The Hunt Begins

"I hereby declare my presence a secret!"

"I hereby declare the sounds I make a secret!"

"I hereby declare my face a secret!"

Valentine put down three Concealments at once and the thin yellowish mist began descending and enshrouded him. Following the Concealment was the weakness that came because of the restriction put in place by Caron's Book of Curtailment, but it was not a concern for him. What he would do was watch the fight of the Police and the Mafia against the remaining members of the Pale Society.

Once he was finished with his preparation, Valentine approached the group of people carefully and began observing them.

There were a total of seven Police Contractbounds and twelve mafia members present there. The people in the mafia that Valentine recognized were Mastro Gianni, Pietro, Lucio, Pier, and the female boss. The rest of them were new faces to him.

"Bruin, can you do something about all this dust in the air?" asked Roze to the man with brown hair and brown eyes.

"That's too much work..." replied Bruin lazily, "Just wait, it will all go down eventually."

Bruin was leaning against the wall of a building with an unconcerned expression on his face. The loss of one of their members didn't seem to have affected him greatly-- if at all. His body language was radiating his carefree nature.

"But... it's difficult to see..." said Geel, chiming in weakly, sorrow apparent in her tone. Roze seemed to have gestured at her to say something. If it wasn't for her unspoken request, Geel would have stayed quiet and kept mourning Paars' death.

Hearing Geel's words, Bruin's expression showed a slight change before he controlled it. He then stood straight up and revealed his hands that were inside his pocket.

"I guess it's true it's hard to see like this..." he said. His voice sounded rather enthusiastic instead of annoyed for some reason, "*sigh... It can't be helped then."

Bruin turned to Rood, who was standing in the back with a cold expression on his face. The man seemed to have a lot in his mind right now.

"Rood, can you use your big ass sword as a fan?" requested Bruin.

Rood nodded slowly. The blood greatsword behind him, as if controlled by invisible hands, flew to an empty spot nearby and started spinning. The initially slow spinning gradually became faster and faster until everyone could feel the wind blowing from it; the dust around the sword dispersed.

Bruin raised his right hand in the direction of the spinning sword and began chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Geometry and Alteration, hereby alter the intensity of this wind!"

Swoosh!!

The wind created by Rood's greatsword became stronger and stronger and it started forming a small whirlwind that sucked all the dust in the air to its core. The whirlwind kept getting stronger and bigger until it reached the size of a two-story building.

"I suggest everyone hold on to something," said Bruin casually. He was already back to leaning against the wall with his hands inside his pocket. He was watching his creation without any change in expression.

Everyone followed his suggestion and began finding something to hold onto.

Swoosh!!

The whirlwind kept getting bigger and bigger while the dust around them was being sucked into it. Once it was the size that Bruin wanted, he began chanting again.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Geometry and Alteration, hereby alter the nature of this whirlwind!"

Boom!

Suddenly, the whirlwind exploded, creating a shockwave that blew everything in its path away. The power of the explosion was not even a tenth of the 'black hole's', but it was enough to clear the area of the clouds of dust that had strangely been persisting in the air.

"There you go, clean and clear sky. *pant* Now I'm tired. Leave me alone here," said Bruin while breathing heavily. It seemed that the abilities he had just used consumed a lot of his stamina.

Roze looked at Groen and the latter nodded.

"Here, take this stamina powder," he said as he handed a pouch containing a yellow powder to him.

Bruin looked reluctant, but under the judging gaze of Roze, he had no choice but to take the pouch.

"Aw man, why can't you just leave this old man alone..." he said lazily; his breathing was still heavy.

Bruin inhaled the powder and at once, his stamina began recovering at a high rate. He looked visibly more energized although his posture was still too relaxed and slothful.

"We've wasted too much time here. Let's begin," commanded Roze, "We will split into groups of two so we can sweep the whole area. Rood and Oranje will go north. Groen and I will go west. Bruin, Geel, and Wit, you go south," Roze paused and then looked at the woman who was still kneeling on the ground, "Wit, I know it's hard but we have to do this to prevent more victims," she said with compassion.

Wit, who hadn't said anything, only nodded.

"Mastro, I assume the barrier is only broken in the area that you got in from. Is that right?" asked Roze to the old gentleman.

He nodded with a polite smile.

"Yes. Where do you want my men to be?" he asked gently. His voice carried his charisma and experience.

"Can you please send some of your men to guard the exit? And also we need some people to patrol the central area to aid our normal officers. We also need some men to find the source of the barrier to prevent them from deactivating it to escape," she asked politely. In the presence of the man, she couldn't help but be humble.

"Then it shall be done. Everyone, you heard her. Let's provide our service to this city from the surface this once. I alone will keep watch of the exit. The rest of you do as she said," said Mastro Gianni to his men. His voice was authoritative, but compassionate at the same time.

The members of the mafia nodded in unison.

"When you encounter the enemy, call for backup immediately using your radio. Although they are few in number, they are full of trickery. Let's head out!" commanded Roze.

Everyone began moving in their own designated directions, leaving a few men patrolling the center of the street where the explosion had happened. The Police officers had heard what their lieutenant had said, so they felt relieved that they were not left alone, especially with some of them being injured. Although the Police and the Mafia were two very different entities, in Sloten, at least, they were not directly opposing each other. That was why the Police officers had no qualms about working with them.

"G, which group should we follow?" muttered Valentine.

He was interested in seeing more Contractbound fights because it would be useful for him. He had seen the abilities of most of the Police Contractbounds, and the ones who caught his interest the most were Roze and Bruin. He was also curious about the members of the mafia, especially Mastro Gianni. He didn't know what the man was capable of.

"I've decided. Let's follow that Mastro. I have a feeling that it will be interesting," said Valentine.

Valentine guessed that Mastro Gianni would take the motor carriage to drive back to the spot where they had entered before, but the man was walking instead. He walked alone back in the direction carrying a cane. His grey suit and top hat emphasized his gentlemanly nature, but he was also emitting a mysterious aura that warned people not to look down on him.

The man was walking leisurely without any signs of being in a hurry. He looked more like someone who was taking an afternoon stroll in the park instead of someone on a mission to prevent bad people from escaping. He seemed to be confident that he would make it in time.

Valentine followed the Mastro some distance away because he could never be sure if he would detect him. There were two people already who could see through his Concealments. One was Ghastly, whose abilities were related to cheating and dishonor, and the other one was Zeger de Witt. Valentine guessed that Zeger's ability to bypass his yellowish mist was related to his blood ability.

"You don't need to walk that far behind me," said Mastro Gianni suddenly. He was speaking using his normal tone as if he was speaking to someone right next to him. However, although Valentine was far behind him, he could hear the man perfectly because of his boosted hearing.

Valentine was suddenly alarmed. The Mastro was the third person in just one day who could see past his secret abilities. And the fact that he spoke normally made him even more guarded. It might mean he knew about Valentine's super hearing.

"Come here. Accompany this old man," said the man again. He slowed down his pace so Valentine could catch up.

Valentine didn't even need to run to reach the man's side. He was now walking near the old man with the yellowish mist shrouding his whole being, keeping a safe distance.

"I hereby declare my voice no longer a secret!"

The thick mist covering his mouth dissipated, but there was still a thin layer of yellowish mist there that was part of his face Concealment.

"How did you know I was there?" asked Valentine curiously. He then looked at the man and started concentrating.

"Everybody needs to have their own little secret, don't they? Let's just say it's one of my abilities," replied Mastro Gianni mysteriously. His voice was like a grandfather telling a mystery story to his grandchildren.

"I ask that you reveal your secrets to me..." mumbled Valentine very quietly.

An illusory text began forming above Mastro Gianni's head. However, before it could completely form, the text began crumbling like pieces of dominoes and Valentine got a splitting headache instead. The pain was like someone was piercing his skull and his brain with a sharp, long metal needle repeatedly.

"Argh!" he grunted in pain while holding his head.

"That won't work either. You will find out in time, but the time is not now, so please be patient," said Mastro Gianni with a meaningful smile.

Since prying into the man's secrets didn't work, Valentine could only ask questions normally to the man. He didn't even dare to use interrogation on him because of the consequence that he might incur.

"How are you confident that you can prevent anyone from escaping alone?" asked Valentine calmly, after his headache had subsided.

Mastro Gianni looked at him straight in the eyes and smiled.

"I am stronger than I look, young man," he said. Valentine couldn't hear any arrogance from his voice, only confidence.

"What do you know about the Pale Society?" asked Valentine again, "Did you commission me to steal the Eye of Amada because you knew of their plan beforehand?"

The man nodded slowly. His smile was as friendly as ever.

"Yes and no. I only knew that Zeger was up to no good. I didn't know it was this bad," he replied.

Valentine quickly thought of his next question. The man seemed to be willing enough to provide him with answers, so he shouldn't let the opportunity go to waste.

"How did the Police evacuate all the people in this whole area only in a matter of hours? Is that another one of their artifacts?"

"I must admit that you're a smart man," he praised.

Although he didn't show it, Valentine was actually proud of being praised by a man of his caliber.

"It is indeed one of their many artifacts. That one is called The Brick of Displacement. It's a peculiar artifact in that it looks like a completely normal brick that can be found anywhere. However, given the right sacrifice, the brick can transfer living beings from one area to another. The people here should have been moved to a safe place somewhere," explained the Mastro.

Valentine put both hands inside the pockets of his pants and thought about what Mastro Gianni had just said.

"G, it's yet another artifact requiring a sacrifice. Does it mean all artifacts require sacrifices to be used?" he muttered quietly. Valentine then turned back to the Mastro and asked, "Can you please tell me more about this... Brick?"

Mastro Gianni let out a chuckle.

"It's funny that you call it a 'Brick'. Don't dare to call it a brick when the artifact is around you or it will move you to a random, usually dangerous, place. It's sentient," replied Mastro Gianni with amusement in his tone.

"A sentient artifact?" asked Valentine in surprise.

"Yes. I guess you haven't been in this supernatural world for too long. Some artifacts, and even equipment, are sentient. They have their own needs and demands. This brick requires at least a million guilders for every use, and the amount goes up depending on the intended effect. And the moment someone or something pisses it off, it will cancel the effect immediately, although... the money cannot be refunded," he explained calmly.

"A fraudster of an artifact, eh?" muttered Valentine.

Mastro Gianni chuckled in amusement.

"You say that in front of this artifact and you'll be lucky if you don't find yourself deep under the ocean," he replied jokingly.

Only then Valentine could feel the true horror of the Brick of Displacement. Although the cost of use is exorbitant, it could just transfer all of the enemies somewhere dangerous like the bottom of the ocean or the middle of a volcano. The fact that the Police hadn't done so to the Pale Society meant that there must be limitations or the cost for doing that would be too much.

"We're here," said Mastro Gianni suddenly.

They had arrived at the spot where the barrier was broken. In front of them, although it was invisible, Valentine could faintly see a thin line forming a semicircle on the road which acted like an 'arch'. Behind the barrier, the street was still empty but through the opening, Valentine could once again hear the sounds of the bustling city.

"Now we wait here. You are curious about my abilities, don't you? Then just sit back and relax," said Mastro Gianni meaningfully.