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Further away in the silent suburbs was a place that felt even more silent and without any lights. Under the moonlight the canopies of trees could be seen, as well as thick vegetation. That patch of land looked very out of place compared to the region surrounding it, and in the center of it was the mansion where Mylene’s mentor lived. Mira and Sasori felt convinced they were in the right place, Mylene had told them it would be very easy to find after all.

The two girls walked along the stone wall surrounding the whole estate, and thanks to Worthramble’s powers they easily opened the main gates and entered through there.

They walked the long way from the main gates, and a few minutes later noticed that there were guards around the mansion, though none of them noticed Mira and Sasori until they reached the entrance.

There the two turned around and looked to the guards around them. Something felt off, none of them seemed to be on the lookout for actual intruders.

「That’s odd, everyone is looking at the mansion.」
「True, anyone would be able to pilfer the rare plants for alchemy growing in the garden like this.」

Sasori and Mira exchanged their opinions. As far as they could tell, there were at least five guards there. None of them were looking at the walls, all of their eyes focused on the mansion itself.

Between the main gates and the building’s entrance they had felt no other presence there. In other words, all the guards were placed right outside the mansion. Like Mira mentioned, that meant it was trivial to sneak in and steal the plants used as ingredients for alchemy that grew in the garden.

But at the same time the guards did not seem to be doing that out of distraction or boredom, they were clearly watching over something.

「Well, we can just ask the person who lives here later.」
「That’s true, let’s hurry inside then.」

Mira and Sasori had little to accomplish by standing there, so they turned around towards the mansion again. From up close, the mansion looked oddly small compared to the size of the garden, though it was still way larger than a regular house. It was easy to imagine the dedication of the master of the mansion to alchemy if the growth of ingredients had been prioritized over the luxury of a bigger house.

Mira continued using the power granted by Complete Suppression, turning the doorknob without worry. It was unlocked, and considering the guards outside there was no need to lock it. That way they easily snuck inside the mansion, where they began searching for their target at a leisurely pace.

「I can’t even see my own hands.」

There were no lights inside the mansion, and once the door was closed there was only darkness in the entrance. But considering their situation they could not afford to turn the lights on either.

「I can still see in the dark, here, hold my hand.」

Sasori offered her hand as her eyes scouted the building in the darkness.

「Ohh, I see. Thanks.」

Mira happily obliged and stretched her hand too, firmly gripping the first object she found.

「Woah! Mira Mira Mira! That’s my tailll!」

Sasori’s back stiffened as she tried to subdue her screams in the darkness. Hearing that made Mira smile widely, but she quickly apologized and let go, her hand wandering through the air searching for the right place.

Sasori quickly calmed down and continued looking around the mansion, she wanted to be sure there were no traps laid inside there. Meanwhile Mira, under the excuse of searching for her hand, kept groping all over Sasori’s toned body, her fingers eventually moving up her body and near her shoulders.

「Over here, Mira.」

Sasori snatched Mira’s hand, unable to endure any longer, and pulled the curtain on Mira’s little adventure in the dark. But that had been enough for Mira to enjoy herself, her face with a brimming smile.

There were no traps in the mansion, nor could they see any servants. Mira activated Life Sensing and only got one reading from someone on the second floor. That was probably the mentor Mylene had told them about.

Sasori pulled Mira behind her as they left the entrance, dark as if the lamps had burned all their fuel, though the cold darkness made it feel like they had never been turned on to begin with. They headed straight for the stairs leading to the second floor.

There were two corridors above the staircase, leading to both sides. Those corridors had windows on one side, letting a little bit of starlight in. That little light was enough to highlight the contours of the corridor, making it barely visible. That meager light leaving patches of darkness made it easier to imagine things that could lie waiting there, giving the mansion a far creepier appearance than pure darkness.

「Mira, look there.」

Sasori spoke with her eyes affixed to a spot in the end of the corridor, while squeezing Mira’s hand a bit and getting closer to her.

「Hm? Did you find something?」

Mira did not retreat, instead leaning into Sasori, while her eyes that had adapted a bit to the darkness followed Sasori’s. There was not enough light to tell exactly what it was, but there was a faint white outline there.

Curious to find out what that thing was, Mira took a step forward, but then she stopped. Or rather, she was stopped, Sasori remained frozen in place gripping Mira’s hand tightly.

「What, are you scared?」

Mira turned around and asked, and after a short pause Sasori exclaimed 「Not at all!」 and took a deep breath before walking with her tail stiffened. Though she was still pushing Mira to go in front of her.

They were going in the opposite direction from where they had sensed someone. Thanks to Worthramble, not even their footsteps disturbed the silence of the corridor. Only the light from a few stars covered the dark corridor like a thin veil of mist.

(Usually places like this have expensive vases placed in these corridors, but I can’t see any at all.)

Mira had a heavily stereotypical view of expensive mansions, so she was surprised to not have seen a single vase, rug, or flowerpot so far. In a way the mansion did not feel lived in, or rather, Mira was starting to question how human the owner actually was.

But that opinion changed somewhat as soon as they reached the end of the corridor.

「…Okay, it wasn’t a trap!」

Sasori quickly changed her earlier attitude and confidently took the lead from behind Mira as she glanced up at the thing, which was around two meters tall.

It was a splendid set of armor. It had been meticulously polished so it even reflected the stars clearly, but that also made it stand out from afar and gave the appearance of a ghostly figure standing in the end of the corridor. Even more so for those accustomed to the darkness.

Greatly relieved, Sasori turned around and retraced her steps, pulling Mira after her. Now they were actually going to the room they had felt someone in.

(A full set of armor? Now that’s what I’m talking about, and what a magnificent one.)

Turning her head back to look at the armor, Mira thought that way. But once she turned to the other side of the corridor, an odd feeling assaulted her.

The other corridor lacked any furnishings at all. When Mira first saw the armor, she felt like she was finally in a rich residence, but then she noticed that the fact that was the only thing there was weird, not to mention it was in only one of two identical corridors.

Though this was not Mira’s home, so maybe the owner favored that type of asymmetry.

Mira let herself get pulled by Sasori, glancing at the armor behind them. Somehow the armor had a far eerier appearance to it than before they knew what it was.