Curse the Mainframe! 160 *Whistles*

Alec was gone, along with the few other people that he took with them.

It had been roughly a day since they disappeared into thin air. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

It hadn't been until Fenrir and Bunbun ran up to Dietrich and consequently her, miming something with their little paws frantically that she gave the orders to look for them.

Unfortunately, there was no trace of them. They didn't even leave behind any tracks for them to trace, and she cursed them for being so competent – then again, what else had she expected, with Alec's training?

He even got an extra year of training under their teacher, perfecting already great skills in the process.

Luckily, one of the men under her had seen the way they headed. The last they were seen were walking the direction of the Obsidian Aqua lake.

They'd searched all around the lake, but there wasn't anything for them to find. Which left only one thing. The lake itself.

The Obsidian Aqua had swirled around, its inky black tendrils lapping against the ground. The silence in that area had been deceptively calm, and as far as she could tell, there wasn't anything *in* the lake.

Tatiana frowned as she thought about it. A crack in between realms. Was there yet another crack that was linked back to this place?

If so, it would be wiser for them to stay here instead of going to search for Alec. If they missed each other because one went and one came back, it would only serve to weaken them further.

She didn't like it, but this was currently the most strategical choice right now. But she could still send Bunbun and Fenrir down.

They were able to adjust their size, so it was easier for them to hide. Unlike that giant Blood Starling, which would have to stay with them.

Dietrich caught her eye. "Don't worry about Alec. He isn't the type to die so easily. Plus, he has a group of Sins with him. They seem to listen to him well."

Tatiana sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "That isn't it. Rather, have they not come back because of something else? Perhaps, something like not being able to link back here, or…"

Dietrich stopped her before she lost herself in the endless possibilities. "Stop. You're thinking about things that are out of your control. You'll only continue to spiral downwards like that."

He still didn't know his… aunt? Inexplicably, Dietrich felt like his family tree was becoming complicated with the new addition. He decided to just treat her like a little sister, kind of how he treated Alec, regardless of how he called him.

Tatiana eyed Dietrich appraisingly. "You're right. Hmm," she said, a smile slowly spreading on her face.

Dietrich eyed her smile warily, getting a bad feeling. It gave off the same feeling as Kieran when he was particularly determined to get something.

While he was still interested in her personality – he hadn't met another woman with such a strong sense of presence like her – he felt like he needed to leave the area before her attention was directed at him right now.

Sure enough, Tatiana smiled teasingly at him, deliberately speaking in a vague manner.

"Don't worry. I'll take responsibility for doing those things to you."

The chatter amongst the mercenaries immediately died out at her words, a stunned look on their faces.

Dietrich slowly placed his hand on his face, but the mercenaries were able to see his red-tipped ears.

They exploded with whistles and catcalls.

"Go boss!"

"Haha! You kidnapped a man back home!"

"Is this our sister-in-law – err- brother-in-law?!"

Tatiana laughed and pried the hands that went from one to two off of Dietrich's face.

The man's face was dusted a fetching pink, even as he tried to keep a straight face and maintain indifference. It looked good on him. Tatiana just thought he looked adorable, with his reaction to her teasing.

She pressed a kiss to his cheek, causing the flush there to darken as he glared lightly at her.

He seemed to take it as her just teasing him, but little did he know that she was being very serious here.

The mercenaries grew even rowdier at Tatiana's 'bold and roguish' actions, laughing and jeering.

The situation made them forget about the tension and worry that had been filling the air after Bunbun and Fenrir left and disappeared as well.

Even the Spectres looked more relaxed when they looked at the mercenaries horsing around after they'd taken care of lodging for the night.

Dietrich seemed to notice this belatedly and looked at Tatiana with faint admiration. She really did know how to control the mood and morale of her group.

Dietrich was mainly a solo worker, which was why he admired those that knew how to control a group.

Thinking up to this point, he didn't refuse the teasing from Tatiana, which just made the mercenaries grow rowdier into the night.

Tatiana noticed that Dietrich seemed to have misunderstood her intentions but didn't correct him at this point of time. It was easier for her if he didn't realize she was hitting on him all this time until the right time.

She would slowly warm him up, then go for the kill.

Tatiana's eyes glittered, and the smile on her face grew.

"Anyway, we found another part that we don't know much about. It seems to go further down into the earth. Let's go on a date, okay?"

Cue another round of wolf whistles from the rowdy mercenaries as well as follow up laughter.

Dietrich regained his calm at this, breaking out of his thoughts. He didn't let the 'd' word affect his state of mind. She couldn't possibly be serious about it, after all. "Where?"

"It's over that way."

The two who headed over to the place where the mercenaries had found previously while they spread out to search, leaving the general area where most of the people were having a good time.

While some of the Spectres looked at them briefly when they left, no one followed them.

Of course, the main reason for this was because they thought they were heading somewhere more 'private' for a little fun, so to speak, and didn't want to intrude.

Let it be said that Tatiana lightly flirting with Dietrich achieved many birds with one stone.

There definitely would be people who would try and follow them if they knew that the two were planning on going down with only two people. While it was probably safe, seeing as there were no living beings here other than the Vampiric Willows, they wouldn't take that bet.

The main reason for this was because even though Tatiana and Dietrich had achieved an understanding between them in the battle sense and worked well together, the mercenaries didn't quite trust Dietrich with their boss' heart just yet despite them joking around at her words.

Since the two were the strongest out of everyone here, it would be easier if they took a quick glance at whatever lay below instead of bringing everyone.

There was a ravine in the ground that was quite similar to the one that they'd originally come in from Alec's new familiar, the King Vampiric Willow.

Dietrich jumped down lightly and landed. It wasn't as deep as the original. In fact, it was at most barely half a storey height.

It was just barely one and a half times the height of an average human male.

Dietrich held out a hand to catch Tatiana as she jumped down, only to receive a smirk from her.

Tatiana took a step and landed just as lightly as Dietrich, causing the man's face to heat up a little as he took back his hand at his social faux pas.

He was used to treating the fairer sex in a more preferable manner, as part of normal noble etiquette.

He'd forgotten to stop himself since Tatiana obviously didn't like to be treated like a fragile glass doll.

Tatiana patted his shoulder lightly, giving his cheek a kiss again in thanks. "Thanks, but I don't need it."

She then sauntered down towards the few globes of light, ignoring Dietrich's stunned look behind, a hand on the spot where her kiss had landed, as light as the flap of a butterfly's wings.

Chapter end