If possible, it would be best to stay in Emily Bennett's bedroom, so that being a personal bodyguard would truly live up to its name, but thinking about it, that's impossible. In the end, I chose the storage room next to Emily Bennett's room. Although the butler kept saying the room was cramped and shabby, it was still much better than my own bedroom at home. Besides, the storage room was separated from Emily Bennett's bedroom by only a partition wall—one poke with a finger and it would break. If an emergency occurred, I could break through the wall and rescue her immediately.

Hmm, hopefully that kind of emergency never happens.

Otherwise, I'd really have to fight The Raven to the death, and at that point...

My weekly pay would be at its end.

The butler called the servants to move out the cardboard boxes from the storage room. They were all children's toys, precious mementos full of memories for the younger generation of the The Bennett Family. I saw a huge teddy bear with Grace Bennett's name tag on its tail, and couldn't help but imagine the scene of Miss Bennett clinging to the stuffed toy.

...What a jarring scene, truly hair-raising.

After a simple tidying up of the storage room, the butler asked me, “What kind of furniture does Mr. Carter need?”

“No need, just leave the room empty for me.”

“And the bed...?”

“I'll sleep standing up.”

That way, I can react immediately to anything that happens.

Only then did Old Butler look me over seriously and give me a slight bow. “Everything will be in your hands, Mr. Carter.”

“Take the money, solve the problem.”

That's the mercenary's professional creed.

Old Butler gave a wry smile.

In fact, it's not as hard for me as Old Butler imagines. Due to my physical condition, I basically don't need sleep. As long as I don't do any strenuous activity, just a three-to-five-minute nap in the corner is enough to recover from a day's fatigue. Bringing in a bed would be a waste.

Even though it was just some simple moving, by the time the room was tidied up, it was already quite late.

Before coming of age, the children of the The Bennett Family all have extremely strict schedules—bedtime at exactly ten o'clock. Before going to bed, Emily Bennett knocked on my door to say goodnight. The girl's face didn't look good, and she was noticeably more distant than when she got home.

I remembered Grace Bennett's look of disgust when she said "war dog."

I've been disliked...

I only stayed in New Territory for a year, and after returning to the home planet, things turned out like this... Maybe I really was wrong not to listen to Ethan Ford's advice back then? But asking me to become a "State Alchemist" like him doesn't seem like a good idea either.

I don't get it.

A dozen minutes later, I heard the gentle breathing of the The Bennett Family little sister next door. Her sleep quality is truly enviable—she's the one involved, yet she sleeps so soundly... In contrast, the Miss Bennett upstairs seemed much more anxious. Tossing and turning in bed, her breathing was erratic; this night was probably ruined for her.

I'm looking forward to seeing her dark circles tomorrow morning.

Then, closing my eyes slightly, I spread my senses to the limit, encompassing the entire floating platform. The presence of every household and over a hundred humans on the platform appeared clearly in my mind... The mysterious sensation lasted only a moment before being overwhelmed by a sharp pain—still too much of a strain.

But before leaving the home planet for New Territory, I couldn't even maintain it for a moment.

By midnight, most of the The Bennett Family had gone to sleep. The bodyguards at the door were still taking shifts, and Miss Bennett was still tossing and turning in bed, troubled by insomnia. I was a bit bored, so I went online to look for information about The Raven on the forums.

Unexpectedly, I couldn't find any intel on The Raven; instead, people started digging up information about me.

A team ranked twenty-first on the assassin leaderboard, up against a nobody ranked seven hundred and twenty-second—should be a foregone conclusion. Yet the huge gap in strength became the biggest suspense. The The Bennett Family might not understand the business, but Ethan Ford has no reason not to. Even though his official position isn't impressive, he's fairly well-known in the circle, so the helper he found couldn't possibly be too weak.

The general discussion went like this:

“Maybe Ethan Ford is just deliberately brushing off the The Bennett Family?”

“Impossible. If something happens to the The Bennett Family, it does him no good.”

“Then, what's so special about that person with the codename 'Perfect Killer'?”

“...Someone ranked that low, it's hard to find info... Seems he spent a year in New Territory?”

“Found it, but there’s nothing outstanding in his battle record. The missions he completed for points were more about luck than skill. That seven hundred and twenty-second ranking seems overrated.”

“Haha, since even Mr. Leonard Nash says so, it looks like Ethan Ford is just putting on a show.”

“That's always how the Chinese do things. Let's just wait and see.”

“It's just The Raven, no need for such a heated discussion, right? Right now, 'Railgun' and 'Index' are in a fierce battle—the top five experts are facing off.”

“Haha, even Mr. Leonard Nash is following those two...”

The discussion quickly went off-topic after that.

That was close. If the people on this forum really started digging, a data leak would be inevitable. Luckily, compared to The Raven, the showdown between Railgun and Index was much more attention-grabbing. With just one sentence from Leonard Nash, everyone’s attention was diverted.

By the way, Leonard Nash is my forum alias.