Passing by a confectionery with a large glass display, I heard some commotion inside.
"Hmm, isn't that the confectionery where Seleria and Vina work?" I approached the entrance just as the large showcase shattered into pieces. The cause of this unexpected event was three young men in cloaks, who were sent flying through the glass by a powerful force. Since their flight was accompanied by bursts of flames, it was not hard to figure out who was responsible.
"You wretch! Don't you know that the customer is always right?" one of the men got up from the ground, wiping blood from his chin.
"If the customer doesn't know the rules of decency, then a little lesson might be in order to teach him some manners," a girl in a short red dress with ruffles emerged from the same shattered display window. On her head were two triangular pieces of fur with an unclear purpose. Clearly, this was our Crimson Princess.
"And what about customer service?" One of the hooligans smirked as his two companions surrounded the girl. "Come on, be a good girl, and the nice uncle will reward you generously."
Customers started to peek out from the confectionery, and soon the second co-owner of the shop came out to help. Vina was wearing a dress similar in style with additional fur trimmings and was yellow in color.
"Sel, need any help?"
"Pf, who do you think I am? I can handle the local drunkards myself," Seleria snorted, which only fueled the hooligans to attack.
The attacker from the front approached the girl, distracting her from the two behind, but stopped two steps away from her. At that moment, the other two assailants rushed at her. Seleria remained calm, spinning on her left foot, simultaneously dodging the attack from the right and ending up on the side of the attacker on the left.
"It's not good to bully girls," the girl said with these words and delivered a sharp knee strike to the left attacker's side, sending him flying onto his accomplice. Her actions elicited a lively ovation from the crowd.
"Damn," the leader of the gang kicked a pebble lying on the road right into Seleria's face, and she instinctively covered her face with her hands. Seizing the opportunity, he lunged at her, and something glittered in his hand, but when Seleria turned back towards him, it was too late. However, the attacker didn't succeed; I intercepted his arm at the last moment, twisting it to the side, and threw him to the ground. With a clatter, a small curved dagger with intricate patterns fell to the ground.
"Not only do you attack a girl, but you also use weapons, how cowardly," I couldn't miss the chance to add a sarcastic comment.
"What are you doing here?" another person emerged from the crowd, dressed similarly in a dark cloak. It seemed like they were having some kind of celebration today.
"Oh, we were just having some fun, well, maybe we got a bit carried away," the voice of the most confident one in the trio suddenly turned into a whimper like that of a little puppy.
The leader's sentence was interrupted by a blow to his face from the newcomer.
"Quick, let's get out of here. I don't need any trouble with the local authorities," the whole trio followed the leader, who only stopped to pick up the dagger from the ground.
"Well, it seems that big money in the city attracts all kinds of riffraff," I waved off the bandits with a heavy sigh.
"Krito? What brings you here?"
"Oh, just some business, and I heard the commotion. It's just the usual, pure coincidence. And what about your outfit?" From the front, the triangular pieces on her head resembled ears, and I seemed to know whose idea it was.
"Huh?" Seleria reacted in a way I never expected: almost blending in with the color of her dress, she covered her ears with her hands and ran into the store.
"Isn't it lovely? My idea," Vina, who stood by the door, proudly thumped her chest with her fist. "I suddenly thought about how to attract more customers with the appearance of our princess, and here's the answer. Of course, Seleria was very embarrassed, but sales quickly increased, and I think it worked out perfectly. I'm sure this will become a new trend; I'll have to try it with Asura too."
"A little mischievous genius, you don't spare your employees," Vina shrugged and disappeared into the store, and I continued my way. "Hmmm, strange, Seleria never used to be embarrassed by maid costumes or even more revealing outfits."
Soon, I arrived at my destination. It was a tall three-story mansion with a well-kept garden and a high fence. Before knocking, I decided to look around a bit.
The house was beautiful and likely had once belonged to a nobleman. However, judging by the appearance of the current owner, he bought it from the previous one after he became wealthy. Although the garden was well-tended, I didn't see any servants there at this time of day.
As I was about to approach the entrance, my attention was drawn to a shadow that leaped over the fence from the western side. Quickly darting through the garden, the unknown figure approached the house and retrieved a strange contraption from their belt. Using it, they hooked a rope onto the roof and began energetically climbing up the sheer wall. Only then did the silhouette emerge from the shadow, and I could clearly see a girl with short hair and glasses.
"Her? What is she doing here? Please don't tell me she's planning to rob the house," I thought, but either way, I needed to get inside as soon as possible. When I reached the entrance, I noticed the figure disappearing into a window on the third floor. Thankfully, there were no unwanted witnesses in the garden or on the street, so we could avoid trouble.
After a couple of minutes, a middle-aged butler answered the door and scrutinized me suspiciously.
"Apologies, sir, but the master is currently not at home. If you came to see him, please come back later."
"Oh, no, I've come to see Lady Serena. I'm an apprentice at the blacksmith Brim's, and he sent me to inquire about her preferences for decorations."
"I see. I wasn't aware that our blacksmith had taken on an assistant, but he did mention your visit. Very well, I shall escort you, but please be careful. The lady is not feeling well, and I would ask you not to bring any contagion to her."
"What?," I glanced at myself. Although I came from the blacksmith, I wasn't covered in so much dirt to be blamed for that. "Sure, sure, I'll be careful."
We proceeded inside and went up to the third floor, heading towards the western half of the mansion. An ominous feeling was growing within me, as behind the large door that occupied almost half of the floor was the room where Aileen had sneaked into.
"The lady has a guest. May I announce your arrival?" the butler said by the door, and from behind it, there came a noise and hurried footsteps.
"Yes, of course, let them in," a quiet and composed voice came from behind the door, as if all the commotion had never happened.
The butler opened the massive door, and we stepped into a spacious room that occupied half of the floor. Inside, all the walls were lined with bookshelves, adorned with drawings and blueprints of buildings and peculiar devices. The room also had several tables cluttered with models and mechanisms. All this was captivating, but between two large windows along the western wall, one could notice a beautiful snowy-white bed on which lay a girl with equally snowy-white hair and skin. The girl had red eyes, but she was remarkably beautiful, though her delicate build made her seem much younger than she actually was.
"Lady Serena, this is the apprentice of blacksmith Brim. Remember, Father spoke about a gift for you," the butler introduced me.
"Yes, of course. Could you leave us alone?" the girl spoke softly and calmly, yet her voice carried a sense of confidence that allowed her to command the servant.
"Yes, my lady. If you need anything, I'll be nearby."
The butler closed the door, leaving us alone, although there should have been one more person in the room.
"So, what did you want?" the girl, interrupting my bewilderment, asked first.
"I'm temporarily working for the city blacksmith, and I came to inquire about your preferences. Although I find it quite strange to order jewelry from a weaponsmith," I replied, puzzled.
"That's all Father's doing. I'm just interested in various things, and recently, I've taken an interest in metals. He immediately wanted to make me a gift."
Without paying much attention to the girl's words, I surveyed the room; there wasn't anywhere for her to hide. No one was under the tables, and the wardrobe seemed empty too.
"Are you looking for something?" the girl feigned genuine surprise.
"Oh, yes. A tall girl, bad temper, short hair, glasses, and wearing men's clothes. Does that remind you of anyone?" Serena widened her eyes, making it clear she knew who I was referring to. "Under the bed?"
"Yes," the girl guiltily lowered her gaze.
"Hey, Aileen! Get out from there. I spotted you from the street. You're lucky there were no guards nearby!" To add some emphasis, I kicked the bed's leg, and rustling sounds came from beneath it.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming out. How did you even end up here? I told you what to do!" Aileen grumbled as she emerged from her hiding spot.
"I'm here on business, and what are you doing here?"
"Well, I noticed someone was following me, so I decided to check."
"Following you?" I looked incredulously at the room's owner, who rarely even got off her bed.
"Could it be that both of you are from the Academy?"
"Hmm, well, yes, actually, but I'm more interested in how you managed to follow her. And I'm curious about the Academy as well."
"It's all thanks to this," the girl took a small tube with lenses inserted into it from the nightstand next to her bed.
"Hmm," I examined the tube; it was an unfamiliar device.
"I thought nobody here knew how to make a spyglass, and this one looks quite good," Aileen took the tube and peered through it at the window. "Look, it's quite simple. You don't need any special knowledge of optics to make something like this."
I took the tube from the girl's hands and approached the window. To my surprise, it allowed me to see even the tiniest details at a great distance. Now I understood why the room was so big when its owner had so few possessions. Occupying half a floor, it had windows on three sides, providing an almost panoramic view of the entire city. The windowsills were deliberately lowered so that the room's occupant could observe the city while sitting. Given that the city's buildings were mostly two- or one-story tall, and the mansion was situated on a small elevation, the view from the windows allowed one to observe even the activities on the city's streets.
"Quite a useful thing. Do the city residents not mind you observing them?" I handed the spyglass back to its owner.
"No, I don't observe everyone. Only those who pique my interest. After all, you're from the Academy, and I've always been curious about that place. They say it has the largest library in the world, even bigger than the royal library in Verengard."
"Well, the library there is vast, although your collection is impressive too."
"Yes, though I've read most of these books, there are a few that I love to reread multiple times."
"Sirena, right?" Aileen clarified the girl's name and, upon receiving confirmation, continued, "You seem like an intelligent girl, but I never thought there'd be someone in Verania knowledgeable about technical matters."
"Oh, well, I have a little secret. Just don't tell anyone," the girl got up from the bed, showing visible difficulty in moving. She reached for the nightstand, and it became evident that she had a hard time moving around. Pressing something in the depth of the shelf, a nearby bookcase squeaked and slid to the side, revealing another shelf with books whose titles raised suspicions. "This is my secret collection; only my father knows about it. But I hope you won't reveal it either."