Mia jumped off the armchair she was sitting in and called her sword out of her storage ring. However, seeing that Emile didn't react to them and the figures not moving towards her, she relaxed her guard but didn't put away her sword.

As she looked at the figures more closely and noticed that they were short, lean and dressed in a black, skin-tight suit. She thought they were short human assassins until she noticed their dark, green skin and she realized that they were goblins.

She looked at Emile in question, and there was a moment of silence while Emile took his time to finish his drink. After coming to terms with the fact that he wasn't going to explain himself, Mia asked "What the hell was that and who are those?"

Emile feigning ignorance looked around and when the goblins entered his sight, his eyes widened and jumped up. Taking a stance, he looked at Mia in shock and stammered "How is this possible? Nobody should be able to sneak up on me, how could they have gotten so close to me?"

Mia sighed, and the goblins facepalmed at the poor acting. Mia pointed towards them and said "Those are goblins and looking at the colour of their skin, they must be from the same clan as Resna and Raban. Explain yourself"

Seeing that the goblins were going to play along with his act, Emile's shoulders dropped, and he dragged his feet to the goblins, when he got there he gestured towards them. "Mia allow me to introduce to you two of the greatest scouts from the Nyx Goblin Clan. The one with goggles is Ptolemy and the other is Phoebe."

At the mention of their names being read out, the goblins gave a salute. Mia couldn't help but notice how difficult it was to sense their presence. Even though she could see them with her eyes, to all her other senses it was as if the goblins didn't exist. She couldn't hear their breathing or sense their magical signature.

Mia started to sweat as she realised that if those goblins wanted to kill her, she would be dead before she knew it. Gulping she asked Emile "So why are they here?"

Emile replied "The Hermit's home might have an extensive information network but it isn't good to rely solely on them. Also, we are under a time constraint so it's good to have an alternative."

He turned to look towards the goblins "You already know your assignment. You are looking for an elf boy between 12 and 14 with a flower pattern in his eyes. We know that he is an orphan so look at orphanages that accept non-humans first. In particular, look for those that have lost people recently."

They both knelt "Yes, my Lord!"

Ptolemy asked Emile "If we are to find the target, should we engage or extract it."

Emile shook his head "No, unless he is in danger, I want you to be hidden and observe."

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

They nodded and melted into shadows that glided across the floor into Emile's shadow. Mia spread out her magical sense but couldn't detect anything. She would have to research what kind of magic that was.

Emile looked at his shadow for a moment before turning to look at Mia "Okay, so they are in the city now. Don't worry about them, unless they want to be seen, there are few people who can detect them."

"Anyway, unless you have any questions to ask, let us take a break and reconvene at dinner. Astar will have more information for us later."

Mia nodded "Yeah, I could use the break. Okay, see you in a few hours."

Mia left the room and went into her room. Emile waited for a moment to make sure that she didn't come back and then took a seat in the armchair. He then closed his eyes as if going to sleep.

Deep within Stygian Castle, a figure that looked identical to Emile sat on a throne. He opened his eyes and his violent eyes filled the dark room. Upon finding that nothing was out of the normal, he rang a bell. The bell's chime rang throughout the castle at such a low frequency that normal humans couldn't hear it.

A few minutes later, the large hulking figure of Renard the butler appeared in the room. What was unusual was that there were no doors or windows in this room, so Renard seemed to have appeared through thin air.

He knelt on one knee in front of Emile. "Greetings my Lord, it's my pleasure to inform you that everything is normal within the castle. I hope your mission is going well."

Emile nodded "Yes, we have arrived in Bastion Hill without trouble and found a safe accommodation at Hermit's House. Both Ptolemy and Penelope have been sent out to scout and find the boy."

"It's good that everything is in order here, but the reason I awakened this body is to check on the negotiations."

Renard bowed his head "We have established communication with the leadership of Black Plain Bandits and have informed them of your displeasure of some of their members who reside in Bastion Hill. We have hinted that if they allow you to deal with those members in a silent, discreet manner then we would be willing to offer resources and connection to stabilise their control of their territories"

"What was their response?"

"Their official stance is that any member under their banner will have their full protection. But some of their members have reached out in an unofficial capacity to inform me that the position isn't absolute."

Emile massaged his chin "So it's a ploy to get more resources? Well, inform them that I'm going to kill those members, that is not up for debate. So if they want to protect them then they better prepare for bloodshed."

Renard asked, "Should we stop the negotiations then?"

"No, offer them a better deal and give them a time limit. I want an answer within 2 days, otherwise, the deal is off."

Renard nodded "Yes, my Lord."

Emile's cold expression softened "How are the kids and Lizenna? It's unfortunate that I have to leave Amaya so soon."

"They are doing great my Lord, and it's only been a day since you left. Amaya has already begun to look better and gain some muscle mass. Margaret has been fussing over her like mother hen and Lizenna is taking time out of her schedule to make sure she is not lonely."

"That's good, make sure she is taken care of. If this mission takes more than a week, then have Lizenna and the kids take her to Obsidian City. Staying at a castle all the time is not good for someone who is not used to it."

Renard nodded "I'll see to that. But my Lord, there is worrying news."

"Oh?"

"It seems that we are not the only people interested in Bastion Hill. My connections have mentioned they heard rumours of eldritch cultists have been seen in its vicinity."

Emile's easy-going expression disappeared "Well, that's a pain."