My boot soles hit the wet bricks with a satisfying thud, sending up a cloud of dust like shifting mist.

 

Stone bricks and slabs of musty grey stone made up a trough and path in the underground, and though the tunnel I’d landed in did not contain any rushing water, I could hear its flow as if it were through the nearest wall. Complicated dying glyphs softly cast their hues up and down the walls, each one possibly older than the surrounding countries and with the faded luminosity to prove it. Nor did the bricks themselves retain their constructed vigour.

 

Further up and down I could see only darkness prevail, though curious indentions in the dust told of another recent traveller. 

 

Yep, it was an aqueduct. Or at least a maintenance tunnel to one.

 

“So this is where she’s been disappearing too…” I muttered. “But to do what?”

 

No matter how you sliced it, stalking around the academy grounds in a ‘secret’ underground tunnel system was shady as hell. And while I hated to stereotype, Hosi was a foreigner and a bit of a firebrand among the monarchal Veroline. It wouldn’t be too out of the question for her to be a saboteur or spy, or perhaps even in league with someone like Lord Agos or the Moon Thorns.

 

Of course, I could already hear what the Maverick’s would say if that turned out to be true. It’d be a horribly cruel joke for the one democratically minded person I knew here turn out to be a terrorist or foreign agent. Fredrick in particular would never let me hear the end of it…

 

So I hadn’t told any of them that I was coming down here. I’d decided it’d be better for my political agenda if I could just find out the truth and report it secretly to the guards if it turned out to be dangerous.

 

Oh? What is that? ‘But Ryder, you’re a moron!’ ‘Ryder, how come you haven’t learned your lesson yet?’ 

 

Well, these were very valid questions, of course. I did end up leaving a note for Gideon for whenever he got back to the dorm, but after I had seen that Hosi had disappeared again I’d been almost forced to jump into action. 

 

The funeral was tomorrow, and the rest of the week would have us buried up to our armpits as we sought to finish preparations and study for coming tests at the same time. There simply wouldn’t be any time for vigilantism for me, nor was Hosi likely to have the time to do anything. And the funeral was an auspicious date for something terrorist related to happen as well. It was incredibly imperative that I find out what was happening tonight, and there wasn’t time to explain to the others why they should sneak about in dank sewers the night before a long day.

 

…Or that’s the story I was going to stick to, at least.

 

The real reason was I was very sure that it was something innocuous and the church service had bored the socks off me, but that wasn’t nearly as noble. More likely than not I’d just find her down here smooching with some strange guy and I’d skedaddle back to the surface with my curiosity quenched. After all, it would be entirely too convenient for me to happen to room with the one security threat in the city who just so happened to be an exchange student in a goddamn school of all places. That was sort of like moving into a community college and suspecting your new roommate was an alchemist or something. I’d be more likely to find a bar of [gold] in the dirty laundry.

 

And unlike the royal palace and the capital’s catacombs, this place was actually kind of secure. There were the malcontented children of senate-aligned nobles, but they had been closely watched by the guards each day since the battle and were unlikely to cause problems. Andril had been exceptionally thorough in his audit of the guard, I was told.

 

Nor was it likely that wild animals stalked down here. According to what I could learn from Auro, these tunnels came straight from snowmelt way further up the mountain, and nothing besides the occasional bird and cloudfish could even stand the temperatures up there. On the other side it just led directly into the city, where hundreds of Minuan soldiers patrolled night and day. The only monsters I’d find in these tunnels would be horny teenagers and urban explorers.

 

“And there’s a path now.”

 

Seeing no other way forward, I started down after the footprints in the dirt. Whoever made them had been in a hurry, because they were widely spread and lightly smudged. And given how there weren't any return tracks, Hosi was either still down here or had gone up another way. And given how one of those answers was actually useful to me, that was the one I was going to believe.

 

Before I could take three steps, however, I heard a thud behind me.

 

“...”

 

Silence reigned as I slowly turned with a racing mind. Countless possibilities ranging from monsters to the guards shot through my mind, each outcome rapidly attached to a different plan of action I’d thought up beforehand. 

 

It was only my luck that the one I didn’t think of came to pass.

 

“...It’s freezing down here, isn’t it?.” Auro looked a little embarrassed, as if she’d thought I’d be farther away. 

 

“How.”

 

“Ah, you know those questions you kept asking me? Well I figured you’d do something… strange I guess.”

 

I covered my face with my hand as I turned away, internally cursing my own curiosity. 

 

Well, this was still doable, wasn’t it? Auro was a bit worthless in the stealth department, but it wasn’t exactly out of the picture that I could convince her to stay back. This would only be a travesty if-

 

A second and third thud echoed behind me like drum beats to some mocking melody.

 

“...of course.”

 

“Were you going somewhere?” Breale grinned. “It’s mighty strange for a lady to be tramping about the sewers at night.”

 

“Aqueduct, actually.” Fredrick corrected. “And by the Star, where are your gloves? You’ll lose your hands to frostbite like that.”

 

I sighed.

 

“So what did you find?” Auro asked. “It must be important if you didn’t even bring Silst…”

 

“Would it be too much to ask for all of you to go back up and forget about this?” I tried.

 

“Absolutely.” Breale said. “Well, I wouldn’t be too sad if Red went back, but I’m not going to go through what happened at that ball again.”

 

“None of us will be leaving.” Fredrick crossed his arms. “Now, what was so important that you’d risk your sleep the night before Elendri’s funeral?” 

 

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long day after all.” Auro added.

 

“I’m following a… lead.” I tried to glare at them, finding even that hard to justify.

 

It really wasn’t that insane that they’d think I was doing something dangerous, but it really would’ve been better if Auro had never connected those dots. Now if Hosi actually was doing something bad I wouldn’t be able to hide it from Fredrick…

 

“Then let’s all follow that lead.” Fredrick said. “Lead on.”

 

“No. There is no way we’re all-”

…

Low voices echoed through the tunnel ahead, and a warm yellow light leaked out around the next bend in the tunnel.

 

“I think I hear voices ahead.” Fredrick whispered. “She’s probably near.”

 

I glared at the back of his head as he creeped forward, lamenting my indiscretion. Auro apologised as she and Breale both filed past me, and the latter accidently bumped me against the wall.

 

How had I deteriorated this much? I used to be able to bluff and sneak like a dragon in the clouds, but now it seemed even the simple minded could guess what I was going to do. What did that make me now? Worthless? Had it been all the communism exposure the last few weeks? I’d gotten soft, definitely. I’d probably need to binge on a few bags of burgers and fire off a couple dozen fireworks if I ever wanted to return to normal.

 

I shuffled up after them as we huddled up around the corner bed like a pack of cartoon characters. Up ahead, I could unfortunately very clearly hear Hosi’s voice as she talked with some guy.

 

“....tomorrow, right?” She said. “Everyone will be escorted down together. They’ll probably be in one big group for the Prince’s speech.”

 

“Perfect. We’ll be ready, of course. Be sure to stay away, but don’t hide. It might be suspicious if you were the only one away.”

 

I cringed as the man kept talking. 

 

Well, maybe he was just talking about a prank? It wasn’t guaranteed that he and Hosi were evil after all…

 

“That’s a hard thing to ask. Are you sure you don’t want extra help at the house? All this would be for nothing for me if I just ended up dying along with everyone else.”

 

Ah, a mass murder plot. That was pretty irredeemably evil, wasn’t it? Well, at least she wasn’t a demon-

 

“The summoning will be difficult, but we should manage by ourselves. Controlling it might be a little difficult however.”

 

[Fuck]. Maybe-

 

“I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad if the city was destroyed in its entirety.” Hosi laughed. “Would be better for Doux-Burgund that it burn.”

 

How were you managing to blow past every expectation I had?! 

 

“Stardamned republicans…” Fredrick muttered.

 

I glanced at the others, finding that they were taking this news with even more surprise than I felt myself. Breale was rapidly clenching her hand over her hilt in utter betrayal, while Auro looked pale to the point of fainting. 

 

How could Hosi sell out her host country like this? She’d looked for all the world like a diligent student, definitely not like a spy. While it was impossible to get close in the weeks we’d known each other, I’d at the very least considered her as a friend. Was it possible that this was an act somehow?

 

“Let’s cut them down.” Breale muttered. “It’d be quicker than getting the guards.”

 

Fredrick caught his sister’s arm before she could go around the corner.

 

“Calm yourself, wouldn’t it be better to get more information? They obviously have more members in their ring.”

 

“But…”

 

“There is more than enough time before the funeral.” Fredrick whispered. “We have enough time to alert the palace and cancel the speech.”

 

Breale pacified for the moment, we returned to listening to the conversation around the bend.

 

“-don’t need to know. Even I am not fully in the loop with what happened over in the capital.” The man sighed. “Why not just flee? You’ve made your money, helped your republic. There’s no point in getting more involved.”

 

“But what if I want to? Verol is an abonimat-”

 

“So are all kingdoms apparently.” The man interrupted. “Even my compatriots and I are not so heartless as to cheer on the thousands of deaths that approach us. It is simply a necessity.”

 

“You misunderstand the significance of Verol on my country.” Hsoi said. “It is the seat of the Old Lmeri Empire, a tyrant that in many of their minds never actually ended. It must be cast down brick by brick and limb by foetid limb if the world is to ever recover.”

 

“That is…”

 

“But you call this a necessity? So do I and my country. Each one must be killed and fed to the east if we are ever to recover.”

 

There was a short silence, the evil cultist apparently taken aback by Hosi’s own bloodthirst. Though I couldn’t blame him, for the very same surprise ran through my own bones.

 

“You are still young, sometimes I forget this.” He said. “Blood’s sometimes necessary, I’ll give you that, but not so much that the world drowns in it. It is a means to an end, an end that my group feels like would reap more benefit in the long term.”

 

“And what ending is that then?” Hosi asked. “What ending do the Moon Thorns have for the plateau? I’ve never quite heard the full story.”

 

There was another period of silence, though I couldn’t quite understand why this one came about. The bigger thing was that ‘Moon Thorns’ had popped up once again before us. The others looked similarly concerned, and outraged glances flitted among us.

 

These bastards again? Just what benefit could they have from meddling in Veroline politics like this?

 

“That is not important. In fact, I believe we’ve spoken too long this time. Do you have the address to meet up at later?”

 

“I have it written down somewhere.”

 

“I would hope not… but no matter. We should be out of the city by tomorrow night anyway.”

 

“Then I shall rendezvous at the house tomorrow for the rest of my payment then.”

 

Footsteps began to ring out down towards us, and we froze for a moment.

 

Shit. Of course she’d come back this way! Why didn’t we think of that?

 

Hurriedly, the lot of us started scrambling back down the tunnel, but I could already tell that we wouldn’t make it around the next bend in time unless we started sprinting. She just wasn’t far enough away. 

 

Instead, I yanked on the sleeves of the Mavericks to face towards the hall, and each of them placed a hand on the swords they always wore. We waited as Hosi’s shadow loomed over the bend. I could almost feel the tension in Breale’s hand as she waited to activate the mask-shield she’d borrowed from the duelling club. I could feel the dread build in my heart as Hosi’s boot came into view.

 

Only for her to stop at the edge.

 

It was as if she’d seen something strange and stopped to inspect it. Was it possible she’d detected us somehow? Would she attack us on sight? Despite what we just heard, I still didn’t want to get in a life and death battles with her, and I wasn’t sure we had the capability to restrain an active mage right now.

 

After a few heartstopping moments she withdrew from the corner.

 

“Actually, I have some business in Minua proper tonight anyway. I’ll join you to the junction at Blackroot Square if you don’t mind.”

 

“Will you be able to make it back to the academy in time?” Came the man’s sceptical reply. 

 

“Definitely. It only takes some hours to descend if you take the ladder ways. Most of the trip up the mountain is wasted on switchbacks.”

 

“I know that, but it really will be a long day tomorrow…”

 

“I don’t have any important roles anyway. Why, you should really just trust me on this.”

 

“I never said anything about not ‘trusting’ you, I just worry I suppose. Let’s hurry.”

 

The sounds of their footsteps echoed down the hall away from us, leaving us alone in the darkness as we struggled to process what we had just heard over the last couple of minutes.

 

It seemed a new threat had decided to strike at Andril’s fledgling rebellion.