Chapter 139: The Seven Stars’ Idiot Thieves Guild

"Oh my, isn't that spiky-haired brat over there talking big the same one who was too scared to even accept a challenge yesterday?"

Just then, Camula, still crouched a short distance behind Rowan in her maid role, seemed to hear some kind of voice ringing in her head.

She glanced at Rowan, the corner of her mouth twitching, before reluctantly playing along with whatever scheme he had in mind, and took a jab at Chazz.

It landed squarely on his sore spot.

"Who's out there talking trash about The Chazz...!"

Hearing that oddly familiar voice, Chazz, who'd been busy stuffing his face, immediately jerked his head up like a startled cat, ready to fire back.

The next instant, though, his eyes went wide at the sight of Camula's all-too-familiar figure.

He nearly choked to death on the mouthful of food he'd been in the middle of swallowing, pounding at his own chest to clear his throat.

"C-Camula?!"

Bastion, along with Alexis's two friends, Jasmine and Mindy, all cried out in shock, eyes wide as well.

None of them had realized until just now that there was another person sitting right there in Rowan's living room.

"What in the world is going on here? Why is this vampire woman here?!"

Chazz and Bastion instinctively huddled together, turning to Rowan, who looked perfectly unbothered, for an explanation.

Alexis's two friends also pressed in close beside her, watching Camula, seated not far behind Rowan, with visible unease.

"No need to worry. After a little 'reforming' on my part, Camula's now 'volunteered' to work as my maid."

Rowan waved a hand casually in response to their questioning looks, delivering the blatant lie without so much as a blush.

Behind him, Camula was grinding her teeth practically to dust. Never in her life had she encountered someone so shameless.

And the worst part was, with everyone now looking her way, she caught sight of Rowan's oh-so-"sunny" smile, and had no choice but to nod along through gritted teeth, confirming that yes, she had indeed volunteered for this.

Vouching for the lie herself.

Even a hardened Shadow Duelist vampire like Camula nearly burst into tears on the spot.

"Pfft." Alexis, standing nearby, couldn't help but stifle a laugh behind her hand.

This guy really did have a unique talent for getting under people's skin.

"Not sure exactly what happened here, but I guess that basically makes her 'one of us' for now?"

Chazz said, visibly relieved as he let the matter go.

"Well, since Camula's working as your maid now, do you think we could get her to share some information about the other Seven Stars Shadow Duelists with us?"

Bastion suggested, having clearly zeroed in on the key point.

His whole approach to dueling revolved around preparing multiple decks to handle different situations, so gathering intel on opponents and preparing a counter-deck or two in advance was very much his specialty.

Hearing this, Alexis and Chazz both perked up as well, turning their attention toward Camula.

Rowan, for his part, couldn't have cared less either way. He had no intention of forcing Camula to reveal anything.

It was entirely up to her. After all, he already knew most of it anyway.

Even if his presence here might have caused a few small ripples of change here and there, the overall picture should still hold true for the most part.

"The Seven Stars Shadow Duelists don't actually know each other. Only Darkness and I know each other, along with some foolish burglar gang that seems to have already infiltrated this Duel Academy. That's about the extent of what any of us know about one another."

Camula said, after a moment's hesitation, without any particular attempt to hide it.

She genuinely didn't have much information to offer. Even her own reason for joining the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists organization had simply been to eventually use the power of the Sacred Beasts, through the hand of whoever was pulling the strings behind it all, to revive her clan, wiped out as they now were.

As for that "foolish burglar gang" apparently having already infiltrated the island housing this academy, she didn't see any particular harm in sharing that much.

That kind of laughably weak group could hardly manage to "rescue" her from this irritating brat's grip anyway.

"There's already a Seven Stars Shadow Duelist embedded inside the academy?!"

The moment Camula said this, Alexis, Bastion, and Chazz all reacted with visible alarm.

"As for exactly where they might be, I couldn't say. All I know is that it's a group of five burglars."

Camula said.

"In that case, there are far too many possible suspects to narrow down."

Bastion said, frowning as he mulled it over. After all, across the entire academy, plenty of students, along with staff assigned to things like nighttime patrols, could plausibly be part of that "burglar gang" hiding among the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists.

"Well, I'll leave that burglar gang business to you two, Bastion and Chazz. I've got some other things to take care of the next couple of days."

Rowan said, sounding entirely unconcerned. The instant Camula had mentioned it, he'd already known exactly what this so-called "burglar gang" actually was.

If he remembered correctly, it had to be the five-person burglar troupe of Duel Spirits awakened from a card called Dark Scorpion Burglars, materialized through the power of a Shadow Charm by whoever was pulling the strings behind the Seven Stars organization, becoming one of the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists themselves.

They were most likely currently working somewhere at the academy under the guise of school nurses, staff members, or something along those lines.

As Rowan recalled, though, that particular bunch really were just as Camula had described them: a gang of bumbling comic relief burglars, prone to messing things up.

Not much of a real threat, honestly closer to filler material padding out the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists' ranks.

With the combined skills of Bastion and Chazz, dealing with them should be more than manageable.