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Max let out a deep exhale when he made it outside, taking a casual stroll away from the door under the guise of getting some air. His mouth upturned into a little grin upon noticing the collection of less-than-reputably acting individuals, though the rare expresson quickly faltered as he noticed the money being exchanged. He wasn't so desperate for a buzz that he was going to spend what little money he had on sketchy booze outside a party, and he definitely wasn't going to ask [i]Eris[/i] for alcohol money. 

Max kept up his act, flanking the building at a leisurely pace with his hands tucked casually in his pockets. Best case scenario, he'd survey the area and find the most spineless-looking guy to try and weasel some free liquor off of. As he neared the back of the building, the smell of alcohol grew more distinct. Perfect. What greeted him as he rounded the corner was less than what he'd hoped for. It was dark, but it looked like some bum got shitfaced, puked all over the wall, and collapsed. How disgusting. It did, however, mean that she was liable to know where to get a decent drink. 

[color=8585ad]"Ay,"[/color] Max called as he paced over innocently, [color=8585ad]"You got any booze lef-"[/color] Upon approaching the scene, the reality of the situation was a lot clearer. There was a sharp metallic tang undercutting the earlier stench, and the splatter on the wall didn't look like vomit. The body wasn't just passed out, it was outright dead, and not from alcohol poisoning. In the low lighting, the pale desiccation of the flesh wasn't immediately evident, but the messy incision that used to be a functional jugular was all the tipping off Max needed. 

The initial shock wasn't too harrowing; Max had seen victims of overfeeding left out to rot before, so there was a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on one's viewpoint) level of desensitization along with his usual hardened apathy forming a pretty solid barrier between himself and outright panic. Ironically, the mage's first thought was that exsanguinated corpses looked a lot less morbid in the moonlight - he'd only ever witnessed them the morning after between the fingers of his father's lazy attempt at covering his eyes. What really surprised him was the venue; someone dared to try this right under the princess' nose. They obviously hadn't tried to cover their tracks either. Was this leech suicidal or just too influential to answer to the law? And the body's hand was glowing. Some kind of defensive magic that never saw use? A calling card in some sick vampiric murder game? Or was it just one of those wine runes from the party? He didn't dare investigate further, lest he end up triggering some spell meant for the murderer. It felt like a weird dream, honestly.

When the gravity of the situation finally sunk in, Max frantically started unbuckling his belt. From an outsider perspective, it probably looked very, [i]very[/i] wrong, but the movement was deliberate. The perpetrator probably wasn't still around, given that he'd announced his presence rather blatantly at first and hadn't been slaughtered yet, but he still wasn't taking any chances. Max slunk back the way he came, holding up the belt as the buckle rung with concentrated magic, waiting to punch a hole in the next moving object that crossed the mage's vision. His other hand fished out his phone, typing out a slew of texts to Eris with shaky fingers and a large amount of reluctance to take his eyes off his surroundings to look at what he was actually typing.

[i][color=8585ad]> You better come back to the ballroom
> There's a sursyion
> Situation
> It's ducked
> Fucked hurry up[/color][/i]

Not his ideal knight in shining armor but who else was he going to tell? Who else [i]could[/i] he tell? Max still had no idea who was trustworthy and who wasn't - not that he considered Eris trustworthy, but he assumed the leech had an inclination to protect his property - and short of walking up to Ryner and getting shooed away by her retinue before he could talk, he didn't trust any lower authorities to deal with this. The murder was so brazen that Max wasn't above believing that every single guard nearby had been bought and paid for already.

Max made his way back toward the door, dipping his head sullenly and letting the mask do the rest of the work covering up the remains of any unease he may have been showing. He kept the belt in-hand, letting it inertly dangle at his side instead of vibrating in preparation to be launched at someone. There was safety in a crowd, at least.

[hr][@Hero]