"That string user that you mentioned.. He's already dead."
Veritas, who was disguised as Theo, was left agape by her sudden and loud words.
'You can't say that out loud!'
He looked around to see if anyone noticed her particular claim, and luckily... No one seemed to notice.
Veritas laughed awkwardly.
"Ahhh... you can't just blatantly say that little sister, what if someone were to misunderstand?"
Trying to save their faces from embarassment, Veritas controlled her claims.
"Oh, I apologize.."
She leaned in to whisper.
"I recently found out about that case too, and I investigated it thoroughly. Due to my relationship with the Domain of Death, I also saw him lurking in the night and that was when I knew that he had been touched by death."
With her dark eyes, her expression went serious and she said:
"I guarantee that he's dead.. That feeling of dread from that night could not be mistaken, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, well- don't say it in public, someone might hear you.. we're disguised remember?"
Veritas made sure to remind her of their purpose and their fabricated story, disguised as Theo and Therese, Veritas and Alice needed to act like them.
They got back to normal and acted like their disguises once more.
"That's really worrying.. Is something happening in Knights Academy?" Veritas asked with concern on his face.
"Bah, I'm sure that it's just a random ghost story to scare off the 1st years. Nothing too serious..."
As Bello brushed off the issue, Veritas contemplated their reports about the mission.
'A string user suddenly disappears... Is this somehow related to the Puppeteer, or was that student the Puppeteer himself?'
"What's his name again?"
"I think it was.. Abbadeer Crystal."
"Haven't heard of him."
Veritas smiled warmly, acting as if he was aloo. But in reality, his mind was already working its wonders, thinking and figuring out what happened.
They talked about baseless rumors about students and professors, and then.. the sun had set, signifying the end of the day.
Bello got up from his seat and the two of them followed him.
They walked towards the exit of the cafe and were thanked by the waitresses. Upon reaching outside, Bello faced the two to say his farewells.
"What will the two of you do now?"
"Probably get back to the hotel.. Mother and Father must be waiting for us now."
"I see.. Do take care, I shall be going this way.."
But suddenly.. Bello turned back as if he forgot something..
"Oh right! Theo! Here's your keys.. I forgot that you dropped them inside the cafe."
Veritas tapped his pockets and clothing, he acted as if his key had really gone missing.
"Thank you so much Bello!"
"You're still so forgetful-"
Bello shook hands with him and he headed back to his initial direction. Then, Veritas waved his hands towards him, smiling ever-so diligently.
"Take care Bello! I'll see you again sometime!"
"Yeah! You too!"
With that, the long-awaited reunion between the three had concluded. Veritas and Alice walked towards the other direction and onto the Diamond Borough.
Seeing as no one was looking around, Veritas and Alice decided not to go to the hotel and head back to the castle.
They blended in with the bustling crowd, appearing as if they were normal citizens of Elrod. Alas, it only took a couple of minutes to reach their destination with a carriage.
By then, Veritas and Alice had removed their disguises and went back to their white and blonde splendor.
They got out of the carriage and walked towards the entrance to the castle where Alice's personal carriage was waiting.
"Then, Veritas.. I shall get going too.."
"Alright, you take care."
"I'll see you on Monday."
"Yeah."
Veritas waved his hands firmly and smiled warmly at the sight of the carriage getting smaller in the horizon.
Once it disappeared, Veritas turned his expression back to his usual serious face and held the Faceless Mask in his hands.
'I still have enough Soul'
There was still something Veritas needed to do..
Veritas wore the Faceless Mask and shifted back to his black-haired and crimson-red eyed identity. He wore the same clothes that he had so he very quickly conjured an illusory hooded black cloak to cover his entire being.
He raised the hood up to cover his face, and illusory gray fog covered his face, turning it into a faceless mask that left only a space for a singular crimson-red eye.
His Eye of the Kraken glowed brightly in the nightly dusk.
The black cloaked figure with a glowing red-eye stood in front of the castle, the wind fluttering his illusory cloak in the air, looking as menacing as ever.
Veritas turned back and headed in the direction of the Gold Borough.
He leaped through the roofs of the buildings in order to stay unnoticed, it was suspicious of course.. but it was better than being seen with a crowd.
Additionally, the usage of Windsong, Will of the Winds, and Visionshaper, made him easily traverse the structures of Elrod. Visionshaper also helped disguise him to an extent, but.. one would be able to see him if they focused directly.
His black cloak swayed with the winds, although illusory, it still made a daunting sight for people to see. That is.. if they could see him.
Veritas' speed made it hard for the people to focus on his figure, let alone grasp what it was that flew in the Elrod nightsky.
To normal people, Veritas looked like a normal bird flying through the air..
That said.. Two birds followed along him, one was a crow and the other was a sparrow.
Once Veritas reached a rooftop, he would chant Windsong to send him flying once again..
"O, Winds. Grant me the ability to fly once more.."
With those words, Veritas would then float up and the Winds would gather around him to help his entire body fly through the air.
Veritas did not use Will of the Winds that much so his mind was not greatly strained. Even so, it would take at least a lot of uses to get his mind to be dizzy once more.
The excessive training in the past month has not been for nothing!
Soon, Veritas reached the gates of the Knights Academy, there were still students inside because they lived at the dorms but the knights inside were already patrolling through the campus.
He hid within the trees and scouted for any openings that would help him infiltrate.
The Security of the Academy was nigh impossible to be broken through. They had devices that detected any heat signals, sudden movements, and any methods to secretly enter the Academy.
Veritas did not know the extent of their defenses so he was left with only one option.
Suddenly, a figure materialized behind the tree..
Wearing a tailor-made and white variation of the usual Knights Academy Student uniform, flowing pure-white hair, and a chiseled yet fair face that could be said to be otherworldly..
It was Veritas.. As he walked out of the shadows, he fixed his marble-white cloak and headed towards the gate.
"Your Majesty! Welcome back to Knights Academy!"
A dark-haired Knight greeted him with a salute, and opened the gates for him.
"Thank you, dear Knight.. Your services are much appreciated."
"It is my pleasure."
The Knight bowed and gestured to Veritas to enter.
Once inside, Veritas walked towards the dormitory area and traversed the long road of the campus.
While walking, he brought out a magic device and it flashed green with a click of a button.
"Bello.. Can you see?"
A faint voice suddenly replied through the device.
"Vaguely.. My birds can't really see from up here."
Veritas then changed his appearance to that of Bello's face. He wore crystal-blue eyes, and deep black hair disguise.
"I see.. Try to get closer."
"Sure..."
The pavement that led to the dormitories was quite lonely, as students were already inside their respective rooms, the roads were empty and the fields were forlorn.
After a few minutes.. Veritas reached the dormitory area. He saw students wandering the fields outside, hanging around the benches, and practiced their swordsmanship at the field dummies.
"Oh! Is that Bello? I thought you were going back to Gold Borough?"
Veritas used Will of the Winds to changed the tone of his voice.
"Still training late this evening huh? Keep it up!"
Veritas acted as he thought Bello would.
However, his magic device suddenly vibrated as a voice was let out from it.
"Don't act like that! I barely talk to these people."
"Really? You should've told me sooner, I do hope that they don't find anything amiss.."
Veritas continued to walk and it only took him a couple of minutes to reach Bello's room.
He grabbed for his pockets and brought out a key that Bello gave him before they parted ways.
Upon inserting it in the keyhole, Veritas twisted the handle and the door opened relatively easy.
He turned on the lights and was met by a surprising sight.
"Your room is really clean, I didn't know that you were like this Bello.."
"Yeah. Unlike you, I always keep my things clean."
"You don't have to bring me into this."
He looked around the room and began to settle down. Veritas noticed a caged orange cat with its pet bowl filled to the brim with various amounts of food. A clock was hung on the wall, and different ornaments that decorated the room was prevalent.
The cat was wary of Veritas when he suddenly tried to pet it.
"Feisty, your cat is mean, Bello."
"I'm looking through his eyes right now, don't think that I'm gonna let you pet me." The cat suddenly opened its mouth and talked.
"Wow! It can talk!"
Veritas reached for his magic device to update Bello. Then, two voices were let out.. one from the cat and one from the device.
"I'm the cat, you idiot!"
"I'm the cat, you idiot!"
Veritas laughed haughtily.
"What time is it again?"
"7:38 PM"
"And what time did you see that senior lurk around?"
"Around midnight or so.."
"I see.."
Veritas sat on the bed and made himself comfortable.
"About 3 to 4 more hours huh.."
The Bello disguise was suddenly dismissed and Veritas had returned to his usual face.
"Keep an eye outside, I'll get sleep in the meantime. Also, contact Alice- actually never mind."
Although Alice would bring quite significant information and help, Bello was not acquainted with her at all. So, he deemed it useless to contact her right now..
"Can you stay up for 3 to 4 more hours?"
"Yeah. I can make my body sleep while I see through my beast's vision."
"What an utterly useful Path."
With that, Veritas closed his eyes to rest for a while. Later, he would either investigate the whereabouts of the missing student.
"I'll inform you using the cat once something happens."
"Alright- Just don't watch me sleep, it's creepy."
"As if I will!"
Veritas dozed off in Bello's neat and tidy bed, awaiting Bello's sudden alarm.