The celebratory atmosphere proliferated throughout the roughly three thousand former slaves. Aside from their obvious freedom, much of it was attributed to the food, drinks, and new clothes they acquired. Unlike the gruel they were previously force-fed, the first layer had stashes of actual meals and fresh juices. They could also forego their rags and pick up the remaining stock of robes that were stored. Some weren’t fresh, being ripped off the guard’s bodies then lightly cleaned, and a few in the crowd couldn’t find anything in their size, but the vast majority enjoyed the improved conditions.

Everyone was brought to the much more spacious first layer. They set up more bonfires with chairs or rugs around them. There was no seating arrangement so people just gathered towards one another in clumps of twenty or more. Once all the food and drinks were passed out, the human singer from before amplified his voice with ahjer and sang for the whole crowd. Without him, things may have been more dower, but his performance heavily lifted the spirits. People joined in, people applauded, some even began to dance.

Not everyone joined in the making of merry though, there were a few pockets of gloom. The individuals who had lost too much to find any joy in their sudden release clustered into their own groups. Though they could be easily spotted, they were few and didn’t hamper the overall celebrations.

Dalric could have been counted among those if he stayed, but he spent his time going through offices. Ryku joined him at a point, once his role as organizer finished, but they looked for different things. While Dalric looked for information about Devil Glass, Ryku was looking for the specific paper trail between Taiyo and Duke Leos. The Baron may have been caught, but he was a mere middleman in a bigger scheme.

“So. Are you a hidden master? Is that why you know so little about the world?”

Ryku tried sparking conversation whenever he could.

Dalric’s eyes didn’t leave the papers he was reading, “And what is a hidden master?”

“Ah. A recluse that hides away from the world to practice and master their craft in solitude.”

Dalric thought for a moment.

That’s actually a fairly apt way to describe how I used to live. Though I imagine a ‘hidden master’ wouldn’t travel as much.

“You could say I am.”

“Is there a reason you left seclusion?”

Hmm. How do I answer this… why did I leave seclusion…

“I have a problem that requires outside assistance. No man can live on an island forever.”

Ryku turned to Dalric, “Could I be of assistance?”

Dalric’s eyes still didn’t leave the papers, “You’re already doing so.”

“Ah. Okay.”

Silence returned as they both continued sifting through more files.

Nothing again.

Dalric finished going through the last of the files in his half and yet again he was left disappointed, “The documents over here reference someone named ‘Count B of R’, could be a clue for you."

"Thanks." Ryku received the file and added it to the pile of other potentially useful information.

Dalric had nothing in his pile. Jester shar—

Devil Glass. Devil Glass. They're not Jester Shards.

Devil Glass featured in a number of documents, but only when discussing the amount of it needed, bought, used, unused, and sold. None of them mentioned any specifics about how they were made. From the specifics that were discussed, it almost seemed like Devil Glass was actually the main product being smuggled into Whitesails, but Dalric didn't know the situation well enough so he left that to Ryku. He instead left the office to head to the next one.

A few helpers joined them at the beginning to help mark all of the doors that led to rooms with any sort of papers or files, so they had a good idea of how much progress they were making. Between the both of them, they'd gone through roughly half of those rooms. It had taken a few hours to do so, but with the festivities still going strong they didn't feel any need to rush.

Dalric did feel a little bad throwing all the important work on Ryku's shoulders though. Not only did he have to finish his original mission here, which included figuring out how to maneuver around the diplomatic volcano he would create, but he also had to plan out how to effectively and efficiently send each and every person on the floor back to their home. That was an extensive amount of work for a man who was just drooling mindlessly on the floor a few hours ago. Dalric could understand how he had the drive for it, he still held hope out for Dalric changing his mind, but having the capacity and mental facilities to actually do it would be immensely impressive. It was still very early. The hardest work was yet ahead of him and he had plenty of room to fail from here, but the man hadn't put a single step wrong yet.

A voice called out from behind him, "Mr. Dalric."

Again?

Every other time he stepped out of a room, one family or the other came up to him to give their thanks and hand him a plate of food and a cup of juice. At first, he was quite appreciative, he'd completely forgotten about his own body's need for sustenance, but after the eighth one he was more stuffed than he'd ever been. He wanted to say no to the subsequent ones, but he couldn't. Even though his food sack was full, he could definitely stomach more expressions of gratitude. He'd yet to fully admit it to himself, but he found the feeling they provided intoxicating. They were such a far cry from what he usually received.

Even as his stomach ached, he steeled his resolve and turned to face the voice. Thankfully, or disappointingly depending on which part of him you asked, it didn't belong to a person or group looking to give thanks. It belonged to one of Ryku's helpers. One of the riftans.

Dalric looked down at the small teen, "Any problems?"

To his credit, his age didn't show in his voice, "No. Yes? They told me to tell you Sunset White woke up."

"Ah…"

Should I handle this or just tell Ryku… Well. May be worthwhile to see how much value I can get out of this.

"I'll speak to h—them first. When Ryku comes out, tell him I just went to ask a couple of questions."

"Okay, understood."

The teen stood by the door he just exited while Dalric moved towards the room they held ‘The Hero’ Hangaku in. He easily spotted it as one of the two draken stood guard outside of it. The other was inside with three other guards. A bit excessive, but they all knew who she was anyway and none of them had a stake in the matter.

The male draken saluted as he came closer, “Mr. Dalric. She’s awake, but she hasn’t spoken a word.”

“I don’t expect her to. By the way, we found a few letters that mention your squad. When Ryku comes over, he’ll have more to share.”

The draken’s eyes lit up, “Thank you!”

Dalric only jutted his head behind him as he reached for the door, “Don’t thank me, thank Ryku.”

He hadn’t actually had a meaningful dialogue with anyone aside from Ryku. Partially because there was neither the time nor the need to, but mostly because he was weary of needless attachments. Dalric could already feel himself getting attached to Ryku and he was the only name Dalric even knew. He was also the only reason Dalric knew about the drakens’ situation, one of the products of his desire to converse.

I need to leave soon.

Before he even opened the door all the way, a flaming sword flew straight at his chest. He deftly caught it. Unlike the last time he had the pleasure of making the burning blade’s acquaintance, it didn't explode but rather ripped itself from his grasp and zipped back into the room. Dalric immediately flung the door open and burst into action.

In the moments it took the riftan to call him over, Hangaku had managed to free herself of her chains, set a barrier around the room, and start a battle with her four guards. One of which was a heavily injured human, who bled from a number of wounds and sported several scorch marks. The rest of them were also hurt, but not as severely. None of them donned armor anymore so they had little by way of protection from her. If things continued, she could kill them all.

~“Grand Winds.”~

The accelerated gust of air smacked into her and her eight blades, forcing them all against the back wall.

~“The ea—

No.

Before she could rebound off the wall, he sent his ahjer into the earth and stone that composed it and molded them around her waist and limbs. Once caught, he began the incantation again.

~“The earth listens for I command it.”~

She managed to free her arm and torso while he chanted the incantation, but she couldn’t get to the rest before her whole body sunk into the wall. She thrashed around and triggered some explosions, but the reinforced nature of the earth rebuffed all her attempts to free herself from it. Dalric compacted it even further, truly trapping her within it. Only her head remained free.

Her ability to form and manipulate fire-attuned weapons remained undiminished, but if the others left they would be of little danger.

“You.” He pointed at the other human, “Take him to a healer. You.” He pointed at the jupiter, “Go and grab some Devil Glass and a new set of chains. You.” Lastly, he pointed at the draken, “Go outside and explain to Ryku what happened here when he arrives.”

They all sprang into action instantly. Hangaku tried to get some free looks at their backs as they all fled the room, but Dalric had expected it and moved to intercept. She still almost managed to catch one of them in the back of the leg before he could get one of his own limbs in the way.. The room wasn’t large so beyond the one close shave, he did enough to allow them to safely retreat. With them gone, Hangaku realized the futility of throwing her conjured blades around and dispelled them.

Where did that jupiter come from?

The white, feline vallinoid was the one who almost had their leg impaled. There definitely weren’t any jupiters in the group at the bottom, but even in the massive crowd on the second layer he was fairly certain he would have spotted their aggressively white fur and faint lightning-tinged aura. They were very hard to miss, doubly so for someone who specialized in lightning-related ahjer.

Above ground maybe? Hmm. I hope she doesn’t notice, Ryku is enough already.

He turned his thoughts away from the jupiter and instead towards Hangaku, “A bit spiteful of you, no?”

She didn’t respond.

“If you’re hoping to provoke one of us into killing you, it's not happening. None of us are interested in being seen as the murderer of a supposed national hero.”

Still no response.

“I am quite intrigued why a supposed national hero is running around the jungle like a bandit. Weakness? Blackmail? Is the finality of your impending death getting to you?”

Silence.

“I’ve been thinking about it and I’d wager it’s some mix of all three. You’ve bought someone’s tale about being able to improve your ahjer and further your lifespan if you partake in this little scheme here. Frustrated at your complete lack of progress, you took them up on their offer.”

Hangaku stirred, but only a little. The movement only barely perceivable through ahjer sense and completely unnoticeable with his regular vision.

“Oh? Am I correct?”

She finally spoke, “You know nothing Salian.”

Dalric shrugged, “Maybe. But the truth will come eventually, whether you speak it here or not. Acute stupidity is a common symptom of too much age, power, and influence, so I could be completely wrong. I’ve seen greater figures than you stoop to even lower levels.”

Silence returned.

“Anyway, I came here to offer you a trade. No, I will not kill or free you, but I am willing to return this.” He unsheathed the uchigatana, “To your people that is.”

She was mute for a moment, but she ultimately took the bait, “What you want?”

So getting this back to her people has value to her. Is that evidence that her presence here may not be personal or is that just pointed patriotism regarding the blade itself?

Dalric eyed its exceptionally sharp edge.

Maybe she just doesn’t want it in Sailian hands. She did spit out ‘Sailian’ like it was a poison… Why work with the Duke then... Ah! It’s not my job to think about this.

“Devil Glass, tell me about it.”

She was silent again, this time for longer. Dalric vaguely wanted to take her mask off so he could read her facial expression, but he had a feeling there would be little he could glean off its tarnished state.

...

“What you want to know?”

She’s decided to play.

“How do you make it?”

“Humph.”

With that immediate and loud expression of contempt, she went silent again.

Or not. Can’t say I didn’t expect that.

He resheathed the blade and they both waited in silence for the others to return. The first was the jupiter. She brought back eight chains and three pieces of Devil Glass. Excessive, but he thought that about having three guards placed in the room with Hangaku and look how that turned out. Weary of another wannabe student, he sent the jupiter out as soon as she handed over the items. She was tasked with calling Ryku over, now that Dalric was done speaking with Hangaku there was no need to delay.

He finished fully restraining her in the meantime. The Devil Glass was put to the side for later, but he sunk the chains into the wall and clasped them around each of her limbs. Combined, they would stop her from making any attempts at casting spells.

After he was done, he was basically back to zero ahjer. The spells had drained the little he built up. He really regretted connecting to Thunderfield so early. The decision would seriously hinder him for the next few weeks as his body recovered. He couldn’t afford to laze around for those weeks either, he had to prepare for the Gods return. Only the incredible purity of his ahjer was making the situation in any way salvageable.

While Dalric continued lamenting his poor judgment, the door flew open.

Ryku walked in holding a number of folders, “I apologize. I completely underestimated her ability and assumed one chain and three watch—”

“It’s fine. I thought you went overboard with that in the first place, so how can I judge? Just make sure you get the most you can out of her.” Dalric patted him on the back and quickly made his exit.

To his joy-dismay, a couple with a plate of food waited for him outside.