West Tivian, Coal Ash District.
At the edge of the Coal Ash District, near the western outskirts of Tivian, in a secluded grove, stands a large mansion. The mansion has five floors, its own courtyard, and a fountain. Although located in the Coal Ash District, it is far from the bustling traffic, so the building and courtyard are relatively free of dust.
The mansion stands quietly in this remote corner of the city, its doors and windows tightly shut, its iron gates locked. At first glance, it looks like an abandoned house. Only occasionally do passersby glance through the iron gates.
Inside the mansion, in a dimly lit, ornately decorated room, an elderly man named Alex sits on a sofa, frowning as he strokes a cloth-wrapped scepter.
"Hmm... still no movement. What are those black dogs interrogating? Who did they catch? Weren’t they supposed to be after Adèle?"
Using the surveillance he had set up at the storage yard, Alex monitors the movements of the Hunters. After the sandstorm at Charcoal Junction, he temporarily lost sight of Adèle and her group. Once the sandstorm settled, the corpse marionette he had stationed at the junction could no longer find traces of Edmond and Adèle. With only one bird-shaped marionette at his disposal, Alex lacks the control that Dorothy has with her multiple bird marionettes.
After the sandstorm subsided, Alex continued to monitor the area around Charcoal Junction, focusing on Edmond’s subordinates and their carriages. He had his bird marionette follow one of the carriages to the storage yard, hoping to confirm Edmond’s success. However, to his surprise, while Edmond had indeed captured someone, it wasn’t Adèle but a young man Alex didn’t recognize. This left him deeply puzzled.
“Who is that man? Another one of Adèle’s lackeys? But he’s different from the ones she had with her at the junction. What makes him so special that the black dog captain would abandon Adèle to capture him?”
Alex ponders anxiously. What he wants most now is to confirm Adèle’s current status. However, with his limited number of marionettes and only one bird-shaped marionette active, finding Adèle in the vast city is extremely difficult. Thus, he can only focus on monitoring the more conspicuous Edmond and his group.
“Hmph... this thing isn’t very useful either. If it weren’t for that bitch Adèle’s habit of changing and masking her scent, who would use something like this to track someone?” Alex grumbles internally as he pulls out a badge from his pocket. The badge bears the image of small figures holding hands, clearly another marionette item. In the mysticism world, such mystical items are not unique.
Despite his dissatisfaction with the efficiency of his marionette item, Alex doesn’t discard it. Instead, he continues to use it to monitor the distant scene, keeping an eye on the Hunters’ carriages near the storage yard. His bird marionette perches on a streetlight about two hundred meters from the carriages. Worried about being detected by the Hunters, he doesn’t let the bird get too close, so he can’t hear the interrogation inside the carriage.
At this moment, he finally sees the Hunter captain, Edmond, step out of the carriage, his expression grim.
“He’s out? Did the black dog captain get something out of the interrogation?”
Seeing this through his marionette’s vision, Alex wonders. Just as he prepares to continue his surveillance, he hears a whistling sound from the sky.
Hearing this, Alex turns his marionette’s gaze upward and sees a majestic eagle swooping down from the sky, directly targeting his bird marionette. Alex tries to maneuver the marionette to evade, but it’s too late. The eagle’s talons grab the bird, and his vision through the marionette shakes before being engulfed in a bloody haze, then darkness.
Just like that, Alex loses his view of the storage yard. The last image transmitted by his bird marionette shows it being preyed upon by an eagle.
"An eagle? How is there an eagle in the Coal Ash District?!"
Alex slams his hand on the table, exclaiming in frustration. The scene was so bizarre that it leaves him suspicious.
“Hmm... was I discovered by those black dogs? Is that eagle trained or controlled by them? Or did I just get unlucky and have my marionette targeted by a random eagle?”
Alex ponders. To avoid drawing too much attention, he had chosen a small, common city bird for his marionette. While using a raptor for reconnaissance would allow for higher and faster flight, it would also be more conspicuous. With his limited number of marionettes, Alex avoids using such attention-grabbing creatures.
The sudden loss of his surveillance marionette makes Alex increasingly uneasy. However, he still believes this might be the Hunters discovering his marionette and doesn’t think his own safety is at risk. Thus, he plans to continue his search in the Coal Ash District using other bird marionettes.
…
Meanwhile, outside Alex’s mansion, about five or six hundred meters away, on the roof of a tall building, stands Ed, the detective in a trench coat, holding a telescope and gazing at the distant mansion. Beside him is Adèle.
"How does it look over there?"
Adèle asks Ed, who lowers the telescope and replies, staring at the mansion.
"Just as you said, the mansion is eerily quiet. The doors and windows are all shut, and there are very few pedestrians passing by. The courtyard inside the walls is completely empty. At first glance, it looks abandoned."
Putting away the telescope, Dorothy, controlling Ed, turns to Adèle and asks.
"It seems completely unguarded, so I don’t understand why you stopped me from sending small flesh puppets in to scout."
"Hmph... it only looks unguarded. There’s plenty inside. I don’t know how your small flesh puppets can block spiritual perception, but against that guy, just blocking spiritual perception isn’t enough."
Crossing her arms, Adèle explains to Ed. Her words pique Dorothy’s interest, and she has Ed ask.
"Oh? Blocking spiritual perception isn’t enough? Why?"
"Because he’s Alex Crandall, a White-rank officer of the Wolf Blood Society, a Werewolf from the Beast Path. You’ve experienced the enhanced sense of smell from the Scent Tracking Sigil, right? For werewolves, that effect is permanent and even stronger. Any unfamiliar scent near a werewolf can be easily detected. For scents they’ve memorized, they can track them from several kilometers away. At closer range, a werewolf’s sense of smell can even detect scents masked by Stone Powder."
Adèle explains to Ed. Having dealt with the Wolf Blood Society for years, she naturally knows the names of some of their key figures in Tivian. Hearing this, Dorothy frowns slightly and has Ed respond.
"So you’re saying if my small flesh puppets enter his mansion, he’ll smell them?"
"Exactly. Didn’t you notice? The courtyard inside the walls is completely empty. If any unfamiliar scent enters, he’ll immediately detect it and become alert. You can block spiritual perception, but you can’t block scent, can you?"
Adèle says, and Dorothy realizes she’s right. Her Concealment Ring provides protection against mystical detection and blocks spiritual perception, but it can’t mask scent. While she could coat her marionettes in Stone Powder before sending them in, the powder would inevitably fall off as the marionettes move, greatly reducing its effectiveness. For living beings, Stone Powder is far less effective than for objects.
"Such a powerful sense of smell... is this what a White-rank Werewolf is like?"
Ed remarks, impressed by Adèle’s explanation. Adèle nods in response.
"Yes, those guys all have noses like dogs. To avoid having my scent memorized by them by chance, I spray different custom perfumes every day to change my scent. It’s quite troublesome…”
"If a werewolf deeply memorizes a scent, they can distinguish and locate it within a range of over ten kilometers by carefully sniffing. Fortunately, the process of deeply memorizing a scent requires close proximity."
Adèle explains, and after hearing this, Ed frowns slightly.
"But if what you’re saying is true, any unfamiliar scent entering that mansion will be detected. Doesn’t that mean we can’t infiltrate it?"
"If we can’t go in, then we won’t. Didn’t you say you’ve already notified those black dogs? They know they’re dealing with Alex, right?"
Adèle waves a finger and smiles. Hearing this, Dorothy has Ed nod in response.
"Yes, I just helped the Hunters remove the puppet monitoring them. They’re on their way to this mansion now. I used the ’prisoner’ from earlier to leak Alex’s name to them."
Ed responds. Since Edmond is on his way, Dorothy can’t leave Alex’s surveillance marionette in place. She had already prepared an eagle marionette to take out Alex’s bird marionette. In Tivian, a bustling and resource-rich capital city, finding raptor corpses isn’t too difficult.
Back in Igwynt, Dorothy had the idea of acquiring raptor marionettes after realizing ordinary bird marionettes couldn’t carry bombs. In Tivian, she took the time to make this happen.
"If you’ve already leaked the information, then it’s settled. Those black dogs know about Alex. They have a way to approach him. We’ll just wait here."
Adèle says. Though Dorothy is still puzzled, she decides to follow Adèle’s advice and wait quietly for the Hunters to arrive.
Soon, Dorothy, using her high-altitude perspective, sees a large black carriage approaching the mansion along the road. It stops some distance away, and Edmond and his subordinates step out. After observing the mansion from afar, they don’t immediately act but seem to be waiting for something.
From Dorothy’s aerial view, another carriage approaches and stops next to Edmond’s. A group of other Hunters steps out, led by a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman with a small mustache. He gets out and begins conversing with Edmond, their statuses seemingly equal.
"The Hunters are here, and they’ve called for reinforcements. Looks like another White-rank captain."
Standing on the rooftop, Ed informs Adèle, who raises an eyebrow and says.
"Another White-rank captain? Heh... as expected. After hearing it’s Alex, they decided to call for reinforcements from headquarters? When it comes to caution, the black dogs usually do a decent job."
Adèle says with a hint of amusement. Knowing their opponent is a White-rank fighter, Edmond chose not to face him one-on-one but instead called for reinforcements from headquarters, bringing in another White-rank fighter to ensure absolute superiority. This is the more prudent choice for a side with the advantage of information.
From Dorothy’s aerial perspective, she sees the new captain briefly converse with Edmond before both turn their attention to the distant mansion. After giving some orders to their subordinates to spread out and stand guard, the two captains begin their approach to the mansion.
As they near the mansion, Edmond and the mustachioed captain activate two sigils, causing their figures to become slightly blurred and indistinct. They then proceed to infiltrate the mansion, moving with remarkable agility and stealth. Soon, they are inside the mansion without triggering any alarms.
"The two Hunter captains are inside. Aren’t they afraid of being detected by Alex? Don’t werewolves have a keen sense of smell?"
"It’ll be hard for Alex to detect them. Most black dogs are Shadow-path, so ordinary mystical detection methods won’t work on them. As Wind Summoners, these Hunter captains can subtly manipulate the air around them, keeping their scents contained and preventing them from spreading. Without wind carrying the scent to his nose, even a werewolf’s keen sense of smell is useless."
Adèle explains. Hearing this, Dorothy immediately understands how the two Hunter captains managed to infiltrate the mansion.
In essence, scents need to disperse into the air to be carried by it. As Wind Summoners, the two captains can control wind and airflow, making it easy for them to conceal their scents. As long as the Wind Summoners wish it, the werewolf won’t be able to smell them.
"I see. It’s a matter of pathway advantage."
Ed nods in understanding, and Adèle continues.
"Exactly. The Wolf Blood Society and the black dogs have clashed many times in Tivian. These wolf pups have often been outmatched by the black dogs, and this is one of the reasons."
Hearing Adèle’s words, Dorothy, observing from her distant carriage, nods. Adèle, as a seasoned White-rank Beyonder who has operated in Tivian for years, provides valuable information.
Ed and Adèle continue to watch the distant mansion. After a moment, Ed seems to remember something and murmurs.
"This time, Alex is being infiltrated by two White-rank fighters, and he doesn’t seem to know yet. It looks like he’s in serious trouble. If the Hunters take him out quickly and secure the mansion, it won’t be good for us. We need to find your teacher in that mansion."
"Hmm... true. The black dogs having the upper hand isn’t good for us either. We can’t let my teacher fall into their hands..."
Adèle agrees with Ed, who waves his hand and responds.
"So, what we need now is some chaos. With chaos, we can fish in troubled waters."
Dorothy has Ed say this. Now that the two White-rank captains have infiltrated the mansion and Alex seems unaware, Dorothy’s plan to create chaos is simple: disrupt Edmond and his colleague’s operation, alert Alex to the intrusion, and turn their stealth mission into a direct confrontation.
Dorothy needs chaos—a situation where she can take advantage of the confusion—not a scenario completely controlled by the Hunters. Thus, she directs her high-altitude flying marionette, which had been keeping its distance from the mansion, to carry the small marionettes she had prepared and fly into Alex’ mansion. The unfamiliar scents carried by these small marionettes will be enough to alert Alex to the intrusion.
After completing this, Dorothy waits patiently. Sure enough, shortly after her marionettes enter the mansion, a howl erupts from within.
"Die, black dogs!!"
Boom!!!
With a deafening explosion, the windows on the fourth floor of the mansion shatter almost simultaneously. Violent gusts of wind burst forth, howling through the broken windows. A series of loud crashes and bangs echo from inside the mansion, and various objects are blown out of the windows by the fierce winds.
As expected, with Dorothy’s intervention, Alex has discovered the Hunters infiltrating his mansion. Now, the three White-rank fighters are engaged in a direct confrontation inside the mansion.