They all call me Great Master

```

Sitting beside Arthur, Linda asked in a low voice—

"Grandma, you didn't kill the other two first.

Because that would have alerted Baron Kemir.

Yet to kill Baron Kemir, you spent more than thirty years, even though it improved your cooking skills and your knife work became even better.

But according to Chief Malz's description, the cuts on the body required not only skill but also tremendous explosive strength.

Such explosive strength is something you do not possess."

Having just quietly asked the old sheriff about the incident, Linda found this point very strange.

Grandma Andor wasn't a physically strong person.

Moreover, she did not possess a 'mystic aura'.

And that kind of explosive power and skill required to neatly sever a human neck is definitely not something an elderly woman could have—on this point, Linda had the right to speak.

In these past days, when she consulted the old butler Oer and others about swordsmanship and dagger techniques, the first thing the old butlers told her to do was to slaughter pigs.

A whole live pig, a sharp longsword, hacking down with force, always getting stuck in the fat and bones, with gushing fresh blood obstructing the longsword's intended path.

After several attempts, she could avoid the bones effectively.

Again, after several attempts, she was able to use the blade's sharpness to execute a truly vital strike—for this, Camille's house had been eating pork products for half a month straight, and many were turned into sausages and smoked sausages by the old butler.

And this was only against pigs.

Against humans?

Linda was not confident.

So, it was extremely far-fetched to explain Grandma Andor's knife skills with 'years of cooking'—unless this grandma was a deeply hidden murderer with extremely sophisticated killing techniques, then using cooking as a cover in daily life.

Linda hoped this wasn't the case.

Therefore, this member of the 'Kledos Family' quietly watched Grandma Andor.

Facing Linda's gaze, Grandma Andor waved her hand.

"If it was just me alone, of course I couldn't make such a clean and decisive cut—in fact, my original plan was to continue waiting for the right moment and then poison those two men, but…"

He's back!"

As Grandma Andor said this, her eyes sparkled with surprise.

Such surprise was obvious to all.

Everyone saw it.

And in the next moment, everyone clearly saw a dark figure appearing behind the grandmother, a shadow as insubstantial as smoke and mist, its facial features completely indistinct.

But the originally warm hall became instantly cold with the appearance of this shadow.

At the same time, a deep roar sounded in everyone's ears, as if it were the frigid wind that continued to rage after blowing open the doors in the dead of winter.

Everyone felt this discomfort.

Everyone also had different reactions.

Haywood, Scott, and Wiggins instinctively reached into their bosoms—where they had a vial of concentrated sulfuric acid and one of kerosene.

Malz discreetly picked up the long box at his feet.

Kuke held onto a dagger given to him by his father.

Clearly, those accompanying Arthur were no strangers to evil spirits and had learned how to respond.

Marinda then looked at Linda, who was eager to try.

Indistinctly, this lady saw a figure that was somewhat visible and somewhat not behind Linda.

Unlike the bleakness of the dark shadow.

This figure was even more elusive.

And it had no sense of coldness.

'Is this…

a Guardian Spirit?

Perhaps the disguise was maintained for too long, and now he's too eager to wait?'

This lady speculated, as her pipe emitted sparks.

Never be careless at any time.

This was what this lady, taught from a young age, kept firmly in mind.

Only Arthur was different.

Holding Pendragon, Arthur kept lightly tapping the top of the Orange Cat's head, as if unconcerned about the situation unfolding before him.

```

And this appearance of Arthur attracted all the attention of the shadows behind Grandma Andor.

Or rather...

The original target of the adversary was Arthur.

When the deep growl became shrill, the temperature in the great hall dropped once more, an effect unique to the deceased upon the living world.

Similarly, based on this effect, one could gauge the strength of the deceased.

The apparition before them was doubtlessly strong—

Haywood, Scott, and Wiggins couldn't help but shiver.

It wasn't fear, just an instinctive reaction to the cold.

Malz exhaled visible breaths, yet his hands were firmly grasping the long case.

In Kuke's hands was the dagger given by his father, seemingly unaffected by the chilling presence.

The sparks in Marinda's pipe flared up once again.

But the lady's attention was more focused on Linda.

For behind the girl, a faint golden hue had tinged her shadow without notice, subtle yet undeniably there.

'A golden Guardian Spirit?

No, it's golden clothing!

What sort of Guardian Spirit could this be?'

The lady couldn't help but speculate.

Due to her connection with Arthur and the 'Kledos Family', she was always exceedingly cautious and her intuition was now alerting her that Linda's Guardian Spirit...

was very dangerous!

This sense of danger

prompted the mist-like black figure to not wait any longer and to charge straight at Arthur.

Its speed was beyond what ordinary people could imagine, akin to teleportation.

One moment, it was still.

The next, it had reached right in front of Arthur.

Aside from Marinda, almost no one present could react in time—Linda was the same, despite her wide-open eyes, a member of the 'Kledos Family' whose own reflexes still couldn't keep up; yet the gaze of Linda's phantom shadow remained fixed on the black mist from start to finish.

And sensing Linda's urgent mood, the illusory figure was ready to take action.

But someone was faster.

No!

To be precise...

A hound!

Kuliqi, lurking in the shadows at Arthur's feet, pounced on the black figure the moment it appeared, beginning to tear and bite ferociously.

The black mist's body, which should have been immune to conventional physical attacks, was utterly ineffective under the claws and teeth of Kuliqi.

"Aaaaah!"

The scream now was just as heartrending as the charge had been ferocious.

Watching the wailing shadow, Marinda narrowed her eyes slightly.

Of course, the lady recognized a 'Death Hound.'

For such a loyal and useful Arcane Creature, she too had sought after them but with no reward.

What she hadn't expected was that Arthur would be keeping a 'Death Hound.' Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

'It's just like the 'Kledos Family'!' she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Grandma Andor was already begging for mercy.

"Lord Kledos, please forgive Cotton's insolence, he..."

"Cotton?"

Arthur cut off Grandma Andor's plea, looking at the black figure being torn apart on the ground, and couldn't help but shake his head—

"Deceiving a lady is not the act of a gentleman, nor that of a noble.

You agree, do you not?

Baron Kemir!"