"Is something going on? Surely, this would be unlikely for so many things to happen all at once" muttered a young blonde man, still completely ignoring the gaze coming from behind his door.
There really was nothing he could do for that problem, he tried to change room but it followed, tried to have other people on the look out but it would just switch the place it was observing him from.
This at least implied that it could be seen since it moved to avoid people but no sighting had been made yet.
That wasn't his main concern at the moment however, a lot of bizarre things were all happening at once and it seemed like the trigger for it all was the arrival of those otherworlders, he had nothing to pinpoint someone or something as the cause of their arrival but he did have a suspicion.
The otherworlders hadn't spread around equally and many had found their way inside Laparadi, much to his displeasure, he didn't like the feeling of uncertainty even a single one of them brought and there were too many to even confidently say a number.
He rubbed his forehead, hoping that an idea would suddenly make itself known.
There was also the fact that, apparently, new sins had recently awakened.
'Maybe that has to do with the otherworlders...'
The sins and otherworlders weren't issues that could be easily dealt with at all, it was the contrary in fact.
Knowing this fact, the man decided to focus on what seemed the most urgent but seemingly unrelated to those two problems.
That gave him to things to look into, which were:
Sudden vegetation taking over a village and killing a few people in the process as well as a large creature that was seen abducting people.
The latter had taken place high up in a part of the mountains that was constantly covered in snow, doing anything about it would be difficult and arduous, there was a much better solution than going on a hunt.
'Just tell them to not get close to the snowy parts and area near it' he thought as he wrote these words on a piece of paper, putting it on another pile.
The first issue mentioned wasn't in an hazard zone and certainly seemed more urgent since the murderous vegetation that was talked about was expanding.
'Burn everything down' he wrote down, he wasn't certain that it would work well since the air was so cold lately but still put the paper on the same pile as the other one, burning it seemed like the most reasonable thing to do.
Sure, the people's whose house burned alongside it would be a bit upset but it was better than letting it spread further, the only thing he worried about was the potential for the fire to burn beyond the intended target but it should go well.
He was about to go through some more minor documents when noticed the gaze from the still unseen being disappear and heard the sound of someone walking in the hallway.
He didn't pay it much attention but the person stopped in front of his room and knocked.
"Come in" he said, feeling like he knew who those footsteps belonged to but having the sensation that something was a bit off.
With a bit of delay, a frail looking woman opened the door, dressed up in a grey coat worn by those who did research without a big focus on magic, scientists.
The coat went up to the top of her neck and down to her ankles, she wasn't wearing any gloves at the moment, letting him immediately notice how twitchy her hands were.
Her pale blonde hair were down, reaching a bit below her drooped down shoulders.
The shadows beneath her eyes were especially dark and thick, her face was as pale as it could get without being dead.
It looked like she was going to drop dead at any moment now but it was fairly common place for her to be looking like that.
"Miss Willia, what brings you here?" he asked her, she didn't usually come to speak to him directly, it wasn't like they were friends.
She seemed to space out for a few moments, raised one finger but still didn't say anything.
"..."
"Are you alright?" he then asked, she may always look like a revenant but for her to actually act like one wasn't something he had ever heard or seen.
"Huh? Sir Mylhart?" she said as she looked around.
"Sorry, I got the wrong room" she said before turning back.
"But are you alright?" he asked again.
"Of course, I just forgot to sleep for a few days or weeks, maybe a month?" she wondered out loud.
"Holy gods, that's not normal, let me help you" he spoke while standing up.
"No, no, it's alright" she said while closing back the door, wearing a small smile that Mylhart had never seen on her face, he had never seen even seen her smile about anything other than her experiment.
He was slightly disturbed by this strange interaction and decided to at least watch if she didn't just collapse in the hallway but it seemed like she made it to her room.
'I thought she always slept in her lab...' he thought, realising that he had never seen her enter her own room.
He focused his senses, only noticing her lying face first on her bed.
'What am I doing? Investigating a fellow Laparadisian?' he thought while shaking his head, he needed to sleep too.
The strange being that watched him took a bit more time than usual to come back this night.
_________________________
Theli laid in a warm bath alongside Ortenmia and Malina, the three of them were skin against skin, the two women laying their head in his pecs.
He hadn't showed up last night like they would have wished to but a bath was good too.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Ortenmia leaned in closer to his face and whispered the following words:
"So, how many other women are you gonna bring back here?"
Theli stayed silent for a second.
'Ah shit' he thought, he could always escape but that would be a bit much, he couldn't just casually walk away with the two of them stuck to him like that.
"Come on Theli, there can't be that many, right?" spoke Malina, barely lifting her head.
"Well, I can't give a precise number but definitely more than you are thinking of" he said.
"More?! How do you manage to do that? Do you just skim the lands in search of things to fuck?"
"How do you even convince them? There can't be that many women willing to be part of that" wondered Ortenmia out loud, she thought that she wouldn't mind but she had been expecting one or two.
"The same way I convinced you two, don't worry about it, I won't forget about you two, I have enough energy to spare" he said, flashing a charming smile.
"You have enough energy huh?"
Hearing were it was going, Malina opened her eyes and raised her head, whispering something in Theli's ear.
"Alright but not until you pass out this time" he said and her face lit up as if she had been granted the greatest thing in the world.