CHAPTER 52: BLOODCURDLING SCREAM

Leon glanced back at Phoenix, who shrugged unknowingly. He faced the merchant with some thought, though dismissed it, "Listen, we’re in the middle of the Eclipse here. People are just trying to survive, so this can hold off until it’s over—"

"Oh, but you see—it can’t! It had to be one of the people I transported here! Now, I did that in good will to my friend Frederick and to you, Lord Schoeller, so–" Pedro rambled on, stepping closer with avarice in his eyes.

"So, it’ll wait," Leon sternly declared.

"Grk–" The short, unathletic merchant stumbled back after being shown the very same disrespect for one’s personal space.

"Nobody is going anywhere until the Eclipse is over. If someone really did take your necklace, it’ll be within these premises the entire time," Leon reasoned. "Is that good enough for you?"

The red-haired swordsman behind the lord gave a look to the merchant with his hands on his hips as if saying "Are you really going to argue with the Boss here?"

By some miracle, the money-motivated merchant gave in with a scoff, "I will wait until the Eclipse is over, but I must insist you aid in finding that necklace afterwards. Of course, as a show of favor, the Galvanik Express is planning on doing business with the Schoeller estate."

"Yeah, sure, that’s fine," Leon said, just wanting to be done with talking to the merchant.

As the greedy man was left on his way, walking while looking around as if expecting someone to jump from the bushes to steal his worn jewelry, the young lord could only breathe out.

Phoenix chuckled, brushing his hand through his bright-red hair, "Y’know, sometimes I don’t envy your position as a lord. Dealing with guys like that all the time, I’d probably punch them sooner than making any compromises."

"Well, that’s the job. Though...I definitely did consider punching him. Maybe it would’ve given him a reality check," Leon admitted.

"Hah! Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one," Phoenix laughed before turning towards the north. "—You think the barrier is going to hold?"

It was the question lingering on everybody’s minds. Just behind the ethereal walls, through the translucent surface, the monsters waiting beyond them never faded. A dreadful scenery that reminded him that there was no peace, only a momentary reprieve.

"It’ll hold. It’s a matter of how long," Leon answered, leaning against the courtyard gate.

Phoenix rested his elbow atop a short, concrete wall by the gate’s opening, "How long is that, you think?"

"Beatrice said two days, at best. Being more realistic, she said a day is what we should expect," he said with a sigh. "If we can stretch it to two days, that would likely go through the eclipse."

"When you say it like that, it makes it sound like a reach..." Phoenix exhaled.

"Yeah. Best to temper your expectations," he advised.

By some vague estimations, the number of monsters waiting in the region of Vagrant could be thousands. It was an idea that stood as odd to those native to the rather small, humble land.

’I’ve heard chatter about it around. Usually, the Nebula Eclipse becomes an all-out war with monsters swarming major kingdoms and cities, though small geographical places like this, where there can’t be more than a thousand people in its entirety–it doesn’t make sense for there to be this many monsters,’ he considered.

There was only one theory in his mind, one that he could not admit, if only not to seem like a madman–that he was the reason for the abundance of monsters. Whether it was his status as a lord or the anomalous circumstances of his own existence, he felt it was the truth.

"Something on your mind?" Phoenix tilted his head as if trying to peek at whatever was being kept in silence.

"No, nothing," Leon shook his head. "Just thinking."

"Seems like you do a lot of that," Phoenix remarked, crossing his arms.

"You should try it sometime."

"Oh, so it’s like that, eh?" Phoenix laughed.

While some comedy was shared between the two, a scream from the mansion cut any of that short. Both men were already on the run without exchanging a word, racing towards the front doors.

Just as he was ready to warp in, the front entrance was slammed open, out coming a maid in distress, huffing for air.

"Emilia–?" Leon called out, hopping up the steps as he grabbed the girl’s shoulders, attempting to comfort her without knowing what was going on.

"Please, hurry–it’s terrible...Inside–inside..." Emilia struggled to get the words out.

"What is it?" Phoenix asked, trying to peek through the doors into the lobby at the sign of anything.

The maid’s lip trembled, "A ghoul...There’s a breakout–Thorgul forced them into the basement, but..."

"But what, Emilia?" Leon calmly asked to the best of his ability.

"He hasn’t come back out yet...The sounds–I wanted to go in there myself, but–I came to you first," Emilia explained. "Please, I don’t know what’s going on...Even if it’s Thorgul...He can’t–"

"I know," Leon said. "I’ll go check. Is there anybody hurt in there?"

A nod came from the maid, "I think so, maybe...It was chaos. Everybody is working to calm the people down, but they’re all afraid."

Leon looked over at Phoenix, who was already aware of what to do as he ran inside. Leaving the aid of survivors to his companion, he gave a single pat to the maid’s head before teleporting himself. Though he intended to warp into the basement itself, he was instead brought only in front of the door leading down.

The barrier of dark oak silently stood closed, as if tempting him to turn the other away. He stood there in the silent corridor, looking back to find a trail of blood leading right to the very door he stood before. Along the walls, the same crimson spatter was left, like yet another sign to turn away.

["Noble Surveillance"]

Attempting to peer into the basement as he closed his eyes, all he was met with was an immovable darkness; a fog that blocked his sight.

’What the hell is going on down there? We checked everybody, didn’t we? How did this happen, then?’ He questioned.