Enigma of Sin

Charlotte called Kayn to let him know they would reconvene at the safe house the next day as some groups were going to take longer than others to get situated. Kayn decided to spend this time with Lara as the avatar inside of the Villa had been taking care of her for the past few days.

He felt it was disingenuous of him for her to not have any contact outside of a fake image of himself, but it couldn't be helped the last few days. He cooked some fancy macaroni and cheese for her and proceeded to play with her until she fell asleep.

As for himself, he decided to sleep as well since he had been staying awake and on high alert constantly for the past few days. While he could probably go for a few weeks if not a month without sleep at this point, it was best to get some rest in when he could.

…

With only two days left before the semester started up again and one day until he had to report to Director Vix, Kayn was relieved that this mission was coming to a close. The little boy he was supposed to rescue had been delivered to his parents already, so all Kayn had to do was go back to the branch office and turn in the contract for completion.

However, before that…loot distribution! The group of 10 including Kayn all gathered in the room they had first met in and began to empty out the spatial items that they had gathered. Kayn also contributed by first switching his personal funds, family's ring, father's core, and whatever he purchased into his own sash before dumping the rest of what was inside and giving the ring back to Charlotte who placed it back onto her own finger.

First, the money was all separated out and any that should belong to Kayn or Charlotte was given to them before the rest was split 10 ways. Everyone gained hundreds of platinum as well as a couple emerald each. As it turned out, Phillip was carrying quite the amount of money on him, so they all profited from this venture.

Next came the items that were gathered. Unfortunately, no one really thought that many of the items left over after the auction were all that useful. They divvied it up based upon estimated prices of items so that everyone could sell what they got for approximately equal amounts.

Kayn himself had selected a few items that were among the piles though, such as an enchanted alchemy cauldron that was graded as an epic item according to his Analyze skill. Although he hadn't been able to study alchemy yet, he was bound to someday, and having a great cauldron would help him significantly when he did.

Otherwise, most of what he selected were materials that he was hoping to find a use for once he actually started getting into trade crafts. Some of the materials were even going to be useful for the bow he was going to request Tina to craft.

The great axe wielder received the previous security captain's armor as it was a full plate armor that was both enchanted and inscribed. While the captain wasn't able to show off the armor's usefulness due to his opponent being far above his level, the axe wielder said he would definitely get some good use out of it in the future once he changed the outer appearance.

Last came the SS-class rune beast wolf's body. As it had a core stone, that was given to Yelena since she slayed the beast. It was a wind attributed wolf, so while Yelena wouldn't be able to use the core stone herself, she could have something made out of it or sell it off for a hefty profit.

The wolf meat was supposed to be a delicacy, so everyone got a little bit of it to eat. Kayn had known he would be fine for a while now, but he felt bad for Obsidian Void Dragons as they would have to be careful what they ate. If the meat was from a rune beast far above their level, the most likely outcome for them was death. Kayn wasn't too worried about himself, but he would definitely keep this meat far away from Lara.

The organs and blood were also distributed based upon desire and Kayn wasn't one of the people who wanted them, so he received a full paw of claws and the lower jaw teeth. He wasn't sure what he was going to use them for, but they would be useful for something. Lastly came the pelt, which the dagger wielder asked for as he was a wind and dark elemental magic warrior and wanted to make armor out of it.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the room tied up and gagged, the woman watched with tears running down her eyes as her precious companion was being bargained over by a bunch of people she stood no chance against.

Phillip had already resigned to his fate as he knew they captured him solely to interrogate him about the slave trade, but the woman just couldn't figure out why they captured her as well rather than just killing her.

She didn't have any information about the underground auction or the slave trade other than knowing about them. She also wasn't privy to much classified information about the Carnet Empire, not that this group seemed interested in the inner workings of it. So just why?

Watching the rune beast she raised from a pup be sliced and separated into pieces was torture and in of itself.

It soon became apparent that her fate was going to rest with the puny 4th stage who had done the initial invasion into the auction house. The rest of the group departed and went their separate ways after the loot distribution was completed and only Charlotte, Yelena, and Kayn were left.

Yelena gave a glancing look at Kayn before walking over to Phillip and tossing him over her shoulder like a sack. She then began walking towards the door to leave with him.

"See ya next time kid, it was fun! Charlotte, I'll take him to the spot, you can meet us there when your business here is all finished up."

Once she was gone and the door was shut, Charlotte walked over to the woman and hit her with a swift strike to the back of the neck, instantly turning the lights off for her.

"Now, tell me what happened." Charlotte spoke in a stern and serious tone as she sat down on the couch gesturing for Kayn to sit opposite of her.

"Mmm, one second." Kayn said as he didn't feel comfortable talking about such things with the woman in the room, even if she was unconscious. He quickly pulled out the Villa in its tent form and entered inside with the woman, carrying her to the empty basement room that functioned as his makeshift dungeon for now.

She was fully sealed, having no ability to use her mana. Kayn also made sure to chain her up nice and tight in order to keep her from moving. Even if she woke up, she wouldn't be able to do anything, so Kayn wasn't worried in the slightest. He activated a few formations specific to the room that would activate if it was damaged or anyone unauthorized tried to exit from it.

Kayn even took a small bit of the woman's blood and added it to the registry so that he could put the Villa back in his soul. This was only a temporary measure though as she definitely wouldn't be living very much longer and he assumed the registry would erase her signature after she died.

As Kayn walked out of the tent, it vanished back into his hand. Kayn was then greeted by the wide eyes of Charlotte who had never seen this particular artifact before nor did she know exactly what it was.

She had her speculations that it was an artifact linked to his soul, but she had never seen one in person or even owned one. In all of her long years of life, if this turned out to be one, it would be the first she had personally witnessed.

"Kayn…what was that?"

Kayn brought down the hood, finally revealing his face as he sheepishly scratched his cheek. "Ah it's just something I got from Elder Earthborn."

Charlotte hesitated a little bit as it was rude to pry into another's personal belongings, but she couldn't help herself and ended up speaking out, "Is it a noumenon artifact?"

Kayn raised his eyebrows a bit in surprise, but it really shouldn't have come as a surprise that she could recognize such a thing.

"It wasn't at first, but my blood reacted well with the core and it evolved into one. Ever since then, I've used it as my mobile safe house. It's also where Lara stays whenever I'm busy."

"Incredible…" Charlotte murmured to herself. "Please give me a tour inside sometime if possible. I would like to see it more in depth if you're willing to show me."

"Sure, that's fine with me, but that will have to wait as we are on a bit of a time crunch. Now, onto what happened. In short, the auction house and Carnet Empire came to some sort of agreement and they were selling two things that belonged to my family. My father's mana core and our Void Dragon Clan's dimensional ring.

"I asked for the woman as I wanted to know if she has any information on what happened and why my family was targeted. While I don't hold much hope, she might know something."

As Kayn finished speaking, Charlotte nodded her head in understanding, but that still didn't answer what she was really wanting to know. Giving Kayn a look that told him he wasn't going anywhere without telling her what was going on, he sighed.

"You remember when you threatened to kill me because you were worried about the 'darkness' inside of me?" Kayn asked with finger quotes and Charlotte coughed but nodded her head in affirmation.

"That was it. I'm slowly gaining control over it, but whenever something happens that can make me truly angry in the deepest fibers of my being, it comes out. You could say it empowers me to vent my wrath upon whatever is causing me to become angry in the first place. Does that answer satisfy you?"

Charlotte just stared at Kayn in silence for a few moments before sighing herself. "You know, you don't have to bear so many burdens all alone. I can help you, you just have to let me."

"I understand," Kayn gave her a small bow before he continued, "however, this is something that I have to deal with alone for now. If there ever comes a time where I'm overwhelmed by it all, rest assured I will come looking for you."

"Very well. I'll get going now, I suggest you do the same." Charlotte spoke as she stood up, departing the room soon after.

Kayn sighed as he switched out his current suit and hood for the Garments of the Shadow Phoenix and the Deceiver's Mask before he too left the room.

A few hours later he arrived at the branch office in the southern middle district where he completed the contract and received his fees as well as the bonus for killing the secondary target.

By the time the sun was coming up, Kayn arrived back at his residence in the academy. It was the day before the semester began, so Kayn had to check in with Director Vix and update Maria about his lecture schedule and lessons.

Once all of the required check-ins and preparations were all completed, Kayn played with Lara for a few hours but ended up leaving the avatar to put her to bed. He had a date with an ambassador to attend.