Karilina responded with a mix of indignation, anger, and bewilderment: "What does this have to do with me? Ivanovsky, didn't you take control of all of Uncle Vit's intelligence personnel? Why did he specifically ask to see Viscount Fedorov after waking up and having breakfast?"
Viscount Fedorov was Balshak's older brother, and he had clearly heard about Peter's situation.
"I've verified everything — there is no intelligence that would prompt Count Vit to decide to see Viscount Fedorov, and none of the agents have been acting suspiciously or secretly visiting Count Vit. Karilina, could it be that the servants and attendants you selected let something slip?" Ivanovsky denied the accusation against himself, suspecting the problem lay on Karilina's side.
Karilina shook her head firmly: "No. Their parents and relatives are all under my control. Without my permission, they won't reveal a single thing about the outside world to Uncle Vit — they only speak of estate scenery, the snow disaster, and such. And they've carried out my instructions to the letter. Except for intelligence agents, whenever any knight requests to see Uncle Vit, they turn them away with the excuse that he's unwell and needs rest, and they help relay messages and letters on his behalf."
Caught off guard by this unexpected development, Karilina and Ivanovsky — who were on equal footing — instinctively began blaming each other, each trying to shift responsibility.
After a few minutes of silence, Ivanovsky adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses: "It's possible that Count Vit simply had a sudden change of heart. In any case, things have become somewhat troublesome. To eliminate the risk and prevent the Count from suddenly leaving his inheritance to Peter, we need to..." His right hand clenched tightly, making a gesture of snapping someone's neck.
"Have you lost your mind? This is Withered Vine Castle! There are several Great Knights and over twenty knights garrisoned here! Do you want to be discovered by them and sent to the Church's stake?!" Karilina's beautiful eyes widened as she stared at Ivanovsky in disbelief, as though looking at a complete madman. Her tone was fierce, filled with shock.
Throughout the entire Ural Province, nobles who served directly under Count Vit — like Viscount Fedorov — would bring their own knights to take turns garrisoning Withered Vine Castle. This was a knight's obligation to their lord: in peacetime, they were required to spend two months each year in service. At the same time, it was also an opportunity for them to build rapport with their lord and socialize with other nobles.
Ivanovsky tugged at his collar as though his clothes were too tight, and said with a cold edge: "Weren't we planning to get rid of Peter all along? It's just that before, we were worried about being discovered and wanted to be discreet. But in reality? The discreet approach didn't work at all — it only alerted Peter, who went to the Church to report us and nearly ruined everything. Since things have already reached this point, we might as well use the Empire's usual methods — the simplest and most effective approach!"
"As for the Great Knights, knights, and castle priests on the lower floors, don't worry about them. We have Mr. Matvey, the mid-level mage, and... that person, don't we?"
Karilina's fierce reaction suddenly subsided, as though it had never existed. She sighed and said with a trace of worry: "Since you've already made up your mind, we'll do as you say. But I can't shake the feeling that something is off — the changes came too suddenly, too strangely."
"Don't worry, Karilina. On this floor, apart from the servants and attendants you control, there's only an old man so aged he's on the verge of death. He may have been a Heavenly Knight once, but now his will is scattered, his mind is weak, and he's completely powerless. As long as we don't make a big commotion, he won't notice a thing. When we got rid of those loyal attendants before, he didn't notice either, did he?"
Ivanovsky rubbed his mouth, the anger and frustration from being caught off guard swept away, his composure returning: "Besides, Peter must believe that with so many knights and Great Knights guarding this place, the environment is absolutely safe — which makes it much easier for us to eliminate him."
Karilina's expression shifted several times before she said calmly: "After we kill him, destroy the body immediately. Then have Miaka and Niak shapeshift into him and his steward to leave with a merchant caravan, and disappear along the way. Ivanovsky, the subordinates you send to assassinate Peter must be strong enough. Don't be careless — and whatever you do, don't make a laughingstock like Miaka did, forcing us to spend ten times the effort cleaning up the mess afterward."
After the Winter Bear incident, poor Miaka had been the butt of every joke within the organization.
Before Ivanovsky could answer, Karilina added: "Although Peter does his best to conceal his strength through his gait and movements, making it hard to gauge his knight rank, when I danced with him, I judged from his heartbeat, blood flow, and the feel of his skin that he's merely an ordinary full knight, skilled in agility and speed. That matches what he showed when he drew his sword and defeated Miaka. The real concern is the two longswords he carries — they should both be magic swords, and one of them might even be mid-level."
Her analysis was clear and her intuition sharp, not at all what you'd expect from an ordinary noblewoman fond of hunting.
"From Miaka's description, it could be third or fourth level — but how could an ordinary full knight, even wielding a mid-level magic longsword, stand up to a Great Knight and a mid-level mage? Oh, and he also has a fourth or fifth-level Divine Arts item that can activate a death-ward barrier — it has very strong defensive capabilities against instant-kill and curse-type magic. That's why the Great Knight handles the assassination while the mid-level mage covers the noise and prevents the Great Knights below from detecting anything."
After finishing, Ivanovsky said with a mix of disbelief and jealousy: "What kind of fortune did this fellow Peter stumble upon up north? How does a knight who was only recently promoted come to possess such expensive magic longswords and Divine Arts items? He's practically richer than I am! But after tonight, they'll belong to me."
Karilina's mood fully recovered, and she smiled seductively: "The Divine Arts item goes to me."
In their view, for an ordinary full knight like Peter, no matter what fortune he'd encountered, obtaining two magic longswords and a fourth or fifth-level Divine Arts item was already the absolute limit — perhaps with a piece of magic armor on top. He had most likely sold off the miscellaneous magic items and materials from his fortune to scrape together enough money for this set of equipment suited to his needs.
Once their discussion was concluded, Ivanovsky turned to Matvey, who had been standing quietly nearby with his hands behind his back: "Mr. Matvey, I'll need you to mask the commotion and prevent Peter from escaping with any teleportation magic items."