The entire manor shook in trepidation.
Everyone, regardless of where they were, felt a surge in energy.
"Caretaker!" A young man shouted near the western corridor of the manor.
He looked exactly like Dittmar, yet his mannerisms were clearly different.
Opposite him, a dignified woman with hazelnut hair turned her head. "Steward. It seems we all felt it?"
Her piercing black eyes drifted, as if she wasn't used to such a body. Her demeanor, although reminiscent of the compassionate woman she took the appearance of, was undeniably cold and apathetic, like everything that had transpired was beneath her attention.
Steward frantically took out several documents from his bag. "I'm sure you've been informed, but we lost contact with Gardener about 32 minutes ago. It appears he's disconnected with the system and has returned to the Lake."
She nodded solemnly. "I'm aware.
He tried to use more Psyche than his illusion could sustain. Doesn't he realize we don't have physical bodies while linked to the system?"
She sighed.
"Ignore that fanatic. Go on, what else do you have for me?"
The young man shuffled the papers in his hand and gave one to the Caretaker. "There was a substantial burst of Psyche around the library. According to Physician, Karlos Lippe confronted Gardener there, and soon after, he vanished from our tracking charms after Gardener left. As for the Psyche, it should be energy of the Libra constellation like I am. Based on my calculations, it should-"
"Enough. Spare me the details, please." The woman interrupted with exapseration, putting the document into a bag of her own.
"R-Right, the source of the energy should be Karlos Lippe. Although we can't be sure what connection he has to the anomaly, it can be reasonable to assume he's become a Neuromancer of the Libra Pathway. He's just appeared on the tracking charms within the left hallway of the library."
Caretaker thought for a moment. "Give me a charm."
Steward reached into his bag and handed her a small pentagonal slab of reflective material that was no bigger than her hand. It was clear in colour and was adorned with an exquisite golden heron possesing tides for wings near the bottom. At the top, an engraving of two golden crab claws interconnected, appearing to be glowing with energy.
Recieving the tracking charm, Caretaker reached into a hidden pocket, taking out a vial of red liquid.
It was blood.
Dipping her pinky finger in the crimson, she smeared some blood over the golden pincers, careful not to spill any onto the floor.
Instantly, the outline of the manor materialized across the surface. Like a blueprint, the manor slowly recieved more details before finally outlining the silhouette of a young man. Although the only colours available were gray or black, his youthful features, his distnct ponytail and hairpin, as well as his unorthodox clothing...
It was Karlos!
The vial contained the blood Karlos Lippe had spilled when he had confronted them at the doorstep!
Observing the image, Caretaker changed the subject.
"What of your investigations? Have you found anything?"
The young man shook his head. "All we found were regular jewelry and similar valuables. We couldn't find anything related to the 'Grimoire.' "
That's strange... According to our investigations, Bernard Lippe surely handed off that artifact to his son around 5 years ago, who had left for Anafang. Did we track the wrong son? We were informed that Karlos Lippe did not have a good relationship with his father, but why else would he be sent to a rural village such as this if it weren't to hide 'it'?
The Grimoire of Asclepius...
Caretaker switched her tone once more, her voice strict and commanding as she put the vial of blood back into her pocket, taking out a different item in the process. "Continue searching. The combined efforts of five Reigaro members shall not go to waste. We wouldn't hear the end of it from the Harpy, now would we, Steward?"
The anxious young man straightened his back. "Of course, Caretaker. I'll inform the others. What do you want us to do about the anomaly? And Karlos Lippe?"
The woman stared at the small bronze bell in her hand for a brief moment. It was sinister in nature, as if it would explode with violence and anger at any moment. She casually twirled it between her fingers before responding. "Leave him. I shall deal with this pest."
...
Lysandra suddenly got up from the garden bed.
That surge of Psyche just now...
By this point, her wound had stopped bleeding. A while ago, she investigated the outside of the manor and found a small shed completely filled with flowers and weeds. Using what she could, Lysandra had removed the wedge of dirt from her wound and bandaged her stomach, opting to rest and recover for the time being.
She calmed the hissing snakes on her head before circling around the manor. Although she wouldn't dare go inside, what with her injuries, she at least attempted to scout the situation from outside.
Everything seemed to be normal. Although she couldn't see anything through the windows, the manor was dead quiet.
'KLUNK'
Lysandra turned her head, and saw a vase that had fallen over. It was nothing special, only made of clay and had scarce decoration.
It probably fell from the burst of Psyche moments ago.
However, it gave her an idea.
"...Perhaps..."
She mumbled to herself for a moment before picking up the vase.
Roughly judging the distance with her eyes, Lysandra decided to experiment. Grasping the vase with her tail, which was largely uninjured, she took a throwing stance and began winding up.
Clutching a wooden pole as to not disturb the wound on her stomach, Lysandra flexed all the muscles in her tail.
'WOOSH'
After half a second.
'CRASH'
Lysandra looked to the upper floor window, and felt a grave sense of unease. The sound of the broken vase was clearly heard, but...
There was no damage to the manor.
Just as I thought... This entire structure is an illusion.
She quickly slithered over to the stone wall and closed her eyes, deeply inspecting the composition of the stone.
"The last time I checked... I couldn't tell what this other material mixed in was... But I'm sure now. This wall is being supported by Psyche." She silently muttered to herself as she slithered a few steps back, sizing up the manor.
After the large surge in Psychic energy, the walls absorbed much of the stray Psyche, strengthening the material further. As a side effect however, the illusion that was cast on the wall further expanded, thus making the vase disappear upon contact.
To put it bluntly, the illusion was like a 'curtain'. Anything that passed through the metaphorical fabric would be obscured by a layer of Psyche, thus turning it invisible. In truth, the vase would instantly manifest the moment Lysandra passed into the illusion.
Or at least, that was what she speculated.
No wonder I couldn't see the people Karlos was talking about… I wasn't within their range. Lysandra went back to the garden and decided to plan a course of action.
Honestly, she had considered simply abandoning the entire situation and explore the world on her own... But it wouldn't be right.
I'm a monster, but I refuse to act like my chieftess. Living a life of my own... That means deciding who I choose to support. And right now... I still have the potential to help.
That's right. After the death of her parents, the only ones who could protect her from the scrutiny of the chieftess, the leader of the tribe exiled Lysandra on account of her lack of skill and general incompetence. There may have been other reasons, but it didn't matter to the gorgon.
Forcing a member of the tribe to live in a cavern for so many years... It was deplorable behaviour, she thought. She refused to just leave Karlos to die, because to Lysandra... She would be worse than her chieftess if she did such a thing.
Disregarding any notion of betrayal, Lysandra refocused her thoughts.
From what she could tell, 'time' was an illusion within the manor. To her, the vase was thrown seconds ago, but the people inside the illusion probably heard it multiple minutes, or even hours ago. And from what she understood, the manor itself was real, only that it had been coated with a layer of illusion-type Psyche.
This was important information… But what could she do with it?
Thankfully, the illusion doesn't seem to affect living creatures...
She stroked the snakes on her head, calming their hissing over being disturbed by the shattered vase.
"That's right. I clearly saw Karlos walk into the manor, he didn't just disappear like the vase…"
She had another idea.
"...Living creatures, huh?"
She glanced at the shed containing heaps of plants and flowers.
...
Caretaker walked towards Karlos's location.
In one hand, she held the tracking charm. In the other, she held the small bronze bell that emanated an ominous presence.
At some point, she had reached the library, finding the entire room desolate and ruined.
She carefully traversed through the sea of torn pages and books before entering the corridor. The same one that Karlos was in.
'Step' 'Step'
Hm? That's odd. I should have passed it by now.
She turned around.
'Step' 'Step'
Caretaker examined the tracking charm. It said Karlos was... A few steps behind her, off to the right.
What...?
She stood directly in front of the spot indicated on the tracking charm.
It was a wall.
Perhaps... This a secret room? Caretaker wasn't discouraged. She felt around the wall, and atempted to move the hanging candles around the corrider, but nothing would budge.
Eventually, she decided to just use force. Preparing a combative stance, she struck the wall with her fist.
'SLAM'
Nothing. Or rather, nothing came of what she could accomplish.
She muttered to herself, her face one of frustration. "How annoying..."
'RING-RING'
She held the bronze bell out in front of the wall and shook it seriously. After a few moments, the ground began trembling.
Out from the ground, several beasts appeared. They looked like iron-furred wolves, with metallic jaws enhanced with blades. Although vicious, they instantly calmed upon seeing their master, quickly laying down like obedient dogs.
"Destory that wall." She sternly commanded them.
Like machines, they instantly responded by clawing and biting at the wall, quickly shredding through wallpaper, stone, and finally wooden foundation.
At first, it seemed futile. Caretaker halted the wolves and looked inside, but found nothing.
Until she glanced at the ground.
Right in the middle of the wall, between a few small pieces of rubble, a jade pendant lay on the floor, glistening under the candlelight.
It looked like an eye, only that it was completely transulcent. Picking it up, Caretaker could see that the chain was made of refined Sulphrite, a metal not typically found in Schildernte.
"Hoh…?" She twirled it in the air for a few seconds before putting it in her pocket. Checking the tracking charm, Caretaker saw that it said Karlos was in directly in her pocket.
Interesting indeed…
Wasting no time, she shook the bell and sent away the wolves, walking back to the entrance with pendant in hand.
...
The time was exactly 2 hours before dawn.
Lysandra had finished constructing a human-sized doll made of soil, and covered it with a layer of plants and vegetation.
Her plan was relatively simple. She could remotely control the doll by manipulating the soil, and it would still affect the manor with the plants covering the body.
"...This isn't one of my greatest ideas, but It's not like I can do anything else..." She patted the doll several times before turning it towards the front door.
"Now..." She closed her eyes. Focusing her mind on the Psyche in her body, Lysandra lifted a finger.
'Shuffle...' In response, the doll lifted its right leg.
'Thunk'
It took a step.
'Hoo...' Lysandra deeply exhaled and did the same action, this time for her left hand.
The doll struggled for a moment before lifting its left leg. It was halfway through the action until-
'CRUMBLE'
"Not again..." Lysandra instinctively tensed her back. She remembered the harsh scoldings from her chieftess for failing to control even a simple Earth Golem, something every gorgon was capable of.
Moving in one direction is easy, but when there's multiple joints to keep track of...
She was about to give up, until the formless pile of dirt struck some inspiration in her.
"The doll... Doesn't have to be human, does it?"
In fact, the golem didn't need to be a gorgon, either. As long as she could control it effectively, what did it matter what the doll looked like?
Lysandra concentrated her mind once more, and this time expressed the intent for a long cylinder to the earth...
The pile shifted and morphed until it was a long tube of soil, covered with plants. Using one arm as the body, and her right hand as a head, she managed to create a large serpent made of dirt.
She twitched her hand, and the snake bared its fangs. Shifting her arm, the snake mirrored her movements and progressed forward.
She smiled.
"Perfect."