Aniela's stiff face finally softened and her tense body relaxed as she saw that her younger brother was out of danger. She smiled bitterly and, out of habit, placed her right hand on Emir's head, ruffling his hair forcefully to settle her restless heart.

“A-Ani, I'm fine now, don't worry.” Emir would usually have complained and moved away from the hand that dared to mess up his perfectly groomed hair, but this time he let his sister do as she pleased, understanding her concern and distress.

Once she had enough, Aniela withdrew her hand and proceeded to heal the scratches on Yamile's body. When she was done, she quickly fixed the sleeve of her uniform and gave a series of orders to both boys.

Since the situation was so dire, they would need as much help as possible, so every available member of the Civil Force had to team up with a member of the Medical Brigade and assist as many people as possible.

“I received a message from Risna, and it seems that our district was not the only one that suffered damage.” Aniela decided to explain what happened to them while they hurried to another area to help the civilians. “She informed me that even the capital is in the same condition, and that the regents have decided to put the kingdom under alert level one.”

Loud gasps were heard on Aniela's sides, which was to be expected. The kingdom going on level one alert meant that the Disir army, made up of the four legions of Hathor's mightiest warriors, would spring into action.

The kingdom had already gone into alert three when the beasts rebelled, resulting in the dispatch of the Second Legion to the outskirts of Belenos. However, the rest of the legions were scattered throughout the world on confidential missions. 

Unless one held a high position and worked in the Seraphim Palace, meeting the members of these legions was unusual, but now not only would they be mobilized, but the most powerful and legendary Royal Legion would also come into action.

Both boys' eyes lit up with excitement. It could be said that every warrior, whether male or female, longed to be part of one of these legions and wear the dignified mantle that identifies its members, even if they were aware that their own skills did not meet even the minimum of the requirements demanded.

Even someone like Emir, who preferred sorting through documents behind a desk rather than being on a chaotic battlefield, felt unbridled pride and excitement welling up in his chest at the thought of his talented older brother returning home.

In an instant, Emir's expression changed drastically. Something about what his sister said had given him a feeling of incongruity, as if he had forgotten something extremely important. Aniela continued talking about what she knew without noticing that her brother had become absorbed in his thoughts.

“That's why the first hilmir…” she continued.

“AH!” Emir exclaimed, stopping abruptly.

Both Aniela and Yamile were startled and turned around quickly, thinking that something had happened to him.

“Emir?” They both asked at the same time, their faces furrowed with concern.

All the while, Emir couldn't stop cursing under his breath. He had been so shocked by the events so far that a very important detail had escaped him. His panic-stricken brown eyes fell on Yamile, but looking at his doubtful face, Emir knew immediately that his cousin's fish memory, who did not even remember what he had had for breakfast that morning, would not remember what had happened weeks before.

As expected from a thorough person like Aniela, she instantly realized that Emir was acting strange, perhaps hiding something, so she approached him and pressed him with her inquisitive gaze.

“Spit it out, now,” she ordered in a firm tone.

He knew it was better to tell the truth, even if it meant that the information would pass into the hands of Risna or her sister, and, consequently, to her superiors. With no other choice, Emir decided to be honest and reveal the fact that the second hilmir, Duman Vikram, along with several people acting incognito, had passed through the Darvaza Gate.

To their bad luck, just when Emir and Yamile had the night shift that week, a suspicious group tried to cross the gate without authorization from the border guards. Emir, preventing this thanks to his skills, managed to stop them even before they could approach the gate. However, as soon as they noticed the clothing of the suspicious group, they both regretted having gotten involved.

Even though they wore hooded long robes, the high quality of the fabrics and footwear they wore was evident even in the dark. Not to mention that each of their gestures and words carried the inherent haughtiness of the jarlar, nobles of the Hathor kingdom.

Being a jarl was not only about blood lineage, but also about an individual's skills, abilities and merits. Even if you were born a jarl, if your skills were not up to par, your family name would be removed once you came of age.

And even if you were a commoner, if your abilities were notorious and made an important discovery or performed an action worthy of recognition, then the great rhig or the great erna would grant you a family name along with a noble title and thus you would form a new house among the jarlar.

This is how the kingdom encouraged all individuals to develop to the limit of their capabilities.

In this case, the suspicious group was obviously made up of jarlar with powerful skills, enough to think about trespassing the gate without authorization. Simple guards could not stop them if they decided to use force, although they could delay them long enough to alert the sentries on the ramparts, who could hinder them.

However, before the two carried out their plan, the second hilmir chose to reveal his identity and silence them using the authority of his family. Obviously, both of them had no choice but to bow to the will of a direct descendant of the Vikrams.

But this did not mean that they could not write down the suspects' details, so Emir did not miss a single detail; from the number of people, types of mounts, and the few features or objects he managed to make out under the robes. Everything was memorized and then written down in a report, which now lay scattered on the floor of the booth.

As soon as Aniela finished listening to her brother, she quickly took out a black rectangle the size of a playing card from the inside pocket of her uniform jacket. After pressing a few buttons, the glass lit up with a hexagonal pattern on its surface.

Suddenly, a small hologram of a woman with short tousled hair appeared floating on the surface of the glass rectangle, which was a handheld transmitter. The woman's hair seemed black, but it was a very dark brown and, despite the small size of the hologram, the sharp curve her lips formed was impossible to miss.

Emir and Yamile felt a shiver run down their spines when the brunette's penetrating black eyes seemed to rest on them before focusing on Aniela. Even though they both knew she couldn't see them, that simple gesture was enough to make them take a few steps back.

‘Why Ravin?’ They both lamented their misfortune.

Although Risna had a more rigid character, she was at least a little easier to deal with than Ravin, whose emotions were impossible to decipher behind her friendly attitude. A sly smile appeared on the face of the woman in the hologram at the same time they were thinking that.

「I was right, wasn't I?」 A low and lethargic voice was heard from the transmitter. 

“Your mice were lurking around here.” Aniela, defeated by the brunette's sharpness, pursed her lips and went straight to the point.

「Tch.」 Ravin clicked her tongue in disapproval, but her face never lost its distinctive cheeky grin. 「I expected nothing less from my favorite rodents,」 she added mockingly.

From the moment the second hilmir hinted at the reckless idea of venturing into the Milbong rainforest under an uncertain assumption, formed with the clues found in ancient books about the eloah, the great rhig immediately ordered to keep him under surveillance, like the rest of the entourage of faithful followers of the apostle. However, at a certain point, the surveillance squads lost track of him.

「I would like to confirm something.」Ravin combed her hair back as she picked up a sheet of paper and read it listlessly. 「How many were there?」

Aniela then passed the transmitter to Emir, who received it as if it were burning coals. Ravin's deep eyes fell on him. Feeling the pressure in her gaze, Emir straightened his back and placed his hand on the right side of his chest, as a sign of honesty and loyalty.

“There were five of them. Two women and three men” he replied.

Ravin brought her hand to her chin, lost in her thoughts. Her black eyes moved from side to side, as if she were a cat stalking its prey. None of the people present dared to interrupt her when they saw her so focused. After a few seconds, she raised her head and said to Aniela:

「There should be seven of them. Two of my rodents are missing.」

“That means…” Aniela muttered, quickly exchanging glances with Yamile and Emir.

「They're still in Belenos.」 Ravin's sly smile widened, revealing a pair of dimples on her cheeks.

The time had come to let the hounds out to hunt.