"We will go to the site of the accident," Elector ordered the brigade.
Taking a different route, they hurried so that night would not catch them. The horses galloped faster than before. Hooves struck the earth with urgency. The sun was beginning to tilt toward the west.
Along the way, Elector was confused about his feelings.
At first, he had felt great urgency to discover the truth about this attack on the royal guard. He wanted answers. He wanted names. He wanted to know what kind of creature could erase eleven men from existence.
But the troops' concern, the Ashworth family's story, and the cleric's warning had discouraged him.
He no longer believed the report.
Or perhaps he just didn't want to believe it.
---
They arrived at the border checkpoint to enter Aldric.
The same one from the accident.
Several commercial carts were ahead, waiting to pass. All from the capital. Only they could enter. The merchants showed their parchments. The guards checked them. The gates opened and closed.
They crossed.
They rode for a while until they reached the site.
It was obvious. Part of the road was still burned. Black earth spread in an imperfect circle. And in the center, a large, deep hole. The edges were irregular, as if someone had bitten the ground and carried it away.
Elector pressed his lips together.
The carts only passed to one side. A narrow path traced between the burned earth and the forest. The merchants looked at the hole with fear and kept going.
Elector approached one of them.
"Hey!"
The driver did not turn around. He glanced sideways, tense. The reins tightened in his hands.
"I'm talking to you!"
"Wh-what do you want, sir?"
"I need something."
The merchant glanced at his goods for a moment.
"Do you know what happened here? On the road?"
The man relaxed his face. He sighed.
"I don't know. No one knows. It just appeared one day."
"No one has investigated?"
"The guards came. They looked. They left. They say it was lightning."
"And what do you believe?"
The merchant shrugged.
"We just pass through."
Elector stopped.
He dismounted from his horse. The others did too. Boots touched the black earth.
He approached the hole. He crouched down. He touched the soil. It was covered in a very fine soot. As if the earth itself had been disintegrated. Black dust stuck to his fingers. It had no smell.
The soldiers grew nervous. They placed their hands on the hilts of their swords. They looked everywhere. The forest on either side. The tall trees. The shadows beginning to lengthen.
The nearby carts saw them. The merchants whispered.
Elector noticed this.
He spoke to his soldiers.
"Calm down. This is almost over."
The sergeant approached.
"What shall we do then?"
Elector took a deep breath. He thought.
"Fill it in. Then we'll return to Aldric."
The sergeant turned to the men.
"You heard! Get the shovels!"
The cleric did not move. He crouched beside the edge of the hole. He took a bit of soot with his fingertips. He let it fall into a glass bottle he took from his bag.
Then he went to Elector.
"It seems we won't see each other again when we return," he said. "What do you plan to do?"
Elector crossed his arms. He watched the soldiers who were beginning to throw earth into the hole. The shovels rose and fell. The black dirt fell with a dull sound.
"I suppose I'll study history. The war against the demons was a long time ago and..." He sighed, tired. "Just thinking about what certain nobles will do if they find out about this already gives me a headache. Only to say that the king and we are useless."
The cleric laughed. A brief laugh.
"Don't say that too loudly."
Elector finally said:
"Perhaps I've only gotten myself into trouble all on my own."
---
At the same time, in the perfume shop.
Lilith, in the afternoon light, was finishing assembling a cap with beads. She strung them one by one. She arranged them in concentric circles. So that they looked like flower petals.
She placed it on a bottle.
She presented it to the master.
He looked at it. The window light passed through the glass and made the beads shine.
"It's beautiful," he said. "But what about the contents? That's the most important thing."
Lilith handed him the bottle.
"The perfume has a sweet aroma. But this is more. It's for showing off and being desired. If you want to sell to the nobility, it must look the part."
The master looked at the bottle with some anxiety. His fingers traced the beads.
He put it in a suitcase with other bottles.
Inside, everything was perfectly arranged and padded. The interior of the suitcase itself was perfumed.
"It's exciting," said the master, closing the lid. "I never expected to reach this point."
"Reach what?"
"It's just that my work had never been recognized except by family and friends. And of course, my customers who come in."
Lilith looked at him.
"I didn't know you had friends."
The master's eye twitched.
"Well. I'll go upstairs to rest. Good night."
"Likewise."
Lilith went up the stairs. Her feet barely made a sound on the steps.
She reached her room. She took out a list. The nobles they would visit. They would go first to those who were in decline. Those who were despised in their circle. But who still believe they can trample the commoners.
She entered her room. She lay on her side. The cold sheet under her cheeks.
She closed her eyes.
She called for a vision.
She wanted to see through the mirror. The heart-shaped one. The one she had given to the girl in Profot's mansion.
Darkness.
Silence.
Nothing.
"Where did you put it?" she whispered. "In a drawer? Or did you give it away?"
She opened her eyes.
The wooden ceiling. The shadow of the window on the wall.
She had already done everything she could.
But tomorrow...
Tomorrow things could change.