Chapter 509 - 512: Boss, We Found the Dog Thief

"Miss, Miss Zora has come to visit."

The dignified maid stood in the corridor on the second floor, her hands resting over her lower abdomen. She respectfully lowered her head, a gentle smile on her face.

She stood at the doorway of the room, the obvious concern in her smiling eyes.

Inside the room, Miss Liya was sitting against the large, soft bed.

One leg was slightly bent and propped up, while the other lay flat on the bed.

Her body leaned slightly forward, both arms wrapped around the raised lower leg, with her forehead resting against her knee.

Liya was wearing only a thin shirt. The collar was slightly open and extremely disheveled.

A large area of fair skin was exposed to the air, but she seemed completely unconcerned about her appearance.

Her eyes were even vacant, staring blankly at the bedsheet.

She looked completely dejected, without the slightest bit of energy.

Hearing the maid's message, Liya merely nodded lightly, but the movement was so slight that it was almost impossible to notice.

The maid looked at Liya's listless appearance, her heart filled with worry.

Ever since Family Head Viktor disappeared, Liya had seemed like a different person. She had been like this for an entire week.

Aside from necessary eating and washing, she spent almost all her time on the bed or sitting there blankly.

None of the maids in the house could understand it.

They also had no idea what had happened during the past half a year that had caused Miss Liya's attitude toward Family Head Viktor to change so quickly.

Clearly, Miss Liya had hated Family Head Viktor so much before, even wishing she could replace him.

Yet after Viktor disappeared, Liya had instead become the person most affected.

During the first few days after she returned, she had even refused to eat or drink.

If the maids hadn't united to persuade her, emphasizing that she needed to maintain her strength in order to find Viktor, Liya might really have intended to starve herself to death.

As for Viktor's disappearance, the maids who had always stayed at home didn't feel much about it.

After all, Viktor normally wasn't often in the Brixton Territory. Most of the time, he stayed over in the royal capital.

Almost all the family affairs were handled by Liya. Strictly speaking, Liya looked more like the head of the Clavenna family than Viktor did.

But now Liya had fallen into depression, and many guests who came to discuss business matters were turned away.

Whenever they asked, Liya always responded with two words, "Not seeing them."

Sure enough, this time was no exception.

Hearing Liya's utterly flat response, the maid couldn't help sighing softly.

Normally, when Liya said she wasn't seeing anyone, the maid would leave her room.

She would tell the guests that their young mistress was unwell and inconveniently unable to receive them.

But this time, the maid had come prepared.

She stood at the doorway, cleared her throat, and said seriously, "Miss Zora returned together with Miss Leon."

Hearing this, Liya, who had been staring blankly, paused. Her eyes gradually focused, and she looked at the maid.

Seeing that her young mistress had finally reacted, the maid smiled and gently clapped her hands, revealing a playful smile.

"Would you like me to help you get dressed?"

———

After changing into an elegant outfit, Liya hurried along the wooden corridor. The branches and leaves of the potted plants she passed were gently swayed by the breeze stirred up by her movement.

A maid followed behind her, running to keep up.

"Miss Liya! Miss Zora and Miss Leon are waiting for you in the hall!"

Hearing this, Liya turned slightly and gracefully walked down the tall staircase.

Soon, her slightly lowered gaze caught sight of a special figure.

It was an elf with two long, pointed ears.

She wore a pitch-black dark mask that covered half her face and stood quietly in a corner of the hall.

Although the mask concealed half her face, her familiar clothes and distinctive aura allowed Liya to recognize her immediately.

It was Leon, who had left for the Kingdom of Kant a month ago.

Seeing the elf girl before her, Liya felt a slight itch in her eyes.

She had finally met another relative she could confide in.

But Liya did not cry. She merely pressed her lips together and softly called out, "Leon."

That gentle voice entered the elf's ears.

Leon turned her head along with the sound and met Liya's gaze.

Her emerald-like eyes sparkled with delight in Liya's eyes.

Seeing her familiar mistress, Leon was filled with joy.

However, her voice remained calm, carrying the same respectful tone as always.

"Miss Liya."

Liya hurried down the stairs and quickly came to Leon, tightly holding her hands and carefully looking her over from head to toe.

With uncertainty in her voice, Liya asked, "You... why did you come back?"

Leon had been sent by her to the Kingdom of Kant to represent Clavenna in managing Shulburn.

That was the territory Viktor had been forced to accept the title of lord over when he returned from the Kingdom of Kant.

There was also Viktor's goddaughter living there, whom Liya had never met.

At the thought of Viktor, Liya's expression immediately darkened again.

"Miss Leon came back in my carriage."

At this moment, a gentle and delicate voice suddenly sounded beside the two of them.

Liya turned toward the source of the voice and saw a woman sitting on the sofa in the corner of the hall. She was gracefully nodding toward Liya in greeting.

Liya narrowed her eyes slightly and looked the woman up and down.

In particular, the woman's long, slender, snow-white legs crossed over each other caught Liya's attention.

Zora slowly stood up and bowed to Liya.

"Long time no see, Miss Liya."

Liya naturally remembered this young mistress of the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce, especially those distinctive long legs.

More importantly, Liya knew about the relationship between Leopold and the Cassidra Chamber of Commerce.

Therefore, her tone carried a hint of coldness.

"What are you here for?"

She had no goodwill toward Zora before her.

Or rather, she didn't have much goodwill toward the entire Cassidra Chamber of Commerce.

Zora maintained her bowed posture without straightening up and respectfully replied, "Please rest assured, Miss Liya."

"Before we began cooperating with Mr. Viktor, we had absolutely no idea the Raiser family existed."

"We also had no connection with Leopold."

Hearing this, Liya crossed her arms and reluctantly pulled out a cold smile.

"Heh, you're already in such a hurry to clear yourself of any connection?"

"What use is saying all this now?"

Only then did Zora slowly straighten up. Her expression became somewhat serious as she said, "I know that no compensation can make up for Mr. Viktor's disappearance."

Hearing this, Liya's expression remained cold, her icy gaze fixed on Zora.

But the next words made Liya's eyes widen slightly.

"But... when I asked Mr. Viktor for help."

"Mr. Viktor once told me where he might go after capturing Hermes."

———

Crimson pillars slowly rose from the floor of the golden, glittering hall, supporting a huge, curved palace. All around them were wandering spirits that had gathered out of curiosity.

The enormous writing desk had simply been placed in the center of the main hall, piled high with all kinds of documents waiting for approval.

On both sides of the hall were long curtains made of crimson silk.

They hung down onto the ground like long rivers of blood.

Behind countless piles of papyrus, a huge giant was sprawled over the writing desk, writing furiously.

The giant had a beard as broad as a wool cloak. His skin also did not resemble that of a normal human, but was a faint blue mixed with clay.

The giant slowly stopped writing and raised his head. Hidden behind his thick eyebrows was a pair of extremely imposing, fierce red eyes.

A large group of spirits came one after another before the writing desk, waiting for the King of the Underworld's judgment.

"How did you die? Oh, you were run over by a carriage. Go arrange your reincarnation."

"How did you die? Beaten to death by someone? Hahahaha, what a pity."

"How did you die? You killed someone? That person just now was beaten to death by you? Hmm... A heinous criminal. Go on and receive your punishment."

———

After batch after batch of spirits had been judged, the King of the Underworld's huge body leaned lightly against the enormous chair and sighed deeply.

"Ah... what a hassle."

Even though the gates of hell had been sealed for a long time, there were still so many wandering souls every day.

And as the ruler of the underworld, he had no choice but to personally deal with these ghosts.

After finishing all this, he rested one arm on the writing desk.

Supporting his face with it, he tapped the desk with one finger and fell into thought.

It was all because of that human from some time ago who had opened the entrance to the gates of hell once again.

Otherwise, how could his workload have become so heavy?

What made him even angrier was that the human had actually stolen his dog.

Thinking of this, the King of the Underworld's eyebrows were almost blown straight up by the current of his anger. He angrily slammed a fist onto the sturdy writing desk.

Bang!

The loud noise made a little ghost that happened to be passing by tremble all over.

It froze trembling in place, not knowing what to do for a moment.

The King of the Underworld rubbed his temples and narrowed his eyes, muttering with slight exhaustion, "Wasn't it already over? Why is there another one?"

"Sigh, forget it."

He sighed softly, reopened the small notebook covered in dust, and was just about to record, "Tell me, how did you die?"

"B-Boss, I'm not here to reincarnate."

The little ghost trembled as it replied, its voice like a leaf shaking in the breeze, fragile and uneasy.

"Oh, it's you. There have been quite a lot of ghosts appearing recently, so I forgot about you."

The King of the Underworld's brows relaxed. With a flip of his large hand, he closed the small notebook again.

He knew that these little ghosts were scavengers of the underworld.

They often picked up objects that had fallen from the human world into the underworld, then delivered them to Tartarus, the lowest level of the underworld.

Thus, the King of the Underworld supported his face and looked at it, sighing deeply as he asked heavily, "Go on, what did you find this time?"

Normally, anyone who came directly to find him had obviously picked up something extraordinary.

Sure enough, the little ghost turned around and began rummaging through its backpack.

Miscellaneous objects were thrown all over the floor, and the King of the Underworld couldn't be bothered to criticize it. He merely watched quietly.

Then the little ghost used all its strength to pull a black trench coat out of the backpack.

"Boss... take a look at this."

The little ghost used all the strength it had, its vague facial features almost shifting to the top of its head.

It lifted the long trench coat in its hands, which was large enough to cover its entire body, and handed it over for the King of the Underworld to see.

The King of the Underworld looked at the trench coat the little ghost had taken out. Under the faint light of the underworld, the trench coat looked especially gloomy.

He stared at it, falling into brief thought.

'Hiss... Why does it feel like I've seen this somewhere before?'

Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. His crimson eyes widened.

His entire body stood up from the chair.

"What?!"

His voice echoed through the tranquility of the underworld, shaking every inch of the cold, gloomy air.

"Damn dog-stealing human!!!"

"How dare you come back again!!!"