I explained my theory, part by part, to Hei.

Headmaster Fink, I hypothesized, kept 6E12 inside the cave to the east of town. That was where the Seekflower had led us. Every challenge, Fink would form a team consisting of herself, 6E12, and three other expeditioners. 6E12 would kill off the three other expeditioners during the challenge, then proceed to win with Fink as the only other survivor. Due to the three casualties on their team, Fink would barely progress toward Gold. And that was on purpose – she wanted to stay in Silver. As long as she was here, she'd win every time with 6E12's help.

Hei closed his eyes, frowning. "Hold on. This seems…"

I allowed him a moment.

"Why would 6E12 agree to this?" he asked. "Why not just help Fink get to Diamond, so she could go home–"

He gazed blankly into the walls of my room.

"Unless there really is no way home," he said.

I couldn't confirm or deny that. But based on what the Truthseekers told us, perhaps 6E12 was trapped against his will. There is hoarfrost on the passenger's cage, their tablet had said. His wrists are bound by human sacrifice. Was the Expedition Division's cave the cage? Or was the cage metaphorical? What did it mean, that his wrists were bound by human sacrifice? Was that literal or figurative?

"It's hard to say," I finally admitted. "Regardless, we need to be careful about Fink."

Hei squared his jaws. "How certain are you about this theory?"

Good question.

"I'm about 20% certain I got everything right," I conceded. "But I'm 85% certain at least half of it is right. Should we tell our teammates?"

"Maybe. Though I think it's safer if they don't know."

I'd agree. What if they leaked our secret knowledge by accident? I could envision Saber doing just that.

"We'll keep it under wraps for now," I said. "I don't have a next-step planned out yet. We'll probably need to sit around a bit longer, so not much point in them knowing everything."

That concluded our discussions for the night. The next morning, I resumed my usual work routine. I arrived in my office at 9AM and began to work on edits for the second edition of my book.

I could hardly bear to keep working for the Institute. Was Fink really keeping 6E12 in the cave, and sacrificing her teammates to keep herself alive in Silver? Did the Combat Institute know? Were they complicit? This whole time I could've been working for murderers. And working with murderers.

The day passed uneventfully, until the late afternoon, when Professor Phoenixcourt came to my office to visit.

"Hello Sophia," he greeted me, his figure looming as I sat at my desk. "How are things progressing?" he asked.

"A bit tired," I answered while stretching out my legs. "I'll need a week or two before I can finish the revisions."

"Ah. Actually, you'll need to place the edits on hold. The Combat Institute has a special mission for you."

Wait. What?

I jerked so hard, I almost fell over in my chair.

The professor handed me a sealed envelope.

"Yes, it's quite sudden of them," he said. "I don't know the details, but it's an urgent request. Take as long as you need with it."

With that, he left, and closed the door behind him.

This…this was unusual. Nonetheless, I opened the envelope. Inside was a letter:

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

> Dear Sophia,

>

>  

>

> You have been invited to be a part of a secret mission :) The Combat Institute has recently discovered an underground lake, to the west of the town. They will need your help, as a water mage, to perform water purifications upon various sections of the lake :)

>

> The Institute insists you accept the offer. No one else will do…it seems like they really want YOU :)

>

> You have been instructed to not share this information with anyone, not even Hei or Saber! The underground lake, I'm told, is a huge resource, and the Combat Institute insists on keeping it hidden from the public eye for now.

>

> Four days from now, at 2 A.M. please come by yourself to the back gate of the Combat Institute campus. A wagon will be waiting to take you to the underground lake. Expect to stay about two months at least. How exciting! Take care of yourself kid. I'm rooting for you.

>

>  

>

> Yours truly,

>

> Tanin Fatebreaker

I sensed the danger lurking behind those words.

More or less, the Combat Institute wanted me gone.

What that meant exactly, I wasn't sure. Were they gonna kill me? Keep me busy at the underground lake, effectively in exile? Would they abduct me but keep me alive? Torture me until I told them everything I knew?

The letter said the underground lake was to the west of town, whereas 6E12's cave was to the east. Maybe they suspected me, and just wanted to keep me occupied and away. No killing, no prison-time. That'd probably be the best-case scenario.

But why would they suspect me this much? How had they found out? Did someone snitch on me? On my team?

I could simply decline to go. Perhaps sprain my ankle or something, and use that as an excuse to stay in town. Surely, they wouldn't come to my house and drag me out of bed, right?

But if they really wanted me gone, they'd get me one way or another. If I were to decline this invitation, they could switch tactics and send assassins after me.

…In which case, I really shouldn't sprain my ankles on purpose.

If I suspected the Combat Institute of meaning harm against me or my teammates, I could perhaps go to the Guard's Guild, or the City Hall, to seek amnesty. But that'd only work if those organizations were to take my side over that of the Combat Institute. My chances there were not good.

That night, I managed to catch Hei and Saber at home. I showed them the letter.

"This seems like a trap," Saber commented. "There are too many smiley faces."

"It almost certainly is." I shuddered saying that. "I'd like Atlas and Jack to know as well. Once I see them."

I could use our team notebooks to coordinate a meetup again, but at this point I wanted to avoid paper trails if at all possible. Even something like "Hey Atlas and Jack, let's meet for lunch today!" might draw further suspicion from the Combat Institute if they saw it.

"At the very least, you two should know," I told Hei and Saber. "I…I'm thinking, maybe they'll target you as well." My words came out raw, jagged. "Oh my gosh. I'm sorry."

"This isn't your fault," Saber muttered.

Was it not though?

"We should take the next few days off work," Hei proposed. "It's too dangerous to go back to the Institute."

"But that'd raise their suspicion," I pointed out.

Hei studied the letter. "Tanin says you'll be gone for months. It's natural you'd want a vacation with your team before leaving."

That made sense. It still felt too obvious; the Institute would likely see through my intent. But there weren't any safer options, were there?

"I might end up leaving for the underground lake," I began, mumbling, scrambling for a cogent plan. "If that happens, I'll report daily in my notebook about, um, what I had for lunch. The number of words I use will match the number of letters in the day of the week. So, so, say, it's Monday, which has six letters. Right? S-so I'd write something like, 'I had a sandwich for lunch.' That's six words, right? If I ever stop reporting those, something has happened to me. I don't know. Maybe you should flee town if that happens."

"Sophia –" Hei said firmly. "You are not going on that trip."

"You could defect to a rival guild," Saber suggested. "I think the Trader's Guild often gets into land disputes with the Combat Institute. And once you're in, it's unlikely the Combat Institute will do anything to you. They'd risk starting a guild war."

But if the Combat Institute found out about me doing that, they'd certainly think I was working against their interests.

"Ugh!" I choked out. "I'm so sorry, guys. This isn't how I wanted it to be."

"Sophia," Saber began. She reached out to clasp my hand. "Please," she said, "it's not your–"

Knocks sounded on our front door. I flinched, as though I had heard a gunshot.

"It's OK," Hei said. "I'll go check."

Saber accompanied him down the stairs. Moments later, they came back with a folded piece of paper.

"Someone slipped this under the door," Hei said. He unfolded it, and we took a look together:

HI SOPHIA :)

YOU WILL DIE IN 7 DAYS :)

MEET ME TOMORROW NIGHT OUTSIDE THE CLEANER'S GUILD HALL :D