Blackthorn Security Company.
Silas stood before the company entrance, glancing at the somewhat weathered sign. He couldn't help but feel a surge of nostalgia.
This place... I've grown so familiar with it.
He stepped inside. Rozanne sat behind the desk as always, dozing off with a newspaper in hand, her head nodding rhythmically. Walking forward, he greeted Seeka and Royale, who were chatting on the sofa.
Past the partition and into the hallway, he found Klein, Leonard, and Kenley playing cards in the break room on the left. Silas smiled at them before turning into Dunn's office.
"Captain, I'm back at work," he said to Dunn behind the desk.
"Mm, welcome back."
Dunn set down his pipe and smiled deeply. "How's Cecilia doing?"
Oh, right, my excuse for leave was that my sister was struggling with school.
Silas nodded. "I spent a day with her at home. She's feeling much better now and is willing to go back to school.
But since I already requested the leave for her, I figured I'd let her rest a few more days."
"That's fine."
Dunn seemed neutral about it. "If anything else comes up, you can talk to me. Perhaps I can help.
Hehe... a deeply memorable nightmare is often enough to make bullies see the error of their ways."
Captain, you just want an excuse to scare little girls and practice your acting, don't you?
Silas mentally groaned, but warmth filled his heart. He knew the other man was showing concern for him.
Leaving the captain's office, he nearly collided with Klein.
"Why aren't you playing cards with them anymore?"
"I needed to talk to you, so I sent those two downstairs to play with Frye," Klein said.
You need to talk to me?
Silas was slightly surprised.
Klein continued, "Melissa came home yesterday, saying she was harassed by some thugs in the lower streets.
Fortunately, Cecilia happened to pass by and helped her and her friend..."
It turned out that after being rescued, Melissa wanted to express her gratitude but didn't know how.
After her two brothers gave their suggestions, they finally decided to invite the siblings to see the popular play The Count's Return at the theater this weekend.
"It's not just Melissa. Benson and I are very grateful to her, too. If she hadn't been there, Melissa would've been in real danger," Klein said earnestly.
Melissa hadn't explained things in detail, only saying that Cecilia drove the thugs away.
So he didn't know how formidable Cecilia's skills were, much less realize that she might have already become a Beyonder.
This weekend, huh...
Today was Friday. Ma'am M could make her move at any time. He didn't know if he'd even have the chance to make it to that day.
Silas hesitated, wondering whether to refuse. But seeing the expectation in Klein's eyes, he thought, What the hell. If I survive, I'll go. If I don't, it won't matter anyway.
"Sure, I'll let Cecilia know when I get back. We'll go together," he said with a smile.
The rest of the day was unremarkable, just an ordinary workday, though it might very well be his last.
Under Ma'am M's surveillance, Silas carried on as usual: self-studying, chatting with colleagues, resting, exercising until quitting time arrived. He took the trackless tram back to his house at 6 Narcissus Street.
After returning home, he suddenly felt something was different about the house. That familiar, nauseating fragrance seemed much fainter than before.
Ma'am M isn't here?
This is my chance!
"Silas, you're back."
Cecilia got up to welcome him. She wore a hooded cloak over her dress and hadn't yet taken it off, as if she'd just returned.
"Where is she?" Silas asked casually.
"She went out. When I got back, she was just leaving. It's only been a few minutes."
Cecilia's answer made his heart race even faster. If Ma'am M had just left, that meant he had even more time.
I have to seize this opportunity!
So Silas walked toward Cecilia with apparent calm, making small talk. When they were close enough, he pressed the black ring on his finger.
The Evernight Goddess's last gift to him, the chance to block Ma'am M's surveillance!
"Swoosh!"
Black threads freed themselves from Silas's finger, rapidly wrapping around his body.
Because Cecilia was close enough, she was also affected, her body enveloped by the black threads.
It's blocked!
Through his Secrets Suppliant's eyes, Silas saw that the blood essence monitoring Cecilia was also contained.
He knew that for this moment, they were both temporarily free from Ma'am M's surveillance.
"Silas? What is this..."
"Cecilia, don't ask anything! I don't have time to explain! Just listen to me and follow me!"
He had no time to explain things to his sister. He quickly grabbed her wrist and led her straight to his bedroom on the second floor.
Though Cecilia didn't know what her brother was up to, she cooperatively kept pace with him.
Entering his bedroom, she watched him crouch down and pull a suitcase from under the bed.
A thick, overwhelming stench of blood hit them.
Good, the preservation ritual is still working. It's still fresh!
Silas immediately spotted Lady Sharon's heart.
Although it had been there for several days, because he'd used a preservation ritual, it was still fresh enough, and its spirituality hadn't dissipated.
He rapidly pulled various materials from his coat and began mixing them.
Only now did he have time to explain to his sister: "Listen, Cecilia! This thing can remove the flesh that woman fed you. That way, you'll be free from her control."
"Silas, you should use it first..."
"Stop arguing with me! Stick out your arm, now!"
Silas cut off Cecilia's words, grabbed his sister's arm, and pulled up her sleeve.
Looking at her delicate arm, his heart ached for a second, but he steeled himself and made a finger-length cut.
Cecilia trembled slightly.
Next, he picked up a mercury flask and caught the blood flowing from his sister's wound with the bottle, then added various herbs to it.
After the preparation was complete, he placed the bright red, foul-smelling witch's heart at the bottle's opening.
The opening was too small for the heart to fit through. Silas just tried to steady the heart in place, then began the most critical step.
He recited the Hidden Sage's honorific name in Hermes:
"Incarnation of Spirit and Number,
The Origin of All Knowledge,
The Hidden Sage Above the Wilderness..."
Cold eyes slowly opened in the invisible heights above. Evil and mad power flooded into his body, and with it came a massive influx of knowledge.
"I pray to You;"
"I beseech You to grant me power;"
"Grant me the power to complete the 'Bottled Life.'"
Enduring the tremendous pain from the forced infusion of knowledge, Silas continued his prayer.
He raised his dagger to the witch's heart, using the power granted by the Hidden Sage to carve forbidden patterns on the heart.
Soon, the witch's heart grew increasingly vivid, becoming like a living, soft creature.
It wriggled through the bottle's opening and dropped into the blood and herbs with a plop.
"Thump-thump, thump-thump."
Under the bottle's liquid, the originally dead heart actually began to beat again.