Merraid Oarburgh.
A beautiful young woman around twenty years old.
Her true identity was the current head of Oarburgh, the leader of the strongest assassin organization.
Looking at the satisfied girl on the bed, she smiled fondly, then dressed herself and left the room.
The moment she stepped out, a maid who had been waiting for her for quite some time came forward and presented her personal belongings.
This, too, was one of Merraid's interests.
Aside from the steward, every member of her organization was a beautiful girl, and all of them belonged to her harem.
In daily life, they dressed as maids and devoted themselves entirely to serving her alone.
Of course, every last one of them was frighteningly skilled, an assassin terrifying enough to bear the name of Oarburgh.
"Lady Merraid, please favor me next! I, Gilberda, am always fully prepared for Lady Merraid!" the blonde maid said with an excited expression, as if she had already gotten herself into the proper mood.
If this were any other day, Merraid would not have minded.
But right now, there was serious business to handle.
She raised a finger and gently pressed it against the lips of the blonde maid named Gilberda, her attitude brimming with confidence and dominance.
"Not right now, Gil. We've found news about Chelsea."
"What? We finally found her?" Gilberda understood how important this matter was, so she immediately stopped overstepping and switched into work mode.
Behind her stood another maid with purple twin-tails. Unlike the outgoing Gilberda, this girl had a blank expression and gave off a somewhat cold impression.
Her body was different from ordinary people. Four additional arms extended from her shoulders, making for a rather frightening sight.
Gilberda casually hooked an arm around her shoulder and clenched her fist. "Great, you heard that, right, Cassandra? We found Chelsea! That means the bastard Lady Merraid wants dead is definitely going to be caught soon!"
Cassandra nodded seriously, a flash of murderous intent passing through her eyes.
Anyone who dared trouble Lady Merraid would never be forgiven!
...
Four days later.
"Ah-choo!"
The sudden itch in his nose made Noah sneeze.
Because he kept Weaver active almost all the time, Noah systemized the flow of air around him, which meant dust and similar things almost never entered his nasal cavity.
Sneezing like this really had been a long time coming.
He checked the time and only then realized it was already past midnight.
Using fire element to reheat the plain water that had gone cold at some point, steam immediately rose from the cup again.
But just as he was about to drink, a faint feedback signal reached him through the controlled airflow.
Hm?
There was something hidden in the shadow by his feet.
A living thing.
Based on its size and shape, was it an insect?
Noah frowned slightly but pretended not to notice.
The laboratory at midnight, along with the corridors of the Science Unit, was extremely quiet.
There was not the slightest sound.
And yet, there were insects inside the Science Unit?
That was practically a fantasy.
But since one had appeared, it could only mean one thing.
This insect had been sent in by someone!
Screech...
Screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech—!!
Screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech—!!
When those tiny noises gathered into a single wave, the sound they produced was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Because the Science Unit's headquarters was underground, it had many ventilation ducts spread throughout every room, including Noah's laboratory.
At that moment, countless insects poured in through the ventilation ducts in massive numbers.
Noah used Appraisal on the swarm that had suddenly emerged.
[Crawling Thing]
Stag beetle
Insect-type Danger Beast
Creation of ancient alchemy
Possesses a hard shell and antennae
Controller: Merraid Oarburgh
These insects...
They were Danger Beasts?
Not only that, they were actually products of ancient alchemy!
And Oarburgh?
Although Noah was surprised, he almost instantly thought of something.
His identity should not have been leaked.
Unless someone in Oarburgh possessed the same ability as him to read memories from the soul, even hypnosis or truth serum should not have been enough to obtain information about him.
As far as he could think, the only person who could have leaked information about him was Chelsea.
He had clearly told her that as long as she behaved, he would let her live properly.
It seemed she did not care much for that offer.
Chelsea had given his information to Oarburgh.
And now, Oarburgh had come straight to the Imperial Capital to find him.
Their goal was probably revenge.
They had even chosen to move in the middle of the night.
It seemed they had made thorough preparations.
The insects crawling in through the ventilation ducts grew more and more numerous, steadily closing in on him.
This was the other party's ability: manipulating insect-type Danger Beasts to attack in a swarm.
So, were they planning to kill him with these insects?
Looking at the dense swarm turning into a tide of bugs, obvious disgust appeared on Noah's face.
With a single wave of his hand, scorching flames swept everything around him into ash.
The insects were burned into charcoal, giving off the smell of scorched protein.
Noah controlled the flames and swallowed every insect that had entered.
Then he waited for a moment and noticed that no more insects were pouring in through the ventilation ducts.
Only then did he push open the door, intending to go out and investigate.
But the instant he gripped the door handle, Noah immediately tilted his head aside.
A pale pink fist punched straight through the door, aiming directly for his head!
Boom!
With a loud crash, the entire door was ripped off by the attacker outside.
Then the attacker actually used the door panel as a weapon and swung it at him.
"You're not getting away!"
Along with that angry shout, Noah saw a blonde girl in a maid outfit lifting the door panel and smashing it toward him.
'Appraisal.'
Her name was Gilberda.
She was not Merraid Oarburgh, the one controlling the insects.
"I'll smash you to pieces!" the blonde maid stepped forward, her foot landing solidly on the ground and leaving a pit in the floor.
Then she launched a fully charged punch.
If this hit, it would absolutely be a killing blow.
If an ordinary person were struck by it, their head would burst like a watermelon.
This sudden attack had been aimed at his life from the very beginning, one move linked to the next, and every single step had been designed with no intention of leaving him alive.
'Heh.'
"How terrifying. So is this the way Oarburgh does things?" A smile appeared on Noah's face.
Seeing it only made the blonde maid even more irritated.
This guy still had the leisure to talk?
"Yeah, that's right! So hurry up and let me smash you!"