They had already sat inside of this hideout for a bit of time, everyone was doing their own thing.
Cyril, for example, played with Morpho on the side while talking to Rhamn in the meantime.
"We shouldn't try our chances with the Power Society right now, but what about Lapis?" Jack proposed in the midst of his relaxation.
Kenneth, who was simply sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, contemplated for a few seconds.
"That's not out of the question. Given there might be some danger due to Jeff's unfortunate passing. We haven't noticed anyone observing his place, but there is a possibility someone in Lapis already knows about what happened."
"It's fine, I am sure we can deal with them." Jack waved his hand in response.
Kenneth shook his head, then looked at Cyril, who was vaguely listening in. "We should also consult Cyril on this. What do you say?"
Cyril froze, he was currently trying to catch Morpho while she tried to evade with all her butterfly grace.
"It's already getting a bit late. I still have some business to take care of, let's do that some other time." He replied and continued with his actions. He would rather not be on the streets when the sun goes down.
"There you have it." Kenneth spread his hands and went back to resting.
"Alright..." Jack was somewhat disappointed. "And when is that 'some other time'?"
"Maybe next weekend. It depends on what happens during Hollowing. Cyril didn't even lift his head to look at him.
The room became a bit quiet after these words. Looks like they didn't expect something like this.
"Katherine won't like that..." said Gethyn with helplessness.
"It's ok, I'll convince her. This was originally a side project anyways," Kenneth said without any hard feelings, at least none showed on his face.
Truthfully, Cyril even considered ignoring this group for as long as he could and investigating with Myra later.
"We need the Black Tulip. And this criminal group wants to give it away to a trading company." Rhamn urgently voiced her opinion. It looked like she was almost afraid of Cyril missing any more of that miraculous stone.
Don't worry. I'll try my best to prevent that. Cyril stopped paying attention to the group.
Now Morpho was on the offensive, she tried to hit Cyril's hand while he tried his best to dodge.
Rhamn didn't know for whom to cheer and watched the game with a troubled face.
...
"It's clear," Jack returned from the outside with a grin.
Not that long ago, he volunteered to check the situation on the surface. Plenty of time has passed, and people judged it was fine to go out now.
Finally...
Cyril quickly got up from his seat and approached the exit. He felt he wasted enough time in here.
"Wait a moment," Kenneth called out, "Be careful on your way home. Some thugs might still be searching. It would be a good idea to change your clothes as well"
Cyril only nodded his head and left without looking back. Gethyn and Jack both said their goodbyes to his disappearing back.
"Keep the crystal I gave you. If something changes, we'll contact you through it!" And with these thoughtful words, he was gone from the hideout.
He carefully lifted the sewer lid and, upon finding it safe, climbed out back to the streets.
Is the smell still here? I can't tell... Cyril observed his clothes. While they looked clean, he couldn't help but feel disgusted by them.
"Maybe we'll have to burn them..."
Feeling helpless, he went towards the closest manarail station.
On the way, Cyril kept his vigilance high but hasn't encountered any thugs.
He reached all the way back to Ailanthus with no accident in the middle.
I am not too unlucky, it seems. He breathed a sigh of relief.
The moment Cyril stood on the territory of Ailanthus, he immediately relaxed.
Be it trust in the academy's competency or in Margaret's power and reputation, being here put his heart at ease.
He felt at home here, with the familiar castle in the vicinity.
"I wonder how Tigris has been doing. Maybe he has had some good progress while we were gone." Rhamn missed the mighty tiger.
Let's hope he didn't go pester Ophelia for snacks...
Cyril too was curious but kept his expectations low. The tiger was still growing up, so it was fine to laze around a bit.
Recently he had the realization that he and Morpho were on different playing fields.
Morpho was born as a butterfly, which was already a fully grown creature. She could practice and become stronger to her insect heart's content without any issue.
While Tigris was born as a cub, he still needed time to properly show what he is capable of. After all, you wouldn't force a baby to learn martial arts.
"That's right! Just so you know, Tigris's growth is rather significant. He already has more mana than Morpho, and he is still a cub!" Rhamn proudly declared.
Morpho, who heard that too, fluttered her wings, her mood becoming competitive. She wasn't going to lose to someone younger than her.
"Speaking of rivalry... Do you remember what you promised?" Rhamn smiled with mischief.
Of course. Let me get home first. Cyril replied with helplessness.
...
The one downside to Cyril's new place of residence is that it was further from the main building than before.
On this long walk he encountered a bit of a commotion. In front of one of the dormitories was gathered a crowd, angrily clamoring something.
This should be Myra and Rose's dormitory...
Getting slightly interested, he took a detour and moved closer.
People were so heated that they didn't even notice the boogeyman of class I approaching.
They were surrounding someone, not paying attention to anything else.
To Cyril's surprise, in the middle of them all, listening to all the complaints, was Myra, who was holding a trembling fox in her arms.
"Myra, that's enough! You should take better care of your cat. It scratched all my clothes in the wardrobe!"
"It scratched me!"
"It ate my food!"
"It bit me!"
The crowd yelled in righteous fury.
Looks like Ammy was busy.
With this the situation became clear: Myra's new pet was a rather mischievous one, it seems.
Myra stood in the middle of the crowd, her face wearing a frown, but she didn't rebuke any of the claims.
At some point she noticed a familiar face among the crowd, and Cyril got the illusion that a light bulb appeared above her head.
With brightened eyes, she raised the confused fox in the air and waved it to the sides, "Cyril! You are here!"
It was like cold water was poured on everyone, they slowly and cautiously turned their heads to where Myra was looking.
Sure enough, Cyril Felling stood there, a butterfly on his shoulder as usual.
People close to him immediately started backing off, creating some space.
And Myra used this opportunity to escape.
"Let's go," she quickly said and walked away.
Cyril took one last glance at the now calm crowd and followed after her.
...
"I am sorry for using you like this..." Myra apologetically said to him after a while.
She stopped leading the way, instead trudging along whenever Cyril was going with a frustrated face.
"It's fine." Cyril honestly replied. He was currently heading back to his home.
Then, with a slight smile, he looked at Ammy. "Is it hard to look after her?"
The little fox, disguised as a cat, was bobbing her head up and down, looking excited to meet him.
Myra heaved a long and heavy sigh, then smiled somewhat tiredly, "It's... not quite as I imagined." She hugged the fox tighter.
"I left for some business today and left Ammy alone at home. When I came back, someone already caught her... it was a mess."
She looked at Cyril with hope. "You have two pets. How do you usually teach them they can't do something? The people back then were right, Ammy's mess was my fault, and I want to get better."
Cyril's smile faltered, and he thought hard about how to reply to her.
I don't really... do that. He thought somewhat awkwardly.
Their unique connection made sure that there was no need for such things. Rhamn could easily and effectively convey the right meaning.
Tigris was warned not to scratch random people, and so far there have been no accidents.
Besides, they are not pets...
"That's right. These are our family members!"
Still, to Myra's eyes shining with hope and respect, he couldn't just say he can't help her.
"I can't say for certain. Every animal needs a different approach..." He contemplated for a bit.
"Ammy is a magic creature, so she is smarter than your regular pet, and she can feel one's emotions. Try to have an honest heart-to-heart with her. Properly explain why she can't do some things, and convey your honest feelings." He made stuff up on the spot.
It at least sounded correct.
Myra thought so too, because she nodded her head up and down excitedly, "I see, I see. Thank you."
This works.
"She is too simple!"