The courtyard fell into silence after Sora's answer.
Snow drifted quietly between the three of them, the white flakes settling along the stone floor and wooden beams.
Maki and Mai stood motionless.
Their expressions were almost identical.
Complete disbelief.
Maki stared at him with narrowed eyes, as if trying to figure out whether he was joking.
Mai simply blinked twice, her arms still crossed.
"…Friendship?" Mai repeated slowly.
The word sounded strange in the cold air.
Sora shrugged beneath his jacket.
"Yeah."
Maki frowned deeper.
"You broke into the Zenin estate…"
She pointed at him again.
"…snuck into our courtyard…"
"…listened to our conversation…"
"And now you want to be friends?"
"…More or less."
Mai rubbed her forehead slightly.
"You're insane."
"Not really."
For a moment it looked like Maki was about to say something else.
But then—
Footsteps.
Faint at first.
Then clearer.
Voices echoed somewhere beyond the nearby hallway.
"…Someone's training out here?"
"…It should be Ogi's daughters."
The voices belonged to adult men.
Sorcerers.
Maki's head snapped slightly toward the corridor.
Mai immediately straightened.
Sora's eyes sharpened beneath his cap.
Right on time.
The sisters looked back at him.
But he had already moved.
The moment the voices grew closer, Sora stepped backward toward the far wall of the courtyard.
His body lowered slightly.
Then—
He jumped.
His boots landed lightly against the wooden railing before he pushed upward again, grabbing the top of the courtyard wall with practiced ease.
The liquid metal coating around his body shifted automatically, muffling the faint sound of his movement.
Maki's eyes widened slightly.
"…Fast."
Mai stared upward.
"Wait—"
Before either of them could finish—
Sora pulled himself onto the top of the wall.
Snow rested along the tiles, crunching faintly beneath his boots.
He paused there for a second.
Looking down at the two sisters.
Lantern light flickered across his grey mask.
Behind them, the approaching voices were getting closer.
"…Someone's definitely out here."
"…Check the yard."
Sora tilted his head slightly.
Then he spoke quietly.
"I'll be back."
The words were simple.
But they carried an odd certainty.
Maki stared up at him.
"…You're serious?"
Sora didn't answer directly.
Instead he gave a small shrug.
"Think about it."
Then—
He vanished.
Dropping silently to the other side of the wall before disappearing into the snowy darkness beyond the courtyard.
Only a few seconds later—
Two Zenin sorcerers stepped into the training yard.
"What's going on here?"
Their sharp eyes scanned the courtyard immediately.
Maki had already turned back toward the wooden post.
Her fist struck it again.
Thud.
Mai stood near the hallway, looking slightly annoyed.
"…Nothing."
The sorcerer frowned.
"We heard noise."
Maki didn't stop training.
"I was practicing."
The man looked around the courtyard suspiciously.
But aside from the falling snow and the quiet yard—
There was nothing unusual.
After a moment, he scoffed.
"…Keep it down."
The two men eventually left.
Their footsteps faded into the halls again.
Silence returned.
Snow continued drifting gently down.
Maki stopped punching the post.
Mai slowly turned toward the courtyard wall where the masked stranger had disappeared.
"…That guy was weird."
Maki stared at the wall for a moment longer.
Then she exhaled quietly.
"…Yeah."
But something about his words lingered in the cold winter air.
I'll be back.
--
Sora bolted through the inner section of the estate.
Getting caught will be risky.
The Zenin clan was known as one of the three great clans.
To be known as a great clan in this god forsaken world requires tremendous strength and eccentric mindset.
Their cruelty will be of the same stature.
Sora visibly shuddered at that thought.
Right now he was stepping through the snow filled roof.
He simply remembered that the courtyard was somewhere isolated in the east of the estate.
Sora jumped out of the roof and slowly made way towards the main gate.
--
Right at the main gate a problem occurred.
There were sorcerers.
Not one or two.
But ten.
Two of them were different from the rest.
The cursed energy radiating from them was beyond his level. They were atleast grade 2 or semi-grade 1.
Sora slowly leaned on the tree behind a bush.
"…Yeah, that's a problem."
The group seemed to be discussing something quietly.
After a short moment, the formation shifted.
The ten sorcerers began moving inward, deeper into the estate grounds.
Away from the gate.
Sora blinked.
Then slowly exhaled.
"Hooph, lucky."
If they were heading inside, the exit would be clear.
He carefully stepped backward to retreat deeper into the shadows.
To hide himself better before slipping past the gate.
But in doing so—
His boot pressed into a patch of frozen snow.
Crunch.
The sound was small.
Barely noticeable.
But inside a quiet estate filled with trained sorcerers—
It was enough.
One of the two elite Zenin suddenly stopped walking.
A short elderly man with a rough mohawk hairstyle.
His sharp eyes snapped toward Sora's direction.
The group halted.
The other sorcerers looked at him.
"What is it?"
The elderly man narrowed his eyes.
"You."
The elderly Zenin pointed at one of the younger men standing nearby.
"Go check that area."
The younger sorcerer immediately straightened.
"Yes, sir."
Sora felt a cold spike run through his chest.
Shit.
The man began walking toward the bushes where Sora had been standing moments ago. Each step crunched against the snow-covered ground, slow and deliberate.
Sora's mind raced.
Running now would be suicide.
The elite sorcerer was already watching that direction.
Any sudden movement would give him away instantly.
Think.
Think.
The younger Zenin was getting closer.
Ten meters.
Eight.
Six.
Sora quietly exhaled through his mask.
The thin layer of liquid metal covering his body responded to his cursed energy. It flowed silently across his jacket and pants like a second skin.
He flattened himself against the darker side of the tree behind the bushes, adjusting his stance to align perfectly with the shadows cast by the lantern light.
He was camouflaged like a gecko.
At the same time, he suppressed his cursed energy as deeply as he could.
Not zero.
That was impossible.
But faint enough to resemble nothing more than background residue.
The Zenin guard reached the bush.
He stopped.
Snowflakes continued drifting down between the branches.
The man frowned slightly and pushed the leaves aside.
He looked behind the bush.
Nothing.
Just untouched snow and darkness.
The guard stepped around it, scanning the ground carefully.
Still nothing.
His brows furrowed.
After a moment, he turned around and walked back to the group.
"There's nothing there."
The younger sorcerer sounded confident.
The short elderly man with the mohawk didn't look convinced.
His narrow eyes remained fixed on the dark area where Sora had been moments ago.
"…Strange."
He spoke quietly.
"I could have sworn I sensed someone there."
The other elite Zenin standing beside him chuckled lightly.
"Probably a fluke, Chojuro-San. "
The man's posture was relaxed, though his cursed energy was just as sharp.
"This place is surrounded by barriers. No one is getting inside without permission."
The elderly man remained silent for a moment longer.
Then he scoffed softly.
"…Hmph."
He finally turned away.
"Let's go."
The group resumed walking deeper into the estate.
Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Only the quiet winter wind remained.
Sora stayed completely still for another full minute.
Just in case.
Only when the presence of the sorcerers disappeared entirely did he slowly release the breath he had been holding.
"…That was close."
Snowflakes continued settling across the ground as Sora quietly slipped away from the shadows, heading toward the now unguarded gate.