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Late Evening - Early Winter : Central Valtivar

-Where is this place... Shouldn't something so huge be easy to find?- It had been a little over an hour since I left Bjorn and Yolanda, and I was about to head home, but there was one place I needed to stop by before I did that. -Ah, there it is.-

Finally finding the massive white-stone estate wrapped around the trunk of the neighboring treant, I cloaked myself and made my way toward it. -I wonder who built it. Its architecture looks draconic...-

It was Leif Vilulf's estate, and although I expected her to live lavishly since she was the strongest and most influential among the apostles, I was pretty shocked when I saw it. -This place is comparable to some of the estates I saw in Bahamut...-

Crossing over to the treant with the estate, I quickly made my way up to a gate with a few guards holding back several people attempting to get in.

They looked like paparazzi wanting to meet a celebrity.

-I guess people are the same no matter what world you're in.

..- *tap* Nonchalantly hopping over the people and the gate, I made my way across the estate and to the central building but quickly ran into a problem. -Where do I even look for her?-

Although I could just run around and try and find her aura, I was feeling too lazy to do that. -Let's do this the easy way...- "Ilios, just stay invisible for now."

*vwowom* Quickly changing my clothes to something less baggy and covering, I made sure my face would be easily visible and found an isolated hallway to go inside. *Click*

The estate's interior was fairly standard, with warm air and light filling the hallways and all sorts of art pieces lining the walls. Most of the paintings were portraits of people or families, but quite a number of them didn't seem too wealthy. -Are these not portraits of famous people?-

But as I idly thought to myself, someone turned into the hallway just ahead of me.

She was a young elf who could pass for a teenage human carrying a bundle of clothes. -She looks like a newbie.. how perfect.-

Immediately uncloaking myself, I called out to her. "Young miss." I spoke formally in a casual tone.

But she still jolted the moment she heard me. "S..sir? Guests are not supposed to be in this area..." She was clearly suspicious of me.

"Ah, my apologies. I just happened to be wandering around and got lost. Could you give me some directions to Miss Vilulf's office? I happen to have a meeting with her soon."

She paused for an instant as her suspicions started to fade. "I..if it is soon, would you like me to lead you there, Noble Sir?"

"I am alright on my own if you wish to just give directions." Moving a bit more of my aura onto her, I quickly dispelled any of her lingering suspicions.

"How could I possibly let a guest walk alone? Please give me one moment, Sir. I will return quickly."

"Alright, please take your time."

Without wasting any more time, the maid ran into another room along the hallway before coming out with empty hands and a jade-colored medallion hanging from her waist. -Is that for security or identification?-

Speedily walking up to me, she bowed deeply and spoke formally as if she was a different person. "Sir, would you allow me to escort you?"

-This is going smoother than anticipated...- "Please lead the way, young miss."

"As you wish." Promptly standing up straight, she turned around and started walking down the hall with me in tow.

The hallways we walked through felt like an endless maze, but after finding a small spiral staircase and going up nearly eight floors, we finally came into a much larger and more lavishly decorated hallway.

-This must be one of the main halls...- With tall ceilings covered in carvings and walls lined with all kinds of religious artwork and sculptures, I could immediately tell we were finally in one of the main areas.

-To think the place I decided to enter would be the maids' lodging.

.. The farthest thing from this place...

- I wanted to facepalm but needed to play it cool.

-This place is so huge though, it would have taken longer to find it on my own. ..-

Shortly after entering the main hallway, we approached a large double door with two knights standing by it and stopped walking.

After turning to me, the maid bowed deeply. "I apologize, Sir, but this is as far as my clearance will allow me to guide you. If you would like, I could retrieve one of my seniors to lead you the rest of the way."

"I think this will be alright, thank you."

With a formal nod, she straightened up but kept her gaze lowered. "I wish you luck in your meeting, Sir."

-She's a bit too stoic for my liking, but her manners are on point.

..- After giving her a chance to leave, I turned back to the knights and noticed their suspicious looks.

-Well, at least it was smooth sailing till this point.

- "Alright, would either of you be willing to escort me to Miss Vilulf's office? "

"Sir, we cannot do that if you do not have your token with you." His voice was deep and somewhat threatening.

-A token? Does he mean something like the jade medallion all those maids had?- "Damn. Whatever..." -I guess I'll have to find it on my own from here...-

*th-thump-clang-clank* The knights limply collapsed to the ground the instant I stepped toward them and forced their brains into a sleep-like state. -Damn, my mana control is getting pretty good...-

*Click* Casually opening the door and stepping over an unconscious knight, I made my way into another grand hallway with several people frantically running around.

-Everyone seems panicked. Did something happen?- Before getting spotted, I cloaked myself and continued down the hall.

From what I could gather, they were primarily priests that worked under Vilulf, and the frantic panic was them trying to reallocate the work given to them after the deaths of the other apostles. -Looks like they have a lot of work on their hands...-

But oddly enough, although it looked chaotic, many of the people I saw were smiling and enjoying themselves. -I guess not everyone dislikes work, huh...-

After continuing further down the hall though, the halls slowly emptied until only the distant chatter from the entrance could be heard. -I must be getting close...-

And close I was. The moment I thought that, I sensed Miss Vilulf's aura. -What perfect timing.-

Quickly making my way to the door her aura was behind, I overheard some voices chatting inside and lightly knocked on the door. *knock-knock*

The voices stopped instantly, but even after several seconds, no one asked who was there. -Then I'll just let myself in...- *click*

But I felt an opposing force when I released the lock and started opening the door. -Are they seriously blocking the door?-

"Please state your name." An incredibly aggressive woman's voice came through the small crack in the door.

"Sorry, but no." Continuing to push open the door as if the woman on the other side wasn't there, I felt the force disappear and saw a blade peek through the crack. -She's a feisty one...-

*tap* Grabbing onto the blade just before it hit my stomach, the door drifted open to reveal a mature demihuman woman holding onto the hilt of the sword with white knuckles. -Her strength isn't too shabby...-

But she was simply frozen in place, unable to move at all before the door drifted open enough for me to meet eyes with Miss Vilulf.

Her eyes went wide instantly as she disappeared from behind her desk. *FWOOSH* Suddenly appearing next to the woman holding the sword, Leif threw her fist into her stomach. *WHAM-CRACK-CRUNCH*

The woman slammed through the stone wall like it was made of sand before continuing across the hall and through another wall.

The distant chatter that used to be easily audible suddenly ceased as I turned back to see Leif cowering at my feet. "Humble servant Leif Vilulf asks Lord Dagr for forgiveness!"

-That punch was really satisfying...- "I'm not upset; please raise your head." Quickly walking inside to avoid the eyes of those in the hallway, I closed the door and helped Leif stand up with my aura.

But once she finally stood back up, she immediately bowed again. "Thank you for your gracious generosity, my lord."

"Please think of it as my apology for the chaos I seem to have caused." Walking over to the couch, I finally sat down and let Ilios lay beside me while staying cloaked.

"My Lord, the noise outside is simply because of my subordinates' lack of prepar-"

"Miss Vilulf, you are too nervous. Please take a deep breath."

She gave me an odd look before finally complying. "Hoooh..." Using my aura to help calm her down, I eventually managed to get her to sit on the couch opposite me, but she still looked quite nervous.

-She's really trying her best to please me, but...- She moved and talked like she was walking through a minefield. "Haah... Alright..." -I guess I have to ease her into it...- "How have the past few days gone?"

But she only clammed up when I asked.

-Oh boy...-

The following discussion was honestly excruciating. Miss Vilulf was too nervous that I would be disappointed in how she handled things to speak confidently, which made the discussion more one-sided than I had hoped. -But she's slowly warming up to me...-

At the very least, the discussion was informative.

In short, the chaos in the hallway was from the sudden transfer of power between the remaining apostles.

Now that half of the leading apostles were dead, Vilulf was required to take ownership of their work until new ones were appointed, but among the current apostle candidates, none were qualified.

It was a challenging situation, to say the least, but according to Vilulf, her subordinates were handling things better than anticipated. -I can't believe they didn't split up the workload like this before... Just how much work did the apostles have to deal with?-

I felt bored just thinking about it, to the point that, after a while, I gave advice until I felt satisfied with how things would be done in the future.

"But I think that is all I can help you with, currently." Although far from an expert in political matters, their management was so disorganized that I was confident my advice would help. -The only reason they've grown so big is because they let cities be mostly sovereign...-

"T-th-thank you, my Lord! We will be sure to follow your guidance immediately!" Her excitement reminded me of when we first talked.

"You're welcome, Leif. Just don't change too many things too quickly." After seeing her discomfort with calling her Miss Vilulf, I started calling her by her first name.

"R-r-right!" She looked a bit embarrassed but still held her head high.

-At least she's getting better...- "Alright, well, it's about time I get going. I apologize for leaving so soon, but I'll stop by every now and then to check on how you are doing."

"Please do not apologize, my Lord!"

I let out a chuckle as I stood up. "Haha, alright. In any case, keep your eye out for someone named Amara Chalkos while I'm gone. Please assist her if you find her in trouble, but don't interfere too much if you don't need to."

"As you wish!"

"Haah..." -Alright, I think that's everything.- Finally making my way toward the door, I glanced back at Leif with a smile. "I look forward to seeing the results of your efforts."

Her eyes lit up as she threw herself into a bow immediately. "I will not disappoint you!"

I couldn't help but be happy seeing her determination. -Maybe having a subordinate won't be as bad as I expected...-