Sean returned home with Luke two hours into the morning.
In his field of vision, the sky still displayed: 【Daytime, Heavy Snow, 8:20:47】—not even two full hours had passed.
Since arriving in this world, Sean had noticed some anomalies. For instance, a day didn’t follow the 24-hour cycle he was used to; instead, it was about 20 hours, neatly split into 10 hours of daylight and 10 of night.
Sean wondered if this world might be on some planet with a different orbit, making its rotation time and even year length different. Of course, these cosmic matters were beyond his current concerns... The most pressing issue now was that group of exceptionally capable archaeologists.
“My lord, should we send someone to keep an eye on their movements?” Luke asked from beside him.
Send someone to watch them...
They’d probably get ambushed instead. With our soldiers barely scraping past a thousand health points, how could they compete with those with six thousand? They’d likely be taken out before even showing their faces.
Even sending Dante wouldn’t help—their abilities far surpassed our strongest knight. Thinking back, it was lucky Dante only lost 200 health points in front of so many “experts.” If a real fight had broken out, he’d probably be half-dead.
Clearly, seeing things firsthand was necessary. Otherwise, you wouldn’t realize how strong the opponents were—or how weak your own side was!
“Send who? Those mercenaries are incredibly skilled. Our people would be spotted quickly,” Sean said.
“But even if they’re caught, it doesn’t matter... They wouldn’t dare do anything,” Luke replied matter-of-factly, as if it were no big deal.
Sean stopped in his tracks.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Imperial nobles are protected by the state. Unless they’re willing to face a full empire-wide manhunt, they wouldn’t dare harm us,” Luke said with a confident look.
Sean was aware of the empire’s protection, but would they really follow the law so obediently? He didn’t dare gamble on it.
After meeting that captain named Kerry, Sean believed they were a genuine archaeological team. The others being a temporary group made sense too—like forming a party. Few people were willing to come to a remote backwater like Talemian in the dead of winter, so hiring on the spot was normal.
As for the girl hiding her identity, that was understandable—traveling abroad and all...
And the scuffle, too.
Though everything could be chalked up to coincidence, Sean still felt uneasy.
Why? He couldn’t quite put it into words.
Probably because of the real world. Despite everything he saw looking like a game interface, this was undeniably a real world—not a game where you could start over.
Having so many powerful people in his territory, with no clue about their intentions, meant they could leave whenever they wanted, leaving him to clean up whatever mess they made.
Walking through the baron’s courtyard toward his room, he was greeted by servants along the way.
“Luke, what about those townspeople...”
“My lord is truly wise! Using the townspeople’s method—brilliant!” Luke interrupted before Sean could finish.
Huh?
What did I say?
Sean had meant to ask if the townspeople might know about the tomb’s situation, but Luke had already interpreted it his own way.
“I’ll handle this for you, my lord,” Luke said with a grin. Sean felt awkward asking what exactly he planned to do, so he just nodded silently.
...
Talemian was originally a remote mountain village. Nothing ever happened here, and if something did, it would soon fade into insignificance.
Everyone was lazy and unmotivated. Their biggest daily wish was just figuring out what to eat.
So the whole day passed as if nothing was wrong... As long as Dante and Luke weren’t around, almost no one disturbed Sean during the day. It stayed that way until evening.
...
Winter nights were still cold.
Having lived in this world for half a month, Sean still hadn’t gotten used to it. Every night, he had to wait for the fireplace in his room to slowly die out before he could sleep.
Otherwise, the room reeked of coal, making it hard to breathe.
He glanced at the remaining burn time displayed in his vision: 【3:38】, counting down. That meant the coals in the hearth would burn for over three more hours—way too long.
Sean walked to the window and cracked it open slightly. The air improved, but it got colder.
The heavy snow hadn’t let up since dusk, and by night, the wind howled... The town was pitch black; you couldn’t see beyond five meters.
In the courtyard, only faint horse sounds could be heard, maybe some barking dogs.
Hard to tell.
His household had plenty of animals—pigs, dogs, cows, sheep, you name it. When it came to being the richest person in all of Talemian, that was definitely him.
Not only did he collect all the taxes, but he also received regular subsidies from the empire. How could he not be wealthy?
Sean couldn’t find a reason to be poor...
He really wondered how those down-and-out nobles he’d heard about since childhood came to be. How could anyone go broke like that? Aside from being overthrown or a dynasty change, only gambling could make someone poor.
Lying in bed, Sean still mulled over today’s events.
What ancient tomb were they here to find? He couldn’t stop thinking about it, like a shadow lingering in his mind.
Because he trusted his eyes. Though this strange vision seemed weak compared to other abilities—no powerful magic, no impressive martial skills—it could see other things, like the truth of facts and people’s hearts.
Strength could make people yield, but rarely earn their submission.
Killing to break someone’s spirit was just a scene from novels. Real losers would use every means to survive, endure, and pretend.
Then, at the moment you’re abandoned by everyone, they’d stab you in the back with the deadliest blow.
He turned over slightly, now facing the window... And then he noticed movement outside.
Something was there—a shadow!
His heart jolted. Someone climbing through the window? Into the baron’s house?
He stayed lying in bed, not getting up, peering through the thin, gauzy mosquito net.
This was a lesson from his past life: if a thief jumps in through the window, don’t startle them. Either pretend to sleep or fake waking up, which would make the nervous intruder choose to flee.
If you jumped up and let them see you, it might force them into an irrational decision in an instant.
So Sean chose to lie still and watch...
The shadow crept closer to the window. It didn’t seem human—it was an animal.
Its tiny eyes were two red dots. The moonlight was faint, but the snow’s reflection revealed a bird-like shape.
A bird.
Damn—was he being too cautious today, getting tense over a bird?
Just as he was about to sit up, Sean noticed the bird had stats and statuses. His vision didn’t constantly display the whole world’s data.
He had to focus for a few seconds, and then the information would slowly appear.
【200/200】health—not much different from an ordinary bird, just a few dozen points more, meaning it was larger.
But one strange status caught his eye for the first time: 【Mind Vision】. What did that mean?
Mind... Vision...
Was someone using this bird to spy on him?
At that thought, Sean kept lying still, maintaining his sleeping posture.
The little red eyes were still fixed on him, then scanned the room. What happened next was even stranger.
The bird cleverly pushed the window open with its beak...
Gently, but cautiously.
Snow near the window made a sound as it pushed, but Sean didn’t move, so in its eyes, he wasn’t disturbed.
The bird flew in.
By the faint glow of the dying fire, he could see it was a crow.
Using a crow to scout first?
Now Sean had to figure out what to do. Controlling a crow’s vision meant it was magic. There were no magic users in Talemian. The culprit was either hiding or an outsider.
If they were hiding, they’d have come earlier, not now... The faces of the five outsiders he met today flashed through Sean’s mind, especially the woman with mana who almost cast a spell on him.
Should he run now?
If he ran, he’d go barefoot, straight to the guards’ quarters on the first floor to wake them. Maybe they could hold them off.
Even if they couldn’t, it’d buy him time to escape.
But in the few seconds he hesitated, a figure had already jumped in through the window. Their body was light, landing without a sound.
In the dim light, he could only make out a cloak and a tall hat, like a wizard’s pointed cap from stories.
They walked slowly toward him.
Sean quickly closed his eyes. If they got closer, they’d see him awake.
A faint, fresh scent hit his nose...
A girl. Was it really her?
With his eyes shut, he could only squint to observe.
Through the narrowest slit, he couldn’t see clearly, but he heard the sound of a weapon being drawn.
They were going to silence him?
You people don’t even reason before fighting!
No time to think. He had to act—either run or fight.
His hand reached for the dagger hidden under his pillow. Against someone who could use magic, would a dagger even work?
He grabbed the blanket and leaped up, wrapping it around the figure through the mosquito net.
Mmph—
A surprised, soft gasp escaped.
The entire mosquito net collapsed.