. He hadn't expected anyone to discover her. Could this world have beings capable of rivaling Servants?
The Hassan lowered his head and explained, "It was an elderly woman. During the operation, we knocked out the craftsmen we found and prepared to return, but she unexpectedly noticed us as we were leaving. She was also rather difficult to deal with. However, we managed to shake her off before returning and left no traces."
"An old woman? It seems the Kingdom of Melromarc has some powerful people keeping a low profile, if she could actually drive you back. Never mind. Have everyone withdraw. We already have enough people. You can stop now."
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