"I don't think there is anything left for us to do."
Cyril turned around and took a step to get out of the cafe.
Just as despair appeared on Myra's face, a voice called out in alarm.
"It's missing!" Anna yelled out, touching her right arm.
All of the eyes immediately gathered on her, though this time it only caused her to flinch a little before she continued urgently.
"They stole an important bracelet." She looked around the cafe, searching for something.
Finding nothing, she turned towards Cyril and Myra. "Where were the two people who guarded me?"
Cyril met her inquisitive gaze without faltering.
"...They are not here anymore."
Anna widened her eyes, then, after a second, slowly lowered her gaze to the floor.
"I need to find it, that bracelet is the last thing left to me from my mother."
A memento from her mother...
Cyril mulled over her words in his mind for a bit, then sighed helplessly.
I guess there is a bit of my fault in here.
"Was that bracelet a magic item?"
The crestfallen Anna slightly raised her head and nodded. "Yes. There is a healing spell on it, though not a particularly strong one."
Cyril looked at the butterfly on his shoulder and continued with confidence, "Then Morpho can find it, as long as you have something that has a 'trace' of the bracelet."
"Really? A trace? Something like..." She hastily said and pulled out a piece of fabric from her pocket.
"This is the polishing cloth I used to clean it. Can your beautiful butterfly use this?"
"Since she has good taste, might as well help her."
Morpho landed on the cloth and felt it for a few seconds. Soon she flew up and circled in the air.
"She got it and can lead us any moment." Rhamn translated.
That's good. Cyril looked at Anna and relayed her findings.
"It's a success, we can go."
Anna breathed a sigh of relief, then quietly said, "Thank you."
Cedric made a fist bump in the air, "Yes! Thank you again, Cyril. We will be in your debt."
Cyril shot him a glance and nodded, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed Myra wearing a smile again.
"How lucky," she whispered to herself.
Let's hope those two didn't go too far, thought Cyril as he went out of the building, followed by the rest of the students.
...
Morpho flew further and further from the shopping street.
The buildings around the group gradually started to look more deteriorated, while the people they've met stared at them with more and more vigilance.
"They went quite far." Cedric helplessly commented, his hands busy with a bunch of bags.
Earlier he volunteered to carry Morpho's things, since, according to his own words, there was nothing else for him to contribute. Cyril found that convenient and accepted the offer.
"Those thugs are faster than they look, we almost reached the slums." Myra added with a frown, though in her eyes there was still a certain spark.
Cyril didn't reply to them, only vigilantly scanning the path ahead and paying close attention to the rooftops.
It's not like our pace was slow, and yet we are still not there.
He looked at Morpho flying ahead.
Can she tell how far they are? Are they still moving?
Rhamn appeared at his side, intrigue on her face. "They've stopped not far from here, or at least the bracelet is not far from here."
Cyril turned towards the rest and whispered, "Get ready, we are close."
Cedric tensed up and nodded, while Anna walked behind him with a nervous expression.
Myra slightly lowered her body, ready to spring into action at any second.
Soon they arrived at a certain turn leading into an alley, where Morpho landed back on Cyril's shoulder.
"She is not going further on her own." Rhamn explained with a satisfied nod.
Cyril scanned his surroundings one more time before calmly taking a step forward, looking into the alley.
Immediately the frown on his face deepened.
Trash was lying everywhere he could see, with only a narrow path free leading towards a door at the end of the alley.
Why is it there? Cyril thought with some reluctance and turned towards Cedric and Anna.
"Stay here on the lookout." He stepped inside.
"We can't let our things get dirtied by this place... Although I would've loved to stay as well." Rhamn agreed to his decision with a helpless expression.
Cedric, holding the shopping bags, silently nodded and remained there with Anna.
...
Cyril carefully made his way around the piles of trash, reaching a dilapidated apartment complex marking the dead end of this alley.
There was no sign of the thugs or any people at all.
Enhanced senses can be a pain sometimes. He mused while enduring the unpleasant smells around.
In the meantime, Myra slowly but steadily walked over to him, her eyes expertly scanning everything on her way.
"The path is clear so far. Is our target inside?" She stood near him and stared at the building in front of them.
Cyril hastily nodded and walked inside, eager to get away from this smell.
Immediately he regretted his decision, because inside there was even more trash.
A small hill made of trash bags was lying in the entrance hall.
Coupled with the stale, dusty air, it finally caused Cyril to lower his body and hold his nose, trying to resist the urge to retch.
Morpho on his shoulder fared a bit better. She kept herself absolutely still, refusing to move in this air.
At this moment Myra cast a spell, and a vague, greenish wave went from her body, making the air around them bearable.
Cyril took a few deep breaths and raised his head. "Thank you."
Myra looked at him, her eyes widening, a weird sense of achievement visible inside.
"What?"
"Nothing!" Myra immediately snapped out of it and stepped aside, looking around the building.
"You'll get used to it."
"Why should we get used to being around trash? Because she is near you often?"
"What kind of place is this?" Cyril said as he fully recovered.
Myra made a wry smile. "It's probably a literal garbage dump for the people living in the slums."
Cyril sighed and started moving.
Where is it in this building?
"A few floors above us."
"Let's go," Cyril called out to Myra and moved towards the stairs.
Thankfully they weren't piled up with anything, allowing for smooth passage.
The two students walked in silence, paying attention to everything around them.
They carefully climbed to the second floor, then to the third, all the while paying attention to any possible sounds coming from above.
However, so far it seemed like they were the only people in this building.
Hearing flies buzzing and rats skittering about but no human presence, Cyril found himself becoming slightly tense.
He subtly glanced at Myra walking at his side, only to discover her wearing a slight smile.
She reminds me of those noble kids pretending to be knights with their friends...
Though seeing her treat this so lightly, he found himself somewhat calming down as well.
"It's no big deal. We beat those thugs back then, and we'll do it again."
It might not be those thugs again.
Sitting on his shoulder, Morpho twitched her antennae, her compound eyes looking at the specific door of the third-floor corridor.
Cyril slowed down and went in front of it, Myra following close behind.
He carefully opened the door and stepped inside. It was a grey room without any furniture, only a few cardboard boxes lying here and there.
Still no one? Cyril frowned as he looked around.
"Morpho is telling me she feels a strong presence of magic in the corner of this room. It's a person!"
Cyril tensed up, though his face was calm as ever. In his head he quickly tried to think of an idea.
Someone is there invisible? Should I pretend to be a student casually exploring? No, that won't work.
Those thugs didn't know any spells, so it's someone else after all? Who could it be? That black blur Morpho saw?
He calmed down and casually entered the room.
Myra followed him in, her face the same as before, and quickly started scanning the room.
"There's something here!" She soon exclaimed, pointing at the seemingly empty spot below a broken window. It happened to be very close to the invisible person hiding in the corner.
Without showing any vigilance, Myra slowly walked towards there, her eyes glued to a single point.
Just as Cyril put strength into his legs in an attempt to dash forward, Myra suddenly changed her course and struck at the air to the left.
From that place a hooded figure rolled, dodging the strike with panic. Immediately they cast a spell, and a bright flash of light went off in this small room.
Cyril shielded his eyes and focused on his surroundings, expecting an attack, but only the sound of a door opening behind him came.
They are trying to escape!
As the light soon disappeared, he turned around and moved to get out of the room with urgency.
Myra, her face now wearing a frown, did the same, and they ran out at the same time.
There they managed to pick up a sight of the hooded figure running into the stairway, disappearing from view.
"Hmph," Myra scoffed and dashed forward, running to the floor below them.
Cyril followed after her. Morho got up in the air and flew along.
Can Morpho pick up the trace of that figure?
"Yes. Looks like they are still carrying the bracelet."
Together with Myra, he ran down a floor.
The moment they left the stairway on the second floor, a spark went off in front of them, followed by an explosion.
Cyril's body was thrown back, hitting the stairs behind him.
This is more dangerous than I thought...
He got back on his feet and dusted himself off.
Myra was nearby, her state similar to his. She bit her lip in frustration, while her eyes turned sharper.
"I can't believe I fell for something like this." She growled and looked around.
As remnants of the explosion cleared, a white smoke suddenly appeared in its stead, obscuring everything around.
"They are going to attack through the smoke, get ready!"
Myra disappeared from his sight.
At this moment Cyril heard more spells going off, followed by the sound of movement.
He calmed down and focused on Morpho, who was fluttering her wings close to him.
"You can feel where the enemy is, right? Guide me," Cyril whispered and prepared himself.
Morpho twitched her antennae in a reassuring way and stayed in the air nearby.
"Duck!"
Cyril immediately lowered his body as best he could, and right above him a bolt of fire went past with a sizzling sound.
They are really trying to kill us! He thought with lingering fears.
The explosion from before didn't carry that much firepower behind it, but an attack like this striking someone's head would surely deal lethal damage to a regular human.
Gradually, Cyril found his tension cooling down, leaving quiet anger in its stead.
He slowly stood up straight and walked forward.
Myra could be heard casting spell after spell and moving sporadically around. She played a cat-and-mouse game with the hooded figure, who only occasionally cast a spell at Cyril.
How do they even see in this smoke? Cyril lamented, dodging another bolt going his way.
Relying entirely on sound and Morpho's guidance, he moved closer and closer.
"To your right!"
Cyril immediately reacted and ducked down, sweeping with his leg at the same time.
His leg managed to catch the hooded figure, who fell down on the ground with a surprised yelp.
Although they immediately rolled backwards. Their hood slipped in the process, revealing an average-looking man with black hair.
Cyril quickly lunged forward in pursuit, throwing a fist at him with all his might.
The man could only meet it by hastily shielding his body with his hands.
With a sound of something cracking, his body flew into the wall behind him and broke a hole straight through it. The impact shook the building, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
Cyril froze with his hand outstretched.
At this moment Myra passed by him, quickly going after the man.
Soon a spell was cast, and a gust of wind went through, getting rid of all the smoke.
It revealed Myra, her leg holding the trembling man down under her. On her face was a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"It's over!"
Cyril slowly relaxed and walked closer, observing the hole in the wall that wasn't there before.
"Ha! Guess you went easy on Aldy after all!" Rhamn touched the crumbled stone with a smug look, her hand phasing through.
Maybe the walls here are just brittle... Cyril mused as he walked up to Myra.
She put more force in her leg standing on the figure, and a pained grunt escaped the mage's lips.
"Who are you?" Myra said with a cold voice.
"Morpho says the bracelet is in the pocket," Rhamn quickly pointed out in the meantime.
The man didn't reply to Myra but struggled to reach with his arm into his clothes.
Before he could do that, Cyril ducked down and quickly took out a box from there.
This action immediately set the man off, and a look of genuine panic appeared on his face.
"You'll pay for this, Empire's dogs!" The man yelled through gritted teeth, struggling with all his might.
Myra's face soon changed, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Jump back!" She yelled and did the same herself.
Without any hesitation, Cyril, along with Morpho, moved back as fast as they could.
From the man's body a fiery explosion erupted, many times stronger than the one that ambushed them earlier.
It directly destroyed the stone around it, and the building shook immensely, only calming down after a few seconds.
Shielding himself and Morpho from the debris, Cyril looked at the aftermath, only to discover a hole leading to the bottom floor.
"What just happened?"
Myra raised her body from the ground and dusted herself off.
"That was a Lapis member. This is their safety measure to prevent information leakage."
"They are just an environmentalist group, right? Trying to tell people that the use of manaveins will corrupt the world. Does that really warrant such levels of fanaticism?"
They are just insane.
Cyril sighed tiredly, clutching a small box.
"We don't have much time. This explosion probably attracted a lot of attention. Let's leave first," Myra calmly said and started running towards the stairs.
Cyril took one last look at the debris, shook his head, and quickly went after Myra.
Together they started their escape.