Varik opened his mouth to explain again, but he didn’t get the chance.

  Because Viola’s voice exploded through the manor like thunder.

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE RODERICKS VANISHED!?”

  Her heel struck the floor with earth-attuned mana so dense it cracked the marble beneath her. The ground sank nearly a finger’s width, dust rising as everyone instinctively straightened like soldiers caught slacking.

  Even Gaius blinked. Varik flinched, actually flinched, before forcing himself to look at her again. “Exactly what it sounds like, Lady Viola. The Roderick estate is empty. They vanished during the night.”

  A pulse of silence spread through the room. Kaela’s eyebrows shot up. Maurien’s eyes narrowed. Ludger’s fingers clenched until his knuckles popped.

  Finally, Ludger’s voice cut through the tension, low, sharp, dangerous.

  “You had enough soldiers to monitor the Torvares manor,” he said. “But none to watch the Roderick estate?”

  Varik didn’t look offended, he looked ashamed.

  “I did station men there,” he said. “But… they reported no disturbances. Nothing out of place. Nothing unusual.”

  Ludger stepped forward, glare tightening. “And then the mist came. And suddenly they didn’t see anything. Didn’t hear anything. Didn’t sense anything.”

  Varik hesitated.

  Gaius snorted quietly. “Convenient.”

  Viola crossed her arms, earth mana still crackling faintly around her foot. “Varik. You’re telling us an entire noble house disappeared overnight, and every guard you stationed there noticed nothing?”

  Varik swallowed. “The fog was too dense. Their vision and senses were impaired. It covered everything.”

  Ludger didn’t buy it.

  He leaned in, voice dropping to ice. “Then there are two possibilities.”

  Varik met his gaze. “I know.”

  Ludger raised a finger.

  “One, your soldiers were completely neutralized without realizing it.”

  He raised a second.

  “Two, your soldiers were bought.”

  The air in the room thickened. No one breathed.

  Varik stiffened, jaw tightening. “I… will be investigating that.”

  Kaela clicked her tongue. “A polite way of saying you don’t know which one it is.”

  Maurien murmured, “Or that it’s worse.”

  Gaius folded his arms. “Either way, someone moved an entire household under your noses during a hostile investigation. Someone with resources, with preparation, and with enough pull to cover their tracks.”

  Varik didn’t deny it. He took a slow breath and looked at every mage in the room.

  “…And that’s why I came here first.”

  Ludger’s eyes narrowed.

  Because if the Roderick house vanished that night. It meant they knew something. They feared something. Or they were preparing something far worse. And none of those options were good.

  Viola stood in the center of the cracked marble floor, chest rising and falling as she forced a slow breath in… then another out. She’d changed over the years—honed her temper, disciplined her tone, learned the kind of patience expected of someone who would one day lead a territory.

  But deep down, she was still Viola Torvares.

  And the disappearance of an entire noble house under her nose was pushing every button she had.

  When she spoke again, her voice was steadier—controlled, but sharp enough to cut.

  “…What’s the plan now?”

  Varik straightened as if bracing for impact. “I’ve already mobilized the Silver Talon to search the entire city. We’re looking for any trace, arcane residue, transportation signs, forged documents, anything. I’ve also sent messengers across the Empire to alert all major cities and borders.”

  He paused.

  “And the Roderick house has been formally declared fugitives.”

  Kaela blinked. “That fast?”

  Varik nodded. “The evidence for justified suspicion is overwhelming. Their absence confirms guilt. The Imperial Guard will likely join the search within the hour.”

  Maurien rubbed his chin. “A manhunt on a national scale.”

  Gaius exhaled, impressed. “At least that much, huh.”

  But Ludger narrowed his eyes. “And us?”

  Varik hesitated, not long, but long enough for the room to feel it.

  “I… wanted to suggest the Lionsguard join the search.” He met Ludger’s gaze directly. “But considering the circumstances, it may be wiser for you to remain here for now.”

  Ludger’s eyebrow twitched dangerously. “Why?”

  Varik chose his words carefully. “Because if you pursue the Rodericks now, after your conflict with Verk, after your fight in Coria, after your recruits were detained, your involvement might be interpreted as retribution or vigilantism.”

  Kaela scoffed. “So we sit on our hands?”

  Varik didn’t flinch. “This isn’t about capability. The entire capital is mobilizing. Soon, the entire Empire will be. Thousands of soldiers, mages, trackers, adventurers, and knights.”

  He turned toward Viola and Gaius as well.

  “With your numbers alone, you’d be swallowed by the larger operation. And your movement during such a sensitive moment might cause political ripples none of us want.”

  Viola crossed her arms but didn’t argue. She understood better than most how perception could twist the truth.

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  Maurien frowned. “So they want the Lionsguard still.”

  Varik nodded. “Just until we confirm more details. Just until the Guard takes over fully.”

  Ludger exhaled slowly, anger visible in the tension of his jaw.

  Again… He hated waiting. He hated being told to stay still. He hated being involved in problems he couldn’t punch in the face.

  Viola glanced at him, voice softer. “It’s not forever. Just long enough to avoid giving anyone an excuse.”

  Varik sighed. “I know it feels like you’re being benched. But the political climate is… fragile.”

  Ludger didn’t answer. Not yet. Because waiting meant trusting others to do their jobs. And after everything he’d seen in the last week… that was the hardest part of all.

  Varik didn’t linger.

  The moment he finished explaining the situation, he offered a stiff bow and left the manor at a near-jog, cloak snapping behind him as he rushed back toward the chaos consuming the capital. The door shut, the echoes faded, and the room fell into a heavy, loaded silence.

  Kaela broke it first.

  “Well,” she said, planting her hands on her hips. “Obvious question time, how much can we actually trust the Silver Talon Order? They work for the Senate… and the Rodericks are the ones pulling the Senate’s strings.”

  Maurien gave a thoughtful grunt. Gaius didn’t move. Ludger’s expression darkened, which was saying something considering how dark it already was. All eyes turned to Viola. She exhaled, long and tired, as if she’d been preparing herself for this question.

  “The Silver Talon Order is, officially, a guild that serves the Senate in matters involving imperial security and enforcement,” she said. “They act when the Senate requires something handled efficiently or quietly. They’re competent. Respected. And feared.”

  “Which is exactly why I don’t like them,” Kaela muttered.

  Viola continued, pacing slowly.

  “Varik was chosen as their leader because of his reliability and skill. Combat, strategy, diplomacy, investigation, he excels in all of them. He earned the position. He wasn’t placed there as a puppet.”

  Gaius nodded slightly. “That matches what I saw in the south.”

  “But…” Viola’s tone shifted.

  Everyone leaned in.

  “It’s hard to say if the Rodericks have tried to buy him. Influence him. Pressure him. They’ve had years to attempt it.”

  Kaela frowned. “You’re not saying he’s corrupt.”

  “No,” Viola said immediately. “Varik himself? Probably not. He’s straightforward. Too proud for bribery. And too stubborn to be owned.”

  Ludger listened silently, arms crossed. Viola continued, voice flattening into something more serious.

  “But the same can’t be said for everyone in the Silver Talon Order.”

  A cold ripple moved through the room.

  Maurien’s gaze sharpened. “Meaning some of them could’ve been compromised.”

  Viola nodded. “Yes. Maybe not directly… but influence spreads easily. Favors owed. Debts. Family connections. The Rodericks have been weaving threads through the Senate for decades.”

  Kaela tapped her fingers on the wall. “Which explains how their entire estate vanished under a fog blanket while the Silver Talon was supposedly watching.”

  Ludger finally spoke, low and grim.

  “And why Varik came running here the second he learned the truth.”

  Gaius leaned back, arms folded. “Because he knows something is rotten. And he wants allies who aren’t tied to the Senate.”

  The room fell quiet again. Dangerously quiet. Ludger stared toward the window where the last traces of the unnatural mist had finally cleared. The Rodericks had moved. The Silver Talon was compromised. The Empire was mobilizing. And the Lionsguard?They were stuck waiting, but not helpless. Not anymore.

  Ludger walked slowly to the sofa and dropped into it like someone had just placed a mountain across his shoulders. The cushions sank under his weight, and for the first time since the fight in Coria, he looked… tired. Not physically. Not magically.

  Just tired of people.

  To the recruits, he looked almost defeated—like the wind had finally been knocked out of him. The veterans exchanged glances, recognizing the posture of someone who wanted to punch a problem but couldn’t reach it.

  Viola stepped closer, concern etched across her features.

  “Don’t look like that,” she said gently. “This isn’t all bad. At least the Lionsguard’s innocence will be proven. Your… late-night activities aside.”

  Kaela snorted. “He means vigilantism.”

  Maurien coughed into his hand. “Effective vigilantism.”

  Ludger didn’t respond at first. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, staring at the floor with cold, simmering focus.

  Then he spoke—quietly, but in a tone that cut through the entire living room.

  “This isn’t over.”

  The recruits stiffened instantly.

  Rhea’s grip tightened on her training gloves. Mira’s eyes sharpened. Taron, Derrin, and Callen straightened like they were preparing to stand at attention. Ludger continued.

  “Powerful enemies don’t just disappear. They don’t give up. They don’t stay cornered. Not until someone kills them.”

  His voice was flat. Honest. Dead serious.

  “Two of them escaped,” he went on. “Two who had the money, the connections, the resources to move an entire noble house in one night. They lost their base and some influence, sure.”

  He looked up, eyes dark and steady.

  “But they’re alive. And they know exactly who ruined their plans.”

  A ripple of unease spread through the recruits.

  “They know where Lionfang is,” Ludger said. “They know who our families are. They know who to target for revenge, retaliation… or just to cause pain.”

  The room fell silent. Very silent. The recruits’ faces drained of color, their earlier excitement replaced with sudden understanding. They weren’t dealing with petty criminals anymore. This was the political underworld… backed by sorcery, wealth, and ruthlessness.

  Meanwhile, the veterans, Maurien, Kaela, Gaius,didn’t look shocked. Only grim. Darkened expressions. Cold acceptance. Because they knew Ludger was right. Enemies like the Rodericks didn’t just fade away. They regrouped. They plotted.

  And they struck back.

  Gaius finally broke the silence with a low hum.

  “Then it’s simple,” he said calmly. “We’ll be ready.”

  But Ludger kept staring ahead, jaw tight, pulse steady.He wasn’t being dramatic. He wasn’t being paranoid.He was being realistic. Because in this world, enemies like that didn’t stop until a blade, or a boulder, fell directly onto their necks.

  Gaius pushed himself up from the wall where he’d been leaning, arms still crossed, gaze moving over the room with that slow, weighty calm only old monsters possessed. The tension was thick enough to choke on, but he seemed unaffected—if anything, he looked like he’d been waiting for this moment.

  “Enough doom and gloom,” he said, voice steady. “Enemies or not… there’s something the lot of you should hear.”

  Everyone turned toward him—Ludger, Viola, Maurien, Kaela, the recruits, even Luna from the shadows.

  Gaius met Ludger’s eyes first.

  “Despite our… overlapping problems, it’s time we stop dancing around the fact that we’re walking the same battlefield.” He paused, letting the weight of his words settle. “We should work together. Properly. Not just favors. Not just shared missions. Together.”

  Ludger blinked, taken off guard. “What do you mean?”

  Gaius uncrossed his arms and rolled his shoulders, as if shedding something old and heavy.

  “I was a guild master once,” he said. “A long time ago. But I lost my edge. My guild fell apart. And I’ve been rotting on the Empire ever since, waiting for something worth taking seriously again.”

  Kaela leaned forward, eyes wide. Maurien raised an eyebrow. The recruits looked like their souls had left their bodies. Gaius continued.

  “Now I’ve found it.”

  He placed a hand over his chest.

  “The Lionsguard is small, but it’s solid. It has a purpose. It has unity. And…” His eyes softened, just barely. “It has some people that I can call true allies. Enough to make an old man remember what a guild is supposed to be.”

  Then, with the same casual tone someone might use to order breakfast:

  “So. If you’ll accept me… I’ll join. As a regular member. No titles. No fancy roles. Just another pair of hands and another chunk of earth magic, to throw at our enemies.”

  Silence.

  Then Viola’s eyes widened. Hard. “Wait, seriously?”

  Maurien let out a low whistle. “Stonefist himself… joining a guild again.”

  Kaela threw both arms in the air. “HAH! Finally, someone around here with taste!”

  The recruits looked like they might faint.

  “T-This is insane,” Derrin whispered.

  “Legendary Gaius Stonefist…” Mira mumbled.

  “He’s joining us?” Rhea added, voice cracking.

  Ludger just stared, not blinking. “…You’re sure?”

  Gaius grinned.

  “Sure enough to swear it in front of witnesses.” He eyed the room. “And sure enough to break a few mountains if anyone objects.”

  Despite everything, the vanished nobles, the political disaster, the storm of enemies waiting in the shadows. A small spark of excitement flickered through the manor. Even Ludger felt it like a warm ember in his chest. Because today, they didn’t just get bad news.

  They gained a fortress in human form.