Claude slowly walked up the stairs and pricked up his ears to listen for any movements above.
Unexpectedly, it was very quiet up there. There wasn't even the slightest sound. Even when he focused, he couldn't hear anyone breathing.
Where's the person?
Claude reached the second floor without a hitch and didn't see a single person.
It was a two-meter-wide passageway with suites on both sides.
The floor of the passageway was covered in a dark red woolen carpet. It looked much more luxurious than the one in the hall below.
He gently pushed open the wooden door of the first room on the left. The door was rather thick and the room was rather messy, but it was clear that no one was hiding inside.
It was a large room with a smaller room inside. The smaller room was the bedroom with a large bed in it. The mattress on the bed was messy and it was obvious that an intense fight had taken place there. The scent of harmony could still be smelled in the air.
Next to the bedroom was a small washroom with a toilet bowl and a basin. No one was hiding inside.
There was a table in the large room with some gambling chips and wooden cards on it. Beside the table were four armchairs with thick velvet cushions.
However, one of the chairs was overturned on the ground. It was obvious that the owner had knocked it over in a hurry.
On the left side of the wall were two single sofas and a large coffee table. On the coffee table, there were a few bottles of white grape wine and blueberry wine, as well as five or six glasses. Two of the bottles were empty, and one was half-filled. Two of the glasses still had a small glass of fruit wine in them.
There was a long table placed against the wall opposite the door. On it were several silver plates filled with roasted meat, honey bread, and fruits.
Claude backed out of the room and entered the first one on the right.
The layout of this room was similar to the one on the left. Perhaps because there wasn't anyone in the room, everything in this room was neatly arranged.
How could there be no one here?
Claude quickly checked all the rooms on the second floor, but the results were the same. There wasn't a single person in the room.
That's impossible. Those people didn't go down the stairs. Claude remembered that he had been paying attention to the staircase leading to the second floor when he was fighting the guards.
He walked to the landing on the second floor. Indeed, there was only one staircase and one corridor. There were fourteen rooms on both sides of the corridor and seven doors on each side. There were no other exits.
In that case, there was only one possibility. There were other secret passages on the second floor, and those people, including Abigail, had all escaped through those secret passages …
"He's on the second floor!"
"Over there!
Catch him! "
Claude looked down and saw a large group of Blacksnake gang members swarming in through the metal gates. They wore all sorts of jackets and wielded all sorts of weapons. Two of them were even armed with muskets.
After a rough count, there were at least fifty to sixty people rushing into the underground hall from the staircase …
The gang members had the advantage in numbers. The moment they entered the metal gates, they saw Claude on the second floor pondering and started clamoring.
But when they entered the underground hall and saw the miserable state of the burly men on the ground, their cries immediately became softer. The ones at the front even dropped their weapons in fright and fell to the ground.
Claude dashed back into the corridor. He didn't want to be a target on the platform.
Looking at the doors on both sides of the corridor, he nervously wondered which room had the secret passage.
Excluding the guest suites, the most likely one was the room in the middle that was used as a storage room.
He remembered that the suite he was in was different from the others. There were two single beds in the smaller room while the larger room outside was filled with shelves filled with all sorts of gambling equipment and boxes of food and wine.
If there was a secret passage on the second floor, it wouldn't be in the guest suites. It could only be in this room, which was guarded by his own men to ensure the safety of the passage.
Claude first touched the shelves and found that there were no problems with them. There were so many heavy items on them that they couldn't be moved at all.
Claude entered the small room again and kicked the two single beds.
The single bed outside was fine, but the single bed inside made a hollow sound.
Sure enough, when he lifted the bed board, there was a dark hole, and there was a ladder beside the hole.
Claude placed a Luminous Pearl down and found that it was only a small, square-shaped room about two meters tall. There was a hole in the wall beside the room.
Claude jumped down and went to the side of the door. He tossed another Luminous Pearl into the hole. Behind the hole was a long and narrow passageway that snaked upwards to who knew where.
Under the illumination of the Luminous Pearl, Claude could clearly see the messy footprints on the ground and the mud walls beside the passageway were also scratched.
After applying a long-range arrow protection spell on himself, Claude entered the passageway and cast a Luminous Pearl from a distance to prevent any ambushes.
The passageway was only about 50 meters long and it wasn't ambushed like Claude had expected.
The passageway was less than a meter wide and it went all the way to the end. There was nowhere to set up an ambush even if he wanted to.
At the exit was a shabby shack. There were three young women dressed like maidservants inside. They probably didn't go out because it was too cold outside and were huddled in a corner of the shack to keep warm.
Seeing Claude come out from the exposed exit, the three maidservants hugged each other and trembled.
"Where are they?" Claude asked in a low voice.
One of the bolder maidservants pointed outside the shack. "They … they're all gone."
Claude ignored them and walked out of the shack. It was a small alley that seemed to lead to the slums on one end and to Hurian's shop on the other … Ha, isn't this the way to Hurian's shop?
He turned to look in the direction of the slums and heard a hubbub of voices. It was obvious that Blacksnake had found out that something big had happened in their territory and was gathering all their men there. It seemed that this place would be affected very soon.
Even though he was certain that Arbeit would return to the slums, he couldn't settle the score with him given the current situation.
Consider yourself lucky. Claude spat on the ground unwillingly and turned to leave the other end of the alleyway.
He felt rather sullen. He had fought with the Blacksnake gang for nothing, disrupted their territory, and killed so many men who were spectating. Yet, he didn't achieve his initial goal.
Even though he found Arbeit, he wasn't able to teach him the lesson he deserved and could only watch as he roamed about freely. How inconsiderate!
The weather was getting colder and colder. Just now, they were sweating profusely in that field. Now, they felt the bone-chilling wind outside. No wonder the three maids were hiding in the shabby shack and didn't want to go out. With the summer dresses they were wearing, going out was asking for trouble.
The snowflakes had already turned into goose feathers and were falling from the sky.
Claude turned back to take a look. Not bad. It wouldn't take long for the snow to cover his footprints.
Blacksnake wouldn't be able to track where he went, so he didn't have to worry about them finding out about him.
Claude gave it some thought and didn't think it was possible for his identity to be exposed. So, he tightened his robe and pulled down his hood before walking in a certain direction.
The snow was getting heavier and heavier and he couldn't see the path in front of him clearly.
However, he had already reached the intersection of four alleys in front of Hurian's shop. He looked at the direction and decisively chose the alley that led to the lake.
Even though he had to make a big turn, there weren't many people there and he didn't have to worry about being seen.
The sky was dark and snow was falling everywhere.
Claude stepped on the snow on the ground with a crisp crunch.
As he got closer and closer to the entrance of the alleyway, the sound of wheels, footsteps and laughter could be heard. A few figures turned into the alleyway and pushed a cart to block Claude's path.
Claude silently moved to the side of the wall and made way for them.
The few people pushed the cart past him and looked at him suspiciously.
However, they weren't interested in causing trouble and continued pushing the cart forward after giving him a few glances.
A woman's voice rang out. "I smell blood. Do you smell it?"
"No, you must be mistaken. It must be the Bloody Mary you drank at the end of the night," another man's voice rang out.
"Of course not. Bloody Mary is only used to describe the color of wine, not the smell. My nose is very sensitive," the woman retorted.
"I don't smell it. Let's go. We'll be home soon and it'll be warm. It's too cold outside. I told you to pack up early but you wouldn't."
Claude smiled bitterly. Even though he hadn't seen them before, he could tell who they were from their voices.
The woman was Kefnie's sister, Kathlyn, and the man was her boyfriend, Gerard of Shark. The others beside them were their guards.
It seemed that they had just finished packing up at the plaza of the moon goddess's shrine.
Last year, it was also the night of the new students' welcome. Kefnie worked as a temporary tavern maid in the tent Kathlyn rented.
Even though it was branded as Mermaid Tavern, Claude later found out that it was a temporary tavern rented by Kathlyn under the name of Mermaid Tavern's owner, Aleksim. In order to avoid trouble, she used Mermaid Tavern's name.
It was said that the profits from the tavern on the first night of the year were enough to pay for Kefnie's tuition for a year.
He sniffed himself and found that the stench of blood was indeed strong. It was definitely from the close combat battle with the three guards.
One of them had his weapon snatched and stabbed seven times, another had his neck slit and the last one had his hand twisted off. Blood splattered all over his body, but he didn't notice it.
He didn't think that Kathlyn would have the nose of a dog and smell the blood the moment she passed by him.
Her boyfriend, on the other hand, didn't want any accidents to happen, so he pretended he didn't know anything.
It seemed that he wouldn't be able to keep his clothes after he got back. He would have to stuff them into the stove and burn them.
After the cart passed by, Claude returned to the road and was about to continue on his way. Unexpectedly, a figure rushed out of the alley and knocked into him.
"Ouch … Clatter …"
The first was a clear female voice that sounded rather familiar.
The second was the sound of the basket in the hands of the figure falling to the ground. There was a sound from the basket, as if something had broken.
The cart and the figure in front of him stopped and Kathlyn's voice rang out. "Kefnie, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
"I knocked into someone. Ouch!"
Claude lost his footing and fell to the ground. Fortunately, there was a layer of snow on the ground and he didn't feel any pain.
The girl knocked into Claude's chest. Perhaps she was running too fast or the snow was too slippery, but she didn't manage to stop in time and pushed Claude to the ground.
She didn't fall to the ground because of Claude's body. Instead, she knelt on the ground and rubbed her knees.
"I'm sorry, Mister. Are you alright?" Perhaps because her knees weren't hurting anymore, Kefnie finally remembered who she had knocked into.
"I'm fine. Can I trouble you to move a little?"
Said Claude. Kefnie was on top of his robe, so it was no wonder her knees didn't hurt after rubbing them a little.
"Ah, sorry, sorry …" The girl hurriedly apologized and stood up.
Her nose twitched as she asked, "What's that smell?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I was helping someone slaughter a goat last night and got some blood on my clothes. I was just about to go back and wash it," said Claude.
"Eh, your voice sounds familiar. You are …" The girl looked at Claude with widened eyes.
It was only then that Claude realized he had forgotten to lower his voice. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask.
He hurriedly lowered his head. "It's not me …"