At the door. Coy took a glance at his hands, occupied by the bottles, cake and biscuits. He gently placed the bottles on the ground and knocked on the door. Then he picked them up.
Not a second passed before he heard footsteps nearing behind the door as it opened. Standing there was Aelfryn with his silver hair, ocean blue eyes that could entrance hearts of stone, and long ears that were the trait of the elves.
Coy initiated the conversation before Aelfryn had a chance to. With a poker face visible on his bonny face, he held the special package with the cake and biscuits to Aelfryn and said, "Do you want some?"
Want what… What is this all about now? Aelfryn shook his head, confused.
"Get in first."
Coy took up on his offer and passed by Aelfryn who closed the door after he got in. He placed the bottles that were not that big on the foot of his bed. He then proceeded to take out the cake and biscuits and asked Aelfryn who was watching all of this happen with amusement, "Do you want to join? I have been told that it is bad manners to eat alone while someone else is present in the room."
With a dampened smile, Aelfryn sat opposite to Coy, and picked up a biscuit. "Where have you been to?" quizzed Aelfryn as he crunched the biscuit.
"Does sightseeing count? Ever since I have come here, I have had this urge to explore it." Presented Coy his answer.
That was his honest thought. Arveich was actually a beautiful city that reminded him of many countries he had been to back on Earth. Especially Britain due to the similarities between architectural styles. There was this sense of familiarity he felt that couldn't be expressed in words.
Although that was not in fact the main purpose he went outside, it was a bonus that he wouldn't mind having.
Aelfryn listened as he nodded along while going for another biscuit. When Coy was done with his explanation, he said, "You should have asked me to take you out, you know? It would have been a nice walk after dinner. I know that vampires mature differently than other races, but you are still a child."
Although living traffickers would not try anything funny in the heart of Arveich, it was better to be careful.
Seeing that Aelfryn did not look suspicious after his believable excuse, Coy was relieved. He finished the biscuit on his hand and said with an apologetic voice as he went for another, "Next time I will ask for your company."
Next time… So you are saying that there is another time? At least you are being honest with yourself now. "Anyway, how did you sneak out? I couldn't even hear a single noise until I checked the bathroom myself," wondered Aelfryn.
"Family secret."
Of course, he wouldn't tell him. What if he makes countermeasures against him? Coy might have said that he will ask for his company next time, but that was only for normal outings. Not like the one he had tonight.
The biscuits were finished.
Brushing his hands together, Aelfryn got up from Coy's bed and went to his. He said as he sat down on it, facing Coy, "I can guess how you have done it. Want me to try and tell you?"
Receiving a positive nod from Coy, he cleared his throat and went on to say, "First and foremost. Sound: I haven't heard a single tweak from the bathroom, which means that you haven't used the window to get out. Here comes the problem then, how would you do it if you haven't used the window since it's the only exit possible for you to sneak out."
Coy listened attentively to him. It didn't matter if Aelfryn figured it out. What he was looking forward to was how he would come to the final conclusion.
As if the bed was limiting him, Aelfryn sprang from it. He then said as he walked back and forth in the room with his hand on his chin, "The only plausible explanation would be either magic or an artifact that would let you teleport. Since you yourself said that you don't have that much knowledge about magic, it means you probably used an artifact. Especially one with either the dark element or space element. As your family is one that specialises in the dark element, it means the artifact you used should be from the dark element, but the possibility of you using a space element is high since there are only a few spells in the dark element that can let you go past a wall. Say, do you have an artifact that can teleport you a short distance across material objects?"
Woah… Is he saying that only space and dark elements can allow you to pass through objects? Maybe it's a fluke to judge from my reaction that he only said those two elements to see whether I used an artifact corresponding to them.
'You want to exploit my fragile knowledge about magic by asking me tricky questions? Heh.'
With his poker face still visible, Coy bent his torso and picked up the bottle with blood in it. As he was about to reply to Aelfryn while opening the bottle, the space in the room fluctuated and Caesy appeared with her caffeine eyes that incandescent under the candles' lighting. Her gaze heavy.
Coy was now used to people appearing out of thin air, and to Aelfryn, this was the norm for him. Before the standing Aelfryn could say anything, Caesy spoke with urgency, "Pack your stuffs, something major happened at the academy."
Coy didn't ask further questions as he took the bottles of drinks and put them inside the sides of the package the cake was in. The thought of the cake being squished by the bottles crossed his mind, but he just went with along with his actions.
Aelfryn knew his master was not one that joked about serious situations. He asked with curiosity while picking the book on the bed he was reading and storing it in his space ring, "What happened, master?"
Seeing the boys walking up to her, she interlocked with their hand. "Vice headmaster, Kaloum was killed," She hissed. Someone of that status had never been killed under the annals of history of the union academy until now… And that was under her watch too! Death will be a mercy to whoever was behind this.
That news was one Aelfryn didn't expect, as his mouth turned oval. 'Kaloum died… That scrawny owl? Unbelievable.'
Kaloum was the vice principal who lead the disciplinary committee, and was someone with a nasty attitude. He was strict about the rules of the academy, that even the tiniest violations to it called for punishment. The students of union academy hated him. They even dubbed a nickname for him, "Scrawny owl."
'A vice headmaster died while I'm about to just enroll into the academy? Talk about misfortune. Hopefully they don't think I'm a bad omen ,' Coy thought self-deprecatingly.
Not a moment later, Coy and company disappeared from the inn, as the flickering light from the candles were the only source of movements.
***
9:28 pm.
In the noble's district, on the street leading to the royal palace of the Biskar kingdom. Inside a luxurious carriage with no coating.
Karl was listening absentmindedly to his lady complaining about the past gatherings and troubles her family forced into her. With his glasses on, it reflected the figure of a young girl with ashen dress and long brown hair.
The girl noticed that Karl appeared distract. She said with a frown on her beautiful face, "Oi, what are you so distracted about while you're in my presence?"
Unfazed by her temperament, Karl replied with a smile, "I'm listening, my lady, It's just that I was so engrossed with your words I came out as someone distracted."
"You and your glib tongue, Hmph," mumbled the girl as she turned away from and faced the window of the carriage
Karl took advantage of that opportunity to organise his thought. Moments ago, one of the soul gorgers that worked for him reported of a blonde elf, who was actually a vampire in disguise, tailing him. He wouldn't have known if the soul gorger had not drew blood from his stalker, bringing it to him laced on the tip of its saber arm. 'These guys sure helped me a lot, maybe I should reward them,' he pondered.
He had stationed the soul gorgers close to him so that they could report and kill whoever was suspiciously trying to investigate his identity. Many had fallen to their blades, or by his hands if they failed to do with theirs.
He looked to his right in thought, 'Haa, what a headache.' The only clue I have at the moment is that they were a vampire. Hopefully they try another attempt to investigate his activities. He wouldn't let them go easily when that happens.
'Well, that won't be anytime soon. Instead of that, I should forward to dinner tonight, an elf is a rare delicacy.'
He peered his eyes back to the front. Looking at his lady's beautiful face, a harrowing desire he had been suppressing for years almost lashed out. 'Ahh… Eleanor Sargon von Biskar, I look forward to the day I'm going to have you for breakfast, lunch and dinner for three consecutive days and nights.'
***
00:05 am
Arveich city cooled down as the inhabitants of the common residential building veiled their curtains and closed their doors. The vendors who sold vegetables and bread were nowhere to be seen as they close their business, resting so that they were in their top condition for tomorrow's work.
While those at the slum's slept with chilly hands and empty stomachs. Frost converging on their hair.
On the street where VisCarel's inn was situated.
Inside the inn, where in the early night was filled with adventurers, was now empty. Sounds of glasses touching each other echoed. VisCarel was organising and putting each utensils in their own respective places.
As he was wiping the counter off the food stains and drinks that customers of his ate at, the door opened ajar.
Standing there was a lean man with a white shirt, a brown vest, and black pants. His boots had traces of dust. It was Carmen.
Carmen greeted with a wave, "Hey there boss, can I have a beer?"
VisCarel nodded as he brought out a jug and filled it to the brim with beer before putting it on the counter. Carmen sat down as he faced VisCarel. He grabbed the jug and drank it. "Ah, delicious as always."
He then took out a disc shaped amulet and placed it beside him as he injected mana to it.
Unbothered by the man's actions, VisCarel diligently did his work.
Finished setting up the sound barrier, Carmen adjusted his sitting posture. He said, "The report for today, leader. There was nothing odd in the morning, but hours ago, there was a fight near the port located at the slums. My partner and I noticed a bright light coming from a building not far away from our post. Unfortunately, when we got to the scene, we only saw a young soul gorger's severed arm, and blood that belonged to a vampire. Although my partner and I witnessed the arm together, the blood was only seen by me."
VisCarel's busy hand stopped for a moment when he heard that, before he resumed with his work.
Carmen paused to take a break as he drank from the jug. He continued, "Even though, the blood was from a vampire's, it could also be a distraction to mislead whoever discovered it first from the true identity of who was at the scene by someone else. That is all."
Done with his report, Carmen focused on his beer, not disturbing VisCarel any further. Once he was finished, he took back the amulet on the counter into his pocket and said, "Goodnight boss."
VisCarel looked at him with his black eyes and gestured with his rough hands, "Take care."