Mimicry

 The carriage clopped on the slope going uphill. Straining the leather tether of the horse and the carriage. Arise approached the looming mansion that housed the Rhoeia family for centuries. Then Hazel stared at him and said. "Stay still, keep your body as steady as possible."

"Wait, while this carriage climb uphill? That's hard."

The fair lady beckoned, her hushed voiced flew through Arise's ear. "Well, try your best to stay still. I need it to be perfect."

Arise nodded as he gripped the rough covering of the carriage. 

Hazel extended both of her arms onto Arise, her palms exuding aetheric energy; purple radiance channeled through the lodestone ring as the the floating symbols began to from from the cinders.

"Mimicry!" Once purple energy turned into a blast of golden light. Arise's body basked in such light as his body began to change into someone entirely different.

From his lanky weak build to a slender woman's body. Surpisingly, it was firm as a log, like it was used to battle physically. It filled him vigor as his body was light as a feather.

His plain white dress shirt twisted into a black blouse under a clean white apron. Arise's pants turned into a black long skirt while his shoe reconstructed itself into a tattered leather boots.

Locks of brown hair sprawled into a pure white strands as his eyes shone an emerald green hue.

"W-wait, what happened to me?" Arise ran his fingers through his face; charting it like a map like it was uncharted territory.

His lips meandered, he shuddered as the foul sludge of golden light left his body. Arise was clearly perturbed by his transformation. But, the fair lady calmly sat down as she explained. "You have to act like my confidant, Rosie. Just until we get to our destination. Keep your back straight and walk modest, it'll be foolproof."

Mimicry, a spell inscribed in the terralumnian dark magic book that allowed the user to mimic other object's appearance and project it into an object. It was a lost art of illusion as its only known user was the author herself, Tenebria. 

"That magic felt terrible, as if I was drowning in an ocean of shit. Disgusting."

"Really? I guess that's why they're called Dark magic, even Stanzi find the immovable curse as unpleasant."

Hazel shifted the book in the sling as she kept assuring Arise the effectiveness of the spell.

The fair lady grabbed Arise's chin as she scrutinized his face. "Hm, perfect copy. Either the spell worked as intended or I'm skilled at this." Then, she brought out a box full of white paste and a red lipstick. "Let's polish you up, a woman needs to look modest."

"Hold on," Arise pulled away from the lady. "But you said I'm your confidant? So that meant Rosie is leagues lower below you. Then, why is she wearing make up? Would that make it obvious?"

"No no, many people know my hobbies lately, that includes trying these beautification products to my confidant."

"I see, but-" 

Hazel tilted her head, confused as she noticed Arise kept stalling time. "I won't let you destroy my skin with chockful of mercury and arsenic."

"Pardon?"

"I mean, your 'beautification' product is cursed with death!"

"..."

Fuck, it seemed that he went overboard with it. He remembered that people back then had no concept of toxicity.

"Um.... Nevermind, uhh please do?"

Hazel looked at her collection of makeups. Her face was unreadable.

Arise fidgetted with his hand as he looked away from her.

"Very well then, It seems that you have knowledge beyond this world."

"Excuse me what now?"

Hazel giggled, "Nevermind, I said nothing."

Then a screamed roared from inside the mansion. It reached even the outskirt of the mansion's entrance as Lady Maria Rhoeia confronted a maid for her mistake. The maid looked down to the ground as her hand clasped together. Inch of his muscle quiverred as the voice of the loud woman rang through her ears.

"You imbecle! Did I not tell you to put sugar on my coffee? How many times did I tell you this already?" The blonde woman stood high, like she was on a pedestal. 

The maid squinted her eyes, as she flinched at every word hurled at her. Her fate seems precarious. Then she reasoned. "M-mistress, I-i d-did not mean t-to! F-forgive me!"

The lady of the house wound her arms as she struck the maid. She plunged to the ground as her face were red and throbbing.

Her eyes welled with tears, swollen and read as she pleaded to the lady. Muttering forgiveness like her life depended on it. Which it was.

"Ugh, peasants. Can't even do their job right. You're all the same, filthy and utterly useless!"

She grabbed the steaming cup of coffee as she poured it slowly to the maid. The sticky coffee mixed with her hair as bubbles of hot air made her skin burst into blisters.

"Ahhhghg" the maid rolled in pain. 

The lady kicked the maid as she ordered her. "Make it again, if you mess up again, I will not show mercy."

Arise heard the blood curdling screams died down as they reached the fancy entrance of the mansion.

Hazel clenched her fist as her breathing was irregular. She muttered under her breathe as her reflection was printed on the window. "Not even a day... I really hate you mother."

The fair lady looked at Arise and said. "Whatever you see and hear, do not act out. We're gonna head to our target." Her contorted in disgust as she heard the scream of the maid. Her body shook as he squirmed her lips.

It seems like she's very vulnerable if innocents were involve.

They left the carriage as they approached the entrance of the mansion. Everything was the usual, workers witnessing injustice upon their workplace. Pretending like nothing even happen. Lady Hazel coming home despite being missing for days. They were told to bat an eye on it, which they did.

"Look who decided to show up?" Lady Maria said, she met both Arise and Hazel in the front door. She looked at Arise, scrutanizing him up and down, then her face contorted in disgust.

Hey now, that so fucking rude.

He tried his hard to not clobber the lady with his well-toned body that he borrowed from Rosie.

"Can you tell me where you've been?" 

Hazel and Arise entered the grand mansion as she replied. "Pressing matters, mother. It does not correlate to you what so ever."

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

The fair lady answered coldly. "I do not care if you believe it or not. As far as I'm aware, I'm a legal adult in this kingdom, approved by the cardinals. So, I really do not need to conform to your whims." She sighed.

Lady Maria's mind rumbled like a volcano. Acting big, like she was not the one who introduced her to the world. Acting like her mother does not exist. It was insulting to her, what did she ever do to to her?

"Fine, if you don't want to." She yelled, as she walked out; muttering about Hazel being full of herself. 

Hazel sighed as they continued to walk on the long winding hallways of the house. "Sorry about that, my mother is just difficult to understand. Pay no attention to her, if you feel insulted by her gaze. She hated commoners, even when I was a child. She hated Rosie for it, but could not touch her due to my involvement. No one can touch you here."

She's surpisingly meticulous, compared to her gentle figure.

Arise whsipered to her. "What are we looking for exactly?"

She whispered back. "My father's study. I found something horrible in there, and down."

Down? Was that some sort of dungeon?  

Is that what that man thinking about? The dark secret the Rhoeia family held. The only thing I could think when involving dungeons... In lightnovels Eishi lent me, they often used the dungeons as a hub for human trafficking. I never knew this was real in this case

"How horrible are we talking about?"

Hazel was about to retch, like her stomach was shook by someone. She could not forget what she saw there, she could compare it to hell. 

It seems like it is worst than I anticipated. Her face says it all.

While traversing the hallway, into the series of rooms. Arise overheard maids talking about various things. Some were monotone, discussing about the normal day, like how it was been for five years. The other talked about the current maltreatment of Lady Maria to one of her maids. Expressing their disgust, but hidden within themselves.

However, from all the monotomy of servanthood, one conversation made Arise's ears twitch with curiosity. He heard a woman crying, kneeling down to one of her colleagues, creasing her black and white outfit as she shared her sorrows.

"William, he disappeared without any trace. What should I do?"

"William? Maybe he just ran away."

"Him, no way, he had a binding contract with his grace."

The voices were diminishing as they got farther.

So, Arise let the flow of aetheric energy through his lodestone ring. Producing a long column of wind delivering and amplifying any sound that got in contact with it. Swirling as the golden symbols guided the movement of the wind into a spiraling motions. "[Graham Bell's Spiral]"

"What kind of nonesense is that?"

"Many of the maids here expressed their experience with it, their colleagues disappearing without a trace. Never to be found again."

"What a load of nonsense, do you really believe in that myth?"

"It's just a posibility"

"Yeah yeah, let's go back to work. We don't want Lady Maria pour scalding coffee on our faces"

The wind spiral fizzled as the golden symbol vanished. 

Interesting, in this mansion many employees disappeared without any trace. People thinking that they ran away. My theory for this, if what Hazel is about to show me is correct. These people are the victim of human trafficking. Probably en route to Verona kingdom or Italya Empire. But, is that even necessary when slavery is allowed in either of those regions? Do they even need an export of slaves already? 

"What are you thinking about?" Hazel asked, her gentle voice echoed through the hallway.

"Nothing, I just overheard some things. Not that big really."

"I see,"

An awkward silence descended like heavy fog. She had a lot of things in her mind, worrying how to appease to Arise and convince him to join. And the fact that she'd go back to that horrible place, Hazel's stomach churned.

Hazel stopped in-front of a large door. "We only have till sundown. Father is currently attending a charity party by Marquiss Rolsen. We need to move quick." The door's hinges creaked open as the light inside peered through the cracks of the opening.

Arise glanced at the window. 

I have to eyeball it. 

"Wait for a second, I have to check something."

"Huh? Why let's hurry, wait."

Arise opened up the window and looked at the sky.

The sun is slightly down westward. This house must've hated clocks, it is devoid of any. Tsk, let's do this.

If this world is indeed 3-4 times bigger than earth, then the horizon would be much farther than what I knew then I can't really accurately guess the time. I'll use the earth's standard then tweak it as my guess.

The sun is roughly 60 degrees in the sky, heading for west. If earth it is on earth, then this would be early afternoon in the southern hemisphere. But based on the rotation of this world, and its massive size, the daylight must've been longer. The horizon is also to count. 

"Arise, what are you doing?"

He was unresposive.

Then if it was that high in the sky already, then this would be late afternoon instead of early afternoon on earth. Which gave us four hours of free time to explore before sundown. If the area under the study room is a dungeon, this would be a time crunch.

Arise turned to Hazel and said. "We have at least 4 hours to do so."

"Let's go then"

Creak...