The windows rattled as a cold wind swept through the city. Alice, who had been standing beside them, shut them firmly, restoring the tense silence inside the room.
Tirandel and Elira stood across from each other at a table in the corner of the room. A map lay spread between them, small stones marking key locations. Elira studied it in silence, her attention unwavering.
'We walked straight into a trap.'
After arriving in Venis, Elira had expected at least a minimum level of coordination. Instead, before any plan could even be discussed, Leon vanished without a word.
She had feared he would resort to extreme measures to find Iriel. But with nothing happening over the past few hours, she forced herself to set the thought aside.
Bernard had gone with him. At least he'd left a note behind—enough for Elira to know he was meeting the Bureau agents assigned to assist them.
Elira's gaze shifted to Tirandel, who was chewing at his nails.
Tirandel had returned to the safehouse an hour ago. From that moment on, everything had begun to unravel.
Noah, who should have returned long ago, was nowhere to be found. Elira extended her senses, searching for his Aether frequency.
She felt it flare briefly—near Tirandel's guild.
When they reached the area, they found hairline fractures in the pavement and damage along the building's outer wall. On one hand, it resembled the aftermath of a brief but intense clash—Noah's Aether frequency had spiked sharply. On the other, the marks suggested frantic movement, as if he had been fleeing.
'The most likely conclusion is that he uncovered something he shouldn't have—and was intercepted. But there's nothing left to trace.'
Whoever confronted Noah had to be at least a Master Adept. The absence of residual traces was unnatural—every living being left something behind. Only an Ascendant, or someone approaching that realm, could erase them so thoroughly.
That possibility led Elira to a grim conclusion: Noah may have stumbled upon Iriel's location—only to be captured by the same mage responsible for her abduction.
The truth could be different. But Elira had long since learned to plan around the worst outcome, not the most hopeful one.
"Damn it. This entire land is cursed. What is the Bureau even doing?" Tirandel snapped from across the table.
Tirandel had visited several places to gather intel about the city. The deeper he dug, the clearer it became just how badly Venis had deteriorated over the years.
With rumors of an imminent clash between Valcrest and Sovran, guilds and businesses affiliated with either side were being quietly boycotted. The city's economy grew brittle, forcing people to rely almost entirely on local vendors.
But that was only the surface of the problem.
And that was only the surface of it. Beneath that, the Count and the Revolutionary Front had begun clashing indirectly. The fragile balance had begun to fracture, making it clear that a civil conflict was no longer a distant possibility—only a matter of time.
Because of this, even businesses that once claimed neutrality were being forced to choose a side or be absorbed by those who already had. With most of the city already leaning toward the Front, Tirandel knew they wouldn't wait much longer to move against the Count.
With too many conflicts layered atop one another, Tirandel gathered little usable intel and was forced to retreat to the safehouse.
Stepping closer to the table, Alice asked, "Does that mean the explosion beneath the hospital is the only lead we have?"
On his way back, Tirandel had heard rumors about an underground expansion project beneath the hospital. The expansion had supposedly been halted long ago, yet people claimed that something had exploded underground late one night, just days earlier.
Some insisted construction had quietly resumed, and the sound was merely an accident. Others claimed an explosion had been heard—but that no damage was found, and no one had actually seen anything.
Elira nodded. "Yes. Everything else can be attributed to the chaos in the city. But this explosion cannot. The mage we're dealing with is highly proficient in fire-element Aether and specializes in runic spells. If he minimized environmental damage deliberately, it would explain why the sound carried—but the destruction did not."
Tirandel fell silent for a moment before speaking again, more urgently.
"Doesn't that mean he was cornered? Why else use something that costly?"
Elira understood immediately. She had been circling the same conclusion herself. If the mage had to use his specialty, to the point of using runic spells, that meant he was facing an enemy either on the same level or someone even stronger than him.
If that was true, then every piece of intel they had on the mage was already outdated. The fact that someone else knew about Iriel's kidnapping was alone a fact that changed everything for them.
That was when the thought fully settled in her mind: the city itself was the trap.
'What was meant to be his chance to reclaim his name has turned into a noose. And there is only one way this ends: Leon will be used as bait.'
Burdened by competing thoughts, Elira exhaled slowly.
"We don't have a choice anymore. We've already walked into the trap. The best we can do now is lie low until this new kidnapper reveals themself. Until then, anything we do will only be turned against us."
Alice lowered her gaze and studied the map again.
"What makes you think they'll show themselves?" Alice asked. "Wouldn't it be safer for them to simply disappear?"
"A trap is incomplete without bait," Elira said. "Knowing Leon's nature, they chose the hospital deliberately. That way, if he even considers attacking, it becomes a bloodbath. And if their goal truly is to break him," she continued, "then they'll eventually have to expose themselves to draw him out.
Stroking his chin, Tirandel countered, "But what if their objective is both Iriel and Leon's reputation?"
Tirandel's words were harsh—and uncomfortably accurate. So far, none of what they had expected went according to their plan. Meanwhile, they weren't able to get even the smallest clue on Iriel's condition.
She lowered her gaze and realized the stone in her hand had been crushed to dust. She hadn't noticed when it happened.
"That's where we come in," Elira said quietly.
Her words drew both Alice's and Tirandel's attention.
"Over the next few days, we'll draw their attention toward us," Elira said. "They intend to stay hidden—so we'll force them into the open."
Tirandel scoffed. "And how exactly do you propose we do that?"
Alice bristled at his words, but she didn't argue.
Elira shook her head. "No. We won't confront them directly. We'll narrow our search to the hospital and its surrounding districts. And since a confrontation is inevitable, we'll make sure no one else gets caught in it."
Turning to Tirandel, she said evenly, "See if you can obtain blueprints of the hospital—including the underground construction."
Tirandel hesitated. Following Elira's plan meant committing fully to a situation he no longer controlled.
But he had come here for a reason—and he hadn't forgotten it yet.
He nodded once. "What about you?"
He hesitated only briefly. "We'll buy you time."
Tirandel wanted to press further, but he could tell she wouldn't elaborate.
"Alright. I'll rest for a few hours and get back to work." With Tirandel gone, the room was once again filled with silence.
Alice studied Elira's expression for a moment. "What are we going to do?"
Elira met her gaze for a long moment. Then she exhaled.
"We're going to visit the Revolutionary Front."