Chapter 6

Location: Tbilisi. Time: 4:10PM. Date: 7th August 2008.

Alyza Lohmus was at a loss. It had not even been 15 minutes when writing her new battle plans and her servant (Anne Bonny) had burst into the master bedroom and grabbed her.

"We're going walking!"

"HUH?-"

Alyza was promptly grabbed out of her chair and carried like a sack of potatoes towards the balcony.

It would appear the piracy tendencies of kidnapping were something even Alyza's servant was prone to. However, that said...

"UNHAND ME AT ONCE!!"

Alyza did not like it.

Anne ignored the squirming and screaming. Her strength as a servant allowed her so.

With a free hand she opened the balcony door and looked towards the wide urban city that was Tbilisi.

With a single spring jump she leaped over the railing towards the backyard lawn. Not even a gasp escaped through her mouth as she easily landed and made a shift in her shoulders to prevent her master falling off.

If one had viewed the stunt from a distance they would have most certainly watched the amazing bobbing and jiggling in that moment. They would then wonder how such an outfit failed to tear apart with the woman who wore it. How such a robe failed to slip and reveal the brilliant treasure behind it.

But we digress.

Alyza took the landing far better than Anne had thought and instead of fainting she was still screaming and squirming.

"Don't worry master~ It won't be for long."

The property was large, easily over an acre and stood alone at the top of the hill. A part of ancient Europe never aging along with the rest of the world. As was clearly evident by the Suburbs that stretched below it towards the city like an outgrowth. 

Alyza remembered viewing it when she had been driven to the house. The simplistic houses and families that occupied them. Not a thought popped in her head that held interest before. For Alyza knew she would never interact with these people. Her duty was to simply fix this country's problem and nothing more.

But now Alyza was forced to watch the rooftops of these simplistic houses.

From 15 feet above them.

There had been some very narrow misses and recoveries as Archer carried her down the hill. Rooftops, gutters and even idle cars acted as her launch pads casually leaping towards the urban city that was Tbilisi.

Alyza panicked. Her servant was deliberately risking exposure to every soul that dared look up. Although she wasn't sure of it, Alyza feared repercussions.

"Stop this, Archer!"

It was a deliberate yell, one done right next to the ear of Archer. But Anne Bonny simply smirked and sped up, heavy leather boots stomping and jumping. 

Alyza feared this would be dangerous. But soon their journey came to a stop.

Anne Bonny's target was not the city despite her trajectory. But was instead a simple open playground.

These were common in most suburbs around the world. A large playground communally available to all in the area. Anne Bonny took a single step and landed right beside the monkey bars and swings. 

A trip of 2 kilometres in just 30 seconds. Rather fast but that isn't to say she was moving her fastest.

With a simple movement Alyza was alighted and deposited onto the sandy soil that formed the base of the playground. Her light jacket and jeans were immediately dirtied.

When she raised her head to shout, to yell at her servant she simply came face to face with the open blue sky. 

Archer was nowhere to be seen.

"NOW you hide yourself!?"

Alyza grumbled as she stood up and faced the playground around her.

No children could be viewed for a distance.

{Archer... why leave me here.}

{So we can walk back to the house of course.}

{Don't of course me...}

Alyza was bitter but all the same she picked herself up and walked up the road towards the mansion at the top of the hill.

How stupid, how utterly pointless. As the minutes passed and Alyza received estranged glances from the people of the neighborhood, her mood soured.

Somewhere deep down she contemplated using magecraft and getting to the safehouse faster.

But she dared not and so just as Archer planned she walked.

Of course Alyza knew what had brought this about but she refused to give Archer the satisfaction of discussing it.

It was a result of their earlier discussion. On what was the wish of the magus called Alyza Lohmus.

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"How childish..."

The pirate of legend, Anne Bonny, had a look of ingrained disgust. The magus, Alyza Lohmus, had a look of apparent indifference.

"Such a wish... is nothing but childish, master."

Anne Bonny was a being who rarely held back her thoughts and opinions no matter what. To her if a matter was childish she would rightfully declare it so without evasiveness.

A characteristic so deep rooted in the spirit origin that was Anne Bonny the legendary pirate.

And yet...

"I care not for your opinion on it. You asked me a question and I provided my answer."

Alyza Lohmus held herself steadfast in the presence of her servant's ire. Just a moment ago, she had broken her usual character to speak her mind. Her own thoughts rather than those she had ingrained into herself over a harsh life lived.

Her servant called the thoughts childish and so Alyza returned to who she always was. A matter-of-fact girl with few opinions and personal thoughts.

Anne Bonny fumed and Alyza Lohmus chewed.

Mary Read simpy stood to the side glancing at the sandwich held between the dainty hands of her master.

"I suppose it was inevitable..."

Anne Bonny sighed and in the blink of an eye she vanished away like a breath of smoke. Dematerializing as was common among servants.

"I cannot get along with someone like you."

Alyza's expression remained indifferent as she ate and stared at where Anne Bonny had been a moment ago.

In the next moment Alyza sensed the absence of the other half of her servant beside her.

But this didn't matter. Alyza could hardly care for her servant's opinion of her.

That had been 3 hours ago.

And now Alyza felt herself near the very edge of anger as she climbed the hill to her house.

{Goddamit Archer!}

A pointless journey down the hill, one that threatened Alyza's safety and position as a master. And a pointless journey back up, one that made Alyza question if she could really continue to work with the pirate Anne Bonny.

Her wish. Was her wish so unacceptable? Surely not. After all it was one any normal human being would desire, If they shared her circumstances.

But it didn't matter.

Alyza finally ascended the last climb and turned the last corner to stand before her house, the mansion at the top of the hill.

Only to find the front gate had been ripped partially off its hinges.

"What-"

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"There are no traces of mana..."

Alyza examined the metal gate closely. Careful and dainty touches everywhere. This continued for a full minute before she retreated and frowned deeply.

The apparent lack of any traces of mana meant pure physical strength was used. But the manner it was used was difficult to assess.

The gate had not been blown off its hinges but rather 'wrenched'. An important difference for it meant the gate was rather pulled apart than 'demolished'. 

Physical strength.

A servant?

Alyza clucked her tongue and turned towards the mansion where she saw the next object of her investigation.

The trudge was slow but eventually she came to stand at the front porch.

Unlike the gate. This one showed obvious signs of 'demolition'. Alyza narrowed her eyes and knelt down to peer closer.

The splintered wood of her once french oak door were scattered far and wide.

But they scattered inside rather than outside. Meaning true to her suspicions the door had been 'demolished' rather than 'pulled apart'.

A quick inspection with dainty, careful touches revealed yet again a lack of any traces of mana.

Pure physical strength.

Alyza was now at full alert.

She gazed inside the house and for a single moment her emerald green eyes flashed gold.

"No living existence within. Bounded field still in tact and untriggered."

Whatever had caused all this, had failed to enter the mansion.

Why?

Most probably cause they must have realised what they were looking for was no longer there. 

Alyza clucked her tongue and took a step into the mansion.

{Archer. Stand guard anywhere on the property. Any suspicous movement, terminate at once.}

{...}

Alyza did not bother with her servant past that point and headed for the stairwell.

The reason why this mansion in particular had been chosen as a safehouse, despite its location on the outskirts of the city, was the amount of defensive functions it served.

The house had belonged to one of the elder members of the Weischner family. The family that once presided over the entire country in all matters magecraft.

It had several bounded fields and automated spells to the point that it could be considered a fortress.

But...

It was far too mana-intensive.

The day Alyza had occupied the mansion she came to realise the bounded fields were far too excessive. One to prevent hostile enemies to reach a distance of 20 feet from the front door. Another to freeze any movement considered a threat both inside and outside the mansion. 

And not to mention one that could burn a human being alive with just a quick 10 word incantation.

The mana required was far too inconvenient for Alyza to bother with. And so she had devised a system.

She had created a 'terminal'.

A central place where all bounded fields overlapped and could be individually controlled.

The mana that drove one would be fueled into another to enhance it.

This was what Alyza had done, she had fueled all mana from other bounded fields into the one that gave an alarm in case of intruders.

The simplest one.

Unfortunately, she had not been around for it to have performed its function appropriately.

"Honestly..."

Alyza found the 'terminal', a sigil she had drawn under the stairs and with a quick chant she had reactivated every bounded field. Every automated security spell switched on and for the first time in days it felt like the mansion took a proper breath. One it had held ever since its occupant, Alyza Lohmus, had moved in.

With that done Alyza took a step back and looked around to the entryway.

Looks like she would be cleaning...

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