Claire Hill stared at the cocoon of blood that held her lover, her mind in debate. For one, she wanted to stay beside Alicia as she slumbered. It seemed only right that she did so. Not only would it put her mind at ease to be there in case any complications rose, Alicia had also done the same for her when she was assimilating the Water Seed.

'Yet, I still have to meet up with Via and Lara,' Claire thought, her head cooling.

They had, after all, planned to meet each other once more that night. If she didn't go, well, Asta wouldn't be repaired of the damages he might have sustained during his training and the two girls would likely have no place to sleep unless they spent money.

'Though I doubt they'd want to give up modern conveniences for a cheap inn.'

The two girls had been amazed at the Glacial Tower even though they had only spent one night within so far. Via had taken it in great stride, but Lara had been shaken. Remembering their expressions, Claire couldn't help but smile.

'Well, I can feel everything in my realm, I'll be able to come here immediately if something goes wrong.'

Making her decision, Claire placed her hand on the crimson cocoon upon her bed.

"I'll be back," She said, smiling, "So wake up soon, Alice."

Then, she disappeared.

A moment later, she appeared within the city of Felcius. The sun glazing the sky overhead a darkening blue, falling slowly. By the looks of it, it was well past afternoon. Though it wasn't yet what could be called nighttime, Claire found herself staring at a city that seemed mostly silent.

There were still some people and carriages in the streets, but they were few and far in between, unlike the bustle when she and Alicia went on their date.

'I see,' Claire thought, 'Most are likely keeping to the curfew earlier than sundown.' She remembered the words of Evan Macron. Of course, she disregarded the curfew itself, but she was still puzzled on why it existed in the first place.

She didn't notice any direct threats to the city and its people. Most of the monsters in the stampede that would have posed a possible threat to them had been wiped out, so that couldn't be it. And it couldn't be something like a disease that could spread, as the curfew wouldn't do anything against that.

'So, then, it can only be a threat that will appear after sundown,' Claire figured. 'That, or the government of this city is doing something, whether secret or not, that requires people out of the streets by then.'

As Claire mused, she walked the first section of the city, suddenly feeling like an anime detective. Except, she realized, she wasn't a genius that could deduce the most minute details of a crime or plan from one clue. Sadly, her name was not L so all she could do was guess.

Then she thought about the Hero Killer who was said to govern Felcius. Whether or not she could steal his powers was to be seen. At the very least, she wished to meet him. 'A person who kills other heroes must be rather interesting,' She thought. For someone like that, she didn't think she'd have any qualms with stealing his powers, but she didn't know exactly how strong he was.

In the end, she merely decided to head to the adventure guild ahead of time.

"E-excuse me, miss."

Yet, she was stopped in the next instant by a city guard.

She raised her gaze to meet the man geared in armor. Though his face wasn't visible under his helmet, she noticed the quiver in his body when her eyes rolled over him. Clearly, he was nervous standing before her.

"What is it?" She asked.

He coughed. "Our commander, Evan Macron, wishes to meet with you. I shall lead the way if you are willing."

Claire raised a brow, mulling over his words. Why did the man want to meet her? In the end, seeing as she still had some time before night came, she shrugged.

"I'm willing, lead the way."

"Y-yes, mam!"

Claire chuckled as she followed after the man. "I doubt I'm older than you."

She maintained a distance from the man as she followed him, watching his movements. She was led closer to the entrance of the city. There, there was what looked like an unassuming house besides the gate, only a story tall. The only oddity was that it was made of stone and no other building was around it for several tens of meters.

"That's certainly an odd place for a meeting," Claire commented. It wasn't exactly in the back alleys, but it was still rather suspicious.

The guard leading her laughed. "It's the commander's home away from home. Though his actual office is closer to the second section of the city, this is where he really manages and distributes most of his work."

Claire noticed the man was no longer nervous when he spoke of his boss. She stared around, there were quite a bit of guards passing by the location, with some entering and leaving that very house she was headed towards. At the very least, it didn't seem like the man lied.

"You seem proud of him," She said.

"We all are, miss."

For some reason, she imagined a smile.

"Here you go, miss," The man said as he held the swinging wooden door open.

"Thank you."

Claire nodded and entered.

The place was bright thanks to the windows at either side. Yet, the space wasn't all that spacious. Directly only a few meters in front of her, Evan Macron stood before chairs and a desk, dressed in his armor, sword at his side.

"Welcome," He said, smiling.

As soon as she reached the center of the room, a bright light shined. Claire looked down at a white circle, filled with runes and symbols she couldn't read, shining. When she looked back up, Evan Macron had drawn his sword, silver eyes looking softly at her as he reached behind and took a pair of handcuffs from is table.

"This is an awfully odd welcome," Claire said.

She looked around her. Ten guards had entered the room with their swords drawn, shifting themselves around her.

"I'm supposing there are more guards stationed around this building right now?" She asked.

Evan Macron nodded. "You're quite right. No matter what, you are not leaving this building of your own free will."

Claire nodded, meeting his gaze.

"Why?"

At that, he sighed.

"I'm sorry, when I reported this morning's outing and your arrival to the City Lord. . ." He paused, eyes meeting hers, "He asked that I capture you and, if I couldn't, to kill you."

Claire was unfazed by his words and the guards surrounding her, however. Instead, she looked curiously at the shining light of the circle as well as the silver, metal handcuffs Evan held in his hands.

"I see," She muttered, "And what is this magic circle for?"

He raised a brow. "You don't know?"

"I'm afraid not."

He chuckled. "You are smart, but you haven't figured out this common knowledge yet?"

"Should I have?"

"Magic and most skills work through borrowing an aspect of the world's divinity by connecting to it with your mana. Naturally, though it's impossible to stop someone from utilizing their mana, we can stop that connection," He said. "The magic circle and these handcuffs are precisely how we do so."

"Oh, interesting," Claire muttered, finally understanding why they were not afraid to try and catch her.

"You don't seem fazed in the least bit? That's the first I've seen for a mage who has had their wings clipped."

Claire shrugged.

"I'm not only a mage, my physical attributes are quite strong on their own," She replied.

He shrugged himself. "Yet you seem to primarily fight with magic, and you don't seem like a noble, nor a person that has ever been a part of a military, so I doubt you know any Arts or how to utilize them."

At his words, Claire had to hand it to him, he was quite smart himself, deducing all of that when she had only shown how she fought once. Indeed, without her magic, she was likely not a match at close combat for a veteran like Evan and his men. Certainly not a match when she had no weapon and their Arts came into play. She herself had seen how Lara De. Frag and Vander Slade fought utilizing that power system.

"Please give up, miss," Evan said. "I really do not wish to harm you."

"Harm me?"

Claire sighed as she shook her head.

"You sad fools," She spoke, eyes as cold as ice, "I'm not borrowing my magic."

Evan Macron's silver eyes widened as he moved his blade.

"Stop her!"

The temperature of the room dropped.

"I have divinity over water."