Shô closed the door, his tone low. "I saw Jellal. But even he's only met Brain once. He has no idea where that man is."
After hearing Shô's report, Shane's face barely changed.
Shane had already steeled himself for bad news the night before, so he wasn't disappointed.
He stepped forward and patted Shô's shoulder. "Don't dwell on it. Sometimes taking it slow gets better results."
Then he walked back to the window and pointed at the busy worksite below. "More importantly, how did Jellal manage this? Turning this place into that?"
In truth, the worksite was what he cared about most right now. If it was what he thought, it answered a lot of questions.
At that, Shô visibly brightened. "Brain doesn't seem to care about the tower's progress. He handed full authority to Jellal. Ultear doesn't bother with these details either.
"So Jellal hired a bunch of willing laborers from outside. That way, construction looks like it's continuing, and those people get paid work. It's basically just for show."
"Whew… So that's how it is." Shane let out a long breath.
His biggest worry had been that Brain was still kidnapping gifted children and repeating what they'd gone through.
Now it looked like the pressure from the Council was heavier than they'd thought—forcing the mastermind to pull back his claws.
Of course, there was another possibility.
That he'd already taken all the children he needed, and simply didn't have to keep doing it.
"In that case, we've got time to execute Plan B." Shane turned to Shô, eyes sharpening. "Where's Ultear now?"
Gray, who'd been dozing a bit, snapped awake at her name.
"She's in the tower," Shô said. "Why?"
Shane noticed the look on Shô's face—clearly, the boy had no idea Ultear might be tied to other powers behind the scenes.
Since Jellal hadn't told him more, Shane decided not to either.
He guessed that was Jellal's way of protecting Shô—keeping him out of the deeper mud.
"Ultear's background is a mystery," Shane said flatly. "If anybody knows where Brain is, it might be her. If possible, I'd like to take her down. Now."
With Brain confirmed absent, no one in the tower could threaten him.
He didn't want to waste time.
"Wait!" Gray blurted as soon as he realized Shane meant to act, stepping forward to protest.
But Shô spoke first. "No. Absolutely not. We can't do something so extreme in the tower."
"Why?" This time, Erza beat Shane to the question, brow furrowing. Being around him had made her more direct too—or maybe he'd just rubbed off on her.
"If something happens to Ultear inside the tower, and we still haven't found Brain…" Shô's face was tight with worry. "I'm afraid he'll sense it and disappear."
Now that he knew the truth, Shô hated Brain with a special intensity. The last thing he wanted was to give the man a chance to escape.
Shane thought a moment and had to agree.
If they spooked Brain into abandoning the Tower and setting up somewhere else in the dark, they'd lose everything.
He fell quiet, mind sketching a new plan.
If they couldn't act loudly inside, they'd change the battlefield to outside. As long as they moved quietly, Brain would have no way to know.
"Yeah," Shane nodded, a hint of memory flickering in his eyes. "Jellal said Ultear holds a serious grudge against me… that might come in handy."
He turned to Shô. "In that case, have Jellal 'accidentally' leak my whereabouts. Let her find out I'm here. I'll wait for her in the port city near the coast."
Then he glanced out the window once more and waved. "Let's go."
"?" Gray stood up, looking lost. He'd been dragged here and now they were leaving just as fast. "Didn't we say we were going after Ultear?"
Shane grabbed him and started hauling him out. "You'll see her soon enough.
"If we can't speak properly to Jellal here, might as well go back and do something useful."
Sea air clung damp and salty to their skin. The three stood on deck in silence.
Gray leaned on the rail with his back to them, staring at the churned-up water, expression dark.
He couldn't shake the feeling he'd been jerked around by Shane's words—brought here, then pulled away again—a knot sitting stubbornly in his chest.
Shane glanced at him and read his thoughts easily. "You heard Shô. Our target is Ultear. Relax. You'll see her."
That was exactly what Gray was afraid of.
He turned around. "She's Master Ur's only daughter. If you catch her… what are you going to do?"
Shane's face didn't shift. "We already talked about this. I'll use these eyes—" he tapped near his temple "—to see how much sin she's carrying. Then I'll act accordingly."
He paused, then added as his gaze slid over Gray's troubled face, "But I don't believe someone who's been manipulating Jellal and pushing the R-System in secret is any sort of innocent. Be ready for that."
The words hit Gray like a rock. He opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came.
He'd never even seen Ultear, had no idea what kind of person she really was.
The rest of the crossing, Gray stayed lost in thought. Shane let him be.
Once they docked, they returned the rental boat.
With Gray's wallet quite naturally in hand, Shane found a clean-looking inn and booked them rooms.
Check-in done, he headed out with Erza toward the forge where Noel worked.
Gray hurriedly settled the bill and dashed out after them, seeing the two already a ways down the street, moving with clear purpose.
"I thought we're going after Ultear. We're just… not doing anything now?" he asked, catching up.
Shane didn't slow and couldn't help a little laugh. He wasn't sure whether Gray wanted action or not.
"We've done what we can here. The bait's been laid," he said. "Now we wait for Jellal to move on his end."
"Jellal?" Gray frowned. "You didn't even see him this trip and you trust him that much?"
"Let's say… he counts as a friend," Shane answered vaguely, which only made Gray more curious.
Shane ignored him. He still had to get to the smithy for ore.
While Jellal danced with Brain and Ultear, he'd use the time to forge those two lacrima into swords for Erza.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!