Quickly running down to the first floor, they were greeted by Cedric and Anna, cautiously looking in their direction.
"I heard an explosion and came in to check. What happened?" Cedric asked, the bags still in his hands.
"We'll talk later. Follow me," Myra replied and passed by him, moving in the opposite direction from the main entrance.
She led the group to a window leading outside.
There she quickly cast a spell, and a wave of energy covered the group.
Cyril curiously looked at the dimly lit dust left in the spell's wake that soon settled on the ground and disappeared.
"What is this for?"
"To prevent tracking. Just in case." Myra opened the window, efficiently climbing out to the streets.
Cyril quickly grabbed the bags Cedric carried and climbed after her, followed by the rest of the group.
Outside was another alley, luckily without any people.
"Let's go a bit further," Myra said, passing street after street.
In another rundown alley somewhere far away, she stopped, a smile on her face.
"Mission success." She nodded to herself in a satisfied manner.
Was that a success?
Cyril thoughtfully stared at the box lying in his bag.
I didn't expect to meet a Lapis member today.
"Technically yes. We did get what we wanted."
That's true.
...
"So, can you tell me what happened now?" Cedric cautiously asked at this moment.
Anna, standing nearby and catching her breath, quickly focused on the conversation.
Myra gave him one look and simply explained, "Instead of the two thugs, we found a Lapis member."
Cedric's face immediately turned more solemn as he contemplated the implications of her words.
"So that explosion was...?"
"Exactly as you are thinking."
Cedric paled slightly, his eyes widening.
Anna nearby lowered her head and stared at the ground, her expression hidden.
"What's gotten into them? Not like they knew that maniac. Why should they feel troubled now?"
Rhamn stood nearby, her face devoid of any hard feelings. If anything, some boredom was beginning to show.
Maybe they are the empathetic type?
Cyril turned to look at Myra and found that she was staring off into the distance, nodding to herself from time to time.
It's just them, it seems. Cyril thought, feeling a baffling sense of relief.
He observed their state for a few more seconds before raising the box in his hands higher.
"We got the bracelet. It's in here."
These words successfully attracted everyone's attention. Their faces soon lost the previous heaviness.
"Don't open that!" Myra yelled, reaching with her hand toward the box.
Cyril, and everyone else, froze.
Myra ran up close to him. "There is a spell on it that will activate an explosion the moment you do."
As expected. Lapis members are really lunatics.
Without any complaints, Cyril gave away the small box.
Myra grabbed the box and cast another spell.
Soon a sound of glass breaking could be heard as the box lit up for a brief moment.
"There," Myra presented the box in front of everyone with a nod.
Cyril opened it without hesitation, the butterfly on his shoulder moving a bit closer to look inside as well.
The first thing to catch his attention was a wide steel bracelet with an intricate design. It depicted a simplistic, faceless figure in a forest.
This must be Anna's bracelet.
He didn't admire it for long and passed the thing to its rightful owner.
Anna hastily took it and hugged it close, saying thank you over and over.
Cyril turned to look at what else was in the box.
Time for the main event.
This has to contain something interesting, considering who we took it from.
"Hopefully."
The rest of the container was filled with various papers and documents.
Cyril took one out to inspect it. It was a handwritten note covered with unknown scribbles without any apparent meaning.
Don't tell me...
He quickly checked the others, and sure enough, they were all written in the same style.
A code of some sort?
"Or someone's crazy ravings. A pity, I already expected all sorts of secrets…"
The butterfly's wings drooped a little lower.
Cyril grabbed all of the documents and piled them on the ground.
Cedric and Anna kept their silence, observing his actions with bated breath.
There must be something.
Cyril scoured the box again.
Eventually, at the very bottom of the box, he discovered a small circular object enclosed in paper.
"There is!"
Morpho's antennae twitched in renewed excitement.
Cyril took it out and carefully removed the paper, revealing a pitch-black rock with a rough shape.
When Myra noticed it, she gasped and dropped the now empty box on the ground.
She leaned in close and observed the stone from all angles without actually touching it.
Cyril kept his hand still, surprised by her reaction.
Is this rock something important?
"It does feel a bit special, don't you think?"
With Rhamn's reminder, Cyril shot the stone another look.
It looks... tasty? What?
"It looks like the most delectable dish in the world!"
"I did not expect to see this here." Myra exclaimed, rubbing her chin in thought.
"What is it?"
Myra stared him in the eyes, then glanced at the rest of the people here. "I am not completely sure, but it looks like a special form of crystal."
She made a pause and continued, her face completely calm, "Like regular ones, it can be used as a conduit for magic, its effects slightly better."
Cedric and Anna nodded, realization appearing on their faces. This should indeed be valuable.
But Cyril stared at Myra with suspicion, feeling something wasn't right. She avoided his gaze.
"She is lying! Definitely! She wants it for herself!" Rhamn pointed at the auburn-haired girl.
Quiet. Let's wait and see for now.
He glanced at the rest of the people present.
Soon Cedric stepped forward, his face lit up. "Cyril, Myra, take it. The gods must be rewarding you for your good deeds today!"
Myra crouched down to collect the documents on the ground, her face obscured by her auburn hair.
Placing them back in the box, she grabbed it and got up on her feet.
"Are you sure you don't want any of it? We did find it together."
"No, no. We are not so shameless." Cedric waved his hands in front of him and shot his friend a look. "Right, Anna?"
Anna silently nodded with clear eyes, gently touching a bracelet now adorning her hand.
They don't doubt her? Can they not feel the stone's weirdness?
Cyril picked up the discarded paper wrapper from the ground and enclosed the stone again. The feeling of hunger it gave him slowly went away as he did so.
"If you say so," Myra nodded, then looked up at the sky. "It's getting darker. Let's go back."
With this she turned around and started walking away, Cyril soon following after her.
Let's see what's on her mind...
"Wait up," Cedric hesitantly called out, stopping them. "What about that explosion? Should we notify someone?"
Myra didn't turn around, answering as she walked, "It's fine. Leave this job to the guards."
Cedric frowned, not moving for a few seconds.
Anna walked up and patted him on the shoulder. "It's as she said. Let's go already."
Cedric scratched his hair and smiled, relenting.
Together they walked to the nearest station.
...
The way back was smooth, and in no time at all the group was already seated in the manarail on the route to Ailanthus.
Cyril, while observing the rooftops of the passing buildings, would occasionally feel the stone in his pocket, its presence filling him with an inexplicable greed.
To take his mind off of it, he glanced at the auburn-haired girl sitting to his side.
"Myra is so shady."
"Ignoring anything weird about her behavior, it's inexplicable how she knows so many spells. Humans can't even start practicing magic until they're eighteen."
"There is simply not enough time for her to be able to cast spells the way she does. Not with her intelligence, anyways."
Maybe she is older than she looks? No one says you can't enroll in the academy a bit later in life.
"Myra," he directly called out, attracting her attention, "how old are you?"
Myra contemplated for a few seconds, tapping the box resting on her lap.
"I am eighteen, same as you all."
Something about her voice seemed off to Cyril. She sounded ashamed to say that.
"...You are really knowledgeable for someone your age."
"Suspicious."
Morpho, sitting on his shoulder, twitched her antennae in agreement.
Hearing his words, Myra's eyes briefly wandered around the cabin. "I said that before. You pick up a lot of things from traveling."
At this moment, Cedric cut in, sitting on the opposite side. "Where did you travel? How many districts did you visit?"
Anna to his right focused on hearing the answer as well.
Myra smiled and shook her head. "I didn't visit any district. I was traveling outside the city."
Cedric and Anna both widened their eyes, leaning closer.
"You really did? That's awesome! I never met anyone outside the city. How is it out there?"
With everyone paying close attention, Myra smiled, staring off into the distance.
"The outside world is dangerous and rough but also beautiful and exciting."
"I encountered a lot, too much to recount all of it here, and many times I found myself on the brink of death, but the view is definitely worth it."
"Believe it or not, somewhere out there exist mountains taller than the Tower!" Myra raised a finger in the air, her glance returning here.
The group listened as she described places the citizens of the Empire only read about in books.
Even Rhamn didn't interrupt. Both she and Morpho focused on the lush forests and wild animals Myra described.
Like this they spend the whole remaining ride.
...
Eventually the manarail slowed down, and a muffled, almost unrecognizable voice mumbled the name of their stop.
The sound jolted Myra awake.
With the box in her hands, she quickly stood up. "Sorry for rambling so much. Time to go."
"It was interesting to listen to. Why should you apologize?" Cedric laughed in response.
His words only caused Myra to walk away quicker.
Cyril observed her swift departure and stood up as well.
She doesn't seem to be the scheming type.
"Appearances can be deceiving."
The group got up and exited the cabin, quickly reaching the gates of the academy itself.
"Thanks again for your help, Cyril. You are truly a good guy! I will definitely pay you back." Cedric bowed at 90 degrees.
"Myra, thank you too. And I am sorry again for involving you two with something like this."
Anna bowed as well, then waved goodbye, her bracelet glistening under the moonlight.
She also waved her goodbyes to Morpho, who briefly fluttered her wings in response, still sitting on Cyril's shoulder.
Waving all the while, Cedric walked together with Anna, leaving the two students alone.
Myra and Cyril stood in place, observing their backs until they could no longer be seen.
Next, Cyril turned towards Myra and motioned with his head to a bench not far from them.
"Let's talk."
He approached the bench and sat there.
At this time of day, they were the only people still visible on the academy grounds.
Myra slowly walked up to him and stiffly took a seat nearby, placing the box on her lap.
"What is it?" she said with a smile.
"Is this stone really as you described it?" Cyril casually asked while pulling it out from his pocket.
Let's see how long she will keep this up.
She took one glance, then smiled from ear to ear.
"Not at all, this is Ambrosia. The Lapis member discovered it while raiding a train from the Rennock Trading Company. He mistook it for an ordinary crystal and grabbed it for himself. We are really lucky this time!"
It wasn't for long.
...What?
Cyril held the stone in silence for a few seconds. "Ambrosia...? How do you know all that?"
Myra casually opened the box on her lap. "From the documents. There is nothing important, but it did explain that much."
He was hit with another shock.
"You can read them?" Cyril leaned in to look inside the box, only to be met with the same scribbles from earlier.
"Uh-huh," Myra casually nodded. "That apartment complex was apparently his personal hidden cache. I bet he wanted to store the newly acquired bracelet there along with the 'crystal' when we found him."
"Too bad the explosion attracted too much attention." She sighed. "Otherwise we would've explored that place some more..."
"Wait." Cyril motioned with his hand for her to stop.
Myra tilted her head, confusion in her eyes.
"Where did you learn Lapis's code?"
Myra opened her mouth, but no sound came out as her eyes wandered around.
"...From your travels again?"
Myra nodded up and down repeatedly. "Yeah, that's right!"
"I see."
Cyril relaxed on his bench, staring at the sky. He felt a profound sense of befuddlement.
She really doesn't hide how suspicious she is. Rather, she is displaying it openly. There is something 'honest' about that.
"Don't be biased! She is probably a crazy stalker!"
It also could've been a bird Morpho saw.
Not like I am without secrets. She doesn't want to harm me, so let it be for now.
Rhamn stared at him with complaint but didn't say anything in the end.
"So, what is Ambrosia?" He turned to Myra and raised the stone higher.
Myra stared at it for a second, then explained with a pure smile, "It's a very powerful bomb, capable of completely leveling this whole district..."
His hand holding the stone shook.
"Bomb?!"