"Not good!" Lorne's expression turned grim. He looked at Danitz, who was still counting money, and growled, "Something's wrong! Get out, now!"
"Meow!"
Almost the instant he rose, Lucky, who had been lying there pretending to sleep, sensed the danger too. She immediately sprang onto Lorne's shoulder.
Neither man hesitated. They rushed straight outside.
But after only a few steps, Lorne seemed to remember something and abruptly doubled back.
"Calamity."
He quickly pulled an "Explosion" charm and some special spirituality materials from his pocket, shoved them into the room's least conspicuous corner, and covered them with a tattered blanket, creating a crude trap ready to go off at the slightest touch.
Only then did he turn and lead Danitz in a headlong sprint toward the city.
Damn it! Have we been discovered? That's impossible...
As he ran, Lorne's thoughts raced.
I confirmed it myself through divination. There was nothing wrong with the corpse. No matter how powerful Tracy is, she couldn't have spotted the problem this quickly!
He couldn't work out where things had gone wrong. After all, only a short while had passed since Alger left with the corpse.
Surely they couldn't have seen through it already!
"Shit! Is the Ailment Maiden coming after us?!" Danitz finally recovered from his initial bewilderment and cursed as he ran.
"Very likely," Lorne said gravely. "Judging by the intensity of the calamity I sensed, whoever's coming is far stronger than either of us."
"Then... all my money's gone down the drain?! Shit!" Danitz looked utterly devastated.
He turned to Lorne and asked between heavy breaths, "Brando, haven't you already advanced? If we work together, could we find a chance to take them out?"
"Has money driven you out of your mind?" Lorne snapped. "We don't even know whether Tracy's coming alone. And