As Jinrai and Tharion returned, they went to Amukelo's room, to inform them about the situation. Ask they entered, Bral looked at them and asked. "So? What happened?"
Tharion glanced toward Jinrai as if expecting him to speak first. But Jinrai simply raised an eyebrow and waved his hand in a casual gesture, giving Tharion the floor.
"The road," Tharion said, clearing his throat, "is about to begin being built. We're at the final stretch."
"Eland signed the contract," Tharion continued. "All that's left is to deliver it to the king. Once the king signs off, the whole thing goes into motion."
Amukelo nodded, a small grin forming on his face. "That's great."
"It is," Jinrai said, stepping in closer. "But it also means something else."
"There's one thing we can be sure of," he continued, crossing his arms. "However the enemy has been gathering their intel, they'll find out about this too."
Bao finished Jinrai's thought. "Which means… they'll have to strike before the letter reaches the capital."
Jinrai gave a small nod. "Exactly. Once that letter is delivered, the king will back the construction. Troops, surveyors, protection details, new laws — all of it. At that point, no one can interfere without starting a war."
Pao leaned forward slightly. "But if we just go to guard the envoy, would they still attack? I mean… there has to be a reason they've been hiding until now, right? They might not be confident about taking all of us on."
Tharion nodded slowly. "They might not. But they will have to try. If they let this slip by, they lose everything they've been trying to stop."
Idin, standing by the window, finally broke it with a thoughtful hum. "Unless," he said, "they don't care about stopping it anymore. What if they plan to leave?"
Tharion turned his head. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" Idin shrugged. "If they were desperate to cling to this place, then sure, they'd have to act now. But if they've decided that the risk is too great, then would just relocate, and they wouldn't fight anymore. They could just disappear."
Jinrai rubbed his jaw. "True. But if they're capable of orchestrating what they've done already — manipulating events, framing accidents, disappearing when they need to — then they'd be dangerous no matter where they went. If we let them go now, they'll just resurface somewhere else, and next time we might not have the means to track them down."
Pao's voice was soft. "So… we have to force them to act."
Everyone turned toward her.
She continued, "If we want to stop them completely, we need to lure them out. Show them there's still something to gain by striking. But the question is… how?"
Nobody answered at first. Amukelo stared at the floor for a long moment before speaking.
"Well… if they thought we made a mistake… they might attack."
Jinrai turned toward him. "What do you mean?"
Amukelo leaned forward and explained. "I remember when I used to hunt goblins. I never went after the biggest group or the ones in tight formation. I always struck the weakest cluster I could find. The ones who looked careless or too confident. The ones lagging behind or without proper weapons. They always fell the quickest, and they never saw it coming."
He glanced at everyone, gauging their attention before he continued.
"If we made ourselves look like that—like the weak group—they might do the same. Get reckless. Think they'll get lucky with a quick ambush. They might even think it's suspicious, but if they think we're exposed and they're running out of time, they'll act anyway."
They went silent for a moment, each considering the idea.
Jinrai rubbed his chin, then leaned back against the wall with a slow nod. "That's a good idea. Makes sense. But how would we pull that off? I mean—what would the plan look like?"
Amukelo's eyes shifted toward Pao. "That's where the portal spell comes in. If things go sideways, we could use it for others to arrive."
Pao raised both eyebrows, blinking in surprise. "Wait—my portal spell?"
Idin raised his hand slightly, as if in a classroom. "Yeah... I'm going to chime in here. Last time I used that glass ball thing she gave me, it didn't work."
He turned toward Pao with a quirked eyebrow. "Do you think this time it would?"
Pao pressed her lips together, then gave a small, thoughtful hum. "Well… based on the training Amu and I have been doing lately—"
A loud, purposeful clearing of the throat interrupted her. Pao looked up to see Bao glaring at her from the side with her arms crossed.
"Ah, sorry," Pao said quickly. "Bao too. Training with both of them. Ahem. My control over mana has improved quite a bit. So... yeah. I'd say the spell has a much better chance now."
She tapped her fingers together. "The thing is, last time might have failed because of distance. The portal spell relies on strong mana manipulation, and the farther the target location is, the more likely it collapses. But if we kept our range close, like within a few hundred meters or so, I think we could make it work."
Jinrai nodded slowly, considering everything. Then he turned back to Amukelo.
"So your plan is: lure them out by looking weak... and if things turn south, use the portal spell to bring others and capture them."
He looked at the rest of the group. "Now the question is... who plays the bait?"
Before anyone else could speak, Tharion stepped forward confidently. "That'd be me and Jinrai. We've always moved together. If they're watching us, it won't be out of the ordinary. No suspicion."
Jinrai tilted his head, but before he could answer, Pao interrupted bluntly. "No. That wouldn't work."
Tharion blinked, taken aback. "What do you mean it wouldn't work?"
Pao stood straighter, crossing her arms. "If the enemy is smart enough to know what we found, then they know how strong Jinrai is."
She looked at Jinrai. "We only saw you act once. And even from that, I don't think any of us would say we could take you one-on-one."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Jinrai laughed. "You're embarrassing me now."
Tharion looked unimpressed and rolled his eyes at him. "She has a point though."
"So then who?" Bral asked.
They paused again. Then Amukelo stepped forward. "Me and Pao," he said.
Pao blinked. "What?"
He turned to her with a faint, calm smile. "If I'm going to cooperate with someone, it's you. You're the one I've been training with. And we already survived death together. Also, we are the youngest in the group. That makes us look... well, reckless. Like we're trying to prove ourselves."
Pao's mouth opened slightly as she tried to come up with a counter. But she didn't. She slowly closed it and thought about it.
Jinrai seemed to like the idea. "It makes sense," he said. "Even though you're young, Amukelo, I can tell you're not the weakest one here."
He turned to Pao. "And with your talent for magic, I don't doubt you can handle yourself too. At least enough to react to the first ambush. That's all we'd need."
Pao grinned suddenly and turned to the group. "Believe me, if there's anyone in this group who could react to an ambush—it's Amu."
Amukelo blinked and looked at her, surprised.
There was a beat of silence. Then Bral giggled into his hand, and Idin smirked, trying not to laugh. Bao groaned, ran a hand down her face, and quietly muttered, "Here we go…"
Amukelo's face went a little red as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Jinrai let out a hearty laugh and clapped his hands once. "Then it's settled. We have our bait."