“Hello, I’m looking for Dr. Iki,” K13 said to the woman working at the front desk. His head barely reached above the tall desk.

The receptionist lazily reached for a piece of paper on her desk. Scanning the list in front of her, she said, “Her office is in the A-wing, first floor, room 17. She may be teaching a class, but you are welcome to wait outside her office.”

“Thank you,” K13 responded and scurried back to the group.

Freya was still taking in the architecture around her. The entry hall of the Kai Nai Institute for Discovery and Conservancy was impressive. The reception desk itself seemed minuscule in comparison to the large open space. An enormous vault ceiling rose far above their heads. No support beams interrupted the entire area. Freya wondered if magic supported the ceiling. How could it stand otherwise?

A combination of enchanted light stones, mirrors, and the white ceiling created a surprising amount of light in the hall. On a slightly lower level than the reception desk was a maze of tables, bookshelves, and plants. People sat randomly, either reading or writing notes.

“What a beautiful building,” Freya said aloud.

Infamous Biscuit nodded in agreement. Heilong shrugged. K13 was already walking away towards the signs marked {A-Wing}.

Following K13, they walked around the edge of the study space. Freya was surprised to find she could read the books she passed by. She thought people on different continents spoke foreign languages. But she had been able to understand everything said around her so far.

The A-Wing off the main hall had a much shorter ceiling, but it was still about three stories tall with two raised walkways on either side. Oil paintings of landscapes and animals decorated the gaps between doors. Freya wanted to stop and look at each one, but K13 marched straight down the hall. Dragging her feet a bit, she settled for glances at rainforests, horned beasts, and colorful birds.

Finally, K13 stopped outside a door and raised his hand to knock.

{Rm 17}

{Dr. Mai Iki}

“Come in,” a pleasant voice said in response to the knock.

K13 opened the door. Inside was a modest size room, about the size of Freya’s shaman shop. Maps and bookshelves covered the walls. Only half of the shelf space held books. In between, the books were a variety of different rocks. Freya recognized them as recording stones.

At the center of the room, with a window in the back, sat a large desk. The woman at the desk wore a bright yellow headband that held back her white hair. Her eyes shined youthfully despite the deep wrinkles etched in her face.

[Mai Iki]

[Lvl 9 Conservator]

“Hello K13,” Dr. Iki said warmly. “If you’re here, does that mean you were able to find a loneswell?”

K13 nodded and took the recording stone out of his inventory.

“That’s wonderful!” Dr. Iki said, standing up quickly. She winced and then slowly sat back down, massaging her hip. She waved him forward, “Please, come sit. Are these people your friends?”

“They helped me get the recording,” K13 said quietly with his head down.

She smiled at the three of them, “Thank you very much for helping me obtain this recording. It’s hard to find people willing to travel up north to Vansyl and back. Meeting K13 at the national museum was a blessing.”

K13 brought out the recording stone and handed it to Dr. Iki.

Cradling it delicately, she pressed the top of it.

Chirp, chirp…

The loneswell’s song sounded through the office. A few moments later, K13’s violin also joined in. It was a bit muted compared to the original, but beautiful nonetheless. Freya listened nervously for the part that had induced pain in them before. But the time passed without incident. Perhaps the evocation only worked in-person.

Dr.Iki clasped her hands together and sat at the edge of her seat. She kept her head cocked toward the recording stone, not wanting to miss a note. Finally, the recording ended. The old woman burst out, “Oh my, not only a clear recording of a rare exotic bird species but also a wonderful musical performance! I could not have asked for anything more!”

K13 blushed deeply. Dr.Iki reached out to play the recording again. This time she closed her eyes.

When it ended the second time, she muttered to herself, “Hm, yes, slow modulations. Low-pitch, this goes along with the hypothesis… You found the loneswell in the dense temperate deciduous forest of western Vansyl, correct?”

“Um... I think so,” K13 said hesitantly.

Heilong nodded with more certainty, “It was a deciduous forest.”

Infamous Biscuit raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you remember your elementary school biology?” she whispered at him.

Ignoring her, Infamous Biscuit asked Dr.Iki, “If you don’t mind me asking, what made you want a recording of a loneswell?”

“Well, the song is missing from our institute’s bird song collection. Also, it’s an important piece of evidence for my own research,” Dr.Iki explained, smiling. “The institute has thousands of bird song recordings from all over the continent, but we have few recordings from outside. I really needed a distant bird species to test my hypothesis.”

She rubbed her hands together, “I think this recording will be the last bit of data I need. I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m sure it’ll be in the next issue of the institute’s discovery journal!”

Freya thought the secrecy was unneeded–she had no idea what Dr.Iki was talking about. Infamous Biscuit and K13 wore similar expressions of confusion. However, Heilong had her lips pursed like she was holding back from blurting out a theory.

“That’s right, your rewards!” Dr.Iki said. She pulled some items out of her desk.

“I know you were interested in this bugle,” she said to K13, handing him a small golden instrument.

[Hunter’s Horn]

[Item Class: Rare]

[A single bugle call can attract nearby enemies! The range depends on your lungs and musical talent!]

K13 nodded, accepting the bugle, “Thank you very much.”

“I can’t offer much more, but would you three be interested in anything here?” Dr.Iki said, gesturing to the collection of small trinkets and books.