The Night Owl Squad members finally gathered together and summarized the intelligence they had collected.

"In Dreya, someone is spreading unfavorable rhetoric about Liveser, but the source doesn’t come from official Dreya channels," Zither Bird shrugged, "Liveser is portrayed as a savage who drinks blood and likes to eat corpses."

Glanced at Lyle.

"There are rumors that Liveser possesses Necromancy."

Echel nodded, "It’s understandable, I mean their eagerness to fabricate stories can be understood, considering the cultural differences. Next."

"Most of the material flux within Dreya comes from the transportation channels of the Devonrayla family. But the overall numbers are peculiar. Even though Dreya is a small nation, the quantity of materials needed is astonishing," Skylark passed the copied accounts to Echel. "If the Devonrayla family can afford the expenses of an entire nation, then why don’t they establish one themselves."

"Maybe they really are incredibly incompetent," Dove offered his opinion.

"Strength can be accumulated, and the strength of Dreya and Liveser is also built upon the resources of Sword Dance Mandala."

"Could it be that they want the resources of the Sword Dance Mandala?"

"To get Dreya is to naturally obtain the Sword Dance Mandala."

Nightingale pulled out a small map, pointing to two markings on it.

"These are the meeting places of the Devonrayla envoy and the Masked Knight, underneath the Church of the Holy Light, with the entrance at the open space behind, a single entry and exit, with a hidden sentry. The Dreya Knights will avoid this location, claiming that it’s a storage area for Devonrayla materials. There’s another similar storage area, located on an estate of a Dreya Knight who was confirmed dead three days ago, the land deed is still being processed, later it became a temporary public storage for materials."

"Hiding under the Church of the Holy Light, does that mean they want to masquerade as church forces?"

"Why pretend to be church forces? Maybe they really are part of the church?"

"Would you sneak around and commit unsavory deeds in your own home? And do such things that can’t bear scrutiny in your basement?" Echel tapped his fingers, "If someone really does that, it’s either they are really foolish, or they are really mad."

Zhen stepped out, "Next is the surveillance investigation on that envoy. An ordinary person with no threat, probably just a mouthpiece cultivated by the family, a puppet. The real Greda Devonrayla has not been discovered, but his orders are being executed well by the puppet. We cannot rule out the Devonrayla family having some hidden forces."

Parrot spoke up, "Regarding those Masked Knights, the tracking results are a failure. Their whereabouts are unknown, they are stealth experts even more skilled than we are." A flicker of disturbance appeared in Parrot’s icy gaze.

"I haven’t attempted further tracking. There’s a feeling in my mind that those Masked Knights are very dangerous."

Dove jumped out, "I went to the tavern."

An icy voice appeared in Dove’s ear, "You, can’t drink."

Dove’s body shivered. "It was for reconnaissance, Zhen sis, I didn’t drink, I was just curious to look."

"Those drunks only spout boring nonsense, but there was still some interesting stuff. The people of Dreya say their Founder’s Mausoleum shows signs of disturbance, now knights guard the mausoleum all day."

Lyle looked at Mr. Reed.

This was already known information, and there might even be Mr. Echel’s shoe prints there, considering their founder came back from the dead.

"The people of Dreya are very angry about this; the Dead King holds a very important place in their hearts, and there’s even talk about the deterioration from one generation to the next—sigh, the queen even wants to sell herself, and some people still think it’s not okay."

"The world has gone downhill; it’s a cold and uncaring place," Echel said, patting his arm. "Hmm...these are all fragmented pieces of information. As expected, we still need to figure out the identities of the Masked Knights and what exactly are they planning?"

"Has espionage become unviable? Like replacing the Devonrayla envoy with one of our own and getting information from the Masked Knights?"

"We’re unfamiliar with that family’s customs, and Liveser’s longstanding imagined enemy has only been Dreya, and you know, Dreya doesn’t need espionage work."

"They plot loudly in secret."

Lyle covered his mouth while Dove already burst out laughing. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Upon seeing this, Echel gave the young lad a punch, which quieted him down.

"Reed, does the Devonrayla family have any particular customs?"

Reed shook his head. "I just couldn’t stand those rigid doctrines, which is why I became independent."

"Dreya turning out this way, however you think about it, it’s the founder’s fault." Echel slapped his own face, trying to rally himself, "So, we now need a master spy, and according to Parrot’s intuition, those Masked Knights are dangerous. We can’t expose ourselves; we only have one chance. We need a very powerful master spy."

Echel first glanced around at his Night Owl Squad; they all relied on natural camouflage to begin their work and were not suited for spy missions that relied on personal experience. They depended too much on their ranger abilities.

On Reed’s end, PASS, the people of Dreya were not adept at intrigue.

"That said, our only option is to find a way to hire mercenaries, those specialized in espionage."

"Are there any suitable candidates in the City of Wandering?"

"There are a few races that excel at disguise, but... they have little contact with the human race. It will probably be very difficult for them to mimic lifestyle habits."

Lyle was helpless. In plain terms, whether it was Liveser, Dreya, or the City of Wandering, they were all a bunch of recluses who had withdrawn from human society. Their contact with ordinary human society was almost nonexistent.

The Night Owl Squad was dispatched to continue searching for useful intelligence, while Echel remained deep in thought at the original location.

Lyle looked at Echel, feeling puzzled.

Why would a former king of an enemy country, a king who had lost his own son, care so much about this country? Was it really just sympathy for Queen Lina of Dreya?

Lyle didn’t let his question sink into the depths of his heart; instead, he took the initiative to ask it out loud.

"Echel, Carnot Livesey, the deceased Night Owl, right?"

Upon hearing that name, a visible struggle appeared in Echel’s eyes.

He sighed, "The Night Owl Squad told you, they probably share the same confusion as you."

"Well then, I might as well tell you about what exactly my son did."

"The Night Owl, Carnot Livesey, my son, was killed by the Dreya Knights. I don’t grieve for him; in fact, I feel angry."

"Why did Carnot die in Dreya?"

"Because he went mad."

"At that time, I had just passed the crown to him. He told me he would make a big name for himself."

"A few days later, he reached an agreement with the king of Dreya, Reed’s son."

"The two kingdoms would form an alliance to face the harassment of other countries together. Reed and I had battled for a lifetime, and now our sons wanted to make peace? The absurdity of it made me laugh, and I began to fantasize about what it would be like to meet that old geezer."

"I blessed my child and watched him attend Dreya’s invitation banquet."

"He died."

"The peace treaty was torn apart, and it was nothing but a hoax concocted by Dreya in the first place, a deceit that killed my Carnot. In my rage, I went mad. I took up my longbow and went to Dreya alone for revenge."

"Do you know what I saw?"

"I attended Lina’s coronation ceremony and the funerals of two generations of Dreya kings."

"The one who tore the treaty was my Carnot. At the banquet, he poisoned a host of Dreya’s top officials, including Reed. In front of his granddaughter, he killed my old adversary and his son. In the end, he was killed by the furious Dreya Knights who banded together against him."

"Was he wrong? No, as a king, he wasn’t wrong. His actions could even be hailed as heroic by the people of Liveser."

"But this is not what I wanted! My child was a ranger, and rangers may be ruthless! But rangers do not betray friends! They do not shoot arrows at a handshake! They do not poison a smile! His actions were pure torture to me!"

"Until the moment I died, I remained immersed in regret for Reed and Dreya."

Echel roared, his eyes bulging as he stared intensely at Lyle, before finally exhaling a sigh.

And reverted to that tormented old man.