Chapter 189 - What Happened Overnight

‘I might… not notice as well.’

She stretched her hand out and placed an intricate barrier around the target’s house. It would be meaningless if Rhema truly came, but she still did it. The target lived in a two-story house, which was quite common in the downtown area of Modjnakle. Apparently, the target lived with their wife and children. Suddenly, the door opened and a little girl stuck her head out. The girl carefully looked around, trotted out, and picked up a watering can. Then, she watered a small sprout in the corner of the garden.

Not long after, the target hastily opened the door. He looked exhausted and frightened. It was natural since he almost went missing. He busily looked around as if he was looking for his daughter and breathed freely to find the girl sitting in front of the sprout. As if nothing had happened, he opened his arms widely for his daughter, tenderly calling her name. The girl put down the watering can, ran toward her father, and fell into his arms. The target picked up his daughter. The father and daughter disappeared into the house, closing the door behind them. Azriel exhaled deeply.

‘If Rhema tries to kill that person, I’ll…’

‘Should I stop him? Or should I not interrupt because it’s his duty? Is that person supposed to die? Why? Is Rhema’s duty righteous?’ There was no guarantee that duty was always a good thing. Even if it began with a good purpose, it might have lost its purpose throughout time.

‘A broken watchman…’

The words Benhiram left messed with her head. Azriel never thought that the night she discovered that her twin brother was alive would be like this. If the duty Rhema had been fulfilling for a thousand years was a mere slaughter of innocent wizards…

‘Then, what should I do? Will stopping him be for his sake? Has Rhema been doing it unknowingly? Or has he been killing innocent people knowingly? Benhiram might be wrong. Rhema’s duty must be a necessary and inevitable job…’

Azriel suspected him and made an excuse for him herself. She thought about her brother and Rhema, causing a wave of tiredness to overcome her. However, not even sleeping a bit, she watched the target’s house. That night was extremely long and disturbing. The night drew to a close, and a faint dawn came. The sky burned red, and slowly, morning arrived. The long and heavy night vanished as if banished by the rising sun. Nothing happened until then. Azriel sagged in Marthi’s wings. Her entire body felt heavy. As she had been agonizing all night, she felt as if her head would burst.

“It’s a normal morning with nothing special. Master, why don’t you go back and get some rest? You look very tired,” Marthi said.

“Okay, I’ll sleep a little after going back, and—”

She received a communication. It was Nak Naham. She had a bad hunch. Grasping Marthi’s wing like her lifeline, she received the communication. “Esthera, Naham.”

‘We are in trouble, Miss Esthera!’ Not even saying a greeting, Nak yelled in a voice that was close to a scream, ‘About one-third of the targets disappeared last night!’

“…Pardon?” Azriel yelled.

‘So far, we’ve identified 87 people! What? That side, too? Shoot. It’s 88 now!’ Nak gnashed his teeth and yelled at someone, ‘What? Check the location again! What about the targets in the northern district? Darn it. Does this make sense? And nobody noticed this throughout the night?’

Azriel clenched her hand until her joints turned pale. Because of that, Marthi’s wing was painfully pulled, but he did not show it. After yelling at different people, Nak spoke again. ‘Excuse me for my behavior while communicating, Miss Esthera. I’m a little beside myself now…’

“That, that’s fine…” she responded.

‘By the way, Miss Esthera. Did the relics not react, this time?’

“That’s right, nothing… There was no signal at all…”

‘Goodness. Did they find a countermeasure for the warning relics based on the failure last night? Is that possible? How many people did they mobilize? Those insane monsters…’ Nak cussed about the Talasin Empire several times. Azriel was frozen with her face pale.

‘What? Wait a minute, I’ll look into that when I get there! Excuse me, Miss Esthera. I’ll contact you again later.’

“Okay…” she answered.