Elsaris Pov:
I was in a secret office with Jay to discuss what we’re going to do today.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Mistress Elsaris?” (Jay)
“Yes, we’ve already studied everything we could find out about Zenos and his group, but there are still a lot of holes in the information we got.” (I)
“There’s only one way to fill in these holes in the information that we already have, to go there and meet him face to face.” (I)
“I don’t think this is a good idea, we don’t know what his motivations and goals are, all we’re sure of is that he’s recruited a lot of people into his group since he arrived in this town.” (Jay)
“We also know he must have some connection to the neutral faction.” (I)
“That Envoy came here because of him, but we don’t know why either, all we know is that we haven’t heard from this Envoy since you took her to the Eclipse Mansion.” (I)
“I still think it’s risky, they’re hiding a lot of things in that place.” (Jay)
“We can’t continue our business in this town with an unknown factor here, we have to at least find out if they’re going to get in our way.” (I)
After some discussion, I get up with Jay and we sneak out of hiding using concealment and protection items so we can walk in the daylight.
Let’s walk to the gates of the Eclipse mansion, as soon as I get there I’m surprised by this colossal barrier of concealment covering the entire mansion, I don’t even dare calculate the level of energy expenditure this barrier has if it’s the only barrier.
Upon reaching the gates I deactivate my item of disguise and tell Jay to do the same, after which I press the bell at the gate and wait.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to make such an open entrance? I don’t like to disable our cover here either.” (Jay)
“I’ve already had our employees make their prying eyes disappear from here, plus I’d rather go through the front door this time to show that we’re not enemies.” (I)
After a few minutes a big man from the Beastman Lions tribe came to the gate along with a maid with long dark blue hair in a ponytail, her black skin makes her red eyes stand out, I knew immediately that it was a Vampire, but both she and the Beast Man beside her are too weak.
“Good afternoon sir and madam, my name is Alice, what do you want in this mansion today?” (Alice)
“Is the master of this mansion present?” (I)
“The master is not present at the moment, I advise you to come back at another time.” (Alice)
“If he’s not there I can wait for his return, I’m in no hurry.” (I)
The young Rogue maid spoke well but the tone of her voice is very trained and stiff yet, she spoke well but it wasn’t very natural showing that she should be in training yet, meanwhile the man beside her was silent just watching me and to Jay as a bouncer.
After hearing that I wanted to wait for her master’s return the young maid seems to get lost in her words and looks at the man beside her who nods his head at her.
“The master must not return until after dark, but if you still want to wait for his return I will receive you.” (Alice)
“I thank.” (I)
“Leo go let the others know we have guests, I’ll guide them to the tables in the garden.” (Alice)
“Follow me please.” (Alice)
Jay and I follow the young maid into the gates as the Man-Beast leaves the other way, as we follow the young maid past the barrier and I’m surprised.
Behind the concealment barrier, I discover that the entire miasma of the mansion is different, somehow it is no longer normal miasma, it seems as if the impurities were cleaned, I also noticed a lot of darkness in this miasma, from what I could see it is this miasma that maintains the barrier of concealment by using the element of darkness to lower the cost of maintaining that barrier.
I could also feel like this place was overflowing with energy, the amount of Mana and spiritual energy in here and greater than outside.
“(How did they do that?)” (I)
Another thing I noticed was that I felt a lot of things around me, they were weak and I didn’t feel any kind of malice, but I don’t like not being able to see something, I turn to Jay and see a surprised face looking around in all directions like a child without understanding what is happening, I never thought to see Jay with a reaction like that.
I use a telepathic communication item to communicate with him without others noticing.
“(Why this surprised face? See something?)” (I)
“…” (Jay)
“(I’m sorry ma’am, I just didn’t expect to see so many Child Fairies in this place.)” (Jay)
“(Are you saying the things I’m feeling flying all over the place are Infant Fairies?)” (I)
“(Yes, but I’m also feeling a weak presence of Spirits, but I’m not able to see them.)” (Jay)
“…” (I)
I’m confused by this sudden information that I didn’t know before, how I could let something that big pass, not to mention that I can feel a lot of these things around here even though I can’t see them.
We continue to follow housekeeper Alice into a beautiful flower garden that has a space in the middle for a beautifully ornate table and some chairs.
“Please feel free to sit down.” (Alice)
“Thanks.” (I)
Shortly after we are seated, a White Elf maid comes in holding two trays and accompanied by the Beast Man from before along with a Black Elf.
The White Elf who is wearing a very pretty maid’s dress sets the trays in front of us, one tray has sandwiches and the other tray has juice.
“Good afternoon, my name is Caryna and I will be accompanying you until the master returns, if you need anything feels free to ask me.” (Caryna)
“Nice to meet you, Caryna.” (I)
We waited a long time in this place, but I didn’t mind, the sandwich I ate was amazing, I could see that it was made with Basilisk meat and various herbs that should be used in alchemy, usually, just a great rich nobleman or family member real would waste money that way just to eat but I must say this is the best sandwich I have ever had.
After a long time the maid named Caryna lets us know that her master is back, she says he’ll show up right after he cleans up and gets ready.
“(Did you notice we’re being watched?)” (Jay)
“(Yes, I also saw something hidden in the tree next to us, if I’m not mistaken that is a Cursed Raven, but its way of acting is strange.)” (I)
“(We don’t know anything about them, so I think it’s best not to do anything to become unnecessarily hostile to them.)” (Jay)
“(I know that.)” (I)
After another time of waiting he appears, a child with dark skin, red hair, and eyes of different colors, his appearance is just beautiful, for some reason, I feel I should be respectful to him.
He was not alone, there was a woman beside him with white skin, long pink hair, two-color eyes, one red and the other golden, her body and face were beautiful, I felt a calm and warm feeling coming from her.
The two seemed to have similar strengths to Jay, but their presence and their Auras had a special quality or characteristic that I couldn’t understand, I could also feel something stronger hidden somewhere in the mansion watching us from afar, he doesn’t try to hide his thirst of blood, it looks like it’s warning you that it’s present and just waiting for the moment of hostility to strike.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Zenos, this one beside me is Vanessa.” (Zenos)
“Nice to meet you too, my name is Elsaris, this one next to me is Jay.” (I)
He greets us and then sits across from us with the woman beside him, soon after a White Elf comes towards us along with Caryna, they look a lot must be sisters possibly, they both bring trays with some more sandwiches and juice for all.
“Good afternoon, allow this Freya to serve you tonight.” (Freya)
“Here are some more appetizers, feel free to eat.” (Caryna)
“Thank you both for that, I was really hungry.” (Zenos)
Zenos takes a sandwich and starts eating without bothering about etiquette, the woman next to him does just the opposite, she takes the sandwich and eats small pieces without getting dirty, as Jay and I also like this food and we start eating again.
“Your cooks are excellent.” (I)
“Thanks for the compliment, I’m very proud of these two.” (Zenos)
So these two White Elves are the cooks.
“So what do I owe the Black Market visit to today?” (Zenos)
“…” (I)
“Don’t pretend to be surprised, even if your hair color has changed, anyone who participated in that auction would recognize the auctioneer.” (Zenos)
“Of course, none of them imagine that this auctioneer is in charge.” (Zenos)
“Looks like someone told you a lot about us, was it the person sent by the neutral faction?” (I)
“I only told him a little bit about you guys, it’s not like I know much either.” (Vanessa)
I look straight into the eyes of this woman named Vanessa, her words hint at something that hadn’t crossed my mind.
“Are you the one sent?” (I)
“Yes, you didn’t have to come here, I was planning to come to see you in two days.” (Vanessa)
She is totally different, last time her body was completely covered with many magic hide items, even her appearance was hidden, but now she shows her appearance easily and got rid of most of the hide items, not to mention that she didn’t speak before. and is now speaking normally.
“(What’s going on here?)” (I)