Merien was a very talkative person.
During dinner, he wouldn't stop telling stories and explaining the current state of the marquisate to us.
His wife, by comparison, was much calmer. Her dark blue hair and relaxed posture immediately caught my attention.
Although she didn't seem to look at us favorably, she projected the image of a serene woman with a strong character.
Her concubine, on the other hand — whom he hadn't mentioned to us before — was much more approachable.
And although Merien seemed to have forgotten about her, something told me they were far more closely connected than he was with the woman he had introduced as his wife.
"I'll take you to see the surroundings today," he said. "I don't know if it will be of any use to you, but it's still worth trying."
"Is there any area where signs of corrosion have been seen more frequently? If you take us to those places, it will be easier for us."
Upon hearing my voice for the first time, the marquis looked surprised.
Seeing that there seemed to be no objection from the women — who, in his opinion, had the final say — he replied:
"There might be some places like that, though I doubt you'll find anything. In fact, I'm still skeptical about the idea that you can help. This has been a problem for everyone for millennia and no one has been able to do anything about it. Still, I don't want to doubt Elizabeth, so I apologize for my skepticism."
"You don't need to apologize, Marquis," Elizabeth intervened, "but rest assured that if I said they could help, they will."
"I understand…" he murmured.
After that, before retiring to my room, I decided to speak with Elizabeth alone.
"Cassian… do you have any idea?" she asked me.
"I have a suspicion. I want you to arrange a few things for tomorrow."
Her eyes turned serious immediately.
"Is it serious? Adela sent me a message saying she broke through the seventh circle, but she couldn't help mentioning that all of this is way beyond our capabilities. That there's nothing we can do."
"As I told her, it's not something we need to worry about right now," I replied calmly. "Although the corrosion increases the power of the beasts, it won't go much further than that. The real problem will come once the person behind this arrives and gets what they need from them."
"And what would that be?" she asked insistently.
I didn't answer her. Elizabeth seemed to understand that she wouldn't get a response, so she lowered her shoulders, resigned.
…
"These are the forests north of the main city of my marquisate," the marquis explained as we moved forward.
"Before, many civilians used to come here to gather herbs or hunt weak beasts to sell at the market or to have something to eat," he continued bitterly. "But ever since the news spread and the deaths started increasing, that rarely happens anymore."
Since I met the marquis, I can't stop thinking that he genuinely cares about his people. It's not normal to find nobles like that.
Suddenly, silence fell over the place, broken only by his voice and the crunching of branches beneath our feet.
CRACK.
That sound wasn't ours. A figure dressed in black appeared out of nowhere, pointing directly at Elena and me. I reacted instantly, raising a barrier that left the attacker visibly surprised.
They attacked again with a strange magic. It seemed related to sound, but the waves it produced were capable of crushing anyone — similar in effect to gravity manipulation. I stopped the attack again without the slightest effort.
Seeing this, the figure retreated several steps and tried to conjure a greater spell, but I didn't give them time.
I launched a cut through the air that they barely managed to dodge, noticeably wounding their arm.
They didn't seem used to anyone fighting back like this, because they immediately fled.
"Aren't you going to chase that person? It's clearly an Impure!" exclaimed the marquis, alarmed.
"They're already gone. I don't see the point in following them, Marquis," I lied, keeping calm. "Besides, they're an eighth-circle mage. Do you really expect us to keep fighting?"
Upon hearing my words, the marquis looked noticeably confused.
"Eighth circle? How? Why would someone like that attack us?" he stammered, processing the information.
Suddenly, he fell silent and looked at me with a mixture of amazement and disbelief as he realized what that implied: I had stopped the attacks of such a high-level mage without even breaking a sweat.
"Wow! The people around Lady Elizabeth are truly incredible!" he exclaimed, unable to contain himself.
After that incident, we visited other places, though now the marquis was much more aware of the two masked people accompanying him.
By the time we returned to the mansion, it was already night. Dinner felt quite different from the previous one due to the absence of the marquis's wife, who seemed to be feeling unwell that night.
"Tomorrow, I would like to ask you to gather all the people in the city, if possible," said Elizabeth.
The marquis looked at her strangely. "Miss, I don't know what you want it for, but there are too many people living here right now. It would be crazy to call them all."
"Tell them this will solve the beast problem. Tomorrow we will go hunt as many as we can, and once we're done, we'll head to where you've gathered everyone. But remember: no one can be missing. We will use a spell that will track the Impures. Make sure to communicate this to them."
"A spell? Since when is tracking magic so advanced?" asked the marquis.
The butler, who was listening to the conversation, looked quite frightened by Elizabeth's words.
"Actually, we will use a special powder," she continued. "If the beasts we hunt have been near one or more particular people, the powder will go to them."
"I've never heard of anything like that…"
"You should tell your inhabitants about this. That way, if someone flees, we'll save ourselves the trouble."
"I understand. I'll do as you say."
It seems Elizabeth already has everything prepared… now we just have to see what fish takes the bait.
Although tracking techniques exist in the cultivation world, the same corrosion used by the pawns of the Black Widow Clan prevents them — unless laws are used…
But before that, I have to go see the fish that already fell.
In one of the rooms of the Beaumont mansion, a woman with long hair as blue as the sea was treating a wound on her arm.
"Oh, I don't understand…" she whispered.
"What is it that you don't understand?"
The woman dropped what she was using at the sound of my voice. She turned abruptly.
"You… So you really were here because of me."
I looked at her with confusion.
"Because of you? Are you the reason behind the corroded beasts? Do you carry out the missions someone gives you like a slave?"
She frowned, visibly confused.
"Aren't you an Impure?"
I removed my mask and looked at her with curiosity.
"No, not at all. But I'd like to know what a siren is doing in this humble Empire…"