[Night time]
The lanky and tall June found himself landing directly on top of Count Paul's residence, exactly on top of where the Count's office should be.
Over the past month or so, there have been some things going on within the borders of the city. Of course, these strange things that were happening were people going missing.
The people going missing were the type that most wouldn't even miss, like the homeless in the slums or some orphaned teens.
For the most part, these were the people that nobody cared about. However, the Marquis wasn't one who could dismiss such a thing, especially considering that the count might be involved.
June wasn't aware if the Count had runes on the room to prevent any eavesdropping; as such, he went into his small bag strapped to his waist and took out a hollow cylinder that was about 5 centimetres long.
The cylinder also had a runic inscription carved on its exterior. This would allow June to be able to hear the conversation between the Count and the other individual he couldn't identify.
He placed the cylinder directly on the roof before placing his ear on the cylinder, allowing him to hear the conversation loud and clear.
"I trust you won't be doing any to hinder us, Count?"
The voice belonged to a woman. However, June could not place who it belonged to, and thus, he could not identify the person. However, this basically confirmed that
The count was in cahoots with a possible suspect.
"Of course not, my lady. In fact, what you're doing just might aid the Prince's plans for this city, so you can worry about no interference from my people"
The Count responded, a pleased smile plastered on his face. The woman before him found it unsettling; it also didn't help that the Count was wearing traditionally noble women's clothing.
"I see. Let me thank you in advance for your cooperation"
She gave the Count a bow of gratitude and he simply waved her off.
"Think nothing of it, my lady. However I do wonder, will you be willing to meet with the Prince in the future?"
He questioned; the Count was informed that The prince had shown interest in witches, so setting up a meeting with a possible witch would work to benefit the prince.
"I'm afraid not, once we have completed our objective, we won't have the time to meet with anyone. Thank you for this meeting, goodbye"
The woman stood up and left the room. It was a bit abrupt and rude, but the Count said nothing.
Although he did decide that it was time to leave Hen City, of course, after he had written a letter to the Prince detailing the situation.
Hearing the woman leave the room, June quickly decided he should follow her, he easily jumped over to the nearest mansion, clearing an entire yard's worth of space in a single leap and landing softly on the roof.
It took a few minutes before the woman exited the count's mansion and made her way out of the noble's district, with June stealthily following her. He had a black crystal with him so he was confident she wouldn't notice.
The woman made her way out of the noble's district and walked the empty streets of the city without much worrying.
However, she suddenly stopped. The time of day was night; it was closer to midnight. As such, there were very few people awake, and due to this, she was the only person outside.
June raised a brow at her sudden halt, however what he felt next was something he didn't expect.
The woman let loose her terrifying aura and in a split second June felt his body shiver in fear, his body moved instinctually as it jumped back multiple times and each time using full strength to get as far away as possible from the woman.
June only regained control of his body once he was far away enough from the dangers.
"What in the fuck was that!!"
He exclaimed in disbelief, his body shivering still and sweat dripping down his temples.
"Stupid Count, what the hell are you dealing with?!"
He expressed before quickly making his way towards the Marquis' home, he needed to report this as soon as possible.
…..
Somewhere near the slums of the city, within a particularly large building. The building itself was not anything special and didn't seem out of place in the city. To the outsider, it looked similar to a tavern, but oddly enough, it never received any customers.
The woman June had been tailing and forced to retreat, was now inside this building and was standing before another woman who was currently busy carving down runic circles on the floor.
"Are you done, Dina?"
"Patience my dear Thena, this is a process"
Dina quickly responded, her words laced with glee as if happy or excited, Thena gave her colleague a raised eyebrow before she took off the cloak that hid her face and revealed the face of a beautiful young woman.
She had fair porcelain-like skin and pitch-black hair that reached down her back with matching black eyes.
The removal of the cloak also revealed a flattering, chubby, yet short figure of a woman.
"OK, and I'm asking if you're done, We can only keep The Great Mistress waiting for so long"
Thena expressed frustration clearly on her face.
"Why are you in a hurry, There's no time limit and the Great Mistress is very patient, I'm certain she won't mind as long as we free her"
Dina, on the other hand, was a platinum blonde-haired woman with a slender figure. Her hair was cut short, at ear length, and her skin a shade darker compared to her colleague; she wasn't particularly tall but was taller than Thena.
"There are possible threats to our plan in this city; I don't want interference from them.
Thena explained, her encounter with Reniris had shown her that the women had more power than they initially thought.
The two arrived in this city a few months ago and did their best to scout out any possible threats to their plans. They determined there weren't adventurers above A-rank in this city, thus making it a good place for what they planned.
"Then why not send the faithful at them, we've recruited more than enough of them"
Dina countered; ever since they arrived, they had recruited plenty of people for their cause, or rather plenty of sources of mana for Dina to power herself.
"And if they aren't enough and they're killed? Where will you get the magic power necessary to activate the spell"
"This is why I proposed we do this at the capital, not only is it larger but has a larger population"
Dina argued, gesticulating with her hands the size difference between the capital city and the city they were currently located in.
"And you forget that stronger adventures are in the capital, I'd rather not have to deal with Kane The grin, not to mention the greater security"
Thena countered, It didn't necessarily have to be this city specifically. Initially, they would have used Rix City; however, the Princess was there, so they defaulted to Hen City to avoid Reniella.
Of course, Thena did not believe the Princess was more powerful than herself; however, she was a formidable foe who would no doubt ruin their plans if given the opportunity, and Thena would rather not take that chance.
"Well whatever, you can't hurry this process, Runic magic is intensely delicate and any mistakes can be fatal, especially considering we're attempting to activate a lost magic, so be patient, sit down and eat something"
Thena frowned deeper after having heard the last part of Dina's certain, she felt a little bit insulted
"If you have time to insult my weight, then you have time to hurry up!"
She expressed angrily before walking off, leaving her companion a bit perplexed at the sudden outburst.
"I'm sure she hasn't eaten today right? Why is she mad"
The young woman whispered to herself before she realized that maybe she had eaten something while she was out, so she just shrugged her shoulders and continued her work.
....