Ryan froze. "A massive robbery at the castle?" he asked in shock.
"Yes." She nodded. "Didn't they tell you? The mission has been issued from the castle among the organizations, the King himself issued it," she said.
Ryan frowned. 'A robbery at the castle... It could be...' He remembered a certain event from the novel and looked at Cecily.
"What does the mission say?" he asked.
"They really didn't tell you..." She was slightly surprised. "Even Brandon seems to be leading a pursuit mission." She sighed, realizing that he had been left out.
"They want to recover the 'gold' that was recently stolen," she said. "There are rumors that a breach was opened within the city, which seems to have brought Kazaks into the city."
'I knew it. It's the Lost Gold from the novel,' he thought.
"How long has the mission been going on?" he asked.
"It was issued yesterday."
He smiled gently. "Well, that's pretty soon, let's go early," he said.
"Early? Where to?" she asked, puzzled.
He shook his head. "It's nothing. I don't know much about this lost gold, but I'll try to find out when I get back to the castle," he replied.
She smiled. "If you don't get much information, join us. We're one of the main organizations in charge of the recovery; we have some information," she said, handing him a ticket with an address, some names, and little else.
Ryan had no idea she was part of an organization in the city. He saw her as quite independent and not very concerned about other people.
Perhaps it was just a facade?
She had to leave at that moment, leaving Ryan staring at the ticket, even more bewildered than before.
-
That same night.
Ryan found himself in front of an old-fashioned coffee, built between the side streets in the city's shopping district.
"37 Longging Street, Little Tree Coffee," he read on a sign above the coffee.
'This must be it,' he thought.
He was dressed in dark clothes from head to toe, so it wasn't easy to recognize him. In order to leave without the presence of guards, he had to make a move with Captain Garner. Once outside and with no one around, he headed to this place.
'To think I would find that address on Cecily's ticket.' He smiled, remembering that it was the same address Minister Martin had given him. 'Coincidences do exist.'
He entered the coffee shop, and a well-dressed person greeted him.
"Welcome. Would you like coffee or an alcoholic beverage?"
The coffee was empty, so the man who spoke to him was the one serving customers on the other side of the room.
Ryan approached him and placed both tickets on the table. "I think you understand what it is," he said.
The man, with a trimmed beard and black hair, nodded gently.
"Please follow me."
They entered an adjoining door, and there, the older man pressed some strange buttons hidden in the walls and on some shelves, which allowed him to open a hidden door in the wall.
Then he led him through long corridors and staircases that went up and down until they reached a beautiful cathedral.
'This is under the city, right?' he thought, looking at the walls around him.
This cathedral wasn't really that big, but its construction on the rock gave it a feeling of grandeur completely different from what Ryan was used to.
In front of them was a fairly large sidewalk made of powerful, perfectly polished, and well-preserved rocks, leading them to the place's door. It wasn't the only one; this place seemed to have many entrances.
"Go ahead; someone will take care of you," the man said before returning to his work.
Ryan walked along the sidewalk until he reached the door. It was made of glass and slightly ajar, so he entered.
The interior hall was decorated in the city's characteristic blue tone, with greenish flashes that resembled sparkles from a tree.
As soon as he opened the door, both a man and a woman looked up.
The man continued his work among the documents, but the woman greeted him.
"Welcome, sir. May I ask the reason for your visit?" She was about 25, wearing a long floral dress and yellow hair adorned by a rather large, old-fashioned hat.
Ryan approached and placed the two tickets on the table again. "Sorry for the sudden intrusion," he said.
When she saw the tickets, she was surprised. "I see, you're the person the Leader and Miss Cecily told me about." She smiled at him and motioned for him to follow her into the next room.
Once there, she offered him coffee. "You are the Ninth Prince, aren't you?" she asked.
Ryan then removed his black hood and part of what covered his face.
"It's difficult to go out these days without people following you, so I had to come like this," he said.
"Haha, the Leader had told me earlier, and since Miss Cecily is only friends with you, I assumed they had invited the same person." Smiling kindly, she held out her hand.
"So it's an honor to meet you, Ninth Prince. I'm Samira Myer, receptionist at the Fallen Tree. Although it may not seem like it, I am also a Laboratory Alchemist, so feel free to ask me for some potions from now on."
Ryan nodded gently. 'With this power, no Walker can hide from me. Their spirituality is simply visible to me, even if they try to hide it,' he thought.
"I don't think I need to introduce myself, do I? I'm Ryan, you don't need to use titles when addressing me," he replied.
"Okay, then sign here, Ryan. It's a contract to join the Fallen Tree Mirror organization. You can read the contract if you want, so feel free," she said.
Ryan read the entire document and skimmed through important topics before signing it.
He was then led inside while she gave him an overview.
"The man you saw outside is another receptionist. He's a normal person, so his job is to skim through documents, missions, etc. We are a relatively large organization, but at the same time small. We have several offices, but the organization's core has no more than 20 people," she said.
As he listened to the introduction, Ryan frowned when a strange thread of spirituality curled before his eyes.
"Hm?"
It wasn't the spirituality of the young lady in front of him; it was external. He followed the direction in which the thread of spirituality was heading and watched as it seemed to swirl around a wall.
"Who are you?" he asked suddenly.
His words made the young lady turn around and look at him. "What?" she asked, but then she noticed that Ryan was staring at a wall.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, after seeing that there was nothing there.
But he didn't answer.
'It's not coming from the wall, and there's a lot of it. Although it can hide its presence very well, it can't hide this spirituality. It's a Walker,' he thought.
Since he had no idea who it was, he prepared to summon his weapons immediately.
"Haha, the new guy is really perceptive, huh?" That voice came from everywhere, but he focused on the place where Ryan was looking.
At that moment, a man finally showed himself.
"Big brother!"