Staring at the wolf dragging the corps with a missing head back Yu sighs heavily thinking about the troubles he had just evaded.

'If she had only thought clearly using the time the shield had provided her she could have easily killed me, in fact even facing her puma alone would have put me in a dangerous position had I not gotten the drop on it'

Just as it sounds the girl blinded by fear chose the worst option, if she had not ran and instead summoned her other soul beasts then she would have had a guaranteed victory.

"Well, all the better for me, but if this had been her sister ..... I would be the one dying for sure"

Unlike Kore the older sister is more battle hardened since she had gone through training fitting her age while the recent visitors were all greenhorns when it came to real battles.

The wolf drags the body to the mansion to Yu's surprise and proceeds to drag the pumas body behind the mansion.

"Looks like its getting the difficulty of the situation we were thrown in"

After checking that the wolf had finished moving the bodies around, Yu covers the bloodstains with dirt and dims the hole with the wolfs help then hides in the mansion lying in wait.

Off course with his current strength he knows his limit thus he starts making a new trap inside the mansion to avoid being exposed outside.

Thinking about the problems of the previous trap and acting upon it Yu starts formulating a sure kill trap for the summoner rather than the Soul beasts as he had noticed it would be his loss with a prolonged battle.

Time goes by as the sun like orb fades from the sky sinking the mansion into darkness.

The doors open as Yu steps out with the wolf, taking a look at the parchment in his hands he starts running towards the north.

'Thankfully they mapped the area to not get lost, with their cores in hand I could have a better chance at surviving, off course if someone takes the core while I'm away that would also be alright'

With a clear aim the due sprint through the forest.

*******

An hour later at a two story villa the forest, two men can be seen of which one is pacing back and forth on the second floor taking glances at the silent forest from time to time.

"Its already past dark he couldn't have stayed out this late if something hadn't happened to him" says the old man.

Hearing a grunt, he looks to the side to see the man rub his eyes as he had been woken up

"How can you sleep at a time like this the young master could be in danger and if anything goes wrong we would be the ones to take the blame"

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The middle aged man takes a look at the old man before drowsily speaking

"Even if he won't come back it won't affect us, we can't accompany him outside and whether he loses or not nothing can happen to him with the Life Lock so we should wait and see"

Thinking a bit, the old man realizes that it was just as the man said, as there was no need to worry anymore he turns away to get his own sleep, as to whether anyone comes to claim the core at this time? He couldn't care less if the owner wasn't there anymore.

And so the whole villa except the front gate guards falls into sleep with none aware of the eyes that had been staring at them from the forest, as if waiting for the right moment to strike.

**********

Yu had been crouching there for half an hour already waiting for the opportune moment but it never occurred to him that they would merely go to sleep as if they had nothing to do with the missing person.

"Did they get careless because they don't think he will be back or are they confident, nonetheless this is good, all I have to do is put out the guards and take away the core"

Motioning to the snake that had been on his shoulders he points at the guards who can be seen nodding of at the gate.

With stealthy slithers the snake creeps toward the edge of the forest and stares at the guards who in turn stare back at its eyes with alert, but seeing as its merely a small snake they let down their guard and merely keep an eye on it, but each time they turn to make sure it's not approaching they feel drowsier than before until the two of the eventually fall asleep.

Seeing that the two had fallen asleep Yu comes out of the bushes and picks up the snake, after caressing it a bit he unsummons it and proceeds into the mansion.

Upon entering the villa, he spots a narrow staircase leading towards the second floor, noting that the size would cause some rattle if he gets the wolf to climb it he opts to summon it after climbing.

Reaching the second floor he walks to the center door sneakily, creaking the door open he peaks in, a room similar to the one in his mansion greats him except that it looks much less worn out than his, with two people sitting near the core, one sleeping with the other drowsily playing with his dagger.

'Perfect, this couldn't have been easier'

Yu summons the spider, taking out his knife he ties the adhesive thread the spider had just produced around it.

The spider climbs up and enters through the top of the doors creak, after which it centers itself above the awake guard and uses a sticky thread to sticks the adhesive one without cutting it and goes back to Yu.

Tieng the end of the thread to its beginning Yu proceeds to pull the line causing the knife to slowly move until it is right above the guard.

Unsummoning the spider and summoning the wolf Yu cuts the line.

At the same time the knife plunges into the guard, the wolf bursts into the room with Yu following behind and pounces on the newly woken alarmed guard, while Yu snatches the core of the pedestal causing a small rumble to go through the villa followed by an eerie silence.

"Haah, that was nerve wrecking"

Yu falls back to sit on the cold hard floor, though hardly any effort was put into his run he sees to be utterly exhausted.

'I just noticed but was I holding my breath all this while? I guess I'm not as courage's as I thought'

Looking to the side Yu sees the wolf snort toward him with eyes that hold some ridicule.

"I haven't exercised in a while alright?" 'Yah right I'm obviously afraid'

Fear, to someone who had lived in the modern world with no military experience, fear in battel is common especially if you might have to battel a beast twice your size let alone more than one.

'Well just like how I would teleport out of my mansions core was taken so would others, this makes things a lot easier'

In the battlefield belonging to the South Paradise, assassins among nobles were a minority if there were any, and with the masters being the only ones able to travel out of the cores range, stealthily stealing the core would pose to be hard task, thus security would be lacking inside the mansion.

"Their pride wouldn't let them steal it anyway"

Yu mutters as he gazes into the core. Getting up after a minute or two Yu takes a look at the corps of the daggered man.

Although he feels nausea after staring for a few seconds Yu still searches the body for any useful items.

'The first person I kill with my own hands, well technically speaking'

"Heh, I still have the mood to retort"

After slipping his hands into one of the inner pockets touches upon a stone like item, pulling it out he finds himself looking at a round-ish orang rock.

"Contracted Souls"

Contracted Souls, when those who cannot contract grimoires need to rise in power they contract Soul Beasts through the use of Soul Stones.

Off course, the Soul Beasts contracted through this method cannot be strengthened, nor can they have the same freedom as those of the grimoires.

Generally, only 2 or 3 Soul Beasts can be contracted when using Soul Stones as the souls of the Contractors cannot hold the burden of restraining too many Soul Beasts, yes restraining, since holding the Soul Beasts in the Soul Stones is like imprisoning them as it bars their growth and freedom.

"I should hold onto these, maybe I can use them in sacrificing, if not the would still fetch a good price... if I ever make it out of here anyway"

Yu proceeds to pocket the stone and pulls his knife from the dead body with no small amount of disgust and nausea.

After searching the other guard and pocketing another orange stone from him Yu starts searching through the mansion in a hasty way. Not long after Yu ran out of the mansion with a small bag on his shoulder with the wolf leading the way, the target, Kore's mansion.