Monday, December 22.
The vast field in the Tezny District had now turned into a sea of emergency tents. Hundreds of refugees crowded the area, seeking shelter after the "Demon Horse" had reduced their homes to ruin. Across all of Tezny, only a handful of blocks remained standing, and even those were merely waiting for central aid that had yet to arrive.
Conditions in other districts were no less devastating. On a long wooden table inside the main tent, a map of Moran City was spread out. Red ink markings slashed across it. The Chapena and Hava districts were reduced to a third of their former size. Border regions such as Vica to Madokeni had become dead zones, directly bordering the ruins of Tezny. Meanwhile, Krensen and Gours were considered completely paralyzed.
Of the seven districts in Moran, only Forgenate and Niki were still breathing, though their gates were now heavily guarded due to fear of further attacks.
Inside the dimly lit tent, the air felt heavy. On the left side of the table sat Arvrenda Guelhram, Zeta Audervin, and Albert Hammond along with two of their companions, Feyne and Luke.
Across from them, Zaharon Kavatusce, Evan Chamittle, and Natasya Willienne sat with tense expressions. At the head of the table, two representatives from the Morotuane Church, Fererra Ammense and Cathal Baleska, observed with cold gazes.
Their task was heavy: to preserve what remained of the survivors' sanity while tracking down the true mastermind behind the terror that had turned their city into a mass grave.
"The demon horse was last seen approximately one month ago," Zaharon said calmly. "And there will certainly be further attacks in the future."
He realized that the Kingdom's central authority seemed indifferent to the existence of this unfortunate city.
Evan responded in a calm tone, as if something was hidden behind his thoughts:
"As for that, just leave it be. It should already be handled by someone." His gaze shifted toward Fererra, who wore a grim expression.
The atmosphere in the tent suddenly grew tense as the wind howled outside, accompanied by rolling thunder that echoed endlessly, as if mourning the deaths of hundreds and the destruction across Moran's districts.
Realizing the weather outside was hostile, they hurried to exchange information about the survivors and what resources needed to be conserved for their survival.
But then, the sound of steady, unhurried footsteps came from outside the tent. It was followed by the tent flap opening, revealing a woman dressed in a simple white shirt beneath a gray jacket, with a neatly tied tie around her neck.
She was Aurora Chevalya.
All eyes turned toward her. Some faces showed relief upon seeing her return safely after carrying out a dangerous mission to the Moran Criminal Archive and Records Bureau.
Without wasting time, Aurora pulled several crumpled sheets of paper from her pocket and tossed them onto the table.
"This is the information you're looking for," she said flatly. She seemed indifferent to the danger she had just faced in the nearly collapsing archive building, including the horrors on the streets.
"Thank you, Miss," Fererra said as he straightened his posture, clearly anticipating this. "Find that information as quickly as possible."
A slight frown appeared on his face as he pushed his chair back, walked past the seats on the left side, took the documents directly, and returned to his seat.
As their attention shifted to the papers and each of them began reading one by one to speed up the process, Aurora continued walking, moving to the left side toward Zeta to ask something.
She leaned in, her mouth nearly touching Zeta's ear as she spoke in a calm tone that carried an almost threatening edge, "Where is he now? Have you met him recently?"
Zeta quickly turned upon noticing Arvrenda glancing at her.
"About that," she said hesitantly, "I haven't met him since that incident." She picked up the paper in front of her to hide her nervousness.
Aurora let out a quiet sigh to conceal her disappointment.
"Alright," she said flatly as she straightened up again. "I'll look for him myself later."
"Okay," Zeta replied as she opened one of the letters.
On the other side, Albert, Feyne, and Luke had not initially known the three of them, only becoming acquainted after realizing their connection to someone they knew. At present, Albert was only close to Dr. Arvrenda.
Noticing everyone's attention fixed on the documents, Albert realized something as he looked at Arvrenda sitting beside him, who was staring at the paper with uncertainty.
"It seems our situation really isn't good, is it, Mr. Guelhram?" Albert muttered heavily. After returning from Sanerva, he had not expected his home to be in such a dire state.
Arvrenda only gave a faint smile as he adjusted his thin-framed glasses.
'I am just as sick of this uncertainty,' he thought irritably.
Only then did he realize something from the first time he met her.
"By the way, Mr. Albert," Arvrenda glanced at Zeta, who still looked uneasy. "How long have you known Miss Forn?"
Albert paused for a moment before answering in his usual calm manner. "Perhaps since I began investigating death cases." He smiled faintly, his fingers playing with the edge of the paper in front of him. "I already consider her like my own younger sister."
'Even if she's the second one,' Albert added inwardly, his brows slightly furrowing.
Unbeknownst to him, his earlier words had begun to change how he saw himself since that tragic incident.
He let out a short breath to push away the unpleasant memory.
"Damn it. These papers are nothing but nonsense," Natasya grumbled irritably. "How could you think of finding someone strange through documents like these?" She quickly stood up and threw the paper aside while exhaling heavily.
Seeing this, Evan, as her companion, could only remain silent while rubbing his forehead in embarrassment.
'That woman… her sense of shame is completely gone.'
After thinking for a moment, Evan stood up, placed the paper down, then looked at Fererra before bowing deeply and speaking in a low tone:
"I apologize, Sir, and to everyone here, for my companion's inappropriate behavior."
Zeta stared sharply at Evan.
'It seems what that woman said has some truth to it. It's strange to think that someone with an unknown identity could be found through these documents.' She lifted her paper and glanced at it for a brief moment.
Then she stood after carefully considering it.
"I apologize for my rudeness," she said calmly. "I agree with her statement."
Everyone's attention shifted, including Aurora, who stood in the corner of the tent.
Arvrenda, who had been speaking with Albert, paused his conversation as he focused on the woman expressing her thoughts, surprised by Zeta's words.
'It seems the women here were not taught proper manners,' he complained inwardly.
Aurora, seeing this, felt disgusted and quickly left the tent, choosing instead to help the people outside.
On the right side of the table, the three of them fell silent as they saw Fererra cross his arms on the table, partially covering his face while his sharp gaze fixed on them.
"This is an order from our superiors, including the approval of the Baron and Viscount present in this tent," he said in a restrained tone. "The way you both think is very strange, and you have underestimated those who recorded and created the information written in those documents."
He paused for a moment.
Natasya then sat down, followed by Zeta, her expression curious as she realized Fererra was about to say something important.
"The Devil is here."
Of course, none of them recognized the name Fererra had just mentioned. But one thing was certain, Albert's breath caught, his hands clenching tightly beneath the table as he realized the documents were not nonsense as they had previously claimed.
'Damn, The Devil is here, huh. Of course I know that, since my family holds several important documents and archives in the Kingdom of Norn, including some classified church records where they once stayed.'
Albert could not hide his shock. Once again, this was not nonsense, as he had truly seen how skilled they were at gathering information, even under near-impossible conditions.
"I don't know them," they said in unison.
"Who exactly is 'The Devil is here'?" Zaharon asked hesitantly, as his information was incomplete.
Realizing this, and sensing the confusion caused by his earlier statement, Fererra quickly corrected himself, though he twisted the explanation further from the truth.
"They are a secret group of royal envoys tasked with gathering information related to criminal activities and unnatural death cases."
They seemed hesitant to believe such a statement, but since it was their first time hearing of such a secret group, their doubt slowly faded and was replaced by curiosity.
"Does such a group really exist?" Natasya could not hold back her curiosity.
"Perhaps it does," Evan replied calmly.
'It seems Fererra made a slight mistake here,' Cathal thought while holding his breath.
"A secret group, huh?" Zeta murmured as she touched her chin.
The atmosphere improved and became livelier as a bespectacled man voiced his thoughts.
"It's good if that group truly exists," Arvrenda said calmly, breaking the tension.
But even so, was he truly uncertain, or had he already known about it all along?