"That wretched Lady South Seraph!"

  "Indeed, it was Lady South Seraph who murdered the Baroness."

  "We fought to our st breath but couldn’t stop those fiends."

  "We will avenge the Baron!"

  "They even refused to spare the poor children."

  Under Charlot Mecklenburg's relentless efforts, nearly every member of the West Wind Knights admitted without hesitation that Lady South Seraph was responsible for murdering the Baron’s family.

  Charlot took a deep breath and shouted, "However, among us, there are traitors who have been informing Lady South Seraph! Those who left the knights today—I will report all their names truthfully to the Empire. In the war report, I will note their participation in the murder of the Baron’s entire family!"

  The soldiers of the West Wind Knights fell into a brief silence, but soon many of them joined Charlot in chanting slogans.

  Charlot’s voice grew hoarse, but he finally managed to calm the knights down. Then he assigned Yellow Bear and his men to gather the Baron’s family’s corpses. Personally leading the team, Charlot transported the bodies to the outskirts, where he burned them to ashes in a grand bze.

  Baron Feller died in battle, while the Baroness and their three children were brutally killed by the South Seraph restorationists. Just like that, Silver Dove Castle inexplicably fell into Charlot Mecklenburg’s hands.

  Naturally, Charlot did not hesitate to move a group of people into the Baron’s residence.

  This time, he made no mention of dividing the Baron’s wealth among everyone.

  The Baron’s wealth was simply too immense.

  Charlot feared that the soldiers of the West Wind Knights would lose control. If they received a rge sum of money today, they might abscond with it by nightfall, leaving the Empire with thousands of fugitives and disrupting public order.

  After settling into the Baron’s mansion, Charlot, Dolores Soumet, and Frederica finished their meal and decided to take a tour of their new residence.

  The leopard-girl Frederica had reverted to her original appearance. Given the chaotic and tense atmosphere within the West Wind Knights, no one noticed that the commander now had a beautiful girl by his side. Even if someone had noticed, no one dared to question it.

  Though Charlot had not been leading the West Wind Knights for long, he had already established considerable authority. Everyone in the knights knew that this commander was ruthless and merciless. None dared to challenge his power.

  ...

  The Baron’s mansion, though not among the most luxurious in the Fars Empire, was still impressive. It cked the historical depth of 58 Elysée Avenue in the Val-de-Vas District, where the Bretagne family resided—a family far superior to the Feller family.

  Yet, as a noble of the seventh rank, Baron Feller’s estate still drew Charlot’s admiration. Silver Dove Castle was not merely a manor but a fortress-like structure within the city of Silver Dove, akin to Strasbourg.

  Its name: Dove Castle.

  The first Baron Feller had invited the renowned artist Min Budasso of Byron to design and construct the castle over thirteen years.

  The original site of Dove Castle had a small hill. Min Budasso had shaved half of it off to create a four-tiered terrace on the side facing outward, seamlessly integrating it with the city walls. On the side facing inward, he designed a courtyard elevated more than ten pimi above the city streets.

  From the outside, Dove Castle stood tall and majestic, exuding an imposing presence. From within, the view was expansive and commanding, offering a feeling of superiority.

  Spanning over 100,000 square pimi, Dove Castle boasted five main structures and nearly a thousand rooms. Generations of Barons Feller had amassed countless artworks, paintings, antiques, sculptures, and even extraordinary artifacts, each worth a fortune.

  Charlot’s eyes sparkled as he evaluated the value of these treasures.

  He pnned to fabricate a report to deceive the Empire, though he harbored little hope that the Empire’s fourth-grade clerks would buy his lies. Should the Empire send someone to investigate, Charlot was prepared to flee.

  This expedition wasn’t meant to be a retreat, and Charlot had not brought much cash with him. Following his usual practice, he had deposited all his savings in the Savings Union. Unfortunately, the Savings Union did not operate in Silver Dove, leaving him unable to access his funds. If the Empire issued a bounty for his capture, he risked losing all his money. His only hope y in the cash flow left behind by Baron Feller to offset his losses.

  The thought of fleeing without being able to carry away the castle’s gold, jewels, stables, or estates filled Charlot with regret.

  “Hm!”

  “If there’s even a one-in-ten-thousand chance...”

  “If the Empire believes my nonsense, they’ll send someone to take over Silver Dove Castle. After all, this is a baron’s territory. There’s no way they’d leave it to a fourth-grade clerk of the thirty-fourth rank.”

  “That means I must gather as much wealth as possible. Otherwise, all this effort would be for nothing—leaving me empty-handed while others reap the rewards!”

  Behind Charlot, a butler named Dart followed, trembling slightly.

  The Baron’s residence had sixteen butlers, fifteen of whom were now dead. Four had perished on the battlefield alongside Baron Feller, while the rest were killed in the knights’ camp under the pretense of having been executed by the South Seraph restorationists.

  Dart, the sole surviving butler, did not believe this fabricated tale, but he dared not question it. He even suspected that whether he believed it or not, his own death was imminent.

  However, as someone trained to be a competent butler from a young age, Dart had no other thoughts and devoted himself to serving his new “master.”

  Charlot asked, “Butler Dart, do you know how many extraordinary artifacts the Baron had collected?”

  Dart mustered his courage, his teeth chattering. “The Barons have always been selective, collecting only the finest pieces. Dove Castle holds forty-five extraordinary artifacts!”

  Charlot was overjoyed. He thought, “Forty-five? While it’s not as many as the artifacts confiscated over the years at Kilmainham Prison, these are all top-quality items. The ones at the prison were mostly junk.”

  He asked, “Do you have an inventory?”

  Dart wiped the sweat from his brow and replied, “Yes, the Baron kept a detailed catalog of his collection, updated annually with descriptions.”

  Charlot said, “Bring it to me.”

  He was quite pleased with the Baron’s foresight. On the Old Continent, many nobles had the habit of cataloging their collections and sharing the lists with nearby aristocrats for mutual benefit.

  This practice, Charlot noted, was absent in the medieval societies of Earth, reflecting a cultural difference between the two worlds.

  Before long, Charlot received the inventory. Skipping over the sections on artwork, he turned to the pages listing the extraordinary artifacts. Each artifact was given a dedicated page with detailed descriptions.

  One item caught Charlot’s eye: a knight’s nce. His current extraordinary artifacts were either vampiric weapons or standard products of cssical alchemy, but this knight’s nce was a masterpiece of cssical alchemy.