Their job was simple. They walked around the town, interacted with the citizens, and listened. If they saw someone causing trouble or heard a weird rumor, they sneakily sent the information to Adrian or the main guard force.

Standing at the very forefront of this squad were three familiar faces.

The rogue mage and the two E rank knights he had captured during the bandit ambush.

Adrian walked right up to the three ex-bandits.

"I heard you three were the ones who gave the information to Burke." Adrian smiled at them. "You spotted the assassin outside and sent him right into my room."

"We did our job, my lord." the mage bowed.

"Good job." Adrian praised them loudly and patted the guy’s shoulder. "We were able to get him pretty quick thanks to you guys. I will reward you later."

Adrian turned around and headed back to the mansion.

He was not stupid and he had not walked into his bedroom without any sort of information. The exact moment Adrian stepped foot inside Oresfall yesterday, the civilian squad had intercepted him. They told him a highly skilled stranger was waiting inside the main house.

So Adrian purposely told Claire and Aria to come with him to his room. During the trip to the assassin hide out, he had learned a lot about Aria’s capabilities so he wasn’t really worried about her safety. Especially when Lorcan was right there.

He baited the trap perfectly, and that was exactly how he caught Jack without a single issue. And Aria had helped to keep him pinned down.

He walked past the courtyard and found Claire near the barracks. She was strapping her chest plate on.

Adrian walked over and pulled two thick books from his dimensional storage.

"Take these." Adrian handed them to her.

Claire looked at the covers and wasn’t really surprised when she realized that they were knight training manuals.

"This first manual is specifically for females." Adrian explained. "It is made to optimize the biological body structure of a woman, so it’s not for men. The second one is specifically for males."

He pointed at the books.

"These two manuals are much better than the general ones because they perfectly match your genetic gender." Adrian said. "Distribute them accordingly."

Claire nodded. "Thank you, Lord Adrian. May I use the female manual for my own training too?"

Adrian just looked at her like she asked him a stupid question.

"Of course you can use it." Adrian laughed. "You are my general, sort of like my right hand. If I am giving a manual to someone, then you have full access to it. You can use it however you want. You do not have to ask me to use things unless I specifically tell you not to."

Adrian walked back into his mansion and went straight to his bedroom.

He jumped onto his mattress, crossed his arms behind his head, and stared at the wooden ceiling silently.

His thoughts started going on an overdrive as he thought about multiple things.

He thought about the territory’s expansion, he thought about Viscount Alexander manipulating a foreign kingdom to burn Oresfall down, but most importantly, his mind kept going back to Marquis Draven.

"Not all allies are friends." he muttered as he repeated the man’s words.

Adrian frowned slightly before closing his eyes.

How did Draven even know about Alexander’s plans? Draven was a border Lord stationed in the northern part of the empire. His entire existence revolved around fighting mindless monster hordes coming out of the Deadlands. He was a war general, not a spymaster. He didn’t specialize in internal empire politics or vast intelligence networks. His focus was always on external threats and monster wave defense.

’I don’t know the answer.’ Adrian thought. ’So I should just go ask him.’

He sat up and looked at his desk. A stack of fresh parchment and a bottle of ink sat near the edge. He could easily write a letter. But a courier riding to the northern borders would take weeks, and getting a reply would take months.

’Months is a bit too much...’ Adrian sighed. ’Let’s just use money and calm down my anxiety and curiosity.’

He needed access to a long distance magic communication device, and since Oresfall was just a barony, the only place nearby that had one was Viscount Alexander’s territory.

’Going right into the enemy’s den... so fucking great.’ he thought, feeling annoyed, but then he grinned.

"Well, not like he knows what’s on my mind. That son of a bitch doesn’t know that I’ve already found out about his shitty ass plans." Adrian said out loud. The language was so foul that if anyone heard it, they’d think that he was a commoner who made bad friends.

He got up from his bed, grabbed a travel cloak and headed out. He didn’t take a carriage this time since it was pretty slow compared to his other options.

Oresfall had recently purchased a stable full of decent horses, so Adrian picked a sturdy brown horse, saddled up, and rode out alone. Well, not exactly alone.

He did not worry about getting assassinated on the open road. Anyone looking at him would just see a guy riding completely solo.

But he wasn’t really going alone.

Lorcan’s elite shadow squad moved through the dense tree lines, silently tracking his horse from the brush. So he knew he was perfectly safe.

He didn’t push the horse too hard. He maintained a steady, casual trot and reached Viscount Alexander’s main city the next afternoon.

Adrian walked along the streets until he found a plain, two story stone building. It didn’t look like much, but a small wooden sign hanging above the door simply read: Long Distance Magic Communication.

He tied his horse to a post and walked inside.

The lobby was quiet. A young female receptionist sat behind a polished wooden desk, shuffling through a stack of papers. She looked up and offered a polite customer service smile.

"Welcome, my lord." she said professionally. "How may I assist you today? Who do you wish to speak with?"