As Brother Leo continued his search he heard the clopping of hooves yet again. He clicked his tongue and turned around. At this point he searched 80% of the perimeter, leaving only the edge remaining. But he knew the edge of the barrier was the last place those imbeciles would hide and was fully convinced they had left.

“Did they return?” He asked.

“No Sir.” He weakly responded. He was pale-faced and was coated in a layer of sweat.

Leo was suspicious of why he looked so worn out considering the horse was the one that ran here.

“You have something important to say, so get on with it.”

The man took a gulp and readied himself.

“The detection stone is gone.”

What is a detection stone you might ask? Well in essence it alerts its user that someone has entered the barrier and their general direction. It isn't uncommon to pick it up and carry it along when it detects something. But….

(“Those fools. Did they not bring it back? No, even they can't be that stupid…”)

He dragged his subordinate off the horse and threw him to the ground. He protected his face but the brother had no intention of hurting him.

“I hope the other guards aren't playing you for a fool! Are you sure you searched the cabin properly!? I better not see it if I decide to swing by after my search later!”

The man scrambled to bow down before his superior.

“No Sir, I can confirm!” he shouted. “All drawers were emptied and even removed from the cabin and I even had a few of the entrance guards help me search for them.”

“(A search? Well, I suppose I don't disagree but I can't imagine they were happy about it.) Is that so? Then did those numbskulls actually-?”

No, he refused to believe they would have taken it with them. This could lead to the base being attacked while being none the wiser and even if they were fools they at least knew better than to so blatantly endanger the lives of everyone here.

He soon considered another option.

He picked his subordinate up and brought his face close to his. The man leaned back, clearly shivering away but the brother paid this no mind.

“Listen to me closely. Ask, nay, request Father Daniel as soon as you arrive back at the dungeon and tell him I ordered you to collect a detection stone. Also, alert him that if I'm not heard from in the next day, to tighten the main dungeon’s security.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Huh?”

“Did you hear me!?” He shouted.

“Yes sir.” The man responded before running back to his horse and quickly leaving.

Brother Leo sighed as he watched him ride away on his horse. “I don't want to believe it but there is a chance we have some intruders. But if that is the case, what kind of foe must they be to kill all the guards without incident? At least one should have escaped if the enemy was overpowering them.”

He looked uneasy as he walked further into the forest to complete his search. He hoped he was overthinking but he couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling after hearing about the detection stone being missing.

----------------------------------------

Tibaut regained his footing without the aid of the wall and threw himself at the priest yet again.

His entire body stopped but he fired off a firelance from behind. That headed for the ceiling.

As another punch from the priest was going to rock Tibaut he caught the attack out of the corner of his eye.

(“What's he- guh”) The priest paid little attention to it and suffered the consequences. It landed on his shoulder and he backed away before being hit by a clean blow from Tibaut.

He slid through Tibaut’s legs and kicked his knee from behind while narrowly blocking a roundhouse with his injured shoulder.

(“He can move those small ones as well. I should have suspected as much. Of course just because I've stopped his body doesn't mean I've stopped his ability to use magic. If only it were so convenient.”)

He backed away and clutched his shoulder with a smile. Tibaut let him back away as he wasn't sure he had the energy to chase.

“Seems like you're pretty brittle,” Tibaut responded.

The priest laughed and slowly removed his hand from the wound on his shoulder. It burned through the robe and left a nasty burn on him. But based on the way he moved it, the blunt force of it might have done more damage.

“haha Isn't that right? I thought I could take this slow but it's my mistake. I definitely should have brought my armour. Oh well, I suppose the time for play is over.” he moved his shoulder around some more clearly wincing from it. “But I am cur-”

The man who forgot his armour yet again watched on as the priest mumbled on.

(“What the hell is his magic?”)

(“Have you seriously not figured it out? It's a wonder how you even got a diploma in the first place.”)

Tibaut rolled his eyes. (“Shut up, I'm not stupid. I know he can slow things down or stop them entirely but I'm not sure how he does it. I'm not even sure how far he has to be on what things he can affect. So shut up and let me think about it while he's yapping.”)

(“But it's quite simple honestly. He's….”)

Tibaut listened in interest but an answer would never come.

(“I mean this from the bottom of my heart, with every fibre of my being, I hope you fucking kill yourse-”)

He was interrupted by the priest throwing powder around before running into him with a dropkick. He summoned a fire lance but he forgot something very important. The powder ignited and caused a large and admittedly weak explosion. The priest managed to escape unscathed while Tibaut was covered in soot and smelled of burnt hair.

“I've decided to fight smarter and not harder. After all, I don't want to tire myself out. Who knows if you're the only one here.”

He said while dusting a white powder off himself.