Supreme Magus novel Chapter 1689

Yet Friya was wrong about the Marquis. They followed Belin all around his house thanks to Spirit dimensional magic, the binocular, and even Life Vision, but he never took his communication amulet.

When finally one of his servants walked out of the house, Quylla followed him only to see one of the butlers buy the daily groceries.

Inside her luxurious guest room, Jirni used the enchanted items she wore disguised as jewelry to search for surveillance devices, finding none. Then, she checked the paintings for holes and lastly the fireplace, discovering that it was identical to those in house Ernas.

The chimney had been built so that it wouldn't carry only the smoke, but also the words of the occupants of the room thanks to its particular acoustic that amplified the echoes. It was a trick meant to lull even paranoid mages into a false sense of security since there was no spell that could detect them.

'I bet that the moment I start talking, one of the panels in the wall will slide and someone will watch my every move.' Jirni started humming while pretending to examine the inside of a wardrobe to test her hypothesis.

By giving her back to the wall and with the doors hiding her sides, there was no way to tell from the outside what she was doing.

Less than a minute later, the same young woman that had served Jirni the tea earlier came knocking on her door.

"Good evening, Lady Ernas. My name is Phisa and I'm going to be your personal maid for the rest of your stay." She gave Jirni a passable curtsy. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Phisa looked to be in her early twenties and was just a bit taller than Jirni. She had red hair, green eyes, and a friendly face full of freckles.

"Many things, actually." Jirni nodded, giving her permission to enter the room. "I need you to send someone to retrieve my luggage from the Silver Swan. I don't care much for my clothes but I left my communication amulet there as well.

"Without it, I can't tell my daughters where I am and if they can't reach me, they will think I've done something stupid. Here is my hotel key and my ID to prove that I've sent you."

"It will be done, Lady Ernas. Anything else?" The maid smiled, but it didn't extend to her eyes.

They weren't cold, just empty like those of a dead fish ready to be cooked.

"Yes, I could use a hot bath. I must be a mess right now." The gurgling of water would hide the sound of her movements while the steam would do the rest.

On top of that, Jirni exploited the opportunity to take a better look at Phisa. There was something different about her from their earlier meeting and her movements felt off.

She wasn't clumsy, but her body language was awkward as if she had recently started working as a maid whereas Jirni hadn't noticed any hesitation back when Phisa had served her tea like the professional she was supposed to be.

'No one sends rookies to take care of honored guests, nor do people forget about how to do their jobs in the space of a few hours.' Jirni was tempted to stab the maid to check if she was a shapeshifter, but if she was wrong it would blow her cover and alert Belin.

'If I'm right about these guys and they are all shapeshifters, then I'm both Beilin's prisoner and hostage. I have no weapons with me and I have no idea what they are capable of.

'I can't even take another bath so soon. I need to find a way to tell Phloria and Quylla what's happening here when they come to visit me without ruining the script.'

'If I take my time, I should be able to discover if Lady Metra has shapeshifters as well or if she used those at the service of the Marquis. Either way, we would have the opportunity to capture them all. If we act now, instead, at least part of the shapeshifters will surely manage to escape.' She thought.