The next day we fueled the Den and proceeded into the Forest jurisdiction.
Belle had left with Alice to go back to the Valley in order to cast her Celestial Dome for the day, and would need to remain there for the time being. She'd need to take an airship if she wanted to get back to the Desert—but those commercial flights always took too long.
With Alice's awakening, her magic could span as far as the Desert from the Valley, but because we were in Forest jurisdiction now, the Valley was the furthest she could go.
If only we could make a stop just before the Mountain jurisdiction and use her magic to transfer Envy, but that would give him a chance for escape, since anyone can conjure anything in her room. Envy would just conjure and turn it into Tantra, making him even more difficult to apprehend again.
I debated with myself what was easier: dealing with that, or simply going all the way and escorting him… Either way, there was the issue with Wrath.
This whole thing was more complicated than it needed to be.
The trees here were taller than the groves in the Valley. And I recalled walking this very forest with Code, Ophelia, Havoc, and Rex after we escaped from that abandoned church back then.
In the trees, like shadows, Green Owl Knights were stationed, silently approving our pass through. Each of them had painted masks on as they remained as silent as the breeze above the forest. Like a deity in the form of many, constantly keeping watch over this sub-jurisdiction.
All they had to see was Daz, and they left us alone.
I reminisced my banter with Rex in these woodland pastures. From Vice Captain of the Green Owls to a Captain of the Yellow Jackets after, he had done what many dreamed in a span of five years.
I started to miss his annoying voice as our Den trudged through.
Daz casually made his way next to me as I stared off the balcony.
"The Green Owls are on high alert after the escape of Wrath," he said. "Because of that, Riot Gang members have been more bold—attacking towns and villages. I have the Green Owls and the Yellow Jackets handling things there."
"Good for you. You're a responsible Idiot King," I said.
He chuckled and replied, "Had it not been for your strength, I'd have shut you up long ago."
"Even then, I'd curse you."
"I'm sure you would." He said lastly as we silently observed and the Green Owls lingered above us—some disappearing after we passed.
After a moment, I spoke again, "How did you know?"
Daz didn't react. He knew exactly what I meant.
He took his time to respond before saying, "Because I am ex-W.M.A. too."
I turned my head, facing him fully. "You were?"
"Aye. Asura and I were once in the same faction. But I got recruited elsewhere. One thing led to another, and I decided to leave the W.M.A."
"Why?"
"Why did you?"
"I asked first."
He chuckled again and shrugged. "To become the Arcane King of the Valley."
It was a straightforward and obvious response. But I pried no further.
"Now, how about you? Why did you leave?"
I faced away from him and leaned over the rails, elbows propping me as I looked up to the sky with the tall monarchs like a frame to my vision.
"Because Asura did."
I felt Daz's gray eyes staring at me sidelong. I could tell he didn't completely buy that.
"Okay!" he said, turning around to leave. "Secrets don't make friends, you know?"
"Neither does forcing people to take up missions they don't want to do."
"You'd have answered to the call with or without your 'duty'."
I whipped myself around to look at him in the stupid face as I retaliated. But he was gone.
Little did I know there was a face on my chest looking right back at me.
"Shit, Ophelia! Could you not!?"
She giggled as she passed through me, making herself comfortable, and sitting on the railings in front of me as she wrapped her legs around.
"Ah! Not here Captain! So indecent… Ah!"
Some of the Green Owls in the trees saw us, and I clearly saw their displeasure through their masks.
"Would you stop!"
The double doors on this balcony slammed open, with Star on the other side, having kicked them.
"I see! So the threesome will commence on the Den balcony? I approve!"
"Nothing is happening on the fucking balcony!" I yelled at them to no avail.
***
We continued through the path of the forest for a while. I had almost forgotten how large this jurisdiction was.
Every now and then we would see Graded beasts in the distance, but they were handled swiftly by the Green Owls in the area. They were more like ninjas than mages.
There were even a group of Yellow Jacket Knights that crossed paths with us as we continued on our way. Ophelia and Star waved to the one leading the group. She had a mix of brunette and darker brown hair with blonde highlights.
"You two know her?" I asked.
Ophelia finished her wave and was still looking toward her when she responded, "Yeah, she was the leading captain for our joint operation a few weeks ago… well, that is until Raeynie took the lead."
"Of course she did."
"Yeah! We killed so many Basilisks that day!" Star said a little too excitedly.
"Did you now?" I patted her head and she giddied. "How much was the take home?"
"Keeper, Greedy… just 'cause you can't make any eterna yourself, doesn't mean you need to keep track of ours…" Ophelia teased.
I gave her an incredulous look, and she giggled in reply. "Just kidding! Anyway… we only got paid half the earnings due to not solving the case…"
"Huh? The mission wasn't completed?"
"Let me clarify before my sweet sister butchers the details…" another sterner, but dainty voice chimed in. "Is this okay, Ophelia?" Raeyn asked.
Since when do you apologize for butting in, Raeynie?
Raeyn let loose a sigh and went on, "The mission was an extermination mission. Not a case-solve one. But the one who posted it, didn't specify that… I was hoping our joint captain was a stealth-type, but not all Yellow Jackets were previously from the Green Owls."
"I didn't know that," I replied.
Raeyn was usually a woman of few words, but when relaying information, she was more robot than Brand.
"Aye. Apparently, the Yellow Jackets are all filled with female mages from different Guilds. Not a single one of them are from the Green Owls. And not a single male aside from their late captain."
"Ah…" Typical Rex…
But when I thought about it, the Green Owls didn't have a single female member either… Guessed the apple didn't fall far from the tree in Captain Laylee's and Rex's case. They were both perverts.
"In any case, we at least got rid of the Basilisk horde that terrorized the towns and villages here."
"Horde? Basilisks? Those two words should never be in the same sentence."
"Aye. Ever since then, surveillance in this jurisdiction has been tight."
"You think someone is purposely leading the Basilisks here?"
"Not just here, apparently…" Raeyn paused as I pulled out a Choco Bar for Star. "When we got back, we got reports of similar cases happening in parts of the Desert and Ocean jurisdictions. Havoc and Brand assisted Lance of the Golden Roses on a rare Grade 1 horde of Berserkers."
"Now that's news to me… I thought they only fought one?"
"They did. Apparently, Lance took care of the rest of the horde. He only needed help with that last one—which was the Reverse Spell and Nullifying magic weapon Berserker. As you know, Berserkers are the only Graded beasts that vary in magic ability."
Damn… Golden Boy took care of a whole horde of Grade 1 Berserkers by himself before Brand and Havoc entered the picture? Those were another set of words that shouldn't belong in the same sentence—Berserkers… Horde…
Something was amiss.
It's no coincidence that these random hordes are all forming around the same time. This was definitely the workings of multiple mages, or… perhaps a single mage… and a higher tier one, at that.
"That's the end of the report."
"You're so stiff, Raeyn…" Star commented, taking the last bite from the Choco Bar I had just given her.
"You think Daz would know anything about this?"
"Maybe—"
Raeyn was interrupted by the sudden halt of the Den.
"The fuck?"
We shuffled about on the balcony, looking around to see what could have caused that sudden stop. Did one of the legs get snagged? Was the tank not fully fueled like I thought it had been? All of which were impossible cases…
Code snapped himself in. "We ran out of fuel…"
"How? Didn't we just refuel this morning?" I asked.
"We did… come." He held out his hand, telling me to go to him.
He placed his hand on my shoulder, and snapped his fingers. I blinked and we were on the ground behind the Den, and when I looked at the path we had just come from…
"What the fuck?"
"My thoughts exactly when I finally realized."
As my eyes narrowed down the path, a trail of black liquid sinking into the dirt was all I saw—leading all the way back from whence we came. However… it looked as if we had leaked fairly recently…
I looked up at the trees where I was expecting to see the Green Owls, but to my surprise, there was none of them around…
"Code, what happened to—"
When I turned to face him, he was gone. And then… when I turned to face the Den, it was gone as well…
The wind howled and the leaves flew past me as my disoriented mind caught up at last.
I was alone.