At long last, the time to venture into the outside came.
There were several reasons why I put this out for so long. First, it was simply because there was no clear purpose to do so, and it would be a major waste of time. I might as well train some more rather than take a relaxing outing I figured.
Second, I needed to sneak out at night since the nature of the outing was a secret, and I needed Renata to be on the lookout. On the other hand, Byron, the head butler seemed to hold his suspicion against her still. It was understandable, coming from him.
A war refugee...That was her story that she sold to the duchy.
Stories like those were like pebbles found on the beach. It was that easy and common...
Due to that reason, the time when Renata could come in the night to share information with me was rare. And her assistance was severely needed in order for me to sneak out successfully.
That brought us to the third and final reason. Security...
For better or for worse, I was the sore pinky and the firstborn son of Dawson's Lovebird. They placed so many layers of security on me; it was not an exaggeration to say that my room was the most secure place in the whole castle.
Aside from the magical barrier and the numerous guards that heavily guard the door, there also existed a mythical personage who seemed to never sleep and would come check on me every couple of hours.
And she was Maya's personal maid slash unofficial sister...the one and only, Hannah.
Yeah...She never missed a day...
Anyway, the reason I needed Renata's help was also due to her. Hannah, thankfully, never disturbed me while Renata was telling me the good night story. She would usually take a quick peek to make sure everything was alright before leaving the room quietly.
So that's that. It was too much of a trouble to go out so I needed to make sure that it was worth the effort.
But this time, it was for a good reason. The secret organization I plan with Renata has finally taken its first major step, and that was to greet the new seat owner among our core ranks, which so far only have Renata and I. Suffice it to say, I simply gave out the ideas I have and goals I hoped to see and trusted Renata to shape the remaining details.
And voila, in just a span of a year after I told her about it, Renata, as my right hand, had managed to single-handedly flesh out so many things, even some I never thought of. An example of that was as such...
So I said to her, we needed lots of talented people. People we can trust to help us in the long run.
Taking that in, Renata then used her channel to recruit some formidable assassins and bind them with heavy yet fair mana contracts so they would think twice before crossing us. She even designed a training phase for these recruits before they were allowed to work...Some sort of baptism ritual that she cooked up for them which I plan on keeping my nose off...
Another one of her suggestions was for us to have a main council which consisted of the core members, and that it would be better if I could show what I could do from time to time to instill loyalty and keep the structure of hierarchy intact. Of course, while I would be in disguise. Renata and I were of the same mind that it would not bring much benefit to expose my identity this early. In fact, it would bring more risks in the coming days, and I still couldn't afford that.
Thus, we have now arrived at this point. We were going to meet the person Renata vouched for, and she told me that I must speak just like how I did with her...
I didn't exactly know why she was being so adamant about that. But since she has done her job brilliantly so far, I didn't see the need to nag and question her.
So yeah...how hard could it be to drop by and say hi or something, right?
'Is everything in order?' I asked.
"Yes, my Lord. Forgive my insolence, but do take caution about the barriers and-"
'Yes, leave it to me. Quick now, we don't have much time to spare. Put the artifact in my pocket and open the window. The faster we finish this, the better.' I cut her off short because we were on a ticking clock, and I didn't know how long it'd take for all of this to be over. For all I know, every second counted.
"By your will, my Lord." Saluted Renata, putting a crude-looking ring inside my breast pocket. After that, she opened the window wide enough so my tiny body could fit in.
'Float there.' I command. 'Camouflage myself to blend in.'
I cast one last look at Renata, who perfectly rearranged the bed.
'Make an illusion of me sleeping in the bed.' And so, another Alexander, the boy who looked like nothing but a living corpse, appeared snuggly inside the glamorous-looking bed.
'Hm...perfect.' The satisfaction of watching the whole setup come around was real.
'I'm going, Renata.' I bid my goodbye and flew outside the window.
"I'll be waiting for your safe return, my Lord."
'Now, let's do this...'
'World, here I come!'
'Mana eyes.' I mused, and the flow of mana turned visible. Colors blended and moved in harmony, sailing everywhere beneath the vast night sky.
'Fly up there...Bypass that barrier.'
And it was a success. After flying and checking where the barrier was and going through another three of them, it was safe to say I was finally out of Dawson's castle. To be fair, I was still in the air, but it is what it is.
'Let's see...activate the artifact.'
It was an artifact in the shape of a ring that came as a pair. You guessed it. A wedding ring...I didn't know the backstory of why this artifact came into existence, but I could sort of make a guess based on its function.
It was basically a wedding ring where you could sort of tell where the other recipient was. In short, a tracker. So, either, they were a couple who often ventured into dangerous escapades their whole life, or maybe it was for one to spy on the whereabouts of their partner...Who knows...
Anyway, bullshits aside, since I couldn't feel mana with my body yet, my only option was to see them. And since it was pointing toward the general direction that Renata briefed me beforehand, I guess the other party had arrived already.
Following the faint flow of mana, I flew across the sky. Flying at a high speed was a bizarre experience for me.
I couldn't feel the thrill of speed and how cold the evening breeze was when they brushed against my face despite the whistling I heard...I couldn't feel jack shit.
'Welp, so much for my first flying experience...' I grumbled inwardly.
Soon before long, the mountain ahead turned bigger and bigger. Thanks to my enhanced eyes, I could see the lone shack shining dimly from a distance. From there, I tracked my eyes upward, then slightly to the left, and found the nice little spring there.
After searching for a while, I managed to find the packages Renata had set for me beforehand. They were full-body armor, a huge black robe, and also a wooden mask with two sides of colors. Jet-black and pure white, painted side by side on the unblemished mask.
The armor and robe aside, I could tell that she had prepared the mask personally.
So, I fit my body inside the oversized armor, covered them with the robe, and then wore the mask as the finishing touch. But that was not the end. I was not going to present myself like this. What if I failed to control all these things well and looks like a complete buffoon? I needed word magic to move after all.
That's why I was going to practice for a while. If I needed to do this, then we would do it the right way, damn it...
Then again, it turned out my fear was left unfounded. I could move them just fine, exactly like I want them to. It sure paid off to grind every day.
With the last hurdle gone, I was finally ready to meet the new member of the House.