Imryll awoke to the steady thumping of rain against the window. The room was dimly lit, but she appeared to be inside the comfiest bed of all ti. She looked around the room with curiosity, but her migraine was stopping her from focusing on any one thing for too long.
"Ugh, I need so water..." Imryll muttered under her breath and then winced at a wave of pain from trying to move. She resigned to her fate and lay back down, trying to get a grasp of her situation.
The door to her room abruptly opened, and a naked man walked in. He seed confused for a second while appraising her. Seeing this man, so mories of the previous night flooded back into Imryll’s mind.
"Sir Jack, what happened to ? Where am I?" Imryll said with deep confusion in her voice, trying to ignore the man’s lack of clothes.
"Oh Miss Imryll, my apologies. I didn’t know my servant put you here in my study. If you don’t mind asking, what do you rember from last night’s events?"
Imryll dug deep into her mories and tried to piece them together. "I received orders to investigate you from the princess, then I entered your house and, due to a misunderstanding, tried to kill you..." Imryll’s face went pale. "I’m really sorry for that, Sir Jack."
Jack just put on a kind smile and waved it off. "It’s fine, Miss Imryll. I am a very reasonable man and don’t hold grudges over such a small thing."
While listening to her, he seed to be investigating the room, trying to find sothing.
"Are you looking for sothing?" Imryll had to ask. Her curiosity as a spy was deeply rooted in her personality.
"Yes, my clothes. Ignore , continue."
"Ah, yes. After that misunderstanding, I saw that you were reading a book about Space Magic, and I have been stuck at C grade for years, so I asked you about teaching . Oh! I rember you handed so Luna Runes for the princess and then taught a new way to envision Space Magic, erm... You can also read runes?"
"Yes, yes, I can, but do you rember anything else?"
Imryll tried to rember, but it all seed hazy, as if it were all a dream whose details had now slipped away. "It’s all rather hazy. I rember taking a bath and talking about so kind of paynt for the Space Magic lesson, but from then on it’s all too hazy," she said with frustration while shaking her head.
Jack’s mood seed to brighten. "You really can’t rember anything after the bath?"
Imryll nodded.
"Well, you see how the hallway is slightly lower down than the rooms, and there is a small step," Jack said while pointing toward the doorway. Indeed, there was a small step before entering any of the rooms along the corridor. "You were so distracted, you missed the step and had quite a hard fall onto the ground and knocked your head."
Imryll reached over to feel the back of her head, and it hurt from the touch, likely bruised.
"Maybe the reason for the mory loss is because you fell unconscious after the terrible fall. I was very worried about you and had my servant take care of you," Jack said with a sincere expression.
"But... if I were about to fall, I would have activated my Space Magic, so I wouldn’t be injured!" Imryll refused to believe she was injured so badly from tripping over a step. It was a stain on her reputation. She was an elite spy working for the princess, for goodness’s sake! Since when could an elite of the Silvermoon Clan be defeated by a re step?
Jack seed to think for a mont before replying, "Ah! Miss Imryll, your mana reserves were likely very low after practicing the new Space Magic I taught you, and that’s why it failed to activate."
Imryll’s face scrunched up in disbelief, but what else could be the reason for her mory loss and throbbing headache? How could she ever face the princess now? Not only did she almost assassinate a psychic mage who had close ties with the queen, but she also acted so pathetically while representing the princess.
"Don’t worry, Miss Imryll. I will keep the details of this blunder a secret from the princess, and don’t worry about the paynt for the Space Magic. You should rest up and recover before the princess arrives in a few hours. Oh! And maybe help find my darn clothes."
Imryll nodded with appreciation. She decided that Sir Jack was a very respectable gentleman, all things considered.
* * *
An average-height man with gray eyes and curly brown hair entered an imposing building with the signboard "The Sanctum." The first floor of the building was a lounge area with high-class furniture carefully placed around, close enough to make use of the space but far enough apart to allow more private conversations. Paintings and sculptures of famous figures from the Henson family lined the walls.
Right above the reception desk was an enormous painting of a rather large man sitting in a fancy chair; he had a scar running across his left eye and a permanent scowl on his face. Below the painting was a well-made desk from a slightly red-tinted wood imported from the forests of Veranthos. In fact, the entire hotel was filled with items or materials imported from Veranthos, which was amusing as this building was in the heart of Velmira.
The man hit on a small golden bell, and a human woman erged from behind a wall. "Greetings, esteed guest. Welco to The Sanctum. Do you wish to book a night?" She then gave a sly smile. "With included?"
The man grinned and leaned over. Gesturing for her to lean in, he whispered into the receptionist’s ear, "The golden river flows through Veranthos on a quiet winter morning."
The receptionist’s previous playful attitude vanished as she straightened her back. She looked left and right to make sure nobody noticed and then directed him to a side door.
"What does a sentinel of Veranthos need?" the receptionist said in a respectful tone.
"I need to speak with the Owl," the man said with slight disdain.
"Certainly," she replied and led him down a corridor. At the end was a heavily enchanted tal door; it opened slowly after the receptionist placed her hand on it. Behind the door was a small room, and a man was sitting behind a desk.
"Na and grade," he said with no enthusiasm at all.
"I’m a B-grade druid, and as you already know, the na’s Derek."
Derek really hated this man, but he was one of the Owl’s guards. They all had B-grade or above techniques, and Derek had no plans to make enemies with soone as dangerous as the Owl. The guard checked a book, and after a minute he found Derek’s na and nodded.
"The Owl will see you now." He then waved Derek through a door at the back of the room.
Inside was a floating platform that quickly brought him up to the tenth floor of the hotel, the presidential suite. Stepping inside, Derek saw a man lounging on a large cushion. He was elderly with white hair and a beard. His body was covered with expensive jewellery, and his large eyes did make him look like an owl.
The Owl’s real na was known to nobody except Duke Henson himself. The Owl was one of the few A-grade psychic mages on the continent and incredibly sought after. He was surrounded by twenty guards, all waiting at a fair distance around the edges of the room. They were all B-grade like Derek himself, but the two won who lay next to the Owl likely had A-grade defensive abilities to protect him. Psychic mages were the highest paid of any mage but also the weakest, so a large portion of their wealth was often spent on guards and security asures to protect their lives.
Derek walked to the center of the room and knelt on one knee. "Sir Owl, I wish to send an urgent report to Lord Henson."
Owl didn’t even move. Instead, his enormous cushion began floating and moved toward him at a steady pace. The two won lying beside him didn’t seem interested, but their fingers were itching to throw up defensive shields at the slightest sign of defiance from Derek.
"You have a minute," Owl said as the cushion stopped just before him.
The surroundings humd with power as the elderly man used high-grade telepathy to communicate across the kingdom and projected an image of Duke Henson directly into his mind. Derek saw the figure of Duke Henson, who seed confused for a mont at the sudden appearance of Derek in his mind but quickly straightened up.
"Oh, Sentinel Derek, do you have news for ?"
Derek bowed deeply and then spoke ntally. ’Yes, my lord, I made contact with linda Harrington and her supposed distant relative Jack Harrington. They were both under surveillance from multiple powerful forces, including a Silvermoon elf working for Princess Emilia and so Shadows on Prince August’s side. I could have eliminated them both, but you ordered for them to be returned alive, so we spent our resources chasing out the other forces.’
Duke Henson’s intimidating figure looked even scarier when projected directly into Derek’s head, and he held his breath, fearing the wrath of his employer. After a long pause, Duke Henson said, "So they have been found. This is good news, Derek. Can you capture them for ?"
Derek didn’t dare delay and responded promptly. ’No, my lord, they are being watched by too many powers, especially Prince August, who had an A-grade in his ranks.’
The duke nodded in agreent. "Continue observation. I will contact the ancestors and see if I can get an A-grade myself. Unfortunately, not all A-grades are as simple to hire with just money as the Owl is."
The elderly man nad Owl grinned, showing his lack of teeth, before ntally adding, ’One hundred platinum per communication, Duke. Don’t forget.’
Derek had never felt this envious in his entire life. He was paid a hundred gold an hour, but this old man just made a thousand gold in five minutes, all from the comfort of his hotel room.
"Don’t worry, Owl, it will be paid in full," the duke said and surprisingly bowed toward the mage. "Sentinel Derek, I should have support for you in a few weeks’ ti. We will move in to capture my son’s future wife at that ti."
Derek bowed as the connection ended. "Yes, my lord."
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