Duke Lucas’ mansion.

  Frontyard.

  Several guards rushed to the entrance of the mansion gates, as the gryff landed in front of them. Standing at the entrance of the mansion itself were the caretakers and servants that worked at the mansion, behind them Duchess Jeanné von Haloth, with her two children next to her, both slightly hiding behind their mother. “Make way.” Lucas’ voice rang out from behind, as he pushed through the servants and caretakers, spinning his hat and placing it onto his head, as he adjusted his monocle, a gentle smile spreading across his face as he approached the gryff.

  Harcone jumped off of the animal, caressing it gently, before turning to face the approaching noble. “What a surprise! I wasn’t expecting any visitors today, and most certainly not a highly esteemed knight such as yourself Sir Harcone.” Lucas reached out his right hand towards the knight, going for a handshake, which the Knight returned almost immediately, before handing the leads around his gryff to the guards. “My apologies for my sudden arrival Duke Haloth, however the Holy King has requested that I come to Ordial to investigate a recent occurrence.”

  Lucas’ gaze turned a bit more serious.

  “Is it the disappearance of Arabor?” Harcone shook his head gently. “No, the Holy King has not told me any information or plans surrounding that entire mystery. He has sent me to investigate something else.”

  The Duke remained silent for a moment, before clearing his throat and brushing his moustache with his right hand, while leaning onto his cane slightly with his left arm. “I see. Then, may we talk inside where there are fewer ears listening?”

  “That’d be most preferable.” Harcone nodded. The Duke then turned around, gesturing to the knight to follow him, before looking at the guards that had taken the gryff off him. “Take the gryff to the stables. However, be gentle with it – we don’t want to harm the partner of Sir Harcone.” The guards bowed towards the Duke, before scurrying off with the gryff calmly following after them, while Lucas and Harcone moved towards the mansion. The servants immediately all rushed inside, to start preparations for a visitor, while Jeanné smiled gently.

  As the two got close, she gently lifted up her dress, bowing towards the Knight. “Sir Harcone, it is good to see you again – even if your visit is a bit sudden.” The Knight bowed towards the Duchess in return. “The feeling is mutual, Lady Jeanné.” He then looked down at the two children hiding behind her, before kneeling down, allowing the two to come closer. “And a most gracious greeting to you two young ones as well.” The daughter and son of Duke Lucas and Duchess Jeanné were both shy kids that only felt comfortable around certain individuals. Luckily, Harcone was one of these people, though, usually it took a bit before they fully dropped their shyness around him.

  The two kids carefully slid out from behind their mother, before approaching the knight and bowing towards him. Harcone gently laughed. “Come on, no need to be stiff around me or have you two developed a fear of me since the last time we met?” The two children looked at him, before looking up at their mother, who gave a gentle smile. They both exchanged gazes for a second and then jumped onto Harcone, hugging the knight with bright smiles.

  “Uncle Harcone!”

  “Where have you been? You promised us to come back and tell tales of your adventures.” The two children stated, looking at him with slight disappointment as they pushed themselves off of the Knight slightly. Harcone laughed gently again. “I have been busy, young ones, so I apologise for being unable to visit. I assure you though, when I’m done with my business here, I will make some time to tell you more about my adventures.” The two kids celebrated, while Jeanné laughed gently. Lucas stood in the doorframe, letting out a small fake cough.

  “Sir Harcone, may we now move onto our discussion inside?” The four of them looked at Lucas, with Jeanné smiling gently before crouching down and pulling her kids off of the Knight. “Come on Benjamin, Rosa – Uncle Harcone has things to attend to. After he’s finished, you’ll be able to hang out with him.” The two kids let out disappointed sighs, while Harcone stood up and waved the two a friendly bye, before moving after Lucas, the two disappearing in the mansion.

  Inside, the two men moved into a room located at the back of the mansion, where two heavily armed guards were stationed outside and no one was allowed inside without the Duke's permission – not even his own wife or children. This was the Duke's personal office, where all matters surrounding Ordial or any other city, nation or town in the world were being handled by Duke Lucas.

  Once inside the room, the Duke locked the door, before walking over to a small statue located on a small table, just ten meters in front of the door. “Take a seat, I will ensure that no one can hear our conversation, to keep it at maximum confidentiality.” Lucas stated, with Harcone moving down the small stairs, before walking over to one of the two couches located in the office, sitting down on it. The Duke meanwhile twisted around certain plates on the small statue, each plate labeled with a certain ritualistic symbol. Once the last plate was in position, he closed his eyes and gripped the small statue tightly in his right hand.

  “Soundproof.” He mumbled.

  In the next moment, a white flash came from the statue, which engulfed the entire room. After it dissipated, there was a barely noticeable, thin veil of a water like pattern across the walls, floor and ceiling of the room. Harcone looked around rather impressed, before looking back at the Duke, who sat down on the other couch just across from him. “Rather impressive to cast such a spell at your age, Duke Lucas. I suppose age hasn’t taken away your skills with magic.”

  Lucas laughed lightly. “You jest Sir Harcone, I am nowhere near as skilled as I once was when I was the Court Mage of King Kragsos. This small, simple spell does not compare to what I once used to be capable of, especially with the fact that I need to rely on objects such as miracle idols just to ensure that the spell's effects enclose the entire room.” Then, the Duke cleared his throat. “That’s besides the point. Let’s move onto the main topic of discussion – what you have been sent to investigate.”

  Harcone nodded, crossing his arms.

  “Then I won’t waste time — Have you heard about what happened with the Southern Beast?” Lucas raised his eyebrow. “The Southern Beast? Ah… You mean the monster created by that psycho Queen of the Skies Oprass that sealed away her own daughter.” He sighed a bit heavily, placing his cane to the side, before taking off his hat and resting it onto the coffee table between him and Harcone, the golden feather attached to the hat glistening gently. “What about that thing?”

  Harcone looked around, as if unsure if truly no one would hear him, before leaning a bit closer to Lucas. “The Holy King gained intel and physical proof that the beast has been killed.”

  “What?!” The Duke shouted out, before shaking his head, as if embarrassed about his sudden reaction that had burst forth. “That is impossible. It’s been several millenia since that beast was created and no one has been strong enough to defeat it — It should have been beyond any and all mortal individuals in the world by now.” Harcone nodded in agreement, leaning back into his seat. “I also thought so. However, the Overshadow alliance had gotten an undeniable recording of the beast being disintegrated by some foreign power.” Lucas raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Overshadow alliance? What were they doing with their members so close to Ordial? I thought I made it clear that they were not welcome in my territory.”

  “That, we don’t know. They are as tight lipped as ever about what dealings their entire organisation partakes in.” Harcone shrugged, before resting his hands in his lap. “However, the proof they brought to us was clear. The Beast was allegedly killed by someone or something would be the better expression.”

  Lucas scratched his chin, before exhaling gently.

  “I had heard that a local mercenary had returned to Ordial, saying something about an Infestation close to the southern border and a powerful monster appearing out of nowhere, but by the time the guards and Adventuring Guild had reached said location, all they found was a man who was passed out in what was most certainly a crater of an infestation.” Harcone sharpened his eyes. “A man passed out? Not a monster or something?”

  Lucas shook his head. “A man. Young one at that. I asked Gidou and he said that based on the Adventuring Guilds records, he is someone who just recently registered as an adventurer.” Harcone looked down, crossing his arms. Something felt off about it. Then, he looked back at the Duke, who exhaled, seemingly knowing what was on the knight's mind. “You think that the man was responsible for the death of the Southern Beast?”

  “It’s only a guess. However, you must admit that it is suspicious that we got this recording of the Southern Beast being killed and then you say that a man was found passed out at a location, which is close to the southern border, where the beast resides.” Lucas looked a bit unconvinced. “With a simple first look, it does look rather suspicious, however..” The Duke looked at Harcone with a serious, yet unsure gaze. “Surely you of all people know better than to just take the most surface level coincidence and treat it as factual.”

  “I know, I know. I am proposing it as a potential possibility.” Harcone elaborated, before scratching the chin of his helmet. Then, after a moment he exhaled. “Could I have some information about the man? Such as his name and adventurer rank? Just in case, so I could ask a couple of questions.”

  Lucas sighed heavily.

  “I’ll pass a message to Gidou to prepare the documentation about him for you, but Harcone, please do first conduct a proper investigation into this matter, especially firstly confirming whether or not the evidence the Overshadow alliance provided the Holy King with is actually true or not.” Lucas crossed his arms, twitching his moustache a bit. “I do not trust those people in the slightest.” Harcone nodded.

  “I was planning on doing so anyway.” Harcone also crossed his arms. Silence took place between the two men for a moment, before Lucas exhaled and rested his arms onto his lap. “Hypothetically, if the Southern Beast really has been killed, then I assume you will also look for the daughter of Oprass, who should be out of her seal now, correct?”

  Harcone gave a confirming nod. “Indeed. That was the other thing that the Holy King asked of me — to search for her and if possible, to bring her back to the Holy Capital, however, he also gave me a thick warning to not use force to do so.”

  “Makes sense. We don’t need a potential conflict with that psycho woman just because we laid our hands on her oh so precious daughter.” Lucas’ tone turned a bit sarcastic and even mocking towards the end of his sentence, as he exhaled and leaned his head back, resting it onto the backrest of the couch. His eyes fell onto Harcone. “Anything else you have to do while here in Ordial or are those the only things?”

  Harcone got up from his seat. “For now, that’s all. After I’m done with my investigation, I must report back to the Holy King.” Lucas smiled, before leaning forward and letting out a small fake cough, followed by a confident smile and laugh. “I assume that it’ll take a few days for you to conduct a thorough investigation… I’d be more than happy to offer a room to stay at while you’re here in Ordial.” Harcone rolled his eyes and let out a light laugh, crossing his arms as he threw a gaze at Lucas over his left shoulder.

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  “You wish for me to babysit your two children, don’t you?”

  Lucas snickered, brushing his moustache. “Whatever do you mean by that.”

  Harcone exhaled, before looking away. “I’d appreciate it if I could stay at your manor. The investigation most certainly won’t be a quick one.” Lucas smiled, picking up his cane and standing up, before flipping up his hat, which he spun around before placing it back onto his head. “Fantastic! Then I will ask the caretakers to prepare a room for you. Now, I’m sure you wish to start your investigation as fast as possible.”

  Lucas walked up the small staircase, walking over to the miracle idol, before twisting all the symbols away, causing the spell encasing the room to disappear. Then, he snapped his fingers, the lock of the door unlocking. “Dinner is usually served at eight. I’m sure my wife and kids would love to have an extra member at the table tonight.”

  Harcone laughed, walking over to him and patting him on his back, before moving to the door. “I’ll see if I can make it. Just in case, do leave a seat for me.”

  “But of course, I wouldn’t dream of leaving you out.” The two gave each other a friendly nod, before Harcone left the office, closing the door shut after himself. Lucas remained by himself in the room, staring at the door before exhaling gently and tapping his cane onto the ground three times.

  In an instant, two individuals dressed in black clothing, with hoods and masks covering their heads and faces appeared behind the duke. “You called?”

  “Indeed. I want you to deliver a message to Gidou — tell him to prepare documentation on all the information he has about the adventurer that was found unconscious at the southernmost border.”

  “Sir.”

  “Hold on, one more thing.” The two individuals looked at the Duke, as he turned to face them, a serious and even threatening look plastered across his face. “After that, I want you to follow that man. Keep a close eye on him and what he does – I want to make sure that if he’s truly the one who killed the Southern Beast, he is not a threat to Ordial.” The two individuals exchanged gazes, before bowing towards Duke Lucas.

  “Understood sir. We’ll get to it.” Then, the duo disappeared. Lucas sighed, adjusting his monocle a bit, before looking at the mural on the ceiling of his office, where a sprawling kingdom was depicted, with angelic creatures above it, wielding spears.

  A low growl escaped his throat, while the rays of sunlight illuminated the room.

  The Southernmost Border.

  Site of the fight between Faofa & the Southern Beast.

  Harcones' footsteps hit the ground heavily as he walked up to the large crater at the southernmost border. Looking down into it, it was clear that this had been the site of a Monster Heart. The magical energy in the air, while faded by now, still lingered as a thick fog, which was hard to miss. Harcone sharpened his gaze, before leaping into the crater, landing graciously, before walking towards deeper into the crater. Around the center of it, he stopped, looking around before kneeling down and gently touching the ground, examining the lingering magical energy traces and whether he was able to make out anything from them. The ground had clearly been affected by something – it had traces of strong magic coursing through it.

  In fact, the remnants of the magic that had been burst through the ground had left a permanent mark, as the ground felt a lot more ‘withered’ than it should. It was like Harcone had come across an area affected by miasma. Standing up, the knight crossed his arms. “I’ll need some help here…”

  He quietly commented to himself, before exhaling and removing one of his gauntlets, revealing a somewhat human hand – only it was covered by a white fuzzy fur, with golden feathers mixed in a stripey pattern. Then, Harcone took out a small knife, before slicing his palm and clenching his fist as hard as he could, to press out as much blood as he could, before splashing it onto the ground. “I call upon my familiar Uzeria. Come out at once.” He said, placing the knife back into its spot on his hip. For a moment, nothing — then, the blood he had splashed across the ground suddenly shone, before floating up and gathering into a small orb, which then shapeshifted into the shape of a humanoid figure, with a pair of large wings sprawling out of their back.

  The blood turned into something closer to a normal body.

  It was a female, with a head and torso that resembled an elf, however the legs and arms were more birdlike, looking more beastly. The female opened her eyes, landing onto the ground, before taking in a deep breath.

  Harcone healed his cut on his palm, before covering it with his gauntlet again. “Uzeria, rise.” He said coldly. The elf bird mix woman eyed the Knight with a sharp gaze, before exhaling and spinning around, her wings covering her for a second, before they sprawled out and then retracted back to her. Then, she smiled gently. “It’s been a while Harcone. Did you finally miss me?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  “Harsh as ever.” She chuckled innocently at his stern response, while the knight crossed his arms. Her voice was a little quaint, however also had this reverb to it, as if her throat had something vibrating inside of it as she spoke, slightly breaking up her speech. Uzeria touched her lips gently, before leaning in close to the Knight. “Well, well? How can I be of service to you?” Her gaze turned a bit playful. “Maybe I could finally—”

  “No. I called you here to help me investigate something.” Uzeria pouted, sighing before pushing herself away from the Knight, crossing her arms and looking away in disappointment. “You’re no fun as ever.”

  Then, she exhaled, looking at him boredly. “Alright, what do you want?”

  Harcone sighed, lowering his arms.

  “We’re currently at a site where a potential fight against the Southern Beast took place. I want you to use your species ability to see whether you can look into the events that transpired here.” Uzeria sighed heavily.

  “Seriously? Calling me here for me to use my gift again? Unthinkable.” She scoffed, before rolling her eyes and flipping around. “Alright. What do you want me to look for and what time frame?”

  Harcone thought for a moment, scratching the chin of his helmet. Then, he looked back at her, crossing his arms again. “In the last week and who was involved in the conflicts that transpired here — specifically, if it was a humanoid creature or not. Ignore any and all fights between monsters.” Uzeria scratched her chin gently with her right foot, before exhaling and then smiling. “Alrighty～ Give me a moment or two, I’ll see what I can find.” She turned away from the Knight again, before taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes.

  A moment later, she opened her eyes slightly, a bright green shine coming from them. For a bit, it was silent, as Harcone waited while Uzeria looked around the entire place – her expression changing ever so occasionally – one moment it was intrigued, the other shocked, the next sour and so on.

  Eventually, Uzeria finished, her eyes returning to normal, before she sighed. “Find anything?” Harcone asked. She flipped around, shrugging before crossing her arms. “It’s all a bit… confusing.”

  Harcone raised an eyebrow under his helmet.

  “Confusing? In what way?” He asked. Uzeria remained silent for a moment, looking like she was trying to find the best way to phrase her findings to her master, before exhaling. “I’ll give it to you straight, Harcone, it’s not easy to understand what happened here. You said I was to ignore any and all monster fights and so I did. In my vision I saw a man arriving here when a monster heart was active, before the Southern Beast ambushed him by appearing out of nowhere.”

  Harcones interest piqued. “Did the man fight it?”

  “Yes—”

  “Did he kill it?” Harcone didn’t allow Uzeria to finish, before throwing out his next question. The maiden looked at him with a disappointed gaze for a moment, before sighing and shaking her head.

  “No. The man was on the brink of death.”

  Harcone scratched the bottom of his helmet's chin. “So that must have been the local mercenary that returned heavily injured that Duke Lucas had mentioned.” He looked at Uzeria again. “And was he saved by someone?”

  She nodded.

  Harcone grinned a bit under his helmet. “Describe them. Were they perhaps a young man, who looked like a rookie adventurer.” Uzeria gave an unsure look, before sighing. “It’s complicated.”

  “Elaborate.”

  “Well you see…” She looked away, rubbing the back of her neck, falling silent for a second, before looking at him again. “Okay, basically, yes – it was a young man. However, it was a young man in appearance only.”

  Harcone couldn't help but fall confused. “What does that mean?”

  “His shape. It was that of a monsters. And the magical energy he radiated, it wasn’t one that belonged to a humanoid.” She explained a bit before turning around again, slightly adjusting the position of her wings. “Essentially, he looked, walked and acted like a human, however, his shape and magical energy was one that would be possessed by a monster – and a strong one at that.”

  Harcone sharpened his gaze. “How strong are we talking?”

  “On a rough estimate, I’d say he was strong enough to qualify as a special mid-tier, or, doomsday level monster.” Harcone froze up for a moment. Doomsday level? From his raw power alone? That meant that this ‘man’ was at the very least B-Rank when it came to monster ranking. A monster that if it were to rampage, would be enough to destroy a city before it was stopped.

  However, then, Harcones attention fell onto another confusing detail. “Hold on, just to get this right — this ‘man’ defeated the Southern Beast, correct?” Uzeria nodded, resting her hands behind her head as she turned back around to face the knight.

  “Then it’s impossible for it to be only a B-Rank monster. The Southern Beast has been around for thousands of years, gathering power to the point where at a minimum, it was an S-Rank monster, with potential for its raw power to rival an SS-Rank monster. Are you certain it was the one that defeated the Southern Beast?”

  Uzeria sighed, looking at him with an unimpressed, almost offended gaze. “Are you implying my sight is flawed? I know what I saw Harcone. Yes, the thing defeated the Southern Beast. It was about to lose but then suddenly the magical energy around it started spiraling out of control and it fired off a HUGE attack that had such an overwhelming amount of magical energy in it that it felt like the sun was coming down.” Harcone recalled the recording – in it, the Southern Beast had been defeated by a massive serpent created of red lightning and clouds.

  The Knight looked away. Something was strange here.

  He didn’t want to doubt the abilities of his familiar, as Uzeria was hardly ever wrong, however, surely a B-Rank monster wasn’t the one to take out the Southern Beast, a monster so strong, its name and legend became widespread across the world.

  There was something missing.

  “Tell me, what happened after the Southern Beast fell?”

  “Uhh..” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I believe I just saw the man faint to the ground, unconscious while the magical energy in the area around him started to calm down from the immense levels it was mere seconds before.” Harcone mumbled something to himself. Then, he turned away, thinking. Uzeria looked at him confused, moving closer to him, about to touch his shoulder.

  “All good?”

  “Everything is fine. Just trying to figure out some things.” He replied, startling her. Then, he turned back to face her. “Thank you Uzeria, you may return to the plane now.” She exhaled, shrugging before waving him a goodbye with a smug smile across her face. Then, her body turned back to blood before splattering across the ground, seeping into the soil.

  “Something isn’t right here. That man — Uzeria said he had the core and power that would normally belong to a monster. And his power level, it shouldn’t have allowed him to be able to even face the Southern Beast.” He exhaled, before moving towards the forest patch closest to the sea shore on the southern border. There was one more location he wanted to check before returning to Ordial — the cave where Oprass had placed the seal of her daughter.

  However, his mind was fixated on a single mystery as he walked — Who or rather what is that man and could he potentially be a threat? Harcone would need to go and see if he can find him in Ordial and interview him.

  He had to interview him no matter what.