She touched the map showing the surface of the island with her finger and moved it east and a little north.
"This is the network of canyons," she said. "The one Iris’s team was in when they were attacked."
Rex looked around the area. It was in the northeastern part of the island, in the part of the map that showed topographic markings for a deep erosion system that ran from the edge of the plateau down toward the Convergence Waters.
"The canyon network is naturally connected to the pathway system that runs under the island." Elizabeth said, "That’s why the Key to the Underlayer is there."
"The person who mapped the subsurface pathways used the canyon system as their main survey site."
She looked at the group.
"The barrier that Lady Valentina maintains around Aethelgard’s periter..." Elizabeth continued, "...is designed to prevent directed hostile transit."
"It does not prevent individuals from entering if their intent is sufficiently ambiguous at the point of crossing."
Rex contemplated the barrier Elizabeth had just described and realized that Aethelgard was likely one of the safest islands, protected by the strongest mage in the capital—perhaps even stronger than Erosyne.
"Before we move on..." Rex looked at Elizabeth. "...can I ask you sothing related to the barrier and the attacks of the demons before the undead?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Sure."
"If Valentine protected this island, then why the hell can those demons reach Aethelgard?"
"Well, you see, this island and the Underlayer are connected in terms of dinsional space." Elizabeth explained. "The Underlayer can be described as an upside-down world for now, which suggests that Mordecai likely lives in his kingdom, which may serve as the center of the Underlayer world, similar to Aethelgard."
Apollo then joined. "So that ans that Mordecai’s kingdom is on the floating island, and below it is another unfloored ocean?"
"In theory, yes, and there are likely more demon lords beyond his own kingdom," Elizabeth explained, gesturing toward the kingdoms outside the capital. "Just as we have different kingdoms that worship various elental goddesses here."
’I see... this world really is massive,’ Rex thought. ’I can’t wait to explore it and et many different won out there.’
"Alright, back to the topic." Elizabeth looked at Iris, and then she nodded.
"The group that ambushed my team did not co in through the barrier," Iris said. "They were already here."
Elizabeth nodded. "They were already on the island when Iris’s team got to the canyon, and the working signature they used wasn’t magic from outside, but it was magic from inside."
"Soone who went over the line before Lady Valentina probably changed the hostile-intent settings," Nerith said.
"Or soone who never needed to cross it," Mireya said, and her voice had the exact tone it needed to connect sothing.
"The Underlayer access points." Aisella said, "If the subsurface pathway system under the island connects to the Underlayer, then soone who ca up through the Underlayer wouldn’t have crossed the surface barrier at all."
Elizabeth looked at her. "Yes... that’s actually the working theory."
Rex noted that he had reached the sa conclusion approximately thirty seconds earlier and had decided not to say it because Aisella’s version was more useful for the expedition’s shared understanding than Rex’s version would have been.
"Mordecai’s forces," Apollo said, and his jaw set in the way it always did when he said that na.
"Maybe," Elizabeth said. "The working signatures from the ambush don’t align with any known demon operative profiles, but just because they don’t match doesn’t an a connection isn’t possible."
She moved her finger along the path from the city to the canyon site.
"We’re going to spend at least three days by carriage on the eastern road, then approximately six hours on foot through the approach terrain," she said. "The canyon entrance is here."
She put a small circle around it.
"Aurelia’s group ventured deeper into the canyon system when the ambush occurred," Iris explained. "Their plan was to utilize the ventilation shaft network to circle back, but... two days have now passed."
"We go in, locate Aurelia’s group, retrieve the key, and then exit," Elizabeth stated. "That is the order of our mission."
She looked at the people in the group.
"Team composition includes myself, Alexander, Rex, Apollo, Nerith, Mireya, and Iris," she paused. "Additionally, I will need a field diagnostic expert."
Talyra raised her hand from the edge of the room, displaying the confidence of soone who had been waiting for the perfect mont to speak. "I’ll go."
Elizabeth looked at her.
"She’s better than anyone on the Academy’s current diagnostic roster," Aisella said, which was a statent she made with the specific precision of soone who had run a comparative assessnt and was reporting the result.
"And I can provide field dical support," Aisella added. "Which the extraction scenario will require."
’Wait, what? Ain’t Aisella the one who’s an expert at both of them?’ Rex thought, and then he noticed Talyra wink at him. ’Weird way of planning things, huh...’
Elizabeth looked at each of them.
"All right," she said. "Nine mbers."
She examined the map once more. "We will depart tomorrow morning."
"Be at the east gate before the ninth hour, and the carriages will be arranged."
She looked at Rex in particular.
"Make sure to get so good night’s sleep," she said. "The canyon’s terrain will need everything you have."
Rex nodded, looking like soone who had been told to do sothing and was going to figure out what to do with it on their own.
...
The group broke up with the kind of people who had a certain amount of ti before sothing important happened and were using that ti wisely.
Rex was walking toward the academy’s main exit when Talyra appeared on his left and Aisella on his right, forming the arrangent they typically used for discussions that required a context separate from his current destination.
"Apollo," Talyra said, without preamble.
"I heard," Rex said.
Aisella said, "You’re not surprised."
"I told you to go see him," Rex said. "I thought you’d wait longer, but no, you went two days after I said it."
"He needed it sooner," Talyra said. "I could tell."
"And?" Rex said.
"He’s genuinely trying," Talyra said, and she said it in the tone she used for accurate assessnts rather than favorable ones. "He’s not dense about how he feels, but he just doesn’t know what to do with how he feels once he has it."
"Aisella brought tea," she added, "and we talked for three hours, and by the end of it, he had said more honestly accurate things about himself than most people manage in a year."
Rex said, "And you said yes."
"I said yes," Talyra confird. "I agreed in a way that costs nothing while providing him with sothing he needed, without giving him anything he hasn’t earned."
Rex stared at her.
"Oh my fucking lust... you’re one cruel girl, Talyra." He said, "You’re better at this than I thought you would be."
"I had a good teacher, and his na is..." Talyra said, and about sixty percent of the ti she ant it. "...Rexxy~!"
"See? You almost upset him, Talyra." Aisella sighed.
"Eh? I really didn’t an to upset him." Talyra panicked.
"Nah, it’s alright... I had a better plan that we can do for the expedition," Rex smirked.
They were walking around the academy’s eastern garden on the periter path. It was the kind of path that was beneficial for talking because it had so noise and so forward movent.
Rex drew both of them a bit closer, wrapping his arm around their shoulders to indicate that what he was about to say was ant for their ears only.
Talyra was taken aback by Rex’s gesture. "R-Rexxy... are you going to punish ...?"
"P-Please spare us..." Aisella pleaded.
"Nah, hear out..." He said, "It’s about Nerith."
Talyra sounded like soone who had been waiting for this word to co and was happy it finally did. "What about her?"
Rex said, "She ca to see this morning."
"We know," Aisella said. "Fun fact, Lily saw her enter the inn at dawn and told us about it."
’What the fuck...? Lily knew too...’
"She was going to take you on a quintuple date with us, which included Lily, , Aisella, and Diana, Rexxy!" Talyra chuckled. "But it seems she canceled when Nerith approached you first."
"And that’s why... we made sure to get to the academy at the right ti."
Aisella added. "We’re late, you know? We only see half of the fight between Rex and Alexander."
"Tehehe..."
"Anyway!" Talyra said. "The leaves in her hair."
"You know that’s how a druid reacts when their emotions are running high, right?"
Rex asked, "How long have they been amber?"
"I don’t know... from what I’ve observed, it’s likely been since the training ground," Talyra said. "She’s been working to manage it."
"Druids can control the color response with practice, but it takes a lot of focus, and since you started fighting, her focus has been elsewhere."
Rex put this in, and rembers it as well since she was in his room. ’Oh yeah... I rember it now.’
He said, "What do I need to know about druids that will matter here?"
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