Elena stepped down, carefully descending to the first floor of the abandoned building before looking at the huge hole in the floor. After a small chuckle, she looked past into the lower level before dropping into the basement herself. A faint golden spiritual energy wrapped around her body as she hopped down, light as a feather, and landed in the newly opened space with bright eyes.
After landing in the basement, the air changed immediately.
It was colder, far colder than the rest of the slums.
This space seemed to almost carry a supernatural aura, as an incomprehensible wind permeated the air. If one looked around, they would find strange shadows rippling where there was no light, faint whispers where there was no wind, and an abnormal lack of energy in the air.
This place seemed to be the antithesis of orderly life, a place that twisted the natural rules, only on such a small scale that it was nearly indetectable to even high-level professionals.
It was both damp and dreary, with the faint smell of earth lingering in the space.
The large, hand-dug basement was mostly empty, its stone walls rough and uneven, with only a few broken shelves and scattered debris left behind.
Remel stood up, dusting herself off.
"…This place is really creepy," she muttered with a frown.
Although she couldn't feel the 'strange aura' in the air, Elena could.
She crossed her arms, trying to look unbothered. Unfortunately, what she expected still came. This aura, an idle background element in her previous life, the same kind of existence from the High Elven Prison, seemed to exist here as well…
Her brows furrowed uncontrollably.
She didn't like this kind of unknown element, and it gave her an inexplicably bad feeling…
Then, after a moment—
"…So, uh, you ever hear about that guy who got stuck in a storage rune for three days?"
Elena glanced at her.
"No," she muttered towards the trembling Remel.
Even if Remel couldn't feel the strange aura, her body seemed to be reacting to it unconsciously.
Seeing this, Elena's eyes deepened.
Remel nodded seriously, quickly thinking about how to make small talk.
"Y-yeah, he said time felt slower inside that space. Apparently, he came out thinking it had only been a few hours, but when he learned that he had been in there for three days, he fainted!"
"…Why are you telling me this?" Elena asked, wondering if this was a natural reaction or not.
As Elena scrutinized her, Remel coughed lightly.
"…Just talking!" She muttered, turning her head to search for a way up.
Elena said nothing, and her gaze drifted elsewhere, but for some reason, she felt as if this strange power was very important. In her mind, the image of Petra suddenly popped up. Elena wondered if Petra would like to play with this strange power…
After a moment of thought, she shook her head, deciding against it.
She knew that Petra was a lot more scholarly than she appeared, but that didn't mean she wanted to see her adopted little sister playing with dangerous things all day!
Elena was still unaware of just how, Mm… 'that word' Petra was…
While Remel continued speaking, half complaining about patrol duty and half recounting strange stories from her days with the City Guard, Elena quietly stepped toward the far side of the basement.
There, near the wall—
Her fingers brushed against something, a faint trace of black.
After bending down, she found something small. Without drawing attention from Remel, she bent slightly and picked it up, slipping it into her sleeve in one smooth motion. If one looked close enough, they would find that this 'soot-like' thing was distinctly different from the 'tar-like blob' from back then…
Her expression didn't change, but she knew that this was the source of that strange aura.
Remel didn't notice it, but even if she did, she probably wouldn't question it.
"…And then there was this one time—"
"Remel!"
"…Hm?"
Elena tilted her head slightly. "…Someone seems to be calling us."
At the same time, from above, faint footsteps echoed, followed by a distant voice. "Vice-Captain Rem! Lady Elena! We have a clue, please return to the outer encampments' temporary base!"
Remel immediately perked up, already wanting to leave!
For some reason, she found this place particularly cold.
"Oh! That's us, that's us, time to return!" She looked up toward the hole in the ceiling, her energetic yapping almost overflowing.
"…We're going back the normal way." Elena nodded to her, then found a crude set of stairs to ascend, and together, they made their way up, leaving the basement behind.
A short while later, they stepped out of the building and back into the narrow streets of the slums.
The encirclement had closed slightly, but there was still a long way to go…
The world felt tighter, and there was a newly formed tension in the air, but this was all part of the plan.
Remel stretched her arms above her head as they walked back.
"…Well, that was fun! What should we do next…"
Elena didn't respond.
She continued forward for a few steps—
Then suddenly paused…
Slowly, she turned her head, glancing over her shoulder.
Her eyes lifted slightly towards a distant rooftop, and for a moment, she just stared at it.
She watched, then, after a long moment of silence, she turned away and continued walking.
The wind blew her hair, and the sky had already darkened.
As night rolled in, only her bright golden hair seemed to ignite the darkness of the southern slums…
* * *
At the same time, on the rooftop across the street—
A figure lay flat against the cracked tiles, unmoving, concealed behind a crumbling chimney.
A red cloak wrapped tightly around her thin frame, its fabric dulled by dust and overuse, blending into the broken silhouette of the roof. From a distance, she was no different than another piece of debris, forgotten and still as she sat there, unmoving in the wind.
Only her eyes moved, seemingly to follow Elena.
Her gaze was distinctly different from her body, sharp, quick, and calculating, as her eyes flickered.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the object hidden beneath her cloak. A thin black stick, no longer than her forearm, loosely rested along the inner layer of her sleeve. Faint red sparks crawled across its surface like restless insects, flickering in uneven patterns.
She had been watching everything from the moment the two girls entered the old building. From here, she could even see the scene in the basement, at least, half of it!
Then—
Elena stopped, and the girl on the rooftop froze.
That single over-the-shoulder glance—
It shouldn't have meant anything, but for a brief moment, it felt like she had been seen through! Her breath caught in her throat, and she shrank down, pressing herself against the cold roof, as if trying to disappear into the roof itself.
Silence followed…
The street below resumed its regular state as the footsteps faded, and only when Elena disappeared completely from view did the figure slowly lift her head. The hood shifted slightly and revealed just enough to see a pale, thin face. She had hollow cheeks, eyes sunken from hunger, and a half-eaten bun stuffed awkwardly into her mouth, hanging down.
"…Mm!" She chewed quietly.
Even Petra would have to exclaim that she had never seen such a careful way of eating!
Despite the clear exhaustion in her body, despite the sharpness in her gaze—
There was something oddly… earnest about the way she ate, like a small and innocent child, like this was the most important thing in the world, or the only thing left that could remind her of her family.
She swallowed with a gulp!
As she methodically licked the crumbs from her lips, her expression shifted.
Her eyes lifted toward the sky, and a faint red glow ignited in her pupils.
It flickered, then steadied.
Inwardly, she wondered why the Hero was hunting her…
She didn't know what she did to deserve such attention, but she still wanted to find out! As the color in her gaze deepened, a faint crackle of mystic energy arced in the air. Her mind spun, and she finished all her calculations, quickly understanding what she had to do.
Her eyes turned, and soon, all the people in the slums became her chessboard.
If Elena were here, if she knew what this strange red-haired girl was doing, she would be shocked, because this level of deduction was completely different from the mindless brute in her previous lives!
This, yet again, was the effect of the shackles of fate being severed for those around Petra!
* * *
The encirclement around the slums began to tighten.
From above, the southern slums no longer looked like a district, instead, it looked more like a closing cage. Line after line of City Guard advanced from every direction, their movements controlled and deliberate, sealing roads, climbing rooftops, and locking down alleys one by one. Signals flashed between teams, whistles cut through the air to send signals, and formations formed from dozens of people shifted with practiced precision as they patrolled the perimeter.
As they passed, they checked each house, and as they advanced, they covered every crevasse.
-
Near the outer edge of the encirclement, Elena and Remel rejoined the outer layer of the advancing line.
"Looks like it's starting," Remel muttered, cracking her knuckles as she glanced ahead.
Elena didn't respond.
Her eyes moved across the narrowing streets, quietly observing the shifting flow of people, the subtle disturbances in their defence, and all the unnatural reactions. For some reason, she felt as if she had overlooked something, but she chose not to say it…
Time continued to pass like this, and the encirclement became smaller and smaller.
This was a large project that would take days to undergo under normal circumstances, but because of Elena's interference, the level of importance this task was given far exceeded what it should have been under normal circumstances. This had both good and bad implications, because her influence would naturally draw unwanted attention. Those who wanted to stir up trouble, and the few 'enemies' she did have, would all take this opportunity to cause trouble and create chaos, using it as an opportunity to test her.
Much like Petra and the Azurefell Family, those people hiding in the dark wanted nothing more than to test the limits of the people who were bestowed the title of 'Hero!'
Some people found it unfair, but many others didn't understand who was pushing it in the dark.
If Petra could feel that something was wrong, those bigshots at the top could naturally feel it too, especially those that had a much broader outlook on the whole world! In other words, those at the top would still follow the script, but because they didn't like it, they would seek to test it at every corner.
Mm, anyways…
As things continued, suddenly—
The situation broke!
From somewhere within the slums, a sudden shout erupted.
"Get them!"
A group of rough-looking men surged forward, weapons raised, their eyes bloodshot and wild!
This was the Blade Ball Gang!
They crashed directly into the advancing line, unwilling to cooperate with the City Guard!
It was a reasonable objection, after all, who would willingly let outsiders search their homes! To make matters worse, the excuse behind the encirclement was already rather flimsy, so many people didn't believe it at all! With that said, the following chaos was inevitable, someone just needed to knock down the first domino…
Steel rang as wood splintered.
Magic lit up the sky as those behind the inner ring of the encirclement began to appear.
The City Guard didn't falter in the slightest!
The following battle was a one-sided slaughter!
Within seconds, the initial clash ended, and those that had fallen were caught.
Not far away, another disturbance appeared, then another, and another—
The Wild Wind Gang burst out from an alleyway, leaping across rooftops and hurling debris down at the advancing scouts. Two more small teams responded instantly, and their figures blurred across the rooftops, intercepting the troublemaking gang mid-air.
A series of dull impacts followed, and dozens of bodies dropped from the air.
The encirclement didn't stop, no, it never slowed down, not even as more and more objections appeared one after another! It simply closed slightly slower…
-
At the same time—
Amidst the chaos, Elena walked around leisurely.
She was neither rushed nor concerned, after all, she finally realized what she had originally missed! After discovering the cause of her discomfort, she understood the situation much more clearly, like a fog had been lifted from before her eyes.
Now, within the chaos, she seemed to just walk around aimlessly.
It was like she was taking a casual stroll through a busy market!
Fights broke out around her, a man lunged—
But he was already restrained by a man from the City Guard before even reaching her!
A rooftop collapsed—
And she stepped past the falling debris without even looking up…
Her gaze drifted from place to place, watching, thinking, searching...
"…Strange," she murmured softly, something still wasn't lining up.
Just then—
Her eyes shifted, and she saw something!
Just for a moment, she caught a flicker of red between the rooftops, seemingly spying on her!
Her steps stopped.
Then, she disappeared after the red light!