Silvernort Residence

Hellio Silvernort was sitting in his father's office, doing paperwork. Hellio already saw the office more as his own than his father's, who had been preparing him to take over the family affairs.

He was a young man of twenty-five, and like every direct member of the Silvernort family, he had blue hair and red eyes. But unlike Aren, who looked like a delinquent, Hellio looked like a mature, polished businessman with a chill vibe surrounding him. His longer hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he wore a black tight-fitting T-shirt, white trousers, and a white jacket with a gold print on his chest surrounding a blue gemstone.

He held documents in one hand while his other hand tapped on the computer keyboard, typing something without needing to look.

After a moment, he took off his dioptric sunglasses and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on and continuing to work quietly. Hellio had taken over his father's duties for the month, as his father had gone abroad with his other brother for the time being, dealing with a situation involving a feral spirit running rampant in the border villages.

Since a branch of their family resided there, the main family decided to lend a helping hand. So most of the actual duties fell on the shoulders of Hellio, who was still learning how to run a family anyway, so the father had killed two birds with one stone.

After some time, there was a knock, and when Hellio gave permission to enter, a sunny silhouette walked in. It was basically a human silhouette created from the morning sunlight, and the entire room lit up as if someone had illuminated it with high beams.

Hellio didn't mind because he was wearing sunglasses. "Turn it down, Vesna," he said calmly, averting his eyes from the silhouette to continue working.

The light dimmed, and the figure took on a less radiant form. Vesna transformed into a tall woman in a white men's tailcoat with a single bright yellow hem, a white vest under which was a black shirt with a bow at the neck that was supported by a gold brooch. On her hands were black and white gloves with the thumb, index finger, and knuckles being black and the rest white.

On her head was a white hat with a black brim that went over and blended with her black hair, but it was black only around her face and then suddenly transitioned into long bright yellow hair that waved with a life of its own like clouds driven fast by the wind.

Her face was handsome with blue-gray eyes under which she had red-tinted tattoos in the shape of triangles. Vesna was very stylish and left a strong impression. She also knew it, so her steps were dynamic and confident.

Vesna walked over to the table and bowed with her hand folded on her stomach. "My master, young Miss Clarisa has come to see you," she announced, never taking her eyes off the man. Her voice was not soft; it was more of a deeper tone, but still easily recognizable as female. It was the voice of someone who knew how to give authoritative orders.

Hellio waved the hand in which he held the documents. "Let him enter," he said before putting the papers away and looking at the computer, writing something down.

"Yes, Master," Vesna said and walked over to the door.

"Master will see you now, young miss," she announced, and Clarisa walked into the office.

Vesna then quickly moved behind Hellio, where she stood at attention as his guard.

"What do you bring me, Clarisa?" Hellio asked, not looking at his sister and continuing to write.

Clarisa wasn't upset that she wasn't worth a glance to her older brother; she was used to it by now. "Aren is acting strange," she told him bluntly, and the white and grey monkey came out from behind her back and looked at Vesna, who looked at it, and the monkey froze in place, not daring to move.

"It must be something different from its usual behavior if you've come to tell me. What did my trash younger brother do this time?" He sounded unconcerned. After all, Aren was someone who couldn't threaten him in any way.

"Yesterday and today, he was hanging around Sinerman Mansion; he also started to associate with shady individuals. I don't know their identities, and I couldn't even estimate their strength. He also voluntarily left with them. Subsequently, he also met with a member of the Unity," Clarisa continued to report.

Hellio finally looked up to her. "Sinerman Mansion is now the unofficial territory of the Stragos family. Does the trash realize that?"

Clarisa nodded. "At least, he does now. However, any association with them he denies."

Hellio made a low snorting sound and turned away from her again. "Clarisa, is that all you came to tell me?" he asked.

Clarisa remained silent, which was more than enough of an answer. Hellio sighed wearily. "Seriously, you don't have to report these little things to me. I had enough to do. Or do you just want to show that, as my hound dog, you barked somewhere now and then? You knew full well that even wasting my time would get you punished, right?"

Clarisa said nothing and folded her hands on her chest, wrapping her hands into fists as she pressed her nails hard into her palms. "It's not useless information, Master," Clarisa said slowly. She had long ago dismissed calling this monster her brother; they may have shared the same blood, but that was all. Hellio was strong, but there were certainly many stronger Spiritualists.

He had been a sociopath since he was a child and hadn't hesitated to destroy his own siblings. To his father, he appeared to be a well-mannered young man, but aside from his second oldest brother, he had all of his siblings and even his cousins in his grasp.

"Your main role is to keep my dear relatives short. Are you telling me you couldn't even do that? How is it that you let Aren go instead of bringing him back?" he sighed. "Well. I guess I shouldn't expect too much from a woman."

Clarisa bit the inside of her cheek to keep from growling. Unfortunately, Hellio held an outdated family mentality and despised women. Vesna was a little different because, again, he didn't see her as a woman at all, but simply as a useful tool. He had much more respect for her than he had for his own sister.

Hellio waved Clarisa away with his hand. "Go. You have time until tomorrow. Bring Aren, and if you don't throw his battered body at my feet, you'll accept double punishment."

Clarisa pressed her lips tightly together and nodded before turning and walking away. She forced herself to remain calm and not literally run away. She turned to the white ape, who seemed relieved that they had gotten away.

"Go find him," she ordered.

Hellio looked up in the office and stared at the door for a moment, lifting his hand and shifting his glasses on his nose. "There's something in the air, Vesna. Go. Grab Parker and go check out the Sinerman Mansion."

Vesna took two steps and stood beside the desk. "Sinerman Mansion?"

Hellio picked up the documents again. "Things started getting noisy after the Higher Spirit showed up. And the only one who gets things done properly is you. I'm busy right now so this fuss is getting on my nerves. Get it done."

Vesna bowed. "Yes, Master," she said before turning into sunlight and heading out, remembering to close the door quietly behind her.

---

In front of Sinerman Mansion

Some time passed, and soon it was late afternoon. Parker, who had been tasked with investigating matters regarding the Sinerman Mansion, had to take care of the first few things before he could get to the site.

Vesna, in human form, sat next to him in the car to get to the mansion. Parker was a man in his early thirties, with short auburn hair slicked back, a short brown beard that was neatly trimmed around his mouth, and a strong build, more athletic than that of a wrestler.

Like his hair, he had brown eyes, his forehead adorned with a distinctive but simple pink tattoo, and he was dressed in a plain white shirt, a brown short coat, and grey jeans.

As they approached the parking lot, they could see from a distance that there was quite a commotion. About three or four dozen people were moving around the parking lot.

It was mostly young adults, a few kids, and there were even a few seniors. They were all wearing brightly colored clothes, mostly neon colors with various signs, some carrying signs or banners. A few lanterns flew over their heads in the classic ghostly depiction.

Parker slapped himself desperately across the face. "Ugh! Ghostpeace! Why are they here already?"

Naturally, they all knew this unprofitable group of people who had too much free time on their hands and went to various places to protest, usually when it came to what they considered unfair treatment of the Spirit Beast. The only good thing was that they weren't radical, but for that at least they were very persistent.

Parker parked his ordinary car and got out, only to hear an unmistakable female voice.

"Hey, hey, hey! You all know why we're here, hah?"

"YES!" Everyone shouted excitedly, holding up their signs and banners with protest slogans like. "Peace to the Ghosts!" or "Spirit Beast has rights too!" or "Ghosts are like us!"

Standing in front of the disorganized protesters was the distinctive and familiar figure of Hazel and her Spirit Beast, who was live-streaming the entire protest.

"We must protect the big sis Des! She's an innocent spirit!" Hazel shouted, punching a clenched fist in the air.

"Yes!"

"Ghost rights!"

"We love big sis Des!"

People shouted excitedly over each other, and Parker had to palm his face again.

Vesna covered her smiling mouth with elegant, long fingers. "What funny humans," she said amusedly. Parker looked at her and sighed. Vesna was his boss Hiei's right-hand man, but when he wasn't around, she was pretty easy to talk to. But still, her nature was a bit vicious and twisted.

"It wasn't easy getting permission to enter through the barrier, and now we're going to have to deal with this bunch of idiots. I don't find it very funny," Parker protested, rubbing his temple. The tattoo on his forehead glowed faintly and then flowed towards his eyes, where it turned into a pair of stylish red glasses with smoky red lenses.

He turned and scanned the Ghostpeace group; small windows appeared in the faces of those he could see, where after a brief recounting, information about the Spiritual Force appeared. Some were ordinary people, but the rest of them weren't strong Spiritualists.

So 70% of the population were Spiritualists; the rest were ordinary people, but not all Spiritualists could really deal with spirits. The fighting Spiritualists were between 20% and 25%. The rest could still sign contracts with Spirit Beasts, but their powers were more suited to farming, engineering, pharmaceuticals, everyday items, and the like.

Because of this, even though these people could use spiritual energy, they are still classified as civilians, while those who are more powerful and can actually fight spirits and demons are classified as Spiritualists.

Parker shook his head. "Let's go. Let's just try to ignore them," he said and started walking with Vesna towards the barrier.

Hazel, for her channel, was trying to get the crowd in front of her fired up. The chatroom was also alive and chanting along with the others; apparently, everyone was having a pretty good time, and the number of people watching was growing.

Meanwhile, while her group was dealing with things legally, her job was to stop all attempts to hunt Desmond and destroy the historic building for the time being.

She only noticed Parker and Vesna approaching after they tried to go around them, and immediately focused the lights of her eyes, as well as her camera, on them.

"You two! Where do you think you're going, hah!?" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at them. All of the people from Ghostpeace turned to the two and began to look hostile.

Parker clicked his tongue in annoyance, hoping to avoid confrontation; he didn't want to deal with these fools. "None of your business," he said.

Hazel walked briskly towards them, folding her arms at her sides. "You're wrong, old man! If you want to come in, I have something to say about it. And not just me. All of us!" She pointed her arm at the group of protesters.

Beside him, Vesna covered her mouth with her fingers again to hide her smile, and Parker frowned behind Hazel. He really didn't want to deal with those naive kids who thought if they screamed loud enough, they'd get what they wanted. That wasn't how the world worked.

"Children have no right to interfere with the work of adults. Go play somewhere else. I don't care what you think, what you want. Go bother someone else." Parker was a hardworking man who hated making mistakes, especially in his own work. He took quite a bit of pride in the quality of work he did and respected those who did the same.

So he really had no sympathy for people who stuck their noses into other people's business and, more importantly, prevented them from doing their jobs. Some might say that such a principled person was a shame to work for the Silvernort family.

Vesna leaned forward, and with that one movement she drew everyone's attention to her. "No need to get upset. We're only here about the investigation, child. We have permission. And there's nothing you can do against that," she said with a smile, pulling a paper seal from her pocket that not only opened their way through the barrier but also bore the official seal of the court.

Hazel grinned and bit her tongue. Hazel may have been feisty and fierce, but she was actually very respectful of the government and the rules. Just like with Aren, even when she put on a different face, when he refused to be seen on the video she sent to the television, they had the video censored. Just because she teased him didn't mean she was breaking his rights.

Hazel thought quickly about what to do before her eyes lit up. "Then I'll come with you! I'm a member of the Union for Historic Preservation! This is an official request to make sure the historic building isn't damaged in any way by you."

Parker frowned, and Vesna laughed softly. Parker was about to refuse, but Vesna spoke first. "Of course. No problem. It's just an investigation, after all."

Hazel smiled and turned to face Mantis, giving the camera a thumbs-up. "Hazel always gets her way! We'll disconnect for a moment now, but stay tuned! We're about to enter the Sinerman Mansion and come face to face with the big sis Desmond! This encounter will show what the truth is about being a Feral Spirit!"

The light on Mantis' forehead stopped flickering, and Hazel grew serious. She turned back to the annoyed Parker and the amused Vesna. "Then let's step aside and talk seriously." They left the watching group of Ghostpeace and reached the red barrier.

"Who sent you, and what do you want to investigate?" Hazel asked seriously, her loud and wild self gone.

Parker remained silent and instead glanced at Vesna, who pulled her hat slightly down to her forehead, tilting her head to the side so that the brim of her hat hid one of her eyes. "Ever since that Feral High Spirit showed up, there's been a kind of tension going on in the city. We came here to see if the Sinerman Mansion is the source of the changes."

Hazel frowned; she hadn't noticed anything. At most, it had reignited the animosity between two families notorious for their feud. But that would be nothing new.

"There's nothing else we can say. It's none of your business in the first place; you're only going to protect a historic building after all. That's all you have to worry about," Vesna added, then threw the seal that was stuck to the surface of the barrier and beamed.

A blue light flashed, and the barrier disintegrated under the seal, allowing them to pass through without any problems. In another minute, the seal was gone, and the barrier returned to its original state.

All three raised their eyes to the dark building on the hill. Hazel ordered Mantis to turn on the broadcast again.