The city of Vorandis was buzzing with life. Various tradesmen and cultivators flocked to the markets, while others sought solace in the city's famous taverns.
As they navigated the city streets, Maria gave Mira a brief overview of Vorandis's history, culture, and the current state of affairs. She explained the role the Sanctum played in propagating peace within the city and how it acted as a bridge between the different social classes.
While they were out, Hana and Rhydian followed them, also wanting to explore the city.
Suddenly, as the four were enjoying their time together, eating various foods, and looking through the different shops, Mira noticed that people seemed to be watching her. In particular, the guards stationed around the city all had their eyes on her.
She remembered the Guard Leader she'd run into yesterday, Norrick, and his nefarious gaze and figured he was planning something. She couldn't help but feel a little irritated that a few pests were thinking about ruining her 'vacation'.
Maria felt the change in Mira's attitude, put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Try to ignore them. I know the guy you fought with yesterday is annoying, but he has the backing of a District Leader. If you cause trouble with them, it'll bring you endless trouble while you're here."
Mira didn't say anything, returning to her normal neutral expression, but it was clear she didn't take Maria's words to heart.
Even though she now knew that the District Leaders in this city were usually in the Mortal Shedding Realm, she didn't care. Even if it meant sacrificing her lifespan, she wouldn't allow herself to be looked down on by a mutt.
Plus, she highly doubted that those old codgers would dare to mess with her. Doing that was the same as earning the ire of the Battle Maiden Sect Master. Just a few Elders from the Sect were more than enough to wipe this city off the face of the earth, much less Aelina herself.
If they weren't idiots, they'd let her be.
Knowing exactly what Mira was thinking, Maria could only sigh.
"Haaa… Whatever. Just try to be on your best behavior."
"They would've been dead if I wasn't."
"..."
Ignoring Mira's response, Maria grabbed her hand and dragged them around the city.
However, while they were touring, it was clear Mira's mind was elsewhere. She had forgotten about the guards not long after their discussion, but that was only the beginning of her findings.
In this city, Mira spotted beast after beast. They were all in human form, using a device to hide their animal-like features, but they were there. Some were performing various jobs like normal humans, but from what she could tell, most were gathering knowledge or buying all kinds of things like pills, arrays, books, and more.
'The hell?' Mira was a bit shocked at this.
While beasts and humans weren't exactly on bad terms, they most definitely weren't on good ones. Pets like Rhydian were fine since they belonged to humans, but the others? They were more like spies than anything.
'Should I kill them?' Mira contemplated.
Normally, she wouldn't care about this city, or other people for that matter, but with Aelina's upcoming plans, she felt it would be better to get rid of them so that she could sow the seeds of discord. Maybe take some of the attention away from the Battle Maiden Sect.
'I guess that's my answer.' With a twirl of her fingers, she conjured several dozen highly-condensed ice needles using all her elements, their ethereal glow shimmering in a myriad of colors before she covered them in an illusion, making it seem like nothing was there.
"What are you doing?" Maria suddenly turned to Mira and asked with a slight frown.
"Making my future a bit easier," Mira replied, and without waiting for Maria's response, she flicked the needles toward all the beasts surrounding her.
Without making so much as a noise, the needles pierced the skulls of the beasts, killing them all before she controlled them to kill more. Their bodies dropped to the ground with a thud, and whatever devices they were wearing were destroyed, revealing their beastly bodies.
For a few seconds, Mira continued killing hundreds of beasts until there were no more within her vicinity. She could kill countless more if she spread out her Soul Sense, but because Maria told her to be careful, she decided against doing that.
Feeling her targets' Qi and Vitality getting absorbed into her body, Mira nodded before dissipating her needles.
People on the streets gasped at seeing hundreds of people drop like flies, but what was even more surprising was that they were actually beasts!
"What the-?! Beasts have infiltrated our city?! Do the Leaders know?!"
"How'd they get in?! No, wait! How'd they hide their identities?!"
"Fuck! Who knows how many more of them there are?!"
"What are they looking for?! Ah! This rabbit has a book on Arrays! They're learning how to create arrays!"
"This one has a bunch of pills! What would these things need pills for?!"
Just like Mira wanted, her little action sparked the beginning of discord. Who knows what sort of consequences that'll bring to the future of the city!
Maria's frown deepened, watching all this happen. "Was that really necessary?" She wasn't surprised about beasts being in the city, as she had already known this, but was more concerned about why Mira took action.
However, the fox woman just shrugged with an indifferent expression. "Who knows? But, if a lot more die, it could probably cause a chain reaction."
"Okay? But why would you want something like that to happen?"
"War is the best time for those seeking opportunities," Mira replied cryptically.
Maria understood what she was getting at but still felt like there was more to it. Mira might be a psycho, but she wouldn't indiscriminately kill people without at least some sort of reason.
It could be for a petty reason, but she'd still have a reason.
Seeing that Maria was staring at her with a skeptical gaze, Mira sighed and said, "The Prime Disciple competition is coming up, and Aelina is aiming for the Ancient Beast Mountain Range. She hasn't told me the specifics, but I'm sure you can put two and two together."
Now, it was Maria's turn to be stunned! She had totally forgotten about that! She didn't care about the position since she assumed that Mira would get it. And if Mira didn't, there was no way in hell she was.
However, from what she knew about Aelina, as well as the little information she obtained about her past, she wasn't bringing the Sect deeper into the mountains for a picnic. They were going there to hunt, at the least.
Mira was just thinning the crowd.
Maria's realization of Mira's motives sent a chill down her spine. If the beasts were gathering information about human tactics and knowledge, and they were discovered, it would surely lead to tension between the two sides. All-out war was a bit much for a single city, but the death of hundreds, if not more, Rank 8 beasts wasn't a small loss by any means.
Mira didn't reply immediately. Her cold, piercing gaze landed on the falling bodies of the beasts, the confusion in the city intensifying.
After a long moment, she nodded.
"Yes. But it's not as simple as just attacking. If it was just that, she wouldn't bother causing so much trouble. I'm sure there's something she wants. Something that is only available during this time." Mira finally spoke, her voice chillingly calm. "And these beasts here are most likely scouts. They're keeping track of all major human faction movements and sending this information back to their Clans."
Despite her initial shock, Maria quickly regained her composure. She might not agree with Mira's methods, but she had to admit that the fox woman had a point. Information was key in any conflict, and eliminating these spies could undoubtedly disrupt some of the beasts' plans.
"Hmm… I see. But are you not worried about retaliation from the beast clans? After all, these beasts didn't come here alone," Maria asked cautiously. She knew that Mira was powerful, but even she couldn't take on an entire clan of beasts on her own.
Mira shrugged nonchalantly, her attention momentarily shifting to Hana and Rhydian, who seemed to be engrossed in a freshly roasted piece of meat from a street vendor. They were oblivious to the chaos around them.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Mira stated simply.
The two went silent after that, but a moment later, Maria clapped and smiled. "Alright! Enough about that! Now that we've reached the end of our tour, why don't I give your gifts?"
Mira smiled faintly and nodded, "Sure."
But before they could walk back toward the mansion, they heard a loud shout from the side, "Oh no, you don't! This Miss here is going to have to come in for questioning!"
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