It was at dusk when the two hooded figures found themselves at the outskirts of one of the cities of Bosco. While Esperia had insisted for Valerie to spend time regaining her strength, the vampire decided to investigate into the mysterious circumstances behind her progeny's assassination attempt.

Initial questioning of the surviving bandit proved to be quite fruitful, especially with her talent for detecting lies and a few well placed threats and the man had revealed the bandits had been hired by a certain underworld job broker.

Esperia knew all too well what this meant: the one who had ordered the hit must have had connections with the underworld. And so she decided to investigate, accompanied curiously enough by the young maiden who was still trying to come to terms with her new existence.

"Are you sure you're alright Elise? You know there is no need to force yourself, right? I can easily handle this myself~" Yet the girl shook her head firmly at Esperia's reassuring words, a look of determination in her eyes. "I'm fine miss Esperia, I want to find out why my guards had to die, why someone would hate me so much they would want to kill me."

Esperia sighed gently at those words. "Fine, but it might not be pretty, so be warned of that. The underworld has not its name stolen, and you might see things you wish you didn't, especially because for now we can't do much about them. We are here to discover who wanted you dead, and why."

If only she had anticipated just what they would be discovering soon...

WC: 275
Total WC: 275/2000

Approaching one of the back alleys of the city Esperia soon found the aforementioned warehouse that the group had used for their criminal activities. A light knock and the door opened slightly to which a hooded figure behind the door inquired: "password?" To which Esperia let out a fake cough and said in the most serious tone she could muster: "I know who fucked your wife last summer: it was me!" To which the figure retaliated with a furious. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Slamming the door open the man was about to reach with his huge fist toward Esperia's throat, but the vampire nimbly sidestepped past the jab, a hand balling up into a fist as she slammed the man's stomach with her own fist, the attack carrying enough force to knock him straight into the wall opposite the door, allowing Esperia to enter the building while Elise followed hesitatingly after her.

"Just kidding~ I doubt your wife could satisfy me like my wife does~ Not to mention I'm a loyal, well-behaving Espy~"

Elise could only watch with a mixture of bewilderment and mild amusement as her sire removed her hood, the vampire walking deeper into the warehouse as she called out. "Let's make this quick shall we? Are you there 'Adelwulf?" The vampire's voice soon earned a haughty response:

"Depends on who is asking."

WC: 230
Total WC: 505/2000

It was clear Esperia didn't plan to waste any time, as she had already seen where the man was hiding, second floor, looking down upon her from the balcony. The vampire sighed audibly, allowing the cursed blood of Cain to stir within her and slowly change her figure to the monstrous look of the Precursor, a speedy leap into the air and a beat of her bat-like wings and she had grasped the man's throat, holding him in the air while his guards rushed toward him, yet the sheer bloodlust in her glare made the poor fools freeze.

"I do. So you best answer my questions if you wish to keep your organs where they belong: You recently got hired to arrange a hit on a noblewoman from Bosco, one from this city, I want the name of your client."

The man squirmed feebly in her grip, a short moment of silence and a tightening squeeze of her grip on his throat making the man spill the beans. "eisenwald! It's Eisenwald! Hilda Eisenwald!"

Hearing a sudden gasp from below and the sound of rushed footsteps, Esperia tossed the man back onto the balcony and chased after the hooded girl. Fortunately she didn't need to go far to catch up with her. Finding the girl standing in the rain underneath the shadowy night sky Esperia allowed herself to return to her regular form, watching the girl's tearful gaze at her.

"There must be a mistake miss Elise! My sister... my sister would never do something like that!"

Esperia closed her eyes for a moment. "I understand your desire to believe in your sister, and since we are seeking out the truth our only choice is to meet with her, right?"

Elise nodded her head weakly, to which Esperia smiled briefly. "Now don't lose hope just yet, let's go and pay your family a visit shall we?"

Yet as she watched Elise attempting to wipe away her tears and smile back at her Esperia inwardly felt her discomfort stirring: For people were incapable of lying to her. If that man had tried to deceive her, she would have known. But she didn't sense that from his earlier words, which could only mean... Elise had been killed by her own sister, which meant that they would need to pay this Hilda a visit, and soon...

WC: 401
Total WC: 906/2000

As the two made their way down the streets of the city Elise asked. "Why are you helping me? I mean, I obviously appreciate it but, to go out of your way just to help me this much..." To which Esperia replied with her lips curving into a small smile. "I know just how important it is to find the truth, and how powerful a bond with family can be. It is for that reason I decided to help you. I might have turned you, but your path is your own to decide."

The girl nodded her head sheepishly as she gestured at the large manor up ahead. "Here we are~ I'm sure if we talk to my Papa and sister we will resolve this misunderstanding."

Esperia nodded her head slightly as she asked. "What happened to your mother?" To which the girl explained with a more sorrowful tone. "She died when we were little, since then Papa took a lot of time from work to raise us, Papa is a famous merchant! Sells wares all over Earthland!"

Esperia nodded her head, inwardly preparing her for the less pleasant revelations that were waiting to happen. As the duo approached the manor and the guards stopped them, the moment their faces saw the girl there were clear signs of genuine concern, happiness and relief on their faces!

"Lady Elise! We're so happy to see you! We feared the worst when reports arrived that the caravan was ambushed. Please come inside, I'm sure your father and sister will be overjoyed at your return. And who is your companion?"

Elise was quick to take the lead this time: "This is miss Esperia, she was part of the adventurers that saved me! And yes, please take us to Papa and Hilda, I really want to see them."

The guards nodded in affirmation as they started to escort the pair into the manor, and already Esperia couldn't shake off the feeling she was walking straight into a tragedy waiting to unfold.

WC: 340
Total WC:1246/2000

Esperia remained quiet turning the entire trip into the manor, only smiling and nodding in acknowledgement as Elise continued to regal her about tales of various things in the manor and sweet childhood memories.

Finally they were led into a spacious room as the guards ordered some of the maids to bring drinks and snacks while another guard went to summon the father and sister of the girl. Fortunately they didn't need to wait long it seems, for a mere few minutes after the guard had left rushed footsteps came from outside the corridor.

A young lady clad in the fine garbs of a noblewoman stood at the door, her eyes widened in disbelief. "E-Elise--- my dear sister, I'm so so glad to see you again."

Elise nodded her head excitedly, as she ran over to her sister and embraced her happily. "Hilda! You can't believe how scared I was. T...there were scary bandits and they said horrible things."

To which the sister asked with a hesitant voice. "O-oh? Like what?" And finally Esperia spoke: "Like the fact you hired them to kill your own sister."

The noblewoman's face turned pale. "Nonsense! I would never do something evil like that! I-I love my sister!" Yet Esperia shook her head lightly. "Then why is your heartbeat growing irregular, and your voice shook during the moment you said you loved your sister?"

Yet the woman continued to proclaim her innocence. "I would never want my sister to be hurt!" Yet Esperia insisted. "Then why are you averting your gaze during each of your denials?" Elise shook her head firmly. "Miss Esperia!"

"How much did you offer them?" The noblewoman's face turned red of rage. "I didn't hire him!"

Bingo. "I didn't specify there being only one person." Of course, Adelwulf was only ONE information broker, and a male at that as well.

"I..."

Elise's expression turned into one of sheer terror and disbelief. "Hilda... please tell me it isn't true!" Yet now her lies were exposed, it was only a matter of time till the facade would shatter.

"IF ONLY YOU WEREN'T HERE! THEN FATHER WOULD FINALLY PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"

The angry outburst of the girl was the prologue to this tragedy...

WC: 385
Total WC: 1631/2000

Esperia's gaze remained sharpened on the girl, wanting to make sure she wouldn't make any unexpected moves. Yet her tantrum continued. "He... he was going to name you his successor! Just because you are smarter than me and like to play around in the city he thinks you're a better merchant! He always spoiled you! You were always his favorite and nothing I did was ever good enough!"

Elise couldn't believe her ears, to think her sister had tried to kill her just out of a selfish reason like that. Just out of greed... Elise had never even heard about this, nor did she care anything about wealth. Sure she liked the whole concept of conducting business with people in order to discover new and rare treasures but she had never even considered it being more important than... family...

"To think... I was thinking of you and Papa as I was dying.... all that pain, all that suffering... those innocent guards all died because of your selfish desire!"

The girl's yell was accompanied by a remarkable change in her appearance. Her skin turned paler, her eyes turned blood red as she felt her teeth starting to mutate into those vampiric fangs like Esperia had.

This was bad... The girl was about to go berserk with a frenzy induced by the bloodrage....

"Elise wait-"

Yet before Esperia could do anything the girl's sister screamed. "KYAAH! GUARDS! HELP!!!" The nearby door was slammed open as several armed soldiers dashed inside, their initial worry turning into concern. "It's Elise! She turned into a monster! No doubt because of that vile adventurer with her! Stop them!"

The guards hesitatingly looked at Elise, not having the resolve to harm the girl, yet something caused Esperia to move, stepping between the guards and the two sisters.

"I'm going to have to ask you all to give the sisters a bit of time, unfortunately... things got a bit heated."

Yet the guards were more eager to draw their weapons toward her, making Esperia sigh in frustration. "Why does it always turn to violence?" But it seemed she had little choice but to fight if she wanted to protect herself and her protégé, and there was no way in hell that she would allow herself to die tonight. She had a wife to return to!

WC: 395
Total WC: 2026/2000