NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 64: Stubbornness
When Elijah was allowed to enter the secure room, he found the group in surprisingly high spirits. Sasha was sitting on the floor next to him, glaring up at him, but the others looked fine. Aleksi was in one of the corners of a small sofa that barely fit him, Harper was not far from the giant sitting on a chair, and Vera and Jack were both in the center couch looking mildly excited at whatever they were doing.
Cutlery of various colorings were strewn across the table, but they were all ignored in favor of the small crystalline chunks in the middle. The imperfect glinting caught his eye, making him think that somebody had broken a glass and left the smallest shards behind, yet he saw the truth as he approached.
“We’re going to be rich!” Jack exclaimed, as he held up the crystalline ball. It was barely large enough to be seen between the two fingers, only the way it reflected light made it noticeable. “It’s a diamond! Very small, sure, but it’s proof of concept.”
…
What?
“They’ve been at it for more than an hour now,” Aleksi supplied from one of the other couches. “Started out with making precious metals before they moved over to gems. It was apparently not as easy as one of them had hoped.”
“It will be easy, once I figure out how to control the structure better,” Jack corrected. “Making the right material appear is so simple, but the second I want them to be arranged and connected in a specific way they suddenly start being so unhelpful.”
Eyeing the half-crystal half-black rock chunks sitting on the table, Elijah started to believe that claim. But, at the very least it seemed like the young man was improving in his craft.
“Any issues getting them here?” he asked Harper, who shook her head. “No problems from my side either, though I did meet Rubeus outside my shop.”
That got Vera’s attention, her focus shifting from the next attempt at transmuting graphite to him. She wanted to hear everything, and he had nothing against doing as much. He retold everything he’d learned while over at the laboratory, detailing the experiments on honing a Mana-Signature and tracking it through the city. It explained how they had been able to find them at the brothel to begin with, and how the Royal Mage was convinced that they were inside the shop due to how much time had been spent there.
“This room should stop that trick from being used to find them here, but this won’t be a permanent solution,” Vera commented once he was done. “I can’t keep others away from here forever, and people will likely demand to use this place sometime tomorrow. Before that happens, you two need a new place to hide.”
“And that’s when the problems start again,” Elijah said, running it all through his head. “What are the odds of him repeating the ritual and trying again? What if the effect lasts for days and he can track them from the second they leave this place? Any space not isolated from the rest of the world would be a place they could be found.”
The shop wasn’t an option for obvious reasons, Cleo couldn’t help either, and anywhere else in the castle wouldn’t last long, as their presence would be revealed by others eventually.
“Maybe the Dungeon?” Aleksi suggested. “With enough Mana swirling around, it must have a chance of confusing the Mage’s senses. If we hide them somewhere in the depths, it would be hard to find them.”
…
“It works for me,” Vera admitted after a minute of deliberation. “The only other option I can imagine working is to outright leave the city behind. The latter choice would certainly be less risky, so I am fully willing to arrange it if the two of you should wish for it.”
“No,” Sasha bluntly answered. There was not a moment’s pause before that choice was made. “I’m staying.”
“Even when it has such a risk?”
“I don’t care. I’m leaving when I can get out of this useless world.”
“And if she’s staying, I’m staying,” Jack added, misplaced loyalty making the man ignore the safer option. Elijah could see on the princess’ face how much she detested that choice, but she didn’t object to it regardless. Maybe she could see how little difference it would’ve made. “But I have to ask how we’re supposed to be safe in the Dungeon. I know I’ve only been in there once, but it doesn’t seem like the nicest place in the world.”
“It’s not, which means you either have to be constantly guarded to avoid accidents, or you have to be holed up in one of the upper floors so you might have a chance against the monsters, yet that entails lowering the obscuring effects from the Mana-Density,” Vera said, looking over at Elijah. “Do you think they have a chance against the foxes?”
Did he even need to answer that?
“Thought so,” she continued by the time he narrowed his eyes. It had barely been a question to begin with, the Princess not trusting them either. “From what Harper told me, you know of a relatively hidden cave on the floor above where the furred creatures start appearing. We could try hiding it somewhat with the help of Alin, but that would entail revealing your past to him as well.”
“Not happening,” Elijah instantly rejected, Vera once again looking unsurprised. “If you want to cover up the entrance to a hidden cave, I can manage that.”
“Really? Do you have some double Affinity you’ve somehow kept secret this entire time?”
“No. I just have an understanding of controlling plant growth.”
“... I can’t argue with that,” Vera supposed, bringing Harper over so they could explain it in more detail. When night fell, the Illusionist would bring the group into the Dungeon while invisible, keeping them that way until everything had been set up and hidden away. This would mean all supplies had been brought along from the start, including enough water and food to keep them alive for three days. If more was needed, it would be brought later on. “And, to make sure we don’t need to constantly run back and forth to communicate, I suppose I can bring you in on another little secret. Here, take this.”
She pulled out a piece of paper from nowhere, handing one over to Jack and another to Elijah. Some unreadable words were already on it, though it was the red Mana swirling inside them that caught his attention.
“Look at your papers,” she instructed, before pulling out a pencil to write on her own. Though it took a moment, a small crackling was heard before a small circle appeared in the corner of their own papers. “Very little delay, the range is large enough that it won’t matter in these circumstances, and it will allow us to communicate without having to delve into the Dungeon ourselves.”
Smart.
It seemed that Leximancy had other uses than just trapping people in inescapable contracts. How quaint.
“I’ve got a question,” Jack said. “What if we can’t read?”
…
Right. While the universe had been kind enough to make the otherworlders understand whatever people were saying, the written word was still far beyond them. Not just the words, but the alphabet and writing structure were so alien to them that they had no chance of comprehending even the most simple of words.
So, with little choice, they were forced to make up a simplified system of communication, agreeing on a few symbols. If a single line was drawn, it was a request to be updated on their situation. Here, one could respond with a circle, meaning everything was fine, a square, meaning there was a problem but it wasn’t vital, a triangle to alert them of a monster, and, finally, a set of crossed lines to alert them of their imminent capture.
Not the best in the world, but it was what they had to work with.
“I’ll prepare the supplies,” Harper announced before leaving the others in the room. “Everything will be ready in an hour. Please be ready to move by then.”
“Thank you, Harper,” Vera replied, the Illusionist briefly bowing before leaving the room once again. “Before we part ways as well, there’s one factor that we still need to consider. Rubeus Hayes, who is either being manipulated into doing this by another or is holding a significant hold over this country’s troubles in his own hands.”
“Does it matter which it is?” Sasha questioned. “Kill him.”
“If he isn’t the one at the top, it means my first actual lead in years disappears,” the Princess instantly rejected. “To poison him, though… I could work with that. I’ll have Harper slip something into his tea in the morning. Enough to weaken him but not enough to make him suspicious.”
Elijah was personally in support of having the Royal Mage killed, even if he knew that another could likely perform the ritual instead, but going against Vera’s word wasn’t possible in this scenario. Until they knew more, the Mage would have to live.
“Now that I’m thinking about it, there is another route we could go here,” she continued, looking over at him. “Have you ever brewed a Truth Serum before, Elijah?”
“No,” he replied bluntly. “And the ingredients to make a true one are not in your possession. I’m not sure I could even brew one if given all the time in the world.”
Alongside Elixirs that truly extended your lifespan, the earnest Truth Serums were things of near-legend. They were concoctions that could be made in theory, yes, but it would require a Grandmaster of Alchemy to even consider making such a thing.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I’ve seen them offered from reputable black-market dealers before.”
“Those are fakes, though they might have a similar effect on those who don’t know how they work,” Elijah explained. “They cause you pain when you lie, but they do not force you to tell the truth nor do they force you to tell the entire truth. If you can convince yourself that anything said is technically correct, it will come out without hurting you in the slightest.”
“So they’re useless,” Vera concluded, sighing at the need to stay in the dark. “He’d likely let himself die before signing one of my contracts as well, so there truly is nothing to do but start sending out watchdogs. I’ll have some people monitoring the main and secondary Dungeon Entrances to see if we can catch anybody in the act. In the meanwhile, you can all prepare for the night’s journey.”