Late in the night, in Athena's room.
In a deep sleep, Athena snuggled against the blanket, her body still shuddering from the intense lovemaking.
With his eyes open, Aren turned at Athena and saw that she was sleeping very deeply.
Carefully, he moved out of the bed, put some clothes on, and kept his footsteps as silent as possible while he made his way to the door.
He opened the door. Avoided the creaking. Then he softly closed the door.
'I don't have long, but tonight, I must find out more about the Hunt and about the possibility of there being a Blessed One somewhere around here!'
While sneaking around the hallways, there were some servants and guards moving about, but there weren't many.
Therefore, he was able to quickly make his way down the hallway and eventually arrived at the end.
At the end of the hallway—Jupiter Hauwnted's office—today, Athena visited her father over there while he stayed outside.
He didn't know what they were talking about, but he took this place as his target.
With a careful hold, he turned the doorknob and peeked inside. It was empty. He quickly made his way inside.
'There must be something over here!'
Aren quickly went through the drawers and every cabinet, only to find nothing about the Hunt.
In the end, it didn't really surprise him, as he doubted that they would leave a paper trail about their extremely illegal activities.
'My luck is not that good.'
In that moment, footsteps stopped before the door, and he heard the sound of the doorknob turning.
Aren hid under the desk, and through the small hole in the wood, he saw the door open, and someone that looked like a servant lady walked in.
She was humming a song. Lullaby of children's song. And she walked to the desk and started opening some drawers.
She closed a drawer and then happened to see a limb moving under the desk, and she was about to scream.
With a quick lunge, Aren rammed his fist into the servant's gut and then circled behind her to restrain her.
He put his thick arm around her neck and squeezed.
The servant struggled to breathe.
Aren asked and slightly loosened the hold.
"T-To get cigars… for master…"
The servant said with some trouble, coughing and wheezing.
A quick plan formed in Aren's mind, and he quickly snapped the servant's neck. She dropped dead, and Aren quickly memorized her features.
In that moment, he quickly changed his appearance to that of a servant, and then, he made his backpack appear.
He took the required material for the Realm Between ritual, did it, and sent the servant's corpse to the Graveyard of the Damned.
He currently didn't have time to bury her, so he just hoped that no one would go there and find her.
It was late anyway, so he doubted anyone would really happen to go there.
Aren checked the drawers. There were no cigars anywhere.
In that moment, he saw a small wooden box in a bookshelf, tucked beside a stack of old books, and he quickly opened it.
Nice-looking cigars were inside.
He took the cigars into a carry and looked at the items at the corner of the room. They were a quick escape for him if things went wrong.
'…I shouldn't take these away just now. If something goes wrong, I'll be able to make a quick escape.'
With that, and a box of cigars in hand, he left the office and had to search through the whole third floor before he found Master Jupiter's room.
The door was slightly ajar, so he was able to see inside and saw a man lying on the big bed that was clearly too big for him.
As Aren was about to enter in his servant's disguise, he heard Jupiter talk and saw him stare at a shadow in the corner.
'…Shadow? Blessed One!'
Aren froze and quickly hid by the corner, but he perked up his ears and listened. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel★fire.net
"…Cough, cough… You'll be paid handsomely…"
Master Jupiter said, wheezing and coughing. He was wearing a gold mask that was hiding his hideous, disfigured face underneath.
He was suffering from a very rare genetic disorder—Sun Sensitivity—which made it impossible for him to be exposed to sunlight without experiencing severe pain.
When he was young, and the Sun Sensitivity first appeared, the sun's rays literally burned his face off and put him stuck in a wheelchair.
"…That's not enough anymore. I was fine with helping you with the Hunt, as I get paid well, but you're associating yourself with someone that you cannot trust.
"You're playing a dangerous game, and I can't be a part of it anymore."
"I-I know your worries, my friend… I am worried too… I am just thinking about the future of my family and this war… This long war… Humanity is losing, and they will.
"It's better to put our allegiance to a winning side."
Jupiter said with a tired look.
'…Allegiance to a winning side? Rav'akari? What is Jupiter up to?'
Aren thought with a serious look.
"I want to get a year's worth of pay, and then we will go on our separate ways. I don't want to be associated with any of this anymore."
"…If that's your wish. You could've been part of something big and glorious, but I understand… The greatness is not for cowards, after all…"
Jupiter said, half angry and half disappointed.
The shadow said mockingly.
In that moment, Aren left his hiding spot, knocked on the door three times, and walked inside with a box of cigars in hand.
"Master, I've brought your cigars."
With the chirpy voice, he said, and took the cigars to Jupiter's bedside table while the shadow hid in the corner.
"Thank you… You may go."
Jupiter said with a tired look.
"…Master, this might be nothing, but I think you should know. I saw a strange man just now. He was wearing a guard uniform.
"I thought he was just a new hire, but then I remembered that there haven't been new hires lately, and I am pretty sure I've seen that man in Lanternford Market before.
"I then dug deeper into my memories, and I am certain that man was one of Lord Butcher's men, but it could be nothing.
"However, I saw that guy heading to your office…"
Aren said with a sigh, and shrug of his shoulders, and then he stepped out of the room.
Jupiter put a cigar in his mouth, lit it up, and said.
"I'll pay you tomorrow, but can you go check that out? If you see someone that you do not recognize, take care of them."
Silently, the shadow disappeared from the room.