“There they are!” a guard yelled. The guard’s raised voice caught the attention of five more guards.

  “Bollocks,” Siv muttered and quickly dove into a corner, out of the guard’s sight.

  “She turned the corner! Go around and cut her off!”

  “What an idiot,” Siv mused. She turned around and retraced her steps, but she went behind the hedge to avoid being caught by her pursuers. Usually, she would scoff at the needless scale of major proportions that nobles loved to indulge in. This time, it worked in her favour. She had escaped into the hedge when the arms were raised. The guards gave chase, around dozens of them. Thankfully, the gardens were vast. It was akin to a maze. One would easily get lost if they had a momentary pse of forgetfulness.

  She had been evading the guards’ pursuit for quite some time now. If the gardens did not possess a scale of exaggerated proportion, she would have long been caught. Though the guards weren’t too bright, there were still plenty of them. Siv couldn’t run forever, certainly not in this vast, yet confined and restricted space.

  “The only way out is blocked. She’s still here. Double your efforts and keep searching!”

  Siv stopped as she heard the shout just in front of her, beyond a hedge that loops into a ring. She scoured her surroundings quickly. She found a spot just right for her to catch her breath, a rose bush. She rushed for the bush.

  “We will be safe here for a while, little one,” Siv muttered as she slumped down behind the bush.

  Guards of the estate continued to run around the garden. Sword or spear in hand, searching high and low for the intruder that they had just lost sight of.

  “Sir, she’s not here either!”

  “Then, keep searching!”

  “We will certainly be safe here for the time being.”

  “Kyu~!” Ruri mewed gleefully in agreement as she curled in Siv’s p.

  “We lost them,” Siv sighed in relief as the soldiers gradually and unknowingly distanced themselves from where she was hiding. The estate was vast, and the guards patrolled the grounds with great vigince and persistence, a stark contrast to the interior of the mansion. “You are certainly a great boon, little one. Without you, we wouldn’t even be able to set a single step into the estate.”

  “Kyu Kyu~” Ruri chirped exuberantly at the praise.

  “Don’t get so excited just yet. We are still within enemy territory.” Stroking Ruri’s head, she reminded the Kirin that they were still very much in the midst of a brewing storm. Until she was out of the estate, every step still carried a possible chance of death or worse. She cast a gnce at her vicinity. Fortune appeared to smile upon her. The fence was just a few yards away from her. Once she climbed over the fence, she would be out. However, she couldn’t leave just yet.

  “Kyu~?” Ruri tilted her head, seemingly asking Siv the reason for her hesitation.

  “Our friends are still here, little one. We can’t leave just yet.”

  “Kyu…”

  “It’s alright. I’m afraid too, but we can’t leave our friends behind. We must help them.”

  Ruri lowered her head in silence, curling further into Siv’s p.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe with me.”

  As those words left Siv’s lips, a dreadful feeling assailed every inch of her soul and every fibre of her body. It wasn’t just Siv. It was everyone in the estate, in the vicinity. Ruri yelped in fright and terror and dug herself into Siv’s p as if she were burrowing herself.

  “What the hell was that?” Siv gasped. Her voice was barely there. It was fainter than a whisper. The dread had robbed her of her voice. She couldn’t move. She could barely speak. She wanted to run, but her body was defiant. She neither had the strength nor the will to force her body to move. “This feeling… I have sensed it before… A demon… but here of all pces?”

  “Kyu… kyu…” Ruri was cowering in fear, trembling uncontrolbly.

  Nearby, Siv could hear the commotion caused by the abrupt, deathly sensation that assailed the whole pce. The guards who had been searching for her were also caught by it. Their weapons fell from their grip as they, too, lost strength in their entire body. They fell to their knees, clutching their necks as if they were suffocating. The maids nearby were faring much worse than the guards. Their eyes went wide and their skin went pale. Their eyes rolled to the back of their head as light seemingly left their bodies, and they colpsed to the ground, unconscious.

  “Mistress… what’s happening on your end?” Siv muttered. She could only assume the cause of this deathly feeling hailed from Erin’s side, as it was always the case.

  The estate was in an uproar, or it should have been. Most of the people had been incapacitated by the deathly feeling that assailed the pce. More than half of the people had fainted due to their weak constitution and low levels. The ones that managed to stay awake were not faring any better. They were barely hanging on to their sanity and consciousness.

  “Damn it… What now?” Siv asked no one in particur. She had wanted to search for Erin and provide assistance, but given her current circumstances, she was in no condition to even take care of herself. Even Ruri had fainted in her p.

  “What in the divine’s name is going on here!?”

  Siv heard a vigorous shout. Her shoulders perked up in surprise. Everyone should be unconscious or debilitated. With all the strength she could muster, she sat up straight and peeked around the corner. She saw an old man in light military garments. Though the man was old, nothing about him was worn or ragged. He still carried himself with vigour and radiance. His strength was made even more evident with all the incapacitated individuals scattered around him.

  “It must be that dreadful aura we felt earlier,” answered the adjutant by the old man’s side. The adjutant was a woman. She was younger than the man, though she wouldn’t be considered young by most.

  “Damn the High Lord,” the old man cursed.

  “Sir?” the woman blinked. “Do you perhaps believe this is the work of High Lord Marsh?”

  “At the very least, I suspect he has some sembnce of direct involvement in this.”

  Siv could hear their conversation quite clearly. The estate had turned quiet as most were unconscious or too weak to speak. The two were not afraid of the words being heard, as those who were still conscious were not coherent enough.

  “I further suspect this must be the reason he had denied my request for an audience repeatedly. He’s hiding something, and I intend to find out the reason.”

  “But what will we do, Sir? We are still intruders despite all that is happening. We have no authority to search this estate. Anything we found will be inadmissible in court.”

  “We don’t need it to be admissible in court. We just need to bring his dirty deeds to light. He won’t be branded a criminal, but he will lose a lot of good faith in court.”

  “...This is unwise, Sir. Do remember, Sir, High Lord Marsh is still a good friend of the crowned prince. He will not sit idly by while you attempt to ruin him.”

  “Once his dirt is brought to light, I doubt the crowned prince will wish to continue associating with him.”

  “Davos, have you forgotten what happened with Osmund?” The woman dropped all honorifics with her superior. “He brought some dirt of Marsh to light. Many people distanced themselves from Marsh, but the crowned prince remained his friend. He even helped Marsh clear his name, and Osmund was sent out to the front lines against those radical apostles.”

  “That’s only because the dirt is not dirty enough, Mary. We need something filthy, something that will make the royal family hold Marsh in contempt even if they could officially brand him a traitor of the crown. Furthermore, we have something that Osmund doesn’t have. The support of the Ruvans.”

  “The support of the Scarlet Bde, you mean. This is her lone venture. The High Priests have not given their official stand on this matter. I wouldn’t count on her so much, Davos.”

  “The Scarlet Bde’s backing means so much more than those old fools’ advocacy. She is the Grand Apostle of Ruva. Her words and voice held more significance than anyone else within the Ruva Faith.”

  Also, it appears that we have an eavesdropper.”

  Siv immediately shrank back behind the bush.

  “I know you’re there, whoever you are. Unlike the others, you’re still fully conscious and coherent. So, why don’t you come out and show yourself?”

  With no other choice, Siv id Ruri down on the ground beside her before pulling herself up to her feet with whatever remaining strength she had. She made sure her weapons were sheathed and her arms were raised when she showed herself.

  “A beast-kin?” the woman named Mary muttered. “You’re not part of the household guards, are you?”

  Siv shook her head.

  “You looked more like a mercenary or an adventurer,” said Davos. “That said, why is a common folk like you lurking in the grounds of a High Lord’s estate? A commoner in a noble’s estate. It’s always for the reason of stealing some treasures or valuables. That said, for a supposed thief, you don’t have any thief-reted or specialised stealth skills.”

  The old man had the Appraisal skill, Siv realised. Lying would be futile.

  “You must have used spell scrolls to sneak in. However, you’re no ordinary thief. If you were, you would have acquired skills or abilities reted to thievery. You don’t have any. Stealing isn’t what you do for a living, but you are here, and you were hiding. Clearly, you weren’t invited. So, why don’t you tell me the reason that you have snuck into the estate of a high lord?”

  “...For reasons simir to yours, if what I have heard is nothing but the truth.”

  “You also seek the downfall of William Marsh?” Davos questioned.

  “We do.”

  “Oh? You’re not here alone?”

  “I am not, obviously.”

  “Yes, obviously. So, why do you seek his downfall?”

  “...We are also aware of his crimes.”

  “So do a lot of people, but they aren’t doing anything. So, once again, why do you seek to see him fall?”

  “We only seek to do what’s right. We saw the evidence of his crimes and we are aware that he’s pnning something worse. That aura that we all felt might just be the beginning of what he has pnned. We want to stop him before things get out of control.”

  “You and your friends seem to know a lot about him.”

  “As I said, we wish to stop him before things get out of hand.”

  “If everything you said is the truth, then I hope you and your friends will be my witnesses when I formally accuse him.”

  “...I cannot say. I don’t speak for my friends or myself. I have pledged myself to my mistress. She decides my fate.”

  “And where is your mistress?”

  “I would say she’s probably in the middle of her confrontation with Marsh.”

  Davos smiled and stepped forward. “Take me to her, then.”

  “It will be your funeral, then.”

  All three of them turned towards the voice that suddenly intruded into their exchange.

  “An Augur?” Mary gasped.

  “I am,” Amyra chuckled as she strode into clearing of the garden.

  “Lyra?” Siv also gasped, but not because of Amyra’s sudden appearance, but because of Lyra who Amyra was carrying in her arms. “What happened to her?!”

  “She’s hurt badly. She’ll live, but we will need to get her to a healer quickly.”

  “What do you mean by it will be my funeral?” asked Davos.

  “I don’t have the time to expin given how my gravely injured my friend here is. So, it will be best that you see it for yourself.”

  Davos’ expression turned solemn. “Just tell me where to go.”