Chapitre 32: Allegiance (7)

After further discussion, the transferring process was initiated. Like Heine, Yulia's first reaction was pure shock.

"I see... Alright, I sincerely thank you for allowing me to undergo this marvelous experience," Yulia mumbled in awe.

Her Core Purity really increased.

Estelle seemed to have gained a bit of respect in Yulia's heart. The way the older woman looked at her with wondrous, sparkling eyes made the child uncomfortable, but also understanding.

She was introducing something new and unprecedented, it wasn't a surprise that a woman mad for discovering new things like Yulia would be moved.

"That aside, could you tell me what you discovered?" Estelle inquired about the forgotten matter.

"Ah, right. You see, the 'object' they might be looking for is not located here," With a few swipes of her hand, Yulia made several windows that showed detailed maps appear. "However, this mansion acts as the connector to the object's location,"

Estelle looked at the map in admiration. The intricate details forged into it made her curious on how Yulia managed to procure such a thing. Upon a closer look, she found out that the map contained even more surprises, such as a touchscreen feature that provided the user with extensive information in regards to the place. It even had a visualization model built into it.

Sensing Estelle's intense stare, Yulia explained. "Ahh, this map, it was a product of one of my... unfortunate research. It can be called a success, but.. this isn't what I imagined. I thought that I could implement a feature that would allow me to get some vision from these checkpoints, but I wasn't able to do it, after all. In theory, it should've worked, but.." Yulia pointed out red dots scattered around the map.

[An intelligence system? Such a thing...] As Reina, Estelle had witnessed a certain extent of the classified government intelligence system and how brilliant it was.

Upon second thought, she deduced that her knowledge might be helpful to this discovery. "I might know a way to help you, but that'll come later. I'd have to ask you to devote your attention to this matter first,"

Yulia looked at Estelle with her clear aquamarine eyes and let out a small chuckle. "Really, I was immature back then. I'm sorry. I'd like your input on the map I devised later on," Yulia apologized for her lack of conduct prior to this time.

"Apology accepted. It wasn't a huge matter anyways. But... didn't you not want me to speak formally? You are doing the exact same thing you told me not to, where is your conscience?" Estelle joked.

"..Call it a habit," Yulia scratched her face in embarrassment. "Back to the topic, this is what I discovered. Firstly, the 'gate', if you would say, is right inside your father's study. Secondly, I traced the destination, this was what gave me the most trouble. I don't know if this would be appropriate considering... everything, but I wholeheartedly trust my magic. This is just a supposition, but your house might be connected in one way or another to Alfheim's royal palace,"

"Alfheim... The land of the elves?" Estelle mused. The fact that the supposed connection was located in her father's study did not help. If they pieced it together with the fact that the monsters seemed to concentrated towards the study back then, it would not be too far of a stretch to call the attack an actual premeditated one.

However, something was amiss. If it was that simple, her father of all person should've known something about it.

"Someone who knows about the Clareste family more than father, the head..." Estelle listed out all the affiliations the family had with other personnel out of the house and found nothing.

"Perhaps, Duke Miller?" Minerva raised up the question.

"Duke Miller, the one who governs over a territory in the northern lands?" Estelle recalled.

"Plausible. Judging by how Alan did not know anything, it should be related to the previous generations instead. The late Duke Clareste was engaged in a close brotherhood with Duke Miller," Heine formed up his own opinions and thought that it was quite reasonable.

"Duke Miller... huh," Estelle had a hand up against her lips as she thought.

Estelle concluded the meeting and told them that they would reunite tomorrow. Until then, Estelle was interested in helping Yulia out, so she began talking with the elder around the topic for quite some time. Estelle was careful to not engross herself too much, as they would be losing precious time that might be crucial to their plans.

She found Yulia to be quite an interesting partner to talk with, as they shared a tendency to create magical and frivolous ideas.

She believed that if they were to befriend each other, a mutual symbiotic relationship could be formed.

After parting with Yulia, she then headed towards her father's study to inquire more.

Alan was busy with his governing work, as always. Being a diligent ruler, he refused to let off any corrupt officials live in his territory.

As he rooted one corrupter out, another would sprout out of nowhere. The injustice was neverending.

He worked hard to prevent further chaos from happening, but people were daring.

At the very least, the Southern lands he governed was more civilized than the other regions.

"Father, are you acquainted with Duke Miller?" As she was sitting on top of Alan's lap, Estelle took a chance to ask the question. She wanted to know more about the person in question.

"Hm? Duke Miller, as in the current authority holder, or the heir apparent?" Alan rubbed Estelle's head, fawning over the younger without showing a difference in his expressions.

The older Duke was already in his late ages. He wouldn't last longer than three years, or so people predicted.

Thus, the heir apparent had to start preparing for his father's nearing departure. Although the title holder was still the older Duke, the heir apparent was more recognized by the people as he was the one who regularly showed up in his father's stead.

"The current authority holder. Wasn't he grandfather's close friend?"

"Indeed.. my father was older than him by five years, so their relationship was akin to siblings," Alan recalled.

"Then, may I meet him?"

"...For what?" Alan narrowed his eyes out of suspicion.

Estelle always had crazy ideas. He was afraid that her visit would be one of those.

"For.. a project of mine. Don't worry, it won't be dangerous! Uhh.. Right, I might've already sent a letter of my arrival.. So.. Bye, father!" Estelle escaped Alan's clutches and sprinted towards the door, creating a space rift in front of her and disappearing into it.

"Estelle, wait!" Alan's reaction was a step too late. He wanted to block his daughter's movements, but Estelle had already entered the space rift and gone off into the unknown. Sighing, he lamented on how he would always be defeated by the crafty and scheming daughter of his.

He only wished that she goes easy on whatever she planned to do. And to not make a large mess out of it.

She met back up with the Witch sisters.

"I.. got the permission? Probably? I didn't stay long enough to hear, but he probably allowed it. Yeah, probably," Estelle convinced herself, praying hard for her father to not hold this matter against her when she comes back.

"The reason Alan is so harsh with you is because you act like this," Minerva sighed in disbelief.

"Eii, nevermind that, let's go! I wrote that I'd be arriving in.. fifteen minutes from now. I've never been to his house, though. Have you?"

"No, but I've been in the area. Are we going now?"

"Yeah, we could scout the area first. I'm counting on you, Yulia," Estelle's perception towards the woman had became pleasant.

"Leave it to me," Yulia responded.

Minerva created a space rift that connected to the area near the Duke's mansion. Going through said rift, they were in high spirits and filled with readiness.

"Yulia, the scan,"

"I'm telling you ahead of the time, I can't do anything if my probing can't get past the barriers. I have to break the barriers, which would alert them," Yulia started her unique magic. Magic circles glowed around her body, and Estelle did her part to conceal the scene.

The remaining fifteen minutes were used to scout the nearby area. The results came to be negative, as Yulia could not find any anomalies.

"My bad. There were tons of barriers, but I suppose the situation won't be pretty if I broke it," Yulia released her magic and recovered it using Estelle's mana transfer.

"I reckon it's fine. Our target isn't Duke Miller, it's the information Duke Miller has. We shouldn't care about his personal matters unless it concerns our destination," Estelle said, earning nods of agreement from the others.

"Now, now, who is this?" A voice interrupted their stealth, causing shock to run through them.

Immediately, their heads turned towards the foreign entity. Behind them was an older male whose hair had turned ash white, face riddled with wrinkles, and a sickly, thin body that made others worry about his condition.

"I wonder if I may ask what the esteemed guests' motives are for coming to our mansion?" The man spoke with kindness lathering his voice.

"We are here for a visit. I am the Clareste Dukedom's young lady, Estelle Clareste. We have notified the Duke by a letter addressed under Duke Alan Clareste's name," Estelle explained.

"A visit.. That's right, I seem to recall something like that. Very well, I shall be your guide. Shall we depart?" The man offered.

"If you would," Estelle gestured for the man to walk first, while they would be following closely from behind.

The man agreed, and started to lead them in.

"Yulia," Estelle whispered.

"Yeah, I know," Yulia replied, scrutinizing the man leading their way with distrust.

[Should I appraise his status?] Estelle was confident that she would be able to pierce through his barriers. Making a channel that connected all their thoughts, she instructed them to talk on the channel instead of speaking out loud.

<No, he'd definitely notice the interference. It's better to lay low for now, acting hostile will get you nowhere.> Heine advised.

Indeed, there was no way he wouldn't realize a forceful peek, especially after..

Even so, Estelle was left feeling unsettled as they entered the Duke's mansion without any blockage.

Estelle had concealed their presence, the fact that the old man before him was able to discover them meant that his skill was abnormally high.

[Let's be wary.]