[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]Nieve — Seiga's Senkai[/h3][/center]

Seiga returned Youmu's indignant declaration with a wry smile, but ultimately chose to not give any proper response to her outcry. Whether that meant she was joking about doing so or had a plan to get Youmu to pay her back in due time was anybody's guess, and Sanae was certainly not willing to poke [i]that[/i] hornet's nest to try and find out.

More relevant to the subject matter at hand, though, was further focus placed upon the ominous orb that had continued to grip the attention of those present. The necromancer couldn't really blame them, given how it was front and center [i]and[/i] just screamed bad news, but it wasn't as if she could really provide much to help on that front.

If there was anyone to help find out, though, the immortal would be exactly the person to ask.

"I chose to err on the side of caution when retrieving that one and had my dear Yoshika bring it back, but she hasn't really told me anything special about it in particular," the hermit replied, lazily waving one hand in front of her. "If you wish to find out, please, be my guest. It's not as if anything can kill an immortal like you for long."

With her tacit approval provided, Mokou would thus be free to interact with the orb as she saw fit. If she chose to touch it, however, the reason behind everyone's instinctual concern around it would become quite evident. A flood of anguish and torment would flood into her from the orb—the feelings of resentment and anger of thousands of souls sealed within. The attack was purely mental in nature, but whether or not the immortal could weather the storm on her own or would need someone to pry her away would be up to her and her alone. 

[@VitaVitaAR][@Raineh Daze]
[hr][center][h3]Nieve — Mages' Guild[/h3][/center]

Though it seemed as though she had already been expecting some sort of bad news, Serena's expression turned grim as Anne began to detail to them the events that had just transpired. She said nothing as the older woman spoke her piece and gave her suggestions on how to proceed. Instead, the princess sat in silence with one hand brought up to her mouth, her lips pursed as she seemed to lose herself in her thoughts.

The silence was eventually broken as Serena let out a subtle sigh and looked towards Anne.

"I suppose further investigation is in order," she said simply before quietly producing a bag of coins from a nearby drawer. "I have no reason to doubt your testimony, but revealing anything to the public about this incident would probably raise further issues. For now, please keep quiet about this matter; I'll have some guards check the issue out under some different pretenses later."

With that, Serena calmly handed the bag off to Anne before glancing at the child still in her care.

"That aside, I would recommend you all try and remove the residual curses lingering around you. It's not immediately threatening—I assume you managed to avoid being hit directly—but the traces can still be tracked for a while after they have been placed. Beyond that... You should probably go and rest for a while. It may be likely that I will need your assistance sooner than not."

[@VitaVitaAR][@Drifting Pollen][@Rezod92]