Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 117: Easy Prey

Arthur and Aria prepare to hunt their next prey: the Winfred family, a lesser branch of the Whittlee family.

He finishes strapping on his belt of deadly tools and drapes his black cloak over his shoulders before turning his attention back to Aria. "The house is surrounded by guards, inside and outside the walls… Liam could never leave unnoticed."

"Liam didn't have this Mommy here, fufufu~" Aria giggles as she casts her invisibility spell, making her body disappear before Arthur's eyes.

"I need to get stronger so I can learn this spell as quickly as possible!" he exclaims excitedly.

"Don't worry, your cultivation is progressing swiftly," Aria's voice sounds right in front of Arthur's face, and he can feel her breath, scented like flowers and honey.

"Hmm…" Arthur takes a deep breath, drawing in that fragrance without any shame. "It's thanks to the hard work with Nyx and Margaret every day…"

He can't see her, but Aria blushes as she watches him savor her breath so shamelessly. 'Does he enjoy my scent as much as I enjoy his?' she wonders.

"Yeah, you work so hard…" she remarks sarcastically, though it's true, even if those methods also seem like pure fun.

"Haha!" He can't help but laugh, imagining her blushing with a jealous expression.

Aria doesn't need to worry about him noticing her reactions when she's invisible, so she bites her lips and casts a frustrated glance at him. "We'd better get going…"

"Sure," Arthur heads to the door and reaches for the handle.

"Wait!" But Aria exclaims, and he stops. "What's the matter?"

"There's someone watching us," she says, piquing his curiosity. "In fact, she's been there for a while. I almost forgot."

"Who is she?"

"A member of the Assassins' League, I believe," Aria replies.

"The Assassins' League?" A nostalgic glimmer appears in Arthur's eyes. "They have that sort of thing in this world, too?"

"I suppose there was a League like that in your previous life, right?" Now, it's Aria who's curious. "Were you a part of that as Liam?"

He shakes his head ambiguously. "There was something like that, but I wasn't part of it… Well, they tried to recruit me several times, but I couldn't trust anyone, so I couldn't work as a team or be part of a group."

"You were a lone wolf…" Aria comments with a sad tone, but her eyes are filled with love as she looks at him. "But now you're not like that anymore."

He nods with a proud smile. "Yes, I like having you and Nyx with me."

"That's good, darling~" Aria's tone grows increasingly emotional.

Arthur enjoys that, but he's also curious about the Assassins' League in this world. "What about the spy? Can she see us through the walls with a spell similar to yours?"

"No," Aria quickly replies. "This woman is an Advanced Mage, so she should be able to use such a spell, but I placed a protective barrier around our rooms, preventing that and other spells too."

"Nice! Did you leave her completely in the dark?"

"Not exactly," Aria explains as she begins casting a spell around Arthur. "I left a gap so she could sense our aura, so she knows we're here…"

"Why?" he asks, as she finishes the spell. Two shadows appear in the room—one shaped like him, the other like Aria.

"These are clones of our auras," she explains about the shadows. "This way, that woman will think we're here the whole time."

"Wow!" Arthur remains impressed with what his mother can do. "You're really incredible, Mom."

"Of course, baby~" she giggles. "I've told you, your Mommy is the best."

"The best…" Arthur repeats, his eyes shining with admiration and affection.

Aria blushes again. "We should go now."

"Sure," Arthur leaves the room with Aria, and she casts another spell to hide their auras, leaving the League member sensing only their cloned auras in the room.

Josephine's mansion is surrounded by guards, under the command of both the captain of the guard and the Drummonds' servants. There are guards inside the house, within the walls, and outside, dozens of them.

Even though Liam was a master of shadows, he couldn't do much in such a situation. But Arthur has an advantage that easily solves that problem: Aria.

She moves ahead of everyone yet remains unseen due to her invisibility spell. With an illusion spell, she makes any guard fall asleep for a few seconds—enough time for Arthur to slip through the shadows unnoticed.

In this way, he easily bypasses the guards at Josephine's mansion and in the streets. The best part is that the guards don't even notice the effects of Aria's spell, making it seem like they never passed through.

The duo quickly arrives at the Winfreds' house, a mansion much smaller than that of the Viscount or Josephine. Not only that, but the Winfreds also have fewer guards, and the most powerful person, the head of the family, is only in the eighth grade of the Elite Rank.

Despite the many guards inside and outside the house, nothing stops Arthur's blades, with Aria and Nyx by his side. He infiltrates the house and kills everyone in his path until reaching Lord Winfred, who dies in his bed with a shocked look on his face as he sees Arthur's cold eyes.

The way he entered is the way he leaves: like a shadow. Inside the house, now a mass grave, lie the mutilated bodies of all his victims—nobles, guards, and servants—leaving no witnesses behind.

Since the guards are now more alert, they quickly discover what happened to the Winfreds, so Arthur and Aria have to swiftly return to Josephine's home.

Arthur takes a nice bath with Nyx and Margaret again, and an hour later, a guard arrives at Josephine's mansion with the sunrise to report and, of course, to check on her mysterious guests.

From a room on the third floor of a house opposite Josephine's mansion, a plain-looking woman watches the guard approaching the mansion and finding Josephine at the door. Oliver, Aria, and Arthur also appear, with him holding a coffee mug and wearing a confident smile.

"See, they didn't leave the house." the woman says, pointing to Arthur and Aria.

"That's impossible!" a guard exclaims from behind her—he's the lieutenant. "I can sense they're responsible for this… there's something evil in that boy; I know it!"

"I also find them very mysterious, but I've been here all night, and they didn't leave the room until they joined Madam Drummond for breakfast," the woman explains.

The lieutenant's expression becomes increasingly confused. "But the Winfreds…" He clenches his fists. "I was just a few meters from their house, patrolling, and yet they were slaughtered, along with many of my friends, and no one heard a damn sound!"

"What do you mean?" The woman glances at him with an annoyed expression. "Are you questioning my honesty?"

"No, of course not," he quickly replies. "But... the people who did that are professionals. Maybe they managed to deceive you somehow?"

"I didn't—" The woman is quite confident in her skills, but she can't deny that her inability to estimate Aria's power makes everything uncertain.

"What's wrong?" The lieutenant becomes confused. "You suspect them, too, right?"

"I'm not sure," she replies honestly while flipping through a small notepad in her hand, her own notes. "I can only say that I felt their auras in the house the whole time, and a powerful barrier prevented me from seeing more, but if she managed to trick me, it means that..."

"It means what?" The lieutenant grows more anxious.

"You need to leave now," she points to the door. "Report this to your captain, and I'll report it to my master."

"Alright," the lieutenant swiftly leaves the room.

The woman approaches a hearth in the corner of the dimly lit room and snaps her fingers near it, igniting sparks that kindle the flames. She then takes a small leather pouch from her belt and a handful of sparkling purple powder from within.

She waits for the hearth's flames to grow before throwing the powder onto them, turning the flames purple. The woman looks around to ensure no one is watching her and then begins drawing symbols around the fireplace.

The same symbols appear in the purple flames as she chants in an ancient language, "Flammae sacrae, verba mea per vestras linguas ferte."

The flames dance vividly, and the woman tears pages from her notepad to toss into the fire, where they're quickly consumed.

Meanwhile, over a thousand miles away, in one of the tallest towers in Lumindell's capital, the flames in a large fireplace suddenly turn purple.

"A message, Master," a maid in uniform comments as she approaches the fireplace and sees pages emerging from the purple flames.

"From whom?" a melodious female voice sounds from behind the maid.

The maid retrieves the pages and reads what's written on them. "It's from the Lakeview member again."

"Oh? Has she found any suspects?"

"Yes, two interesting people: mother and son."

"Mother and son? Don't tell me they're blonde and have blue eyes?"

"According to the report… yes, they are."

"Interesting… very interesting…"

"Shall I prepare the carriage for Lakeview again, Master?"

"Yes, do that now."