Sometime later in an unspecified location, not long after the failed assault on the Yang estate, Yin Mei could be seen having a shouting match with the sage of the Fay.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU FOOLS DOING?!" Mei screamed.
"WHAT OCCURRED WAS THAT YOUR EMPTY LIZARD HEAD DECIDED TO RUSH IN BEFORE WE HAD THE TIME TO DO PROPER RECOGNIZANCE!" Willhelm retorted.
"THEY ARE BUT THE FRAGILE EMBERS OF A DEAD CLAN! IF YOU COWARDS HAD NOT RUN WITH YOUR TAILS BETWEEN YOUR LEGS, WE WOULD HAVE TAKEN THEIR HEADS!" Mei shouted back.
"WE WERE FORCED TO RETREAT BECAUSE YOUR RECKLESS ACTIONS HAD LEFT US UNDERPREPARED! THIS IS WHY I URGED YOU NOT TO BRING THIS MORONIC LIZARD, HILLFERD! SHE IS IMPATIENT, IMPULSIVE, IRRATIONAL, AND AN OVER-ALL NUISENCE! IT WAS THE SAME BACK THEN AND IT IS THE SAME NOW!" Willhelm shouted, as he turned to the sage of the arcane.
The attack on the Yang estate today was in truth not meant to occur as of just yet. The sages upon discovering the location of the Yang estate, had planned to do some scouting and intelligence gathering while waiting for some reinforcement to surround the place, just to make sure their targets did not escape like last time. Unfortunately, Mei, having an old grudge against the Yang clan, or more specifically, Ai and Ming, had been unable to hold back the murderous impulse to rush in headfirst, resulting in the three sages rushing in after her, knowing almost nothing. As such, they had been caught off guard by the thousands of turrets that popped out of the ground, Takeru's presence was not accounted for because despite having known of his strength through past reports, none of the people currently present could identify him since they had never seen his face in person. Even the plan to sow discord by impersonating Nox failed because of a lack in understanding of interpersonal relationships leading them to pick the worst possible audience for a mediocre improvised performance.
"YOU INCOMPETENT FOOLS WOULD STILL BE SEARCHING FOR THEM IF NOT FOR MY AID!" Mei shouted.
Though today's fiasco was very much her fault, Mei's words were not wrong. When the sages set out to search for Nox after the last incident, they had a surprisingly difficult time finding someone who consistently leaves a trail of chaos and destruction everywhere she goes. The reason for this is that the sages are rather lacking in means of information gathering outside the 3rd martial continent.
It is not like they do not have any connections here who they can use to gather information, but it's not enough to track down a single woman who could be literally anywhere on the continent. They only time they actually discovered her location was when she spent a month inside the Pink Palace, but by the time they were ready to make a move, she had already left for Nishi.
Mei on the other hand, belongs to the Yin clan, and although a lot of it was destroyed with the emergence of the dark empire, her clan still possesses a lot of connections over on the 2nd martial continent, as do many of the dragonewt clans. In fact, it was through her the sages learned of the Yang estate's location.
"AND FURTHER MORE-!"
"*Sigh* Okay, that is enough quarreling amongst ourselves you two!" Olaf said as he stepped in between the dragonnewt and high-elf.
"BUT-!"
"The assault failed! Let us just leave it at that!" Hillferd said, cutting off the two who still seemed dissatisfied.
At Hillferd's words, the temperature in the room dropped in an instance as a heavy pressure could be felt in the air. Seeing this, the two swallowed their words begrudgingly.
"With our initial strike failed, they'll be prepared for us if we choose to strike again, moreover, now that they are aware that we know their location, it's only a matter of time until they relocate to somewhere else! Fortunately, this can still be remedied if we act fast enough!"
"What do you suggest?"
…
A week later, in the red palace.
"Poke, poke, poke!"
*Snap*
"You broke another pen again. Poke!"
Unfortunately for Aoi, the short break he got from Nox's pestering after the visit to the green palace did not last for long and she soon returned to bother him like before. However, now there is another nuisance in the red palace.
*Poof*
*Cough**Cough*
"Would you stop doing that Sir, please!"
"AHA! TIS I! ..."
At some point after his visit to the green palace, the phantom detective had deduced Nox's identity as the magical alchemist girl Su and started hanging around the red palace as well. Whenever he wasn't pitching ideas or making requests of Nox, he was larping around the palace being a general nuisance to everyone.
"Damn it! Now all the documents are on the floor. Would you stop waving your cape around like that? It kicks up too much wind!" Aoi complained as he got out of his chair to pick up all the unfinished paperwork on the floor.
"Poke! Nice entrance! You're really getting the hang of smoke bombing!"
"I thank thee fair maiden for the compliment! Now may I know of when I can expect to see my family castle completed?"
"I'll have to finish up here first, but I did finish some of the props! Here you go!"
"Hm? What's this?"
As Nox handed over a painting that changes depending on what angle you look at it from, Aoi's looked over a report he just picked off the floor with a confused expression. Soon after reading it, his expression turned serious as he finished reading it, then moments later, a soldier slammed open the door to his office.
"URGENT REPORT FROM THE NORTHEAST! THE SAGES! THE SAGES ARE INVADING!"
And as the soldier's words sunk in, Aoi's expression went from serious to shocked as his complexion turned pale.