The Placeholder (World Hopping)

1.9 Let Sleeping Bats Hang

"That's it. Clear?" Ruxin finished crisply, neatly trimmed almond fingernails tapping the table in a rhythm only she could follow.

"Crystal! Never been clearer!" A purple-haired woman leaned forward, every fiber of her body expressing enthusiasm.

Conversely, Ruxin sunk deeper into the plush seat, "As long as you remember the plan," and chased the other out before she could worsen her headache. Augusta's body was seriously on its last legs. Honestly, it didn't feel like she'd last the month. Ruxin cussed Vois out mentally.

Ebony's heavy purple braids swished as she kept looking back every step she took out of the gloomy room. The deep adoration in her crimson eyes reminded Ruxin of this sticky kid she sponsored and some tension left her muscles. 

"My oh-so-beautiful lady!"

If only she could do something about Ebony's choice of words.

"... Speak."

"What if Nounou and Mimi ask about our little..." she winked ambiguously, "tête-à-tête?" Nouha and Mia were the remaining female servants and the trio were pretty close or at least it seemed that way to Augusta.

Ruxin's expression changed briefly. That was an oversight on her part... And Ebony clearly wasn't the careless girl she appeared to be. After a pensive pause, a mature, cold voice could be heard, "... Lucero's birthday is nigh."

"And you need advice for his gift? Roger!"

Dark eyes watched Ebony's black and white maid dress bounce with her every skip out. It's nice talking to smart people.

But they were also the most terrifying. Smart people could only be used if they were willing to be chess pieces and the player would have to be careful to not stand on the chess board themselves.

Ebony was Augusta's oldest servant. Logically, a traitor would have betrayed Augusta decades back and she was a victim to boot. Of the people in the mansion, she was the least likely to be the traitor. Then again, people's hearts were rarely logical and that was true for humans and moonpeople alike.

Ruxin pulled open a nondescript cabinet, one of the several of its kind in the room. Facing the empty cupboard, her face burned as the following words were forced through her gritted teeth. "Lucero, my. Sweet. Baby." The pronunciation was off because of the way she said it but thankfully a soft click reached Ruxin's ears. She wasn't about to say that twice.

Whatever Lucero thought of Augusta, she wasn't indifferent. This was the parent so cheesy she'd set her child's birthdate as passwords and the phrase Ruxin just uttered as part of an unlocking sequence!

Ruxin knocked twice against the bottom wood and inserted mana into a hidden notch. The bottom slid open and a long rope dropped from the top, which she held and descended into the darkness.

WOONG!

The runes etched on the ceiling, walls and ground brightened as though to acknowledge her presence when she let go of the rough rope. Black water was divided into four portions by a cross platform, which a monolith taller than her stood atop. The Rheinhart... not. It was a decoy, the kind that goes BOOM and takes out an intruder when an intruder tries to take it out. A good decoy too, because no one alive knew how it looked except Augusta and her uncle.

Unfortunately the decoy never served its intended purpose. Ruxin gave it a look of distaste. In the original timeline, Augusta had deliberately set the trap off and took all life in a league radius... including her own, leaving not even a corpse.

But it wasn't the monolith Ruxin came for. She turned away from the block of stone and put on a thin, black glove. A glass flask in hand, she bent to collect the clear, black liquid.

The monolith may not have been the Alcmene clan's famed heirloom but it was still a powerful relic in its own right. And by extension, the black water which was part of its seals was nothing to sneeze at either. Illusory howls of anguish entered her mind when she neared the liquid, which she coldly shut out.

"I hope it won't come to this but don't think for a moment I'll hesitate, Augusta." Less than 2 months. The time left in this world was short and she couldn't afford to be soft.

･ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ･

A flurry of wind blades encircled a tall woman who was dodging so nimbly it would put acrobats to shame. Beads of sweat travelled down her slender neck and disappeared into the gully of her chest as she let out a war cry, unleashing an omnidirectional mana blast.

A device with a symbol of overlapping circles beeped, "6 hours, 29 minutes and 5 seconds. Mistress Augusta, your best record was 13 days, 14 mi—"

"Stop. I've heard that too many times. Yeah yeah, comprende, alright? I'm far from Augusta's prime," Ruxin snapped at it as she wiped the lingering sweat.

She had spent the past 7 days in this training room, after leaving the underground. Ruxin had overestimated herself and her adaptability. Possessing a body that could crack skulls barehanded and outrun vehicles was cool and all except everything was out of her control! A tap, 4 door knobs, 2 chairs and a light switch, those were just a portion of the death toll...

So she honed herself day after day, leaving only for the communal meals which let her observe the mansion's residents. Totally not because she wanted more of that drink, nope!

Ruxin spun an icicle with her fingertip, musing. At this point, everyone seemed suspicious.

There was Mia, a mousy girl who trembled and stuttered whenever Ruxin turned her attention to her. Was that fear produced by a guilty conscience? She didn't seem so timid talking to the rest. She was also the newest addition to the staff, having joined just 2 years ago when the household moved back here.

Three years her senior was Nouha, a dark blue-haired uptight but erudite girl. She held deep respect for Augusta and followed orders well but didn't seem all too fond of her colleagues. But would she poison someone due to some conflict?

And the victim, Ebony. It didn't seem likely but wasn't there a possibility of suicide? Did she betray Augusta and suicided thereafter, taking her transgressions to the grave? Was her flippant attitude a facade to make everyone let their guards down?

Finally, the giant of a fella, Durante. With those rippling muscles that couldn't be hidden under his black butler suit, he stood out like a slug trying to fit into a snail's shell. Augusta met him at a bad time, so although she saved him, having him serve her personally was not her intent and she barely relented when he begged. Was that a set-up? Did he come to this household with a purpose?

Really, it was a talent Augusta had, surrounding herself with no one but the most suspicious. Ruxin massaged her temples for the umpteenth time, ready to call it a day when she caught a silver glint from the corner of her eye and twisted to the right.

Well, well, look who we have here. This saves me the trouble of finding you!