Valerius's final words continued to echo in Masumoto's mind after he left the room.
"If the Minamoto realize that someone is investigating their movements... Well, I don't have to tell you what will happen, do I?"
He needed no explanation.
Masumoto understood perfectly what those words meant.
If any of his infiltrators were discovered, if the Minamoto managed to connect the investigation to him, or if he made any mistake that jeopardized Valerius's plans, he would be severely punished.
Masumoto left the place where he had met with Valerius and Markus.
During the journey, he couldn't stop thinking about what he needed to do. He had to find out where Haruki had taken the relic and, more importantly, how they could reach it without alerting the Minamoto.
Some time later, he arrived at one of the Eagle faction's safe houses in Wales.
He entered and headed to one of the communications rooms. He closed the door and activated the system.
He entered a series of codes and waited until he established contact with one of the infiltrators he still had inside the Minamoto family.
"I need you to find out where they moved the relic after the attack and what security measures they put in place to protect it."
"I can get that information, but I'll have to be careful. They increased security after the attack."
"Be careful, but don't take too long. Don't try to approach the relic or do anything that might raise suspicion. I only need to know where it is and how we can get to it."
"Understood. I'll contact you as soon as I have the information."
The connection ended.
Masumoto remained staring at the screen for a few seconds.
Haruki knew his face and knew perfectly well how much he knew about the family's old security protocols. After Tanaka's death and everything that had happened during the attack, he had most likely changed a large part of them.
But that was precisely why Masumoto had infiltrators.
Masumoto left the room.
Valerius had been clear.
He couldn't afford to fail, but he couldn't afford to waste time either.
MINAMOTO MANSION — JAPAN
After the meeting ended, Haruki asked us to stay for a few more minutes.
The connections with Étienne, Ciara, Isabela, and the others had already ended. Eleonor, Sophie, Irina, Elena, Haruki, and I were the only ones left in the room.
"There is something else we need to resolve."
We all turned our attention to him.
"The relic."
I instinctively looked down at my bracelet.
During the meeting, Haruki had revealed that after the attack, he had moved the relic to a secret location.
"As I told you earlier, after the attack I decided to move it out of the mansion," Haruki continued. "Masumoto knew too much about our facilities and our protocols. I couldn't risk keeping it here."
"Then we should go get it," I said.
Haruki nodded.
"We will. But we won't be able to do that for another two days."
I looked at him with some confusion.
"Why?"
"The relic is being kept in a secure area. After the attack, we completely changed the access procedures. A single person can no longer authorize entry, not even me."
Sophie nodded.
"That makes sense after what happened."
"I've already started the process," Haruki continued. "Once the authorizations are ready, we'll be able to access it."
Eleonor looked at him.
"Is there any risk of someone reaching it while we wait?"
"No. That's precisely why I moved it there."
That answer was enough.
After everything that had happened with the Cavalcanti relic, no one wanted to take another unnecessary risk.
I looked again at the six emblems on my bracelet.
Two relics had already reached me.
The Sevianko rings were with Natasha.
The Minamoto relic was secured, and if everything went according to plan, I would be able to retrieve it in two days.
The Cavalcanti relic remained in Iara's possession.
"Then we'll wait," I said.
Haruki nodded.
"We don't have another choice."
Eleonor stood up.
"In that case, we should get some rest."
No one disagreed.
After everything that had happened in China and the hours we had spent organizing the information and reporting it to the others, we were still exhausted.
The meeting ended, and each of us returned to the room we had been assigned.
For the first time since arriving in Japan, there was nothing else we could do.
All we could do was wait.
The next day, when I left my room, Sophie was waiting for me in the hallway.
"Haruki is still finishing the preparations," she said. "We have some time."
"So what do we do in the meantime?"
"I need to go out and get a few things. You can come with me."
I agreed.
After spending so many days surrounded by facilities, ships, laboratories, and meeting rooms, getting out for a while didn't seem like a bad idea.
We left the mansion and, not long afterward, arrived at a shopping district.
Sophie knew exactly what she needed, and I simply followed along.
As we walked, something caught my attention.
It was a flower shop.
I don't know why I stopped.
Maybe it was the colors after so many days of seeing metallic walls, screens, and enclosed rooms.
I stared at the flowers on display for a few seconds.
Then something suddenly came back to me.
I checked the date on my communicator.
January eleventh.
I froze.
Sophie had kept walking, but when she realized I was no longer beside her, she came back.
"What is it?"
I looked at the flowers again.
"Today is Eleonor's birthday."
Sophie looked at me.
"I thought you remembered."
"I forgot."
It wasn't difficult to understand why.
During the past few weeks, we had gone from one crisis to another without almost any time to stop. We had crossed half the world, fought, lost companions, and discovered things that had completely changed what we thought we knew about our own history.
But that didn't change the date.
January eleventh.
It had been a long time since I had been with Eleonor on one of her birthdays.
I looked toward the flower shop again.
An idea began to form in my mind.
"Sophie."
"Yes?"
"I need your help with something."
She followed my gaze toward the flowers and then looked back at me.
"What do you need?"
I moved closer and explained it to her quietly.
Sophie listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she remained thoughtful for a few seconds.
"We can do it."
"But Eleonor can't find out."
"Then we'll have to do it before we go back. I'll contact Irina so she can help us."
I nodded as Sophie reached for her communicator.
For the first time since we had returned from China, for a few minutes I stopped thinking about everything we were going through and just wanted to relax.