Now, what shall I do with you?

I gazed down at Leona's egg in my hands. The golden flakes on its shell glistened under the hallway's chandelier outside Micah's study. Our meeting had concluded, and there was little time to spare before we needed to head out and execute our plan to save Fin.

I just need a heating mana stone and a room that can withstand the birth of a phoenix.

There was no need to go through the chaotic birth in Fiona's kitchen again. And I hoped to avoid exploding any other room as well, including my bathroom, which was the room I first thought of because of its privacy and it being the sanctuary where I had most of my conversations with the System thus far.

"What is that egg?" Elda's voice sounded near me. "I've never seen any egg put in a crystal case before."

I looked up at my younger sister with her wild curls of fiery red hair. She was walking down the hall with a small wooden box of odd objects inside. The smell of spices and metal wafted from inside.

"It's because it's a rather special egg," I replied honestly.

Henry coughed into his hand when I said that, no doubt thinking I was a madman for spending thirty phoenix eyes on it.

"Actually, Elda, could I borrow your outside workstation?" I asked my sister.

Elda ran her explosive experiments there, so it was sturdy enough to withstand the birth of a phoenix. And she had plenty of heating mana stones there as well.

She scrunched up her nose.

"Are you going to prepare the egg there?" she asked.

"Sort of," I said.

She raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged. "Well, I've also boiled a few eggs there for fun, so I can't really judge. Just let me know when. Did you want to make your egg right now?"

"No," I replied. I gazed down at Leona's egg. "I'll prepare it tomorrow."

As much as I wanted to meet Leona again in this round, it was best I held off for now.

In the previous round, I had Leona experience several unpleasant and traumatizing events. I couldn't guarantee this round wouldn't have its own share of issues. Still, at the very least, I could spare the first outing of her life from being the infiltration of a human trafficking scumbag.

"Fine by me, just tell me when," Elda replied. "I have a few new inventions I'm working on right now, but I can squeeze in time for you to cook your egg."

I smiled, thinking about the life Leona would experience this time. Of course, I was going to ensure it was filled with lots of delicious food and good cake.

But as for now, I needed to save Fin and prevent the avalanche of tragedies that his kidnapping put in motion in the previous rounds.

 

* * *

 

"An hour has passed. Perhaps something went wrong?" I said.

I gazed out the tower's half-done window. Half of the stained glass windows had been built in, with the other half still to be done, allowing for a clear opening to the cool afternoon air.

Micah and I were situated on the seventh floor of a newly built tower that sat in section C-17, and the breeze was quite noticeable at this height. The tower was in the middle of one of East Genise's spontaneous rebuilds and had a perfect view of Krok Tomfrees' estate that took up nearly all of B-18.

It was exceptionally well-kept. The brick and yellow painted buildings of the estate had the same craftsmanship as any of those in West Genise. And there were luxuries such as red rose bushes, bright green grassy patches, and even fountains. Everything was manicured and clean.

Visually, it had all the markings of what someone might expect a first-class orphanage to look like. Why would anyone ever question that it was actually a human trafficking site? But I knew Freida Stran's intel was accurate.

Micah flipped open his looking glass and closed it shut for the dozenth time since we set up in the tower. Apart from communicating with Ridley, he was busy receiving alerts and messages regarding other matters, including handling the kidnapped daughter of the palace waiter.

It was a new round, and troubles were more efficiently taken care of. But, that said, I was growing more concerned the longer the shadows grew on the street sidewalks.

"There's been no new update from Ridley since the first one when he and Julius went in, but I wouldn't worry just yet," Micah said. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

I gazed into the grassy courtyard of Krok Tomfrees' estate. A woman in a blue dress walked through it with a small child in hand. Another man, who appeared to be one of the six guards from Freida Stran's notes, nodded toward her and passed her by. I had seen them walk through the space twice during the past hour.

Business went on like usual. That was either very good or really bad.

"The window of time when there should only be six guards making their rounds is quickly closing up," I said.

Based on Freida Stran's notes, there was just another hour before the other mage would return. And with more watchful eyes, it would be tricky to execute the plan discreetly as initially intended. Or as discreet as a plan that involved multiple explosions and destroyed buildings could get.

"I know," Micah said. "But there's still time before we have to worry about that. I trust that Ridley will manage by then."

I looked over at my older brother. He was by the window beside me, sitting comfortably atop a green velvet chair we found on this floor. He looked unconcerned. His blonde hair shifted in the breeze that blew in through the unfinished window.

The plan was for Ridley to sneak into the estate through one of the forgotten passages from a prior rebuild before Krok Tomfrees's estate was brought about. He was to go in and make his way directly to the area where Fin and the other children were staying.

Then, with the children secured to be taken out through the passageway, Ridley was to signal Julius to explode the two nearby buildings parallel to the estate as a distraction. The goal was to avoid unnecessary combat since children were involved and instead focus on distracting the six guards with the nearby chaos. And if needed, engaging in actual combat would have been limited to a handful of the six guards.

The plan was simple, and we had the advantage of Freida Stran's knowledge relayed through me. Still, even with the most perfect of plans, things were bound to go awry in reality. Some unexpected elements were sure to pop up.

"What if they were caught?" I asked. "There were only the two of them."

"It being just the two of them is not an issue but an advantage," Micah replied. "Two phoenix eyes are better than a heavy cart full of copper coins. I wouldn't have trusted this job to Ridley and Julius if I wasn't confident in their ability to complete it."

"But you still haven't heard from either of them," I said. "If something happened and they couldn't communicate back, we'd never know."

"No, if something did indeed happen, we'd know," Micah said.

"How?" I raised a brow. This was not discussed during the strategy planning earlier today.

"Julius would have set himself to combust as a last resort," Micah explained. "It would have produced a bright purple mist extending up to the sky and impossible to miss. However, as there's nothing remotely purple to be seen, we can assume that, at the very least, he has not been caught."

"That's extreme," I balked.

I intended this to be a rescue mission for Fin, not a sacrificing ordeal.

"Hardly." Micah waved his hand. "There's more where he came from."

Seeing my expression, Micah added, "Self-combustion for Julius is hardly what it means for most people. He's a royal mage guard for a reason."

Just what does that mean...?

However, before I could pose the question, a click sounded from Micah's looking glass.

He opened it, and his eyebrows came slightly together as he took in whatever new insight that was delivered to him.

"Ridley, I'll check with Luca and let you know how to proceed," he spoke in a serious voice into the device.

"What is it?" I asked.

Micah sighed and snapped his looking glass closed. He gazed out at the estate. His expression had changed from one of relaxed curiosity to one of quiet displeasure.

Just what did he hear or see?

"The good news is that Ridley has found Fin and the other children on that list," he replied. "And the plan can proceed as we originally intended it to."

"And the bad?" I asked.

There was obviously some sort of bad news.

"Julius came across something in one of the buildings he intended to blow up that makes things somewhat more complicated. From the looks of it, Krok Tomfrees had been working with another faction aside from the Spiders," Micah replied. "And he was supplying them with something quite curated."

I blinked.

"Which faction?"

Not that I saw how it made any difference. What did it matter who else Krok Tomfrees worked with? The man was obviously trash. And so was anyone else he did his dealings with. Our goal here was to retrieve Fin and the other children. I actually only initially intended on focusing on Fin to simplify matters, given how short notice the rescue plan was. However, Micah, in his kind nature and having a soft spot for children, suggested we rescue all of the kids from the get-go.

"If we're going to do it, we're going to do it right the first time," he said.

"The Red Lanterns," Micah replied.

I took in a deep inhale. Disgust rose up from my stomach and soured my expression.

Micah nodded in understanding.

"What did he find exactly?" I asked. "And what was the complication?"

"In one of the buildings parallel to the estate that he ventured into, he saw some of the…. product that Krok Tomfrees supplies to the Red Lanterns," Micah replied. "And based on the logs, it will be moved soon, after which it will be near impossible to do anything for them. Unfortunately, Julius is not equipped for such a delicate type of work on his own. It is too last minute for me to call in backup, so if we wish to intervene and help these kids, you and I will have to go down ourselves to assist."

I rubbed my temples.

What had initially been intended to be a rescue mission for Fin had somehow ballooned into something far, far more extensive.

"How do you propose we tackle saving all these other kids as well? I'm hardly going be any help if things go sideways," I said. "And depending on how many there are, there's no way of us getting them out unnoticed."

I had no poisoned needles, my Strength was at a 4, and I had yet to procure any artifacts. Worse yet, I had no information about this operation. My information broker kept her information detailed, but it was consolidated to Fin's kidnapping.

It was the right thing to do, but the risk of failure was high. Perhaps in another round, I could convince Micah to bring in more people for the job, but I was afraid we were spreading far too thin in this round. There were too many lives to be saved. The weight would tip the boat over, and no one would get saved at this rate.

Micah blinked in surprise and shook his head.

"Oh, no. I apologize. I didn't explain properly," he said. "I don't mean the time is running out to save them. I meant the time was running out for us to put them out of their suffering."

"What?" I was suddenly confused.

I felt a jolt through my body.

"You want to kill them? Why?" I said.

Micah's green eyes met mine.

"Luca, have you ever heard of The Alchemist?"

Damn it.

I was doubly relieved for not having awoken Leona and brought her to this rescue mission.