Gathered in the warehouse was a small militia. Alwyn couldn't see any of their faces, since they were all shrouded by strange blue cloaks. Just to make sure, he pulled out the piece of ripped fabric from his pocket to compare.
'The same. I guess I found... whoever these guys are.'
It wouldn't be too suspicious finding a gathering like this—if they hadn't tried so hard to hide it in the first place. Secret occult meetings were all the rage, nowadays, anyway. It was the presence of magic that was so concerning...
"Chiron wants it done before tomorrow night."
"That's... a big ask. Doesn't he know how much is at stake?"
"Of course he does."
There was a moment of uneasy silence.
"I didn't mean anything by it. I apologize."
The voices were calm and quiet, like estate staff. Or elite mercenaries. Alwyn really hoped it was anything but the latter. That would've made everything a lot more complicated.
'Only two of them are speaking, and the rest are all silent? Are these two their leaders? Group leaders, that is... I doubt this is the main force. Or even a large part of it. That means... shit, if these guys work for Malachai, then he has an entire army. No matter how skilled they are, that's bad. Don't tell me he's planning a coup if he loses? The royal army would surely step in, especially for Corvailles. Unless...? No, I doubt it. Not even Malachai would stoop to employing the enemy. Or would he? Damn, I don't know!'
Alwyn frowned, unsure of the best way to wrap this up. He wasn't at his peak, or half of it—or even a quarter of it, but he'd be enough to take them all. Without killing them, though? He needed information more than anything. Something to prove who employed these people.
"What's this?" a voice whispered from behind Alwyn.
Alwyn grimaced as the voice spoke to him, and winced when they put a foot to his back.
Oh, and another thing... since Alwyn needed to conserve mana, he couldn't keep up a constant observation barrier. The wizard wasn't used to it, and so he was essentially blind. Compared to before, at least.
Despite the lack of any audible cue, the gathering of cloaked men all looked up to where Alwyn was standing. Their faces were still shrouded by their cloaks, so he had yet to get a good luck at any of them.
He sighed. "Just kick me off the ledge already."
He reached over, almost as if to grab Alwyn's face.
Alwyn didn't give him a chance to do anything, though, instead choosing to spin around and deliver a jaw-crushing elbow to his face. The cloaked man narrowly dodged by leaning back, causing his cloak's hood to fall off and reveal his face.
Or, where his face should've been.
****
Linnie wasn't paying attention as he was walking, and ran into the back of a broad-shouldered man. The man stopped, to Linnie's annoyment.
'Don't tell me he's about to scold me? Doesn't he see how many people are in the streets right now!?'
The man turned slowly turned around, then looked down at Linnie. The boy frowned, because, beneath the hood of the man's blue cloak, he was wearing a pale gray mask.
A traditional Corven mask, typically made from paper mache fashioned into a human-like mask. They almost all had either an expressionless or subtle faced image, and usually some decorative elements, too.
This one, though, was blank and chilling, with a completely emotionless and gray face that made Linnie a little uneasy.
"Whoa, cool mask, sir!" Liora said. "Where can I get one of those?"
The masked man didn't respond, but turned back to face in front of him and continued walking.
"Rude... it was a simple question."
"Why do you want one of those things, anyway?"
"...I don't know?"
The two of them were currently heading to a 'horror house' recommended to them by some locals. Neither of them had ever heard of such a thing, and were imagining something very different. They both had experienced horror houses of their own before, technically.
"Ohooo~ welcome! Welcome to Lady Cordeux's horror house! Beware, only enter if you dare, for you're in for a scare!"
An old, slouching, wrinkly woman with a shaky voice ushered dozens of children in at a time.
Yes, for some odd reason, this horror house was specifically a children's attraction. Linnie and Liora were on the older range, for sure, but their youthful appearances were sure to give them no problem.
Technically, anyone could enter... but you'd definitely get some strange looks.
"How scary could it be? I mean, it's for children... ha-ha," Liora said.
Strangely, at the same time, a familiar voice said nearly the exact same thing.
"How scary could it be? It's just for children, ha!"
Linnie and Liora turned their heads to where the voice had come from. Standing across the street from them were Marielle and The Prince. The young lady seemed to be adamant on dragging The Prince into the attraction.
Both Marielle and The Prince were wearing half-masks that covered their eyes. They looked quite cool and fashionable, too—similar enough to the masked man's mask if it didn't have the lower section. But it wasn't for style. On a day like this, the two nobles needed a way to conceal their identity.
Linnie couldn't help but notice the lack of guards surrounding them. Had they snuck out?
"I-I-I-I—I don't want to go!" The Prince begged, clinging to a storefront.
"It's this attraction's first year here—come on! Stop being a bitch! How would I look if I went in there all alone!?"
"I'm sorry! I can't!"
Linnie frowned as Liora walked over—he really didn't want to alert the two nobles to their presence.
"Hallo!" she said, all friendly-like.
'Why'd she say hello like that? Is she stupid?'
"L-Liora!" Marielle stammered.
She gulped, and Linnie thought he saw her face go a little pale.
"You guys are going into the horror house, too? We should all go together! I bet it'd be less scary as a bigger group," Liora said, beaming.
Linnie face-palmed.
"Well, I—"
"Yes, we'll come with the two of you!" The Prince said in a surprising display of assertion.
"Spectacular!" Liora exclaimed.
'Spectacular...? Gaud, why?'
The four of them became a group, once again. The Prince and Liora didn't seem to have any problems with the ordeal—The Prince, since he didn't like confrontation, and Liora, since she was oblivious—but Linnie and Marielle were visibly reluctant.
The previous night had sealed the deal—he didn't like her. The Prince was... alright. But the young lady was a real not-so-nice-word!
That morning had sealed Marielle's deal, too. Her problem wasn't even with the moody boy, but with Liora. It was actually kind of sad, since Liora was so oblivious to her dislike. In fact, the dumb girl was still trying to endear herself to Marielle.
Seriously...