"He’s new—he just started last week. Perhaps his training wasn’t thorough..." the attendant said.

"Let him go next week. Give him his severance and compensation," Isabella said. "Anyone who can’t follow a simple rule has no way of surviving here."

...

With a loud BANG, the iron door slammed shut.

Baron surveyed the confinement cell. It was completely empty—just a stone room with no windows, leaving it devoid of any light.

Fortunately, Baron possessed the Blood Faction’s [Blood Eye]. His night vision was pretty good, allowing him to clearly see someone squatting in the corner of the cell.

’Probably the attendant who was locked up earlier.’

Judging by his disheveled clothes, he must have been locked in here for quite some time.

Perhaps hearing Baron enter, the attendant in the corner moved his stiff limbs, his bones popping loudly.

The man’s voice was a low growl. "You... have finally arrived... the Fated One. I am Leighton, master to the Golden Wizard Newton, creator of the Wizard profession, and founder of the London Tower... Due to an unforeseen accident, I have been sealed within a confinement cell of the Beowulf Family..."

Hearing the voice, Baron asked uncertainly, "Jack?"

The person in the shadows froze. "What are you talking about? Jack Caesar Napoleon Hannibal Bismarck Tang? I don’t know anyone by that name."

Baron sighed. Deciding to use his Westminster Cathedral codename, he pointed to himself and said, "I’m L."

In a flash, a golden-haired figure shot out from the shadows.

Caught off guard, Baron reacted instantly, sending the figure flying with a kick.

"Ow! Baron, my friend, haven’t you heard you’re not supposed to hit people in the face!?"

The blond’s wail echoed from the shadows.

...

Jack rubbed his swelling cheek. "I came to the Beowulf Family to get my C Level Commissioner certification," he explained. "According to the requirements, I’m just short one C Level Taboo Object and three D Level ones. I’ve already infiltrated most of the Old Blood Clans on the Inner Side; only the Beowulf Family was left."

"So you think I was thrown in this cell for stealing? No, no, no. First of all, it’s not ’stealing.’ It’s ’the unavoidable execution of exclusive work pertaining to Mysterious Law for the sake of maintaining legal stability.’"

"Besides, I got myself thrown in this cell on purpose."

With an air of extreme professionalism, Jack took a series of gadgets that looked like geological survey tools out of his Holding Ring.

"The Beowulf Family estate is located on the outskirts of Bedegrat in Wales. It’s a town built of stone, surrounded by mountains. Most of the residents are from historically renowned Demon Hunter Clans, with the Dragon Slayer Beowulf Clan being the most famous of all."

’I know about that one,’ Baron thought. ’I’ve even seen the movie *Beowulf*.’

Jack pressed one of the gadgets, which had a small meter on it, against a corner of the cell. "I spent a whole day sweeping the Beowulf estate. I went into basically every nook and cranny, but for the life of me, I couldn’t find their collection room for Taboo Items."

The meter glowed with a faint, dynamic light, the numbers on its display flickering. It looked like some kind of data fluctuation.

"So I turned my attention to the estate’s security. Based on personnel deployments, I figured out the collection room must be underground."

"So you’re planning to use this cell to get into the underground collection room for the Taboo Items?" Baron sighed.

’This was certainly in line with Jack’s terrible personality. But I never expected he’d go so far as to get himself brought onto the estate just to steal something.’

’But what was that about Isabella’s bed... Could it be that for the sake of convenience, they just picked a random room to throw him in, and he happened to hit the jackpot?’

Baron didn’t ask about any of that. He just sighed and said, "So how do we get out of here?"

"Get out!?"

Thanks to his Blood Eye, Baron could clearly see Jack’s shocked expression in the darkness.

The expression on his face roughly translated to: ’Holy crap. I knew something felt wrong. So this is the part I forgot!’

A bad feeling started to creep up on Baron. "Don’t tell me you figured out how to get in, but not how to get out."

Jack’s eyes darted around evasively. "Well... Uh..."

He looked both suspicious and guilty.

"You can’t even go back the way we came?" Baron asked.

Jack sighed. "The Beowulf Family is an exception among the Old Blood Clans. The people here adhere to an ancient, medieval, ascetic-monk-like code. You must have seen those Demon Hunters on your way in..."

Baron nodded. The presence of those Demon Hunters was precisely why, before he’d heard Isabella’s phone ring, he had thought he was in Fude City.

And that the figures outside his window were Demon Hunters from the First Hunter Association doing their morning drills.

"They’re the Dragon Hunters kept by the Beowulf Family. They primarily carry out illegal Dragon Hunting activities organized by the family..."

Seeing Baron frown, Jack elaborated, "Ever since the end of the First World War, the top Law Enforcement Organizations in the United Kingdom, led by the London Tower, jointly issued a bill called the ’Red Dragon Ordinance.’"

"Its main purpose is to stop certain Bounty Hunters and Cultists who believe in the ’Dragon Feast’ from hunting down Dragon Descendants everywhere for monetary gain, or even for power."

"For certain European Dragon Slayer Clans, like the Beowulf Family, who used to make their fortune primarily by trafficking in Dragon Descendants, this was a devastating blow."

"As a well-established Old Blood family, the Beowulf Family had other industries after the Industrial Revolution, so the impact on them wasn’t that severe.

"But some of the less established Dragon Slayer Clans had it rough. They lost the very means by which their families had made a living..."

"The London Tower is that powerful?" Baron asked, surprised.

"One law made countless Dragon Slayer Clans seethe in silence? Don’t tell me Newton is the only Golden-rank individual in the entire United Kingdom."

"Isaac Newton represents the pinnacle of Wizards. He achieved the Golden rank over a hundred years ago."

’Achieving the Golden rank over a hundred years ago...’ Baron mused. ’By that metric, he really is incredible.’

’Come to think of it, I only stayed at the Gold rank for three days... Ahem, that doesn’t count.’

Jack, oblivious to what was going through Baron’s mind, continued.

"Most of these Dragon Slayer Clans pride themselves on their noble bloodlines. They’re unwilling to do the ’fog-clearing’ tasks that ordinary Demon Hunter Clans handle, but they also can’t afford to openly offend the London Tower. So, they have to resort to..."

Jack paused and looked at Baron. Baron vaguely caught on to the implication. "You mean... poaching?"

"Exactly. To avoid violating the Red Dragon Ordinance and attracting the attention of the London Tower, most of these Dragon Slayer Clans resort to poaching."

"And an Alchemy Barrier," Jack said, "is the best way to avoid prying eyes."

"The Beowulf estate and the surrounding Dracul Mountain Range, which once belonged to the Dragon Family, are situated within a massive barrier. This barrier is only deactivated at specific times.

Normally, to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble, the barrier remains active at all times. Personnel enter and exit via a registration system."

"Our only ways out are to either sneak out with the attendants when they go to procure supplies, or wait for the Dragon Hunting Ceremony. It’s being held in the Dracul Mountain Range in two days. Many elites from the Inner Side’s Old Blood Clans will be there, and it will, to some extent, determine the next Patriarch of the Beowulf Clan."

After listening, Baron asked impassively, "When is the supply run?"

"Let me think." Jack began to mumble to himself, then his expression froze. "I think... it was this morning."

’Which means right now.’

Baron asked, "When’s the next supply run?"

"If I’m not mistaken, the Beowulf Family, like most Old Blood Clans, is on a semi-monthly procurement schedule. The next time we could get out might not be until next month."

"So you’re saying that if we want to get out, our only option is the Dragon Hunting Ceremony in two days."

"Theoretically, yes."

’Oh well. Since I’m here, I might as well make the best of it. A couple of days isn’t that long, anyway.’

Baron said, "Tell me what’s been happening on the Inner Side these last few days. And while you’re at it, tell me how we’re supposed to get out on the day of the Dragon Hunting Ceremony."

And so, from Jack, Baron learned everything that had happened on the Inner Side since his fall from the sky over Ben Mountain.