Kaname watched in amusement as the monster bats smashed into the magical shields right above. Swarms of bats came her way, and it was a sensation quite like watching goldfishes chase a finger outside of the glass fish tank.
With much greater fervor.
An instructor noticed, and walked over. Kaname knew it was a familiar face. Antonia Argos. “Student, why are they focused on you?”
The sound of the bats slamming into the shields with not much success made talking a little hard. Kaname turned and looked at the noble lady, her slight bow perfect. “Greetings, lady Argos. I do not have the slightest idea why they are focused on me.”
Antonia’s eyes tried its best to bore into hers, but Kaname had already turned to watch the bats slam the shields. Their charges led to a constant drumming sound. The bats now loomed overhead, and the shields began to fray.
Yet it held. Antonia lifted her hand and her core glowed, it’s streak of light visible around her chest. The shield above regained strength, recharged by her power.
Kaname nodded.
The instructors outside had an easy time. The bats were far easier to hit when all of them were gathered in one area, and the defenders coated the skies above the building with area-attacks, huge magical blasts or abilities that destroyed multiple bats in a single volley.
Antonia stood next to her, and reassured her. “Don’t worry, student. We’ll protect you, even if they want something from you.”
“Thank you.” Kaname answered, and wondered whether they dropped any magical shards. If they were such a high-tier rift, they should have magical shards. She decided to just ask the instructor next to her. “Do they have magical shards or leave things behind, like the monsters in the rift?”
“The boss-monster should.” Antonia answered. “But usually ‘complete’ rift breaks we see the boss-monster exiting. This one feels like an incomplete rift break. A ‘crack’.”
“Does it happen often?”
“More often than it should. Which should mean something.”
“Hmm?”
Antonia smiled and didn’t answer.
Kaname decided to ask and test the waters.“Are they not mindless monsters? And why would they even target anyone? ”
“Why indeed.” Antonia looked back at Kaname.
The two shared a long pause as they watched the rest of the instructors vaporize the rest of the bats.
After that period of silence, Antonia continued. “They are not exactly mindless. They can be directed, and controlled. There are cores out there that can get monster-control abilities.”
“Someone is controlling them?” Kaname asked, in her mind, she suspected it was the dark goddesses’ agent. Whoever that saw her, gave that image to the bats.
The bats disintegrate to dust. The instructors did their duties in a flash of magic, and cleaned up the mess.
Antonia just shrugged, as all the bats were destroyed. “Well, we don’t know. It’s something we will find out, and perhaps, we will need to call you. For questioning. Stay safe, student. There will be eyes on you.”
Kaname watched the instructor walk away, and the alarm blared overhead.
“THREAT NEUTRALIZED. PLEASE WAIT 5 MINUTES WHILE WE CONFIRM THAT IT IS SAFE.”
***
Week 4 Day 4
Ethan realized, of course, that Kaname had snatched the protagonist role. That was not a problem, because she was now the bright sun in the sky, and Ethan could safely be the shadows.
With the eyes on her, they’d be less focused on a regular individual like himself doing strange things.
The irony was not lost on Kaname. She was a ninja, and here she was in the limelight where she was most uncomfortable.
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Now, she was tasked to do something even more hero-like. Confront Celeste Mirrorsong on the incident in the forests.
She steeled herself and then knocked on the noble lady’s door.
“Yes?” A voice asked, one of her servants asked.
“I am Kaname Kaga, and I wish to speak to Lady Mirrorsong.”
She waited. She felt the servant whisper and exchange some words, and then, the door opened. The servants shuffled out, and Kaname entered to see the beautiful Celeste Mirrorsong seated at her tea area.
“So you’ve decided to approach me directly.” She said, and sipped her tea.
Kaname nodded. “Greetings, Lady Mirrorsong. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
“Spare me the formalities, foreigner.” The lady looked back at her. “What do you want?”
The ninja was taken aback, slightly, at how accurate the accusation was. “Then I shall be blunt, Lady Mirrorsong. You had some engagements with the agents of the dark. Can I know the details, and how I can reach them?”
The noble lady squinted her eyes, her brows furrowed. The air rippled with her power, the noble lady’s lightning core radiated small bits of electrical blasts but Kaname didn’t move. At this level, they were evenly matched, no, Kaname was slightly stronger.
Lady Mirrorsong only had a Titan-grade. The lady with dark purple hair looked up, her eyes tried to bore through the ninja. “Are you accusing me of cavorting with the dark goddess?”
Kaname shook her head. “Not yet. But I suspect you either know how to contact them, or they clearly contact you frequently. I wish to be a part of it.”
“Do you know who you intend to deal with?” She said, almost like a whisper, but it was like the murmurs of a storm cloud before the pouring rain. Her hair seemed to float, as she stood. The cup of tea was back on the table.
Kaname didn’t say a word, as the noble lady glared.
“So?”
The ninja nodded. “I do. I fought them. At least, their lesser dogs.”
The static in the air suddenly vanished. “You fought them?”
“Of course. Is that a problem?”
Celeste Mirrorsong just sat back at her chair, and then had a chuckle. “I see. Are you one of the prophesied heroes, then?”
“No. Or perhaps, not yet.”
“Sit, Lady Kaga.”
“Thank you for the offer Lady Mirrorsong.” Kaname adjusted herself and sat opposite the noblewoman. “Pleased.”
“Then let’s start with the difficult questions. What would you do, if I told you I’m trying to join the dark agents?” Celeste dropped the bombshell, and Kaname looked back at the ducal heir.
“Stop you, of course. I would report you to the grandmasters.”
“You trust those old farts?”
“They seem quite well informed and capable.”
The noblewoman’s eyes met the ninjas, and for a moment, laughed. “You won’t try to stop me yourself?”
“Why take the laws into my own hands and do it myself? The grandmasters exist, and while we are here, they are the right parties to punish you as deemed fit.”
“Cavorting with the dark forces is not a crime in the laws of the Garden.”
Kaname smiled, relieved. Her master would have at least one person to report. “I should petition the master for it to be changed, then.”
“They won’t. It’s frowned upon, and would lead to significant scrutiny, but not a crime. It’s intentionally made that way, because many are deceived into it.” Celeste Mirrorsong said.
“Interesting, I did not know that. But I would still inform the Grandmaster, and have you put under some kind of watchlist.”
“They won’t dare.” She smiled with incredible certainty.
“We’ll see about that, then. Would you let me know how you contact these... dark agents?”
“Why would I share?”
“That’s a shame. I’d hope to avoid spying on you perpetually.” Kaname answered, and tried out what Ethan called the front-stab. Since she was going to play the role of the heroine, she may as well fully leverage on that angle.
“You sound like I won’t have you killed.” The noble answered.
“You won’t. Or more like, you couldn’t.” The ninja wasn’t afraid of death.
Celeste’s eyebrows raised. “Oh? Is that a challenge?”
“No. Just a statement of fact.”
Celeste grinned, her face seemed to light up in joy. “Well, consider me impressed. I’m very pleased to meet you, Lady Kaga.”
“Likewise. Would you not tell me about the dark agents?”
“No. Let me keep my secrets, and it’s more fun if we have to play hide-and-seek.”
“It seems you like to play games.” Kaname sighed.
“A lady has to find ways to fill her time. High quality entertainment is hard to come by. That’s why nobles spend all their time harassing each other. Nothing quite provides a challenge as someone who is your equal.”
[Kaname: Lady Mirrorsong is probably insane.]
[Ethan: That’s not what their city-mates tell me]
Kaname looked at the lady in front of her, and wondered how many faces she had. She maintained a certain image to her vassals, and to threats like herself, she had another.
“You have an interesting look.” Celeste smirked. “What are you thinking?”
“Oh. It’s helpful to know that I won’t get anything from you directly.” Kaname answered. “I shall go now.”
“Wait. Sit. That’s not it, is it?”
“You’d like to tell me how to reach out to these dark agents?” Kaname tried to redirect the question.
“No.”
“Then we have nothing more to say to each other.”
“Before you leave, who are the other heroes?” The noble lady asked.
“Don’t know.”
“Really? You have secrets too, then.”