Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?

Chapter 212 - Unknown Safety

“Where could you have gone?” Mary wondered aloud. It had been over a week since Syrus had left the manor, and outside of a few letters, they hadn’t heard anything. At this point, they didn’t even know if she was still alive.

The debates in the house were mixed. The people who were from the country weren’t hopeful or just assumed she had been killed. The multiple attacks that happened while she had lived in the manor weren’t secret, there were some attacks that weren’t exactly known by everyone, which were accounted for. Because the staff didn’t have all the information, they all assumed she had been attacked more times than they had been told.

Mary’s eyes turned up to watch her son hold a spear as he fought Lavender. The closed-off training area behind Lord Hall’s house was slightly elevated and had walls that blocked off external eyes from looking in.

“Come on, lift that spear higher,” Lavender said casually as Max fell to the ground. Mary wanted to go over and pick up her son, but the boy stood up and readjusted his spear.

He did not want to be weak.

Max had already seen people like Maca throughout his life. He never thought about becoming a hunter, as he was worried such a profession would make his mother fret over his safety, and he didn’t want that. However, times had changed. He learned his origin, and because his blood, his life, and the people around him were in danger.

People like Ethan, who were his age, had managed to become skilled. Ethan would disagree with the assessment, but he had been doing a good job as a hunter. He had been catching game and was very safe during his work. It was just in his mind. His big idea of a hunter had been replaced with Syrus, and so whenever he judged his competence, he compared it to the time he was trained by her. It didn’t matter how many people complimented him about his archery or axe skills, he still felt he fell short of being called a skilled hunter.

Still, Ethan’s opinion in that matter didn’t exactly matter to Max.

So Max, with not many other options, did the two things he could do. Train and learn. Sparing and training with the guards, Maca, and Lavender were what he mainly spent his daytime hours doing. Originally, it was only for some days, but as tensions rose and now that Syrus had vanished, the urge had strengthened. Then, when it was time to rest, he studied. He always liked to read the stories Mary told him while younger made him interested in books. Now he used his ability to focus to go through Lord Hall’s library to discover every fact he didn’t know about.

He didn’t have a specific goal of study; he just wanted to know what he was missing. This wasn’t a goal to become a proper prince, but to overcome all the weaknesses he currently possessed.

Mary couldn't help but worry. It was never good when she saw Max coming back inside, injured

Along with the worry for Syrus's unknown status, she felt she had been worrying a lot recently.

Apparently, there had been a fight breaking out, and there was a massive scorch mark along the ground. That was all Mary was able to learn. She didn’t know if Havier or Lord Hall were keeping information from her, but she prayed they weren’t. With all the chaos going around, she needed accurate information to plan her next actions.

She knew people wanted her far away from anything, and technically, she held no power here. She was a royal in name only, as that status held no power here anymore. Lord Hall was helping and protecting her because of his connection with her brother, and she couldn't order him to do any specific action.

“Woo?” Cobalt popped out between Mary’s legs, underneath her chair.

“Hi there, little pup…” Mary scratched the dog’s ear.

Ethan asked, “You okay?”

“Yes, I am fine, Cobalt is not worrying me.”

Ethan shook his head, “Not about Cobalt, he was just worried about you as well. It’s just you seem a little down.”

“...” Mary paused, not wanting to worry a child near her son's age about it. “I am fine, but thank you.”

Lavender called out from the training yard, “Nah, you are still worried that the redhead had gotten herself killed somewhere.”

“I…” Mary didn’t expect the cross-field counter.

Lavender paused the training with Max to give the boy a time-out as she walked over to Mary. Max quickly followed, wanting to be part of the conversation.

“That’s not a matter I am concerned with.” No one believed Mary’s words.

Lavender scoffed. “That woman is fine.”

Ethan nodded, “It will take a lot more to kill her.”

Before Mary could say anything, Max asked. “But… how can you be so sure?”

Lavender and Ethan looked at each other. Both had different pictures of Syrus being basically a juggernaut. Lavender had fought with her against the large mutated creatures that had attacked the city, and from that, she knew Syrus was a force to be reckoned with. The fact that she had already survived so many attackers in this city made Lavender believe that the woman was going to be fine. Ethan had a stronger picture in his head, as he knew that she fought against church soldiers to save Cobalt, and that was when the city was controlled… he didn’t have a clear picture of what happened, but if Syrus was powerful enough to fight whatever thing did that, then she was strong enough to still be alive now.

“Experience.”

“Experience.”

“...Experience?”

Lavender shrugged and swapped which arm was holding her training spear. “That woman is a tough piece of shit. Best I can say, I have watched her fight, and based on what she has shown already, no reason she would suddenly be dead now.” Lavender wasn’t blind to the possibility that Syrus was dead, but if she had to weigh it on a scale, it was a favourable bet.

“Same…” Ethan kept his reason simple.

“I see….” Max thought for a moment. “I guess it is something I need more practical experience in, judging people’s abilities."

Lavender nodded, “It is a great skill to have. Very important when choosing people for a team.”

Maca added, “Or who to talk to.” He was doing some weight training on his own in the corner, but had gotten up since everyone was gathering.

The duo of experienced hunters began giving Max a lesson on judging people. On their character and abilities. There was a bit of conflicting information, but the duo were different individuals who required different things and interacted with people differently.

For Max, this was a very educational lesson. While Mary was confused about how easy the conversation shifted, were they truly not worried about their friend’s survival at all? She thought even Maca would be more concerned.

“Mary.” Maca, perhaps feeling Mary’s worry, turned to her. “She will be okay. I promise.”

Under the ground, Anlesa had been listening in as she was sitting in the tunnels. So close that she could spy, definitely something they should warn Lord Hall about.

[Good grief, they worry too much.] (Syrus)

There were no tunnels that went directly under Lord Hall’s home, but there were some nearby, and there was one that went under the closed-off training field. Since it was the closest one and the exit was nearby, Syrus decided to set up camp here to ambush any attackers that came tonight.

And she had already been successful. Whether they were here to attack now or to set up for a later assault didn’t matter. They all died the same. Since there have been good gaps between people showing up. Anlesa decided to try the interrogation approach, and yep, that wasn’t too successful. They had managed to stop one person from dying, but the answers given were lacklustre. They didn’t admit to anything clearly, and a few answers even sounded fake, but what Syrus would like to hear.

[Torture never works well with people like this.] Syrus mentally clicked her tongue. Time and again, Syrus found answers gained through torture to be lacklustre. Occasionally, she got something nice, but in most cases, she was left disappointed or received incorrect information. Still, she was always up to try, just in case she got lucky.

[...Still, based on the items. It does look like they were planning for a raid.] Eva looked over the items on the three bodies that had moved to the side. Based on the evidence, a nighttime raid appeared to be what was planned. Though the plan could seem to be going ahead, Anlesa had no idea if there were other points people were regrouping at.

Luna wrote a warning letter and detailed where the attacker's bodies could be found.

It was the best they could do in this situation, outside of looking into every nearby building. Which they had been internally debating. Going around to ensure the safety seemed like a good decision, but they had been trying to stay quiet while in Syrus's form. By that logic, they could just use a different form, which again, they debated.

There was also a reason for not doing anything. This tunnel could be the only place people were going to come for a potential attack tonight, so trying to investigate other locations could be a waste of time. There was another reason that Eva didn’t like, the reason for staying back and letting everyone else handle the situation.

She understood the logic, but didn’t agree with it. So far, only Syrus had been attacked, which meant the guards and the Arisea Station team didn’t have any experience in defending against them. So, Syrus was kind of willing not to look in other locations to prompt the enemy into attacking.

They could help defend if it happened, but it would bring everyone up an alert level. Though even Syrus wasn't 100% on this idea, it had been a suggestion of hers.

[Perhaps…] (Eva)

[Revealing ourselves is a no-go. It is better that ‘Syrus’ stays away.] (Syrus)

In the end, it wasn’t a quiet debate, but they did decide to stay out and watch in case anything happened. So they could jump in after something happened. In the end, no one else showed up, and the night passed without complaint. Everyone within the manor got a good night's sleep.