Side story 1, part 3: A surprising conclusion

-3rd of April, evening-

Joseph was sitting on the driver's seat of his cart, reigns in his hands as he was riding the road toward Rinl. The forest was already starting to become more sparse by the minute when he noticed a somewhat small woman standing by the roadside leisurely. Internally, the man smiled a little, stopping the horses.

He looked at the young woman, who stared back at him with an expressionless stare. Her two eyes of different colors glanced toward his yellow for a long moment before she averted her gaze.

"Care for a ride?" he asked with a small smile, patting the space next to himself.

The woman didn't answer, instead fixing her small cloak before jumping onto the seat without much effort.

Joseph immediately prompted the horses to continue moving forward. A long minute of silence was being drawn between him and his new passenger, which he eventually decided to cut short.

"So, how are things with that man going?"

"…He went into Autir and entered Goldhilt's residence on 1st, and got out yesterday. Seems that Miss Cecilia's quest wasn't that difficult to fulfill for him," Violet answered, sitting in a neutral position, her words flowing out without any glint of emotion.

"I see. Is he returning to Silvana?"

"Yes, he's already on his way with that elf woman. Right now, they're going straight toward the capital. But… I've been spotted by that woman."

"Will that be an issue?"

"She's aware that I'm stalking them, but we've come to an agreement. There won't be any complications."

Joseph nodded lightly.

"At least you have some good news."

"…did something happen, mister Joseph?"

"Yes," he nodded with an uneasy expression. "I have to report this to Cedric. Do you have the communication sphere?"

"Here," Violet didn't hesitate, reaching into a pocket and pulling out the small, spherical device. She exchanged it with the man for the reigns.

Joseph quickly channeled mana into the orb, prompting it to activate. For a few seconds, the clouds inside kept on swirling until the connection was established.

"Violet?"

"It is me," He replied.

"Joseph. Good to hear you, I was expecting your call. I imagine the task has become complicated since you asked for Tyron's support?"

"Yes, very much so," the man replied.

"Declaring a 'no entry zone' on a town and keeping it constantly monitored is a hefty task, especially considering the current situation. I imagine you must have an explanation?"

"I do," Joseph let out a small sigh. "To summarize, there is a new competitor on the playfield. And quite a powerful one, at it."

"You found a Psion?"

"I only found evidence of their work, but it's immaculate. It's incomparable to any other psionic magic I've seen so far."

"Spare no details. Tell me all you found out."

"Yesterday, I ventured into Holia in search of information on the man you tasked Violet with tailing. I tried to infiltrate the mind of his sewn sister, Crystal, but I found out there was an impenetrable barrier around her mind. At first, I thought she was Psion, and I attempted a mental **** on her during the night. However, upon inspection of the barrier, it turned out it wasn't her doing. I was just barely able to overpower it with brute ****. But then, something much weirder happened. The barrier… started… mending itself. In no time it was already back at full power. Moreover, it elicited a reaction from other villagers. Initially, I thought it was a trigger set onto their minds, connected to the barrier. However, after a careful investigation today, I found out that almost every resident of Holia has the exact same mental barrier."

"…so what does that mean?"

"All those barriers, as far as I'm aware at least, were made by a single person. I don't know who it was, but I'm almost certain that person is no longer around. Mental barriers are not present on anyone who is younger than 24 years of age."

"So… how can you be saying that person is not in the town anymore?"

"I performed investigations around town. On their graveyard, there is the grave of a woman, Kanya, Travis's sister. From what I heard, she was a Fire Mage who sacrificed herself to save Holia from a monster that came around, but upon inspection of her grave, there were clear signs of psionic mana left on her bones. The magic is too old to identify its master, but it's an indication that she was under that person's influence. Now, considering the story that I was able to get out of villagers, it does fit nicely. That Psion was found out, caused a distraction, and used that woman to fake their ****, escaping in the process. Barriers left behind would be proof of that person living there. Those couldn't have been erected in a single night."

"Then why quarantine the village if that Psion is not around anymore?"

"Because there are a few things that don't add up. Twenty years ago, when that Psion was found out, both Travis and Crystal were alive, nine and eight respectively. However, currently, only she has a barrier, whereas the man does not. This only leaves two ways. Either that Psion completely ignored or missed him, which I honestly don't believe, or they came back to cast the barrier again, but he was no longer around. And this theory does hold up since Travis left Holia roughly 3 years after Kanya's ****."

"…but couldn't that man have broken the barrier? With some support?"

"I doubt it. Although it's a possibility, I highly doubt its plausibility."

"…I see."

"I'm uncertain whether that man knows anything, but it's worth a try to find something out from him. I imagine the Psion first erased everyone's memories of them and came back over time to cast barriers around their minds, ensuring that their minds would remain sealed."

"...If you say so."

"In any case, I want the surveillance around Holia to remain in place until next year if possible. Until it's lifted, I'll try to study the barriers more. Maybe I'll be able to decipher that Psion's Willpower signature, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. The magic is really old."

"…I will have to speak with other branch leaders about this. For now, due to the situation in Poiri beginning to calm down, I believe we can keep up the quarantine for now, but don't expect it to last long. A month is everything I can guarantee. Find out as much as you can in that time."

"Alright, will do. Now, has anything been going on in there?"

"*Sigh* Don't even get me started on this."

"Go on, spill it. You'll feel better if you do," Joseph said in a friendly tone.

"I've received reports from different branches about unusual activity in several parts of the continent. Princess of Fila disappeared, and Prince of Dansel set off on a 'journey' with elite troops of the royal family. Tower of Wisdom has declared that it won't open its doors to anyone for the time being. Dragon of Eternal Ice, Desa, has been spotted flying out of dragon's land, headed somewhere south, but nobody knows where exactly to. And you want to know the best thing? It all happened the same day, the 1st of April."

"…this has to be a joke. That's way too many things happening to be a coincidence."

"I really wish it was, but further reports only solidify those. Branch leaders are throwing tantrums all over. 'Nightcrawlers' are trying to send spies to the Tower of Wisdom. 'Golden Wyvern' declared they would track Desa down and try to find out what she was up to. I honestly don't know what to do now. Lying low will work for a few days, but eventually, the church's monks will reach our people. It's difficult to say what we should try to figure out first, now."

"Should I send my students here instead? Maybe my magic will be more useful elsewhere?"

"No, no, it's fine," Cedric replied with a little dismissive tone. "I'm starting to babble too much for my own good. For now, let's do this: Joseph, you have one month to try and figure out anything about that Psion. Once the 1st of May comes, we'll wrap up the quarantine and regroup in Odilar, safe from the Church's reach. Until that happens, all Assassins Tyron sent will be working under you."

"Got it," Joseph replied.

"Violet, are you there?"

"I am, sir. What's my mission?" The woman asked.

"Regarding that man: Keep an eye on him and help him get to Cecilia. I'll inform her of the situation, and we'll see whether we can recruit him."

"Understood," she nodded.

"Alright then, I'll leave you two to your jobs. Joseph, I'd like you to keep me updated in case anything happens."

"Of course."

"Well then, stay safe, you two," Cedric said before disconnecting his communication sphere.

For a long moment, the two on the cart did not speak a word, instead riding further through the forest.

A minute or so passed before Violet got up, accepting the communication sphere from Joseph. However, as she was about to jump down from the cart, she heard his voice, "Wait. One more thing."

"Yes, mister Joseph?" she turned to face him. Her dual-colored eyes were focused on the man, awaiting his order.

"Please be careful. With the situation being like this, instabilities on a national scale don't seem too farfetched in the long run. If things start looking too hot for comfort, don't be afraid to bail, with or without that man. It's never too late to regroup, but it's not worth sacrificing yourself for a person who may not join us."

"Understood," Violet nodded and jumped off the cart before running deeper into the forest and heading toward Poiri.

"*Sigh* Things just became complicated," Joseph said quietly, shaking the reigns lightly, prompting the horses to speed up a little.

'It was already complicated with Truthseekers lurking in Forna. And now, all those things happening? What's the meaning of this?' he kept on pondering for a few long minutes as he soon ventured into Rinl.

'Why would a Psion be running from a place they lived in for years if they have magic to erase memories? They shouldn't have a reason to… unless they lost a thing that held them here?' he raised an eyebrow. 'That woman, Kanya. Traces of psionic magic on her are old, but still still readable. What if she was close with that Psion? A lover, perhaps? Or another part of the family? Hmm… they were found out, and she tried to kill them? It would explain why she died and why that Psion fled the place. But to come back to apply barrier as they did... they're either paranoid or overly cautious. However... growing to a level where such a thing is possible was likely a tedious and grueling process. This level of caution is not unimaginable. I'd probably do the same in their shoes.'

The sun was starting to approach the horizon. Joseph slowly dressed his coat and leaned on the cart's wall behind him.

'That Crystal woman was also weird. She's not a Psion, and upon inspection, her magic presence seems only a bit greater than that of a Classless. Yet, she exhibits sensitivity to mana... the necklace was the first thing to draw her attention. Is her class Enchanter? In the first place, is she even aware of her class?' Joseph put a hand on his chin for a moment before dismissing the idea. It didn't matter what class she had, so long she wasn't a Psion.

'…and there's still the matter of what Violet said. That man is not normal. Being a Psion is one thing, but things suddenly appearing in his hands? Him knowing things that are a secret even to King Rhobard? Could it be true? 'Godly interference'… could it be a thing?' the man sighed as he tried to compare the woman's theory with what was happening. 'That man's mana was definitely not that of a normal Psion. I'm a little skeptical about the idea of God of Manipulation interfering, but unless there's some other explanation, that seems like the only possibility. Regardless, the only person who knows the answer is that man. I'll have to meet him one day, even if he refuses to join our branch.'