The man eyed the group with a hint of suspicion.
"Why are you here?" he said, his voice as dry as the desert.
Merlin and the squad captain's gazes met.
The captain's face contorted with disgust and a feeling akin to fear.
"A magician... a bad omen!" he shouted, drawing his sword.
Merlin drew his wand.
A blue magic circle appeared before them all, its light as intense as the afternoon sun.
More agents appeared, surrounding the group.
It was then that Nero recalled the sayings of the Church of the Wind:
"Never trust a magician... they are always treacherous..."
And also:
"Magicians bring bad omens..."
The air grew heavy in an instant.
The magic circle floated before Merlin, slowly rotating, its blue runes pulsating like a living heart.
Light flooded the interior of the barracks, casting long, distorted shadows against the stone walls.
The agents closed the perimeter.
Boots clanged against the floor. Metal tensed. Breaths were held.
Nero stepped forward.
"Sheathe those swords," he said firmly. "If this explodes here, there won't be a barracks left to protect."
The captain gritted his teeth, his sword barely trembling in his hand.
"You dare give me orders in my own barracks?" he spat. "That man's a magician!"
"I know," Nero replied without looking away. "And he's still alive. That says something."
Merlin wasn't smiling.
For the first time since he'd arrived, his expression was serious, almost cold. The wand remained steady between his fingers, but the magic circle didn't advance an inch further.
"I didn't come here to drop bombs," he said calmly. "If I wanted to, this place would already be destroyed."
An uneasy murmur rippled through the agents.
Sunday took a half-step to the side, instinctively assuming a defensive stance.
Lux tensed his shoulders, ready to move in any direction.
Kōri clicked her tongue, clearly irritated.
"It's always the same," he muttered. "They see a wand and they lose their minds."
The captain swallowed.
His eyes remained fixed on the magic circle, as if afraid it might look back at him.
"The texts are clear," he said in a lower, less confident voice. "Magicians bring ruin. Treachery. Chaos."
Merlin inclined his head slightly.
"And yet," Merlin replied, "they still use seals, runes, and relics created by dead mages."
The ensuing silence was brutal.
Nero closed his eyes for a second.
Exactly… he thought... There's the crack.
Memories of the sermons from the Church of the Wind echoed in his mind again, like old, worn-out sounds. Words repeated so often they were mistaken for truth.
Never trust a wizard.
Ill omens walk with them.
He opened his eyes.
"Captain," he said, his tone lower, but more dangerous.
"If we wanted to cause trouble, we wouldn't have come through the front door."
The captain hesitated.
For the first time, he lowered his sword just a few inches.
"We have information," Nero continued, "information about the Echo Brotherhood."
Merlin raised his wand a little higher… and the magic circle contracted, slowly fading until it disappeared into motes of light.
The captain indicated a corridor.
...
Captain's office...
The captain, whose name the group soon discovered was Sikan, sat in a leather chair.
His desk was piled high with papers.
He was alone. He seemed confident in his own strength, his expression almost arrogant.
The group sat in hard, uncomfortable metal chairs.
They gave us the most uncomfortable chairs... Nero thought, trying to get comfortable.
"The information..." he rested his head in his hands.
Merlin and Nero exchanged subtle glances.
"First of all, their leader's name is Reveli," Nero said, leaning back.
Sikan raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Secondly, they operate by kidnapping people for unknown rituals."
Sikan didn't believe a word Merlin said.
"Those rats are hiding in the catacombs of the wind," Sunday retorted.
Sikan's gaze remained fixed on Merlin, as if he might attack at any moment.
The captain tilted his head, his expression softening as he looked at the rest of the group.
"Is that all?"
"No," Kōri replied, "their objective is to activate a fragment of Zephyr."
The captain's distrustful face twisted into a grimace of utter terror.
"Is this confirmed information?" he stammered.
The group remained silent for a full minute.
"Yes... why?" Lux asked, suddenly curious.
"Code Black!"
Sikan jumped up from his chair, dropping some papers and folders.
The door opened, and a young man rushed into the room.
He wore a more formal uniform than the other recruits, leading Nero to believe he was of higher rank.
Sikan approached the young man, completely ignoring the group behind him, and whispered something inaudible to everyone.
The young man's face turned white, reflecting Sikan's fear and concern.
He left the room and ran, stumbling several times from his speed.
The captain turned to the group and said with a somewhat hurried tone,
"Stay in the training area until further notice."
Without another word, he ran off, his aged body, battered by various conflicts, giving its all.
"What the hell just happened?"
Lux looked shocked and surprised.
Merlin shrugged, his dim black eyes analyzing the easiest way to escape.
"Should we go where Sikan said?"
Merlin raised an eyebrow and slightly twirled his wand between his fingers, as if it were a mere habit.
"I'd say so," he replied calmly. "When someone yells 'code black' and runs off, the smartest thing to do is not to stay in the middle of it."
Lux still looked dazed.
"Code black?" he repeated. "That doesn't sound normal. Not normal at all."
"Because it isn't," Kōri said, crossing her arms. "Did you see her face? It wasn't ordinary fear. It was panic."
Nero stood up from the metal chair with a slight grimace of relief. His legs were numb.
"Whatever it is," he said, "they're not pointing guns at us anymore. That's an improvement."
Sunday gave a dry laugh.
"For now."
The group stood up. As they opened the office door, the atmosphere in the headquarters had completely changed.
There were no more shouts or clear orders, just chaotic movement.
Agents running around. Boots pounding the floor urgently. Doors slamming open and shut. The constant murmur of tense voices filled the air.
"We're definitely not welcome here," Lux muttered.
"Not now," Nero corrected. "Now we're a secondary problem."
They walked down the corridor Sikan had indicated. With every step, eyes followed them. Some filled with fear. Others with hatred. Others, simply, with utter distrust.
Merlin walked as if none of it bothered him.
Too calm.
"Doesn't it bother you?" Lux whispered. "All those stares."
"It would bother me more if they stopped looking at me," Merlin replied without turning around.
"It would mean they've already made up their minds."
Kōri gritted her teeth.
"I hate this place."
Nero tilted his head, opening the doors to the training area.
"Who doesn't?"
...
Inside, the cadets trained as if nothing were happening.
The group consisted of young men and women.
The women, upon seeing Merlin, covered their bodies and looked at him with even more disgust than usual. The men stepped in front of them, trying to... protect them?
Oh, right, they also see magicians as rapists... ha, poor Merlin.
Nero felt a certain pity for the boy.
A cadet, clearly stronger than the others, stepped forward.
"I challenge you to a fight."