"Hmm… sure I suppose. Both our goals here are to shut the raid door down." Shiro nodded her head.

"So let's see, I'm investigating the raid door since I was curious as to the type of raid it was. I was tampering with it to see if I can find out more but I was repelled. I wasn't sabotaging it since I want it to be closed as well. As for my goal, well, let's keep it a secret for now." Shiro smiled while placing her finger in front of where her lips.

"Then did you find out anything of interest?" He asked.

"Why would I tell you that?" Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"Since we both want the raid to be closed, shouldn't we be sharing important information?" He frowned.

"Of course, but I'm a greedy person. What will you give me in return?" Shiro smiled.

Kier's expression didn't look too good and Shiro knew that he was getting annoyed.

'Hmph, serves you right for daring to pressure this princess before.' She scoffed in her mind.

"What do you want?" He asked after a short moment.

"Access to the Ospar family's Mana Springs." Shiro replied while narrowing her eyes.

Judging from the fact that all four of his followers were C class, she can estimate that his influence shouldn't be small. If she could win an entry to the mana springs in an auction, surely that means he can get one too.

"Hm… that's no problem. I can even give you several days' worth of entries as long as the information is worth it." Kier replied.

Shiro was a little surprised at how fast he agreed and from the way he spoke about the entry, it was like it belonged to him.

"Hou~ Seems like you have quite the connection to the Ospar family." She raised an eyebrow.

"Well of course. I'm the second young master. Kier Ospar." Kier rolled his eyes.

"Aiya, you should have said that earlier second young master. I would have asked for full authority over the springs had I known sooner." Shiro laughed.

Kier only ignored her since he knew that she was messing with him.

"Tch, no fun." Shiro stopped laughing when she saw no reaction.

"Can we get to the important part please?"

"Fine fine. So what I found out is that one of the monsters inside of the raid is controlling everything. This naturally includes the raid door for some reason. I'm not sure just yet. But from my analysis, he or she aimed to escape the dungeon and subsequently the city"

"Controlling the raid door?" Kier frowned in seriousness. If such a situation were true, then this would be bad for everyone.

"Yeah. In addition to this, I do believe that the monster is ether specialised in defence or speed. After all, their main goal is probably to escape rather than to fight. Therefore, unless we have people who are specialised in attack or speed, we'll have a hard time beating the monster. Of course, we can also try using crowd control, but he'll probably escape the spell's range before it hits." Shiro shrugged slightly.

"Hmm… that's quite interesting…" Kier leaned back slightly and frowned.

"I'm thinking of making a strong raid group that will enter the raid to scout out for more information before heading back to the outside. In this raid group, we'll be distributing a new item that we've managed to secure a while back."

"Oh? A new item?" Shiro asked as her interest was piqued. 

"Yeah, the item is dubbed as the return stone. If you crush it inside the raid, it'll force you out no matter the kind of situation you're in." Kier nodded.

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Because I wish to invite you to the team. For someone of your calibre, you'll be a big help to any group you join. Not to mention, we both want to close the raid. There are no negatives for you."

"Perhaps. But is it right to trust us like this, second young master?" Shiro narrowed her eyes dangerously.

The four followers gritted their teeth and prepared to put their life on the line should the situation arise.

Raising up his hand, Kier stopped them from making a move.

"I understand your concern. But, I'm willing to provide you with anything you need should you be able to help clear this raid with the team that I've put together." He offered.

"What's in this for you?"

"I get to protect this city and keep it safe."

"Is that all?" Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not, but the real reason is a little bit embarrassing." He smiled lightly.

"Hou? I'm getting curious now." Shiro chuckled.

"Just like how you have your secrets, I'll be keeping some of mine." Kier replied back with a soft chuckle.

"Fair enough. But I won't join a half assed raid party." Shiro shook her head slightly. Even if they have the return stone, if the party was useless, she'll just be wasting her time.

"Don't worry. All of the families have agreed on making the strongest party we can form." Kier replied as he understood her concerns.

"Hou~ The other families are ok with this?" Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. All we're lacking now is some more intel to increase the success of the raid. With all the strongest members and life saving items, we'll be able to get further into the raid and get a better understanding. With the supplies that we have, we're able to attempt the raid for a total of 2 times before we're forced to go at it with our lives on the line."

"Hmm… so 2 trial attempts to get info and a 3rd serious attempt to clear the raid." Shiro muttered while leaning back on her bench.

"Do you have enough resources for these two to join the raid?" Shiro asked while gesturing at Yin and Lisandra.

"Of course. But we'll need to make sure that each of the members are the best of the best so that we can assure a higher chance of success. While I don't doubt your strength, despite the fact that you two are level 51 and the miss there is level 53, there are others who will be sceptical due to the gap between early 50's and level 60's." Kier warned

"That's understandable. It's nothing too serious since we can just prove ourselves with a little spar can't we?" Shiro chuckled.

"Well that's one way to go about it." Kier nodded his head.

"Alright. I'll join your raid party and in return, I'm allowed daily use of the mana springs every day for the time being. This lasts till the raid is complete." Shiro summarised with a smile.

"Indeed. But remember, this is only IF you get a place in the raid party. I'll take you to meet the rest of them and we can go sort things out. They're currently living in the Opsar mansion so that we can improve our teamwork." Kier nodded as he stood up.

Shiro did the same and followed behind him.

As they approached the Ospar family mansion, Shiro saw a familiar face.

'Gilbert.' Shiro thought with a smile. During the time that she hadn't seen him, his level had increased from level 65 to 68.

This kind of levelling speed was around average even though it could be much faster due to his class.

'Must be because he needs to work as the butler for the Ospar's.' Shiro mused to herself.

"Welcome home young master." Gilbert bowed slightly when he saw Kier. Sweeping his gaze over Shiro, he didn't know why but he felt a sense of familiarity.

'How strange…' He thought to himself but moved his gaze away since it would be rude to stare for longer.

"I'm back. How are the guests so far?" Kier smiled.

"They have been adapting amazingly, as expected of the geniuses of each family." Gilbert replied.

"That's good. Help me gather everyone in hall 7. I wish to introduce a few new members to them."

"As you wish young master." After saying that, Gilbert left the area.

"Come, I'll guide you to hall 7 so that you can be acquainted with everyone."

As they walked towards hall 7, Shiro took this time to look around the mansion since the last time she entered it was through force. She didn't have the time to just leisurely looked around.

'Now that he's guiding the way, I can actually see the formations without them activating.' Shiro thought to herself. After examining the formations in detail, she understood how they worked.

'Unless one is marked, the formation will activate once a foreign entity is in range. How merciless.' She chuckled slightly.

"Did something humour you?" Kier asked.

"Nothing important, don't worry." Shiro smiled. However, she was currently memorising Kier's aura so that she can replicate it should the situation arise. After all, she might need to infiltrate the mansion again in the future.

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