Ongoing Mystery

'TMP' 'TMP'

Karlos hugged the hallway wall with heavy steps.

His destination was uncertain. Moving slowly, he only wanted a room to rest in.

At some point, he also noticed the villagers in the manor had disappeared. The halls were deathly quiet and signs of damage had appeared across the walls, floors, and even the ceiling.

Smelling the air, Karlos caught the faint trace of metal, reminiscent of the smell he had been smothered with in the village.

Blood...

Frankly, Karlos was too tired to be alarmed by any of these abnormalities. He was exhausted both physically and mentally.

His morale had long crumbled, and his strength was in no better state.

He needed rest.

'Click'

Trying a door, he opened it to reveal a room filled with dusty boxes and old books.

This is...

The Anafang manor is characteristically old for a noble's home. It was constructed during his great-great grandfather's time, back when he was a Knight working for the king of Egris. As a result, it had many unique rooms that housed antique trinkets and furniture. Whenever he visited the manor with his parents during holidays, he would always explore such rooms and find ornaments.

With this room in particular, however...

This is the room I was always forbidden from entering...

There was no mistake. Inspecting the distinct, bronze doorknob and maroon boxes stacked within the room, Karlos recognized this as the only room his father told him not to enter.

Though there were rooms he could not enter, usually for safety reasons, he was never told why this room was restricted. It seemed ordinary, after all.

Closing the door behind him, Karlos quickly lit the oil lamp he had brought with him from the library and placed it onto a nearby table, softly illuminating the small room.

It felt oddly stuffy. He could feel the moisture from the walls envelop the air in a faint mist, the temperature both hot and cold at the same time.

Regardless, he rummaged through several boxes and found a blanket of decent quality and a few bandages. Quickly tending to his wounded arm, he wasted no time and layed the blanket on the floor, resting his head on a pile of rolled-up curtains.

Minutes passed, and Karlos gradually ignored his tiredness and pain.

After an unkown amount of time, his eyes relaxed.

There's nobody to trust now. I'm truly alone...

He slept.

'Fizzle...'

...

Lysandra was disoriented.

Wearing a blindfold as she was, she hadn't sensed anybody else at the door except for Karlos, yet was grievously attacked by an invisible force.

That fact alone was alarming, but she also noticed something off about the manner in which she was wounded.

Her attacker had ample time, opportunity, and strength to easily pierce a vital organ, yet they had decided to keep at a distance. Her wound was deep, there was no question about that, and she would surely die from blood loss if left unnattended.

Yet the invisible entity chose not to outright kill her.

Just before the strike had connected, Lysandra could briefly feel it. Her attacker had purposely stayed on the doorstep instead of moving towards her.

Though, the cirumstances were the least of Lysandra's worries. She could barely hold onto conciousness, and her body was gradually losing strength.

She needed to act fast.

'Ha...'

She slowly exhaled and began manipulating the soil.

It's fortunate that the earth here is so healthy. This soil is very easy to control...

She had no time to sanitize the dirt, so she could only hope not to receive an infection as she began packing her wound. Using her Psyche, she quickly filled the gash on her stomach with soil, carefully compacting and expanding in a manner that stopped the bleeding as well as removing any insects embedded within the soil.

This really hurts...

After a few seconds, she managed to stop most of the bleeding in her wound.

'Hoo...'

Laying on the soft soil, she flipped over to face the two moons, taking off her blindfold in the process.

Looking at the two orbs on the night sky, she had time to contemplate.

...I wonder if Karlos is alright.

Remembering how he ran into the manor, Lysandra caught a key detail.

Hm... Karlos entered the manor, and after about five seconds, he came back looking... Refreshed.

He was clearly healed, and he changed his clothes, too. This shouldn't be possible in such a short time...

I should check something.

Lysandra suddenly stood up, accidentally disturbing her wound.

'Ouch...'

Reaching into her basket, she took out the last of her cave grass and bandaged her stomach.

"Now then..."

Lysandra slithered next to a stone wall.

Putting her hand on the cold material, she closed her eyes and began concentrating.

...This rock... It doesn't feel organic.

Although she had no experience manipulating stone, she could still sense rough properties of any earth-related material. From the composition of stone in the wall, Lysandra could notice something off.

I may not know anything about human construction, but this wall shouldn't be able to stand on its own. It's far too weak.

There's something else mixed with it... But what?

Putting aside the manor for a moment, Lysandra sat back down and retrospectively reviewed the situation

Judging from his tone and expression... Karlos should have honestly believed there were people behind him. Not to mention how his entire body had healed.

Then there's those invisible people... I clearly sensed the one who attacked me, but only when they had already pierced my stomach...

Is it safe to assume they can only interact with me physically when they decide to? That would explain why I couldn't sense them before, they simply didn't exist until they had to.

But then, why would decide to stay within the manor? It just doesn't make sense to let me live... I'm a gorgon, after all.

She shuddered slightly at the thought of Kassel, who so desperately wanted to end her life, but quickly ignored the thought.

If they don't want to involve themselves with me, to the point of carelessly allowing my escape... They must be after Karlos, right? But why?

Lysandra thought back to when she was still in the gorgon tribe. Her chieftess was especially talented in Psyche, and dabbled with forms of manipulation other than earth.

One power in particular piqued her interest.

Illusion manipulation...

She remembered those nights of spectacular lights. She would huddle with other gorgons around her age and watch the chieftess dance with glowing animals and vibrant orbs of various colours. Although they didn't have a complex education system, the old gorgon would teach the children basic Psyche manipulation, and declared any gorgon capable of manipulating illusions could earn the position of chieftess.

To create lifelike images of people, concepts, and objects, bringing them to life using Psyche...

Karlos genuinely believed those people were real...

Lysandra widened her eyes.

Is the entire manor even real?

She was by no means a detective. Living alone in a cavern for multiple years, her interperative skills weren't a strong suit.

But was it plausible?

No, let's be realistic. To create an illusion of this scale, it would require a tremendous amount of Psychic energy. Besides, why create such an illusion in the first place? To fool Karlos?

But why else would they be visible only to him?

Lysandra suddenly looked back to the doorstep.

If I remember correctly, illusions can't leave a designated area. If that's true, then is it possible the entire manor is this area, and they used Karlos to lure me closer?

It makes sense. They likely see me as a threat, but if they couldn't reach me from within the manor, they simply had to use Karlos to lure me close enough for an attack... Right?

Lysandra had reached a dead end. As far as logical reasoning is concerned, this was the most she could deduce. Any other theories were merely speculations, she simply had too many questions and not enough answers or clues.

She sat back down next to a wooden wall, watching the twin moons overhead.

...Curious about humans... Is it?

"...Oχληρός."

...

Karlos awoke to an unpleasant feeling.

The stuffy air still persisted, and the dust only served to intesify his discomfort.

What time is it...?

Getting up from the floor, he almost forgot about his wounded arm, but managed to miraculously avoid pressuring it.

'CLICK'

Grabbing the distinct bronze doorknob, Karlos stood and up checked his wounds.

I must've slept for... 10 hours? 13? Well, at least I don't feel tired anymore...

He could feel his memories suddenly rushing back to him, no longer clouded by exhaustion.

Alphonse... Löcher? I've never heard that surname before...

Wait. Isn't Alphonse's last name Eichel?

Was that person disguised as him just trying decieve to me? Or did Alphonse really lie about his surname?

Why?

Karlos shuffled through each of his servants in his mind.

Sêlafrien Pritzkat... Alphonse Eichel... Gisthûs Molnár...

...They all seem like normal surnames... If his last name was switched, I wouldn't be able to tell.

"In any case... I guess I should explore?" Karlos mumbled to himself as he began opening the piles of maroon boxes.

Spare pocketwatches, cloths, documents... Documents?

Karlos took out a stack of old papers and focused near the gas lamp.

These must be incredibly old. The humidity sure wouldn't help preserve the paper... Its all tattered.

Although some of the documents were unreadable, he was fortunately able to find one that looked important.

"Notice of Abnormality.

Reporting is Lieutenant Jurik.

We (Team 3) have encountered several monsters near the outskirts of Egris, at the small village of Anafang.

Said monsters were identified as Aufhockers, also known as Shapeshifters. The entire team is unsure of their purpose, but they seem to have expertly blended in with the villagers.

We have caught one, but it refuses to divulge information on its comrades.

If applicable, we would like to apply for the Specialist Unit to assist.

I will thoroughly record the situation on my next report.

Regards,"

The rest of the document was unintelligible.

Besides the obvious "Lieutenant Jurik," it wasn't clear who exactly wrote this.

Why would something like this be kept here? It seems like an official document from Egris... Was my father involved with...

His eyes wandered to a key word.

Aufhockers...

Putting down the paper, Karlos rummaged through the same box he had found the document in.

Several letters, papers, and unique emblems written in ink was the bulk of the contents in the box.

Opening a letter, Karlos realized it was an unsent message.

"Dear Jurik, How are you?

I know you have been awfully busy with that expedition unit, but I just want to make sure you're living a good life.

You know how much..."

...? Why did the letter cut off here?

Karlos felt uneasy. He put down the letter and went through the last of the papers, eventually touching something cold.

'KLINK'

Karlos pulled out a key ring. On it, two exquisite keys dangled with a dazzling glimmer.

"Keys?"

Karlos seperated the keys and found that one was very heavy and red in colour, an intricate bird of some kind making up the head.

The other key was dark green and was slightly translucent, almost as if made of glass, and had a shield imprinted on its end.

These must be valuable... But where do they belong?

Karlos began looking around the room for any possible keyholes. Besides the one on the main door, such keys seemed too fancy for any regular lock.

'Thuk'

"Ah..." Karlos found a locked drawer on one of the dusty shelves. it was relatively ordinary looking, so it was all the more surprising to find such a beautiful keyhole surrounded by gilded flowers.

'CLICK'

Trying the red key, Karlos opened it to find a scribbled note next to a large, green box that looked like a bejewelled chest.

Where did we get that? We would be able to easily support the manor financially if we sold something like this... Why...

Karlos decided to reserve his questions for the time being. Reading the note next to the box, he was stunned.

"I can't read this?"