His response left Allen gobsmacked. Red didn’t give him time to think, though, and pointed towards the back alley.

“We need to get going before someone notices us.”

“Right.” Allen came back to his senses and nodded.

The two made their way back to the sect in a hurry, while still keeping to the shadows. At this time of night, there was almost no one in the streets, though, and they had no problem in remaining unnoticed. Red, however, remained cautious and made some use of his crimson sense. He didn’t detect anyone pursuing them, and that allowed him to relax somewhat.

They eventually made their way back to the abandoned sect street. As the gate came into sight, Allen hurried his steps, eager to return home. Red, however, held him back.

“Someone’s waiting for us.”

Now that he wasn’t surrounded by people, the boy could make use of his crimson power without limitations. The first thing he had noticed was a fluctuation in front of the sect’s gate.

“How do you know?” Allen looked at him in confusion.

“You already asked me that before. I said it was a secret.”

“So, what do we do?” the young master’s confusion was quick to turn into concern.

“He’s expecting us, so there’s no point in hiding.” Red shook his head and continued walking.

Allen hesitated. In the end, though, he followed behind him. As they approached the gate, the identity of the fluctuation became clear to Red. He swung the gate open, and a few meters ahead of him, he saw Domeron sitting on his rocking chair. The man was staring at the two boys, and Allen froze after meeting his eyes.

“What are you doing outside this late?” Red asked.

Domeron scoffed. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?”

The boy shrugged. “I suppose.”

The swordsman ignored Red’s response and looked at Allen instead. “I’m surprised, kid. I’d never have expected you to violate the old man’s orders like this.”

The young master looked flustered. “We were just playing outside! We were not doing anything dangerous.”

“What about that?” Domeron pointed at the large ornate box Red was carrying.

“We just stumbled on it.”

“In the middle of the street?”

“We were very surprised too!”

Domeron sighed in disappointment.

He looked back at Red again. “Are you going to tell me the truth?”

Red hesitated. “Depends on if I’ll be punished for it.”

“That depends on who you stole that from.”

The boy hesitated again. When he looked back at Allen, though, he noticed the young master had lost his composure and was looking at Red for help. It seemed this decision fell onto his shoulders.

In the end the youth decided against lying. Now that they were caught, the man would eventually find out about what happened either way.

“We were investigating someone.”

Domeron frowned. “Who?”

“One of the imperial agents.”

The swordsman's expression changed into a frown. “The imperial agents? How do you even know who they are?”

“We don’t.” Red shook his head. “Well, we didn’t. We staked out one of the inns in town and spotted someone who fit the descriptions. We followed him back to the Adventurer’s Guild and found the room he was staying in. After he left, I broke in and took the box.”

Domeron was shocked into silence.

Eventually, the man regained his composure and straightened his posture. “You two did all of this by yourselves?”

Red nodded.

Domeron held onto his temples and closed his eyes. “Were you spotted?”

The boy shook his head.

The man sighed. “You know, I’d say I was impressed if it wasn’t for the enormous risk you two just took. How do you even know this man was the imperial agent?”

“He was acting suspiciously. Even if he wasn’t the agent, his actions were enough to warrant further investigation.” Red said.

Of course, this wasn’t the real reason he had gone along with Allen’s plans, but Domeron didn’t need to know about that.

The man made the two of them recount the whole matter from the beginning and asked a lot of questions, including about the appearance of the tall blonde man and the mercenary.

“That guy fits the description of the imperial agent we received.” Domeron nodded. “As for the other one, I do not know who he is… Still, why did the two of you decide to do this in the first place? It was a stupid idea.”

Red didn’t respond and looked at Allen instead.

The young master stuttered before regaining some form of confidence. “I had to do something! You guys knew about the imperial agents and did nothing!”

“We had a reason for it, kid. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to do anything, but acting too soon might be detrimental to our objectives in the long run.”

“That’s what you always say, though!” Allen remained unconvinced. “This isn’t the first time this has happened either! All you guys say is to wait for the right time, but you never tell me what the plan is in the first place!”

The young master’s outburst silenced Domeron.

The man, however, didn’t respond and looked at Red instead. “You should have dissuaded him.”

”That’s not my responsibility.” Red shrugged.

“… I can’t win with you brats.” Domeron massaged his temple in frustration. “You know I need to tell Hector about this, right?”

Allen’s countenance changed. "Can’t you keep it a secret?”

“I can, but when these imperials turn the town upside down in search of their belongings, he’ll find out either way.” the man shook his head. “Besides, now that we've kicked the hornet's nest, we might as well make the best of the situation.”

Domeron looked at the large box in Red’s hands.

“Have you opened it yet?”

“No.” the boy shook his head. “It’s locked, and it might be trapped too.”

“Smart thinking. Let’s go have Goulth check it then, shall we?”

Red hesitated. “He’s sleeping. We shouldn’t wake him up.”

“It’s an urgent matter. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“… He’ll be angry at me.”

“Well, you can’t back out of it now, can you?”

“… I suppose not".”

The three of them made their way to Goulth’s workshop.

…

“You fucking stole something again?!”

The giant’s screams echoed through the house.

“Am I raising a blacksmith or a thief?! Bah, you might as well have been Rimold’s apprentice instead!"

Red received the man’s rebuke in silence.

“God, and here I was thinking about teaching you locksmithing too! If I do that, though, you might rob the entire town blind!”

Domeron finally interjected. “Goulth, you can scold him later. We need to open this box as soon as possible.”

His words seemed to convince the blacksmith. “Fine! But you’re the one who’s going to explain this mess to Hector.”

Goulth picked up his tools and began to work on the container. Red, who was familiar with the operation, watched the giant with interest while Allen looked on anxiously from behind.

A minute later, a frown appeared in Goulth’s expression. “This is a complicated lock. Might take me a while to get it open.”

“So long as you can still open it.” Domeron nodded.

Twenty minutes passed with no success. At this point, the atmosphere in the room had become tense, and they all waited in anticipation. Finally, there was a loud click.

“Aha!” Goulth exclaimed in joy. He didn’t lift the lid, though, and leaned back into his chair.

“This was the easy part. Now it’s about detecting any traps.”

Domeron frowned. “I can’t imagine imperials not leaving anything behind in case the box got stolen.”

“That’s my worry too.” Goulth nodded. “But if it’s only mechanical traps, then I can still detect them. If it’s a magical trap, though, that’s another matter.”

“Can’t you detect their Spiritual Energy?” Red asked.

“It’s not that simple. These traps are meant to be hidden from common folk, and they don’t emit any obvious energy. Maybe only a cultivator like Hector could detect it with his improved sensitivity to Spiritual Energy.”

“So we still need to ask him for help?”

Goulth shrugged. A few seconds of awkward silence went by in the room. Domeron, however, finally spoke up.

“Let me check it.”

“Are you sure?” Goulth looked back at the man in surprise. “Even if you can detect them, it doesn’t mean you can disarm them.”

“I might not be a true cultivator, but I still have my means.” Domeron nodded. “Just make sure you’re ready to open the box.”

The blacksmith hesitated, but still stepped back in the end. Red examined Domeron in confusion. He had no clue what the man could do to detect any magical traps.

The swordsman approached the box and fished something out of his pocket. It was a small, blue, crystal pendant. It looked beautiful, but didn’t seem to be special as far as Red could tell.

Goulth's expression slowly changed into a smile after he saw the item. “I see, so you have that kind of treasure. And here I thought you were about to use some kind of special ability.”

The blacksmith’s words confused Red.

Allen also seemed to share his bewilderment. “What treasure is that?”

Domeron was the one to respond. “It’s a Weaver Crystal. It acts as a disruptor to strands of Spiritual Energy and it can cause formations to stop working for a short period.”

“That kind of thing exists?” Allen looked shocked.

Red was also staring at the item in wonder. The swordsman didn’t respond to them, however, and instead waved the pendant around the box. There was no reaction at first, but as the object passed over a certain section of the container, it began to tremble on its own. Domeron’s hand froze over that section, and the man frowned.

“Does that mean there is a magical trap?” Allen asked.

“Very likely.” Domeron nodded. “Or a strong Spiritual Item. Either way, this seems to be the only part of the box with any kind of reaction. Goulth, you can do your work, but be quick.”

The blacksmith, who was at the ready with his tools, nodded and got to work. In a procedure Red was familiar with, the giant lifted the lid slightly and examined the insides of the box for any traps. Goulth’s expression changed at what he found.

“Fuck…”

The man’s curse was a sign as to how complicated the matter was. Still, he worked fast and with precision, as Domeron had requested. The pendant wavered even more intensely in the meantime, and the swordsman's expression changed.

“Can you be quicker?”

Goulth grumbled. “Right, right… I’m done!”

Finally, the giant threw the lid open and examined the insides of the box in a hurry. Sure enough, a small magical circle was located at the area Domeron’s pendant had wavered, and the blacksmith scraped the marking off in a hurry.

“There, it should be safe now!”

Domeron quickly pulled the pendant back and dashed away. On the other side of the room, Red and Allen braced themselves for a sudden explosion, but it didn’t come. Goulth, who remained by the side of the box, looked at their exaggerated reactions and frowned.

“What, you don’t trust me, you bastards?!”

No one responded.

Domeron, who had composed himself, tried to change the subject. "Let’s see what’s inside the box, shall we?”

Finally, all of them approached the container and looked inside. What they saw, though, shocked them into silence.

“Is that… Talismans?” Allen asked.

Dozens of slips of paper were lined up inside the box, covered by different symbols and markings. One type stood out in particular, as it made for the majority of the treasures.

“Communication talismans…” Goulth said.