⚜ from now on ⚜ erika

The winter weather was in full swing within Rose Garden. The fashion capital of Fiore was embracing the cold weather though. It was rather funny. Most people despised the cold weather but everyone that lived within this city seemed to love it. It let them enjoy their winter outfits and all their seasonal drinks in their multi-million dollar franchises. But, one needs to focus on the positives for a little while. While the inns and hotels were rather flooded at the moment, one that remained empty for the time being was the Silver Moon Inn, the home of the Black Rose guild. Or at least it was until recently. At the moment, it was merely a construction site. A recent event had caused the entire guild hall to crumble. It was rather tragic. Most of it was the fault of the former guild master of Golden Phoenix, Astrid Foss. Ah, that was a name that was getting increasingly more irritating to roll off the tongue. At first, Lilium had viewed her as a smart, young woman who she could potentially be friends with. However, recently, she had viewed some qualities that mainly had the holy mage view her as a nuisance. While there was tensions between the silver haired maiden and Black Rose in the past, while she may have been enraged that her home of Peace Village was destroyed along with her caretaker, she risked lives of innocent in order to fight the one, singular, person she had issues with. She may have been the guild master but that doesn't mean destroy the lives of people Izayuki didn't even know. Perhaps Lilium was getting to heated early in the morning but at this point, she had too much to deal with at the moment. Maybe Astrid was a nice person, but as of this point in time, the former noblewoman couldn't stand her. She has given much more negatives than positives for the holy mage.

Huffing as she set down a pile of planks, she'd summon a casual outfit. They were getting a lot closer to repairing the Inn to it's former glory. The new Ace of Black Rose was rather proud of the progress her guild was getting done in the past couple of weeks. She was on lunch duty today and it was almost noon so it probably would be better to go get some groceries right now. The ace position surprised the noblewoman quite a bit actually. She hadn't even done anything major when Astrid demolished the guild hall. She was merely acting on instinct, trying to defend her guild master and attack the enemy. If she didn't deserve to be in her family, did she really deserve the Ace position. But, she didn't really try to fight Izayuki on it. She let it be. Summoning a jacket onto her body, she'd walk out to the market, blankly looking at the sky as the snow fell on the cold day. It had been a week since she came out of the Vault of Athena. It had changed drastically from the last time that she had seen it. Her magic had evolved and so had her inherent power. It felt odd. Everything was changing and she hated it quite a bit. Her eyes flickering gold for a moment, a male voice would echo in her head. "Princess, whenever you are ready to talk, I'll be here to listen." Narrowing her eyes, she really hated the nickname of Princess. It pissed her off a lot more than it needed to. The heroic spirit had been trying to calm her down for a week now but she had been ignoring him. She didn't need another person to deal with at the moment. She'd rather be alone. It was much easier.

Looking at the lettuce, she had already decided on a good meal to make for the guild. They had been working rather diligently so something hearty would be in order. Humming quietly to herself, she didn't really focus on her surroundings but why would she need to? She was in town in the middle of day, in a rather bright area. However, people don't always work in the most logical ways. With a rustle nearby, the holy mage didn't have enough time to turn to see the shadow completely envelop her. Shielding her face to brace for an impact that never came, she would slowly remove her hands and see a warehouse. She'd feel restraints on her hands and feet as she looked to see some people who were using magic to block out their faces. She didn't hear individual voices but made out the jist of the conversation. They were holding her for ransom. The ransom being from her parents. The ones that gave up on her? The ones who basically left her to die after they screwed her up for most of her life? Were they really gonna spend their blood money to save her? Bullshit.

Solais would appear in the woman's hand as she cut her restraints with expert precision and spread her angel wings from her back. The kidnappers would hop back in surprise as she glared at them, her eyes glowing a radiant gold. Honestly, she wasn't far from murdering them all. She was a lot less tolerant to this kind of non sense really. A lot of her life was never the same as before. How she lived as Hikari was a thing of the past and from now on, she had to live as Lilium but it was something she couldn't get used to. Her old social skills coming back, assailants threatening her life, and just the status of being a former heiress made everything ten times as harder than they needed to be. These kidnappers holding her for ransom really were the icing on the cake. They didn't deserve to continue breathing at this point in time and no matter what, Lilium was willing to make a deal with anyone so that all the local public didn't know she was a former heiress, stress the word former. What she wouldn't give for those days back.

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Turning her heads towards the woman who had entered the picture, Lilium wouldn't really be afraid to talk at the moment because there were more pressing issues at hand. Her anxiety couldn't really bug her in this situation, especially not after she had heard what the golden haired woman had just said. What did she mean by sex party? Didn't they only want her for the ransom? Looking around on the ground, Lilium's eyes caught a foreign object and after observing it for a moment, she let out a rather massive sigh. So, it was one thing to be held for ransom to her parents who really didn't give a damn whether she died or not. It was another thing to be held for ransom with the intention of being assaulted. These kidnappers had a way of getting on her nerves, but she was getting more and more annoyed as she thought about what could have happened if she had not escaped soon. Spreading her white angel wings, she'd break the ropes that were confining her. Using her wings like that actually really hurt, as she winced as they spread to full wingspan. The kidnappers looked horrified at two things, one being the new person and the other the look of death on Lilium's face. If looks could kill, they'd be dead twice over at this point.

The kidnappers reassured themselves by telling each other that she was a former Rising Star and she wouldn't kill them in addition to her being a legal mage. They really had made one fatal flaw. She has seen legal mages do terrible things that aren't really comparable to the murder of low lives, such as them. Such as a Wizard Saint killing someone on live broadcast to all of Fiore. Murdering your kidnappers in a recently purchased warehouse could be something looked over. After all, Lilium didn't even want the chance to see these men alive after this. Unsheathing her sword, the noblewoman would fly at her fastest speed and pierce through one of the kidnapper's torso with her sword. Using one of Solais' abilities by unsheathing an ethereal version of the sword and tossing it at another kidnapper, the sword would materialize into it's physical form as Lilium teleported with it. Grabbing the hilt, the woman would slice upward through the man's chest. Did she really need to kill them with dignity when they already lost it the minute they kidnapped her? Making a crescent slash, she'd fly away to her original spot, stomping and shattering one of the ball gags. As she did, the kidnappers that she slashes would collapse into a heap. Wiping the blood off of her sword, she wasn't really fazed by the fact that she had pretty brutally murdered those people. Her family has done a lot worse in the past so this honestly felt like nothing to her. Resheathing her sword, she would look towards the entrance of the warehouse again.

Ah, there was another thing to deal with. She had almost completely forgot about the woman who had arrived and informed her as to what this scene looked like. Lilium was planning on putting the bodies into Arcadia but they didn't really deserve that either. She honestly felt like letting them rot whether they will be. Making eye contact with her, she'd speak after hesitating for a moment. "My apologies, I wasn't really here by choice. I can clean those filthy corpses if you'd like but I'd rather not be near them any longer." She'd look at the corpses again and without really missing a beat would say, "Some people really don't deserve to be on this planet and I don't think we should hesitate in chopping them down." She was being rather pessimistic right now and if she focused hard enough within Arcadia, she could probably hear Arthur booing her and calling her edgy again. Hey, when you can vent, you take the opportunity to vent whenever you can. Looking at the affiliate of the Nightshade Corporation, which in all honesty sounds very familiar, perhaps it was popular in Rose Garden and that's why it sounded familiar. Either way, Lilium would look at her again and say, "My apologies, I shouldn't be getting so twisted without introducing myself. My name is Lilium. Lilium Santiais if the name holds any weight at this point." Since apparently everyone knew she was a noble, there was no point in hiding it. It felt rather refreshing to simply state who she once was without having to hide it.

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Lilium's eyes would have widened as the blonde woman in front of her stated that she should potentially have tormented her victims more. Pondering for a moment, it's not like they'd remember being tortured before they died and the only person who would have seen it would be the one berating her for not prolonging her death, so there probably would have been no harm in letting them suffer. But still, the point remained that when Lilium saw how disgusting they were acting, she didn't really want to see them alive at all after that point. She just wanted them to die. Perhaps they didn't deserve the swift justice that she delivered and instead deserved the prolonged suffering like this woman said. What does the Nightshade company do in that they warrant such people such as the woman in front of her, criticizing people on how to truly kill someone who deserved it. Actually, repeating the name in her head, warranted some familiar memories. Thinking back her jobs as Hikari when she was modelling, she noticed that an upcoming brand within the fashion community was the Nightshade Corporation. Maybe it was the same one."Backtracking because I just remembered, you said you worked for the Nightshade Corporation, correct? What do you do for it? It's pretty amusing to see how well versed you are in the field and application of murder when you work for a very prestigious clothing brand."

Lilium ended up even more confused than before when the blonde woman spoke about how she murdered her assailants but she didn't murder them? It sounds fairly confusing and Lilium was starting to question she was thinking of the same clothing company. Perhaps there was a second Nightshade Corporation that specialized in covert missions. It was a pretty cool name for something like that after all. She was still confused, and somewhat intrigued by the offer of being taught how to kill properly. She didn't fight other opponents that were humans but it could come useful to know how to take one down when necessary. Also, free lunch would seal the deal in all honesty. Smiling at the woman, Lilium would speak, "Considering how strong the magic coming off of you is and how confident you are in yourself, I'd be delighted to learn how to properly kill someone, if you'd show me the wae." Smirking, Lilium would look at the shorter girl and contemplate. It's nice to have people around that don't care where you came from. (Although, with the vibe she got from the Nightshade representative, she didn't think that she really cared about her at all.) It was terribly refreshing but she didn't want to confide that in someone she didn't really know. Stepping closer to the door of the warehouse, she'd ask quizzically at the blonde woman and say, "I'm guessing you know all the hot spots on where to eat in the Rose Garden, so where do you want to go?" Lunch was the main motivation and learning something from (i'm running out of pronouns to use) would be pretty fun in all honesty. "Oh, and pray tell your name? I'm very curious as to who you are now."

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Lilium walked back over to the blonde woman as she answered Lilium's question with question that didn't even provide the answer. But, she thought this too soon as the spectator of the murder seemed to indulge in creating suspense with her reply. She was really good at being extra. It was making it very fun to talk to her in all honesty. Oh. She owned the entire Nightshade Corporation. That was something to take in. A multi-billion jewel fashion company started with the person in front of her. That was incredibly amazing of her that she was still at the forefront of her company's goals and missions instead of her selling off the company and living however she wants for the rest of her life. Although, she probably did live however she liked now. It was interesting to the holy mage the CEO of the Nightshade Corporation was also a practiced assassin. There was a lot of layers to this woman and Lilium found it very entertaining. She also had apparently been the target of assassination attempts, and considering that she alluded to one of the assassin's families, it was probably going to slow down the amount of assassination attempts that targeted her for a while.


Ah, the situation continually gets more interesting. The CEO could have easily just told the police that she had committed murder on her property. "You are probably the smartest beings I've ever met, people don't put me in a checkmate that fast." Smiling at the blonde woman before turning around, "I'd have no reason to tattle if I don't even know what you do. I definitely would not want to be on your bad side." Lilium had to walk a little faster to keep up with Erika but she didn't falter when she saw a sadistic expression come across her face. Looking at where they were headed, the restaurants in this neighbourhood were incredibly fancy and it was a bit much for serving food. The holy mage would swear that in the short time they have been here, she saw four different restaurants with gold embellishments on their desserts. Like, what was the point of that? Lilium winced a little when Erika said she got something from them. Chuckling to herself, "Didn't receive any sort of caring emotion that's for sure. But you gotta live with what you get." Summoning a ball of mana for a moment before letting it flicker back into the air, she'd see a restaurant and point to it, "Oh, that restaurant apparently has amazing pork dishes. Along with really good dessert." Hoping that the specialties of this restaurant weren't related to one another, she'd walk up to the hostess, "Excuse me, I'd like a table for two." The hostess would look to her, in all her young adult fury and say, "Uh, yeah. We only accept people with reservations. So, by-" Lilium place her hand on the table gently, looking into the woman's eyes. Her eyes would turn into a shimmering gold, "Oh, we'll be needing that table for two right away, if you don't mind." The other woman's eyes would shimmer for a moment before glossing over and guiding the two to a vacant table. Lilium would turn to Erika and smile before letting her enter first, if she wanted to go to this restaurant.

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Total: 2,875/10,000

As the duo got towards their seats behind the trance state of the young woman who seemed to be swaying as she walked, Lilium would glance around the restaurant and be mildly annoyed with how it appeared to be. Was there really a need for reservations when the restaurant was completely empty. There was absolutely no one in this restaurant apart from Erika and herself and as they sat down at their table, Lilium was sufficiently irritated while they sat. She'd sip the glass of water that was set down in front of her as she quietly remarked as the waitress walked away, "I know I said I only killed those who are evil, or those who do a severe disservice to me. Would you consider taking reservations by heart even though the restaurant is empty a disservice to me?" Lilium would sip her water quietly as she contemplated making the waitress pay for what she just did to her. Pettiness wasn't an emotion that Lilium displayed often, but when it did, it usually completely consumed her thought process for a little bit. The holy mage had half a mind in order to brandish her sword out in public and 'tell' the woman to come back for a moment. But, she might not deserve it in the end, right? Slowly coming back to her senses, Lilium would place her water on the table as she heard Erika remark about how empty the restaurant was and some petty thoughts invaded her way back into her mind as Lilium's eyes gazed towards the floor, muttering some choice words as she spoke to Erika, "I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt, and say they have a lot of reservations for today. I shouldn't lose my head over this." Looking at the menu for a quick moment, a server came a little too quickly despite the entire restaurant being empty.
It almost felt as though they were waiting on the duo to show up. It was rather odd.

However, something that completely dwarfed how oddly fast the service came was how Erika seemed to switch personalities once again. She had done a complete one eighty on how she was behaving mere moments ago. She was acting rather fake, for lack of a better term. The personality that she was donning didn't suit how she was going into detail about how to properly kill someone. This could probably be how she might talk to someone involved with her business regarding the Nightshade Corporation but it didn't seem fitting to speak like this to wait service. While one should always be nice to wait staff, it really appeared to Lilium that she was hamming it up a fair bit. She heard a bit of hesitation in the blonde woman's voice as she simply asked for water and bread. Oh, was she not hungry. Seems as though she was only really here to talk with Lilium, so getting a full meal might be rude. Pointing to one image on her menu in particular, "Um, would I be able to get a strawberry parfait?" The parfait was rather light so it'd be something that she'd be able to talk with Erika while they were eating. But the fact that Erika was being so polite was something that was a bit unnerving. She'd give the waiter her menu as he walked off towards the kitchen. Except, he made a right turn instead of heading in. Puzzled, Lilium would look at the waiter as he stood near a shadowy part of the room for a moment. With her eyes glazing over gold for a moment, she'd focus on that part of the room before noticing that there was a figure camouflaged within the darkness. Suddenly, a lot of things added up. The emptiness of the restaurant, the overly perky waiter and now, why the waiter didn't immediately go to the kitchen. It was all set up. Except for the one woman who almost didn't let them in. She probably didn't know what was going on behind the scenes but they could still potentially lump her in with them. Looking to Erika, Lilium would say, "Uh, have you noticed how shady this waiter is being?" Nudging her head in the direction of the darkened area of the restaurant the waiter would emerge with a basket of bread and the strawberry parfait. Lilium's eyes would narrow as the waiter came back to the table with the food that the duo had requested. Placing down the strawberry parfait in front of Lilium, her eyes would narrow as she analyzed the dessert. As delicious as this looked, the identification within the ingredients of the dessert and further analysis concluded that there were traces of poison within the whipped cream. Lilium would look at Erika and slyly gestured to the waiter under the table as the man asked if there was anything else that he could get for her.

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Total: 3,702/10,000

The holy mage would bite her straw in anger as Erika retold the facts regarding murdering the hostess. Her pettiness was taking over again as the holy mage's eyes narrowed in mild annoyance as she was genuinely debating calling the sad excuse of a waitress back over as she summoned her sword next to her with a golden flash of light. It was one thing to be annoyed about it but everything Erika had said honestly just added to the annoyance that the holy mage felt towards the hostess who almost didn't let them in. She probably was expecting Lilium to pay more in order to get in so she denied her but the jokes on her because she had powers of extreme influence. Also know as hypnotism but it sounds much worse if you say it like that. Lilium was also annoyed with the fact that there had been a good amount of people trying to target her today and she really just wanted a good meal at this point. But, apparently it was also ruined by the countless people who were after her head, and actually, potentially Erika's. She had said that she was targeted by assassins in the past so maybe they saw both of them as a two for one deal. If you killed both, odds are you'd have enough money to live your next two lives in comfort. Unfortunately for them, Lilium was already a competent mage and Erika honestly was disgustingly strong, and she mainly deduced this from her unique magical energy alone. She was extremely grateful that she was on the side of the CEO because she knew that she would never be able to take her out in a magical duel.

Glancing at the waiter who had reappeared at their table, Lilium would look at her parfait and sigh. What a shame. It was poisonous but it looked so delicious. The chef was very particular with placing the whipped cream in that it was all over the dessert so it was nearly impossible to eat around it. Looking at Erika now, the holy mage would catch her awkward wink and catch the laugh in her throat. It was almost painfully comical how bad that wink turned out but it was fine. Sipping her water, she'd listen to Erika respond to waiter's question and almost choked on the drink. Coughing into her napkin, she'd be suppressing her laughter into it as she looked at Erika with somewhat watering eyes. Oh my god. Erika was great. Completely calling him out instead of just beating around the bush and trying to get him to admit it. People that were brutally truthful in their actions were great. It was a shame that they came so far and few in between. She'd have to make sure she stayed in touch with the mage. When Erika mentioned the gun hidden in the waiter's sleeve, she'd notice as his suit seemed to tighten on him. The outline that the gun had was clearly evident now and Lilium's eyes narrowed in annoyance as Erika continued. He seemed to get a lot of hints from the fact that Erika was the CEO of the Nightshade Corporation but Lilium didn't seem to realize why. Upon the man completely transforming into a red mist, a lot of things became clear. First of all, she was extremely grateful she didn't try to talk down to Erika in the warehouse, and second, the owner of the most prestigious fashion company in the world had thread magic. She made all her clothes and that's why they were so high quality. The girl who sat across the table from her really was a genius. Upon the man exploding into the aforementioned red mist, two more 'waiters' emerged from the back, armed with guns as they approached Lilium and Erika. Making eye contact with Erika, she'd smirk as she listened to the thread mage speak. "Of course! I'll instill the methods I saw while being taught manners just for consistencies sake."

Stepping out of her chair, the holy mage would unsheath her sword and throw the sheath to the side. The sheath would fade back into Arcadia in a brilliant light as she sliced a bullet that was shot at her, roughly. It wasn't a clean cut but she still managed to cut the bullet. Erika told her that she killed them too quickly last time, so perhaps she could make some changes with how she did this one. Fading in a golden shimmer, the holy mage would reappear behind the two assassin's as she sliced quickly near their heels and wrists. Cleanly cutting the two, they would fall in agony as their feet and hands rushed with blood. Not the most pleasant sight but the holy mage would have to get used to seeing this as these men were honestly able to be considered less than human at this point. Also, she may have over exaggerated with how she was taught manners but on some days in her youth, it really would have felt better just to have lost her hands and feet altogether. Stepping on one's stomach as she wiped off her sword of their blood, the holy mage would glance at Erika and say, "Should I put them out of their misery now? They don't really deserve to be put of their misery just yet, but I don't want to ever have the chance of seeing their faces in the future." Hearing a horrified scream, her head would turn towards the aforementioned hostess that she wanted to suffer immensely for her actions. The holy mage's eyes would narrow for a brief moment as she said, "I'm going to make this brief. I count to three, and if I still see you, you're gone." The holy mage stuck up her pointer finger and that was the sign for the waitress to run. Slipping out of her heels the woman would run towards the door as Lilium mouthed two. However, the door would shut before she could make it to three. Silently cursing, the holy mage would look at Erika, somewhat disappointed the woman was fast enough to make it out in time, "I can't deal with that one anymore so now I have a little more leeway for how I'm willing to kill these two. What do you think they deserve?" The holy mage would kick the man that touched her with the bloody stump where his hand had been, seeking pity. Snapping her fingers, the blood would be cleaned off of her clothes as she sighed in annoyance.

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Total: 4,811/10,000

Lilium glanced at the CEO of the Nightshade Corporation as she summoned her sheath again. The metallic sheath was adorned with intricate golden designs. She had to agree with Erika's logics regarding the fashion industry as well. Magic was something that she was born with, so it's technically natural for her to do this. Just because there were people in Earthland born without magic, that didn't mean that they were at a disadvantage. Well, at first, there seemed to be a distinct gap between the mages and non mages initially, but there have been a couple prime examples of non mages becoming the most powerful people on Fiore. Obviously not in actual physical prowess but even then, there were some examples of non mages doing this. Erika was smart for using her magic to her advantage and the fact that she specialized specifically in manipulating threads, this meant that it was even easier to usurp the power from whoever was on top of the fashion industry a year ago. To be completely honest, the holy mage was surprised that the thread mage had not done this sooner. She could probably completely control the market if she tried hard enough, but to be completely honest, this seems more of a side job for the CEO. She seemed to put extremely well planned minimal effort into the company that she has built from the ground up. The holy mage looked at Erika before wondering, "It's not foul play if it's your natural ability, but like, is there anything you want to do past this? You essentially conquered the fashion world. Any dreams for the future?" The holy mage would smile at Erika before glancing at the man who was reduced to crawling around. Her smile quickly faded as she glanced at the man before turning to Erika again.

This woman certainly had a sense of humor considering she was capable about joking on the issue of being kidnapped and being held for ransom. Granted, the humor was rather dark but that didn't make it any less funny. Lilium would glance at Erika as she spoke about being sad that no one tried to tie her up and hold her for ransom. "Sorry, if I could throw the kidnappers onto you, I would. Not in a rude way or anything. Just... you get what I mean." The holy mage would sigh as she ran a hand through her hair until her interest was caught by the thread mage speaking about what kind of person she would work for if she had no morals. That was a rather tough question because she definitely would not be the same person if she had no morals but either way, it was difficult to answer. Or she was over complicating the situation. The holy mage thought for a brief moment before answering, "Ah, to be completely honest, I'd probably just work for whoever would offer the highest pay if I had no morals. The world is money focused anyways so money would probably just become my number one priority." The holy mage would chuckle a bit after seeing Erika flourish her golden hair for a moment as she stood up. She really did know how to punctuate her presence. Oh, so Erika had also been a target in all the attacks of today as well. Then, her main opponent was probably aware of all this and was using this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Too bad that the person behind all this scheming thought they were seven steps ahead, when they were probably a couple tumbles down the stairs behind them. While playing the wrong game.

The holy mage would think about Rose Garden as a whole for a moment before looking at Erika as she remembered, "Oh, actually, since the Silver Moon Inn is almost in the heart of the Rose Garden, it divides the city in two. We are on the newer side, so most illegal and suspicious activity would be done on that side to avoid too much exposure. If anything, he's probably over there, hiding in a building or something of the like." The holy mage would hear a groan of pleading from underneath her as she kicked away the bloody stump where the man's hand used to be. Summoning a lance, she'd step back leap into the sky with her wings keeping her there. Looking beneath her, she'd glance at the man with a somewhat sadistic smile coating her face as she spoke, "Am I right or am I right?" The colour in the man's face quickly drained away as Lilium threw the lance at his face, the golden weapon became coated in a silver light as it flew towards him. However, it stopped mere centimetres in front of his face. The holy mage would fly back down and look at him as his eyes trained on the lance that almost ended his life. He was panting somewhat hysterically as Lilium chuckled saying, "Would you like to tell me where that building is?" The assassin nodded furiously as he stated the general area of the hideout that they had set up the area that whoever Erika was suspicious about. Apparently, they had set up some sort of portal in the kitchen that allowed them to teleport to the base of operations, but with the woman, who escaped they could have had time to disable it, or at least trap it. Lilium looked somewhat annoyed as she snapped her fingers. The lance would fall to the ground in front of the assassin as he sighed in relief.

"If we make it to the kitchen fast enough, we could probably use the portal that they made. But it might be risky in all honesty with how much time they have been aware of us not dying to our meals." The holy mage looked over to the lance and whistled, causing it to become enveloped in a golden light before exploding into pure magic, almost eradicating the assassin's body. With that, he experienced relief and then immediate panic before he died. That surely was better than her last killing of those who tried to attack her. The holy mage would look at Erika for affirmation before glancing over towards the kitchen, "Let's look through the kitchen first. Unless you'd like to just go to the building the old fashioned way. You can lead the way."

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