Lance was certainly no saint; he had quite a temper. He was particularly irked by the Elder’s condescending attitude and her unprovoked attack. Only the distance between them prevented him from marching over and slapping her to see if she’d snap out of her hysteria.
"But this will surely lead to hostility from the Seekers of Ons. They will never allow these two items to get out, and they certainly won’t let go," Tamara said with a sigh. "I know too much..." No organization would tolerate a traitor, and they would undoubtedly use any ans necessary to deal with one—especially a core figure.
"I know, but as long as you don’t give up on yourself, I won’t give up on you."
Lance knew this, of course. In fact, he rather hoped the Seekers of Ons would send more assassins. As long as they couldn’t kill Tamara, their attempts would only push her further into his embrace. Eventually, the Seekers of Ons’ secret techniques would be his. He wanted the woman, the artifacts, and their knowledge.
Tamara was now dazed by Lance’s forceful deanor, feeling a potent sense of security as if she were on cloud nine. She had thought she could confide in her teacher about the hardships of her years of wandering, but she never expected to be betrayed instead. Lance, on the other hand, had accepted and protected her based on a promise.
"Does that an we can get rid of Amanda now?" Even though her mind was still a bit foggy, Tamara remained fixated on her ultimate goal.
Lance looked at her, montarily speechless. Is this really the first thing you think of once you recover?
However, Lance didn’t agree imdiately. After so thought, he rejected the idea. "The Seekers of Ons don’t acknowledge her existence, which ans she’s been cast out, just like you. Think about how it felt when you weren’t understood or recognized."
A sly smile touched Lance’s lips. "Go tell her you’re both in the sa boat now. Letting her live with that knowledge will be more agonizing for her than death."
"Yes! I’ll go tell her right now." Tamara, who had been quite dejected just monts before, grew excited at his words. It seed Amanda was more important to her than anything else; even the organization’s denial could be temporarily set aside.
These two really were archenemies... Lance thought.
He told her to take the Spirit Communication Ritual tools and return them, and off she scurried. Tamara hadn’t thought much beyond the imdiate satisfaction; she was simply elated at the thought of Amanda’s distress. Misery loved company, and if soone else was suffering with her, it beca bearable, even a source of dark amusent.
Lance smiled faintly and silently withdrew.
Amanda was a talent, regardless of her current situation. It would be best if he could make use of her. By having Tamara provoke her and undermine her morale, he could make Amanda doubt herself. Then, when Amanda was at her lowest, he could extend a helping hand, using that vulnerability to supplant the organization’s place in her heart. The hearts of people, ripe for his manipulation! Those who couldn’t be used by him... well, only the dead were beyond his influence.
It was only a short walk. Tamara hurried to the carriage and knocked on the window. When Amanda’s face appeared, she showed none of her previous dejection. Her ability to recover so quickly from the emotional toll of her earlier conflict with Lance spoke to Amanda’s strong professionalism.
"Here are your things back," Tamara said with a laugh, tossing the items. "It’s a pity, really. The higher-ups don’t acknowledge your existence at all. They don’t care if you live or die. Now we’re in the sa boat!"
The sight of a smug Tamara filled Amanda with intense disgust. Without giving Tamara a chance to say more, Amanda slamd the window shut.
Her reaction made Tamara pause outside, but instead of anger, a smile spread across her face. She could see the panic and unease hidden beneath Amanda’s tense expression.
"Hahaha, serves you right for chasing all this way!" Tamara gloated, though Amanda couldn’t hear her.
But it was undeniable: Amanda was indeed flustered.
Although she had suspected the organization wouldn’t acknowledge her intelligence-gathering mission, surely that should only apply to the mission itself. The organization wouldn’t just abandon her, would they? Her identity... That’s right! The organization definitely couldn’t just give up on like this.
After retrieving the Spirit Communication Ritual tools, she hurriedly tried to contact her superiors. It was common knowledge among all Transcendents—the very first lesson they learned—that tools obtained from others must be thoroughly inspected. But Amanda couldn’t care less about that now; she desperately needed an explanation from above, not confirmation that she had truly been deserted.
Failure.
The Spiritual Network, which she should have been able to sense through the ritual, seed to have vanished, severing her connection to her superiors. Amanda’s first thought was that Tamara had tampered with the tools, but after checking them again, she found nothing out of the ordinary. The idea that the Spiritual Network itself could be destroyed had never crossed her mind; in her view, such a thing was impossible.
Then only one possibility remained: the higher-ups had removed her from the Spiritual Network.
Had she truly been abandoned?
The tools slipped from her grasp. She had no other reaction, simply standing there stunned...
"Has the Spiritual Network not been repaired yet?" the aged woman asked, facing Tamara’s teacher, a hint of worry in her voice. The Elders’ Council had concluded. Nurous agenda items concerning this matter had been voted on and approved, and she was now responsible for their execution. Thus, she imdiately turned her attention to this issue upon exiting, but the news was grim.
"In other regions, we’ve re-established contact with the ssengers, and the situation is stabilizing. However, the ssenger responsible for the Empire region has vanished. We can’t reach them. In the short term..." The woman’s expression also grew somber, but she forced herself to continue, "our operations in the Empire region will be severely crippled."
Transmitting information across thousands of miles was beyond current human capability; the Romani achieved it by borrowing the power of Transcendent entities known as "ssengers." The existence of the "ssenger" was an absolute Romani secret. Even ordinary Romani and most Seekers of Ons only had permission to use the Spirit Communication Ritual, completely unaware of its true nature or the ssengers. Only a handful were privy to the ssengers’ existence. As for what a "ssenger" truly was, that was a secret known only to the Elders.
"You’ve all worked hard." Hearing this, the old woman looked even older, the knowledge of what a ssenger was making her feel even more powerless. Over millennia, the Romani had found only a few such entities, each discovery made at an imnse cost. The loss of even one was unacceptable to the Romani.
The Spiritual Network paralyzed, a ssenger lost, and a powerful enemy made... Her montary impulse had brought such dire trouble to the organization, and indeed, to all Romani. The old woman knew that after this, she would have to step down from the Elders’ Council. No one else could bear this responsibility. But first, she had to resolve this crisis. If that proved impossible, she would at least have to eliminate that man. Indeed, an organization that had survived in this world for so many years had to be ruthless. So secret techniques, while demanding a terrible price, possessed imnse power. If she were to offer herself as that price, not even another Legendary could withstand it.
This would be her atonent. One last ti, she would shield the Romani—that was an Elder’s duty.
"I will personally go to the Northern Borderlands of the Empire. Make the preparations."
"Elder, let go instead. Tamara is my student, after all. If I talk to her, I might be able to help."
"There’s no need. These old bones aren’t so feeble yet," the old woman said, shaking her head with a smile. "You must manage things here. I will be stepping down soon. Resolve this matter properly; I have high hopes for you."
The woman understood the implication, of course. But, aware that her rival also had backing from other Elders, she hesitated for a mont before relaying a crucial piece of information.
"Elder, in the regions where we’ve re-established communication, we’ve received so unusual ssages."
"What is it?"
"Before the Spiritual Network collapsed, soone disseminated a ssage to all Romani caravans concerning that man. The ssage proclaid Hamlet as a sanctuary, a gathering place for Transcendents, and urged its dissemination."
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