Free Web NovelChapter 343: Chapter 343 Infiltrating the mansion_1
That evening, on the outskirts of Silvertown, Aiden climbed a tree, cast night vision on himself, and observed the country villa at the foot of the distant mountain through a pair of binoculars.
"Really rich, to secretly buy such a mansion in the suburbs," Aiden thought to himself.
Before starting the operation, Sophie had informed him of the current whereabouts of Susan Feng, who would act as the substitute.
"Pop star Sophie Carter" claimed to take a long-term break and moved out of the mansion she bought in the upper city district, but in fact, she had not left Silvertown.
Choosing to stay away from the city area was mostly because she did not want the murder to be discovered immediately.
According to Sophie, the gentlemanly housekeeper responsible for managing "Sophie Carter’s" estate and hiring personnel to handle agent affairs was actually in charge of managing two intelligence staff, Sophie and Susan, and responsible for internal communication within the organization. He was also the holder of the "Existence" incantation—a standard configuration for the majority of Smile Scale’s personnel who handled receptions and gathered intelligence. "Existence" was the mask behind which they wore fake smiles while playing different roles.
This time, the housekeeper was hidden inside the mansion, tasked with handling the aftermath.
Although Smile Scale had already been planning to get rid of Joey Lawson, finding the right person and dispatching them in time required some time. In contrast, Joey, eager to kill Sophie, would either act before that or simply give up.
For Smile Scale, it would be best if Joey gave up. At most, Sophie would spend a few months in jail and escape a deadly misfortune.
The worst-case scenario would be the murder of Susan, the substitute, resulting in the organization losing a receptionist. Then, the housekeeper would have to maintain Susan’s disguise temporarily and promptly dispose of the body—of course, these aftermath efforts would likely become redundant. Under normal assumptions, given the "Transmogrification" power held by Joey Lawson, it was highly likely that he would destroy evidence and dispose of the body immediately after the murder, taking the remains with him.
This stalker had also used magical surveillance to uncover the true identity of Sophie Carter and the fact that she held a divine essence. He would undoubtedly not hesitate to take the divine essence from the victim’s remains after the murder, so the substitute’s body also needed to retain a bit of divine essence. fгeewebnovёl.com
Without a doubt, Susan was the most suitable candidate to die in Sophie’s stead. freёwebnovel.com
The mansion’s location was not exactly safe. Aiden easily found such a hidden observation post suitable for surveillance, and the only person at the gate was an old man who seemed to double as a gardener. Unlike the housekeeper, this man had no real connection with Smile Scale; he was just a long-time employee of Sophie.
Probably Smile Scale also understood that hiring average bodyguards was futile, no matter how many there were, and they might instead end up paying a hefty sum in compensation.
Looking at the situation, it seemed that they were indeed prepared to let the substitute fall to protect the pop star.
However, this was better for Aiden, as he could avoid a lot of trouble.
All the rewards offered by Sophie, whether teaching incantations or leaking information, were mostly based on her violating Smile Scale’s rules, so it was necessary for Aiden to keep his secret dealings with Sophie from being noticed by Smile Scale.
In other words, he could not protect Sophie as Aiden Galahad—at least, not in a way that the housekeeper watching Susan would notice him.
Neither Smile Scale nor the murderous ex-witch could exactly be considered good people. If it weren’t for the relatively attractive payment offered by Sophie, Aiden wouldn’t be particularly willing to get personally involved in this matter. Even if he did get involved, he definitely couldn’t do so under his real identity, to prevent attracting trouble.
So he planned to first figure out a way to sneak into the mansion and contact Susan under a different identity to convey Sophie Carter’s intentions.
With his skills, it was indeed possible to find a spot to sneak in, but if someone were to see him...
Still, disguising himself and entering through the main gate seemed the most appropriate.
From this point of view, Sophie’s initiative to teach him the incantation was probably also for the sake of facilitating his operations.
As Aiden focused on the mansion, he recalled the information Sophie had given him:
"Susan’s public identity is my maid, but in reality, she hardly does any of the household chores. On the surface, she’s responsible for some of my private missions that require her to go out, but in fact, she’s doing intelligence work. A girl or two will be hired in the mansion to handle daily cleaning and household chores; these maids are hired locally and are unrelated to Smile Scale. They usually don’t live inside the mansion and leave in the evening; you can find a way to use their identity to blend in."
After more than an hour of stakeout, Aiden finally saw a middle-aged maid walking out of the gate.
The timing was perfect! Aiden immediately jumped down from the tree, took a lantern in hand, and walked towards the villa along the country road.
For added safety, he first used a body modification technique to turn himself into a thin, white-haired old man.
Soon after, he encountered the maid on the road.
"Good evening, madam, may I ask if Miss Carter’s house is this way?" Aiden took off his hat to greet the maid and casually asked for directions.
"Eh?" The maid was taken aback, "Ah, I’m not too sure about that..."
It seemed she was from a nearby village, recently hired to work, and didn’t quite understand the identity of her employer—Aiden made a rough guess about her information.
"Is the lady of the house at home now?" Aiden asked again.
"Yes, she is," the maid mistook him for a visitor to the house owner.
"Thank you, I’m sorry for the interruption," Aiden thanked her politely with a smile and then headed straight for the mansion.
The maid didn’t think much of it and continued on her way. She did not notice that after the old man walked away, his appearance suddenly became exactly like hers.
"What’s the matter, Mrs. Anda?" After Aiden approached the gate, the gatekeeper’s head popped out of the guardhouse window.
To him, Aiden now appeared as the maid who had just left through the gate.
"I left something in the house, going back to get it," Aiden said with an embarrassed smile.
"Go get it," the gatekeeper opened the wicket and let Aiden in.
Aiden passed through the courtyard and entered the mansion, immediately starting to search for Susan Feng’s location.
As a holiday villa for the enjoyment of just one female owner, the single-story area wasn’t much bigger than the apartments Aiden had seen in his previous life. Quickly, he had wandered through the downstairs hall, dining room, and kitchen, and just as he was about to go upstairs, a woman’s voice came from above the staircase, "Mrs. Anda, haven’t you already left?"
Aiden looked up to see "Sophie Carter," in pajamas and disheveled hair, slowly walking down from upstairs.
