“...So? What. Did. The grass-patch kid say? Managed to get that mirror?”

The crimson-haired man spoke in between chewing his food and downing his drink. Urie directed at him a glare and a twitch of an eye as he thought, “Didn't this uncle say earlier that he had patrol duty?” yet, here Luca Varethe was, casually partaking in tonight's dinner after leaving Urie to clean up his mess.

“Urgh... Greens again...”

Urie took his seat at the table and filled half of his plate with roasted vegetables and rice. An abundance of fresh vegetables and grain, but there was disappointment at the fact that the only thing to decorate the dish were varying colors of the different types of produce— There was no meat whatsoever.

“Greens? What about them?”

Of course, there were no qualms about the taste, “Delicious and nutritious!” Urie declared. A well-rehearsed answer after an intimidating question from the cook, Stella.

“Oh, and about the mirror, I failed. It seems he had already given it up to someone, a member of the Elder Council,” specifically, Ashur. Though Urie kept quiet about that fact since he had yet to determine if that really was the case.

He was just about to take a bite of his meal when he heard the sound of someone entering through the front door without so much as a knock.

“Stella—!”

It was someone he knew. Emerald green eyes and light brown hair mirroring Stella— Simone burst into the kitchen shouting his sister's name.

“—They took the old man!”

“What? Who took who?”

Stella looked confused while Simon paused to catch his breath. She urged him to take a seat and offered him a glass of water.

“—Our old man. I heard the elven guard apprehended him while I was on my way to submit the brigade's daily report.”

“Ashur was? What for?”

“...”

Luca and Stella gave different but equally complicated reactions. While Luca stood up from his chair and appeared surprised, Stella remained seated and silent. Urie glanced over to check on her expression. Although she looked indifferent, he noticed a slight twitch around her ears that had suggested otherwise.

“They said he stole something from the Elder Council, they didn't mention what.”

Luca crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow, “Steal? Why would he? He's a member— heck, he's the leader.”

“...The mirror?” Urie muttered.

“Mi—? The one you said that grass-patch kid took? Right. Didn't you say he gave it to a council member?”

“Y-Yeah... B-But he didn't know who,” Urie felt it would be detrimental if he were to give out Ashur's name when he still wasn't sure of the situation. Instead, he asked, “Is—Is grandpa Ashur alright?”

“He should be, although, I don't know if he's under house arrest or if they've got him locked up somewhere.” Simone let out a sigh, showing that even he felt confused about Ashur's sudden arrest.

“Locked up...”

If he wasn't sure, then he had to make sure. Urie made up his mind to talk to him. The sooner the better. So after a night of consideration, he planned to go wherever Ashur was the next morning and speak with him.

“Captain of the Flame Brigade, Luca Varethe; Vice-Captains, Stella and Simone, offspring of Ashur. You are hereby placed under house arrest for the duration of the high elder's confinement.”

Right as he was about to enact a private investigation, however, he was stopped at the front door along with the other three mentioned people.

“What is the meaning of this?” Luca spoke loudly while releasing an intimidating glare. His hand that was raised to the level of his chest and poised as if grasping onto an apple was emitting a weak crimson glow— a subtle threat to the people barring his exit.

“Under the period of the high elder's confinement, the aforementioned shall stay within the premises of their dwelling, lest they incur suspicion.”

“Suspicion of what exactly?” Luca sternly asked.

“Suspicion of aiding in the high elder's theft. The precious artifact he had stolen has yet to be found.”

“We have responsibilities! They can't simply be put on hold!” Simone spoke from behind Luca.

Urie stared at the two members of the Elven Guard at the front door. The primary was previously speaking while the other, the secondary, stayed behind him silently— that is, until Simone had spoken up.

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“Presumptuous half-elf! You dare talk back!? Your position was only bestowed upon you because of your lineage! Responsibilities? Nifyr have pretty much vanished since that debacle you all caused two years ago, what responsibilities do you all have other than loitering around the city— Guh!?”

Urie was surprised at the man berating Simone being grabbed by his collar and raised a few inches off the ground.

“Y-You! You will be sanctioned— Ahk!”

“Luca Varethe, let him down! I'm giving you a warning!”

“Warning? You're saying my name so you know who I am, yes?”

This was the first Urie had seen of Luca displaying a calm side of him. He himself was about to let his temper get the best of him and act against the guard, so he expected Luca to fly off the handle but he stopped at just grabbing the man's collar and calmly asked.

“Captain of the Flame Brigade, any more and I'll ask that you be stripped of your authority! Let him go this instant!”

“There.” at the moment of his reply, Luca raised the elf higher and while exerting a certain amount of strength, stepped forward and threw the man into a pile of crates a few meters away, “I asked if you knew who I am? That council of yours threw me into this position for a job that I was doing way before they asked me to do it. Do you think I care about your warning?”

"Scratch being calm... anyways, this is my chance..." Urie whispered to himself.

The man, the secondary slowly got up from the pile of wood and barely muttered, “Y-You, you think you'll get away with this?” before being silenced by his companion who had approached whispered to his ear. The elven guard grit his teeth and stood up, before leaving a glare as he indignantly walked away.

“These thugs are becoming more conceited,” Stella groaned.

“Calm yourself, sister. It would do you no good to get angry at them. Thank you, brother-in-law.”

Urie almost forgot about Stella being beside them since she was so quiet. A quick glance at her and he could see that she was furious. If not for Simone who was holding onto her wrist and preventing her from taking action, things might not have ended with only a few broken crates.

“I apologize for my colleague's behavior, but I really must ask that you stay within the premises.”

The primary returned as if nothing had happened and once again tried to persuade Luca.

“Did you tell your buddy to call some friends?”

“We seem incapable of handling you with only two of us.” the primary replied, not willing to back down.

“Tch,” with a click of his tongue, Luca turned around and returned inside of the house with Stella and Simone. After taking his seat at the dining table, he said, “Something's up.”

“They seem adamant on keeping us here,” Simone replied.

“This is the fault of that old man! Why involve us when it was him that had stolen that whatever it was—Huh?" while frustratedly grinding her teeth, Stella noticed the absence of a certain ashen-haired boy, "Where's little Urie?”

Luca chuckled, “The kid's gone out,” he'd noticed Urie slipping away earlier just as the primary turned his back to check on his colleague.

After convincing Stella that Urie would be fine on his own, the three of them entered a discussion on how to deal with their situation. Meanwhile, Urie...

“Hmm... What now? I had everything planned out but kinda forgot about it all after what just happened...”

Urie was crouching down behind a barrel in an alley and was contemplating on his next plan of action. After leaving the Varethe residence, he hurriedly hid after almost running into a group of green-uniformed elves. The rude person that was tossed about by Luca was among them.

“If grandpa Ashur was taken custody by the Elven Guard, then he would be placed within a holding cell, but if he was placed under house arrest, then I would need to go to his house.” conveniently, the guardhouse and the Elder Council dwelling were both in one location.

Urie nimbly made his way through the city while as much as possible avoiding contact with any of the residents or guards. The Elven Guard may or might not be looking for him but he moved with caution just to be sure.

“It was a good thing I wore these clothes.” Urie smiled to himself.

Blending in nicely with the shadows, he kitted himself with a full suit of dark clothing before leaving the house. Stella had found his attire amusing and asked if he had special plans for the day, to which he tried his best to pass the attention off his clothes.

Disregarding Stella's doubtful reaction, he thought he did pretty well in hiding his intention. Since he didn't know how Stella would take to him looking for Ashur, he had avoided telling her.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the foot of a massive tree with a building built within its roots. Rather, it looked like the large tree had grown over the years and had encompassed the entirety of the building. It was here that the Elder Council had made their homes, as well as conducted their assemblies. It was also here where the Elven Guard had chosen to station themselves.

Peeking out from behind another barrel, Urie tried to assess the difficulty of his plan for infiltration.

“How come there aren't any guards?”

Suspicious. Not all of them went over to the Varethe residence, their numbers didn't even amount to half the total members. Urie started to feel uncomfortable about the situation. Was it a trap? No way. A trap for who? Him? Even more unlikely.

“World of Flames.”

He closed his eyes and viewed the situation again through a different perspective. Through the vision which his mana seed perceived, the situation looked... exactly as it did through his bare sight.

“There really aren't any guards, there isn't even anyone inside.”

At least, through the closest layers of the building that he could see through, there were no mana signatures that indicated anyone's presence. With this assurance, Urie emerged from behind his barrel and leisurely strolled right through the front entrance of the building. After making his way inside, he kept his thermal vision operating and was surprised at the lack of people inside.

“Where could they be keeping grandpa Ashur?”

With his doubly-named 'convenient vision' Urie had no need to open doors and look at the rooms one by one. Instead, he ran through the long hallways of the building in search of the Elven Guard's sector.

“Over there— Huh!?”

On a far-off corner, he finally saw mana signatures. There were a number of them clumped together, signifying more than one person at the location.

“Should I check it out? It's the only area left in the building I've yet to check. I'll just run away if grandpa Ashur isn't with them.”

If Urie were an elf, he would've been able to distinguish people's mana signatures. He tried to do so before, but couldn't see any other traits other than the amount of mana each person held. For elves, the larger the mana signature appeared, supposedly, the longer-lived they were.

In front of the door to an unknown room, Urie stopped right before entering. He took another look at the mana signatures inside— a circle of candlewicks that appeared as if they could be snuffed out with just a simple breath of air.

“The Elder Council?”

The members of the Elder Council having already lived well over a few centuries and with no way to replenish mana, had mana signatures that were small and weak. Amongst the circle of candles, however, there was also one brighter flame which Urie had surprisingly recognized.

“Is that... Elliot?”

It was the mirror thief.