"That damned Saigo!" Ayato cursed under her breath, her fingers gripping the cold stone cornice. Her brother had summoned her suddenly and at a highly inconvenient time. At the very least, talking was impossible due to the abundance of guards, and all she had was a short, alarming note.
Its message was simple: the maid Mona had seen things she shouldn't have, which meant they needed to find out what she truly knew, and then… 'silence' her, one way or another.
Slipping through a casement window into one of the mansion's countless halls, Ayato froze for a moment, assessing the situation.
I see they haven't been wasting their time here. And she wasn't thinking about the changed, noticeably improved decor. To her trained senses, the mansion was literally swarming with guards.
And this wasn't far from the truth after the ghost incident, the guard had been doubled, and tripled around Saigo's chambers, literally surrounding him with a ring of steel.
But the Cotto assassins had taken stronger fortresses.
Ayato, like a shadow, slipped between patrols, using the slightest miscalculations in their routes, masking herself under hanging tapestries and frequently diving into deep window niches.
She quickly passed a couple of dozing sentries lazily exchanging words by a fireplace. Fortunately, there were fewer guards in the servants' wing.
Reaching a junction, the girl couldn't help but smirk. "I couldn't get close to the Queen or 'baby' Saigo even if I wanted to," she admitted to herself. "There's too much guard there; if there were any more, they'd be stepping on each other's heels with every step." Having noted this, she turned and moved on.
The right door in the servants' wing was found quickly grey, inconspicuous, no different from dozens of others in this wing. "You wouldn't know that behind it lies one of Her Highness's trusted maids," the thought flashed.
The door opened silently the hinges were well-maintained and lubricated, despite the seeming simplicity of the surroundings.
Mona was there. As before, she lay unconscious, pale, with a bandage on her head, her breathing even, almost meditative.
Closing the door, Ayato swept the room with a quick, professional glance. A narrow bed, a chest of drawers, a washstand, a candle stub. Nothing extra, no frills. She exhaled. "Now for the unpleasant awakening."
From the folds of her dark cloak, she extracted a small vial of black, oily liquid. 'Devil's Water'.
A vile thing, smelling so revolting that a dead man would wake up just to throw it far away from his grave. Holding her breath and uncorking the vial, she held it under the girl's nose.
"Aah..." Mona groaned, her eyelids twitched, and then her eyes flew open, filled with instant, animal terror. She tried to scream, but a palm was already firmly sealing her mouth.
Mona's eyes met those of the figure standing over her. And it wasn't Ayato's face. Leaning over her was something else monstrous, distorted, with burning crimson points for eyes in the semi-darkness.
"You listen to me. Understood?" a low, grating, utterly inhuman voice sounded. Mona, trembling all over, nodded with desperate, almost hysterical speed. The monster continued: "We want to know what you saw in the prison attic. Everything concerning that strange young man. And I will hear an answer, otherwise..."
Without finishing the threat with words, the monster slowly moved its head, and from the darkness behind it, the outlines of other, even more terrifying maws seemed to emerge, ready to bare their teeth. Mona nodded even more desperately, tears welling in her eyes.
The monster nodded in satisfaction. But before beginning the interrogation, it turned halfway. Its massive, shadow-like body seemed to occupy half the room, and several long, pitch-black tails, shimmering in the semi-darkness with the colors of a fading moon, slowly dragged behind it.
"Excellent. But remember: we see everything... And we know everything…"
"And what exactly do you see?" a calm but firm voice came from behind it.
In the doorway, blocking the exit, stood a man in practical, worn clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. In his hand, a short but formidable Force Blade glimmered exactly like the guards', but one-handed, and thus faster and more convenient in tight spaces. His other hand was still free and tucked in a pocket.
"Seems the nightmares have gotten quite bold," Gindo said, and his voice sounded almost mocking. "Starting to invade the real world now. Although..." he coughed, "this is a fucking illusion. Care to show us your real face?"
Gindo spoke with an unconcealed smile. After investigating the prison incident, he had many questions left, and with the aim of finding answers, he had quite successfully volunteered for mansion guard duty, confident he'd get to interrogate one of that quartet.
The monster didn't answer. Instead, in half a motion, it hurled its illusory tails directly at the doorway, trying to throw the hunter back.
Vzshhh!
The man's sword swept up, cutting through the void with a short, ringing hum. He parried the attack, which he saw right through, but the force of the illusion was such that the air parted with a whoosh.
Meanwhile, the monster lunged into the attack and, using the element of surprise and its size, initially even managed to push the opponent back.
What an interesting illusion, Gindo thought to himself and smiled again. He could feel its creator was nearby, maybe even right outside the window. And to find out, he got serious and began advancing step by step. Little by little, step by step, hacking and parrying, he drove the monster further and further from the bed. One step, two, three and now the black mass of flesh was cornered.
Damn, this pretty boy isn't bad, the thought flashed through Ayato's mind, disguised as the monster. But I'm not here for a fight, and half the city will come running at the noise soon.
For a finale, she slammed her false tails hard against the stone floor. The room was instantly filled with a thick cloud of dust and mystical smoke smelling of sulfur. Using the momentary obstruction, Ayato now not as a monster, but merely as a shadow shot towards the window and slipped through it as if melting through the stone itself.
The hunter lowered his sword, waving his hand to disperse the smoke. He shrugged in bewilderment.
"But was it really an illusion... It felt so real..." he muttered under his breath. "But no point guessing. Miss..." He turned to Mona, who was pressed into the headboard, looking at him with large, almost dead eyes.
"No need to be so frightened. Allow me to introduce myself. Gindo. Just Gindo. Leader of the Undead Hunters' Guild."
"P... pleased to meet you, sir..." Mona dragged out, almost syllable by syllable. Her body was still shaking from such a sudden visit. The man opposite, however, was calm, almost cheerful.
"I'm no 'sir'. I have no titles or such nonsense, never had, and most likely never will. But enough about me." Gindo approached the girl with quick steps, carefully taking her hand.
"Miss, please, tell me, as a professional in these matters, what exactly happened on that ill-fated attic." Mona hesitated slightly; resisting was beyond her strength now...
"You... you won't tell anyone?" she asked breathlessly.
"Of course not."