Surroundings of Sinerman Mansion

Aren successfully escaped the attention of his older siblings and headed back to the Sinerman Mansion. Perhaps if he had lingered, he would have seen the morning news and been pleased that he had made no appearance on it.

Hazel might have teased him, but she was also someone who valued other people's privacy, and if Aren didn't want to be seen, she arranged herself accordingly. Or at least distorted his appearance and voice.

Aren looked around and saw that the barrier was no longer guarded and there were no sealing specialists left. They had probably easily assessed a seal sufficient and stable enough to leave after the night.

But the parking lot wasn't completely empty. There was a small black van with the back door wide open, and the sound of the fast temple clacking of a keyboard carried across the empty lot.

Aren was naturally curious and walked around so he could see inside. What he saw left him momentarily speechless.

The van was packed with computer equipment. Screens were everywhere, fans whirring, and there was what looked like a small generator amidst so many wires that they resembled spaghetti decorations.

In what little space was left, three beings were squeezed together.

One of them was a girl, no older than fifteen, appearing even younger due to her tall but disproportionate build. She had very long legs and arms, along with a long neck. Although her face was pretty, there was something about it that didn't look quite natural.

She sported short orange hair, green eyes, and square glasses. Her attire consisted of orange shorts paired with a white t-shirt and an orange and green sweatshirt. She sat in the back of the van with her legs pulled up to her body and her back bent, resembling a folded piece of paper.

Intently, she stared at something on a tablet resting against her thighs, swiftly running her fingers over it.

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Another figure lay on the very edge of the van, and the sight of it made Aren avert his eyes. It was a small dog of indeterminate breed with wavy white to gray fur, sharp ears, and a curved, shaggy tail.

What was unique about the dog was the most wicked expression Aren had ever seen on a dog. It just lay there breathing with its tongue hanging out, not even growling, yet it looked like it was ready to bite at any moment.

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The last being was the only one who sat properly on the chair and had the most space around him. Apparently, it was Spirit, because he was glowing slightly all over, humanoid in form but more akin to an alien than a human.

His face was pure white, with large black eyes shaped like a rhombus, small lips, and no nose. He wore a long white sweatshirt from which his long white hair flowed, but it was connected to the modern laptop he sat in front of, his white hands moving across the keyboard at high speed.

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The only one who noticed Aren was the mad dog, glaring at him with small, intelligent eyes as if warning him not to try anything.

Aren was curious, but at the sight of the dog, he thought twice about approaching. After a moment, he made his way closer to the barrier, feeling the gaze of the mad dog stabbing into his neck, accompanied by the sound of a keyboard clicking.

Aren looked towards the mansion, but Desmond was nowhere to be seen. Not that he cared; he really had no desire for another encounter. Instead, he picked up the pouch, grabbed it by the drawstrings, and swung it over his head before throwing it forward with all his might.

The pouch flew through the barrier and landed a few feet away. The barrier prevented it from going out, and living creatures from coming in. Inanimate objects didn't count. Aren dusted off his hands in a satisfied 'done' style.

Whether Desmond would find it anymore was none of his business; he had done what he had to do, and no one could tell him otherwise. He turned to go his own way when he saw the long girl climb out of the van.

Aren would have kept walking, but the girl approached him and quickly closed the distance between them with her long legs. Aren felt somewhat irritated that the girl was about five years younger than him, yet she was a head taller than him.

"What did you throw in there?" The long girl asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer, which the girl must not have liked because she frowned. "Whatever your reason, it's not good to throw trash around." Meanwhile, Mad Dog also jumped out of the van and stood next to the long girl.

Aren didn't understand why strangers felt like striking up a conversation with him lately. At least they were girls. But one was too dead, another was too vicious, and this one was too young.

"That's really none of your business, girl," Aren replied, annoyed.

"Actually, it is my business. Aside from the fact that it's someone else's property, you're also polluting the environment, but more importantly, you're interfering with our analysis," the long girl replied promptly.

"Do you want me to bite him, boss? I'll bite him, just say the word. I will bite," a growling voice came from the ground, and Aren looked down at the dog, who grinned at him.

Aren had a hunch it was a Yokai because no normal dog could have that expression, but he also hadn't seen a Yokai that looked so much like a normal animal, so he wasn't sure, until now, when the dog spoke.

"Don't bite, Cloud," the long girl refused, and the ears of the dog named Cloud drooped in disappointment.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Aren asked in return, not really wanting to discuss garbage throwing any further but wanting to satisfy his curiosity.

Miri hesitated and looked him over. "I guess I can tell you. You are Sis Des' lover, after all." The corners of her mouth twitched as she said it.

Aren's face fell when he heard that nonsense again. "Hell, I'm not!"

The girl laughed. "Oh yeah, I know. But it was fun. I saw the broadcast you did with Hazel, too. I'm Spookydog," Miri introduced herself, but when she saw that Aren had no reaction, she pursed her lips.

"I'm Miranda. Miri. That's enough. I guess you're not a fan of Sis Hazel, right? Never mind." She turned and walked back to the van, sitting on the edge and picking up the tablet again.

Spirit, who had stayed in the van, hadn't moved and was still working on the laptop. Miri ignored him and crossed her too-long legs to make herself comfortable. Aren followed her, Cloud following at his ankles, staring at them as if with an obvious desire to bite.

Aren resisted the urge to kick the dog.

"Okay, what are you doing? What analysis?" Aren asked instead, focusing on Miri before his gaze drifted down to Spirit, who was moving his hands around the keyboard like a maniac. He caught a glimpse of something from the screen on the laptop, but it was just a big pile of data moving at too fast a speed that he wouldn't have been able to read anyway.

"We're analyzing the rate, the power, the range of spiritual energy. We've set up detectors around the barrier. Too bad we didn't make it here before they built the barrier. If we'd put the detectors closer to the mansion, the data would have been more accurate," Miri sighed and ran her finger over the surface of the tablet.

Aren wasn't exactly computer savvy and wouldn't know how to do this even if he wanted to, but he was interested nonetheless. "Okay. But why are you doing this?"

Miri didn't answer at first, just moving her finger quickly over the tablet before stopping and lifting it up so he could see the screen. On the screen was a pseudo-thermal image of Sinerman's Mansion in different colors. It was reminiscent of looking through a Thermal Scanner. Only the colors didn't match.

Much of it was gray, but there were bright spots in many places, along with some spots of yellow. In areas where Aren recognized the basement, the yellow even faded into a light orange that descended before disappearing.

Aren couldn't decipher what it meant, so he looked at Miri questioningly.

"Those are residual traces of spiritual energy. The lighter the spots, the older they are. We also had to deflate your traces because we're trying to measure the natural occurrence. Sis Des seems to move around the mansion extensively, but her resting place is in the basement," she explained.

A puzzled expression lingered on Aren's face. Though he grasped what she was saying, he didn't comprehend the reason for her research.

"Why? Are you planning on hunting her too? Is this your preparation?" he wondered.

Miri snorted disdainfully. "I wouldn't hunt Sis Des. But I am investigating the reason for the increased incidence of Feral Spirits."

"Increased incidence?" Aren repeated, hearing of it for the first time.

"Yes. If you compare historical records to the last five years, the increase is three times higher. Also, the appearance of higher and more dangerous spirits is more frequent. The increase here is lower, but compared to the past, it's twice as high. We're trying to figure out the cause. For now, we attribute the more frequent appearance of wild spirits to the appearance of more natural Spiritual channels," she explained, pausing to take a breath and placing the tablet on her thighs.

"There's probably a natural Spiritual Channel under Sinerman's Mansion, which is why Sis Des isn't aggressive. However, it's a mystery to us where she disappeared to. According to her own words, she can't leave the mansion. Yet she is not there now, and the spiritual trail is disappearing underground. I assume that's where the Spirit Channel is. But... it's very strange that there's no way to measure it," Miri said, looking very mysterious as she spoke.

Aren frowned thoughtfully. How could it not be measured? Miri had explained it quite clearly, and even though he didn't follow the technicalities of the thing, he understood that it was strange.

"Something's blocking it?" he suggested curiously.

Miri held up a finger and smiled. "Ding! Ding! Ding! And we have a winner! That's right. It's impossible for a natural spiritual channel to just hide itself and remain hidden from direct investigation. The theory is, either Sis Desmond hid it, or someone else did."

Aren sighed. "You don't have to be so ironic. Desmond probably hid it," he shrugged, losing interest. It had seemed interesting at first, but now it was showing that Miri had just made it needlessly complicated.

"Not necessarily. Then what reason would Sis Des give herself away if she wanted things to stay hidden? It wouldn't make sense to reveal herself. I'm more inclined to go with the second theory, then. The question is, why would anyone do that?" Miri refused to accept Aren's words.

Aren looked to the side, thinking that maybe Desmond had no choice when he showed up with his stupid plan? But... if she really wanted to hide things, she might as well kill them on the spot.

Then if it was like Aren thought, he'd be dead by now. Was there really someone else involved in this whole thing? But who would have a reason to hide a potentially dangerous Spirit Channel? Did they want some crazy ghost or demon to emerge from it?

"Someone who doesn't have good intentions," Aren replied, and as he said that, two things happened at once.

Spirit at the laptop made a call. "I've got a high incidence of spirit energy, boss! It's going way off the bar!" Spirit's voice was youthful and masculine. Miri immediately got up and went to check it out.

At the same time, Aren heard someone approaching him, so he looked back and groaned. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked the approaching person.

The woman approaching them was all too familiar to Aren.

She was a beauty like no other, with thick, long blue hair curled into two buns at the back of her head. Adorning her hair was an ornament shaped like a braided red rose with braids framing her head.

Her eyes were bright red, just like Aren's, and she wore tight black attire with a colorful print of roses. The dress revealed more skin than it covered, showcasing all of her tattoos.

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Hovering just behind her was a white monkey in a light blue cloak, a mischievous grin adorning its monkey face.

"Don't you have anything better to do than stalk me, big sister?" Aren scowled at the woman.

The woman was his twelve-months-older sister, Clarisa. And also his only sister. Besides her, Aren had two other older siblings. Following Clarisa was another older brother, Quin, who was only fifteen months older. And after him was the eldest brother, Hellio, who was two years older.

Aren hated all of his siblings, but he hated Clarisa the most. She was the most evil and poisonous woman he had ever known in his life. He honestly wasn't surprised she was like that, but it didn't change the fact that he really despised her.

Clarisa was beautiful, capable, strong, and talented, but their family was purely patriarchal. Women got almost no recognition in their family. Aren knew how outdated his family was, but there was nothing he could do about it except adapt, wait until he graduated, and then run off somewhere far away.

Aren couldn't match her when it came to ability, but he still had a higher word than her within the family. It was natural for Clarisa to become bitter.

When she was in a bad mood, she often sought Aren out to take her anger out on him. So Aren could only assume that this was one of those times again.

"Isn't it forbidden for an older sister to worry about her younger, dumber brother when he sneaks out of the house in the morning?" Clarissa asked with a smile, propping her cheek with one finger.

"I'm beginning to think you're deliberately avoiding your family. Ah, how the patriarch would be disappointed." She blinked innocently as she said it.

Aren gritted his teeth. "I am an adult. What I do is none of your business, or the family's," he growled.

Clarisa laughed derisively. "Hohoho! My silly little brother. It's funny you should think that." Her gaze hardened. "You're stupid for thinking you're not just another puppet of the family." She glanced around, then at the van, and back at Aren.

"Now. What are you doing here? This is the Stragos family's turf now. Hm... that you'd hate our family enough to start spying for Stragos?" She raised an eyebrow.

Aren paled. "No!" he denied quickly.

The Stragos family and Silvernort did not have a good relationship. Rather, they were sworn enemies. If Aren's family thought he had more in common with the Stragos than just hatred, it would probably be better for him to go to the police and get arrested rather than deal with the family's harsh punishments.

Was his sister trying to completely destroy him?!