“Why do you expect activity and defense from a dress?”

Although Ivy protested as if she were surprised, Dees remained stubborn.

Ivy grumbled and chose another dress displayed in the room this time.

This time, it was a black dress. At first glance, it seemed fine, but upon closer inspection, it was also a scandalous item with the front of the top split long from the neck to the abdomen.

“Does it have to be like this?”
“Master, I also think excessive interference in clothing choices is a form of oppression.”

“Don’t try to set the mood.”

“Think about it. I’ve only worn childish clothes as a Saint candidate until now. Ribbons, frills, flower decorations.”

“After carefully choosing and dressing you up…”

“I’m not a little kid like Miel Sedoro, I deserve to go to a bigger world.”

“If you want to go, go to the meadow, not such a dark path.”

Despite the master’s earnest dissuasion, Ivy defiantly let out a snort.

Since appearing in Teynda’s social circles, Ivy always wore innocent or cute clothes. But that was far from Ivy’s taste.

In fact, Ivy liked challenges, and that’s why she didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity.

“What’s all this?”

As Ivy dreamed of a little adventure while rejecting exposure, Ubia, who came out to the living room late, asked, looking at their quarrel. The living room of the always tidy two-story house was cluttered with cheap dresses, wigs, masks, and the like.

“These are disguises.”

“Disguises?”

Answering Ubia, who blinked his less sleepy eyes at Ivy, Ivy showed him a black dress. So Ubia’s less sleepy eyes widened.

“It would be embarrassing if a Saint candidate flaunts such things in the arena.”

“Wasn’t Dees going to handle the tough stuff?”

“I originally thought so, but if I say that, what will I become?…”

Unable to refute Ubia’s undeniable point, Ivy honestly grumbled. Then, avoiding the gaze of Dees, who was looking at her persistently, she added.

“I was going to leave catching the snake to Dees, but the situation has changed.”

Ivy said as she chose one of the wigs hanging on the hanger.

“There’s another business in that arena.”

Ivy decided to go to the arena two days before spreading the dresses and choosing them.

“The arena where the snake is hiding is the largest in the south. And the owner of the arena is Madbudeu of the Brik Jajak, who controls this area.”

“Now I understand why the head of the investigation team messed things up.”

“Operating the arena is not such an honorable job. Especially if it hides the Night Clan.”

In response to Dees’ words, Ivy nodded her head as if it weren’t surprising.

Last fall, the head of the investigation team from the Bayenne army, who came to investigate this village, confidently introduced himself as something Brick, bragging.

At the same time, he hurriedly covered up the problem without properly investigating the curse.

But wouldn’t you know that the problem arena was owned by the Brik family?

“I guess you know that the curse in this area has worsened because of their arena, right?”

“I can’t help but know. If they’re doing business with the Night Clan, they must be aware of that level of specificity.”

“How’s business going?”

“Recently, they say that the Brik Jajak’s castle has built a new warehouse.”

“Warehouse?”

“A warehouse filled with gold coins not recorded in the ledger, they say.”
In response to Dees’s calm reply, Ivy laughed with a bored expression.

An arena where those trying to make a big hit and those driven to the cliff fight entangled, a place where meaningless bloodshed occurs only for money, rolling an enormous amount of gold coins. Ivy had seen it in her childhood. People who used to jump into the arena as mercenaries, losing arms and legs, and then begging on the streets.

They were considered lucky to some extent.

Unlike those who were cheered to death, they at least survived, and they didn’t end up in the arena, where only people with missing limbs gathered.

Although it was a dreadful place, the arena in Viss didn’t collapse or fail because it made money.

“If the snake is just hiding in the arena, it’s not a big problem. But if it belongs to the arena, touching that snake would be meddling in Brick’s purse.”

“I’ll guard it thoroughly, like a goose laying golden eggs. Where is the arena?”

“It’s at the southern ruins’ end. We’re using the collapsed castle from the earthquake, and we’ve surveyed the structure of the castle.”

Ivy nodded in response to the former hunting dog’s diligence. Then, with a thoughtful expression, she added something.

“No matter if it’s an arena, it seems to have found its place in a really remote area.”

In Viss, operating an arena was an illegally permitted business.

About a dozen years ago, the Baryen army strictly prohibited arenas where people died for public entertainment for the sake of maintaining public order.

However, not only the owner of the arena but also the mercenaries fighting in the arena strongly resisted. Since they were risking their lives to fight, they asked why they should stop fighting for their own lives.

In the end, the Baryen army turned a blind eye to those troublesome guys, and thus, Viss’s arena was frequently operated even within the city with implicit consent.

So, if you want to do business at the end of the ruins, the Brick family’s arena would need a very special charm.

“Is the reason it’s doing well in such a remote place because of the Night Clan?”

“That’s true, but the relationship has changed. It’s more accurate to say that they chose that remote place because of the Night Clan.”

“When was that arena built?”

“It hasn’t been a year yet. Still, it’s very popular.”

“Hmm…”

In response to Dees’s words, Ivy once again stared blankly into the air.

“Hmm…”

After pondering something on her own, she soon began to laugh sardonically with shadowed eyes.

“Hehe, hehehe…”

“…Don’t laugh alone; speak.”

“I think I can ask it in a roundabout way.”

“What?”

“Pig.”

Ivy laughed even more at her own answer. Then, she refreshedly recited the name of the man called “Cassel Montra,” also known as the cursed house’s pig.

Ivy’s eyes, which had been assessing the fate of the high nobility, sparkled with certainty.

The astrologer’s words were correct.

Even though she had to struggle endlessly, Ivy could do whatever she wanted.