The clanking of metal and the scraping was unnerving, but what truly scared her was the bloody aura emanating from the person.

’Even Master Daisaku’s aura did not scare me this much,’ Kairi thought as the pressure descended on her.

Her face turned pale and her eyes began to water.

Level 3... she was certain of it.

"Do not focus on him like that," Elda advised as she continued walking forward without waiting for Kairi to recover. "You will hurt yourself."

Kairi followed the advice immediately.

She had been using her senses at full power without reservation, trying to take in as much information as possible and that now seemed to be counterproductive.

And truly the pressure vanished as soon as she stopped and she ran after Elda.

Kairi had to catch her breath before focusing back on what was happening around them. She looked at Elda and frowned, but the expression disappeared just as fast.

’Why was she not affected?’ Kairi wondered.

One of the first things she had done when she saw Elda standing at the entrance of her tent was check her strength. She was certain Elda was Level 1.

’And even though he is Level 3, she does not seem to have any respect for him,’ Kairi observed.

In her clan, even if someone was not their direct leader, they still had to show basic respect to people stronger than them. It was almost like a universal rule.

Of course there were exceptions to this rule.

’The only time it differed was with a servant or someone far below or from a weaker power.’ Kairi’s eyes narrowed.

’But according to their information, the Morvath family was still new... They haven’t even begun recruiting regular members, do how did they have a Level 3, let alone a servant at one?’

"So how many of those should I be careful of around here?" Kairi asked.

"Only two of them... You will recognize them by their armour," Elda answered casually.

"Damn... The Morvath family has two Level 3s? Who are they?" Kairi asked casually.

This time, Elda seemed to catch on.

"What do you want with such information?" Elda’s tone turned colder... something Kairi did not think that was possible.

Even caught, Kairi did not panic after all a shinobi’s job was to infiltrate.

"I was just wondering," she said. "I mean, they are all wearing full suits of armour, so it is impossible to see their faces."

"And?" Elda stopped and turned to Kairi; her eyes seemed to want to bore a hole into her head.

"I was surprised... The Morvath family is new and even my Uesugi Clan does not have a Level 3 yet after many years of existing, so I was naturally curious."

Elda stayed silent as she used her Blood Sense on Kairi.

"I see you are not lying," Elda said.

’But something still seems off,’ she thought.

She had been on guard after all her job was to protect Jensen, and that included protecting him from people trying to get close for malicious reasons.

Kairi snickered, trying to play it off. "Like you can even tell if I am lying."

"I can," Elda said seriously as she turned around and continued the tour.

’Shit... Can she also do that?’ Kairi wondered but her face did not change. ’I also have to find out if they have more Level 3.’

Everything she was seeing here was absurd for a new family.

Even the Uesugi branch in Oakland could not casually throw around Level 2s for hidden operations like this let alone Level 3s.

What exactly was the Morvath family even doing here?

’They seem to be searching for something,’ she thought. ’What could it be?’

Her eyes drifted toward Elda. ’And she is already suspicious of me.’

Finally, they moved deeper into the camp and Elda eventually stopped near the end.

A large tent stood there, guarded by an armoured figure. The moment Kairi’s eyes landed on him, every instinct in her body screamed at her.

Danger.

’But he is not Level 3,’ Kairi’s eyes twitched. ’So not only are their Level 3s a problem, but also their Level 2s.’

There was one big question. How many were there?

Unlike with the Level 3, where she was almost injured by just the aura, Kairi was able to scan this one and the more she scanned him, the more something felt off.

She did not know how to put it, but they felt... unnatural.

As she observed him, she noticed he barely moved a muscle.

He stood absolutely still and he did not shift posture. His attention seemed laser focused on making sure nothing came near the tent.

The moment her gaze and senses lingered too long, the helmet slowly turned toward her, as if assessing her.

Kairi felt cold sweat form on her back.

What the hell are these things? Even most Level 2s did not pressure her this much.

Elda spoke calmly. "The main command tent... Do not go closer than this unless invited."

Kairi nodded slowly. "I see."

This time, she did not bother asking any questions. She was sure Elda would not answer.

Elda glanced toward the training grounds. "I need to continue training."

Kairi nodded. "Thank you for the tour."

Elda stared at her for a moment and without another word, she turned around and walked away.

Kairi watched her leave silently, lost in thought. She took a last glance at the command tent before turning around and leaving herself.

She spent the next several hours wandering around the camp, carefully observing and listening more than anything.

Apart from the unnerving guards, Elda and the dual sword man, no one had a problem answering her questions, so she learned a lot surprisingly quickly.

The workers were mostly hired mercenaries and former slaves and to the best of their knowledge, the camp had only existed for a short period but was growing rapidly.

The Morvath family seemed to have money... A lot of it.

She guessed they had gotten most of it from the bandit camp they had raided and destroyed... That was also most likely funding this operation.

One piece of information she still had not gotten was what exactly they were searching for.

The only time Kairi stopped gathering information was when she stayed beside Aiko.

Aiko still looked exhausted emotionally, even if she tried to hide it so Kairi stayed close during meals and conversations, making sure no one suspicious approached her.

But eventually, duty won again.

Late into the afternoon, Kairi quietly slipped away from the main camp.

She didn’t go too far, just enough until she found a hidden depression between several thick roots and collapsed rocks.

She scanned her surroundings repeatedly and only when she was certain no one was around, was she satisfied.

Only then did she relax slightly.

She pulled out a strange square-shaped device from her spatial ring. She took another quick look around before activating it.

Almost instantly, the connection connected and a hazy figure appeared.

"Father..." A genuine smile appeared on Kairi’s face.

"Kai... How are you?" A slightly distorted voice sounded from the other end; the concern was visible. "How was the journey? Are you safe? Was there any issue?"

"No, I am fine, Father but we do not have much time... Some of them are already suspicious of me."

"Okay... What do you have to report?" The tone turned professional.

"The Morvath family is not what it seems. I have confirmed the existence of two Level 3s, but I do not know how many more they have."

"Two?" The person on the other end sounded surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yes... I made sure to meet them." Kairi answered. "I think I should come back to town so I can help you."

The person paused. "No... Stay there... It is better if you are there."

They both fell silent for a few seconds.

"Is there any other news?" the person asked.

"No... I mean yes... They seem to be searching for something out here, although I am unable to tell what."

"Good... Stay there... Try to build a relationship with them." The voice softened. "Take care of yourself, darling."

"You too, Father."

The connection cut off.

Kairi stared into space for a few seconds then she stood up and made her way back to camp.

***

{Back in Oakland Town}

Taro stared down at the communicator in his hands... It looked exactly like the copy of the one in Kairi’s hands.

He kept the communicator in his spatial ring then he turned formless and dashed off.

Almost half an hour later, Taro reached his destination.

He stopped at an ordinary looking house on a regular looking street, and he went in through the window.

He made his way down to the basement.

"Have you gotten anything back from Kairi?" Daisaku asked as he looked up.

"Yes... I spoke to her and came here immediately."

"What did she report?"

"He took them to a small base outside the town, deep in the forest."

"Anything we need to know or be careful of?"

"No... Nothing." Taro answered without a single change in his expression.