It was close to a day later that the parcel had arrived. Shipped in a small, brown box. Nondescript and unlikely to draw any sort of attention towards it. Even less when accompanied by other boxes of similar size and larger being shipped to the winery. An inconspicuous package shipped amongst no shortage of crates that would otherwise be regarded as typical commercial shipping.

Yet, the small package in question was of overwhelmingly greater value than anything that may have come through crates on that day, the previous day, or even the day to follow. And that is with vintage wines being shipped all throughout the country and beyond into that location. No, the package shipped from the Magistrate of Oak Town was something that would be of undeniable and irrefutable levels of value was a detailed account of a confession received by the courts of Oak Town. A final declaration from a man whom had previously been sentenced to death. A man whom had to the public had confessed to the killing of a man, to the crime of being a ghoul.

And a man whom in private had confessed that he had been hired by one Lord Venier, Astrid’s father, to carry out the murder of a woman known to the people of Crocus as Astrid’s mother. So the confession stated at least. So were the arrangement orchestrated by Iblis to set things in motion further, to ensure that whatever leverage and aid that would have been needed to weaken the influence and strength within the court that Astrid’s father inevitably would have sought to wield for himself would be waned. This was the latest piece of the puzzle, a means of not only shattering the argument that he had first sought to use to appease to King Reign, but also provided a criminal motivation towards everything that at first did not exist.

For Astrid too, there was great value in the letter still sealed. It was freedom for her, in a manner of speaking. She still had to endure the risk that existed for as long as her father were still alive, though it were only a matter of time before that would come to an end once and for all. However, the death of her mother, a crime that she had committed but never faced any sort of punishment towards was something that always existed within her mind. That now there were a person being held accountable for it, even if it were someone that may have been innocent, she would have been lying if she did not look forward to breathing a sigh of relief knowing that a killer had been caught. And that the killer were not her.

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They gathered together at the winery, business closed for official matters of restocking and quality assurance, but with the arrival of the package it seemed that that fell to the wayside. All of them; Astrid, Iblis, Lady Tsara, Freddie Khruschev, and several others who were directly involved in their plot, albeit from a different vantage and point of operation, stood around the bar as the package was delicately opened, the “Oak Town Magistrate” seal looking like something of beauty to the people.

Precious little inside the package, save for a secured box along with some additional straw packaging to protect the small box from any sort of damage that may have come along the transit. As the smaller box was opened, there was hardly anything special inside it; simply a written level that had an official seal stamped upon the bottom of it. Delicately taking it, Freddie read it close, holding it within both hands while he scanned each line with intense focus, paying zero attention or mind towards any of the people watching him, wondering his reactions.

He read for what felt like forever, time eroding away as everyone watched with baited breath. Finally, he put down the letter, not a soul looking to read it for themselves, instead simply watching Freddie as they waited for him to speak. Iblis however, did not as much find intrigue towards all of this, having reached for the letter while attention was otherwise diverted and read it himself.

A smirk formed upon his face as he quickly skimmed through it.

“So Astrid,” Freddie began, dramatic in his delivery if only to see how the woman would respond. Whether he got the reaction he quite wanted of Astrid, he decided to continue on, “It’s taken far, far too long… But at last we can finally put to rest the death of your mother.” There was a collective sigh of relief as he spoke, Astrid not visually any reactions, but rather simply feeling her legs begin to give out beneath her. “The Oak Town Magistrate confirmed here that the accused in question confessed not only to the death for which he were first charged, but also that of your mother. Further, when asked towards the latter crime, he confessed to the record of Oak Town that he had been hired by none other than your father.”

“I trust that this solves your little issue.” Iblis remarked.

“Moves us forward. They’ll have to have sent a copy of the confession to the Crocus Records for verification given a politician is involved, but we have friends there who can make sure that it shows up.” Astrid could not help but be impressed at how deep this conspiracy of theirs went. Truly, it seemed that they had players involved in every aspect of this matter, making her realize that her perception of how deep this group was was actually much smaller than reality. “There is still more to do if we want to make sure that there is no chance of this going awry. To that, did you bring what I asked?”

Iblis nodded, reaching into his robes and pulling out a small vial, some whispers amongst the people looking on as to its contents as the Phantom Lord Guild Master handed it to Freddie, “Should be more than enough for what you need.”

“Perfect.. Astrid, come with me please. It’s time to go out and express some condolences.”

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Navigating through the streets, Astrid felt surprisingly vulnerable. Let alone having to locate those whom she had never met, behaving under the false guise of someone trying to comfort those whom had recently lost their friend, what bothered her most was the vial in her possession. The succubus blood concoction that would be enough to manipulate the minds of those of weak constitution and mental strength, she feared how potent it may have been. Iblis seemed to indicate that while she were not at much risk herself barring someone pouring the entirety of the potion upon her face, but she had little idea how the people on the list she possessed would respond to it.

She had little knowledge of any of them. Men and women whom seemed to have been close to the night watchman that she had killed several days before. Astrdi had almost forgotten it had it not been for Freddie bringing it to her attention, but with good reason. Already he had set the stage to begin pinning the events of that night, the murders Astrid committed, on not only the man, but as part of a greater conspiracy. Hence, the need for the Succubus Blood. It was a powerful poison that could cause one to believe whatever they had to, and she were to use it to turn those closest into believing him a pawn of Astrid’s father. With enough of the blood, it would have been easy to even have some of them become fanatical in their own right; something she certainly did consider.

Freddie’s work in finding out information about these people had proven to be beyond valuable. Everything about them that she would have had to know; names, locations, habits, all of it was there. It took most of her day, but she was able to reach all of them. In some cases, the opportunity to dose them with the Succubus Blood was right before them. A drink that she could spike, a simple interaction that would enable her to apply the poison, or even in some cases a simple her having to throw a small amount of it in the face of them. Even in one case it was as simple as putting her blade to their throat and threatening them to apply it to themselves. Those were her favorite. When the day was over, the majority of them had been convinced of the night watchman’s involvement in some conspiracy that had been created. They had agreed to report to the locale constable and Rune Knights to confess their involvement; the night watchmen were still under investigation so it would have been easy enough for them to believe that it were true. The one who would not comply, Astrid had some fun with her knife, cutting him down, but doing so in a manner that it seemed that he had sought to kill himself than anything. Careful cuts across particular limbs and it would have been easy enough to believe. But with everything done, there were no further reason for her to remain, and so she set back to the winery, awaiting for a well-deserved glass of wine, as she were concerned.

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