Chapter 191: The Scorned, Part Six

It took all of Rin's willpower not to show the anger she felt. As loud music blared in her ears, Rin nearly turned away.

The possibility that these people dancing in front of her so joyously right now were potentially the same people who had been using monsters to abduct travelers and murder them sent shivers up Rin's spine. She couldn't let those emotions get to her just yet, though.

After all, there was still also the possibility that they were all completely innocent. Or, that many of these people were initiates like Kate who had no idea about what was happening behind closed doors. On account of that, Rin did her best to remain calm.

"Remember," Rin whispered to Sara as the two of them remained at the entrance. Strangers passed them by from the hall, walking into this lobby-like room without a care. "We're here to look for signs. We don't know if they're the ones or not."

Upon hearing that, Sara remained silent. Rin glanced at her and found the brunette's eyes scanning the room.

"... Are weapons a sign?" She suddenly asked. Because her voice was often so quiet, it was hard to tell when she was whispering and when she was just speaking normally.

"Uh, not definitive evidence or anything, but definitely not a good sign. Why?"

"A few people here are armed," she noted, her expression remaining calm and stoic. "They are hiding daggers."

[... Well, that doesn't sound good.]

"Um, in that case, keep an eye out. If you see anyone doing anything weird, let me know."

Sara nodded and Rin inhaled slowly, building up the courage to move forward.

[Alright, so, where exactly do we go?]

The lobby they were currently in was clearly where the party itself was being held, but there were a few doors near the corners of the building that Rin was curious about. In addition, there was a staircase at the back that led to a second floor where fewer, better-dressed, people were currently standing. Their elegant suits and dresses contrasted with the casual outfits the people below had.

[Hm. They look kinda... well-off,] Rin noticed. [Weren't they talking about how the Scorned were a group of outcasts or something? Those guys up there just look like regular rich people.]

Their eyes roamed the dancing crowd with some interest, though they looked mostly bored. Just as Rin was wondering why these people were here, someone walked up and put a hand on her shoulder.

Rin flinched. She snapped her head toward the hand's owner, seeing with the corner of her eye that Sara jumped as well. However, as she saw John, she calmed herself down and quickly gave him a polite smile.

"My apologies," the man said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No worries," Rin replied, maintaining that friendly air. "I was just surprised."

"Good, good. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn't hesitate to join in on the festivities just because you're new. Everyone here's pretty kind. Just go ahead, dance, laugh, do whatever it is that might lift your spirits. Have fun."

The charismatic man then bowed his head to them and moved through the room, cutting between everyone dancing up ahead. Rin's eyes remained glued to his back as he then went up the stairs and began speaking jovially with people on the second floor.

"... I really wish I could hear them right now," Rin muttered to herself.

"I can."

As Sara said that, she took a few steps toward them.

"H-How?" Rin asked. For just a moment, she worried that Sara was just going to walk up and stand next to them.

At that moment, Sara turned toward Rin and gave her one of the most confident looks Rin had ever seen on this woman's face.

"Trust me," she said quietly. "You should walk around. Make it less obvious that we're focusing on them."

[Crap, she's right.]

John himself had already pointed out that their behavior was weird. Rin quickly understood that she needed to actually play the part of someone who was coming to this party for fun.

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So, letting Sara know with a subtle nod of her head, Rin turned her act on and walked away, but not before saying:

"Just, ehm... don't get caught."

[If there's any familiar face here, it would make this a lot easier, so...]

One person quickly came to mind and Rin searched the room for her. It took a couple of seconds, but eventually, Rin found Kate talking to some beastborn strangers by the corner of the room, opposite where John currently was.

The switch was flipped and Rin quickly assumed Triss's mantle, striding toward Kate's position with the kind of arrogance that could only come from knowing exactly how hot you were.

As she arrived, Kate's friends, one boy with wolf ears like hers and one girl with the ears of a cat, both looked at her distrustingly. Rin didn't let that faze her.

"Kaaaate!" Rin greeted the girl with a kiss to her cheek. "Sorry if I'm interrupting, but, I saw you over here and I just had to say hi."

"No, no, it's fine," Kate quickly told her. She gave her friends a shy smile and said, "guys, ehm... this is Triss."

Their eyes widened.

"... That Triss?" The boy asked, looking up and down Rin's body.

[Oh damn,] Rin thought, holding back a giggle. [What exactly did she tell them?]

Rin extended a hand toward the boy before Kate could respond.

"Yeah, *that* Triss," Rin stated. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

---

{Sara}

It was difficult navigating this room while remaining undetected. As she'd told Rin before, there were definitely a few people here who didn't seem to be simple civilians. Weapons tucked into their pants, firm, trained hands, and well-exercised bodies could be seen on some of the others in the building.

What Sara hadn't mentioned was that John was one of them. Even from this position, sneaking a look at him as she walked between two dancing couples on her way to the staircase, she could see the outline of a knife by his right shoe.

She had no way of knowing their intentions, but it was safe to say they were at least prepared for a fight. That wasn't why Sara walked toward the staircase, though.

No, she did that because she wanted to move under it. There was a little hall here that had been difficult to see from the front, but Sara noticed it all the same. Keeping an unconcerned look on her face, she lowered her head as she walked, trying to attract as little attention as possible. A few of those men and women who were holding weapons looked at her, but maybe she didn't look all that threatening to them, as she went completely ignored on her way there.

From here, Sara figured she had to be careful. There were two doors to the sides. If anyone saw what she was about to do, they'd certainly want to have a few words with her.

Making sure the coast was clear, however, Sara inhaled sharply and put her hands forward, preparing to draw a spellsign.

She pushed Essence up to her fingertips and drew the spell she had in mind as quickly as possible. All it took was to draw a few closed eyes side-by-side in rapid succession and the spell was done.

It was a complicated spellsign, but she drew it so fast that even if someone had followed her, they would have missed it, and all they'd be seeing right now was Sara leaning against the stairs.

The spell's effects were simple. For as long as Sara could hold it, all of her senses were enhanced.

Immediately, there was a burning pain in her ears due to the loud music being played, which was also amplified. However, taking steady breaths, Sara cut through all of that and focused on one thing and one thing only.

The voices of those standing on the second floor.

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