Shion made him follow her, gesturing toward a secluded door. They went inside, discovering a decently sized bedroom—dusty, nonetheless, showing signs of aging. Cobwebs clung to the edges of the walls and ceiling.
As Shion entered, Lucid closed the door behind him. She casually sat on the edge of the bed, facing Lucid, who had just stepped into the room. He stared at her, waiting for her to speak. But Shion simply looked back, lost in thought.
"What do—"
"Luci—"
They both interrupted each other at the same time. Shion looked briefly flustered, clearing her throat, while Lucid scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, you go first," he said, lowering his hand.
Shion nodded, the faintest smile tugging at her lips.
"Lucid… why are you in Andorrea?"
It was the one question Lucid feared. A simple question—and yet he could come up with numerous lies or half-truths. But one thing remained undeniable: he had been sent to track Yu Sakamoto—Shion.
Lucid debated heavily whether he should tell her the truth. After all, she had gone above and beyond since descending into Sector 11 in search of Yannick, doing all she could to help him. And yet there was a hint of doubt. A spec—small or large, it didn't matter. It was still very much present.
He couldn't forget how she had brutally murdered two nobles without a shred of guilt. Yet, he also remembered how she spared the Gaurds, leaving them unconscious instead of killing them. In a sense, there was some morality hidden deep within Shion.
But Lucid couldn't trust her—not fully. Not when he had Alice by his side.
"Well," he began slowly, "I found Alice… in a strange purple forest, and it seemed like she was lost. She didn't remember anything, and I took it upon myself to bring her home. Andorrea happens to be one of the places we're passing through, and so far, there's no clue."
He left out a lot—a heavy amount of details. Still, he wasn't lying.
He did find Alice in a strange forest. And they were passing through Andorrea. But he carefully omitted the part where he also didn't remember anything, or how foreign this world felt to him. He left out the village that sent him to track her down. He said nothing about her sister researcher who greeted them upon arrival in Andorrea. There were a lot of things he didn't say.
"I see," Shion replied, her tone calm. "May I ask… what were you doing prior to meeting Alice?"
That question felt like a knife piercing his chest. No matter what he said—or tried to say—he couldn't fully avert the truth.
Lucid exhaled quietly and glanced away.
"I was killing abysmal monsters… trying to stop the fall of my hometown," he said, his voice flat. "I was with a group… but they betrayed me. Everything came crashing down, and my home was destroyed."
It was the most bland, hollow response he could come up with. But it wasn't entirely false.
Lucid wanted to trust her—truly. He wanted to believe in the better side of her. But something about Shion was hard to read. One moment, she was compassionate, fighting for others. The next, she was cold, brutal and unreadable. It was as if her personality shifted with the wind.
He couldn't predict her. Not yet.
"I see," Shion said softly, letting out a breath as her posture relaxed. She smiled faintly. "I won't pry anymore."
She shifted, placing her hands behind her on the bed to support herself.
"So you're kind of like me. A wandering vagrant. Not knowing where you'll end up tomorrow."
Lucid let out a small laugh through his nose.
"You're probably wondering why I brought you here."
He nodded. "Yes."
Shion stood up slowly, brushing a bit of dust from her thigh.
"Lucid, leave Andorrea," Shion said, her voice low but urgent. "This place is at the center of an uproar. Soon enough, the upper sectors will declare martial law. It'll turn into an open-air prison. You have no reason to stay here."
Lucid remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"I'll look out for Yannick and bring his students back. So don't worry," she added firmly, a spark of conviction in her tone.
Lucid looked at her with a soft smile behind his mask.
"Shion… that's kind of you. Really. In fact, I've thought about it—what does this godforsaken, corrupt world have to do with me?"
He ran a hand through his hair, his gaze momentarily drifting toward the dusty floor.
"I could very well just run off with Alice and look for clues elsewhere."
Shion leaned forward slightly, her eyes brightening.
"And you can!" she said quickly, hope flickering in her voice.
Lucid's smile faded. He looked her in the eyes.
"But I can't."
Shion blinked. A puzzled look crossed her face.
"You… can't?"
Lucid slowly stood, the wooden floor creaking beneath his step. He let out a quiet breath as he straightened his posture.
"I can't because there are people here who've helped me," he said. "And now it's my turn to return the favor."
He stepped closer to her, voice calm but resolute.
"The students. Yannick. Naleya. Andrew and his mother..." He paused, then turned and met her gaze.
"You."
Shion's eyes widened slightly. A faint blush spread across her cheeks, and a smile tugged at her lips despite her cold personality.
"You heroic idiot," she whispered, looking away just long enough to compose herself.
"Shion, this goes much deeper than the fall of a sector or a few people being held captive," Lucid said, his tone growing firmer. "Instead of patching up the symptoms..."
He looked her in the eye.
"Why don't we cut where the roots lie?"
Shion's expression shifted to confusion, brows furrowing slightly.
"What does it mean? What's really the problem? Corruption? Nobles? Archmages? Themenos? The scroll you stole?"
Lucid gave a small nod as if confirming all he said himself.
"Sure, all of that plays a part."
He stepped closer, voice lowering as if to avoid the walls listening.
"But what if I told you... the problems lie even deeper than that?"
"Huh?" Shion blinked, skeptical.
"Have you ever seen the royalty?" Lucid asked. "The Queen? The Prince?"
"Why would I?" Shion scoffed. "They're just as evil as the nobles."
Lucid shook his head slowly.
"But are they?" he asked. "What actions have they taken? What policies have they pushed and what speeches have they made?"
He paused, letting the silence stretch just long enough.
"In fact, when I was researching them, I couldn't find anything—no records, nothing about their public appearances and no decrees. Just their names that are pasted everywhere. That's it."
Shion's expression slowly turned thoughtful.
"I have a theory," Lucid continued. "Ever since the King passed away, the nobility—the truly rich and powerful—have taken control of Andorrea's throne. They're using the royal family as nothing more than puppets."
"What makes you so sure about that?" Shion asked, crossing her arms.
Lucid didn't hesitate.
"Then tell me—why the sudden surge in corrupted mana pills? Why is every guard corrupt now? Why did an entire sector fall, and yet Her Majesty hasn't said a single word? Why don't we have access to the upper sector anymore? Why hasn't she ever shown herself?"
In truth, while lucid was researching the history of Andorra there was a time where the lower sectors had access to the upper sectors. What's more is that royalty made frequent appearances out in the public even in the lower sectors.
Shion opened her mouth, then paused.
"Well… some of those questions, I could probably debunk—"
"No, Shion." Lucid cut in, firm but not unkind. "It's obvious. The Circle of Nine controls Andorrea. At first, I thought they were tied to the royal family—but they're not. They're a separate group—made of the rich, the untouchable. Nobles with deep pockets while not having any royal blood."
He stepped forward, voice dropping lower.
"Andorrea isn't ruled by royalty anymore. It's being run by nobles—and money hungry individuals."
Shion's frown deepened. "Then why don't they just kill the royal family and be done with it?"
Lucid sighed.
"Because they can't. At least not without consequences. The people still believe in the royal family, even if they've never seen them. If the Queen or the Prince died, it would cause chaos—riots, rebellion. My guess? They're being used—puppets. A symbol to keep the masses quiet while the real rulers work behind the curtain."
He looked her dead in the eyes now.
"So, Shion, let me ask you something."
She paused.
"Would you believe me if I told you that Andorrea is being influenced by... corrupted mana crystals?"
"Lucid… you can't seriously believe this," Shion said, her voice unsteady. "There are so many holes in your theory. Have you even seen these corrupted mana crystals with your own eyes?"
Lucid's gaze didn't waver.
"No, Shion… I haven't." He looked down for a breath, then raised his eyes. "But what if—what if those crystals are what's keeping the island sectors afloat? What if they're connected, forming a vast network of corrupted mana beneath us all?"
Shion shook her head slowly. "That's… a reach, Lucid."
He didn't stop.
"I think that's why everything feels off. Why people are tense. Why corruption spreads like wildfire." He stepped towards the dusty window. "These people—these guards—they're not cruel or evil out of their own volition. They're becoming manifestations of their own inner desires, warped and fed by whatever's tainting those crystals."
"And if I'm right… the source of all of it is in Sector One."
Shion's lips parted, her expression twisting in disbelief. "No… You can't possibly be thinking—"
"Yes." Lucid's tone was resolute now. "I'm almost certain."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a card—the seven red diamonds. The card that seemed to have an endless amount of storage but also allowed him to see through hardship.
It glowed faintly in his hand as he activated it.
"This card heightens my perception—I can see things I normally wouldn't. It also lets me store objects, quite neatly at that. But more importantly… It sharpens my sensitivity to mana. With it, I can trace what others can't even sense.'"
It was the Diamond card, the same one he'd used to withdraw supplies and treat Shion the day before. This card hadn't come to him naturally. Unlike the others, it was one he had actively sought out. How he'd found it was still a mystery, even to him. But he knew one thing for certain: meditation had played a key role back when he was spending his time in the training center with Yannick. He held the card up, and its red aura shimmered faintly, reacting to the air.
"Then tell me this, Shion—why have I started seeing crimson threads in the air around us? Why only after two weeks here? Why did everything seem normal when I first arrived—but now…" He turned, scanning the empty room as if he could feel it crawling beneath the surface. "Now, the red is starting to show."
There could be many reasons why Lucid had only recently begun to see the faint crimson mana. Perhaps he hadn't been able to use the card properly before arriving in Andorrea, or maybe he simply hadn't known what to look for. However when he first arrived, the guards had seemed friendly, the people seemed normal. Everything appeared calm. But now… everything was unraveling. Chaos was creeping in, subtle at first, but the change in behaviour of the people and the guards were unmistakable.
Shion faltered. "I… I…"
Lucid looked back at her, his voice low and firm.
"This isn't speculation, Shion."
"I'm serious, This is the truth.."
She looked at Lucid with a newfound sense of respect and intrigue. Somehow, he had pieced together the truth behind Andorrea's troubles—and even the hidden motives of her fallen syndicate. That group had once planned to overthrow the Council of Nine by reclaiming power, starting with the theft of a sacred scroll from the Celestial Archives. They had uncovered strange anomalies: the crystals beneath the floating islands slowly shifting to a deep crimson hue. And now, Lucid had drawn the same conclusions, without ever being told. She couldn't help but admire him.
He was so calm… so soft-spoken, yet he had unraveled everything. He could have run. He could have left it all behind.
'So integral,' she thought.
A quiet chuckle escaped her lips. Maybe her actions hadn't been in vain after all. If nothing else, at least now she had a chance to avenge her fallen master.
"Very well," she said, her voice steady with new resolve.
Lucid blinked, slightly taken aback.
"Lead the way,"
She continued, crossing her arms slowly, her gaze lingering on him with a newfound curiosity–sharp, almost teasing. There was something in her eyes now, an interest that wasn't just tactical.
"I will assist you in every way I can."