Just as Lyle had thought, Ralph’s arrival brought us a surprise the moment he came into contact with Echel and the others.

On his way, Lyle took Ralph back to Naslan Castle for a trip, bringing the "harmless" Nia to a "safe" place. Without Nia by his side, Ralph displayed the brooding appearance Lyle remembered, as well as the outstanding abilities that matched his coldness.

"Devonrayla? One of the top ten noble families in the western kingdom of Kedaran. It is said that a branch of the Devonrayla family betrayed their country a hundred years ago and abandoned the Holy Light."

Ralph’s icy gaze lingered on Echel and Reed for a moment.

"So, my nephew, are you now friends with a barbaric nation that has been expelled by the major kingdoms?"

"Our current location, in the Scansor Mountains area on the western side of the continent, the boundary of human society?"

Confronted with Ralph’s aggressive demeanor, Echel didn’t get angry; in fact, his eyes sparkled with admiration. "Yes, Mr. Ralph, apart from the ’barbaric’ point, your deduction of the intelligence isn’t far off."

"You indeed are an excellent reconnaissance master, as outstanding as Lyle described."

"Lyle’s description?" Ralph raised an eyebrow, "My foolish nephew actually mentioned me in front of outsiders."

Echel laughed heartily.

"Quite the opposite, Mr. Lyle is the most cultivated young man I have met so far, and his admiration for you is enough for him to stand proud in the face of royal power. Mr. Ralph, I have as much confidence in you as I trust Lyle."

"...I still do not know the names of your countries, Your Majesties."

"Liveser, Ranger’s Country, Tree-top Country. And Dreya, the country of knights, which is the country beneath our feet."

"Interesting nations, I’m sure those kingdoms concocted a set of lies to denigrate the image of their enemies, I am honored to be able to relieve distress for your kingdom."

For the first time, Lyle saw Ralph’s diplomatic mode in action, whereas before he had been worried Ralph might suffocate the two old kings with his words.

Ralph quickly got into work mode and even took command of the Night Owl Squad silently during the planning.

"I need two people to assist me in tracking the Devonrayla envoy, to determine his movement patterns and routines. In addition, arrange for two people to monitor the Masked Knights. There’s no need to get close; I need to understand their general range of activity and some details, such as secret signals and gestures. Someone also needs to go deep into another storage area; I want to know the specific situation of those supplies, whether they are storing military weapons or if there are other issues."

"That’s roughly the plan; after that, it will be adjusted according to any changes. Is there anything unclear?"

Under Ralph’s "gentle" gaze, the Night Owl Squad showed the spirit befitting an elite unit.

Dove puckered her lips, "My goodness, who have we brought back?"

Ralph had sharp ears; he looked at Dove and revealed a sinister smile.

"I like spirited little devils like you..."

In the end, Dove was assigned to a reserve position because of her attitude, as an emergency substitute. Lyle watched her curl up in a corner, her eyes vacant, mumbling as if in a trance.

"I am a chatty little devil..."

Lyle also wanted to contribute.

Ralph pressed down on his hat, leaving his nephew with a view of his back.

"I have prepared a crucial role for you, Mr. Lyle."

"Please ensure the safety of the two kings."

You just stay put.

Ralph started his tracking operation with Skylark and Parrot. He took Skylark with him because he was the fire support; Parrot, presumably because Parrot’s indifferent face could elicit Ralph’s favor.

After observing the Devonrayla envoy from the shadows for three hours.

"This envoy is in disguise; his face is not his real one."

"I can’t see through it," a member of the Night Owl Squad expressed respect for the professional.

"There is a layer of powder around his facial edges. While it’s true that nobles have the habit of dressing themselves up, they wouldn’t just decorate the edges. That’s used for concealing cover-up traces, and also, look at his sideburns. There’s an obvious difference in skin color before and after the ear. Normal people can’t achieve that." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The opinion of the envoy in a mask was quickly confirmed.

"So your deduction is that this envoy is just a puppet pushed to the forefront by the Devonrayla family?"

"Yes, we are certain that there is someone issuing commands from behind the scenes, invisible."

Ralph tapped his right index finger on the back of his left hand.

"Does a pawn still need a disguise, or does the Devonrayla family not trust those Masked Knights, which would allow us to narrow down the affiliation of the Masked Knights to a smaller scope? Or, there must be a reason he must wear a disguise."

"What reason?"

"Don’t know, maybe his real face is so striking that it affects normal communication."

Three days later, Ralph found a pattern in the activities of the Devonrayla envoy.

"His activities have a very strict regularity; even if the daily routes and the duration of his conversations vary, he would meet with the Masked Knight at the arranged time. Two Masked Knights were seated in front of the basement door, surrounded by four disguised sentinels, two Dreya Knights sitting at table four in the opposite tavern, a beggar arriving thirty minutes before at the church door to ask for alms, and the grey-clothed shopkeeper of the diagonally opposite shop."

"After the Devonrayla envoy makes that move, the sentries move their gaze away," Ralph mimicked the envoy’s action of flipping a coin.

"That’s our chance. Those Masked Knights trust the agreed-upon signals more than identifying the disguised envoy." Ralph’s eyes gleamed, like a wolf spotting prey, "We can disguise ourselves as the envoy and extract information from the Masked Knights."

Skylark spoke up.

"We will ensure that during your contact time, there will be no second Devonrayla envoy."

"We must not kill him. To ensure Queen Dreya’s safety, let’s not startle the snake by hitting the grass. It’s a bit troublesome, if it’s something like rendering him unconscious, the envoy with a strict routine will certainly detect our anomaly during the next contact."

"Dove can concoct a corresponding toxin to put that envoy into a befuddled state, giving him the false impression that he has experienced everything."

"Very good," Ralph realized these Liveser people were far more useful than his previous teammates.

"After meeting up with the others, we’ll proceed with the next plan."

Ralph walked back to the agreed-upon location.

He paused for a moment.

"There is still one question."

"If a person can restrain their behavior to create a specific regularity in their actions, then it means that they are cautious and intelligent by nature."

"A cautious person wouldn’t lack a sense of crisis."

"It wouldn’t be like what we see, with no counter-surveillance measures at all."

"If it’s an order strictly demanded by Greda Devonrayla, it would be understandable for a servant."

Ralph buried the doubts in his heart.

In his mind, there remained a hypothesis, but its likelihood was infinitesimal.

Unless the person behind the scenes shared Ralph’s meticulous mindset or even surpassed it.

If his intellectual ability already exceeded that of a spy master.

Then his scheme would span far beyond just one country.