The following morning, Aren Vale disappeared.
At least, that was what Greyhaven believed.
Elias had left the city through the eastern gate wearing the same plain merchant clothing he had used the previous night.
But instead of returning to the Sanctum, he traveled toward the western district.
House Valcrest operated from a massive stone building surrounded by warehouses.
From outside, it looked like a legitimate merchant headquarters.
Inside, it was something else.
Elias stood across the street.
He watched.
One guard.
Two.
Four hidden on the upper balcony.
A magical security seal around the main entrance.
Another beneath the ground.
Interesting.
Elias adjusted his coat.
"Let's see what you're hiding."
He walked inside.
Nobody stopped him.
He showed the guards a forged merchant permit.
"Delivery."
The guard barely glanced at it.
"Warehouse three."
Elias nodded.
He walked deeper into the building.
The moment he entered the warehouse district, his expression changed.
The merchant disappeared.
The strategist emerged.
He counted footsteps.
Measured distances.
Tracked patrol patterns.
Then he noticed something unusual.
A crate marked as medicine contained weapons.
Another contained documents.
And a third had royal insignia burned into its side.
Elias opened it.
Inside were sealed reports.
Royal reports.
His eyes narrowed.
Valcrest wasn't simply competing with him.
They were connected to the crown.
He took one document.
Then another.
A sound came from behind him.
"Looking for something?"
Elias turned.
Five men stood in the doorway.
Their clothing was dark.
Their weapons were drawn.
The tallest stepped forward.
"You should have stayed a merchant."
Elias sighed.
"I was enjoying that identity."
The man attacked.
Elias didn't move.
The weapon stopped inches from his face.
A thin black force wrapped around the blade.
The attacker stared.
"What—?"
Elias slowly turned his head.
"You brought weapons into a conversation."
The blade shattered.
The man stumbled backward.
Elias stepped forward.
The room exploded into motion.
One attacker charged from the left.
Elias ducked.
A second swung from behind.
Elias shifted sideways.
The attack missed.
He grabbed the man's arm and redirected his momentum into another attacker.
Two collapsed together.
The remaining two surrounded him.
Elias looked at them.
"You're making this unnecessarily difficult."
They attacked simultaneously.
Elias raised one hand.
Darkness spread across the floor.
For a second, the entire warehouse seemed to lose its light.
The attackers froze.
Elias appeared behind one.
A strike.
Then another.
The final attacker stumbled backward.
"You... what are you?"
Elias stepped closer.
"Someone who dislikes wasted time."
The man tried to escape.
Elias caught him before he reached the door.
He lifted the man by his collar.
"Who gave Valcrest information about my medicine?"
Silence.
Elias waited.
The man's confidence disappeared.
"A royal official..."
"Name."
"Lord... Meredin."
Elias released him.
The man fell.
Elias turned toward the documents.
Lord Meredin.
A royal trade official.
Interesting.
The medicine wasn't the real target.
The royal family was testing the organization behind it.
Elias smiled.
"Then let them investigate."
He gathered the documents.
But before leaving, he noticed something written on one of the papers.
A symbol.
A circle surrounding three vertical lines.
Elias stopped.
The black book inside his coat suddenly became warm.
He touched it.
A whisper came from within.
"...closer..."
Elias's expression became serious.
That symbol wasn't royal.
It was older.
Much older.
He closed the book.
"Not now."
Outside, the warehouse suddenly erupted with noise.
Royal soldiers had arrived.
Elias looked toward the window.
Dozens of soldiers surrounded the building.
Lucian's information network had warned him that this would happen.
They had expected to trap Aren Vale.
Instead, they had walked into an empty warehouse.
Elias stepped toward the back wall.
Then stopped.
A soldier kicked open the door.
"Search everything!"
The room was empty.
No merchant.
No intruders.
No documents.
Nothing.
High above the city, Elias walked along a rooftop.
The stolen documents were safely hidden inside his coat.
He looked toward the royal district.
"Lord Meredin..."
A faint smile appeared.
"You've just introduced yourself to me."
Then Elias vanished into the darkness.