The First Magic World War

The residence had clearly been searched; the door had been kicked in, but fortunately, there weren't any valuables in the house. After inspecting the damage, Charles found that he had lost some property, but it wasn't serious—in total, less than an Aegeus.

Fortunately, this place was Elysian Pastoral Avenue, and he quickly found people to repair the door for him. He also hired a few middle-aged maids to clean the rooms again, as well as two errand boys to send safe messages to Miss Annie Brittany and Silvie Martin.

In Strasbourg, he only had two social connections. Apart from "someone's past" which he had thoroughly severed, there were only these two young ladies left.

That night, both Annie and Silvie had someone send replies. Since it was too late, no one came over, but they both indicated in their letters that they would visit him early the next morning.

Charles didn't go back to his room upstairs, instead falling asleep in the small study on the ground floor.

The escape hadn't lasted long, but it left Charles feeling extremely exhausted. It was an experience he never wanted to go through a second time.

The next morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, Charles remembered something he seemed to have forgotten.

He had left those adventurers in Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu had become completely maze-ified; in other words, without his permission, almost no one could enter the ancient fortress of the Beastman Kingdom, and the people, demons, evil spirits, and oddities inside couldn't leave.

"Should I find some time to go back to Machu Picchu?"

"I don't even know what a maze-ified ancient fortress looks like yet!"

"There's a three-day holiday coming up. After I receive Annie and Silvie, I'll set off for Machu Picchu."

Miss Annie Brittany arrived very early. She was even a bit out of breath when she knocked on the door, clearly having run a considerable distance, although she had a carriage for part of the way.

Upon seeing Charles, Miss Annie almost threw herself into his embrace, her eyes brimming with affection, and with a choked voice she said, "Why didn't you tell me? A mere prison warden doesn't have the right to act unilaterally. I can help you."

As a transmigrator, Charles truly did not dare to entrust his life and property to a noble young lady he hadn't truly interacted with yet. Perhaps Annie was pure enough, but her family was full of political animals who would not care about personal feelings, only interests.

He was unfamiliar with the upper echelons of the Fars Empire, not knowing who was allied with whom or who was an enemy.

What if the Brittany Family had a feud with the Su Mei Family?

But of course, he wouldn't be so blunt, and Charles reciprocated the hug with emotion, not following up on Annie's words but instead changing the subject: "Miss Annie, I've been panicking these past few days, fearing I would never see you again."

Annie was deeply touched, and they embraced each other, clearly having crossed the boundaries of friendship and stepping into...

Before the two could do anything more, they heard Silvie's energetic voice: "Charles! Are you really alright now?"

Annie was startled and hurriedly struggled out of Charles's embrace, took a handkerchief, wiped away her tears, and then casually passed it to Charles.

Charles had overacted the part and managed to squeeze out a few tears, although his tears were far from as sincere as those of Miss Annie.

Silvie Martin and Vinnie Yarseno walked in together; the Liemar Detective Agency's president, seeing Charles, her eyes sparkling, said, "Mister Mecklen, I must admit I underestimated you."

"You actually managed to kill eight detectives from the Liemar Detective Agency during your escape, including three Transcendents. It's truly astonishing. What kind of combat prowess is this?"

"I have been in the detective business for many years, and I have only seen one or two vicious criminals with such formidable fighting strength."

"Oh! Sorry, I know that Mister Mecklen is innocent, and he can't be compared with those criminals."

Anne Brittany was startled and asked, "How did you get involved with the Liemar Detective Agency?"

Charles made a show of nonchalance as he put away his handkerchief and answered, "Mr. Magru Teller wanted me to report on Sister Menilman. I refused to dirty my hands and desperately fled. Fearing that these dirty dealings would be leaked, he framed me for stealing an Extraordinary Weapon impounded by the prison and paid a hefty sum for the Liemar Detective Agency's men to hunt me down."

"I actually wanted to explain to those detectives, but they didn't give me a chance."

Anne exclaimed in shock, "You were actually able to counter-kill them while being pursued by eight Liemar detectives?"

Not just Anne, but even Silvie Martin, who had already known about this affair, couldn't help but look at Charles with new eyes, feeling that this former fiancé truly had some heroic qualities, and she almost didn't recognize him.

Vini Yarsaenu described vividly, "Wells is a fortune teller, rumored to be able to forecast bullet trajectories and slash through bullets with a rapier. Addison and Winterburn both practiced the Flame Dragon's Breath Breathing Method of the Liemar Detective Agency, one a Third Order Flame Dragon Knight and the other a Fourth Order Flame Dragon Knight. If those few joined forces, even I might not be sure of an easy victory."

"Mr. Charles, may I ask what Breathing Technique you practice?"

"What Order Knight are you now?"

Charles was slightly embarrassed, speaking in a low voice, "My path as a knight hasn't been smooth. Silvie knows, I studied the Lamia Breathing Technique at the Behemoth National College, but even by graduation, I had only just managed to condense a seed of strength, never breaking through."

"During my university years, I gave up the Dark Breath and chose Bloody Glory, and I've barely made a breakthrough to the Fourth Order now."

Charles then said to Anne, "I'm sorry, I lied to Miss Annie that day."

Anne Brittany still remembered, when they first met, Charles had claimed to be a First Rank Transcendent but she bore no grudge. Covering her mouth with her small hand, she whispered, "I don't blame you."

Charles had no choice. He hadn't known Annie for long, and no matter how much he boasted, there was no explaining how he could possibly have broken through from First to Fourth Order in such a short period of time.

As everyone knows, to make such a great leap in power levels in such a short time, there is only one possibility—summoning the Evil God!

This matter, absolutely cannot be mentioned!

It was a crime punishable by burning at the stake.

In the eyes of all three ladies, the impression of Charles underwent an earth-shattering change, and it was a very positive one.

He invited the three ladies to the small study, where Vini Yarsaenu had her Tri-Flower Fat Cat purchase some fruit wine and pastries. The four of them talked merrily, chatting away the entire morning until the three ladies took their leave together.

Anne didn't actually want to say goodbye, but it wouldn't have been proper for her to make it too obvious, especially since she was a girl from the Brittany Family. As a noble miss, there were some dignities she couldn't cast aside.