"Eh? There's internal strife from within the Fire God's Phoenix?" I questioned, blinking my eyes in surprise. "If you don't mind, can you tell me the cause behind it? I'll be honest, I didn't expect this to happen..."

"Conflicting interests and ideals mainly," Rufus answered as he walked to the counter, the girl trailing behind him silently. "According to the girl here called Idalia, all of them initially gathered out of a desire for change but it seems they couldn't remain united for long. Some members slowly started becoming more extreme in their desires to the point that they almost seemed insane."

"So what's the situation regarding the other defectors?" Vin asked, causing the brunette to stiffen in response and then guiltily look down at the floor. "...never mind. From that reaction alone, I can guess what happened. ...sorry for bringing that up but it's important to know."

She meekly nodded her head as the orange-haired soldier went behind the counter to get something. "I-it's fine. ...besides, it's important for others to know about our situation," Idalia replied, then tightly gripped her left arm with her right hand. "...as one of the surviving sinners, I must do everything in my power to amend for our actions or lack thereof."

"Sinners...?" I repeated, frowning. "Did you commit some sort of sin according to your religion? Is it something that particularly bad?"

Lucia let out a sigh and took a seat on one of the stools nearby. "One of the rules is to consider life as precious, even if everything reincarnates. Because of that, we consider the crime of taking lives incredibly serious," the princess explained as she got the notepad and pen on the table. "Unfortunately, members in that organization are all guilty of that sin in some way. Rather than sentencing them to death like how the Holy Kingdom would do though, we believe that such sinners must be given a chance to redeem themselves."

"In short, bad can become good," Vin remarked. "Yet, the opposite of that can also be considered true too."

The blonde nodded her head as she gave a small smile. "Indeed. After all, things like personalities, beliefs, motives, and aspirations can change over time. Everything changes and humans aren't exempt from that," Lucia commented. "Adding reincarnation into it makes things even more complicated. In fact, this is connected to what the Fire God's Phoenix is doing. Tell me, will a person remain the same after reincarnating?"

I frowned, realizing what she was getting at. "Wait, you mean they intend to cause change by forcing people to reincarnate, hoping they'll be better in their next life?!" I exclaimed. "Isn't that too extreme?!"

"Yeah, it's so unreasonable that it caused a great divide between the group," Idalia responded with a dejected sigh. "However, let me correct one thing about what you said. They want the entire world to change and intend to achieve that goal by literally setting it ablaze. By doing that, they hope it'll be reborn again like the phoenix and become better. As to how we knew that, those weirdos wouldn't stop rambling about it..."

...well, that's concerning. Judging from their motives, we can say that spell hidden by the sun is connected to that group but... I thought as I crossed my arms over my chest, my frown deepening. If they've become that mentally unstable though, wouldn't they have triggered that spell already? ...unless if they have some twisted reasoning for not doing it yet...

"...uh...just so you know, we're still telepathically connected, Stella. I'd like to tease you for forgetting but that might be a bad idea right now," Leo mentally replied, catching me off-guard. "But yeah, that's a fair point. We can't completely rule them out just yet. For now, let's try to see if there are other options."

Before Leo and I could think of what to ask, Vin immediately spoke up without hesitation. "Regarding the side that wants to incinerate the world, does it only consist of the ones that have lost their sanity and reasoning? Or are there a few that actually still have both?"

"...unfortunately, I have no idea about that," she answered as she bowed her head in apology. "One of our members suggested that to be safe, we assume there's those who are still sane if that's of any use to you guys. After all, there's a lot of people in the Fire God's Phoenix so it's hard to keep track of everyone."

"It's fine. Every bit helps, especially that last sentence," the archangel stated. "Anyways, I have three questions left. One, does your group know any form of magic? If so, how did you lot learn about it? And for the last question, was the group you were in have any dealings with anyone or a particular organization? If there's a third party involved in this, it'll make this situation complicated, especially since they'll likely hide their real identity."

I glanced at the blue-haired male in surprise and decided to mentally ask him a question. Wait, hold up. Are you trying to see if the Academy is a part of this? His violet eyes quickly looked into mine and he silently nodded his head. Without a single word, he turned his attention back to the hooded girl, making sure she was being closely watched. I wanted to ask him why he thought they would be connected to this but opted to keep quiet. Instead, I did the same thing Vin did and noticed that she appeared to be deep in thought, her eyebrows furrowed.

Assuming Idalia was busy trying to remember, I shifted my attention elsewhere and decided to check on Rufus. I soon spotted him sitting on a stool near a table in the corner, talking to someone possibly through a communication earpiece. After all, he was verbally talking to them right now rather than doing it telepathically. Maybe Rufus is reporting all this to Princess Cecilia. After all, she is his superior... I thought to myself as I got the cup nearby and drank some of the beverage in it. ...hm, it tastes a bit watered-down now. Guess the ice somewhat melted while we were busy talking.

"I thankfully drank all of mine before that happened while you guys were busy talking with Idalia," Leo mentally commented as he gestured towards the cup with his head, grinning. "I ate some of the wrapped snacks that were left on the counter too. I recommend eating one when you have time. They're basically cinnamon-covered breadsticks with varying fillings inside them. Thankfully, none of the ones I got is that infamous sweet and super spicy variant that I heard about a lot!"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

While he smiled at me, I couldn't help but stare at him in utter silence. I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Leo just casually eating away while Vin and I were busy trying to get information. A part of me wanted to sass him for that but decided it might be for the best to just leave him be. Judging from his response earlier ago, he probably tried to help but found it hard to pitch in. So, he just left it to us and chill around, figuring we'll be able to handle it without him.

With a sigh, I took his suggestion to try out one of the snacks nearby and when I grabbed one, the brunette finally answered. "Sorry for the wait. I had to recall some of the stuff that happened back then," she explained as she once again bowed her head for forgiveness. "Anyways, we do indeed know some magic but the amount we knew varied from person to person. I didn't learn much because upon experiencing what it was like to wield magic, I became scared that I would get drunk on the power fast so I distanced myself from it. As to how we obtained that knowledge, someone from the Academy came along to teach us and told us to keep it a secret."

I immediately turned to look at her, taken aback by that revelation. "Someone from the Academy taught you magecraft?!" I exclaimed. "But why would do they that? I don't see any benefits for them to do that unless—!"

As if realizing something, I didn't continue what I was going to say. Instead, I abruptly closed my mouth and looked away, suddenly feeling a strong sense of dread. Teaching a group of non-mages magic, said group causes some chaos due to varying reasons, then the Academy is forced to deal with them to upkeep their laws. If there are enough people all around the kingdom wrecking havoc, they're forced to send out lots of mages to so many places at once just to deal with them. Then, wouldn't that leave...?

"...the security in the Academy here in Ignifera kingdom would be low as a result, making it easier for them to raid the place for certain things," Vin continued, his voice in my head sounding more serious than usual. "If that's the case, it seems we now have two options to choose from on where to go next. We are either to investigate that institution or that Fire God's Phoenix base that Idalia ran away from."

"Then let's ask Lucia and the others what they plan to do!" Leo mentally remarked, then turned his attention towards the princess. "So, what's the plan now? It seems the situation is a lot more complicated than we thought."

She let out a sigh and glanced towards the brunette, frowning. "First, we need to ensure her safety so the Royal Army will take custody of her. She'll definitely be hunted down if the other cultists become aware she's still alive," she answered, pushed the notepad toward us and then got up. "Two, I'll be personally going to the Academy fully geared and accompanied by some of my top soldiers to get answers from them. For an organization that supposedly monitors mages and the learning of magecraft, this is weirdly neglectful of them. I can't help but get a bad feeling from all of this."

"Alright, got it. We'll go check out the situation regarding the Fire God's Phoenix bunch with Rufus then," the angel stated with a nod as I took the book. "Please be careful out there, Your Highness. We have no idea what the person is planning, after all."

"Thanks but there's no need to worry about me," Lucia said, giving us a confident grin. "I don't just wear military commander attire to look cool and dashing, you know? As both the crown heir and one of the leaders of the Ignifera kingdom, I must also be the blazing fire that dominates the battlefield and the fire that kindles the flames within people's hearts."

"Indeed, it's best you don't underestimate her, esteemed guests. She's known as the Scorching Conqueror in these lands, after all," Rufus added as he walked towards us, which I assume meant he was probably done reporting to Princess Cecilia. "This kingdom may no longer be in its golden era but it doesn't mean its residents will let the flames of those times die out. After all, to go forward towards the future doesn't mean to abandon everything from the past."

The princess stops in front of the door, then glances back at us with that same smile from before. "Indeed. Tell me, you three are from the Astrum kingdom, correct?" she asked, to which we nodded our heads. "Then I'm sure our guests are aware of a certain quote that's popular over there, right?"

I felt my heart ache upon hearing her say that but even so, I said the words that I knew by heart without hesitation. "Even now, the lone star continues to shine in this dark ominous night, defiantly fighting until the day dawn comes," I, Vin, and Leo said at the same time, causing all three of us to look at each other in surprise.

"Then, you better live up to that and show us the brilliance of the radiant stars, esteemed guests," Lucia commented with a laugh as she looked away and put her hand on the door handle. "Just like how the flames of Ignifera refuse to go out, do not let your light die out when the situation here goes downhill. It's during those times when everyone will need a guiding star to lead them in the dark oppressive night. A heavy burden it may be but that's what it means to be the 'star', right?"

As she opened the door, she glanced back at us as if remembering something. "Ah, right. I almost forgot. As the crown heir of the Ignifera kingdom, let me give you a blessing before I leave. After all, I've heard this is the first kingdom you three are visiting on your journey," Lucia said and then turned around to curtsy to us. "Just like our beloved phoenix, may you become more stronger and radiant as you go through the fire and flames that your journey will have you endure. With that, I bid you good luck."