Beyond the walls, there were the noises of people dining. Light shone through the closed doors. Hearthstone was still open and going strong, given how they were into the festival.
In contrast, where Isaac stood was empty and dark.
"Silently," Henrick whispered, "follow." He then moved through with the efficiency of someone who knew its layout and had been thinking about this moment since the afternoon. Within the dark, they moved through the corridor that was long and narrow in a way that suggested that its builder wanted to hide something. In the end, they ended up in front of a specific door at the corridor's end.
Henrick leaned down with familiarity. Reached for the corner where the joint that connected the door with the nearby wall lied. Pressed a subtle protrusion. With a click, a small space on the right side of the area opened, which was small such that one would need to crawl through.
Crawling was exactly what Henrick did, somehow managing to fit his huge frame into the rectangle-shaped hole. Isaac followed in. Behind them, the space closed back.
After crawling through the narrow tunnel, the space finally opened up. Landing on feet, Isaac waited as Henrick lightened up a torch that seemed to be have been prepared nearby.
Isaac saw that they were standing on what appeared to be a staircase that led down.
Henrick walked. He followed.
The staircase was narrow—wide enough to stand but narrower than a conventional staircase. Its proportions seem to have been built for an emergency rather than a regular use.
At the staircase's bottom, there lied a corridor—an underground tunnel that Isaac couldn't have fathomed to exist.
The air had the specific coolness of underground stone that maintained its temperature regardless of the surface's seasonal register. The walls were fitted stone rather than raw earth, meaning that it was designed to last without collapsing.
"This is the royal family's work," Henrick said, keeping his voice at the register that the underground space's acoustics required—low enough to only be heard by Isaac. "This connects to the castle. The original purpose was an emergency escape. If Hearthstone is compromised… so would be this path."
"How long has it been unused?" Isaac asked.
"Since its construction." Henrick moved the torch to illuminate the corridor's length. "But as you can see, it has been maintained well. By the royal guards."
They walked.
The corridor ran straight for approximately forty meters before producing the detail that changed everything.
Henrick stopped, and therefore, Isaac did as well.
Ahead of them were branching paths.
"You're fucking kidding me," Henrick growled. "It was this blatant?"
"I suppose that the path wasn't supposed to branch," Isaac asked.
"Hell no." Henrick gnashed his teeth. His anger was evident, and when combined with his broad frame, he appeared dangerous. Taking in a deep breath, he then calmed himself down, knowing that anger won't help. "…The extent of security breach is much more severe than anticipated."
Then, Henrick moved the torch to the left and stepped into it.
Isaac followed.
Slowly, they walked.
"…And now that I think about it," Henrick spoke at a low tone, keeping the torch at the front to illuminate their way, "are you a patriot?"
"Why do you ask?" Isaac raised an eyebrow.
"Everything past our daily meet and the assault three days ago isn't part of your task. Still, you reached beyond and kept the information, and now, you are here at another situation that puts your life at stakes."
Isaac thought for a moment. "I won't consider myself a patriot."
"Then why."
"Because my life it at risk." Isaac shook his head, "I've already faced two assassination attempts aimed at me. There is no guarantee that it won't happen again."
Henrick slowly nodded, getting his point. "So you want to be prepared."
"And proactive."
"Fair enough."
The tunnel was long. Isaac's [The Prism] indicated that there was no one following, that there was no one nearby to sight them or hear them.
"I won't lie to you kiddo," Henrick then muttered, "I was beyond dumbfounded when I was tasked to work with you. I was expecting something like wait until the kid gets killed and then act." He gave a light chuckle to it, "I mean, c'mon. A fresh second-year who just awakened his skill, and that skill was a freaking F-rank: [Condensation]. So what if that guy won against another kid with S-rank skill? That kid with S-rank skill probably made some idiotic move, I thought."
He then paused his words, shaking his head as if unable to believe what he's experienced for the past couple of days.
"You are peculiar. In a good way, that is." Then, another pause. He seemed to be reflecting over one of his past memories. "So, why do you think others aren't able to recreate whatever you are able to do?"
Isaac pondered how he should answer. Then, both of them stopped at the same time.
It appeared that there was no longer a need for him to answer Henrick's question. Ahead, the path curved to the left. From the left, there was light coming—along with two shadows of human beings.
Henrick skillfully placed [Barrier] around the torch, trapping it in a space with finite oxygen. Within seconds, the fire died, and he placed the torch down carefully. Then placed a finger over his lips, indicating Isaac to be silent.
Slowly, Henrick neared the edge of the wall before the sudden curve to the left. Took a peek, for a brief second, before retracting his head immediately before they were found.
"…Two men," Henrick whispered, "then, there is a metal door. We need to go through them."
"We need to neutralize them." Isaac found what Henrick was thinking of, to which he nodded.
One concern was that those two guards' skills were unknown. One advantage was that the same applied to enemies. Furthermore, Henrick's [Barrier] is capable of blocking the majority of attacks thrown at their way.
Henrick raised three fingers.
"Three… two… one… now."
He stormed forth, turning and running through the light-filled corridor.
Isaac, remaining back, proceeded to take a peek from behind the wall.
There lied a metal door that Henrick mentioned.
Two figures stood in front of it. The moment they sighted Henrick, they reacted swiftly without reacting with that of surprise. Clearly, they were trained.
Instinctively, their hands were coming up, about to discharge their skills at Henrick.
Isaac wasn't about to let that happen.
[Condensation].
With precision, two deionized waterdrops were fired. They splashed right beneath the ground which they stepped on right after as they took a step forward, which was an instinctive reaction along with their hands being raised.
The two of them simultaneously lost their balance. It wasn't a complete slip, but it was sufficient enough to put their skill discharge at halt.
This window of time was enough for Henrick.
A transparent substance—[Barrier]—materialized directly around his right fist.
With a sense of familiarity, his [Barrier]-covered fist struck right on the imminent opponent's face. Before that guard fell, he turned and grabbed the second opponent by the hem of the shirt with his left hand, and yanked so hard such that the opponent landed right on his right fist.
Two clean blows, one for each. Both down.
Henrick quickly caught their slumped bodies and laid them down as gently as he could.
The corridor was quiet.
Henrick straightened and looked at Isaac. "Great work," he said, "but don't let your guard down. This is just the beginning." Then, he added on, "and good job on not revealing yourself. That was the correct decision."
Isaac nodded without voicing.
Evaporation.
Without speaking, he made sure to evaporate the lingering water on the ground. No trace of him was left.
Henrick turned and looked at the metal door. Narrowing his eyes, inspected it for a moment. Found a key hole—the door was seemingly locked.
Then, he revealed a small instrument, a sharp that was designed for exactly this purpose. He worked at the door's mechanism with the focused attention of someone who had done this before.
With a click, the door opened.
The space beyond it was not what either of them had been expecting.
It wasn't a mere room. It was a wide chamber.
The ceiling was higher than the corridor; it was the specific height of a space that had been built for occupancy. Torches were cast on the walls to illuminate the room, but the lights weren't sufficient in casting away all the darkness.
Upon Henrick's signal, Isaac closed the metal door which they came through. Carefully, they moved, with vigilance, knowing that enemies could strike from anywhere, any time.
Walking along the edge of the chamber where the series of torches sat, they came across many doors.
It appeared that the main chamber, which they were currently situated in, branched into the smaller rooms. The chamber itself was the hub, and the smaller rooms had unique functions of their own.
Whatever the network had been building here, it had been built with the specific organizational logic of something intended for sustained operation rather than temporary use.
Hearthstone is the emergency escape route meant for the royal family, Isaac thought, the fact that it has been compromised into the establishment of a facility of this extent…
It appeared that many have already turned against their own kingdom. They saw no chance of victory. The kingdom, in contrast to the "sturdy image" that they tried to showcase through the festival of foundation, was already crumbling down from the inside.
At this point, he couldn't help but question, does this kingdom have hope?
Henrick, too, appeared stupefied. "How long," Henrick mumbled, shaking head with eyes filled with disbelief.
"Long enough to build this properly," Isaac said.
Henrick looked at him. Then at the chamber. Then at the doors along the far wall.
"Let's continue moving," he said, "we got a whole investigation ahead of us."
They stepped into the wide chamber of dim imagery, illuminated by series of blazing torches.
…
In one luxurious room carved and designed exquisitely to invoke awe from its spectators, one man was found seated at his table.
Prince Gladius Aetherion. The soon-to-be king of the Aetherion Kingdom. He was seated with a calm composure.
On the table, there lied the festival's administrative record—the ceremonial outputs of a week-long public event that required the crown prince's attention.
He was not reading them, as he leaned his face into his palm, which was supported by his elbow that lied firmly on the table.
—Let's continue moving—
He was listening. To the secret operation of Isaac and Henrick that only the royal family and a select few who could be trusted knew.
They had found it.
The scope of what they had found—the chamber, the doors, the scale of infrastructure that had been operating beneath the royal family's operational base for an unknown duration—was not something he had anticipated when he had authorized the festival operation. The intelligence extracted from the five operatives had suggested a network, but… not to something of this scale.
He looked at the documents on his table without seeing them.
Time mattered. They did not know how long it will take before enemies realized that their underground facility was discovered. Henrick's decision to continue the search immediately after its discovery was the right choice to make.
Publicizing this discovery and turning the search into a military operation was an option, but then again, this would put a delay that allows enemies to adjust accordingly.
Then, the best course of action is… Gladius tapped his fingers against the table, to have myself as their back-up.
Henrick will signal through the teleportation device if they were to encounter a danger that they themselves cannot overcome. There, he will intervene, as the strongest figure in the kingdom.
Then, a knock came at the study door.
Gladius narrowed his eyes.
"Your Highness," The soft, feminine voice of Westia Bardot, his personal assistant, reached him from beyond the door, "Lord Resmore Terra has requested a brief audience."
He grimaced. Terra Patriarch, in this late night, bothered to make a visit to him. Exactly when he was monitoring the situation of Isaac and Henrick's operation.
Is this a coincidence?
No, this is not a coincidence.
If anything, this is a confirmation.
It isn't just Donaston Terra. The entire Terra Household… defected.
And now, Terra Patriarch was trying to intervene the operation. That meant that… the enemies were aware of Isaac and Henrick's operation.
How? Numerous thoughts ran in his mind. How did they know?
Henrick reported that Hearthstone suggestion came from Isaac. Isaac can't be a betrayer, given how he is the one who advanced their operation by many steps.
Gladius contemplated. Eventually, he concluded that from the start, enemies knew Henrick's identity. How? They, the royal family, were being monitored. Henrick's report to him revealed Henrick's identity.
This meant that the enemies tracked Henrick's entry into Hearthstone this night. The moment that they saw Henrick head to the backside of the bar, they knew what he was up to.
"…Your highness?" Seeing that Gladius wasn't responsive, Westia asked.
"For what?" At last, Gladius spoke, "for what purpose is he requesting an audience."
"Lord Resmore Terra said the matter concerns the Caldwin Pass dispute."
Caldwin Pass, status of Terra Patriarch…
Currently, due to the decisions of the royal family leading to significant losses in the eastern battlefield, the political power of the royal family has been reduced.
Title-wise, he was a prince. While respected, whether the power of prince stands above the head of one of the Five Pillars was arguable.
On top of that, Terra Patriarch had a valid reason to visit.
This meant that he, Gladius Aetherion, didn't have the choice of rejecting the request.
Reaching into his pocket, he silently pressed the button of a device twice—a signal to retreat.
"…Send him in," he said, in the end.
The door opened wide by two guards who were standing just outside. Westia was found just beside said guards. Next to Westia stood the man.
Terra Patriarch, Resmore Terra, entered with the bearing of a Pillar house patriarch conducting legitimate institutional business—the specific composure of someone who had decided exactly what this visit looked like before arriving.
"Prince Gladius," he said, with the formal courtesy of someone addressing royalty. "I apologize for the late hour. The matter of the Caldwin Pass has developed certain complexities that I felt warranted your direct attention before the festival concludes." He paused at the room's threshold, waiting for the invitation to proceed. "I will not take much of your time."
Gladius looked at him with the composed attention, having managed to completely wipe out even the slightest bit of his internal turmoil.
"Please," he said. "Sit."