"Lord Magnus!"

Magnus Vyris lifted his eyes and saw someone wave at him across the street.

Tossing the rest of the chocolate macaroon into his mouth, he gracefully brushed the napkin over his lips before giving the person a smile. "You're quick to act, Lord Faren."

Faren Ablemore wiped the sweat from his face as he hurriedly crossed the streets, to the patio where the archmage sat. "Not at all. This is my duty as a member of the Royal Mage Brigade."

"Please, have a seat."

At the invitation, Faren pulled over a chair and sat across from him. He pulled out a folder from his Spatial Pouch and handed it to Magnus. "Here are the newest reports on the banquet incident."

Magnus had originally planned to tag along with Dolan on their investigation, but his plans were forcibly cut short after receiving notice about new information on the attempted palace assassination a few weeks ago.

As the archmage flipped through the folder, Faren Ablemore continued his report.

"Of all the attendees of the banquet, eleven of them suffered minor injuries. And of those eleven, nine of them suffered strange side-effects."

"The purple markings?" Magnus lifted a brow. He skimmed the document content. "Do we know the cause of it?"

"Primary speculations are that they came from dark magic. All the affected individuals were those who weren't Awakeneds, but were the most sensitive to mana out of the group."

Magnus tapped the table with his fingers as his eyes landed on the picture of the marking. It was a small circle with messy rims and three petals surrounding it. However, a closer look would reveal a small crack from the bottom of the circle, slowly extending to its centre.

"Are these markings harmful in any way?"

"None reported so far, but we are keeping a close eye on them," Faren responded. He scratched at his spiky hair. "I don't know if it's in my place to say this, but…"

"Go ahead."

Faren breathed out slowly. "The affected individuals each had this exact same marking, all of which appeared on the same day today. And we all know that today is…"

"The first prince's birthday." Magnus finished his sentence with a sigh.

In past years, there would be celebrations for members of the royal family, but given the current situation, it obviously wouldn’t be happening.

Magnus crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Not to mention, this is the only new information we got since the incident. Aside from these markings, we're still stuck in the initial stages of the investigation. This timing… It's as if whoever's behind this is intentionally reminding us of their presence."

"You're right. Frankly speaking, rather than side effects, these markings give off a feeling of… A taunt." A grave expression spread across Faren's face as he forced himself to finish the thought.

If the banquet incident and the first prince's conditions were caused by the same group of people, then this was no different from an open act of provocation.

"How about Prince Treo? Is it possible for the priests to check whether he also has the marking?" Faren asked. "We could ask His Highness about it, right? Can we link to him through an infuser orb?"

At his question, Magnus's hand holding the documents flinched indiscernibly. He laid the papers on the table and casually cleared his throat.

"His Highness is… Unavailable right now. I shall inform him about this tomorrow."

"Unavailable? Is everything okay?" Faren asked apprehensively as he glanced at the archmage, who seemed to be averting his gaze.

"He's fine. Just occupied with work." Magnus sipped his tea, then fixed his gaze at the clueless young mage sitting across from him. "Thank you for everything, Faren. You've been a great help. I really appreciate it."

"Huh? No problem. As I said before, it's what I must do." At the archmage's sudden compliments, Faren awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

As the two stood up to leave, an old woman trudged up to their table.

"Ma'am, do you need help with anything?" Magnus gave her a polite smile.

"My granddaughters. Have you seen my granddaughters?" The old woman could barely stand as she supported herself with a cane.

"Did they wander off on their own?" Faren led her to his chair, then crouched down to eye-level. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"Five days ago."

At her answer, Magnus and Faren simultaneously turned to look at each other.

"…This is the third report this week," Faren said under his breath.

Magnus's face grew grim and he massaged his temples with a sigh. Apart from the banquet incident, they've also been receiving an increased number of reports of disappearances throughout the capital.

Thanks to the rising cases, he'd been thrown in overtime labour, living with piles of papers for the past few weeks.

The Mage Faction had been collaborating with the Risk Faction to trace down a potential pattern behind the reported cases, but so far, they seemed to occur completely randomised.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Could you tell me a bit more about your granddaughters? Their names, age, the last time you saw them, anything would be helpful." He said softly.

"Their names are Darcie and Doris. One's twenty, and the other just turned seven. I last saw Darcie five days ago at my store, when the sun was just about to set. It was Doris's birthday, and she was just about to head back to celebrate. The girls love strawberry cake, so I saved some for her to bring back to eat together with Doris. But when I closed the bakery and visited them at night, they were both gone.

"Doris runs off on her own at times, so I wasn't too worried about her, but Darcie had disappeared as well, so I thought something might have happened. She didn't come the next day, and when people in her workplace said she was missing, I just…" The woman blew into a handkerchief. "Young man, are you with the factions? My girls are okay, right?

"You'll find them and get them back safe, right?"

"Ma'am, please do not worry. My colleague is filing a search request right now." Magnus took her hand into his, giving them a reassuring pat. "We will do all that we can."

As he said that, he looked at Faren, who gave a nod in return. Magnus didn't know when, but from some point, the peace they had all grown accustomed to was no longer the default mode of life.

He cast his gaze over the entire Lennet Street. As usual, it was bustling with people, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of uneasiness.

A shift was occurring throughout the capital.

Subtly, but surely—something was about to change.

***

THE SLUMS. NOLMES.

Edris stayed concealed behind one of the rock pillars, silently observing the set-up.

"Hm… Something's strange." Edris tapped on the rims of his cloak pocket as he muttered to himself. "Hey, what can you make out about this place? For instance, the number of people? Mana levels?"

After a few seconds of silence, a deep response came from his pocket.

— I can't detect an exact number. There seems to be something interfering with my analysis.

As expected.

If his speculations were correct, this chasm was not where the Hunt would be held. At least not the current space. Edris directed his gaze to the operating machines and moving workers.

Rather than the main stage, it seemed more like a production site, a preparation area for the Hunt.

The document he took from Boss Prophet was vague on the contents of the Hunt; it only listed the number of attendees, but even they were marked by nicknames. However, what it did include, down to the smallest detail, were the production materials.

How very strange.

Edris narrowed his eyes.

— I can't pinpoint the exact number of people in here. But as for the mana level…

Ace's second half of the sentence dragged him out of his thoughts. With the active inference in the chasm, Edris didn't expect Ace to be able to detect anything at all.

"What about the mana level?"

— They're incredibly high.

"Hm?" Edris blinked. "That makes no sense."

If the Hunt was what he had imagined, there would be two groups of participants—predators and preys. The latter likely included people similar to the ones he encountered yesterday in Paradise, while the former involved those of upper society.

But if that was the case, where was the abundance of mana coming from?

He had initially assumed that this was one of those events held behind the scenes of the wealthy that was—although morally questionable—for the sake of entertainment. From the information he was getting, however, there seemed to be something more to it.

Amidst the clatter of noises, a distinct sound caught his ears. It started from a height, then slowly descended to his level.

Footsteps. But they were not just any footsteps.

They were completely unified, troop-like footsteps coming from one of the seven tunnels.

Soon after, the same pattern of footsteps emerged from the rest of the tunnels as well. They were getting closer by the second, almost overshadowing the working scene in the central area.

The first person emerged from the tunnel at the very left. The figure was covered in all black clothing, so Edris couldn't make out much of their identity.

The person in black wasn't the main focus, however.

It was the line of people that trailed from behind—the preys.

At their appearance, an eerie silence suddenly filled the chasm.

Viscount Eathe, standing on a protruding platform, examined the line of people from left to right. After a few seconds, he snapped his finger.

"Lock them."

Contrary to Edris's expectations, no injuries were seen on the chained-up individuals. In fact, they looked like a healthy batch of people, each with a firm build and physique. Something worth mentioning, though—they were strangely obedient, trudging on in a systematic manner, executing each action through pure muscle memory.

Their simultaneous footsteps echoed throughout the chasm. Edris suppressed a shudder.

The same was happening in all seven tunnels. One by one, the preys were led into the spiralling cages by the people in black. Not a single word was spoken throughout the entire process by either side.

The one that broke the silence was Ace. Echoing in his head, what the pink fluff said next was enough to make Edris's blood run cold.

— It's them.

— They're the origins of the intensified mana level.

"How... Annoying." Edris couldn't help but throw out a word of complaint. He narrowed his eyes. "You're saying that all those chained up people, they're Awakeneds?"

This was ridiculous.

Edris didn't know how the people behind this managed to kidnap all these Awakeneds, not to mention hypnotised them as well, but he knew this whole situation was leaving him with nothing but omnition.

He decided to quickly find the main area for the Hunt, record the situation for the Crown Prince, and then get the hell out of here.

Tugging the Mysterious Veil closer to his body, Edris discreetly shifted from pillar to pillar when he suddenly froze in his tracks.

— Edris?

At the man's sudden halt, Ace poked his head out of the pockets and stared in the direction of his gaze, only to freeze as well.

— That girl…

Perhaps for the sake of uniformity, but all the kidnapped Awakeneds were dressed beige from top to bottom in a body-fitted suit. Amidst the line of marching preys, a certain girl, slightly shorter than others, caught his eye.

A small frown appeared on Edris's face. Obviously, he didn't expect, nor want, to see any familiar faces in a place like this.

— She's the one that works at the inn.

"…Miss Darcie."