A few days later, Colin sat on the sofa, bored out of his mind, staring at the book in his hands, occasionally taking a small sip from his teacup.
Of course, although he looked like he was reading, in truth, he had only glanced at it briefly before zoning out.
After all, he really didn’t like the book in front of him; he was only reading it to pass the time.
But the more he looked at it, the harder it was to keep reading, so he resorted to spacing out to kill time instead.
These past few days, because of the strong insistence from Liyami and the others, Colin had to rest properly for a while.
So, he could only stay in this mansion, watching them come and go, busy with their own affairs.
Meanwhile, he was stuck on the sofa drinking black tea and reading books.
This made him very uncomfortable.
At first, it was manageable; he could endure it.
But ever since Laviniya left to return to the Elf Forest, Liyami and Sifney started coming back to the mansion less and less.
Sifney needed to research ways to remove the silver markings on Liyami and investigate the previous residence of the Demon Clan Remnant Alek, so she rarely returned to the mansion.
Meanwhile, Liyami had to scout the surroundings of her assassination targets, confirm the situation, and prepare plans, so she also wasn’t back very often.
Even when the two of them did come back, it was usually late at night, when Colin was already asleep.
Sometimes, they didn’t return at all and stayed out overnight.
So now, Colin might not even see them for an entire day, and this was driving him mad.
Colin felt like an empty-nest elder, each day hoping his children would come back to visit him, or else he would just wither away here until death.
As for why he didn’t go out for a walk?
At first, Colin did step outside.
But whenever he went out, he would end up helping others solve problems: finding lost cats, mediating disputes, catching thieves, and the like.
This meant he never really got any rest, so Liyami and the others imposed a lockdown order.
Colin was forbidden from going out alone; if he had to go out, he had to be accompanied by one of them.
But since they were too busy to accompany him, he was forced to stay inside the mansion with nothing to do.
Snapping out of his daze, Colin sighed as he looked down at the utterly uninteresting book in his hands.
The reason he was reading this book he had no interest in was that he had already finished all the ones he liked.
Now, besides reading, drinking tea, and sunbathing, he had nothing else to do.
Colin cast his eyes toward the front door, fervently hoping someone would open it.
Whether it was Liyami or Sifney, or even demons or thieves, he didn’t care.
He could no longer stand this idle life.
He’d rather be conquering dungeons or hunting demons a hundred times over.
He silently prayed that the “Holy Light” would hear his plea.
Just then, perhaps because his prayer was answered, the mansion’s front door opened.
Standing in the doorway was an excited-looking Liyami.
Liyami glanced at the mission files and recruitment flyers in her hand, looking somewhat troubled.
She had originally thought this assassination task would be simple to complete, but unexpectedly, she encountered unforeseen difficulties.
The target was a slave trader known as “Furnace Hook.”
Why was he called that?
What was his real name?
Few knew, and Liyami didn’t need to.
“Furnace Hook” was a slave trader dealing privately in Orc slaves.
Though it was unofficial, the Kingdom usually turned a blind eye to the trade, so “Furnace Hook” had remained untouchable for a long time.
Now, however, someone finally couldn’t stand “Furnace Hook” anymore (or more likely, his business had grown too large, affecting the official slave merchants) and commissioned the Shadow Veil Society to assassinate him.
Besides his main public place managing Orc slaves, “Furnace Hook” had a secret private mansion in a remote, well-hidden location.
When he had nothing to do or felt in danger, he would hide there to avoid retaliation.
Liyami had originally planned to assassinate him at this hidden mansion because, to maintain secrecy, “Furnace Hook” hadn’t invested heavily in security around it—giving Liyami a perfect opportunity thanks to her inside information.
But when Liyami arrived, she found the place deserted.
For some reason, “Furnace Hook” had temporarily relocated, causing her assassination attempt to fail outright.
For the following days, Liyami searched for his new hideout.
During this time, she also discovered why he had moved.
Apparently, a few wild Orcs accidentally found the old mansion.
Although “Furnace Hook” quickly dealt with them, he worried that the location was compromised and hurriedly changed his hideout.
Thanks to Liyami’s efforts and the clues “Furnace Hook” left behind in his rush, she finally found his new hideout—a small mansion in another secluded location.
Though less concealed and smaller than the last, perhaps learning from past mistakes, “Furnace Hook” had beefed up the security significantly.
Of course, that didn’t mean Liyami was powerless.
No matter how much security “Furnace Hook” added, she could still burst in, kill him, and escape.
After all, he was just a slave trader; how formidable could his guards be?
But Liyami wouldn’t do that.
Such reckless action wouldn’t suit one of the Shadow Veil Society’s top assassins.
It could also lead to the loss of valuable tools and potions.
Maybe “Furnace Hook” had secret defenses she didn’t know about, making a frontal assault too risky.
In short, a direct attack was dangerous, undignified, and not worth it. So Liyami planned another method: infiltrate “Furnace Hook”’s guards, get close to him, find the right moment to kill him, and escape.
The problem was, “Furnace Hook” had suddenly gone mad and changed his recruitment criteria.
What used to be strong candidates for his security now had to be beautiful women.
Was he insane?
Who would want to work for a slave trader, no matter how capable, just because they were beautiful?
Well, actually, some did.
Liyami couldn’t deny this condition suited her perfectly.
Now that she was a powerful and beautiful young woman herself, this method of approaching and assassinating the target would be a breeze.
“But will it really be this easy? I have a bad feeling about this…Fine, I’ll just be extra careful.”
After some mental struggle, Liyami finally made up her mind.
Although the recruitment seemed suspicious, she still believed this was the safest way to carry out the assassination.
Just as Liyami prepared to scout the recruitment site, a spherical light circle suddenly appeared beside her, projecting a blurry figure within.