10:00 AM

Knock Knock

Click

The door clicked open as the caring Martha entered the room while pushing a small trolley.

"Master! I brought breakfast."

Martha called out for Sigil, who was currently taking a shower.

After his meeting with Ivan, Sigil decided to train in basic exercises. He had only entered the bathroom for a couple of minutes before Martha barged in.

'How rude!' 

Sigil sighed.

Sigil loved to have a good bath. He wasn't particular about staying neat and clean, but it was more about the water pressure. He shook his head as he wrapped himself in his towel and got out of the bathroom, encountering a cheerful Martha looking towards him while eating the breakfast with shining eyes.

Even though Martha had a status of a maid, nobody actually really treated her like a maid. It was Martha herself who liked to act around Sigil.

The breakfast trolley was stationed near the bed while Martha was sitting on the edges of the bed with a plate on her laps. 

"You know, it wouldn't hurt you to give me some privacy."

Sigil's bedroom only had two partitions. One for the bed and the wardrobe, while the other was for the bathroom.

"Oh come on, Master! We both have already seen each other naked. What's the point of getting shy now?"

She spoke as she took another bite of the breakfast. 

"Do whatever you want."

Sigil refused to take the towel off as he took his clothes inside the bathroom and then exited after getting fully dressed.

He brought his chair near the trolley and immediately started eating the breakfast alongside Martha.

"Master, would you like to accompany me in the familiar farm of the family?"

Familiars are an extremely important part of a witch's life. In the three main studies of the Witchcraft, the familiars are the main reason for the study of 'Nurture'.

The study of Nurture not only strengthens the familiar, but it also provides certain benefits to the master of the familiar.

"Do you even need to ask?" He commented lightly as he ate with gusto.

Martha wasn't a true blood of the family and neither was she brought in by an Elder of the family, making her status extremely low.

Unlike Martha, Sigil was brought up by the family head himself! Not only was he treated as a young master, but he was also treated as a true grey!

He could choose a familiar from the family's elite group of familiars.

Seeing that her invitation was accepted easily, Martha smiled.

"So, Master. When do you plan to bed young mistress Alicia." She asked and acted in a subservient manner.

Looking at her acting, Sigil could only roll his eyes.

"Stop with your act. How about I bed you?" 

Even though he said this, his actions were completely opposite. He did not stop eating at all!

The trolley had two compartments filled with food. Why would he stop eating?

"Well, you know that I won't say no to my dear master."

"Yeah, yeah. Just eat."

He responded in a dispirited expression.

He really felt tired talking with Martha. 

Even though their relationship was a little complicated, they always manage to bypass their awkwardness by making silly jokes and mature humour on their previous act.

Well, at least, the new Sigil did this. The previous owner acted like a horny rabbit, ready to hump in a moment's notice. 

Sigil shook his head and switched on the television.

"Hey! You are ignoring me again?"

"If you won't shut up, then yes!"

Sigil replied honestly and watched the television as he ate his breakfast in peace, or at least, he tried to eat in peace.

A polite knock could be heard followed by a voice.

"Young Master Sigil, Family Head has asked for every single Elder of the family to attend an emergency meeting. He also asked for your presence."

Sigil sighed and stood up.

"Well, this family doesn't let anyone eat peacefully." Martha snorted.

"You are the one to talk."

Sigil rolled his eyes and stood up.

***

Ricardo, on the other hand, had already arrived in the town of the one-star case. He was asking some questions regarding the victims when he looked at his watch.

"It seems about right. The opening of Grimoire World."

Ricardo muttered.

Only he knew how much he wanted to join this trip to Grimoire world. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts.

Even with his knowledge about the future, he was still moved by the opportunities in this Grimoire world.

His gaze flashed as he remembered the scene of Sigil bowing in front of him.

His gaze looked a little conflicted, but soon he sighed and carried on with his own task of solving the case. If he wasn't wrong, there was a newborn familiar in the area, causing all the suffering.

***

In the meeting room of the Grey Family.

"We just received the news of the sightings of a Grimoire World!"

John announced, his tone grim.

Beside him stood a bulky middle-aged man with a crew cut and trimmed Beard. 

His name was Bert Grey. The Supreme Elder of the Grey Family, second only to John and a loving father to Bethany Grey.

In front of him sat other elders of the family. At the end were two young kids— Alicia and Sigil.

"Why were we called?"

Alicia whispered to Sigil.

He looked at Alicia strangely.

"If you don't know, how the hell am I supposed to know?"

Alicia's expression froze and soon turned into a wry smile. He was correct!

"We were able to block the news from going out, but the neighbouring families have already caught wind of the news. Including us, there are a total of four families. Our technicians are blocking all the news regarding the matter but we are still on a clock."

As John spoke, the facial expressions of all the elders turned into an excited one. Even Linda felt her face heating due to the excitement.

Energy Gates, Chakra Points and Grimoire Master.

These were the three stages of Witchcraft. 

Even the Grey Family had never produced a single Grimoire Master. After all, they were the elite of elites.

"Uhm"

Bert coughed lightly.

Such a light cough proved to be effective as all the Elders were startled awake from their excitement.

John looked at them and nodded.

"The exploration will be led by Bert while I and other three family heads will stand guard outside the Grimoire world. No matter what lucky gains you get, you are entitled to keep it. But the exploration team of all the three families have a time limit of two days. After that, we, the family heads will explore the Grimoire world. There is no objection, right?"

Such a condition was extremely lucrative and nobody had any objections. Unlike other families where the Elders were supposed to give a cut of their gains to the family, John Grey gave them all the benefits.

Meanwhile, Sigil's eyes shined. 

He suddenly remembered that John was also a professional scholar. 

Such a method was extremely effective to boost the morale of the Elders to get as much benefit as they can. This will increase their own family's foundation while the resources left for other families will be extremely low.

"Gather all the juniors who have not left for their missions and prepare to move out. You have 20 minutes. Sigil and Alicia will stay here, others may leave."

John spoke out as all the Elders including Bert bowed towards John and left the meeting room.

"Do you guys know where the Grimoire world emerged from?"

John asked both of them.

Sigil and Alicia shook their heads. 

"Chestcovia City."

"What?"

Alicia and Sigil felt a chill in their hearts.

Every time a Grimoire world emerges, the surroundings will face some kind of disastrous calamity.

The stronger the Grimoire World, the greater the area of impact.

"Yeah, the whole city has become a land of the dead. If you both hadn't left yesterday, you guys would have died as well. That is to say, the anonymous sender also warned you. From now on, if the sender contacts either of you, tell me immediately."

John spoke out gravely.

A Grimoire world is left behind a Grimoire Master as an inheritance. The Grimoire world will contain the spells, nurturing methods of certain familiars and other resources. 

The fact to know about the Grimoire World is that no one could deduce the location of an unerupted Grimoire World.

The fact that the Anonymous sender deduced the location meant that there may be certain Techniques and spells to deduce the coordinates of the Grimoire World, which could bring great profits to the family.

"Understood."

They both replied.

***

"Elder Linda, did you find anything about the sender?"

After separating with Alicia, Sigil immediately found Linda. He wanted to know about the progress in finding the anonymous sender. Besides Alicia and John, only he knew the true worth of such an informant. 

Linda was preparing for the expedition. Various tools were being packed alongside some exotic materials. Her familiar- The Three-tailed Spirit Fox was nowhere to be seen.

"We still haven't found the sender. Obviously, the sender knew what he was doing. Not even a single trace was left behind."

Linda spoke out. Even she was astonished when she couldn't track the sender.

"What about the list of familiars?"

"I will send that to you after the expedition."

"Mom! Where are my silver knives?"

A cute voice shouted as she entered the room.

It was Aria.

Aria's real parents died an unfortunate death in a case. They had just reached the title of an elder, but they ended up dying. At that point in time, Aria was only 4 years old. It was Linda who adopted Aria after the accident and they both have been living a good life since then.

"Ah! Big Brother Sigil! What are you doing here?"

She immediately hugged Sigil as she asked cutely.

Sigil chuckled and rubbed her small head.

"Just here to ask something."

Evidently, even Aria had to go to this expedition.

Linda and Aria were in their combat clothes. Unlike the fantasies of young blood, the combat clothes of Witches were extremely efficient, instead of showy.

Linda was wearing a Black T-Shirt with some markings on it. Her pants were a little baggy, her boots were solid yet flexible. On her belt were placed two pistols while a broad knife was strapped on to her thigh.

Meanwhile, Aria also had the same outfit.

The baggy pants were stretch and tear resistant, making them extremely effective in real life combat.

"Well, during the expedition, you will stick around with Sigil, alright?"

Linda said to Aria.

During the expedition, the Elders will explore the inner regions while the young generation will explore the outer region of the Grimoire world.

Sigil nodded at both of them and left for his own room to prepare for the expedition.

After getting into his combat clothes and preparing all the materials and weapons, he walked out of the room with a bag on his shoulders.

"Master, are you ready?"

Sigil controlled the blood in his nose, trying to prevent them from tearing his blood vessels and erupting like a volcano.

Martha had shown her worth as a Femme fatale.

Even the baggy combat pants looked a little tight on her legs!

"Even you are joining?"

"Of course."

This was a Grimoire World. Martha wouldn't want to be left out from such a lucky opportunity. She may very well enter the realm of Chakra Points in this expedition.

Sigil nodded and walked towards the garage of the Estate. This time, he wanted to take out his own car for a spin.