After the talk in Zakaragi's Dad's office, Zakaragi and the maids escorted the four to the entrance. They made sure to pack and get all of their things in their rooms and even got to say bye to many of the maids there.

It seemed like a great environment to be in, all the more reason not to put it in risk.

John gave a look at the guards, some carried staff while others were simply carrying magic imbued swords on their waist.

There were around 20 guards in total, a rather high number which was probably due to John's warnings and the recent event.

A high number, however, none of them seemed talented enough to stop the group which John had dealt with.

They were B-Rank adventurers at most, there were probably others outside, but either way, it wouldn't be safe for the three, or so John thought.

As they stood outside of the mansion entrance, and took in the nice fresh breeze outside, the two smiled at each other before John formed a sound proof bubble around the two as he said

"Good luck with Tiana.

"

Suddenly, Zakaragi's face blushed a bright red as he quickly shouted

"W-What?! L-Luck for what?

"

His expression was both embarrassed and surprised. Seeing this, John suddenly put his hand over Zakaragi's shoulder as he said

"It's okay. We're in the same boat.

"

John then gave Zakaragi a thumbs up and Zakaragi gave John a surprised and semi-suspicious look before asking.

"We are?

"

"Yeah, you're not alone. Tell Tiana and everyone that I said Hi.

"

Zakaragi who heard this, nodded and with a rather saddened smile, he said.

"Of course.

"

"Then... See you soon, Zakaragi, tell your dad and siblings that I'm very grateful and I won't forget this debt.

" Said John before he vanished

Lydia, Hayden and Saphir also disappeared at the same time, leaving only Zakaragi behind.

"Yeah... Come back soon...

" He muttered before walking inside

The four were still there, all John did was cast 'furtim' on them, but because of that, he got to see how truly sad Zakaragi was when they disappeared, despite him having put on smiles.

Seeing this, for a moment, John considered staying a while a longer, but reality quickly hit him as he reminded himself that he simply couldn't.

Sorry...

***

The group had Joined up with Master Sylvia's carriage which had crossed the gates a while back. They were a good enough distance away from the kingdom's entrance, so without wasting time, John began their introductions.

"Master, Serena, Ariel, meet Lydia, Saphir and Hayden. Hayden, Saphir and Lydia meet Master Sylvia, Sere-

"

John was interrupted by Serena who said

"We can introduce ourselves.

" Said Serena

Serena then looked over At Lydia with a slightly piercing gaze before turning to John.

"Like you heard, I'm Serena, One of the mages in this party and a close partner of John, nice to meet you, Lydia.

" Said Serena with a smile

From John's perspective, Serena's smile seemed rather cold, but he assumed it as him being Sensitive again.

"Likewise, I'm John's recently hired, Personal maid. It's also nice to meet you.

" Said Lydia as she returned an innocent smile

The two girls continued to quietly smile at each other without saying anything, until Ariel intervened between the two

"I'm Ariel, Also a mage of this party, it's also a pleasure to meet you.

" Said Ariel as she smiled at Lydia

"The pleasure's all mine.

" Said Lydia as she gave Ariel a slight bow with a smile

What's with this awkward air? John wondered

***

"What? You're leaving again?

" Serena asked

"Yeah, there's still one more thing I have to deal with.

" John replied

"Does it involve the group which attacked the mansion?

" Lydia asked

Hearing this, John remembered that he hadn't told them about what had happened.

"No, I already dealt with them, it's about something else.

"

"Dealt with them? When did yo-

"

John interrupted Lydia as he said

"Yesterday, I ended them but they'll probably find another way to come back, There's also other things happening, but right now I need to find out what it was that I felt beneath the ground.

"

"Beneath the ground... You mean the base?

" Serena asked

"No, something else, I got a dangerous vibe from it, so I want to deal with it before it can cause any trouble.

" Said John

Hearing this, Serena pulled out her sacred treasure

"Good, I was in the mood for a fight.

" She said happily

But contrary to what she expected, John didn't reply and just stared at her.

"W-What? Is there something on my face?

" Serena asked as she looked away to avoid his eyes

"No, Nothing, But sorry, It'll take longer if you come, I'll finish it fast.

"

"Huh? What're you-

"

"Furtim.

"

The instant John became invisible, Serena quickly formed a wind ball which took the shape of a rope

"Ariel, Where is he?

" Serena asked

"Just leave him...

" Ariel muttered as she turned a blind eye to it

"But he's going to steal all the credit again, without us.

"

"It's no use, he's already gone...

" Ariel muttered once more

She looked like something was bothering her, yet Serena hadn't noticed it at all earlier. Now that she even thought about it, she hadn't realised that Ariel hadn't been participating in the conversation at all.

"That John... What did he do...?

" Serena whispered to herself

***

John flew over to the area where he had created the hole to escape from the enemy's base, but as he arrived there, his eyes widened.

"What, in the hell...?

"

The hole on the ground was closed, and there were piles of human bodies lying around on the floor, each seemed to have been pierced by something.

The bodies belong to knights, and John had assumed that they were Knights who saw the bright glow which came from him and Serena when before he lost consciousness.

John then looked at the area where the hole was meant to be, when he noticed the earth move in that area. A small wave of mud barely recognisable by a person's eyes.

There's something down there... Something wrong with this earth.

"Deprehendre.

" John muttered

With a confused expression he repeated the words once more.

"Deprehendre.

" to confirm his suspicion.

"There's something moving inside of the earth? Why didn't I feel it earlier?

" John asked himself

He slowly descended towards the ground, while masking his presence. Furtim was still active but the smell and feeling of death rubbed off on his recently sensitive nose.

"Argh...

"

John had forgotten the feeling of staring at torn human corpses without being in the 'possessed' state but now he could experience it first-hand once more.

He felt sick to his stomach as he landed next to the pieces, it frightened him how all of these bodies could lay around here, yet no one would notice.

Right as he took the first step to move around, he felt a vibration, something was heading straight at him at a fast rate.

On top of that, the solid earth beneath him, suddenly turned soft, causing his legs and the dead corpses to slowly seep through.

Once the corpses were completely covered beneath the ground along with most of John's legs. THe ground solidified again, causing Both John and the submerged corpses to be stuck.

Following that, the vibration was right beneath John's legs, He slammed the ground which had solidified with a magic reinforced punch, causing it to break, but right as it did.

Earth walls rose from the ground around him, leaving him dead on the centre of whatever he had gotten himself into.

An earth wall trap? John wondered as he looked around

"No... This is... A mouth?

"

The top of the earth walls which were rapidly rising off the ground, Closed off as if it were closing a mouth. Leaving John trapped inside of whatever it was that did that.

-------------------------------

"At-choo

"

Ariel let out a small sneeze before looking over in the direction where John had disappeared off to. Despite not having said anything, she did keep a track of what direction he had gone through with her wind search spell.

As she looked in that direction, she got a strange feeling coming from it, but she ignored it and thought as her being hypersensitive like usual.

"Besides... He can do everything alone, he doesn't really need us...

" Ariel muttered

"Hm? Ariel, did you say something?

" Serena asked

"No, nothing.

"

The sound of the carriage wheels moving through the solid rough ground was unexpectedly distracting for all of the passengers.

"The carriages back at home were much more be-

"

Lydia covered Saphir's mouth before she could finish what she was about to say.

Serena and Ariel both noticed this and were curious about it, but acted like they didn't. For all they knew, John wasn't telling them something.

And judging from Lydia's sudden action, she didn't want to say anything either.

Serena let out a sigh before laying down on the wooden seat before she muttered.

"It's going to rain soon.

"