Ambience

"Dan, last night, have you heard any running noise or maybe a mirror breaking?"

"No...why? Oh, but I've certainly heard a vase being broken and a loud thud coming from the dining room area."

Dan teased him while they're at it.

"...I'll take that as a no."

What can he say tho XDDD

After the short conversation, Ayre finally fully believed that he was indeed in a separate space than the real world at that time. He thought that maybe all of that was a dream but Dan stated otherwise. He focused his eyes onto a single point on the carriage while thinking deeply.

'Aight, it seems like I have to accept this. But wizards? Or uhhh magic wielders? I don't even know what to call them...what are those even supposed to be?! They shouldn't have any place in this peaceful world at all. I will need Eryl to answer every question I have.'

The carriage stopped right before the cathedral entrance. Arye disembarked from the carriage and headed straight right in. He told Dan to park the carriage where he parked it off yesterday before going.

Instead of heading to the lectern however, he turned left, stepped out of the main hall and he arrived to where he picked up Flinn's diary. This time though, he headed towards the building, to Eryl's main office.

Knock, knock, knock...

"Come in."

Eryl's weirdly comforting voice was the reply to Ayre's knocking. Ayre followed the instruction and went into the office.

The moment Eryl saw Ayre's figure, a little bit of a surprised expression displayed itself on his face. After all, he just met this guy yesterday and it wasn't about greetings but because of an issue with the official procedures.

"I believe you already returned the letter here. You confirmed it right?"

Ayre was bitter within. It was because he forgot exactly that he did that, that he got involved into something he shouldn't have been involved in.

'If only Dan could've at least said anything about it...

"Ah yes I'm not here for something as unimportant as that."

"Then?"

Eryl was confused.

"Cardinal Eryl, I want to ask you something personal. This isn't any official requests or whatever but a personal one. I request of you to, after this discussion, not let anything we've discussed, anything I asked, out. Can I trust you to do that?"

Eryl was even more so confused. He just met this man a day before and he's now asking for advice. It's not weird for church personnels to receive such requests but the fact that Ayre went directly in his office first thing in the morning, during a busy weekday at that, means that Ayre wants answers specifically from him.

'Now what could that be?'

Eryl thought while frowning. He felt like he have an idea but can't really figure out exactly what that is.

"Okay, I will answer your questions. I swear to the Lady Above that, I, Eryl Syth, will not leak anything that I will hear from now on to anyone. Is that okay?"

"I met someone last night."

'I knew it. Goddamn kid should focus with your work. You haven't found someone as a twenty-six year old adult. Don't expect for it to come la-'

"And that someone tried to kill me."

Eryl's silly thoughts stopped the moment he heard what Ayre told him.

"Hey. Ayre, I think you came to the wrong building. This is the church, not the station. Report everything that happened there. I will come with you."

Eryl suddenly sounded serious. If a criminal incident happened, that's worrisome. Even more so inside the estate of the governor. Now, the scariest part is that he haven't heard anything about it. If such big incident happens inside of such a big villa, he should have heard it first thing in the morning. But he haven't yet. "Yet" is already being optimistic. That means it was an incident that the malefactor or malefactors managed to hide so well.

'In other words, could it be...'

"No, I can't go there. I don't want to be treated as a crazy person. And also, this has something to do with you. That's why I figured that you may know something. Let me give you a context. Apparition, space separation, hidden letters. Ring any bells?"

Ayre basically threw everything he found strange regarding the incident into Eryl's face.

Bingo.

"Hoh. So you met those lunatics?"

"Lunatics?"

Ayre started looking for a seat. It seems like it will be quite a long conversation.

"Was it a person with an indistinguishable voice? A dark robe maybe? A creep who'll follow you in the form of some kind of hologram?"

'Jackpot.' Ayre thought while he was making himself comfortable on the couch. A smile stating 'I knew it' emerged from his face.

"So you do know about them. Tell me. Who was that, what was that physicality bull crap he's been talking about, something about apparition and why are they-"

"I think you know why they are going for you."

He cut Ayre's barrage of questions not minding Ayre's choice of words at all. He continued.

"Did you do something that you find...quite magical? I will guide you to the answers you want but I can't directly tell you... No, I am not allowed to tell you. I will do this as a favor to the governor.

"Aight. I read the urgent letter. I know you know that wasn't blank so let's skip that detail. It was through a certain kind of light. I discovered that letters started exposing themselves the moment it was illuminated by that light."

"Light?"

"Yes. Anyways that doesn't matter. Let me get straight to what I really want to know. I just want you to confirm this. Are the supernaturals real? Like sorcery or magic for example. And another... Tell me who those who those people are. I don't have any evidence so I can't turn to the executive branch."

Ayre straightened his seating posture as he seriously looked at Eryl.

Frowning, Eryl started considering what he should share.

"Too many questions. Kid, I advice you to stop trying to put your hands in a pot of hot, boiling oil. It will give you nothing but a high degree burn. I will help you clean those people but after the contract, stop and forget everything that happened."

He chose the option of not sharing any.

"Now even you sound like that shit. Are you perhaps one of them?"

"Ayre. I expect that that will be the last time I heard that joke, alright?"

It seems like Eryl was offended of being identified as one of "them". Ayre subconsciously started identifying that person as part of an organization instead of the work of a single individual.

"A joke indeed. Forget I said that. No, i don't wish to stop. Please tell me the answer to everything I asked earlier."

It was a sincere plea. However, Eryl refused to listen.

"It is for your own good. Please. You don't want to know that knowledge. The subsequent knowledge will haunt you for the rest of your life, literally. Alright, let's lower my condition a bit. Although I still can't tell you about that 'magical thing' you're requesting."

"No. I still want you to answer me."

He stood up.

Both have no power to do anything to the other. They can't threaten each other nor they can expose each of their secrets because of their knowledge of each other so both have to compromise in this "negotiation".

"I still want to know every single thing. That damned candle light caused me to see the useless hidden message and in exchange, I suddenly have to fight an unknown intruder person who apparently can turn into a ghost on command. Isn't that hell of an experience? Now they might come for me-"

Before he finished though, Eryl cut him off.

"Wait. Candle light?"

"You interrupted me because of that?"

"Did that light came from a candle light?"

"Yes..."

Ayre thought that Eryl was acting strange for a candle light. Candle light is simple candle light. Haven't he already told Eryl that? Why does that matter?

"Ayre, where's the candle right now?"

"Inside a hidden box along with the Brachium summoning letter. They were the only things I can and might use in the future so I kept them. Why?"

He still can't figure out Eryl's point.

'Where are you going with this?'

"Listen. It's not because you read the letter that the man targeted you. It's because of the candle."

"The candle?"

Ayre was just straight up confused at that moment.

"Yes. That candle. That candle, I suspect, emits pure ambience just from its fire, not the light which you previously suspected."

There was a strange expression pasted on Eryl's face the moment he said it but it faded also after a moment. Ayre who was confused, didn't have the time to pay attention to his face so he missed it.

*Confused*

"Ambience?"