Ashen's eyes snapped open at 4 AM.
This was when his day usually started. The first activity was, of course, a physical workout.
After three hours of destroying every fiber of his muscles and a cold bath, he comfortably settled at his usual corner in the public library.
The citizens of Ashbastion didn't seem too fond of reading, leaving the place deserted most of the time.
As he took a sip of his black-colored drink every so often, he kept leisurely reading and recording in his own notebook.
If he aged a little more and grew a beard, he'd totally pull off the look of a sage.
The content he was currently recording stayed within the same period: the Thousand Years' War.
Ashen's interest had been drawn to that time since he knew the Astrologer was known from then on.
Today, he'd even discovered that he wasn't the only traitor.
In fact, there was a whole group who'd mass defected to the demi-human side.
The hopeless chances of victory were one of the reasons for such a daunting betrayal to happen, but the main one was surprisingly the nine-tailed foxes.
Those creatures were natural manipulators.
Their females tempted the men with seduction, while their males were even worse, employing illusions, hallucinations, and every trick in the book to mentally collapse a person before rewiring them to their needs.
But the coup de grâce was, without a doubt, the promises of riches and debauchery.
On one hand, there was near-certain death; on the other, riches and women awaited.
Ashen was even surprised that the majority of the human army still held itself amid the onslaught of scheming and sabotage.
'I guess they were the Pride army for a reason,' Ashen mused and took another sip from the dark drink.
'Ahh, what a lovely taste. Thank you, Somatic Autonomy. You made my life so much better…' He briefly closed his eyes, savoring the sweetness.
Click—Click—Click—
A sudden click-clack of heels interrupted the serene moment. Ashen had a sense of déjà vu as he kept hearing it getting closer.
Halfheartedly opening his eyes, his mental guess was confirmed as he gazed at none other than the con-artist herself, Lucia Evernight.
'I wonder how she'd fare against the foxes…?' The thought spontaneously appeared. 'Too bad there are barely any nine-tailed foxes after that massacre.'
"It seems that you've gotten really comfortable here. If anyone saw you, they'd never guess that this face belongs to a soldier of the Bloodwall." Her cool voice had a teasing edge.
With no greeting or permission, she naturally took a seat on the sofa across from him and crossed her legs, making the heel dangle.
She then glanced at the contents of the cup by his side and raised an eyebrow.
"…How are you able to drink that, anyway?" she asked, fascinated.
And she had every right to be so, as the black drink was made from Veyra leaves, also called the Mind's Thorn by the locals.
She was sure of it because of the intoxicating smell drifting to her nose.
"A simple 'Hi' would go a long way, partner…" Ashen smiled, but his lips kept twitching from Lucia's casual attitude after months of not seeing each other.
She, however, didn't seem to care for that. Her attention still pooled on the cup, as she occasionally glanced his way, urging him for an explanation with her eyes.
Ashen let out a helpless sigh, but didn't blame her. The Veyra leaf was just that famous, after all.
A common plant known for its strange duality. Its scent changed depending on a person's mood, pleasant and comforting to most, but its taste was so unbearably bitter that few had managed more than a sip of its brew.
The regrettable thing was that when consumed, the drink granted sharp focus and mental clarity for a short time, and continuous use slowly made the effects permanent; however, despite its usefulness and easy cultivation, it remained largely untouched.
A miracle plant ruined by its own flavor.
…But a few touches to his taste buds by SA made the flavor as good as the fragrance.
"…A little tweak to my taste buds did the trick." Ashen decided to be honest, given her unusual investment in this.
"…Can I also get this little 'tweak'…?" she asked, a bit slowly.
Ashen raised his eyes to meet hers, not expecting the woman who usually went by the golden rule to ask for something freely.
He was thankful for her thoughtfulness not to ask for the method, anyhow.
"…Sure, if you're fine with me messing with your body," he shrugged, but then, hearing how strange that sounded, he amended, "Not in the naughty way, don't worry."
Lucia tilted her head, slowly uncrossing one leg before crossing the other.
"Really? Too bad. I'd have taken you up on that offer."
Ashen was taken aback. "Where'd that come from?"
He didn't think it was normal for Lucia to be this aggressive in their banter, usually.
"Well, I'd love to know how much our dear Ashen is entangled with the Creation Department head, Alice Sinclair herself. Would little old me get a chance somehow?" She pouted pitifully. "…I even acted as your girlfriend at your parents' house. Surely that would amount to something?"
Ashen put the notebook on the table, massaging the bridge of his nose. Now he knew what was up.
Lucia was likely still mad that he'd refused to divulge who his mystery girlfriend was… especially now that it turned out to be such a big shot.
To his defense, though, even he didn't know that Alice was in Seravelle, let alone her turning out to be such an influential figure here.
"I can explain…"
"You don't have to, though? The rumors are running wild already in the Ashbastion." She merely smiled.
"…I can also explain that… Probably…"
Lucia dropped the teasing facade and looked at him with the piercing eyes that he knew belonged to the real her.
After staring for what felt like an eternity, she let out a soft sigh. "You don't have to. You probably didn't know what that woman of yours had been up to, so I can't exactly blame you."
She leaned back on the sofa, resting her chin against three fingers while the other hand slipped beneath her breasts for support. "But I have to warn you, Alice Sinclair is more than just another individual now."
The lapis of her eyes glowed, as if to reinforce the gravity of what she was about to divulge. "She is the co-creator of the DDD that you used to stimulate countless battles during the tutorial… The special room you used to ascend, also her work."
Ashen's face tightened as he considered how much fame those inventions alone would earn her. Fame wasn't always a blessing, after all. Especially in a world where murder was just another routine act.
Lucia didn't seem to be done, though. "…Those toys she keeps popping up are saving countless lives as we speak, as they scout for enemies, camouflage our armies, and even bolster the defenses of our bases…"
She let a faint smirk show, despite the gravity of the situation. "…But I'm not talking about her achievements to have you worry about her. In fact, I'm worried about you."
Ashen was confused for a moment before what she meant clicked in his head.
"Looks like you understand… Alice, right now, is akin to a national treasure. Even though she's currently in the Wrath Domain, every other faction has set its eyes on her, whether to protect or poach her, or even harm her. But anyone who gets close to her will inevitably also enter their sight."
"…And no one would like anything close to their treasure, even if it's seemingly harmless…" Ashen finished.
"Exactly." She smiled.
He let out a frustrated groan. "Why would she expose herself to this degree… It's not like her."
Lucia raised an eyebrow. "I thought she was just naive, but I guess not?"
Ashen let out a disbelieving laugh. "Her? Naive? I'm willing to bet she knew exactly how everything would turn out before it even happened. I'm just confused about what she'd gain from this."
Lucia stayed silent for a couple of seconds and then spoke, sounding like she'd remembered something. "I remember that since coming here, she had been looking for a Manaweave plant."
Ashen's eyes widened. "What? Did you confuse the names? It's Enerleafs."
Lucia shook her head. "You heard right. She was looking for a Manaweave."
Ashen's confusion was justified.
He'd been reminded countless times how rare that plant was, and he'd seen one himself… had even consumed it. The Whisp was a Manaweave, after all, and the power it granted wasn't something casually found or handed over.
The tightly compressed, enormous mass of mana pulsing behind his retinas served as a constant reminder of the terrifying power those plants carried.
What confused him above all this, though, was something else.
'Why are you even looking for something like that?' he silently asked, perplexed.
The answer came right after.
"…The type of concept imbued had to be related to vision remedying or delusion suppression. That was another one of her demands, as if asking for a Manaweave wasn't enough." Lucia added, tone curious.
Ashen's face froze hearing those words.
He instantly collected all the dots.
"I'm looking for something magical…" she'd said back when he asked her why she came to this continent.
…Also, her willingness to expose herself to every faction, dangling herself like bait. That was probably her way of increasing her chances of getting the plant.
Then he remembered her constant questions about his hallucinations since the moment she became aware of them and the innumerable number of times she'd dragged him to visit countless ophthalmologists back when they were younger.
'…It's for me.' The words echoed in his head, and the conclusion seemed to fit as a matter of course.
'…Of course it is. It has always been for me. Everything.' A bitter smile that looked more sorrowful graced his face.