Tears slowly rolled down the side of Countess Sugimoto's face while she was kneeling in front of a freshly mounted gravestone. Its ashen color and shape, designed to mirror the other head stones in the graveyard, was surrounded on all sides by members of the Sugimoto estate. A butler standing to the side of the kneeling woman bent down to supply a handkerchief to his Master. Although she was crying, the sounds of her servants sniffles and sobs overpowered her meager releases. The stone she was kneeling at had been etched with Lady Roxanne Delphi's name and her span of life. Beside her, Sir Delphi was also kneeling. His features were stoic, yet his emotions were clear.

The low light of early morning lit the sorrowing scene and the frost that had developed on the grass nearly overnight started to melt. Leaving the group to their final farewells, the local Priest left the site after he quoted a religious text. The old man knew of the Countess and he knew of her closeness to her maidservant Roxanne. He performed the rite free of charge and volunteered his services specifically to help ensure the procedure was done properly, allowing the poor woman to rest. When he first heard the state the woman was found in two days ago, he nearly lost what love he had for humanity. It was only after the temple received the request for a Priest that he thought he should at least send the girl away. As he exited through the graveyard gate, his eyes glanced in passing at the sight of three other mourners standing away from the main funeral. He recognized her on sight as the woman was the topic of discussion throughout the City recently, but thought no more of it and continued off the premises.

 "Is this fine with you?"

 "Lady Roxanne Delphi has already died, Master."

 "Is that right... Will you meet with him?"

 "No. He should... do his best to move on."

 "Is that so..."

Hiiro listened to the exchange between the two women as he leaned against a tree. When he closed his eyes then reopened them, he was focused now on the young man exiting the graveyard by himself. The late Lady's husband, a Knight worthy of respect by all accounts, clearly held contempt in his eyes. Hiiro felt a prickling on his conscious as he watched the man walked off. The gears in his head continued turning and the sight of a carriage nearing the entrance drew a subtle smile from him. Although he told Lapis early on he would only get involved when schemes were directed at her, he couldn't help but get involved in the political situation of the City. He knew in his mind after war gaming out every scenario with different possibilities that the moment Marquess laid his eyes upon Lapis, or even heard of her exploits, that she would become his next target.

Rather than be surprised, Hiiro had planned days ago with the Countess and Mr. Redmon on how to bring the Marquess down from his position without outright killing him. Although the situation with Roxanne Delphi was a pitiful situation, it sped his plans up considerably. After discussing it with Lapis, Ruby and Aria, the current plan was tailored to pick up nearly halfway into where the original one would have been. Although it moved his time line forward, it also cut out important evidence that would have sustained the claims brought forth later. Now that the evidence was lacking, Hiiro was forced to give orders to trusted agents under Mr. Redmon's command and sent Zirco to plant evidence in more secure locations.

His eyes followed the carriage as it stopped in front of the gates and a gaudy man stepped out from the cabin. Hiiro's eyesight was enhanced with magic and he was able to clearly see the smile plastered across the man's face. After reaching the ground, he took a moment to push the smile away and fake a terribly false sad expression. The man started walking into the graveyard and passed by Sir Delphi in the process. The two simply passed by without as much as a single word or glance exchanged between the two. Hiiro could only think how simply it would be to let that young man know who it was that killed Lady Delphi and use his sense of revenge to strike the Marquess down. The idea crossed his mind after recognizing a similar situation that happened in his youth. If Countess Sugimoto hadn't rejected that idea, this entire fiasco would have ended just a moment ago. Unfortunately, the two passed by each other without even recognizing their mutual existences.

From where he stood, he was able to see the Marquess' eyes and after following his gaze, found them to be locked onto the still praying Countess. He clicked his tongue and prepared himself to step in when he felt his wrist grabbed onto. After looking at the offender, he slowly cooled his thoughts and returned to his stance against the tree. He moved his eyes to the sky and watched the orange clouds drift as soft words fell upon him.

 "You are too kind Hiiro, but that woman will only become stronger in the face of adversity. We will leave this to her."

Although he wanted to refute her, the look he saw floated across Lapis' face dissuaded him. He knew that of the many leaders in the world who knew adversity and how to stand against it, this failure of a Demon Lord would probably know it best. Her expression contained a mix of anger, worry and most potently, experience. Though he could discern it, he doubted he could remain as calm as her if he were put through a similar betrayal. Rather than analyze her state of mind, he moved his attention back to the funeral site and prepared himself for the inevitable encounter. As if sensing his state of mind, Lapis smiled sardonically.

 "What a terrible start to a bright future."

 "I agree."

***

Wilfred slowly returned from his bow with the handkerchief still grasped. His Master continued her praying in silence before him, but her tears had finally dried up. The slight moisture on her cheeks was slowly evaporating and her pale expression was gradually returning to a healthy color. Although he too felt saddened by Lady Delphi's death, it wasn't something he was entirely inexperienced in as they were, after all, on the front line of battle and death was always nearby. Behind him, he heard murmurs and slight shuffling dragging his attention to Marquess Tabor and his escort. The man beside him maintained a stoic expression as he did when they visited Countess Sugimoto's estate previously, but the butler could somehow sense a slight disgust on the man's face. Surprisingly, it was directed not at his Master, nor at any of the estate servants, but instead directly at the Marquess himself.

Considering a Knight is a position most members take with pride, as it was granted by the King and Queen, it was rare to see a Knight allow even an ounce of disgust to leak from their countenance. The mere fact that Wilfred was able to register that slight incongruity gave him a bad premonition. Not wanting his Master to suddenly be forced into the confrontation, he knelt beside her slightly while knowing the act was rude, and whispered to her ear. Unlike what he expected though, Countess Sugimoto appeared calm and her eyes brimmed with a slight fire inside them. He watched as she raised herself to her feet and brushed off the slight dirt that accumulated within the folds of her dress and gave a silent farewell to the gravestone before turning to face the inbound Marquess.

With expectant eyes and an obvious agenda, Marquess Tabor closed the distance between himself and Countess Sugimoto. His mask of concern and worry wielded, a series of cheesy comments escaped in her direction.

 "Ah, Countess Sugimoto! What a terrible situation this is. You have my greatest condolences!"

Countess Sugimoto turned to face her idol of hatred with a composed face. She felt her emotions surge and press against her throat as her gaze landed on him, but slowly swallowed those feelings to preserve them for later. She bowed slightly and returned a biting reply.

 "Marquess Tabor, what a strange coincidence meeting you here, Lady Delphi never told me she knew you. If you have any business with me, please drop by the main hall or estate. If not, I'm afraid I have a criminal to capture."

Hearing the unexpected words, the Marquess' face contorted slightly. For those listening in, her intent was clear. "You shouldn't be here, leave." Her underlying intentions irked the Marquess, but her latter comments caught his attention more.

 "Criminal? Who might that be?"

 "You needn't worry about matters below yourself, Marquess Tabor. This 'Countess' will perform her duties admirably in good faith."

The Countess ensured her words were quite loud to attract the attention of other mourners nearby. Though she felt bad interrupting their prayers and dragging them into her scheme, she had to make the Marquess back off here in order for their plan to continue. Her less than subtle remarks hinting that the Marquess had no room to interfere with her and his rank should have its own concerns to deal with a card Nobles rarely played for how rude it was. It was a metaphorical slap to the face asking the Marquess to mind his own business and with her defiant eyes filled with more vigor than when she faced him in her own estate, the man himself appeared to cower slightly. Although he didn't want to take the insult lying down, the surroundings now held their attention on their conversation and he could no longer speak as freely as he wanted.

 "Good luck in your endeavors, Countess Sugimoto. It's nice to know my fiance is so energetic, even with the death of someone so near to her. I just hope no one else is affected too."

A small smile crossed his face once again and he left behind a disguised threat as he turned to leave. His Knight maintained a stoic expression, but he couldn't hide the disgust for his Master leaking out. Countess Aria watched the man walk away from her with the eyes of a predator locked onto its prey. Her sights moved slightly after catching Lapis in the back ground moving to her position.

***

While he was about to leave the graveyard, Marquess Tabor's mind was filled with various thoughts surrounding the Countess and her heated words. He felt conviction in her tone when she said she'd capture the criminal. He ran through his preparations and each of his plans he recently executed, yet couldn't find a flaw in any of them that would allow someone to discover he was behind it. While he was lost in his thoughts, his Knight suddenly stepped in front of him blocking his path. He was about to become angry at the man, but his sights beyond the Knight stole his breath away. His eyes slowly walked the woman over from her head to her feet and his mind gradually began working again.

The woman slowly approached him with a young man in toe beside her. The man was dressed in commoner clothing, but the woman was dressed in clothing he was unfamiliar with. Her black dress contained silver etchings of petals with a blue hue fading it as the petal design deliberately reached the bottom of the dress. Her dainty arms were completely covered by the dress, but her chest revealed from her mid neck to the edges of her clavicles. The dress appeared to offer no warmth against the frigid atmosphere, yet the woman appeared comfortable and continued approaching. When he moved his gaze to her eyes, he felt that she was ignoring his very existence and instead chose to focus on the Knight protecting him. Unable to identify what was happening to him, his face slowly turned red as if in embarrassment and his hatred at the Knight before him suddenly ignited. He somehow couldn't accept that such a woman was ignoring him and instead took interest in such a low born. That feeling only grew worse and an obsessive desire to possess the woman sparked inside him after he saw her smile to the young escort beside her.

 "Marquess Tabor, they are dangerous. Please stay back."

The young Knight broke the Marquess from his sights and brought him back into reality. Unsure of what just happened, he looked at the woman once more and realized the large wings attached to her back. It dawned quickly on him who the woman must be and he pushed aside the Knight who was suppose to protect him. He approached the woman whose smile was no longer visible and knelt before her eliciting a confused murmur throughout the watching crowd. Distracted by the odd behavior of the Marquess, no one in the crowd noticed the smile etching itself upon the Countess' face.

 "Good morning, Ma'am. I am Marquess Tabor of Profectus City Defense Council. May I have the pleasure of your wonderful name?"

For a moment, the surroundings went silent while the woman pondered what to do. As if reaching a conclusion, she raised her right hand slightly while presenting herself.

 "Good Morning Marquess Tabor of Profectus City Defense Council. I am Empress Lapis Lazuli Fardom. I am only here to visit one of the dead, there is no need for such formalities."

Though she said as such, her presented hand said otherwise and the Marquess followed her intent. Grasping her hand lightly in his, he brought it to his mouth and kissed it. As she withdrew her hand from the man, she seemed to focus her sights at the Knight still on edge beside the Marquess.

 "Who might you be, Sir Knight?"

The man looked to his Master for permission before speaking. After receiving a confirming subtle nod, he slackened his defense and took a deep bow.

 "I apologize for my rude behavior Empress Fardom. I am still inexperienced as a Knight. My name is Derek Coorid. I serve as Marquess Tabor's sword and shield."

 "Is that so? By chance have you taken to banditry in recent times?"

Those words shocked not only the Knight, but the Marquess as well. He forced his exterior to remain calm but was frantic inside.

 "I'm not sure I understand Ma'am. May I ask what brought about such questions?"

 "It is no trouble. I recall seeing yourself and another Knight steal a lady from an estate.", was the whisper that escaped her mouth.

 "I'm sure you're mistaken, Empress Fardom. I've often been confused with other Knights."

The woman's voice held no judgment whatsoever. Marquess Tabor was sweating bullets, but the feeling that something was completely off wouldn't leave him. In fact, he felt the woman before him asked the question in a rather expectant and excited fashion. In his mind, he could only conclude the woman was interested in similar hobbies. Such an extreme conclusion was impossible though and yet since the woman directly confronted them, yet kept her voice low, he could only assume she was either planning to extort him, or potentially ally with him. His imagination slowly turned perverse as he remembered the shape of her body on seeing her initially. Suddenly, the fears he held disappeared and he interrupted the conversation between the two.

 "Empress Fardom, would you be so kind as to join me at my estate for tea? Perhaps this or next week?"

 "Oh? Could I possibly join you on your ride home? I was hoping your Knight could teach my assistant a thing or two. I feel he is lacking, this would be a good opportunity to teach him mannerisms and potentially defensive techniques."

 "Absolutely! I'm certain Sir Coorid could teach your assistant. Well then, would you join me in my coach?"

 "Please escort my assistant there. I must still say my farewells to the little lamb."

Marquess Tabor was certain the woman knew he caused the maidservant's death and yet her playful tone of voice and the passiveness of her 'assistant' led him to believe they were of the same cloth. The Fairy walked away from him and slowly approached Countess Sugimoto, who somehow no longer seemed as beautiful in his eyes. He watched as the woman skillfully curtsied the Countess, introduced herself, then proceeded to whisper something into her ear. The Countess fell to her knees and her stoic face that shielded her from the Marquess cracked. He watched as tears gradually fell from the sides of her face and the woman turned around to walk back to them. He felt as if his heart had been stolen by the Fairy before him. Her sneer blatant across her face and her cruel visage bundled with the crying Countess behind her solidified his belief in her.

 "I thought I had asked you to escort my assistant?"

 "Ma'am, there was no way I could just rudely leave you behind in such a place."

He grandly bowed and the woman took his hand with a giddy laughter. The two left out the graveyard side by side with the eyes of hatred following behind them. Unbeknown to the Marquess, those eyes were directly solely at him. 

***

As she watched the group leave, Countess Sugimoto returned to her feet with a smile and wiped the fake tears from her eyes. She turned to Wilfred and with a nod of her head...

 "Return to the estate and prepare the paperwork. Take the servants with you and ensure they do not leave the house..."

 "I understand, my Lady. However..."

She saw his eyes drift to the woman now standing beside her. Her maid attire matched with those of her estate, yet there was a red inseam that ran along the edges of the outfit and her natural disposition reflected an experience that a 'new' maid would never have. It was only natural Wilfred would suspect the appearance of a new maidservant who solely served his Master. He knew his Master wasn't the type to use and toss out people, nor was she the type to get over the death of a precious servant so quickly. His suspicion of the woman only grew further after linking those previous suspicions together in conjunction with the appearance of the characters Hiiro and Empress Fardom suddenly appearing.

Perhaps his worries showed as his Master seemed to understand his expression.

 "Ruby is trustworthy... Treat her as if she were on the same level as Roxanne."

The butler widened his eyes at the overly trusting statement. He glanced once more at the dark skinned woman before accepting his Master's request with reservations.

 "I understand, Countess Sugimoto. I'll proceed to prepare the necessary paperwork."

Wilfred bowed once more and proceeded to herd the surrounding servants back towards the estate. He knew today and tomorrow would be slow days to allow the maids and butlers time to finish their mourning. While leaving the site, he returned his sights once more to see his Master with a serious expression in discussion with the new maidservant, Ruby. The older man exhaled audibly and continued on to finish the task he was trusted with.

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 "Are you sure you want to go through with this, Ruby?"

 "I'm fine with it, Master. I'll be the most tempting bait and thanks to Master's adjustments, I'm also the most qualified for self defense now."

Aria frowned slightly at hearing Ruby refer to another person as Master, but after considering how large an influence the woman was to restoring Roxanne to her new form, she simply couldn't find it in herself to be jealous.

 "Then we will go present ourselves as bait now."

 "Lets."

***

Trotting along the stone pavement, two horses carried behind them a large, flamboyant, carriage. Inside the carriage sat a woman dressed in black with butterfly-esk wings and a commoner placed beside her. Across the aisle sat a rather nervous Knight and a scheming Marquess. Lapis held her eyes closed, listening only to the trots of the horses and the periodic squeaks of the steel wheels. The commoner beside her remained silent with his eyes closed as well. His attentive posture prevented those looking at him to assume he was sleeping, but his calm exterior somehow exuded a form of 'always aware of his surroundings'.

Their travels lasted only a meager five minutes so far, but the Marquess had yet to come up with a topic for the two to discuss. He was enraptured by the sight of the woman across from him and the sight kept stealing his thoughts. He found it strange that he, a man who always got what he wanted, was unable to obtain the woman in front of him. It's not that he wasn't willing to try, he simply felt there was nothing he could do to obtain her. It was as if his plans failed the moment he thought of them refusing him even the ability to dream of her capture. He struggled with his thoughts, but eventually arrived on a subject he failed to ascertain earlier.

 "Empress Fardom. I don't believe I caught what nation you commanded."

 "Lapis, please. Let us dismiss the formalities when alone."

 "I understand, Lapis. As I asked earlier then?"

 "Are you familiar with the nation of Lochlea?"

 "My apologies, its my first time hearing of such a place."

 "No matter. It is located North of Profectus City inside the Demon Nation's territory."

The Marquess immediately widened his eyes at the realization of who Lapis might be. Despite his perverse nature, the man is still part of the Human nation and is duty bound to report threats to his King... or rather Lapis had wished that to be his stance. Rather, she felt he was eager to obtain greater rewards from the King even at the sacrifice of Profectus City. His disgusting nature that was so boldly revealed before her pressed a light smile onto her. The smile wasn't one of kindness, nor of gratitude, but instead one of finding such a cute creature before her. The man before her was so obsessive over rewards and obtaining whatever he desired that he was unable to even contain those desires within himself.

 [He might make a fine Demon...], crossed her thoughts as she observed him closely and waiting for his reply.

 "Empress... No, Lapis. Can I consider you a friend?"

 "Well, I do believe myself to be a friend of those protecting Profectus City. I would not have assisted in its defense otherwise."

 "I understand you entirely..." [I doubt you do...] "... and so I'd like to ask you about the state of the Demon Nation."

 "I am afraid I cannot reveal anything that may break what little truce exists between myself and the Demon Lord. If you only desire generic information though, I do not mind providing that."

 "As expected of a Empress! If you didn't value your nation first, there's no way it would have survived this long I'm sure. Generic is perfectly fine... Really, anything you can provide me is already more than Klasika is aware of."

 "I... see. Well then..."

Her eyes glance across the seat to the commoner sitting beside her. He had yet to move even slightly despite the jostling of the carriage and various conversations.

 "Hiiro. Give him your assessment of the Demon Nation through the eyes of a Human."

Marquess Tabor observed the man with a slight disdain. He couldn't figure out why an Empress would keep a lowly commoner by her side through her travels. Even servants are typically dressed better than him. Following those judgments, the Marquess was concerned about the quality of information the young man could provide. With his worries painted across his face, he watched as the young man opened his eyes glancing to the Empress' playful smile. The young man didn't reveal any emotions across his face and instead refocused his attention onto the Marquess. The stoic expressions drew a slight curiosity from the Knight across the way, but it was lost immediately after the young man opened his mouth.

 "Marquess Tabor. The Demon Nation is, in short, currently in a state of stability. Although Demons in general do not value the same things Humans do, they still respect a power hierarchy and see value in materials. Just as in this nation, it is common to see experienced craftsmen extolling their products and selling in markets. Their food situation appears stable and they have few problems with overpopulation as their species tends to focus on strength over numbers. As far as military strength goes... Our nation has yet to be attacked by more than one General and he focused on summons similar to those your City encountered in your last fight. We were able to negotiate primarily thanks to Empress Lapis Lazuli Fardom, yet their temperament suggests the truce will not last for long."

Hiiro closed his mouth and refused to utter a single word more. He looked to Lapis who held a somewhat surprised expression. Perhaps she hadn't thought he could deliver such a fluent reply filled with key points of information without really saying anything. Oddly enough, as Lapis reviewed his comments, she realized that his entire spiel was actually a correct assessment of the Demon Nation. Although it was a stretch to declare it was in a state of stability, the fact that the Demon Lord was reigning and properly ordering conflict on the front lines suggested a degree of stability at least through the eyes of the military. After the General presented his title and revealed there were four other Generals below the current Demon Lord, an obvious conclusion would be that the Demons respect the current hierarchy since the General was willing to brag about it. The clothing and trinkets the General wore were made out of various materials, some more valuable than others, an so a functioning market could be assumed as well.

If she had to dock Hiiro on anything, it was his final statement. Because what primarily attacked Profectus this time were summoned beasts, he chose to report they valued strength over numbers. Such a statement wasn't incorrect, yet she somehow knew it was the exception rather than the rule. If anything, she predicted that General was on the front line specifically so he could throw disposable soldiers at the City without having to waste real lives. That suggested either the Demons lacked a sizable force, or they valued their soldiers lives enough to send shadows first. She had a third theory, but if it was true, it would suggest the Demons will be nearly impossible to form a peaceful treaty with so she threw it out internally until the situation cleared up more.

The carriage ran across a pothole shuffling the passengers slightly and bringing Lapis back into reality. When she looked across to the Marquess, it seemed he was also zoned out until a moment ago. She cringed internally at the thought of having similar traits to such a man.

 "How much farther is your estate, Marquess Tabor? The traveling path seems to be deteriorated. I fear my constitution may not last at this rate."

 "O-oh. Nothing to worry about, that dip is practically a marker these days stating we've arrived."

Both Lapis and Hiiro decided not to comment on the strange mentality of not fixing a ever widening pothole in favor for it being a marker and instead turned their attention to the side window to view the estate and its surroundings. The two were still able to feel the presence of the group who had been following them since they first arrived. An small expectant smile slowly spread across Lapis as she thought how exciting it was to be part of a plan and feel it slowly panning out. Her assessment of Hiiro rose slightly without her realizing it.

The carriage pulled around in front of a large gated entrance where two Knights verified the carriage occupants before slowly pulling the gates open. Slipping through, the carriage continued along the stone path until it curved sharply to wind around a central fountain similar to the center of town. As it continued the trail, the carriage slowed to a stop next to the steps of a large manor. Lapis and Hiiro stepped out and observed their surroundings in detail for the first time.

Various Knights seemed to patrol the area in conjunction with guard dogs. The gate surrounding the estate property was made of steel reaching nearly 5 meters atop a 1 meter tall base of concrete. The manor windows appeared to be barred along the outside and the doors seemed to be reinforced with metal along the inner and outer edges. The two followed behind Marquess Tabor and his personal Knight through the entrance doors. As late morning approached, the four figures disappeared into the inner manor while two large doors sealed the exit behind them.

***

 "Hah... hah... hah... hah... hah..."

His breaths were rapid as he rounded a turn. He refused to let off the speed and pushed his lungs to their limits. His exhausted state when rounding the bend allowed physics to steal control of his body slamming him against the opposite wall of the alleyway. Ignoring the searing pain of his now dislocated arm, he broke back into a sprint knocking over the trash cans and slum residents who happened to be in his path. Every six to seven steps resulted in the man twisting his neck to look behind him. Although he saw nothing, his fear continued to rise and he maintained his sprint. As he banked another turn, he collapsed to the ground, rolling to a stop. The man attempted to right his exhausted body once again but failed and only ended up landing on his butt. He scooted his body backwards as quickly as possible with his eyes locked onto the end of the alleyway. The intersection was completely empty and in the well lit late morning light, one would call the site anything but scary and yet the man couldn't remove his sights from the exit. More specifically, his eyes were locked onto the set of fingers slowly wrapping around the corner of the intersection. Each individual finger playfully grasped the edge of the wall one at a time. As if to torment the man, the nails attached to the fingers suddenly extended tearing flakes of mortar and brick from the wall leaving long gashes.

A horribly giddy laugh broke the lingering silence perpetuated by only the man's gasps of breath.

 "Ugh! Ugggh!"

The man used what little stamina he recovered to lift himself from the ground and broke into a modified sprint back the way he came yet moments before arriving at the next intersection, the pair of fingernails wrapped around the corner of the wall once again forcing him to a stop. The man gasped for air but no longer knew what to do. His flight or fight response never even considered fighting the creature gradually revealing itself before him. He backed up slowly as the terror that had been chasing him at leisure revealed itself from around the wall. His eyes widened and he lost his balance falling onto his back. The creature walked forward at its own pace deliberately closing the distance between itself and the terrified man. Unable to control himself fully, a puddle began forming underneath him and his body increased its shaking frequency.

 "AAAAAARGHHHHHHH!!!"

Hearing screams originate from an alleyway, two Knights quickly broke off from the main road and moved to investigate. The two Knights slowly approached the site utilizing teamwork to cover each other's blind spots. Rounding the bend of the suspected site, the two saw nothing but an empty alleyway. Turning away from the alley, one of the Knights bent over and threw up what remained of his early lunch. The acidic smell hardly covered the smell of iron that painted the walls of the alley. Although there wasn't a body, it was clear a butcher of some sort happened and yet the body that provided the blood had completely disappeared. Bringing out a whistle, the Knight blew into it frantically to call for backup.

***

 "... though the area seems nice. I was able to find quite a lot of products I would like to trade and bring home."

Lapis and Marquess Tabor were sitting in the main visitors room of the Marquess estate engaged in light banter. Lapis hardly even needed to lie to the man and simply stated her thoughts of the stores, products, tools, people, and her opinions of them. She thought it was rather easy to talk about her feelings of the area to the Marquess, yet she doubted it was due to the man's silver tongue. Although he replied often to her comments, it was rarely saddled without a compliment to her or her supposed nation Lochlea. Even though she had discussed whatever came to mind, her list of subjects to talk about were slowly drying up thanks to the mediocre discussion partner before her.

 "I see. I'm sure with a dress as beautiful as what you're wearing, trade between our City and your Nation should be possible."

It was tiring really... She was exhausted maintaining such a neutral atmosphere when a knock resounded on the door to the visitors room. Lapis took notice of the sun's position outside the window and met her gaze to Hiiro. They heard a frantic shout outside the door and another, louder knock on the door.

 [It must of begun.]

***

Two men walking through the main shopping were laughing and playfully hitting each other as they moved. They were currently on their way to the side business sector where the less popular stores were situated. Although the stores in this area were not necessarily doing poorly in business, they often just carried products that sold to a niche population inside Profectus. Depending on their product, the income they generated often times surpassed even the stores along the main market road.

The two entered into one of the side roads with food carts and table stalls set up along the path. At each stall along the route, they stopped to talk to the seller. In every situation when they stopped, the stall or table owner quickly took up expressions of fear or distaste. Producing a sample of their product, they'd each hand over an item to the men followed by a bag containing coins. Those unable to produce the coinage had their stalls beaten until it was partially broken or had a selection of their wares confiscated.

Although their actions were clearly deviant and often times outright illegal, the Knights patrolling the area appeared to ignore the men. When a Knight did approach them for questioning, the two men would pull an emblem from their pocket to send the Knight off. Every time the scene repeated itself, the men would laugh at the back of the retreating Knight. Those two men were Knights themselves, but they were higher ranked than those patrolling and they reported directly to one of the leaders in the city. With such a backing, the patrolling Knights could do little against them.

The men left the district and cut through the alleys making their way to the main food district. They had skipped lunch and with the sun nearly directly above them in the sky, their stomachs started growling at their mismanagement of food. The two entered a deeper alley often used by the public to cut across the main road and yet they didn't find it strange that they were the only ones to slip into the bypass.

They continued their banter while walking and snacking on the samplers they received from the shops earlier. One of the men cracked a joke sending the other into a jovial laughing fit forcing him to rest against the wall stabilizing himself. While his view was turned from his friend, he failed to notice the sudden halt of said friend's laughter. He held his stomach from the laughter and turned to continue his walk but he was no longer able to see his companion. The man chuckled a bit out loud calling for hiding man to knock off the joke, but only silence interlaced with the distance sound of commerce filled the site.

As he continued calling for his partner, the jovial atmosphere quickly faded and hints of worry started mixing into his vocals. The man quickly ran to the nearest intersection, yet was unable to find any evidence. He continued looking around until a guttural cry for help reached his ears. Recognizing the voice, the man drew his blade and dashed towards the cry he heard. It wasn't loud, but that only reassured him of the distance between himself and his companion. After moving back to where he thought the sound originated from, he ended up where his friend first disappeared. The guttural sound reached him once again, though it was much louder this time. He turned around searching for the source, but the walls of the alley only served to trick his ears with their reflections of the source's location.

 "Chris!!!"

He yelled out once more focusing his ears and closing his eyes to help determine the location of the next cry. Unexpectedly, the cry responded, yet it was nearly a whisper now. Turning to face the source, he became wide eyed at the sight of a creature holding his friend's torso up by a single hand. A series of elongated nails were piercing the man's lungs and he was quickly turning pale from blood loss. The splattering noise drew his sights to the dangling appendages of his friend. Running length wise down his arms were two large gashes from which blood voluminously pumped out of with every heartbeat.

As the shock of his friend's state slowly pressed itself upon the man, he readied his blade against the beast. The wounded man was tossed against the wall erasing the final spark of life that remained inside him. With the creature in full view now, the man suddenly felt a fear he couldn't explain.

 "Im... possible... Y-you..."

Unable to finish his words, a pair of sharpened nails swiped across his neck faster than he could perceive. He felt his lungs fill with blood forcing cough after cough out of him. In his last bit of clarity, he turned to run from the creature while spilling blood yet only managed to tumble into the middle of the nearest intersection. The man was able to see merchants and customers walking along the main district road, yet he was unable to call out to them. The final noise he heard was a sharp screech as a pair of nails dug into the rocks tracing a path over his neck. A tumbling head broke into the main shopping district raising screams from those unlucky enough to to be sprayed by the blood thrown from the rolling limb.

The screams of the people attracted Knights from the surroundings who then proceeded to investigate the area. The Knights came across a large pooling of blood yet were unable to find any bodies to match either the amount of blood found on site, or the decapitated head.

***

 "Is something wrong?", asked Lapis with a hint of fake concern.

 "No, it seems there was a murder in the City."

 "Oh, was Profectus such a dangerous City?"

 "The City mayor implemented some rules that enabled criminal organizations to take thorough root in the area. This is probably just one of many horrible consequences of that."

 "Consequences?"

Marquess Tabor glanced at the woman sitting across from him who held an unquestionably curious gaze across her face. Unable to understand her underlying tone, he continued.

 "Yeah. My fiance made some mistakes while outside my watch. The current Profectus is far less safe now because of those policies."

Lapis takes a moment to try and understand what he is trying to say. Unable to pick out any sub context, she takes what he said at face value and returns.

 "I am afraid I fail to understand. When I arrived on site during the battle, I saw a mixture of adventurers, mercenaries, and criminal syndicates working together in apparent harmony to protect Profectus City to the death. Now I am not qualified to speak on the nature of a City's defensive stance, however if I may... I find it very hard to believe this City would be standing without those combined efforts prior to my arrival."

 "Your assessment would normally be correct, but if she hadn't modified the policies, then each of the nations supporting Profectus would have sent resources to us long ago."

Had Lapis not already researched the history of Profectus City in the library and spoke with the historian, she might have been inclined to believe the Marquess. After all, it wouldn't be the first time a change in policy had second and third order effects that were never accounted for during planning. While her thoughts on the topic were concluding, another rapid knock at the door drew her attention. She noticed the subtle change of expression on the Marquess and lightly smiled as she reached for her tea. Marquess Tabor left the room after excusing himself momentarily leaving Lapis alone in the room with Hiiro and the Knight, Sir Coorid.

Refusing to allow the silence to devolve into awkwardness, Lapis initiated conversation.

 "Tell me, Sir Coorid... Why do you hate your Master?"

Though she expected Sir Coorid to be somewhat surprised by her rather blunt question, she also saw Hiiro's expression contort slightly. Perhaps she was interfering with his plan somewhat? Well, it was too late now that she already vocalized the question. The party continued to sit in silence while the Knight calmly maintained a fixed gaze on Lapis. Her demeanor didn't change at all and she continued to sip on the hot tea. After allowing the silence to continue for nearly a minute, Lapis spoke up once again.

 "Are you confused as to how I know? Or are you wondering why I asked? Oh! Or perhaps you are curious as to why I have not told your Master?"

The silence continued for a few seconds until the Knight appeared to surrender himself.

 "Empress Fardom... Why would you think I hate Marquess Tabor?"

 "None of the above, is it? Well, you can not win them all... I think you chose the least interesting question to ask, though. To start, it is not that I 'think' you hate that man. It is that I 'know' you hate him. Those of us with battle experience will sense your blood lust even if we tried to ignore it when we are this close."

His silence remained. Lapis continued.

 "I do not care personally, but you should remove yourself from the side of that man. If you can not contain your own blood lust, you will eventually be discovered... I assure you he does not have a guaranteed future."

Hiiro recognized the man sitting across from them as well, though he noticed by the habits he observed during their stay and interactions. It was apparent to him that Lapis caught on as well which means the Marquess would have been at the end of his rope even if they had left him alone. Sir Coorid picked up on the subtle undertones spoken to him and chose his words carefully in response.

 "I don't understand why his future is not guaranteed. He is a man supported by the King. I wonder though, Empress Fardom... As we are speaking frankly and subtly, please allow me the discourtesy to ask something rather rude of you. Exactly who are you? The moment Marquess Tabor and I first met you, your personality was twisted and you exuded an aura as if you were trying to get into the Marquess' good graces, even to the point of bringing Countess Sugimoto to her knees. Then on the ride over, that pretense gradually dissipated and instead was replaced by a more inquisitive personality. Finally, here you are offering me advice."

Lapis wielded a smile, yet was interrupted when she was about to respond. The door opened to show Marquess Tabor returning. He clearly appeared distressed. Lapis maintained her smile and adjusted what she was originally going to say.

 "Is everything fine, Marquess Tabor? You appear pale."

 "Thank you for your concern, Empress Fardom. Everything is fine... Where did we leave off at?"

 "I recall you were informing me on the repercussions of your fiance's failed policies."

 "Oh... Yes, then... As I was saying..."