Tharion crossed his arms and looked toward the nearby alley. "But it'd be obvious if we all wandered around the place nonstop. The perpetrator would notice us tailing the spot. They'd adjust their strategy."
Amukelo rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… true. They'd probably just lay low until we give up and move on."
Everyone fell into silence. It wasn't the first time that day they'd run out of ideas. Jinrai looked thoughtful but said nothing.
Then, as if lighting a spark, Pao spoke up. "We wouldn't have to all keep watch at the same time."
Everyone looked at her.
"One person could stay near and watch," she said, her voice picking up confidence. "And if something happened, the rest could arrive immediately."
Tharion gave a skeptical tilt of his head. "That's risky. If it's just one person, they could try something drastic. Force their way through. Overpower whoever's on watch."
But Pao just smiled. "That's where this comes in."
She reached into the side pocket of her robe and pulled out two small glass balls, each no bigger than an egg. They were smooth and clear, but inside, faint glowing rune diagrams shimmered softly. Everyone leaned in as she held them up between her fingers.
"I've been working on something," she said. "I can use my teleportation spell to link these two points together. I alternate the spell's structure, draw the new gate's outline in mana, and with the same rune pattern in both, I can create a gate — like a portal — that connects them."
There was a beat of stunned silence.
"You made… a teleportation trigger?" Amukelo asked, eyes wide.
"Basically," she said, her cheeks flushing lightly from the attention. "It's activated when one of the spheres is shattered. So… if someone was watching, and things got out of hand, they'd just have to break one of these, and I — or anyone else — could open a portal straight there."
Amukelo blinked, impressed. "Wow. That's incredible."
"Wait." Bao narrowed her eyes. "Sis… Why the hell have you never mentioned you have a spell like this?"
Pao gave an awkward laugh and clutched the spheres a little tighter. "I mean… it's not really a new spell. My teleportation spell is progressive — so the structure's much more flexible. A few weeks ago, I figured maybe I could stabilize it between two fixed points. I tweaked the sigils, adjusted the pulse rhythm of the mana diagram… and then this happened."
"You're telling me," Bao said slowly, "you made a dimensional shortcut — from scratch — and didn't tell anyone?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise!" Pao said defensively, puffing her cheeks out slightly. "I wanted to make sure it worked before showing it off. And I'm close, okay? Not there yet!"
Bao's face fell flat, but not out of anger. "You're treating groundbreaking magic like it's a birthday present..."
Pao flushed a deeper red and looked away. "It's not groundbreaking, I just thought it'd be cool…"
Jinrai stepped forward, his voice genuinely impressed. "You do realize this isn't just clever. It's exceptional. Most mages don't mess with progressive spell variants unless they've trained for decades."
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Twenty," Pao said shyly.
Jinrai blinked, then chuckled. "Just twenty. You're something else, Miss Pao. You've got a bright path ahead of you. No question."
Pao grinned, clearly embarrassed now. Amukelo gave her a thumbs up. "Told you you were amazing."
Tharion scratched his beard. "Well… with something like that, this plan just became viable. We can proceed without that much risk."
Everyone nodded.
Then Pao suddenly looked a bit sheepish. Her gaze dropped to the glass spheres in her hand, and her voice quieted.
"B-but…" she mumbled. "Like I said… I was going to reveal this when I knew it was reliable. I haven't tested it in a real scenario. I think it'll work. But I… can't promise."
They all looked at her.
"I-it's like… I can draw the structure," she said, fidgeting slightly, "and the theory holds, and in simulations it worked perfectly. But outside of practice, there are so many factors… mana interferenc, timing of the break, distance …"
Tharion sighed, rubbing his temple. "So you're saying there's a chance we set this all up and the portal doesn't trigger."
Pao gave a tiny nod, like a kid admitting she broke a vase.
There was another pause.
"Well," Tharion muttered, looking at the others, "do we have any better ideas?"
They all looked around at one another. Heads slowly shook. No. They didn't.
Jinrai nodded. "Then we move forward."
The group decided to leave the box in the soldier's outpost. Jinrai handed over the box to Captain Rhan.
"This has the surveyor's real work inside," Jinrai said evenly. "We want to make sure it's kept somewhere safe."
Rhan tilted the box in his hands, then glanced at Jinrai. "Surveyor's work? You mean the road construction project? I thought that was lost with him."
Jinrai gave the smallest nod. "Well, it wasn't entirely."
Rhan massaged his chin thoughtfully. "I can keep it, but the storage room's not exactly a fortress. It's where we keep extra gear and provisions — soldiers come and go all day. Honestly, it's no better than the town's storage."
"My office, though," he said. "Barely anyone walks in there. Only the two sergeants come in to report, and that's when I call for them. I keep the key with me at all times."
Jinrai didn't hesitate. "Then that's what we'll do."
Rhan gave a short nod and walked toward his office, the box tucked under his arm.
As they left the outpost, Jinrai said. "Alright. That's one piece in place."
"Tharion and I will leave with the merchant soon. We'll carry the real parchment. If the Crown's Envoy receives it, they'll recognize it for what it is."
He turned to Amukelo's group.
"While we're gone, you keep watch. Don't all hover around the outpost at once. But make sure one of you is always nearby. Switch shifts."
All of them nodded.
"I'll leave the planning in your hands," Jinrai said.
The next day Jinrai and Tharion head off with Ulhem, to deliver the message, and continue the road's progress.
In the following days, the group established a rotating schedule. Every day, one of them stayed at the outpost, sleeping in the cramped soldiers' quarters, and keeping an eye on the Captain's office.
Amukelo spent his shifts participating in the outpost's training sessions. The square beside the building had turned into a kind of unofficial combat field, with straw dummies, stacked wooden crates, and worn-out sparring mats. Bral, Idin, and even Bao, when it was their turns, also used that opportunity to keep themselves busy, in this square
Pao on the other hand stayed in the outpost, studying magic. She put most of her efforts into improving her new ability, especially now that it was actually needed.