Chapter 51: Dog I.D. Acquired!

Empress Borought, Böcklund Street, Match Residence...

"Miss! Where are you?! The afternoon meal is about to begin, and you must be ready!" The maid, Anabette, tapped uneasily on the new dark oak door with her left hand.

A gauze covered her forehead, and her right forearm was in a cast; the broken bone would still take time to heal.

Usually, for a servant serving a noble to suffer so many injuries, she would rest and temporarily relegate her position to someone else until she recovered and returned to continue. Of course, this was only usual in compassionate families.

The natural norm was dismissal. Many servants were dismissed and fired once they suffered injuries that prevented them from working. They had to rely on the care of churches and charities to recover.

Fortunately, the Macht family was one of the gentle families. So, people who suffered injuries that required rest could rest and still receive their wages.

But even so, Anabette wanted to continue working for her Miss. Although her attitude had improved considerably, she was still challenging to deal with in certain aspects, so Anabette preferred to avoid problems for her lady by being with her.

She thought that Miss would refuse to let her continue working and tell her to rest, but contrary to what she expected, she just told her;

'Do what you want. But if you feel tired, take a break, I can take care of myself'.

The Lords stopped fussing when they heard that.

Shaking off past memories, Anabette knocked on the door again. "Miss! Please!"

Just as she was considering knocking the door down by crying loudly, a prim and trim Hazel Macht opened it, her eyes glittering with annoyance. 

"I was just finishing my makeup."

The servant pursed her lips, and her gaze hardened a little. The softness in her face became a little harder, but her voice kept its gentle tone. "Being on time is respected, Miss. If you wish to get into and stay in college, you have to learn to be punctual."

At the reprimand, Hazel rolled her eyes and began to walk. Closing the door behind her, "Then why are we still here? Come on."

Anabette could only sigh soundlessly and quickly followed her mistress, always three steps behind.

Inside the repaired and reorganized room of the sole heiress of the family, there was no movement, and everything was spotless...

Taking her ear off the door of her wardrobe, Hazel Macht nodded in satisfaction.

Unlike the other Hazel, who had come out wearing an elegant and rich dress, she was wearing dark hunting clothes, and her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail.

Turning to look at the other inhabitant of the dressing room, she raised an eyebrow. 

"This will only last a few weeks, won't it?" 

Her furry companion gave a graceful, human nod.

The noblewoman looked at that movement and curiously found nothing strange about it, not feeling frightened or repulsed.

'It must be because of the time I spent with Teacher Flora; a talking rat was educating me. Seeing a dog nod is nothing compared to that...' Remembering why such scenes turned her off, Hazel could only sigh.

In front of her, sitting upright like a soldier, was a golden retriever. Its long golden coat curiously curled at the paws, indicating that it was not purebred.

This curious dog, which seemed to have human intelligence, was one of the soldiers of the Scarlet Monarch that Teacher Adryan had 'lent' to her.

According to her Teacher, this soldier's name was Ignir, while the soldier acting as her was Weiss.

These were not the only things he had lent her either, not by a long shot. 

Hidden in one of her hidden pockets in her outfit, in the shadows of it, was the Burnt Band. Inside the Burnt Band were Hangover Time, Vecchio Pomodoro, and several light charms.

Her Teacher had entrusted her with three rank 2 artifacts, 2 of his soldiers whose strength was equivalent to a Sequence 8 Provoker, and several charms that would help her escape.

All in all, Hazel had never had so much power in her hands.

There was a little whisper in the back of her mind, tempting her to take these items for herself and not give them back, but she quickly suppressed them.

One of the acting rules from when she was still a Marauder repeated itself calmly in her mind. 

'Never take something you can't keep in your control, limit your hand, or it will end up choking you...' 

Of course, she had done her part too!

These last few days, she has taken the initiative to 'socialize' more, attending parties and gatherings and behaving better. This is so she will not raise suspicion when the investigation against Ambassador Backerland begins.

Hazel looked down at her hands with a soft sigh and could only grunt a little at the sight of them shaking.

'With all these preparations, the risk is much less, but it is still dangerous. One mistake and death will be the best-case scenario. The worst, becoming a puppet to be used against my family...'

She knew the dangers. Her Teacher had explained them to the point of filling several pages in his letter, including the number of Beyonders and their possible paths. But more than that, he had warned her of 2 in particular.

Backerland was the Conspirator of Sequence 6, the same as him. And his personal bodyguard, Rosago, a Marionettist of Sequence 5.

Not only was the information she had to search for most certainly guarded by traps and well hidden, but hiding was impossible because of the Marionettist.

'Below Sequence 4, the Marionettist is the most dangerous. It is impossible to hide from his eyes...'

Clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white, the green-haired girl let out a long exhale of nerves and nodded slightly.

She was now a Swindler, and her job was to steal. She could do this.

'Besides, I can also use this opportunity to find the Swindler's Acting Rules...'

Shaking her head, the young heiress looked up from her fists to the cream wall of her dressing room.

Complicated emotions flashed across her face. 

She wasn't stupid; it was obvious who Ignir planned to replace to carry out the espionage mission. After all...

Only one noblewoman is known to have a golden retriever that she carries around.

'But to think that the 'Brightest Gem of Backlund' isn't as innocent as I thought. I can't help but feel disappointed.' Hazel grimaced and huffed.

She didn't know how her Teacher knew Audrey Hall or how she had agreed to 'lend' her pet, but she wasn't going to ask. If she needed to know, she was sure she would have been told.

'Anyway, it'll be time for the change soon anyway.' Closing her eyes, Hazel went into cogitation for a moment to empty her mind.

Once that was done, she placed the strange bandana on her left bicep while placing a hand on the Ignir Dog's shoulder. Doing her best to endure the ravings that were assaulting her mind, she searched for a suitable shadow.

No sooner had that happened than the shadows of the dressing room enveloped them, and they disappeared into them.

Reappearing in the shadows at the edges of the property, Hazel immediately removed the Burnt Band.

A vein pulsed in her forehead, and her teeth were clenched tightly. Quickly entering cogitation, she began to meditate to calm her assaulted mind.

Dog Ignir sat beside her on guard, his brown eyes looking around alertly.

After a while, Hazel opened her eyes and growled slightly. 'So those are the ravings of an Evil God... The teacher is amazing to use it so often and show no reaction.'

Complaining silently, she waited a few moments before using the shadow jump again and reappearing in the sewers.

Today was the day it had been discussed to make the change, taking advantage of a Sunday afternoon meal that the women of the Hall family always held.

...

Earl Hall Villa.

Looking at her mother in front of her, Audrey Hall focused on calming her mind as her eyes read the small book in her hands.

The picnic table before her contained a dainty tea set, various desserts, and ham and cheese sandwiches. Her mother, Lady Hall, was at the head of the table.

The older woman was reading the day's newspaper, her usual elegant and gentle face looking strangely tense.

Being a Spectator, the young woman quickly noticed how something bothered her mother and promptly showed her concern.

"Is everything all right, Mother? You've had that grimace on your face for a few days."

"Sigh. Sometimes, I'd rather you weren't so perceptive." Lady Hall grumbled a little before placing the newspaper on the table. "Finally, the 'Moonless Night' has shown its claws. The Pound has dropped eight percent in value while most utilities have doubled, even tripled the price of their services.

"The worst of all is gas, which has tripled in price per liter in the last five days." Lady Hall sighed wearily as she popped a small cake into her mouth.

Taking the opportunity to pause, Audrey quickly recalled her teaching.

Most of the gas people used for cooking, heating water on cold winter nights, and lighting the streets or the inside of their homes went through East Borought first.

Considering that the few surviving factories were severely understaffed and the demand for this valuable material was higher than ever, it is evident that prices would soar.

Swallowing the cake, the older woman continued bitterly,

"The reconstructions are still far from beginning; we haven't even finished counting the bodies we keep finding; most of the factories have been destroyed or are impossible to access for the time being..." 

With a snort, the eldest Hall brought a gloved hand to the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes tightly, "Even with all that, we now have threats of protest against the gas price hike... What has happened to this city?"

Audrey could only listen to her mother silently, not because she didn't know what to say. But she felt that what her mother needed now was not encouraging words.

That she needed to let off some steam.

'Sometimes, the best we can do is to give our presence and someone to listen...' Lifting the teacup to her lips, the young Spectator lowered her eyes to her feet.

Her best friend/pet was lying quietly, watching everything around her with curious eyes and a slow wag of her tail.

Those brown eyes, which seemed to sparkle with human intelligence, occasionally passed by the numerous guards surrounding their location.

With everything that had happened, the Earl wanted to avoid accidents, so security was high.

Looking at the small clock on the picnic table. Audrey saw the time of change approaching, and her heart skipped a beat.

She should be terrified. Her identity would be discovered, and a member of the Tarot Club would know who she was—a member who was easily the most dangerous of them all. But Audrey didn't feel scared or afraid; if anything, she felt a little nervous.

And this was thanks to Mr. Fool! 

If Mr Chariot crossed even the smallest of lines, the noblewoman knew he would be severely punished!

'Besides, it's not as if our identity would remain hidden forever. Chariot himself is the example of that, ' the blonde lampooned a bit before rolling her shoulders a bit and looking around for a moment.

Internally, she couldn't help but wonder how Chariot's 'man' would get so close without being discovered. 

'Could it be a special ability? Or maybe a distraction! Oh, I can't wait to see!' Holding back the corners of her lips from rising, the young lady listened intently to her mother's palaver.

Suddenly, Susie rose from her lying posture with a serious look. Thanks to her heightened sense of seeing changes in the faces of people and animals, Audrey noticed how her friend's muzzle seemed to twitch a little.

As if she had suddenly smelled her favorite treat. Her tail wagging with excitement.

The noblewoman was momentarily confused before her eyes lit up in recognition. 

'The signal!' 

Of course!

Why try complicating themselves with complicated methods of dodging guards and sneaking when the target could come at them?

Faced with a dog's nose, humans could not compare. Much less a Beyonder dog's nose!

It was brilliant!

Looking around her with a small smile that hid her genuine excitement, Audrey patted her knee three times, drawing the attention of the spectating dog whose tail had frozen.

Smiling at her friend, she winked, "Go play girl."

"Woof!" Happy, Susie took heed, quickly jumped up from her spot, and headed into the woods, barking happily.

Lady Hall paused her speech for a moment to look at that and sighed sadly, "Oh, poor Susie. I almost forgot she spent the last few weeks cooped up in the manor. She must have missed running."

'Yes, she does miss it very much. She doesn't spend all day in my room chewing on that huge bone that Chariot's messenger gave her.' Audrey looked at her mother with a simple smile and nodded elegantly.

"She's been a bit anxious to get out but not as anxious as you think, Mother. I'm sure she'll be bored soon enough." 

Thus, the mother-daughter duo continued to talk, although it was more chatter on the mother's part. The daughter listened attentively and responded when she saw fit.

After a while, Susie came running out of the forest with a massive stick in her muzzle.

Arriving before the women, she dropped it and let out a happy "Woof!".

Lady Hall laughed in amusement at the dog while Audrey just smiled. 

Her green eyes quickly noticed how the look in her friend's eyes had become more fiery.

...

Watching the golden retriever in front of her from her hiding place in the woods. Hazel, who had donned a simple mask that covered her entire face, just tossed another piece of the roast beef she had prepared.

The original Susie leaped into the air and caught it in one bite, wagging her tail happily.

'I'm a little disappointed it was so easy... Is the Hall security so bad?' Hazel thought, a bit dizzy, while throwing another piece of meat.