If anyone asked Raine, the worst thing about witnessing a tragedy was the aftermath. Or rather, the lack thereof.

For the victim, it was something permanently life-altering — a catastrophic event that would leave its scars long after all was resolved.

Yet, life moved on for everybody else like nothing happened. The crowd dispersed as soon as there was no more entertainment to capture their attention. Bystanders went about their day, spreading the news as if it were nothing but idle gossip.

Back in Lysandra’s living room, the three of them sat in heavy silence.

The wind blew against the windows, creating a whooshing sound. A chorus of outside noise filtered through the thin walls: children laughing, people talking, wheels grinding against the dirt roads, horses whinnying. The seldom chirp from a lone bird joined in the mundane symphony of life.

Finally, Lysandra cleared her throat.

“I think I know what’s going on.”

Nikolay looked up. “About the dock closure and the attacks?”

“Yeah. Actually… this isn’t the first time I’ve seen magic like that.”

She readjusted her position on her chair and took a deep breath. “To start, you’re probably wondering why I was plotting against the Order of Truth in the first place. When I was a little kid, I was adopted by someone in the Order of Truth. Even though they were technically my foster parents, they didn’t even bother to act the part. It was pretty obvious that they adopted me for a different reason, because I was constantly going to a ‘family friend doctor’ and getting my blood taken.

“It was only after I grew older that I started questioning it. I did a bit of investigating and found out about the Order of Truth. Not only that, but they have a research section dedicated to studying magic. It seems harmless at first, but I quickly realised it was anything but that. Since I’m a sorcerer, they believed that transplanting enough organic stuff — like my blood — into a non-sorcerer could give them a bit of magic.

“I guess I don’t really have to spell it out, but the artificial magic looked a lot like that person's earlier. A murky blended mess, an unnerving brown made from snippets of multiple different sorcerers’ magic. There’s definitely a correlation between your investigation and this ‘sudden’ attack. It’s not like you guys have been very discreet about it, right? The Order of Truth must’ve caught on.”

“So, they were targeting large gatherings because…” Raine covered his mouth as if he was about to vomit. “They were getting new test subjects?”

Lysandra merely nodded with a grim look. “If they’re a sorcerer, it’s free magic material. If they’re a non-sorcerer…”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

To avoid making the conversation even heavier, she stopped talking.

“If they’re still conducting these experiments, then there should be a laboratory,” Nikolay suggested. “All we need to do is shut the experiments down, then the attacks will stop. The docks will open once it’s clear, letting myself and Raine go to Serpent Isle.”

“Easier said than done,” Lysandra said glumly. “We don’t even know where it is, let alone how to get in. It’s not gonna be as easy as waltzing into a family restaurant.”

“We already have a lead, don’t we?”

After receiving questioning looks from Raine and Lysandra, Nikolay reached into his pocket and pulled out a burnt piece of scrap metal.

“Our departed attacker left this behind. If they came from the laboratory, I can use this to track where it is.”

Lysandra leaned forward and scrutinised the metal. “It doesn’t look like anything important, though. There’s no tracker on it, and the only hint of magic is that weird murky-brown thing. Seriously, even if we magically revived the ancients to do it, I don’t even know if their Time magic would work… Let alone that fact that nobody can use Time magic nowadays.”

“You seem to have forgotten that I am not from this era,” Nikolay said, clasping the burnt metal in his hands. “I had a few allies who taught me a couple of their Time magic tricks. It should be enough to get an idea of the locations that this metal has been.”

He closed his eyes, letting the familiar azure blue wisps wash over his closed palms. The sigil on his forearm pulsed faintly. In a flash, it was over.

“It looks like the original owner wasn’t in the best state of mind… unsurprisingly. They walked all over Marque on foot. I can’t blame them — there wasn’t much else they could do to find us.”

Raine cast his eyes down. “They were suffering all that time, being forced to wander forever until they happened to run into us by chance. And even when they did find us…”

“Does that mean you can’t find the lab?” Lysandra asked, her tone falsely bright to offset the gloom.

“This piece of metal spent quite a long time in a certain location. Unless they happened to pick this up off the road, I’d wager that this place is the laboratory.”

“Great! Time to give this pieces of shit the beating they deserve,” Lysandra cracked her knuckles with a plotting grin.

Nikolay held up a hand. “Hold on, it isn’t a good idea to rush in without a plan.”

“For once, I agree with this buffoon,” Raine sighed. “There’s bound to be people seeing us walk in. I’d rather avoid alerting the higher ups if possible. If Guthasar himself rocks up, I think we’re screwed.”

“Your last point is debatable,” Nikolay crossed his arms. “Last time, we were only captured because I couldn’t access my magic in the shared vessel. But technicalities aside, we should wait for a time more optimal.”

“Jeez, you two are always thinking with your brains. If Guthasar shows up, even better!” Lysandra declared. “Time to give that old fart a piece of my mind. And a piece of that sword — what did you call it again, the Link Severer?”

All Nikolay could do was put his head in his hands. “We’re not doing that. Lysandra, when’s the next big gathering? The staff should be busy getting ready to receive a ‘new shipment of test subjects’ then, so it would be easier to sneak in.”

“Uhh… Probably Christmas? There’s a bit of a parade that happens on Christmas night. Well, we call it a parade, but really it’s a procession of drunkards off their heads.”

“We’ll wait until Christmas,” Raine taps his chin. “Actually, that’s only a few days away. Time flies too quickly… I still remember the heat of summer when we first started travelling.”

“Be glad that you were barely doing anything for half of it.”

“Only because you were hogging the vessel.”

“Who would wake up 3 hours earlier to do all the daily chores?”

“…Smartass.”