If Tristessa learned anything from the deep disgust in Ivan's voice at the mention of the Mercer-Archeos family, it was that the mission she had set for herself to save them from an inescapable fate had just become incredibly difficult.

"Nightmare difficulty." An unknown voice said inside her head. Someone from her past hidden in shadows.

Now she finally knew the unforgivable sins of the Priestess of the Black Eye. Her role in one of the worst events to ever occur in Entrana had doomed the Mercer-Archeos family forever. And since the daughter's crimes had spilled over into the rest of the family... It was truly a miracle that Jin, Tiara, and Lucahn, even as a harmless baby, had been punished only with banishment.

"Ivan... What else can you tell me about the Mercer-Archeos?" she asked in a small voice.

"Huh? What a strange question. You're not from around here, aren't you?" The man scratched his chin, then let out a pained sigh that forced him to press his index finger and thumb against his eyes. "Shit, hangover's at it again… What was I saying? Ah, yes, that family… They were banished to the south, at the mercy of Aurelia Eramisaptor. She had to assume the position of Lady of the Dominion at the age of fifteen, after the Emperor forced the previous Lord to resign, you know?"

Between the annoyance caused by the lack of alcohol diluted in his blood and the topic they were discussing, Ivan allowed himself the luxury of glancing sideways at Tristessa with a certain morbid pleasure.

"They say that at the trial of the Mercer-Archeos, Lady Eramisaptor cursed them and warned them that if they dare return to Entrana, they will wish for a fate worse than Death."

Distracted by the movement of people from tent to tent, exchanging supplies or preparing for a continuation of the storm, Ivan didn't see Tristessa's face fall into utter pessimism.

In that city—not counting Severus—it was almost certain that no one would offer her help in fighting the Coven and saving the Mercer-Archeos family.

"What do I do now? Damn it, what do I do?!" Mentally, the girl was in turmoil. Her limitations were increasing, her time was dwindling, and she was getting closer to failure. "I need to find Severus, urgently. He's my only hope."

In that moment, Auron brought back a plate filled with what appeared to be water with several pieces of boiled vegetables floating on its surface.

"Hey, what about me?!" Ivan complained, but without saying a word, after handing the plate to Tristessa, the gunslinger pulled a glass bottle filled with an amber-colored liquid from inside his jacket, for him. "Spirits, yes! You're the best, Auron!"

"My way of saying thanks for keeping Tristessa company. Now please return to the tent with your wife, before I change my mind and charge you the five LSJ that drink cost me."

"Right away, boss! See you, Trissa!"

Ivan uncorked the bottle and began to drink, making his way straight ahead toward the almost endless row of tents, then starting to wander from left to right, easily losing his balance and forcing a group of five passersby to dodge him.

"Watch where you're going, you drunken old goat!" one of them shouted.

"Don't mess with Entrana's new tycoons!" another added.

The group of five young men, wearing metal armor in poor condition—corroded and stained with blood—, worn-out swords and knives sheathed and hanging from their belts, and each carrying bags over their shoulders, were heading straight for the great gate.

"He didn't cause any trouble, did he?" Auron asked the girl, watching out for any of the eccentric young men in case any of them dared to turn back and go towards Ivan, who had not only ignored them but had also begun to sing completely off-key.

"No, he sobered up just before he could." Tristessa took several sips from the bowl of soup. Feeling sorry for those forlorn people, she instantly realized it was mostly hot, dirty water to trick her stomach and warm her body a little. "What about your soup, Auron?"

"I already had some there, don't worry," he replied, shifting his gaze toward the main gate. For some reason, perhaps because of his refusal to meet her eyes, Tristessa had the feeling he had just lied to her. "As we were discussing earlier, the only real way you have of entering the city is through that gate. The question is how you'll do it…and why, if I may ask. It's suicidal, if you ask me."

Before answering, Tristessa finished half the contents of her bowl. The night was cold. Too cold… And not necessarily because of the winds stirred by the black clouds that covered the heights, to the point of hiding the Twin Moons from all view.

"The lives of people I care about are in danger. And to save them, I need help from someone who lives on the other side of that wall."

Hearing those words, Auron returned his full attention, sudden surprise evident in his light brown eyes.

"Well, I honestly didn't expect that answer… Who are those people, lady?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "Can I help?"

"W-well, your help would be more than welcome, but…" The nerves she felt at such a critical opportunity, her hands trembling and generating small ripples along the surface of the soup, distracted her from the growing chill in her body. A chill the gunslinger in front of her didn't feel. "It's the Mercer-Archeos family. If we don't do something, the Coven will kill them all in three days."

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At the mention of that set of surnames, all the unease evident in the gunslinger's countenance shifted into pure apathy.

"That family… Banished, for all the evil the eldest daughter caused."

Tristessa nodded, her gaze lowered into her soup. She knew at that moment that she wouldn't be able to count on Auron Casimir's help.

"…!"

Simultaneously, her Baptism in Ruins emitted a pulse of cold that this time she had no right to ignore: the bad feeling that [she] was lurking in the shadows of the night. Her hands dropped the plate, causing it to shatter over her booted feet and spilling the remaining soup all over them.

"I need to go, Auron… I need to get into the city!" she begged, her desperation clearly visible.

But the gunslinger didn't respond, and Tristessa couldn't tell what was going on inside his head. Those narrowed eyes, that cold, hard gaze… Signs that didn't bode well.

"…"

"What do you mean, my permit is fake?!" The shout from one of the five young men caused both Auron and Tristessa to shift their attention to where the knightess, Astoria Silverthorn, was guarding the gated entrance to the city. "Bollocks!"

"No official seal from the city council, no signature from the committee. Not even Lady Eramisaptor's signature to justify all these irregularities," Knightess Silverthorn hissed, her disdain and indignation growing with each passing moment, her voice louder and powerful. "If you're going to bring forgeries, at least make them more believable!"

She crumpled the documents into a ball and dropped them on the ground, inciting the gang member's anger.

"Fucking bitch...!"

"Wait, calm down, Ludvig." Said the leader of the group, the only man not wearing a helmet and leaving his messy, dirty black hair at the mercy of the night wind. "Beautiful lady, you're misunderstanding our situation. Let us show you, shall we, boys?"

With a charismatic smile brimming with confidence, the leader of the gang waved his hand, and everyone dropped their bags on the ground. Upon opening them, they took out valuables, such as gem-encrusted gold statuettes or ornate weapons from bygone eras.

The presence of such riches attracted the attention of the curious and hapless dwellers of the outside of the wall, and soon a crowd gathered at a safe distance from where the gang was confronting Astoria Silverthorn.

"You see, we've discovered a lost tomb filled with riches. All this we have here is just a small part of what we found." The leader showed knightess Silverthorn a necklace of precious stones. "We need an audience with the Lady of the city to inform her of our discovery and negotiate a deal… You know how this works."

Among the valuables they were displaying, Tristessa saw something that made her stomach twist painfully, as if she'd been stabbed multiple times: they had in their power a long, black, metallic smoking pipe, trimmed with lines of gold.

"No… no, no, it can't be…"

Tristessa brought her hands to her mouth, momentarily forgetting the danger everyone there was in, with the Dullahan approaching. In her mind, there was only room for that lone caravan, led by Madame Luchie and her mercenaries from the Fireclaw Company.

All dead, the same fate all those innocent people in the camp were going to suffer if she stayed there.

"What is it?" Auron asked her, but Tristessa was too shocked to answer, and unsure what to do.

Tell the truth? Hide it? Would anyone believe her? Would she get in trouble?

Would she be questioned for not immediately reporting the massacre at the Derelict Outpost?

So many paths to choose from, all with unpredictable outcomes, except for one: entering the city to seek refuge from the Dullahan, find the crimson elf, and plot the salvation of the Mercer-Archeos family.

"You see, miss? A fortune… And we're willing to share the profits with all those in need, both in the slums and with all of you!" exclaimed the leader of the group, turning to address the crowd and earning a near-unanimous round of applause that matched the sound of the chains of thunders in the black sky.

"He's lying," Auron whispered under his breath. "Everything he said is bullshit."

"H-how do you know?"

"Because I know that worm: he's a poisonous viper; someone capable of killing his own mother for a single soul-jewel."

With that new bit of information, Tristessa looked uneasily at the blonde woman who had helped her so selflessly. It was up to her not to fall into that man's trap... to not fall for the temptation of easy money.

"What say you? Will you lend a hand to us and fill the city and all its poor inhabitants with riches?" the dark-haired man asked, offering her the precious necklace. Astoria Silverthorn, wordlessly, took the necklace and stared at it without blinking. "That's it..."

"No...!" Tristessa sighed, but when she saw those beautiful red eyes combining fire and ice to intimidate that man, she was enchanted by the same effect and forgot what it was like to breathe.

"Extortion and tomb raiding... Crimes that come at a high price, Katriel Strauss. But you didn't get all this from a forgotten tomb, did you?" Astoria clenched her hand and tore the necklace to shreds, demonstrating her devastating power. "Even if you've cleaned those treasures, the stench of blood lingers… And those treasures are so full of it that it's almost unbearable."

The rejection left the gang leader speechless. Behind him and his companions, the crowd of homeless people expressed their displeasure with the knightess' decision:

"Do something for us, you drunken wretch!"

"Yes, we're starving! Why aren't you helping us?! Wicked bitch!"

"You're worse than the Shadow Queen, Blackguard!"

All those shouts and insults were directed at Astoria Silverthorn. Hurtful and terrible words, which, had she received them, Tristessa would have collapsed, her self-esteem shattered, and feeling completely alone against the world… But that knightess, iron-hearted and evidently accustomed to slander and abuse, didn't hesitate for a second to draw her greatsword—a sword with a hilt as long as a child's arm and a steel blade almost the length of an average adult.

"You are all under arrest. Surrender, or in the name of Lady Aurelia Eramisaptor, you will suffer the consequences of resisting my authority," she said, gripping the handle of her weapon with both hands and adopting a defensive stance, the blade held straight and level, the tip resting against the floor. "It's your last and only warning."

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