System's POV
chapter-184

184 Unexpected Encounter

As soon as the Tigerkins from the residence left to help extinguish the raging flames in the granary, a seven-year-old boy, a black snake, and a Pocopoco snuck inside the residence to conduct their looting operation.

Poca would remain outside to stand watch and inform them if anything unexpected were to happen.

Not all Tigerkins had left the residence.

According to Tiona, there were four servants who remained, and one of them was a Grandmaster, whose duty was to guard the estate while his Master was away.

Thirteen sneakily made his way toward Paven's room, where Tiona had sensed the presence of treasures.

The Domini Mortis was also paying close attention to the Grandmaster Guard to ensure that he wouldn't come across her Master.

Vassago had perched himself on one of the open windows of the residence, ready to use Paven's voice to catch the attention of anyone who might go to where his Master was.

A few minutes later, Tiona stopped in front of a door and pointed her tail at it, gesturing that this was the room where she had sensed the treasure.

Thirteen nodded and slowly turned the handle of the door. Surprisingly, it was locked.

It looked like Paven didn't forget to lock it before leaving the residence, which made the boy confirm that the City Lord had a good head on his shoulders.

'Well, it doesn't really matter,' Thirteen mused as he took out his Thief Kit from his dimensional space and started to pick the lock of the door using the tools he had specially brought for this occasion.

Tiona, who had been paying close attention to the Grandmaster, made a low hiss, informing her Master that the Guard was headed in their direction.

Thirteen nodded in acknowledgment as he continued to open the lock on the door. He could now hear the footsteps of the guard from the hallway, but he remained calm as he tinkered with the keyhole.

After what seemed like an eternity, a faint clicking sound reached his ear.

The Guard, who was patrolling the interior of the estate, frowned when he heard the faint clicking noise in the direction of his Master's room.

Immediately, he hastened his steps to check if one of the servants was doing something funny.

When he turned into the corner, he saw no one in the hallway. The Tigerkin frowned and went toward the door of his Master's room and turned the knob.

"Am I just imagining things?" the Tigerkin muttered as he released the handle of the door. "It might be because I drank a bit earlier when I went to town to celebrate the festival."

The guard sighed before resuming his patrol inside the residence.

Inside Paven's Personal Quarters…

Thirteen sat on the floor, with his back leaning against the door.

He had controlled his breathing to make sure that the Tigerkin wouldn't detect anything, but it was truly a close call.

If he had been a second late in opening the door, he would have definitely been discovered, and that would have ended badly for him.

After Tiona informed him that it was now safe to move, the boy took a few deep breaths before breathing normally.

'That was close,' Thirteen thought before speaking in a low volume, "Where is it, Tiona?"

The Black Snake crawled toward the bookshelf at the corner of the room and used her tail to point at it.

Thirteen nodded in understanding and scrutinized the bookshelf.

Bookshelves were usually used to hide hidden passages inside many noble homes, so the boy already had an idea about what to do.

A few moments later, he started to move the books one by one, looking for the trigger that would help open the hidden passageway.

Tiona also helped move the books that were not within Thirteen's reach, but after moving all the books, the bookshelf remained in place.

'I see. Then the trigger must not be in the bookshelf,' Thirteen mused as he scanned the surroundings. 'It must be this.'

The boy asked Tiona to push down the torch that was hanging on the wall, which was two meters away from the bookshelf.

The Black Snake obeyed, and just as Thirteen expected, the bookshelf moved when the torch was pushed down like a lever.

There was indeed a hidden passage behind the bookshelf, but the only problem was that there were no lights to light the way.

Fortunately, Thirteen had prepared for this possibility, so he took out a glowstone from his Dimensional Storage, which he had taken from the General's Residence.

With the stone in hand, Thirteen was able to see two meters ahead of him, allowing him to see the staircase that led deep underground.

He knew that he was short on time, so he hurriedly descended to see what was waiting for him at the bottom.

After descending the last step, the boy found himself in a spacious underground room, which made his eyes widen in shock.

"Sh*t," Thirteen muttered as he came face to face with a Giant Snake that was at least ten meters long, looking at him with hostility.

The seven-year-old didn't expect that there would be a monster guarding the hidden underground cavern under Paven's room, and a glance was enough for him to recognize what it was.

It was none other than a Rocky Bal-Boa, a Rank 5 Monster whose body looked like it was made of rocks.

This monster lived in rocky mountains, underground caverns, or generally anywhere with rugged terrain, allowing it to hide and ambush its prey with ease.

The venom it possessed wasn't fatal to humans, but it could still cause paralysis. It then killed its opponents by constricting them with its large body, which was as hard as a rock, grinding them and breaking their bones in the process.

Once it deemed that its prey could no longer offer any resistance, it would then swallow them whole, and digest them inside their bodies.

With a screech that made Thirteen's skin crawl, the giant rock snake lunged at him with its jaws open wide.

It fully intended to devour the little human boy who had snuck inside its territory to steal the treasures that it was guarding.