Count Earl Vontera looked around the room where the accident had happened a few days ago. It had been fixed up quickly and there was hardly a sign of a burglary apart from the empty sword stand above the fireplace.
He placed his fingers under his chin as his mind wandered: his wife, Perrly had insisted that she had no idea who the assailant was, saying that it couldn't possibly be the plumber. When he had tried getting more information from her as to why she was found unconscious in her room she said she had been very tired and had fallen asleep.
He scoffed inwardly when he heard that. She was clearly hiding something, but there was no way for him to find out. He couldn't try to get the information by force.
If he did, then Perrly would have a valid reason to end the marriage. While he couldn't care less about this marriage, he would lose access to her family's support. Considering that her uncle, who doted on her, was a member of the saints' cabinet, he refrained from doing any such thing.
She had also been reluctant to give out the plumber's information, saying that she didn't want to drag the poor kid into the mess.
So Earl had no other option but to find the assailant himself. He had hired a few seers to perform a divination. But surprisingly, even after hours of trying, they weren't able to get anything.
According to them, a very powerful force was blocking their powers.
This puzzled the count even more, after all he knew how rare items that could block divination were. By any standard, such an item would be much more valuable than a sword that served only as decoration.
However, the person who took the sword clearly didn't think so for him to risk so much just for the sword.
Then suddenly, it clicked. The sword had previously been a totem of the Yin and Yang sect, so it would make sense for a former member of the sect to know how to use the sword. Only someone like that would treat such an artefact as truly valuable.
Perhaps, only an extremely talented member of the Yin and Yang Sect could even use such a sword. That meant that the person who had stolen the sword was definitely a member of the destroyed Yin and Yang Sect.
After coming to that realisation, he sent Fester to find all the members of the Yin and Yang sect within this city.
After a thorough investigation, they had narrowed down the list. The survivors of the Yin and Yang sect weren't in hiding, so finding them wasn't a hard task. Most of them, however, were old or too young.
But two names stood out the most: Viking Raider, a very talented Light user who had been a member of the Yin and Yang Sect, but was now a star student at the Elemental Temple College. The second person was Eros Flayer, untalented at first glance, but that wasn't what mattered about him. What mattered was his ancestry.
Everyone knew the Flayers. A Bloodline of dual cultivators and also the reason the Yin and Yang Sect had been destroyed by a bunch of heretics.
Even though he was a count he didn't dare barge into the Elemental Temple, so it made sense to go for the one without a backing first. He had sent Fester to check on Eros with the order not to kill. The count was a very flexible man, if Eros could indeed use the Sword of Duality's replica then he would be a valuable asset.
In the Count's quest for supremacy, he needed to gather as many valuable assets as possible. Although a little brainwashing might be needed to get Eros on the right track.
******
After a good night's rest, the team had hit the road once more. According to Rachel, the military base wasn't too far and they should reach it in a few days.
Eros sat behind Lain as both of them rode deeper into the forest.
The horses weren't enough, and although Sein had opted to let Eros ride with him, there was no chance on heaven and earth that Eros would take up such an offer. So he ended up riding with Lain.
Sadly though, they were at the forefront of the group, so as much as Eros wanted to do something. Even he couldn't bring himself to do it with so many eyes on them.
"She still won't come out?" Eros said, placing his hand on Lain's thigh.
"Of course she won't, not with you around at least."
Eros let out a sigh; after what happened at the hot spring Elaine had been avoiding him for some time now. She clearly couldn't bring herself to face him after everything.
"You'll have to switch with her eventually, right?"
"Well, yeah. If I stay in control for too long our body will burn out. But that won't happen till over twenty hours from now."
"I guess it's just the two of us then." Eros' fingers ran along her skirt, pushing the fabric away and finding the delicate skin underneath.
"Keep your hands to yourself, pervert. Everyone's looking at us."
"Oh, I didn't know you could get embarrassed about such a thing. I thought you liked it when others watched."
"I don't wanna get charged with indecency." Even though she protested, she made no attempts to get his fingers off her skin.
Eros too knew not to push things further. The others were already uncomfortable watching the two share a ride. Eros didn't wanna push it.
A cough rang out beside them grabbing both of their attention. They looked to the side and noticed Rachel with her face unusually red.
"There's an area nearby with significantly fewer monsters. Maybe we could camp there till tomorrow."
Elaine frowned. They had been on the road for a few hours now, and while she would've loved for them to keep on moving they weren't in any sort of hurry.
In the end, she decided to oblige and they all headed towards the area. It was close to a mountain whose jagged peak pierced into the sky, breaking the clouds apart. The silvery slopes reflected the sunlight like drooping waves and one could only wonder of its beauty under the moon.
But none of these was the reason why Lain's eyes lingered on it for a second too long.
They lingered because she felt something underneath the granite, something arcane. She made a point to lead the group quite some distance away from the mountain so that nothing unexpected would arise.
When they got down, Lain continued to glance at the mountain, a growing sense of curiosity within her.