"Calm down, Shadow Walker,"
Chief Anton said, his voice dropping into a steady, authoritative rumble as he gestured toward the open seats in front of his desk.
I stood paralyzed against the wall, the shadows of the room wrapping around me like a shroud. Underneath the heavy merchant cloak, my heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I quickly reached up with my right hand and pulled the thick canvas cloth of my collar higher, completely masking the jagged edges of my Glasgow smile and ensuring my hollow left eye-socket was buried in absolute darkness.
Anton glanced toward me for a fraction of a second, his expression hardening into a calculated, unreadable mask. He knew exactly what kind of explosive, bloody chaos would erupt in this office if Elias discovered his precious, innocent little sister was standing two feet away from him, mutilated and drenched in cartel blood.
"All four of you, sit down, Elias, Patricia, Catherine... and you, bounty hunter. We are not done talking yet." Anton commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Hearing Anton address me simply as a bounty hunter sent a wave of icy relief through my veins. He was playing his part flawlessly, throwing a veil over my identity right in front of the most perceptive tracker in the kingdom.
With no other choice but to comply without raising suspicion, I stepped out of the corner. I moved stiffly, keeping my left sleeve pinned limply to my side to hide the absence of my arm, and took a seat on the leather couch. By a cruel stroke of absolute irony, I found myself tightly squished right between Patricia and Catherine. Elias took the heavy armchair directly across from us.
Sitting between the two girls was pure torture. They knew me as Elias' little sister, Weird Eyes. They knew my civilian presence. If my cloak shifted, if they caught a whiff of the blood magic radiating beneath my clothes, or if they noticed my newly baked desert tan, the jig would be up. I kept my head bowed, my right hand resting casually over my purse, mimicking the posture of a weary, low-tier mercenary.
Elias leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. The ambient shadows in the corners of Anton's office began to ripple and writhe, reacting to my brother's dark, volatile aura.
"Chief Anton, we just returned from the Oakhaven ruins, the Immoral Knights' vanguard was entirely wiped out before we could even engage. But it wasn't a military detachment that did it. The merchants passing through reported strange sightings last night. Massive Cyclops carcasses were left completely drained of blood, and a winged demon was spotted orchestrating the slaughter."
I held my breath, my lone right eye widening beneath the darkness of my hood.
"The survivors are calling it the Crimson Phantom, the description is hyper-specific, a single-eyed, one-armed female entity with savage fangs and massive, blood-red wings. We found traces of dense, highly volatile blood magic at the site. It's a massive wildcard in the Caria peaks, and my party is preparing to track this beast down immediately before it compromises our borders."
I sat completely frozen between Patricia and Catherine, my mind reeling.
It's me. They were talking about me. The winged demon my brother was planning to hunt down, execute, and drag back to the Bureau in chains was his own little sister. The very blood-sucking monster he was describing was currently sitting right next to his party, clutching the bounty of the drug lord she had decapitated less than an hour ago.
I didn't trace a single movement. I didn't let out a breath. If Elias looked just a fraction closer, he would see the sleek, silver-and-black barrel of the Death Chant Shotgun resting against the small of my back… the sister weapon to his own revolver. I had to maintain this cover, because if the Shadow Walker realized the truth, the mountains of Caria wouldn't just be treacherous… they would run red with the fury of a brother who found out his sister had become a monster.
Anton leaned back in his leather chair, his fingers interlacing over his chest as his expression darkened.
"A Crimson Phantom, you say... Yes, a report of that exact encounter came in late last week, right after a skirmish in the dark near the ruins of Oakhaven. We actually published a small notice about the sighting in the newspapers, hoping it was just a localized myth. We didn't believe the initial merchant rumors at first, Elias. But now that you've investigated the site and confirmed the dense magical residue... it changes things."
Anton slammed a hand on the desk, his voice hardening.
"If a creature like that is draining high-tier monsters to the bone, it is an extreme threat to our lands. We cannot, and will not, let a rogue, blood-sucking monster roam free in the Caria peaks. Track it down and eliminate it."
I sat in absolute, suffocating silence, the words echoing like a death sentence inside my mind.
My brother was going to hunt down the winged demon. Me it is I had been officially branded an anomaly, a public enemy, the Crimson Phantom. A cold spike of adrenaline shot through my veins as I stared straight ahead beneath my hood.
If Elias ever managed to track my true form down in those mountains, I didn't know what the outcome would be. Knowing his hyper-focused, ruthless personality, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on a monster threatening the capital. If he realized mid-fight that the beast was his own little sister, it would either end with him killing me in a blind, chaotic reflex, or breaking completely… blaming himself for letting me fall into such a horrific, mutilated state.
To ensure not a single stray thread or contour gave me away, I subtly reached with my right hand and tucked my traveler's cloak even tighter around my frame, pinning my hidden wing-joints securely against my spine.
But my sudden, rigid movement caught the sharp, trained eyes of the Paladin sitting right next to me.
Patricia shifted in her seat, her brow furrowing as she looked at my heavily bundled, silent figure. She turned her head toward the desk.
"Chief Anton... who exactly is this girl? She's been sitting here completely silent since we walked in."
The moment she asked, the tension in the room skyrocketed. The entire party… Patricia, Catherine, and worst of all, Elias… shifted their gazes, staring directly at me.
My heart hammered against my ribs, but I forced my breathing to remain dead steady. Elias's cold, analytical eyes locked onto my cloaked form, scanning me for any sign of a threat. But he didn't recognize me. Not even close.
The physical disguise was absolute, woven by the tragic reality of what I had become. Normally, the Eirene he knew had striking heterochromic eyes… one vibrant green and one deep, crimson red. But my right eye had been violently gouged out long ago, leaving an empty, charred socket buried under my hood. My left eye, the only one remaining, was my jade-green eye. If both of my eyes had been present, the unique color combination would have given me away instantly.
Furthermore, the tattered cloth wrap masked the jagged, smiling scars on my cheeks and the fangs hidden behind my lips. I looked exactly like a rugged, battle-worn mercenary… definitely not the sweet, pristine Eirene he left behind. The deep, rich desert tan I had baked into my skin from the grueling Sisiphon sun added the final layer of deception. The little sister Elias remembered was a fair-skinned, delicate commoner. He believed with absolute certainty that his sister was miles away, living a peaceful life in Town Allure, managing the family meat shop and tending to the Rynd household.
To him, the idea that his quiet little sister was currently sitting next to his party, armed with a lethal combat shotgun and hiding a severed drug lord's head in her files, was a complete impossibility.
I kept my head bowed, maintaining the illusion of a humble, nameless bounty hunter, praying that Anton would step in before Elias's predatory shadows crawled any closer to my boots. Anton said smoothly, leaning forward and tapping the closed ledger on his desk.
"Well, this girl right here is an S-rank bounty hunter, she's registered as one of the first of her kind to handle a threat this severe so quickly. Very recently… just an hour ago, in fact… she brought in the verified head of the drug lord Oksana. She tore through the Emerald Spire cartel all by herself in less than a week. She is, without a doubt, one of the strongest bounty hunters we have operating out there right now."
As expected, Anton kept his promise. He didn't drop my name, keeping Eirene buried safely beneath his official authority.
Sitting right next to me, the two girls immediately let out low murmurs of admiration. Catherine's eyes lit up with genuine awe beneath her mage hood.
"All by herself? In less than a week? That's insane... the Bureau's been trying to map that cartel's routes for months!"
Patricia nodded slowly, her rigid paladin posture relaxing just a fraction into a look of profound, warrior-to-warrior respect.
"A righteous deed. Breaking a syndicate that preys on the weak is no small feat."
But Elias didn't smile. He stepped closer, his heavy leather boots thudding against the rug as his towering, shadow-draped figure loomed over the couch. His single, piercing gaze locked onto my cloaked form.
"An S-rank bounty hunter… The one who collapsed a drug empire all by herself. Tell me, mercenary... What is your name?"
Before the silence could stretch too thin, Anton stepped in seamlessly.
"Sorry, Shadow Walker, you won't get an answer out of her. The bounty hunter is mute. A completely silent assassin. She communicates strictly through written ledger entries for official claims."
Elias tilted his head, his sharp eye narrowing as he caught sight of the edge of the thick cloth wrap masking my jawline, noticing the hint of jagged, violent scar tissue peeking out from the shadow of my hood. A cold, professional suspicion flared in his expression.
"Mute, scarred, and operating at an S-rank level, hand over your status card. If you're operating within my jurisdiction while I'm hunting a demonic threat in the peaks, I need to verify your clearance."
A jolt of pure panic spiked through my chest. I couldn't hand it over. The magical card resting in my vest pocket clearly bore the name Eirene Rynd in glowing, indelible blue runes. If he touched it, the illusion would shatter, and my entire world would violently implode right here in this office.
I didn't move. I rigidly crossed my lone right arm over my chest, tilting my hooded head back just enough to flash a cold, defiant stare from my single green eye, silently refusing his command.
Anton immediately defended my identity once again, cementing the deep trust I had placed in him.
"Stand down, Elias! Her clearance is directly managed by my executive desk. Her identity is classified under high-tier hunter anonymity laws to protect her from cartel retaliation. You have no authority to demand her papers. Drop it."
Elias stared at me for three more agonizing seconds, the ambient shadows in the room pulsing with his slight irritation, before he finally pulled his hand back and adjusted his collar.
"Fine. Keep your secrets, mercenary. Just stay out of my way in the mountains."
He turned on his heel, gesturing to Patricia and Catherine.
"We're done here. Let's prepare the gear."
As the three of them turned to leave the office, a sudden, heavy thought seemed to cross Elias's mind. He stopped right at the threshold, his hand resting on the brass doorknob as he looked back over his shoulder at the Bureau Chief.
"Before I go, Anton... I'm taking a brief operational break to handle some family affairs before we ascend the peaks. Can you tell me where Elicia is currently located? I asked you last week to use the Bureau's tracking network to pinpoint my sister's whereabouts."
Hearing the name Elicia made my breath catch in my throat. I sat perfectly still beneath my cloak, my mind racing. Elias thought our sister Elicia was just missing or traveling, but I knew the terrifying truth. Elicia was deep inside Sisiphon City, currently masquerading as the high-profile Principal of the very academy Oksana had infiltrated. I had just narrowly avoided crossing paths with her while I was playing the role of the apprentice Zenni.
Anton didn't betray a single emotion. He smoothly reached into a locked side drawer, pulled out a small, folded slip of parchment containing the Bureau's latest tracking coordinates, and slid it across the mahogany surface. "Here. This is the last verified location our scouts logged."
Elias stepped back, snatched the paper with a practiced, fluid flick of his wrist, and shoved it deep into his trench coat pocket without reading it under the light.
"Thank you, Chief. Let's go, girls."
With a final, heavy click, the mahogany doors swung shut behind them, taking my brother, his party, and his deadly shadows out of the room. I let out a long, shuddering, completely silent breath, sagging against the leather cushions of the couch. I was safe, my identity was intact, and the real Zenni's new life was secure… but the storm in the Caria mountains was only just beginning.