Chapter 31: Warm Light Wine
"The decision from above regarding the Black Bone mineral vein is out."
Hodell's eyelid twitched.
For a brief, absurd moment, his heart had been pounding for nothing. He had been ready for some earthshaking revelation, and this was what he got.
"Oh?" Eileen looked up curiously. "What did they decide?"
Loyi adjusted his glasses and answered first. "The official conclusion is that Black Bone's illegal experiments and reckless overmining caused a structural Magic Net disorder in the mining zone. Because the risk of escalation is too high, conventional mining operations there have been suspended indefinitely."
He paused.
"However..."
Hodell took over naturally, his tone casual, like an idle comment rather than a deliberate probe. "That wording is still strange. 'Structural disorder' is too vague."
If Black Bone had wanted to trap the Third Squad back then, they had needed to make sure the Magic Net would be completely cut off the moment Kyle's team went deep enough. Calling all of that a mere "structural disorder" felt suspiciously convenient.
"Yeah." Loyi frowned. "It's a shame Black Bone destroyed almost all of the records, data, and experimental results. Their methods were inhumane, but the technical achievements themselves didn't deserve to disappear with them..."
"They absolutely did," Eileen shot back at once, frowning. "That kind of research should have been burned down with the people who ran it."
Then she sighed.
"The real pity is the mine itself. I've heard the reserves of rare minerals down there are astonishing. Now it's turned into a cursed prize no one can touch."
She wasn't wrong.
A damaged Magic Net, potion driven magical beasts, unstable energy zones... the whole place had become a live grenade with the pin halfway out.
"So what's the final arrangement?" Hodell asked.
Kyle strode over with a document in hand and answered for them.
"It will be handed over to a professional institution for 'safe study and controlled development.'" His tone made it clear what he thought of that phrasing. "By joint resolution of the General Administration of Mysteries and the Ministry of Magic, the vein has been assigned to the Obsidian Group. Their proposal was judged to be the most feasible, and they supposedly have the capability to resolve the 'disorder' there."
Then his gaze settled on Hodell.
"Ryan... you seem a little different today."
Sasha, who had been standing off to the side, added quietly, "You broke through, didn't you?"
Hodell rubbed the back of his neck and gave them the sheepish smile he had prepared in advance.
"Yeah. After the Black Bone incident, and then Phantom, I realized a lot of my knowledge had stayed at the theory stage. I could understand things, but not always use them properly in a real fight. Last night, I finally pushed through the bottleneck I'd been stuck at for a long time."
Eileen's face lit up immediately.
"I knew it. That's amazing! As expected of a genius personally assigned from headquarters."
Sasha's eyes brightened in a way that made Hodell instinctively wary.
"Congratulations," she said. "If you need someone to test your progress against, I can help."
A battle maniac, Hodell concluded silently.
He had no intention of staying on the topic long enough for more questions.
"So what kind of organization is this Obsidian Group?" he asked, steering the conversation away.
"Some kind of research institution," Loyi said after a moment. "They're not particularly well known, which means either they have no real background... or they have too much."
Baron yawned and waved a dismissive hand.
"Let the experts worry about expert problems. As long as that damned mine doesn't spit out any more crazed beasts, I'm happy. We finally get a few quiet days."
Kyle nodded and began assigning a handful of low intensity routine duties.
The team had gone through too many hard engagements in too short a time. Everyone needed breathing room.
Hodell agreed on the surface, but inwardly he stayed sharp.
So the Phantom affair still hadn't been dragged into the light. For the moment, the official focus remained fixed on the vein.
Maybe the organization was still scrambling behind the curtain.
Maybe not.
Either way, relaxing would have been stupid.
...
The next three or four days passed in unexpected peace.
Hodell finished adapting to his advancement. Apart from getting used to his strengthened control and newly refined combat rhythm, most of his time went into practicing the [Energy Refining Method].
Every session burned through both experience and stamina, but the Rapid Response Department was generous with recovery potions. For once, an official institution's supply system felt like a gift from heaven.
Magic civilizations really were convenient in the oddest ways.
[You practiced the [Energy Refining Method] once. Perfection 99%. Energy +3.]
Hodell stared at the panel and let out a quiet breath.
Generally speaking, the effects of this kind of training were tied to a class's primary attribute. Mages and Psychics relied on Mystery. Mechanists leaned on Intelligence. But the Esper System had always been the awkward one. It had no true primary attribute in the standard sense.
So he still wasn't entirely sure whether the perfection judgment came from his highest stat, or the grotesque total his attributes had accumulated into.
Either way, the result was excellent.
Training effects were divided into tiers. Poor completion gave +1 Energy. Solid execution gave +2. Anything over eighty percent gave +3.
He hadn't fallen below the top tier once.
Knock. Knock knock.
The familiar rhythm reached his ears.
Hodell raised an eyebrow.
Rare. Not midnight this time.
He got up and opened the door.
Lamia slipped inside almost immediately.
The moment the door opened wide enough, she crossed the threshold, then shut it behind her with a hard bang.
So she wasn't even bothering with the timid act anymore.
"What, no entrance performance today?" Hodell asked inwardly, though his face remained calm. "Does the organization have new instructions?"
Lamia didn't answer at once.
Instead, she walked straight toward him until only a short distance separated them. Her eyes were dark and serious.
"Phantom isn't dead."
Hodell's expression changed exactly as it should have. His pupils contracted, and raw disbelief flashed over his face.
"That's impossible," he said sharply. "I killed him myself."
Lamia kept staring at him.
A few long seconds passed before she stepped back.
"The laboratory was breached. The intruder had the same ability Phantom used."
Then she fixed him with another probing look.
"The person you killed that day... was it really someone who could walk through walls?"
"Yes." Hodell gave an immediate nod. "He was exhausted. We had drained most of his energy in the fight before that. He offered to negotiate, demanded to speak with me alone, and then tried to seize me as a hostage when his back was against the wall. I only managed to kill him because I was lucky."
"Tell me everything. Every step."
So he did.
Naturally, what he told her was not the truth. It was the version of the truth that had been built for her.
When he finished, Lamia fell silent, piecing things together.
After a while, she said, "Then maybe the one you killed was never the real Phantom at all."
There was a trace of bitterness in her voice.
Had Hodell not deliberately burned parts of the scene back then, there might still have been something left to verify. As things stood, too much had already been reduced to ash.
From Lamia's perspective, his actions had still been understandable. His mission had never been to preserve clues. It had been to eliminate them.
Hodell watched her think, then struck at the moment her guard loosened.
"The key I turned over," he asked, "did the organization confirm it was authentic?"
Lamia answered almost reflexively. "It was real."
Then her expression shifted.
Which only made the whole thing worse.
If the key had been genuine, then it strongly supported the idea that Phantom had betrayed them.
She thought for another moment before finally speaking in a low voice.
"Your mission remains the same. Keep silent. Stay buried inside the official structure. Your current position is delicate. Any unnecessary move could get you crushed."
With that, she left.
The solemnity on Hodell's face faded by slow degrees after the door shut behind her, until only deep thought remained.
So the organization was in trouble.
That alone was surprising.
He had always treated the Erhai School like a poisonous hand moving pieces on a board it fully controlled.
Now, for the first time, it looked like there might be another hand on the board as well.
Strange.
...
Then it snowed.
Not white.
Colorful.
Every snowflake seemed to contain a sliver of prism light. As they drifted down, the sunlight passing through them broke into tiny fragments, turning the whole sky into a silent shower of rainbow dust.
The snow itself glowed faintly.
It was as though the bizarre iridescent sky of Liuli Star had finally gotten tired of staying above everyone and decided to descend in scattered pieces.
"The universe can be disgustingly romantic when it wants to be," Hodell thought, leaning beside the window.
He pushed it open on impulse.
Cold, clean air rushed in.
Breathing it felt almost like breathing in light.
"Ryan, aren't you freezing?"
Eileen had walked over without him noticing.
Hodell had been staring too intently at the falling snow. He answered on instinct.
"I'm fine."
Eileen smiled, white mist escaping her lips as she exhaled.
"Your constitution really is absurd."
That pulled him back to himself.
He laughed, then shut the window. "Now that you mention it, maybe I am a little cold."
Kyle chose that moment to clap his hands once, pulling the team's attention together.
"Today's assignment is easy. Mid level ring road. Market patrol."
Market patrol sounded like work. In practice, it barely qualified.
Chat with the Security Squad. Drop by logistics. Visit busy districts. Buy things if needed. Relax in public while quietly widening the department's awareness of the city. That was all it really was.
Loyi came prepared as usual, stuffing several odd little devices into his coat. After a bit of shuffling and last minute checking, the squad set out.
The streets of Oluson were not streets in the ordinary sense.
Many of them had been carved directly into the canyon walls. Strong railings lined the edges, and beyond them yawned the abyss.
The team headed to one of the major lift platforms. Going down meant entering the city's belly.
This place was a hub. It linked the vertical layers of Oluson together, and it overflowed with people from every corner of the city.
The colorful snowfall thinned here, cut apart by steam vents, pipe exhaust, and the warm breath of life pouring out from the city's lungs.
The group stepped into noise.
Roads spread wide between dense shops and market stalls packed together like honeycomb. Overhead, pipes crossed and twisted into part of the architecture itself.
Everyone here had something to do.
Bargaining voices rose and fell. Tools clanged. Somewhere, nostalgic music drifted out through an unseen pipe. A few children chased a strange ball made from discarded bearings and spring parts. It bounced on its own, darting through adult legs and skipping over damp stone like a mischievous little spirit.
Baron peeled off almost immediately, drawn by a stall selling hot drinks.
He slapped the counter like he owned it.
"One warm light wine," he declared, then turned back and yelled, "Ryan! Want one? This stuff hits harder than it looks!"
Hodell almost refused out of habit.
Then he caught the sweet scent in the air and hesitated.
After all, this was his first snow in this world. Maybe it deserved its own first drink too.
He ordered a glass.
It arrived steaming slightly, the liquid inside carrying a soft blue glow.
He took a careful sip.
It was sweet at first touch, but not cloying. There was a cool scent in it too, something between mint and some unfamiliar berry. No harsh alcoholic bite. Just warmth, spreading down from his throat and into his chest, loosening the cold from the inside.
A faint afterscent lingered in his breath, something like damp soil and moss after rain.
Baron was watching him expectantly.
Hodell looked down at the glass, then back at him.
"So when you said 'strong,' you meant warm."
Baron stared at him, then burst out laughing.
"What else did you think I meant?"
Loyi, who had somehow acquired a small bottle of glowing particles from elsewhere in the market, held it over the wine steam. Tiny blue specks whirled inside like trapped fireflies.
"From the perspective of energy conversion," he began seriously, "warm light wine makes use of the mild bioenergy inside luminous lichen and—"
"Stop." Baron raised both hands in despair. "Please. Not during a drink."
Eileen laughed softly.
Even Sasha's eyes seemed gentler than usual.
The mood loosened further under the drink and the cold weather. Nearby tables were full of workers talking over one another, and fragments of conversation drifted across the room.
"I heard Snake Fang swallowed an entire turf line in the Rift Zone this week..."
"No surprise. Half the crystal trade in the mid level will be looking at them now..."
"Keep your voice down and drink."
Gang struggles again.
Oluson really was a rotten place wrapped in beautiful light.
Once, Hodell had assumed this city was meant to be the Erhai School's hidden stage. But ever since Phantom, the organization had gone quieter. Too quiet.
Even if Phantom truly had defected, this still felt excessive.
Unless Phantom had mattered far more than he initially appeared to.
Hodell cut the thought off and took another sip instead.
Then Sasha spoke.
"Ryan."
He turned.
She lightly tapped the rim of her empty glass with one fingertip, making a clear note ring out.
"If you had to compare this wine to a weapon," she asked, "what would you pick?"
The question was so abrupt that Baron nearly forgot how to breathe. Eileen blinked. Loyi actually looked intrigued.
Hodell thought for a moment.
"A soft whip," he said.
Sasha's brows lifted a fraction.
"Entangling, controlling, and with a long aftereffect," she said. "Interesting."
Baron immediately objected.
"Wrong. Completely wrong. Good alcohol should be a warhammer. One hit and you know it."
Eileen laughed. "Then fruit wine would be what, a sewing needle?"
Loyi opened his mouth again, clearly ready to turn this into a paper on comparative energy symbolism.
Baron saw it coming and nearly groaned.
"No. Loyi. Absolutely not. We are drinking."
That set everyone off again.
The conversation wandered after that, jumping from drink preferences to bad market food, from ridiculous rumors to stories about past patrols. Around them, the tavern pulsed with warmth and noise.
Kyle sat a little apart from the others, drinking slowly and listening more than talking, like a man who had learned that noise itself could carry useful information.
Outside the window, the glowing snow kept falling.
Oluson was still dangerous. Still ugly beneath the lights. Still layered with secrets and violence.
But in that moment, it was also alive.
And for a brief while, with warm light wine in his hand and his teammates laughing nearby, even Hodell felt like he belonged in it.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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