"If that were the case, why didn't he attack the knights or the servants? Not to mention that, according to what they said, the site of the second ambush showed no trace of a major battle or that any animal or monster had passed through. Only the bodies of some mercenaries and house executives." The younger woman immediately retorted.
"It doesn't have to be a land animal; it could be a flying one."
"Like what? A dragon? A giant water creature? A griffin?"
Before the older woman could answer, the kitchen door opened and the head maid entered. She looked at everyone gathered there and said with a cold expression.
"How long are you going to stay in the kitchen? The master, the young lady, and madam are expecting guests to put an end to all this confusion, get moving!!"
At the head maid's reprimand, the others nearly flew out of the kitchen except for Lira. Approaching the head maid, she asked.
"Madam, who could possibly come to put an end to this 'confusion'?"
"You'll find out when Lira arrives. Until then, keep looking after Miss Clemencia... and, by the master's orders, you must also look after Miss Amanda. She's fine, but still seems to be a little shaken by what happened."
This was hard for Lira to believe. Amanda had always been independent and confident, never bowing her head during birthdays. Not only that, but this wasn't the first time Amanda had been attacked by bandits, nor would it have been the first time they'd attempted to abuse her.
And yet she was shaken?
There was something strange about this story, but Lira had no idea what it was, or if she could do anything about it.
"Did you understand my orders, Lira?"
The head maid asked with an almost metallic glint in her eyes.
"Y-yes, ma'am, I'll go to Miss Amanda's quarters right now," she said, quickly running off to Amanda's room. Whether she was in a hurry to finish her task quickly or simply wanting to escape the head maid, who could say?
******************
(On an island in the middle of the ocean)
"Okay, this is starting to get annoying."
The young black woman with feline features thought, gazing at the port city of a certain kingdom through her drones.
Since the day they learned about someone hacking their drone network, she and her sister spent the following days trying to find the person responsible. But no matter how many drones they sent and how vigilant their satellites were, they simply couldn't find anything.
This was impossible for them; their sister's species reached the pinnacle of existence through science, and their species reached the pinnacle of existence through magic. Both had different natures, yet unexpectedly similar purposes.
Using both the same and different points, it should be impossible for any alien species to bypass their security systems.
An alien from a species that should have been subjugated millennia ago, rising up in revolt over what happened and appearing in her home after discovering a new teleportation technology?
Extremely, infinitesimally difficult, but not completely impossible.
As long as intelligent beings are… alive, they always have the opportunity to grow and adapt. Her sister and herself are compelling proof of this.
But a species that would have the expertise to circumvent both science-based surveillance systems and an independent one based on magic?
That would be more consistent with what she would consider impossible.
But even after days, all she and her sister could learn about this visitor was that he liked to make messes. He almost always disappeared with various specimens of animals, subhumans (the non-official term they used to refer to the new humanity), and even monsters generated by magical pollution.
And yet he left no trace, no trace of the individuals; the places where he was always impeccably clean and without any trace of energy that could be traced. The only way they could recognize that he/she was there was the very fact that the place was so clean, only then could they faintly follow his/her erratic movements.
"Did you manage to find him/her, sister?"
"Yes, it wasn't too difficult this time, especially since he left a small trail now."
The white woman raised an eyebrow at this. She was engrossed in watching some villagers' efforts against a stone monster in a city on another continent.
"That's not something he does. Do you have a reason?"
"It seems he left a group that was going to attack a purely semi-alive merchant convoy to be found by them. Some power struggle or something."
The white woman raised an eyebrow again and placed her hand on her chin, thinking.
"Because he gets so involved, it disturbs the purity of the way of life they should have." She said in a harsh tone.
Her sister was ancient, much more so than the black woman. Once upon a time, the only thing she could find any kind of meaning in life was observing and preserving every kind of effort that conscious living beings made, from the most beautiful efforts of a young man standing up against a wild animal to protect his family, to the most hateful where those in positions of power toyed with and tortured innocents with impunity.
She loved these efforts, for they were the greatest manifestation of the will to live that she had almost forgotten, just like the black woman herself.
However, as much as she loved seeing the efforts, whether noble or not, whether they produced results or not. She also couldn't deny that seeing them in specific situations was as beautiful and precise as simply observing them in their raw form.
It was beautiful to see them like this, of course, but still...
Suddenly, one of her drones picked up a strange signal for the first time in millennia within the city where "he" had supposedly left the group of bandits. An energetic signal both like and unlike anything she had ever seen.
It seemed like optical camouflage, and at the same time, it interfered with the senses of recognition of the surrounding individuals, similar to a dated magic of confusion or mild mind control, but without the presence of magic.
Following this signature, they were finally able to glimpse who, or what, had been evading their vigil these past few days.
(N/A: I don't remember if in the official novel the author had given them names other than The Last of the Ancients or The Last of the New Humanity. So for now I'll just call them white and black with feline characteristics, okay.)