Daimon looked at the guy who was clearly trembling upon being gazed by Horals, before saying.
"Then, what do you have to say, needless to say but if your information isn't worth my time, you can say goodbye to your head".
The poor guy felt his soul leaving his body, having lived a few years in this line of work, he has seen cruel people, those who rejoice in making others suffer, alcohol, debauchery and abuse are normal hobbies for nobles.
He kept his mouth shut because he is just a little informant who was somehow assigned to this place, but this is the first time he bumps into someone who doesn't show any reaction positive or negative when having other people's lives in his hands.
'That murderous aura earlier isn't normal, what the hell did I get myself involved into!', he screamed in his heart before saying.
"I-I'm just a small informant, my superior was the woman that died a moment ago, I don't know all the details but I have worked for her for some time, once het tongue slipped and she mentioned she belonged to some sort of organization".
"I was told we were just going to gather information on the guests of important people, that woman never mentioned we were going to kill anyone… I'm not suited for combat as you can see, just today she changed the plans and poisoned your food, then told me we were taking you with us, that was a couple of hours ago, I don't know why she did it, but I saw her receiving a message with a disposable mirror plate".
Daimon frowned, if the woman Rita turned into minced meat was an assassin, then this guy shouldn't have been able to talk about it, he should be under a contract.
The guy noticed his words were being questioned and he immediately explained.
"S-She had a contract with her employers, I am an external so my contract was with her and it is laxer… I know more about the organization, if you can find the medium used for it and destroy it, I can tell you all I know".
He was obviously trying to prove his life was worth sparing, and Daimon didn't detect any lies in his words, on the other hand he didn't have the time to go look for what was used to tie this guy's tongue.
There were a plethora of objects that could be used to make contracts in Neptune, some people had them with them all the time, while others hid them or buried them, in case of death the other party couldn't destroy it and escape the contract.
Unfortunately for some reason, none of those regular contract methods worked for the people of the Wonder Myriad Stellar Chart, so far only Annete's necklace, Vincent's emblem properly worked, his contract with Karmandi had a time limit of a couple of days and he is a Half Stellar rank, so there was of course something behind this limitation, which has been pestering Daimon.
'Ah, damn it, everything will be easier if my terror contractor worked, that old man and the others won't return until tomorrow and I can't take this guy to the guards, because who knows if there are other spies, I doubt he'll survive the night', thought Daimon.
It was then when he remembered something Karmandi mentioned.
'The Black Empress, she is supposed to have the ability to nullify contracts of all kind and she stayed behind', thought Daimon.
Also the place where she was staying was safe, who in their right mind would dare to try an sneak into the room of a practically high stage Stellar rank, Daimon was sure the spies were at most early stage Arch ranks, like the woman Rita killed, because anything higher than that would be directly ordered by Vincent and the chances of being discovered were too high.
'Horals, watch this guy closely, and protect my room, if anyone tries to barge in kill without any hesitation', ordered Daimon as he got up from his chair.
'Understood!', answered the bone general, the green flames in his eyes burned brighter, his young master sounded like a conqueror, and he couldn't help but feel excited over the idea of killing his young master's enemies.
Daimon could feel the enthusiasm of the bone general and he bitterly smiled, but he then shook his head and activated the effect of the hollow suit, it was as if his existence vanished.
Vincent had an array to prevent other Stellar ranks to transport themselves into his mansion, he allowed Thea and Aurora to ignore the restriction in case something happened, since they are allies now, but Daimon wasn't registered since he didn't know he has the ability to move through space.
Luckily there is no need for that, since blink isn't affected by restrictions, in exchange his range is pretty limited though, but he can use continuously as his mana reserves are huge.
And so with a thought, Daimon flashed through the mansion, with his presence being hidden by the hollow suit, the guards didn't notice him at all, there weren't even Half Stellar ranks among them anyway, everyone past the Arch rank was dispatched by Vincent, since the city needed to be patrolled to calm the nobles and the citizens, to avoid panic.
They were attacked today after all, past a certain point Daimon cancelled the effect of the hollow suit, because the area within one kilometer of Thea's room was completely empty, and he didn't want to be misunderstood as someone tried to sneak, so he directly walked the last meters and then knocked on the door.
A few seconds passed and there was no response, so Daimon knocked one more time, he then could hear a dull sound, it was the sound of someone falling on the floor and cursing.
"This better be a life-or-death situation old snake, or I'm going to dry you under the sun until you become jerky meat, ah my head…", the slightly dizzy voice of the Black Empress could be heard from the other side of the door, apparently, she was having a hangover due to all the alcohol she drank, which made Daimon wonder if it was a good idea to come ask for her help.
'Whatever I'm already here, so I might as well… besides that ability sounds really interesting', he thought before saying.
"Sorry to wake you up miss Thea, I had something I would like to ask of you".
… A sepulchral silence fell on the whole area, before all the locks on the door were undone immediately, the door opened and Daimon was welcomed with the sight of an elegant looking tall woman wearing a black dress.
"Ahem, if it isn't my general candidate, what can I do for you this late, do you want to share a drink under the light of the moon with this Empress?", she asked.
Daimon raised an eyebrow, with her eyes closed she acted elegant and gentle though firm, her stand was that of a noble lady, when her eyes opened, she was pretty imposing, her aura became wild and war-like akin to a magic beast nature, and then when she was drunk, she was pretty carefree, pretty much like a human.
He didn't know if she was acting, but now the elegant and carefree "personalities" were mixed, she was trying to act proper and elegant but the slight scent of alcohol made it obvious, that she hasn't sobered up completely, not to mention she offered to drink more with him.
'Maybe her race loves alcohol… so she can't stand it, or something like that', thought Daimon before saying.
"Thanks for the offer but we'll have to leave it for later, Karmandi mentioned you have the ability to nullify contracts, someone tried to play a trick and I caught him, but I can't get all the information due to a contract so…".
Before Daimon could finish, Thea nodded.
"Let's have a look, by the way, how much time has passed since the lunch… my memory after that is a bit blur, normally Lina gives me a report but I don't feel her presence in the mansion".
"About ten hours I would say", said Daimon, making Thea bitterly smile.
"That stingy Lina didn't bring my potions, so that I couldn't drink as much as I wanted and now my head is killing me", she mumbled.
Daimon bitterly smiled but he didn't say anything and instead proposed to show the way to the Black Empress, but she took out her spear and teared a hole in the space, at the other side the door of Daimon's room could be seen.
"It should be faster this way", said Empress before she jumped into the hole in the space followed by Daimon.
They appeared at the entrance of Daimon's room, Horals immediately detected the presence of his young master and opened the door, Aisha did it too, she saw Thea standing next to Daimon and nodded, since there was a Stellar ranked here now, then they could ease up a bit.
The sisters and the princesses though tired could feel there was something ongoing, so they woke up when Daimon released his aura, but Aisha told them everything was fine and to wait until he returned.
"You all can come if you want to", said Daimon, he could see the girls hiding behind the other side of the door next to Aisha whose head was peeking out of the room, thanks to his infinity eyes.
"Oh, you've got some nice eyes, this Empress feels more and more impressed", said Thea, her yellow snake-like eyes glowed, taking Daimon by surprise, apparently just like Yvonne she had special eyes.
And though she couldn't know what Daimon's infinity eyes did, she could somehow identify a "companion" with magic eyes.
Aisha and the other girls left the room and followed Daimon and Thea into the one next to it, where Horals was watching over the prisoner, speaking of the poor guy he nearly fainted when he saw Thea entering the room.
"B-Black Empress, but that woman said all the Stellar ranks left the mansion", he exclaimed, confirming Daimon's supposition.
There is no way, two "small fries" like the woman from before and this guy would make their move if they knew Thea was staying in the mansion, though the Black Empress was sleeping, if she would have felt any threat, she would have reacted, drunk or not.
The only reason as to why she didn't come earlier, is because Daimon wasn't in any danger to begin with, so her instincts didn't wake her up, the question here is who told that woman all the adults were gone, Vincent and the others didn't inform anyone they were leaving, as that would be an invitation to be attacked under the current circumstances.
Daimon noticed Mellie had a troubled expression, and he turned to see her wanting to know if she had something to say, just to see her taking out a note from her pocket, that said, "There are spies in the mansion, please tell Daimon to take care of the situation, I set them up for you, the reward from the Minister of development is an incomplete emblem but he won't hand it over to uncle Vincent or anyone related to him so it's got to be him, good luck~".
"I only noticed this when I woke up… sorry".
Daimon sighed, the queen probably was the one that let the rumor that all the Half Stellar and Stellar ranks, were gone.
"She didn't want to hit the grass and scare the snake, it seems this organization is a pain to deal with', mumbled Daimon.
Of course, the queen could have captured the maid and the guard, if she stayed behind, but then the ones behind them would probably notice it and disappear, so she instead left the task to Daimon, knowing he had someone to protect him all the time of course, and leaving Thea behind just in case, also it would be suspicious if any noble or their relatives were to specifically ask for an emblem as reward, since they are considered useless.
But Daimon was recently appointed as a noble, so it's "normal" for him to be curious about it, specially because everyone thought he came from a remote island, or that he belonged to an isolated family somewhere in the sea, and since he is a rising star, it's normal for high ranked nobles to try and woo him to their factions, Dominic already invited him for example, though it was more of a honest request to join due to the strength he has showed.
Since Vincent seemed to be involved, not all the nobles had the status to try, maybe the royals and the Blackfin Duke could do it, but after what happened between them and Daimon earlier it's obvious, they won't, so that only left the faction of Minister of Development, and this was a perfect chance, as Vincent "awarded" Daimon with the spear he gave to Horals, so of course he had to offer some rewards to the current rising star, if the situation demanded it.
'I wonder who will win in a strategy contest, between her and Erin', thought Daimon.
"Miss Thea, please cancel this guy's contract, let's hear more about this people who are going to kindly donate an emblem for us", said Daimon.
"Mm", the Empress nodded and then the color of her left eye, changed from honey yellow, to blood red.
"Aghhh!", the guy trembled, his face paled and then he spat blood and collapsed on the ground, but Daimon didn't flinch, he could tell he was perfectly fine, and that was just a reaction caused by the contract which was nullified.
He instead was more interested in Thea's ability, why do you ask, because it brought him a familiar sensation, it was similar to when the queen or Mellie used their "Analysis Resonance", or when Jasmine stimulated her lineage, whose ability was still unknown.
'Another lineage with ancient roots, is it coincidence?', he wondered, earlier he noticed that Aurora didn't notice the vertical yellow lines that flashed in Jasmine's eyes, when the level of trust she had on him jumped all the way to 30%.
And she apparently didn't tell her, which is something he has to talk about with her, so far in the notes he has read from Vincent's book, he can tell there are "missing" parts, but they aren't those who were lost due to time, but some information that was purposedly not wrote down.
He could notice it, only because he is a system user, like the hero probably was.
