Mash flopped into bed face first. The bed groaned loudly. He was getting too heavy for the bed, but he actually found it more comfortable now. His body sunk into the mattress, and the pillows bent around his head. They trapped his head in place and covered his ears too. Somehow, the night had made him even more tired as his sister berated him with her concern. She had healed him three times. His healing was perfect with his skills, but hers had gone a step further. His skin glowed, and his hair felt like it was sparkling. Despite all of that, he just wanted to sleep. The questions from his sister had been bad, but his brother had returned at some point and started lecturing him. That went on for who knew how long. Finally, he was given the reprieve he needed.

His face was pressed against the pillows, and they bent as he turned over in the bed. His gaze shot to the roof, and he just stared at it for a moment. His ceiling didn’t have anything special on it. Normally, the ceiling only comprised of a plain white paint. It was dark though and he couldn’t actually see anything at the moment. Well, he could see what his domain let him see, and that let him notice the subtle difference. Something had dripped from the ceiling, and he noticed the drop of a liquid fall to the ground. At first, Mash thought it was just a bug, but it splattered on the ground, and he let out a very audible sigh. No one was around, and he just wanted to ignore it. He just turned back around and let his face dig into the pillow.

He tried to ignore the dripping noise but failed quickly. Still desiring sleep, he forced himself up on his hands. At the very least, he should check what it was. He couldn’t see it through and needed to start the lights. His room had light crystals in it, and the enchantment to operate them was near the door. His hands sunk into the bed as he rolled off the bed. It felt like it was trying to draw him in, and he fell to the ground as he slid down the side. His legs struck the floor first, and then he let the rest of his body fall down. He stayed on the ground for a moment, before rising to his feet. It took more effort than he was willing to give, but he pushed himself over to the enchantment.

The lights flared to life and the room became visible to his naked eyes. It had been a while since he last used the lights here. He had been relying on his domain for a while and hadn’t bothered using the lights before. He had only used the lights once before; back when he had first arrived here. Otherwise, the sun was usually good enough during the day, and even the moon could light up the room. It was just a cloudy day today, and the light of the moon didn’t reach his windows. Mash didn’t look up just yet and just blinked his eyes a few times to adjust to the sudden light. One more sigh escaped his lips, and he turned up toward the ceiling.

He already had a small idea of what to expect, as the red liquid continued to drop to the ground. It didn’t smell like blood, so he assumed it was just normal paint. On the ceiling, he saw a large circle painted there. The circle was filled with an intricate pattern that reminded him vaguely of enchantments. At the center was a circle that was perfectly parted into four parts by diagonal lines. It wasn’t completely the same as enchantments though, and Mash frowned as he looked up at it. He thought that he had seen something like it before, but he just couldn’t place it. He didn’t feel anything with his domain, so it wasn’t magical. Or it didn’t have any mana in at the moment. Mash considered testing it. He could make a simple enough replica out of wood, and probably had enough energy to try it. Although, he refrained from doing any of that. He left his room and started heading toward his brother’s room. He passed the others’ rooms and knocked on their doors as he walked. His knuckles cracked two of the doors. His irritation leaked into his knocks. He shouted too.

“Some body broke in!”

The noise of people stirring let him know that people had heard him. Jill appeared beside him, her large needle was already in her hand, but she was still wearing some baggy blue pajamas. She looked around and her eyes glowed faintly. She was using her skills to try and find something,

“Where? Who?”

She spoke quickly, her head still darted back and forth. Mash shook his head and responded as the others started leaving their rooms.

“I don’t know but someone painted something in my room.”

Jill glanced back toward his room, and she vanished. She might be able to see a thread or something else he had missed. His domain showed him a lot, but he couldn’t see everything. Jill and Luke both had some special sight skills that let them see some things that he couldn’t. Arthur burst from his door a second before Mash could knock on it. Nothing was said, but he waltzed right past Mash.

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“What happened?”

His brother spoke while rubbing his eyes. He was tired, even if it didn’t show much on his face. Nothing ever showed on his brother’s face. One had to look at the rest of his body to know. Mash was easily able to do that with his domain, and he could see the subtle way his brother’s feet dragged as he walked. His brother wasn’t wearing pajamas like the others though. He was still in his uniform, and Mash guessed he must have fallen asleep in it. Mash knew that his brother had been getting a lot of extra work recently, and he kept getting more because of Mash’s actions.

“I don’t know. I was about to sleep, but I saw something weird on my ceiling. Oh, and it’s not blood.”

As Mash tacked on the statement about the pain at the end, he realized that he hadn’t warned Jill. He hadn’t heard a scream or anything, so she was probably fine. It took less than a minute to get from Arthur’s room to his. Red and Luke were already inside, and Mash walked in after his brother. The room was large, but it still felt a little crowded with five people inside. Everyone was staring at the ceiling.

“What is it?”

Luke asked Red. He spoke quietly as if he was worried about someone listening in. Mash didn’t feel any magic or see anyone with his domain, so he thought that they were safe, but caution was probably the right call. Red shook her head.

“I don’t know, but that isn’t blood.”

She said it for Luke’s sake, but Mash saw Jill relax a little too. His brother didn’t say anything, but he opened his storage space and pulled out a book and pen. He began copying down the strange symbol exactly, and Mash raised an eyebrow as he did so.

“What’s that for?”

His brother spoke without halting.

“I will get the General to look at it. She had requested me to inform you if anything happened around you in particular. Also, she might recognize it.”

Mash peaked at Arthur’s notebook and could tell that he was struggling. As good as Arthur was at most things, he was surprisingly bad when it came to art, or music for that matter. Mash had a better solution. He held his hand out and wood formed creating a perfect replica of the symbol. He held it over his brother’s half-complete drawing. That action actually got his brother to sigh. He grabbed the wooden imitation and placed it into his storage space along with the notebook.

“Should we test it? I learned a little bit about enchantments and think I can activate this.”

“No.”

“No!”

Both his brother and Red spoke. She shouted and his brother had spoken icily. Mash hadn’t been serious but neither of them was having it. They just weren’t in the mood for jokes. Arthur glared at Mash, before turning to Red and speaking.

“You four check the house. Luna isn’t here tonight, but I will let her know what happened just in case. Well, I will make sure to tell Alex to be more careful since Luna won’t listen.”

Mash could picture Luna’s reaction. She hadn’t changed much despite becoming an apostle for a god. She wouldn’t change because of some weird painting. His brother left, and Mash turned to look at Jill.

“Any strings or whatever?”

Jill grumbled her response, as she continued to stare at the weird symbol.

“Yeah, but a lot of them.”

Her head danced back and forth, and she continued.

"They're moving too. You know what let's just go this way.”

Jill just started walking in what seemed like a random direction. Nobody even questioned her though, and just followed behind. Mash kept checking his surroundings with his domain. Peeking into other rooms as he walked by. He was good at searching through a building. Doors didn’t stop his domain, and he would even be able to search through small corners easily. Jill was looking slightly upward, her gaze focused on those strings that only she could see. She never tripped or stumbled and just strolled through the hallway.

Mash quickly grew irritated as nothing happened. The more time that went by, the more annoyed he got. He wanted to sleep, not because he needed to sleep but just because he wanted to. The day had been long, and this would only make it feel even longer. He needed a distraction. Just following Jill around was growing old fast. They hadn’t found anything and had been taking a lot of turns. Mash opened his storage space and grabbed some dried meat from within. The others didn’t stop for him, but he caught up easily.

The meat wasn’t anything fancy, but it was sweetened heavily. It was made with sugar which made it rather expensive. He enjoyed chewing on it, but he ate it slowly. He held some of it out for the others. Only Luke grabbed a piece. Jill was still focused on whatever she was looking at, and Red just didn’t like the taste of sweetened meat. She preferred savory or spicy meat dishes. Jill turned and stopped before another room. Mash’s domain let him look inside, and he could see that it was a kitchen. He walked up to the door and pressed himself against it. His domain slowly encompassed the entire room, and he saw nothing special. Nothing magical even.

“I think it’s safe. Nothing magical.”

The confirmation was enough, and they walked into the room. Jill activated the lights and the room lit up quickly. The four didn’t bother scavenging through the room. It would be pointless. Instead, they just watched as Jill walked over to one of the dishes and grabbed a plate from it. The plate was one meant for the servants and was made of wood rather than metal or clay. On the plate was a replica of the strange symbol from earlier. Just what was going on here?