"I have answered your summons," Isabella stood before Leonardo and the Cardinals.
"Isabella von Ludwig. We only have one thing to ask of you," Leonardo began, voice firm and authoritative. "Tell us where Hugo has harbored Ace Blakelord. This is an order. Do not leave out any important information we might need."
"…Yes," Isabella voice and heart were as steady and tranquil as a serene lake as her expression showed no hesitation or disarray, just pure calmness.
After explaining to the King and the Cardinals what occurred three years ago, and discussing their next course of actions, Leonardo spoke up.
"Dorian, I want you to send out two Sentinel Squads for the following mission. One group shall go find and bring back the two children Hugo has hidden within the Soalia district while the other, in cooperation with Claude's Management Office, shall investigate the individual named Vadus Light."
Dorian and Greg immediately accepted the order and went out of the meeting room. Afterwards…
"Greg, Roselia, in case of the worst scenario, I want you two to prepare and mobilize as much personnel and equipment as possible. We know not what that man has prepared nor how far his plans have advanced. Be as thorough as you can."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" they also moved out, leaving only Leonardo and Isabella alone together.
"You, I understand that Hugo has designated you as the next dean of the academy, is that correct?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I see. My apologies then. It would seem that Hugo has left you with quite a burden to bear."
Isabella remained silent, the words completely stuck in her throat. Noticing this, Leonardo sighed slightly and excused her.
"You may go now. You should get some time to rest before investing yourself in your next duties."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Just as she turned back and was about to leave, she stopped, attracting Leonardo's attention.
"Are you in need of something else?"
She hesitated before finally getting the words out.
"Your Majesty… About those children,"
"Do not worry. Unfortunately, Hugo has also put me in quite the predicament with his machinations."
Isabella's lips parted slightly as she simply offered a bow and exited the room, leaving a sighing Leonardo with his own thoughts as memories of a certain e-mail with the sender as Hugo flashing within his mind.
'I truly wonder how much you had foreseen to leave me with such burdensome duties to accomplish in your place, Hugo. This is quite the mess you have left us to deal with.'
He rested his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his interlocked fingers.
'Akasha, Interference Power and the true nature of the Vanishing Points. And yet for all these revelations Hugo, one mystery remains. Who were you truly?'
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Against a certain 7D apartment door, continuous knocking slams and insistent clicks on the bell ring button were being followed a loud voice.
"Windsor! Hey, Windsor! Open up!"
"QUIET DOWN!!!" the door opened suddenly, slamming into Isidor's face and sending him stumbling back as he held his nose in pain.
"Seriously man, what's your damn problem being so loud?!" Victoria was visibly quite irritated by the noise Isidor had caused, but when the latter's words followed her eyes went wide with dumbstruck shock.
"Never mind that! They found them! A search operation was announced to capture Ace Blakelord!"
Victoria's mind raced with possibilities as the implications of finding Ace indirectly meant finding Emilia.
"…I gotta go," she muttered, her voice barely a whisper as she slammed the door closed.
"Huh? Hey, Windso—!" Isidor's voice was cut short as the door reopened a few minutes later, revealing a Victoria who had changed her clothes in record speed.
"Windsor?" Isidor's voice came out hesitatingly as Victoria closed the door behind her with her key and then immediately ran off.
"Hey, wait up!" Isidor's words fell on deaf ears as Victoria was already out of sight.
"Haa… Seriously? Not even a thank you?" he ran his fingers through his hair as a thought bubbled up in his mind.
'Us Howards do have a knack for acquiring info through underground means, but if the old man ever finds out what I've been doing, he'll probably end up chewing me out.'
But even then, his mind couldn't help but inquire on another question.
'Ace Blakelord, huh?' he pondered as he held his chin. 'Strangely enough, there's not much info on him beyond three years ago. And that means, my old man had a hand in it.'
A chill ran down his spine as he concluded that it'd be suicide to read further into it.
'Anyway, I helped out Windsor as promised, so I'll lay low for a while,' he pulled out his smartphone and sent a message to Victoria before putting it back in his pockets.
'At least listen to the info I brought back before running off like that. Sheesh…'
He stepped out of the apartment complex and went about his day as usual, leaving Victoria to choose her next course of action.
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"Is it here?" a dark-skinned Sentinel Squad Captain with brown hair and hardened, sharp, green eyes asked to one of his subordinates who replied with an immediate "Yes."
"All right then. We move out."
As the order came down, chaos erupted within the luxurious apartment building as the Sentinels branched out into different groups with one ordering all civilians present to surrender, another sealing the elevators and other exits, while the last one moved with hastened speed upwards the staircases until they reached the tenth floor.
They all immediately readied themselves for combat as they then broke down the 10H door and stormed right into the penthouse apartment in which Vadus lived.
"Move out and find the target!" the Captain ordered as the Sentinels immediately reported to him with horror in his voice.
"Sir!"
"What is it?!" the Captain moved towards what each of the Sentinels were staring at, and what they found was truly a horrible sight.
"Wha…?" the Captain's voice trailed off as his eyes widened in dumbfounded horror. "What the hell happened here?"
It was Vadus. On the floor, drowning in a pool of blood as several spears pierced his body, ranging from one of his eye socket, limbs, joints, torso and abdomen.
"Isn't this the target?"
"But…"
"What do we do now?"
Confusion settled into the Sentinels as their orders to capture the man known as Vadus Light were brought to an inconclusive success.
"Captain?"
"Report to Head Chief Argos… and don't let a single civilian out of this building until we've uncovered what went on here! DID I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"
"YESSIR!"
As the Sentinels executed their orders, the Captain couldn't help but dive into his own thoughts as he crouched beside the corpse and observed it attentively.
'What could've happened for such a thing to occur? It's barely been two to three days at most since this case was opened, but considering the pool of blood present and the state of the body, it is almost certain that a similar time passed since the target's death.'
"Tch!" though the lower half of his face was hidden, the frustration on his face was very evident from his gaze. 'Was this simply a waste of time?'