"Walsh awakened to his power at that time, becoming a mage with formidable power. At that time, many supernatural beings on this continent felt his power, and later it was assumed he was responsible for the devastation. This assumption makes sense until you begin thinking about everything logically. The Mage Born is indeed powerful, but his awakening should not have been powerful enough to cause an earthquake of this magnitude. This is a fact that many people, including my friend over there, chose to ignore in favour of emotions and excitement."
At these words, Walsh looked at Cate as though she were speaking a foreign tongue.
"When I heard about the Walsh's story a few years back, I felt that something was off about all this, and so I sent in a request for the Avalon Society to investigate the matter without assuming that Walsh was responsible. It took a few years, but the society, through this outpost led by Tala, finally found something that clearly showed that Walsh was not the cause of this earthquake."
The Mage Born jumped out of his chair and looked at Cate. He did not know what to think upon hearing this new information.
"At that time, I did not think that my request would actually yield much, and that is why I did not tell you. When we got the mission back at headquarters, the director explained a little about our mission but left out this information because of orders from his superiors. He gave me the information and the same instructions. I was only supposed to let you learn about everything once we reached this place. I do not know why they are doing things in this manner." Cate sighed at all the trouble she had brought to herself.
She did not want to be involved with this mission. Apart from feeling that this mission was taking her away from the path she had created to lead her to the Keys of Chaos, Cate also felt that something terrible would happen to her during this mission.
"Even though you were not the cause of this earthquake, you are very much connected to its origin. When you awakened the dormant supernatural bloodline in your family for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, your power interacted with something in this city or its surroundings, triggering the earthquake. Of this, we are sure."
Mary looked at Walsh with pity in her eyes. Albrecht just shrugged, but Jordan was a little moved by what the Mage Born had gone through.
"After confirming that there is some kind of supernatural object in this place, the society gave us this mission. We are to find the object, contain it, and return it to society. Apart from the involvement of one of our own, this mission is pretty straightforward. Tomorrow, we shall begin searching the city, and if we find nothing, we will spread out to the surrounding areas."
After the meeting, Cate met with Walsh and further explained why she could not share the entire mission with him. Since she did not have a reason for the peculiar orders from society, Cate could only make excuses about following orders. Fortunately, Cate and the Mage Born had gotten close over the past few years. The Mage Born understood that Cate was a simple creature. As long as one did not get in the way of what she was trying to achieve, Cate had no reason to harm them, especially if the person was her friend or something like that. The Mage Born was sure that Cate could never willingly hurt him. With this understanding, there was no conflict between the two over this matter.
Cate returned to her room. It was already several hours into the night.
Cate heard movement inside the room. She cautiously opened the door and entered. Suddenly, someone jumped on her back with a scream. When Cate felt the softness of their body, she immediately knew who it was.
"I almost caught you off guard," Mary said as she got down from Cate's back. The two had been playing a game where Mary tried to scare Cate. This began after Cate told her that she had never been scared in her life. This was true. From the moment Cate gained this new body and was reborn, she had yet to come across anything that had scared her in the least bit.
Mary tiptoed and lightly kissed Cate before she moved deeper into the large room.
"We must finish this mission as soon as possible. They want to meet you," Mary said. When Mary saw the look on Cate's face, she smiled a little. This was because she saw a shadow of fear in Cate's eyes. This was the first time anything like this had happened, and it was after hearing what Mary said.
Cate had been with Mary for years now. They had dated and grown closer over time, and even though Cate still had her doubts about their relationship, it had not stopped her from moving forward and trying to enjoy this life. After suffering for thousands of years, Cate hoped for something that would bring her future happiness. The only person who could do this for Cate was Mary.
When Cate was with Mary, she felt that everything was possible. She even momentarily forgot about her revenge. This both scared and gave hope to Mary. Hope that there would be something for her after taking down the gods, and fear stemming from the possibility of becoming soft and giving up her revenge for the sake of love. Cate did not want to give up her revenge. This was something she had wanted for centuries.
After years of dating, Mary was finally ready to introduce Cate to her family, and this was the reason for Cate's panic.
Cate nodded before pulling Mary back to her and kissing her deeply. Soon, the two were tearing off each other's clothes and moaning like dogs in heat. This relationship had never lacked passion.
As all this was going on, several figures approached the mansion through the darkness. They were covered in black from head to toe, and judging by how they moved, they were not there with any intention that could be considered reasonable.