Kastian Manor, Leo’s Room
The room was unlit, so dark you couldn’t see your own hand in front of your face.
Time ticked by, second by second. The “tick-tock” of the second hand on the wall clock was amplified infinitely in the silent room.
Leo swallowed hard, breaking the silence in a hushed voice.
“I-Ian… It’s been half an hour. There’s been no movement outside at all. Can we… move a little?”
Ian leaned against the wall, tightly gripping his wand. The look in his eyes behind his glasses remained vigilant.
“Leo, endure it a little longer.” Ian’s voice was very low, carrying a trace of barely concealed gravity. “That level of magic detection earlier was definitely not from an ordinary Assassin. And…”
“And what?” Leo asked nervously.
“About half an hour ago, I faintly sensed a very sharp burst of magic power near the Fountain. But what’s strange is that fluctuation only lasted a few seconds. Then, accompanied by several loud bangs, it completely vanished.”
Ian pushed up his glasses, a bead of cold sweat forming on his forehead. “It vanished too cleanly. Like a drop of water falling into a desert, not even a trace of magic power was left behind.”
“That’s why we must be cautious.”
More time passed. Only after confirming that the chilling presence truly hadn’t returned did Ian finally let out a small sigh of relief.
He carefully walked to the window. Using the tip of his wand, he gently lifted a corner of the curtain, holding his breath as he peered out into the front courtyard.
With just one glance, Ian’s pupils contracted sharply.
Under the clear moonlight, he could see clearly. The upper halves of the two stone statues of the Fountain had completely exploded.
Rubble of various sizes was scattered everywhere, and the surrounding flagstones were covered in cracks.
And beside that pile of ruins, there were a few pieces of faintly glowing crystal residue.
“Hiss… These are signs of a magic crystal explosion.” Ian sucked in a sharp breath. As a student of Arcadia, he had the eye to recognize this.
‘A battle definitely took place here just now.’
Ian’s gaze immediately swept rapidly through the surrounding shadows, trying to locate any trace of the enemy.
However, he didn’t find the enemy. Instead, his vision got stuck on a figure that seemed perfectly natural, yet was utterly bizarre for this time of night.
It was a silver-haired girl wearing a black and white maid uniform.
Ailiya was holding a large broom, sweeping the ground under the moonlight with a focused expression and steady movements.
The rhythmic sound of sweeping was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
She swept the shattered stone pieces and magic crystal residue into a nearby dustpan unhurriedly, as if they were just ordinary trash.
Ian was completely dumbfounded. His brain short-circuited for a moment.
“What is it, Ian? What do you see?” Seeing Ian frozen by the window, Leo mustered his courage and crept over, peeking out through the gap.
“Holy crap! The fountain statues are shattered?!” Leo exclaimed in a hushed voice. “Wait, Ian, didn’t you say it might be dangerous outside? What is she doing?”
The corner of Ian’s mouth twitched twice. He couldn’t understand the Head Maid’s train of thought either.
“This… is probably just the professional dedication of a support staff member…” Ian forced out the words dryly.
Just as the two of them were plastered against the window in shock…
A rapid clatter of horse hooves suddenly sounded from outside the manor.
A carriage, its exterior emblazoned with a golden sun emblem, sped into the Kastian manor surrounded by church knights, coming to a steady stop in the front courtyard.
The carriage door opened, and Elsa stepped out quickly.
Following closely behind her was a middle-aged man wearing pure white robes, with a sun pendant hanging on his chest.
He held a thick holy scripture in his hands, his expression solemn.
“They’re back!” Leo’s face lit up with joy, his tense nerves finally relaxing. “Great! They actually brought a bishop from the church. We’re safe now.”
Meanwhile, in the front courtyard.
Elsa was momentarily stunned. She looked up, taking in the shattered statues and the mess on the ground. Her face instantly darkened.
“What happened here?”
Her gaze immediately fell upon Ailiya, who had stopped sweeping with her broom not far ahead.
Before Ailiya could even open her mouth to answer, the middle-aged man who had followed her out of the carriage suddenly frowned.
“There are signs of battle,” the bishop said gravely. “And it’s very pure shadow magic.”
Madame Elsa’s heart clenched tightly. Her worst fear had come true. The enemy had indeed attacked the manor while she was away.
“Not only that…”
He picked up one of the pieces of magic crystal residue, examining it carefully for a moment. A deep confusion flashed in his eyes.
“This piece of magic crystal residue was sliced clean through in mid-air by some sort of sharp enchanted weapon. The cut is too smooth… unbelievably smooth. Whoever did this is definitely no ordinary person.”
The bishop turned his head, his sharp gaze landing on Ailiya, who was present.
“Young lady, were you here the whole time?” the bishop asked, his tone scrutinizing. “Did you see who was fighting here?”
Madame Elsa also stared intently at Ailiya. “Ailiya, are you hurt? What exactly happened?”
Under the gaze of the two important figures, Ailiya casually leaned the broom against her side.
Her expression was as calm as ever. There wasn’t a ripple in her eyes, and her heartbeat hadn’t sped up in the slightest.
“In reply, Madame, I am not injured.”
“I was in the guest room tending to Captain Garick when I heard several loud explosions from the front courtyard. By the time I rushed out, the scene was already like this.”
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the rubble on the ground, and added very naturally:
“Because there were too many broken pieces blocking the main path for carriages, as the Head Maid of the estate, and to avoid hindering the entry of your carriage, Madame, and that of your guest, I fetched a broom to clean up.”
‘Actually, coming back to sweep was purely to pick up some life experience points that shouldn’t be missed.’
The bishop looked deeply at Ailiya.
Although he found it quite incongruous that a maid, hearing violent explosions in the middle of the night, wouldn’t immediately find a place to hide but instead calmly come out to sweep…
His probing senses told him that this demi-human girl before him truly didn’t radiate any powerful magic fluctuations. She seemed completely like a demi-human with just a bit of strength.
“It seems an unknown powerful individual intervened, driving off those enemies,” the bishop said, withdrawing his probing gaze and turning to Elsa. “Or perhaps it was a deliberate provocation by the enemies themselves.”
“Lady Elsa, I will have the knights search the estate for safety. For now, let’s go see your Captain of the Guard.”
“You are right. Please, follow me.” Elsa nodded, her anxious heart settling a little.
She turned to Ailiya, her tone softening somewhat. “Ailiya, thank you for your hard work. That’s enough for now. We’ll have the others clean up properly tomorrow. You should return to your room and rest.”
“Very well, Madame.”
Ailiya lifted the hem of her maid uniform, performing a standard curtsy, and watched as Elsa and the church personnel hurried into the main building.
Behind the second-floor window, having witnessed the entire scene, Ian couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from twitching wildly.
‘Came out to clear the path for carriages?’
‘Who are you trying to fool?!’
He had felt that sharp burst of magic power earlier, clear as day.
Combined with Ailiya’s perpetually unflappable, dead-fish-eye expression…
Ian pushed up his glasses. In his heart, he was already firmly convinced of an utterly ridiculous hypothesis.
‘This place, this woman… are way too damn weird. We absolutely cannot stay here any longer!’