Velvet spent the entire night searching for clues and asking the few civilians that roamed the streets of Raml Asfr. Unfortunately, her persistence didn’t pay off as she couldn’t find anything remotely useful.

Only when she was heading back to the Sultan’s palace did a stranger stop her.

“Excuse me!”

A homeless young man handed her a letter before sprinting away. He didn’t give her the time to react.

‘Miss Velvet, your mage friend is in our custody. We will be waiting for you in the light-blue building on Tijara Street.’

This came as a surprise to Velvet, but it was a pleasant surprise. Even though her quarry has been captured, it was still much better than having him escape from the city altogether.

“I’ve just arrived in Raml Asfr, he shouldn’t know I’m here. This is my chance.”

With a pair of gleaming and eager eyes, Velvet immediately headed to the rendez-vous point. She didn’t care who captured ‘him’, nor did she want to go to the Sultan for help. This was a matter well within her capabilities to manage. Furthermore, whoever was holding the mage in custody, it was apparent that they wanted her to give them something- likely gold- in exchange for him.

A couple of hours earlier

“They’re my friends, don’t worry.”

Isabella sat on the bed and stared at the two people who just came in.

“You…”

Jonathan put the unconscious old mage on the bed before staring at Isabella, surprised to see her free of Espero so fast. He had not seen what the Parasite was capable of, but not just anyone could barge into an Aristocrat’s residence and break free a person without getting caught.

Isabella didn’t seem afraid of the two strangers, she was calm and silent.

“Master.”

Evelyn bowed her head and then looked around, quickly noticing Christopher’s absence.

“I’ll wait for a bit and then go look for him. That idiot has a knack for getting into trouble.”

The maid nodded and then shifted her attention to the young girl. Isabella had been washed and given a new dress for the ‘occasion’, so she no longer looked haggard and dirty.

Still, her particularly thin limbs and slim body were signs of malnourishment.

“Ehm… I need to go back to Mister Fedge. Take care of him for a bit, ok?”

Jonathan didn’t like the awkward silence flowing in the air, so he excused himself after briefly checking on the old mage.

“I’m Evelyn, Master’s maid.”

“Isabella.”

The introduction was stiff as the former was scrutinising the latter, still harbouring some suspicions.

“Calm down, Eve. She went through something traumatic… and she’s young.”

“I haven’t done anything, Master.”

“You’re like a predator looking at a prey.”

She refrained from voicing any complaints as she went to the old mage and shook him for a couple of seconds.

“We lost our mage and brought another.” Sarcastically remarked Arthur as he stood up and walked to the window to survey the streets.

“We shouldn’t keep him with us, Master.”

“We’ll wait for him to wake up first. Anyway…” He looked at the motionless Isabella, who sat on the bed with her hands resting on her thighs as she dazedly stared to the front.

“You should sleep, Isabella. No one will come for you.”

The girl didn’t protest, she laid on the bed and closed her eyes, but she didn’t fall asleep.

…

An hour later, Christopher had yet to return, which made Arthur nervously pace around the room.

“Can you stop, Master? Moving like that will not make him come back faster.”

“I’m going to look for him. You stay here and protect Isabella. If anything happens, you are to take her out of the city and to Jader’s village.”

“Mas-”

The Parasite opened the window, his human host was replaced by a small bird that rapidly soared into the night sky.

Admittedly, Arthur had no direct and efficient way to locate Chris, but he wasn’t completely lost either.

He knew how Chris acted and thought, so the first place to scour was the Slave Market. It was plausible but highly improbable for Christ to have encountered a random problem in Raml Asfr, but it made more sense for him to get attacked in the Slave Market, likely by the mercenaries Evelyn had told him about earlier.

The small dark brown bird descended near the burnt building, unnoticed by the Yellowjackets still present at the scene.

Most of the passerby had already gone home and the culprits were nowhere to be seen, unfortunately.

[Magic Beast]

Even though he was possessing a small host, Arthur made sure to always bring with him the useful and carriable storage artifact, which allowed him to retrieve hosts as long as he imbued it with an insignificant quantity of Mana.

‘I’ll need a better body.’

In total, Arthur had 13 hosts at his disposal: 4 humans - including Leonis’ body-, 1 lizard, 1 spider, 2 insects, 1 Baboon, 1 Bear, 1 Knight Cydian Ant, 1 Wyvern, and 1 Rodent.

[Magic Beast]

[Miscellaneous Skills: Rodentia Senses(Passive)]

[Law of Perception]

The Parasite took the form of a relatively small rat covered in light-grey hair, a long naked tail, and rounded erect ears.

The rodent’s protruding eyes let out a momentary azure glow as Arthur moved between the ash and scorched rubble, sniffing the air and inspecting every corner.

[Magick Sense]

The air was dense with remnant fire-aspected energy, naturally dispersing as time went by. Almost everything was burnt by the flames, even the few guards killed by the mercenaries.

The rat kept running from one spot to the other, sniffing, circling around, and delving under rubble in search of any clue.

With incredibly heightened senses and a host well-suited to locate specific smells, Arthur was able to find the body of the mercenary.

It was burnt from head to toe, missing three limbs and looking no different than a mass of disgusting blackened flesh and gore. The smell was vomit-inducing and the sight was horrifying.

‘It’s worth a try.’

Arthur drilled into the open cavity in the corpse’s chest and ejected himself from his current host.

The rules of possessing lifeless bodies were, for most times, vague. Still, Arthur knew that, as long as the target was relatively intact, then it could be possessed.

The mercenary’s body was severely burnt and couldn’t be healed even with the most Miraculous of spells. It couldn’t even be called a corpse anymore, just a lump of meat.

Arthur fell into the cavity and patiently waited for something to happen. Ten seconds passed, twenty… thirty… eventually, his vision turned black and he felt a wave of heat wash over his body.

As that happened, there was a figure a short distance away, clothed in an oversized hood and seemingly searching for something.

Jia, part of Ahmed’s mercenary group, had snuck into the rubble in search of her dead friend. Just when she found it, however, it twitched and sat-up.

“AAAh!”

The young woman was startled as the body actually moved even though it lacked one arm and two legs. It supported itself with one hand pressed against the ground, its facial- which was hideously burnt and terrifying- turned around and looked straight back at her.

Stupefied by this scene, Jia immediately dashed away. The thought of using her hidden chakrams to attack never crossed her mind, at least not after witnessing a strange scene straight out of a nightmare.

‘What a coincidence.’

When he got the notification from the System, Arthur swiftly possessed the bird and soared to the sky, quickly spotting the fleeing woman.

Meanwhile

“Welcome, Miss Velvet. It’s a pleasure to have you in our humble office!”

Ahmed, all smiles, stood by the door and motioned for the expressionless mage to enter. She came here as soon as she had received that ambiguous letter.

“Where is he?”

She didn’t waste time and asked with a cold voice, her eyes scanning the shabby room but finding no sign of her target.

“Not so fast, Miss. We have to discuss things firs-”

Ahmed’s smile suddenly vanished, his body hastily backing away. A long sword appeared in his left hand as Velvet’s finger emitted somesort of mass of ominous Darkness.

“Please calm down.”

A voice came from behind Velvet, surprising her. When she looked back, she saw Ahmed’s companion, the mysterious woman with tanned skin and easily-forgettable face.

“You’re… a Druid?!”

Sensing the oppressive and odd energy emanating from the woman, Velvet immediately guessed the woman’s identity, but even then, the latter didn’t flinch or deny anything.

“We will take you to your friend. He hasn’t been harmed.” Added the Druid while signalling the wary Ahmed.

“Lead the way.”

…

A minute later, Velvet was guided to the dusty and cramped narrow room, in which Chris was being kept.

Ahmed, with the sword still in hand, remained on-guard. In contrast, the druid was fairly relaxed.

“Heyo! I’m starting to get really thirsty here… ehmm… who’s this beautiful lady?”

Chris, who had been dozing off, raised his head and looked at the three of them. He scrutinized the well-dressed Velvet while running his mouth, as was his wont.

“Look, I was wrong, okay? I’ve thought about your motive and I’m certain you want money. Gold. My friends have lots of that, so… contact them and you’ll get sorted ou-”

“This is not the mage I’m looking for.” Velvet interrupted the talkative Chris and glanced at Ahmed.

“What?”

“I said this is not the mage I’m looking for. You got the wrong person.”

Ahmed was too flabbergasted to give a coherent and appropriate response. He stared at the two mages in confusion, his lips opening but no words coming out.

“He is still a mage. We will let him go if you agree to pay.”-The Druid

“I don’t know him.” Answered Velvet, clearly showing no intention of saving Chris.

“Hey hey! Wait a second, okay? Can’t the victim have a word in this? Come on, pretty lady, are you really going to let them keep me here? I’m allergic to dust. Also, I’m thirsty and hungry. Help a fellow mage out, will you?”

Velvet furrowed her brow and asked, “Are you sure this is a mage?”

“We saw him using Teleportation Magic.”

“Don’t leave me here!” Chris suddenly started bawling his eyes out while shaking his body to free himself from the rope. He truly looked like a desperate and pitiful man. Then again, his previous and nonchalant way of speaking made this behavior look like an act.

“...”

Velvet maintained a brief silence, seemingly deliberating about something.

“How much?”

“A-a thousand Blakin Gold.”

Without any hesitation, the High Apprentice Mage snapped her fingers and made a heavy leather pouch appear.

Ahmed eagerly caught it in his hands while resuming chuckling.

“If this happened in the Empire, you two would’ve been killed.”

Velvet’s threat only made Ahmed shrug, “Good thing we live in Raml Asfr. The mage is yours. Thank you for your patronage.”

“You’re welcome.” Muttered Velvet just as Christopher was unbound from the chair. He massaged his aching wrists and stuck close to her as she started heading out of the building.

Ahmed and the Druid right behind them, escorting them to the exit.

“Ahmed! Ahmed!”

A rapid figure pushed open the doors while shouting for Ahmed. Jia, looking visibly distraught, didn’t even register the presence of Velvet and Chris.

“H-Hamid! He… I… I-I saw his b-body move!”