—————–———————————————
Astrid's POV
—————–———————————————

A few hours before

"I know you said we were going to visit some aristocrats..." (Astrid)

I start speaking as we stand in front of a gargantuan gate.

"But don't you think this is too obvious?" (Astrid)

It spanned several metres either side, and atleast 5 metres high.

"Well, they're known for their... Vast amount of wealth." (Captain)

"Vast... Yeah, I can see that." (Astrid)

Just beyond the gate was a mansion that almost blinded you to look at.

It was pure white, probably made from marble, with pillars made of gold that stretched up from the ground at the corners.

Perfectly placed flowers organised the path we took to reach the door, which seemed like it was the size of the one we walked through at the ball.

The butler who had guided us wore silver and gold chains lightly across his clothes, which seemed to be perfectly tailored to him.

He opens the door with a delicate hand, allowing us to greet the owner of the mansion, Count Poin, who stood at the base of the stairs, which made their way to the second floor from the main hall.

He looked like a pompous man, with his... Round body stature, and the jewels that hung from every limb shone brightly because of the chandeliers that hung overhead.

Every single spot you'd look at in this house seemed to cost more than a commoner's monthly wage. It was comparable to simply leaving bars of silver all around the house.

"Ahh, Viscount... Doujima, I heard of your visit, so I prepared myself as best I could." (Count Poin)

He spin his moustache in between his fingers as he speak.

Count Poin. On the surface, he seems like a brilliant businessman, being able to revive his land through money alone and set up a farming business which rivalled any other.

But if you spend a little time with him, you may feel an uncomfortable feeling, as if you were playing into his hands, as if you were a puppet on a string.

Of course, he couldn't be the one to do this. This man was simply a man who knew money, not people. As are most of the aristocrats.

So, what's with the uncomfortable feeling? We don't know. Even the most perceptive nobles don't know what it is.

But it is there. It's hanging like a small strand of string behind a wall. So, we will be the ones to unravel it.

"Count Poin, it's good to see you." (Captain)

He steps forwards and shakes his hand, to which the Count had an odd look on his face.

"Ah, yes, it's good to see you too. Now, I hate to say it, but I'm very busy, so could we skip the pleasantries and go to my office?" (Count Poin)

"Of course, I'm not one for pleasantries either." (Captain)

We follow Count Poin up the stairs and down several hallways, making me truly realise the size of the mansion.

After a fair bit of walking, we stop in front. of an oddly normal door, which opens up to a normal office room.

It's such a large contrast to the rest of the building that it seemed like I had stepped into a different world.

Instead of white, the walls were coloured a common brown, and there seemed to be no gems of the sorts around.

It was simply a normal office.

"It's much different from the rest of the building, isn't it?" (Count Poin)

He must have seen my surprised face, as he points out the most jarring point.

"It's... Surprising." (Astrid)

"It is, isn't it? It's for the sake of work, sadly. If I have jewels where I work, I tend to fiddle with them." (Count Poin)

Ah, he's just a greedy man.

At first, I thought the rest of the building was just for appearances, but no, he just lusts after gems and money.

"Well, let's start. Why are you here, Viscount?" (Count Poin)

"Hmm, how should I say this... Support. I need some financial support." (Captain)

"Financial support? You need money? Shouldn't your... Knight wage give you enough?" (Count Poin)

"Don't misunderstand, Count, this money isn't for me." (Captain)

"... Ah, I see. So, you are finally taking it?" (Count Poin)

He shows a grin as he speaks.

"You are quite perceptive. I am probably going to, so I need to start now." (Captain)

"I see, I see. So, why have you come to me?" (Count Poin)

"Well, I heard you were one of the wealthiest men in the Kingdom, so I thought I'd better make acquaintances with you. Of course, it'll be worth it for you too." (Captain)

"Haha! You sure know how to appeal to a man, Viscount! Now, let's talk. How much do you need?" (Count Poin)

As he directs the question towards Captain, the atmosphere in the room changes.

Shivers run across my body, as if the room had suddenly dropped in temperature.

I lightly tap Captain, showing him that I feel uncomfortable.

It's a strange sensation, almost as if you were being watched, watched by an eye that could see everything.

This sensation continued before something happened to my mind.

It was as if it was scrambled, and it took me a few minutes to regain my state of mind.

And so, when I did regain it, I understood that my sense of mana was forcefully cut off.

Because I constantly have {Magic Awareness} active, I can feel the flow of mana, as well as see it.

If that gets cut off, for me atleast, it'll feel like one of my senses were taken from me, but for others not as sensitive to mana, it would result in an uncomfortable feeling.

Which means in this mansion somewhere, there is a mage listening into the conversation, and preventing any... Unfortunate circumstances.

From where I am, I can just barely tell that Count Poin isn't the one doing it, it's almost as if he doesn't realise it's happening.

But, I need to find out who is doing it.

"Sorry, but can I excuse myself?" (Astrid)

"Hmm? As you wish." (Count Poin)

He gestures to the door, allowing me to leave, which I comply with.

As soon as I step out the room, I feel my {Mana Awareness} reactivate, and I feel revitalised again.

However, I don't take in the relief for long, instead focusing on finding the mage.

I glance back towards the room, and see a grey haze coming from it.

Neutral magic. The only type of magic that can directly control mana. It isn't rare to be able to use, in fact, with enough training, anyone could - but to be proficient in it is extremely hard.

It isn't like normal mana. Normal mana is imbued with an element, say fire or water, but neutral mana has been stripped of that, so it holds nothing. It is just pure magical energy.

The level of this isn't high, I could probably do better, but I can't see where it is coming from.

No strand of grey is coming from it, which means the mage isn't directly influencing the mana from outside the room.

But that doesn't make sense. There's no way there could be another room joining from that one.

If we were to look at how this mansion was made, it would look as if this office was added after the mansion was fully built.

It would have simply hung off the second floor, had it not been for the room underneath it.

Wait. The room underneath?

As if a switch had been flicked in my head, an idea came to me, and I rushed down to the first floor.

Having a rough map of the mansion in my head, I try to make my way to the room under the office by simply heading in that direction.

After a few wrong turns, I finally reach a door that stood alone in a hallway.

I take a few seconds to prepare myself, and put my hand on the door.

Pushing it open, a wave of mana hits me in the face, almost pushing me back.

"The mana almost pushed me back?" (Astrid)

The amount of mana needed to do something like that would have been immense. On the same level as the crystals in Alzibria.

After making sure no more mana was going to hit me, I opened the door further, presenting me with a view of the room.

In it stood a black cube, completely devoid of colour, and any light that hit it was eaten.

It was a mana crystal. An extremely large one, at that.

But how did he get all this mana?

He couldn't have done anything with human lives, he'd be found out too fast.

He could have done it with royal magicians, but I'm not sure how he'd manage to fill up the crystal.

No wait, he could have paid them off. He has enough money too.

Unless there's a third party. A bandit group, maybe?

But if he was unaware of the uncomfortable feeling, then he may have been exempt from the disruption.

No, impossible. There's no spell that can define targets in terms of disruption.

Then is he just unable to feel changes in mana? It's possible.

He could just not be sensitive to mana.

That's the best idea I can't think of.

It's likely a third party is involved, which means we won't get anything from the Count.

So, we need to find a new lead.

—————–———————————————
Author Notes
—————–———————————————

Woo! Another chapter, and it's a long one!

This chapter has made me think more than any other chapter.

I needed to think about why Count Poin needed the crystal, how it got there, why it was there, how it was filled and all sorts of questions.

My brain feels fried. I have an entire word document based on this arc.

But anyway, thanks for reading, please continue doing so!