1173 (Part 2)
"I am a blessed mage of the Cromwell Family, Francine Maine Cromwell. A descendant of Louvrata Maine Cromwell, to be exact." The woman introduced herself. "I am 20 this year."
I didn't understand why she revealed her age but the blond boy ignored it.
"A monster in nature." Gin had whispered but it was obvious he wanted to let her hear.
"Fufufu. If me and my ancestor were monsters then we're fairly the most human ones." She completely disregarded the insult, taking delight instead. "As permitted in the pact we made last year I hope you contact Lady Tabitha and tell her not to touch the position of our family for the future."
"I can't do that. In fact, you should know full well that we can't contact her." He answered.
"I am not stupid, the last Kalil," this time she grinned but her eyes looked dangerous. Meeting these important people isn't good for my health plus they surely bring trouble. "I know how you're here. It is unfair for the world to only favor the 'right' side. My ancestor's journal knows about this charade after all."
As I thought, these people knows something I don't.
"Hey. What are you two talking about?" I had to interject even if I'm not the direct heir, I am still someone they should respect.
"Fufufu. Don't feel too misplaced Lord Regan Obiel. This is something your sister should know but since you've just been caught up into all of this then it's a bother to turn you down right now."
I could sense my face becoming red with anger and embarrassment. I was just caught up in all of this. "Y-you…!"
I wasn't supposed to be here. Is that what she was saying?
Gin sighed at Lady Francine's words, "Child, I have been patient with you. Don't make unnecessary trouble."
"I understand. But how should we proceed when there's an outsider" she continued to discredit me. At that moment, the world seemed to still and gone quiet.
A force had sweep into the people within the clearing. A force so violent it made me want to crumble down and vomit.
"Cromwell. Don't make me lose tolerance." Golden aura had pushed the Cromwell woman down her knees. Blood spluttered around as she coughed.
A brutal force kept pushing down on the clearing. It was like gravity manipulation but I know it wasn't that. It wasn't a spell that could easily be cancelled.
It was pure bloodlust.
I wanted to speak out but Gin's expression didn't let me. He looked angry. I have been angry before but this was pure hatred.
A malice so deep that it became unknown to me.
There were already veins popping out from his hand as he gripped on Lady Francine's chin, as if he's extremely doing his best to hold back ager.
"Kuhk..! Ka-kalil… you..! Cough." Lady Francine continued to breathe in air but she only coughs out blood instead.
"Lord Kalil…" It was Lord Sebastian Ragnadi who put a hand on his shoulder. "Please stop it. The negotiations will break down if we do it like this. You already know how hard it was to find a non-hostile Cromwell."
It appears that the three swordsmen and Sebastian Ragnadi was used to the pressure and anger. They had bitter faces as well.
The heavy energy went away as quietly as it came "Sigh. That's right. Lady Francine was the only one to negotiate with us." Gin had said nonchalantly but his hand was still clutching her chin forcefully.
"I can't kill a partner in this business or else I'll fail the mission sister had given me."
Of course I'd like to complain about being ignored here and there but I didn't have a choice. This boy was more competent, wild, and oddly scary compared to what I can do.
Was he in the civil war of 1166 with sister?
My questions only kept piling up and the people around me had no reason nor motivation to answer them.
"Young master… Gin. I believe we need to send Young Master Regan home first before we continue the negotiations. He had seen many things already I doubt we can explain it to him as if it's a situation that didn't matter." Lord Sebastian spoke well.
He was right. They have to tell me the truth.
"Do I?" I unintentionally flinched at the golden eyes that looked back at me. "Hmmm. Very well, send him home Kathlyn."
"Yes, young master." The female swordsman, compared to the others, was less equipped with armor. I'm guessing she's strong enough not to wear some.
"If you'll excuse me, Young Master Regan." The lady who looked to be in her early 30s, scooped me up like a child and the surroundings had changed in an instant.
"What…?"
She put me down again as if nothing happened. "This is the outside of the Sacred Temple. You can take yourself home safely from here, and I also believe that your companion is nearby."
We were suddenly outside the broken walls of the sanctuary. "Wait, how did you–" and she was gone.
'Teleportation magic'.
Based on how it works it was definitely teleportation magic. Something that was ancient and non-elemental was being used within the Empire.
We couldn't even use that yet they could?! Under our noses, people have been going inside and outside the boundaries that easily?
I punched the nearby wall out of frustration. It might have been disrespectful to do that to the Sacred Temple but it had died for years already.
Of course the main families still respect it due to tradition but it was a clear issue that the common people had started to migrate to towns or countries that did not depend on mana.
"What blasphemy." I heard Uncle Gabe's voice from behind me. "Don't sully your family name with that action, boy. I don't even understand why you look frustrated. Did the mission not do well?"
"Shut up Uncle Gabe." I felt like crying. There were too many frustrating feelings bottling up inside.
Where is sister right now? I want to see her. She'll surely be frustrated too.
It was then that an unknown impact collided towards the temple and I was pushed back.
"Sister…?" The necklace. The turquoise-silver necklace that connects with her anklet was amassing a great wave of power and mana.
"Hold on, isn't that what it means?" Uncle Gabe said, a hand on his mouth.
"Yeah. It's a signal that she used her havoc phase."
I wasn't worried about her at all. If truth be told, the way the Empire was now, she could probably put everyone down to their knees with her mastery of gravity manipulation.
However it still didn't seem good. She would be hurt internally if she uses it against others. "I guess the trauma of fighting still lingered." Uncle's words was on point.
It wasn't like she hated fighting with others, but it would leave a bitter taste to injure someone no matter how small it was.
"My dear sister… Where are you?"
We couldn't help but race back home. A more pressing matter had clouded my mind than the people from before.
Sister is much important than the Empire for me.
"Father!" As I reach the mansion I went directly to his office, Uncle Gabe walked with me inside.
Both mother and father was there looking worried, "Yes. We've felt it too, Regan. It had subsided already but your sister might be hurt."
Huh? It's impossible for them to sense it without a connection with sister.
"I thought it had subsided too but apparently she entered a new phase just before we went back here." Uncle Gabe says so.
"No… What? How could you…?" They gave me questioning looks at my words.
Wait. The Kalil boy. They must have felt the pressure he emitted but that's insane. It had managed to reach here?
"No… I-I was the one who used gravity magic first. The havoc phase had only activated after I met with Uncle."
"Gravity, you say? It felt more like the havoc phase." Uncle who was closest to the Living Forest at the time expounded.
I'm lying to my family. The situation there was too long to explain and sister's situation was much more important for that.
"Yes. The leader was there during the mission and I had to exert much of my mana. Gravity manipulation was the most efficient way to deal with it." I explained.
"You did well on your mission." Father and mother smiled. They knew what I was capable. Sister did too, but she still treated me like a kid.
"So the thing we felt wasn't the havoc phase but she did end up entering that phase? How did you know about it, Regan?" Mother asked.
"Sister gave me this necklace. It tells the owner if the other one is exerting themselves." I took out the turquoise-silver metal hiding in my shirt.
"We have to find her. Can I borrow that for a second?" I glared at Father and he laughed. "If you can use a tracking magic then it's fine if you do it."
With those words I reluctantly gave him the necklace.
At the moment of contact, Father's face crumpled. "I can't find her. There is no trace." He says.
"What? What does that mean?" The adults fell into a chaos.
For some reason I wasn't worried, according to the people who said they were the hands and feet of my sister, even though I don't believe them fully, they said she had arrived safely at her destination.
The only question was where it was.
"Don't worry. Sister is safe. It's sister after all." I say that calmly but I'm burning with the desire to track her as soon as possible.
Worry and confusion filled the face of father, no, the Duke.
"Even so, to have no trace after all could only mean… she's not here. Not in this world." He hesitated and agitation once again filled the room.
"What does that mean…? Does it–"
"No. It's not like that. The trace follows the user's mana and as you may know, if someone had perished, it takes a month before the mana in their core decreases." Father refuted Uncle Gabe's assumption.
"Yeah. I'm sorry."
"Well I'm not entirely sure where Tabitha had run to. I remember accepting a vacation period but I can't find documents relating to where she was going."
"Knowing Tabitha, she must've fixed everything on her own again." Mother added, worriedly.
That's odd. Certainly my sister was the type to run off and do everything relating to her all by herself but, location permits should have gone through father at least once for a signature.
Of course I trust sister to be fine wherever she went but it's still troubling that the meticulous duke doesn't remember.
"Since there wasn't a location permit then it must mean she's still here."
The conversation about sister's whereabouts weren't settled at all. It continued to basic report about what happened during the mission and I made myself lie in detail about it.
I am supposed to keep quiet about what happened.
'While Lady Tabitha is currently away for the mission we will conduct the second part of the mission' is what that Gin kid said too.
The next morning came and the letter of invitation from the Ragnadi's mansion had appeared faster than I expected.
After much thought, it seems they used that teleportation magic to go back quickly than normal. If I were to go to them then I'll know what they're planning and help sister.
"Son, how did you get a letter of invitation from the Ragnadi's?" Mother asked. Everyone was taken aback by the sudden invitation. It wouldn't have caused such an uproar if it was for my father but it was for me.
"I heard the youngest child was about your age but getting a playmate from another country is…" I wanted to refute them that it wasn't the youngest child I was going to meet but further explanation will just add questions.
"I don't think you're at the age yet where you court people do you?" She asked again with a sly smile.
"What?"
"The youngest child is a daughter. I've seen her clinging to the Lord Ragnadi during the State Meetings, she's cute but I don't know if you'll like her." Father expounded.
"Why? What was she like?" Mother asked back.
Parent talk. Sigh.
"She's the type of girl that Regan might call stupid and carefree. Obviously that's blasphemous to say but Regan is Regan without Tabitha putting him on a leash."
My mother nodded along with father's words. These two are really my parents? Sigh.
"I'll be checking it out for myself then."
"The Ragnadi's are the type you might not like, though? They have a carefree air and happy-go-lucky disposition about them." He asked one more time.
Actually I can guess why father is saying all this.
Even that Sebastian Ragnadi had a carefree air to him. But the requiem the young master Sebastian had made when disguised was… definitely weird.
'Our family had been waiting and since you've finally awoken, the day of the grand design will soon commence'.
I'll find out the truth soon enough.