It was late into the night—well past midnight.
Most were in their homes, either sleeping or cultivating.
In one of these homes, a man lay on his bed, snoring loudly as he was deep in slumber.
He was a heavy sleeper, so it was no surprise he failed to detect the presence that had entered the room.
The foreign presence didn't make any sound as he moved towards the sleeping man.
The figure blew something towards the man's face, which scrunched slightly before relaxing as he began snoring again.
The silent, cloaked figure picked the man up with such ease that it seemed the man weighed nothing, tossed him into the bag, and made his way out of the house through the window.
The figure repeated the same thing—going into several houses and abducting people.
Most didn't realize what had happened as they were being captured.
"W-who are you? Urgh!" Others, even if they somehow caught sight of the cloaked figure, the result remained the same.
No matter how much they struggled, they were knocked unconscious and tossed into a storage bag.
One would think that the abductor would be pleased with himself after easily accomplishing his goal, but that wasn't the case here.
Looking at the bag in his hand, he frowned, 'This was too easy.'
He couldn't help but think, 'Will the plan even work?'
That he didn't know.
As he left the final house, he could only assure himself that he could make it work.
---
Early in the morning, Jurgen was once again woken up by his black-haired maid, Selena.
"Master, another one of Thrain's subordinates wishes to speak with you about something important."
Jürgen yawned and grumbled as he struggled to open his eyes. "Why so early in the morning? Haah~ Let's go see what he wants. It better be worth it. Bring me some breakfast while you are at it."
A few minutes later, in Jurgen's study, two people sat facing each other.
Jürgen was somewhat surprised seeing Thrain's right-hand man, Luneth, be the one to meet with him.
'It must be important if he is the one here...'
Luneth spoke up, interrupting his thoughts. "First, I would like to express gratitude on behalf of Sir Thrain for agreeing to aid us in our efforts to eliminate Jarek Jensson. We appreciate the help you provided to us. But I am here to inform you that even with the information you provided us, we still encountered some problems."
Jürgen raised an eyebrow and looked at Luneth as he asked, "Haven't I given you all the information you need to deal with him? I fail to see how you can still fail even with such an advantage. Haven't you tried using that Eira girl against him? He seems to care a lot about her."
At this point, Selena arrived and walked in with Jurgen's breakfast in hand.
She was inwardly surprised by the content of the conversation she had eavesdropped on, but she still outwardly remained composed as she left after completing her task, closing the door behind her.
Jürgen, whose mind was not at its peak state ignored Selena's presence as he gazed at Luneth with disdain.
Luneth took this chance to elaborate more on what he had said.
"It is not like we haven't tried. We sent Masters and six Advanced Stage cultivators, but they never returned, most likely having been dealt with Eira's protector, or so we think."
Luneth was essentially subtly highlighting the fact that the fault lay with Jurgen because he provided no information on this hidden protector.
Jürgen was surprised when he heard this, wondering, 'How can this be? I specifically sent a Grandmaster.'
Just like Thrain, Jurgen was cautious when it came to handling matters concerning Jarek.
And so one of the people sent to investigate was a Grandmaster.
He never would have imagined that Eira had a secret Grandmaster protector.
"So you are telling me that Eira has a Grandmaster as a secret protector? How is that possible? She is only an Advanced Stage cultivator."
Luneth replied with a shrug, "We don't know how. Maybe Jarek hired a Grandmaster to protect her. How he did it or what he offered is still a mystery. If even you didn't know about this Grandmaster, how are we supposed to know?"
Indeed, if the Mayor of Arvenca Town knows nothing, how can they who have been here know more than he did?
Jürgen turned silent as he was unable to refute this sound logic.
Jürgen then asked bluntly, "Then what is it that Thrain wants?"
"Before I answer that question, first I need to tell you that with the failure of the first operation targeting Eira, we decided to switch targets."
Upon hearing this, Jurgen put two and two together, realizing who those targets were.
Luneth then continued, "We succeeded in capturing all of them without facing any resistance whatsoever and are in the process of creating a trap for Jarek. But with many of our forces having died, we are lacking powerful fighters. My master, Thrain, is asking for support, preferably in the form of Master Stage cultivators and even a Grandmaster to ensure success."
Jürgen took a moment to ponder and then asked, "How many Masters does your side have?"
"Three," Luneth replied shortly.
Originally, they had six Masters, but Eira killed three of them.
"We need about two more Grandmasters to deal with any unexpected situation that may arise, and six more Masters for good measure," Luneth answered.
Jurge went into deep thought when he heard Luneth's reply.
'Jarek is now a Grandmaster, so sending two Grandmasters should be enough.'
He also wanted Jarek to have no chance of surviving.
If he were to assist Thrain, he needed to ensure that Jarek met his end with certainty.
Otherwise, he would be a second Thrain, always wary of Jarek's future retaliation.
Jürgen then expressed his willingness to cooperate.
"Consider your request granted. I will give you six Masters and three Grandmasters."
Jürgen said as he held three fingers out.
Luneth was surprised that Jurgen would give him one more Grandmaster than he had asked for.
"However, I want the Grandmasters I give you to serve as a last resort. They shouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary."
Luneth nodded, as that was also their intention, in case the hidden Grandmaster were to appear.
After all, one can never be too cautious.
While their talks were ongoing, they were too focused to notice Selena's presence behind the door, who was listening in on their conversation.
Her current expression was nothing like her usual cheery self, which she displays to Jurgen.
Instead, she had a look of resentment which was directed towards none other than her master.
'Even after I gave up everything for you, why can't you treat me the same way that brat Jarek treats that little b*tch?'
Yes, the woman was losing it.
For some reason, she was really incensed when she heard that Eira, someone who had just entered the cultivation world, had made as much progress as she had over many years.
Recently, her negative emotions had piled up dangerously high, so that they were close to breaking through her ceiling of tolerance.
But after today, they completely burst out.
'I shouldn't have followed him back then. Maybe then I could have gotten more than what I have gotten ever since I came here. Damn it! I was so stupid!'
She couldn't help but curse her naive and stupid self twenty years ago.
She was now an Advanced Stage cultivator after years of nurturing by Jurgen, but even she knew he didn't want to waste resources on her, despite what she had sacrificed to be with him.
She had left everything behind and had even given Jurgen everything.
And what does she get?
Meanwhile, Eira receives the same resources as her or even more than her in three months than her in the past two decades.
It was clear that Eira was highly valued even when she had little value, while she was nothing but a toy to be used by Jurgen when he pleased.
'It's just not fair. That guy must also be benefiting from this. Damn it!'