Trace Taylor didn’t believe it.

She heard Adair’s words, but her mind still refused to accept what he said as reality. She just stared at him as he repeated himself, holding her gaze.

“The Precursors of Peace are the ones who have done all this, Trace Taylor,” he said. “They evicted the Dungeon monsters from the Forsaken Sanctuary, and they are the reason why those swarms of poisonous azalus are attacking the commune.”

“I…” The redhead wasn’t sure what to say.

It just didn’t seem plausible to her. While she thought the Precursors of Peace was definitely a dangerous organisation, she knew a few members in the group. Sam, Darius, Jackie, and Nathan. They weren’t her friends, but would they really knowingly endanger Trace’s life just like that?

And Noah Hawthorne— he was the Supreme Leader of the Precursors of Peace, but he did not seem like he was so mentally unhinged he would suddenly decide to send monsters to the commune. It didn’t make any sense, either. What purpose would that serve? There was no experience to gain from monsters murdering innocents.

Even though Trace didn’t have a high opinion of the Precursors of Peace, she just couldn’t believe what Adair was saying outright.

“How are you so sure?” she finally asked. “How do you know it’s them?”

Adair Russell just closed his eyes as he leant back on the sofa. He grimaced from his injuries— they hadn’t yet fully healed— before shaking his head.

“Because I saw them with my own eyes, Trace Taylor,” Adair explained. “And for that, they hunted me down to stop me from telling the truth.”

“They’re the ones who did this to you?” The redhead’s eyes grew wide. She stared at Adair as he nodded grimly, before she paused. Her brows furrowed. “Uh, somehow I’m not surprised by that?”

Adair blinked. “Why not?”

“Well, they did want to kill you because you betrayed them or whatever, remember?” Trace said, gesturing vaguely around her.

“That is true,” Adair sighed as he closed his eyes. “Indeed, the Precursors of Peace and I have had our quarrels in the past. So perhaps these injuries are not indicative of their threat to the commune itself, and could merely be proof of their previous spat with me.”

He inhaled slowly as Trace eyed him with pursed lips. She wasn’t sure whether she could believe him. After all, despite fighting together and being… friends, he did try to kill her when they first met.

But Adair was insistent. “I know what I saw with my own eyes, Trace Taylor. And I can prove it to you if I must.”

“I…” The redhead chewed on her lower lip as she held his gaze.

She had rarely ever seen him speak with such intensity or confidence. While he was not a carefree individual, he also was rarely ever so serious, always placing his eccentricity above whatever gravity there was to the situation.

And in Adair’s defence, it wasn’t something he did purposefully. Trace just noticed how he always felt the need to opine even in matters he was unfamiliar with. It made him seem snooty, pretentious, and it was almost as if he didn’t really care about the matter at hand, but was more focused on what he thought was right. So sure, in that sense, he was sort of uncaring.

But right now, he looked at Trace with a dour gaze, she trusted every word he said.

“Fine,” Trace sighed. “How are you going to prove it? Are we going to, like, head out to the Forsaken Sanctuary? Because Liz said it was dangerous.”

Adair nodded. “It is indeed dangerous. But I believe there is another way to reach that Dungeon.”

“What do you mean by that?” The redhead narrowed her eyes.

He closed his eyes. “I…” And he hesitated.

Trace frowned, watching as he mulled over something. He was suddenly uncertain. And that gave the redhead concern.

What do you think about all this, Ex? she asked her AI.

The voice in her head just came at a simple reply, [I am as lost as you are, Trace Taylor. It appears like Adair Russell is withholding information from you, but I cannot ascertain as to the reason why.]

Can he be trusted? Do you really think the Precursors of Peace is responsible for this? Trace thought of Sam. Not just him, but of Darius, Jackie, and Nathan. They didn’t seem like they could be the kind of people to do such a thing. If they were actually that evil, they would have killed Trace, then killed Adair back when they first met.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

But they didn’t do that. Instead, they helped Trace, Adair, and Liz deal with the durable serpentfiend. So why would they suddenly turn coats and endanger the commune for no reason now?

[You need to look past your crush on Samuel Diaz,] Ex said. [You may like him, but he could potentially be a secret super villain.]

She mentally rolled her eyes. I do not have a crush on Sam. I’m just being reasonable here. What reason could the Precursors of Peace have for doing this?

[Let us find out.]

Trace blinked as Adair let out a heavy sigh. He looked back up with an exaggerated motion, before looking over at the redhead.

“Trace Taylor,” the young man said. “Can I trust you to keep a secret?”

“Uh, yeah?” She just nodded. He leaned forward as she blinked a few times.

What could this be? Trace wasn’t certain. He just spoke softly, barely even audible.

“This is something I have yet to tell anyone but Veronica Vargas. It is how I know that the Gate in the middle of Liberapolis is capable of teleporting you to the centre of any Dungeon in a hundred-mile radius.”

“Wait, what?” The redhead blinked a few times as Adair continued.

He didn’t pause to let her process what he just said. Instead, his voice grew hushed as he drew closer to her.

“All it takes is a little bit of tinkering with the mechanisms there” Adair explained. “A few tweaks from a Magitech Engineer— and you can repurpose its portal even before it can be activated to form a connection with the multiverse. That is how the Precursors of Peace entered the Forsaken Sanctuary.”

“I… right. I think I get what you’re saying…” Trace trailed off.

She was completely at a loss. Adair might as well be speaking nonsense to her. All she understood was that the Precursors of Peace went to the Gate in Liberapolis and somehow used it to teleport to the Forsaken Sanctuary.

“How do you know all this, Adair?” the redhead asked, and he closed his eyes.

“This is the part you must keep a secret, Trace Taylor,” he said as he pressed his lips into a thin line. “It is not something you should ever spread to anyone.”

She nodded slowly as he opened his eyes and held her gaze once more.

“I—” he started.

But a banging came from the doorway. Trace blinked, and Adair looked up with a frown. He got to his feet as the redhead reached for her pistol at her side.

“Wait, be quiet,” she whispered.

Adair backed up, and she stepped forward. Trace cautiously edged towards the front door of The Evergreen Gun Range as she heard the knocking continue.

“Who is it?” the redhead called out.

The knocking paused. She pursed her lips. Could it be the Precursors of Peace? She hoped not. If it was them, that meant they were after Adair. Trace glanced back towards the young man as he readied himself for battle.

She shook her head. “Who—” she started again.

But a muffled voice replied. “It’s Elenora the Cursed Witch.”

And that caught Trace off-guard. Behind her, Adair squeaked. He turned to Trace and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“What is Elenora the Cursed Witch doing here?”

“That’s…” Trace opened her mouth, but Elenora continued.

“May I come in?” The Cursed Witch spoke in a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

“R-right! I’m on my way!” the redhead called out as she backed up. She hurriedly ushered Adair towards the kitchen as he eyed her in shock.

“Trace—”

“Just get out of here,” Trace said. “You can escape from the window from my room.”

“I…” Adair stared at her. Then he heard Elenora’s voice from the side. He slowly nodded. “I will return to Veronica Vargas. We can speak more then.”

“Right.” She gave him one last push as he clambered up the stairs. “We’ll speak then!”

And the redhead scampered towards the front door of The Evergreen Gun Range. She heard the rapping of the doorway. The muffled voice of Elenora. She called back out.

“I’m on my way! I’m just, uh, searching for my keys!” the redhead said.

“…I see.” Elenora replied softly through the door.

Trace glanced back, seeing that Adair was gone. She just hoped he was fast enough to escape the window by now. The redhead jangled her keyring around, pretending that she was struggling to find the keys.

Then as she tried to unlock the door, she fumbled around for another minute as she spoke again.

“I’m here!” she said.

Finally, there was a click. Trace unlocked the front door, stumbling forward. She smiled as she scratched the back of the head and faced Elenora. The Cursed Witch stood there at the other side, holding a basket at her side. She narrowed her eyes at Trace who nervously shifted back.

“Is something the matter?” Elenora asked.

“I… everything is fine,” Trace said. She chuckled and continued blocking the doorway. “What, uh, do you have there?” She gestured towards the basket.

“Magical materials.” The Cursed Witch spoke simply. “May I enter?”

“Oh, of course!” The redhead quickly sidled out of the way.

Elenora entered the room, squinting. She wore a suspicious look on her face. Or maybe Trace was imagining it.

The Cursed Witch just stood there at the centre of the room, scanning the surroundings. Trace shut the door and locked it as Elenora spoke up.

“What is my healing crystal doing here?” the Cursed Witch asked.

She strode up to the sofa at the side of the room as Trace blinked.

[Uh-oh,] Ex said.

The redhead pursed her lips. What do I even say? If Elenora figured out that Adair had been here, it would have been a problem… maybe. Technically, Elenora wasn’t actually part of the Precursors of Peace. So it was entirely possible that she wouldn’t have any animosity for Adair.

But Trace didn’t know that for sure.

“I, uh, was studying them,” the redhead mustered up. It was a lame excuse, but there was nothing else she could say.

Elenora raised a brow, and Trace just scratched the back of her head.

“I just wanted to figure out if I can replicate them, y’know?” Trace said.

“But you are not a Spellcaster.” Elenora tilted her head. “I was under the impression that neither your class nor vocation will let you tinker with non-combat artifacts.”

“O-oh, I didn’t know that.” Trace just chuckled nervously. “Well, now I know!”

“I see.” The Cursed Witch lowered her head. “I will reclaim it now.” And she picked up the healing crystal as she walked up to her room.

Trace watched Elenora go. The redhead was unsure if Adair had already escaped. But she wasn’t going to talk herself to a corner now. So Trace waited, hoping that she wouldn’t hear the shouts of fighting in a few minutes.

Elenora vanished up the stairs, and Trace waited. The redhead held her breath. And nothing happened.

Crisis averted, Trace sighed in relief.

[Affirmative,] Ex said. [It appears you have tricked Elenora… for now.]

Right. The redhead shook her head. I hope that nothing comes from this. We’ll just speak with Adair tomorrow, alright?

[Affirmative,] the AI repeated himself.

And Trace sank into her sofa.