After escorting Jane to a carriage, Jace went about his own business.
He taught at the school like every other day.
After school, he would usually go to the library following a specific route through the streets of Cherrywood. But today he took a different route. Not only today—he had been taking this route for a few days now.
While walking, he contemplated how to act as a Seer.
Working as a Seer in an occult club like Klein Moretti was an option.
But Jace wasn't keen on that.
He had to find his own way.
One way was to divine about people he already knew and give them "advice" to make their lives better.
Another was about divining his students and their families at the school. He could uncover certain things about them and advise their parents so they could better guide their children's futures.
Meanwhile, as he looked around, he saw a notice board fixed beside a street lamp. There were three identical posters advertising the same theatre show, the paper fluttering lightly in the evening breeze.
But there were dots on the edges of the posters—small ink marks that could easily pass as printing mistakes.
The dots were different on each poster.
Seeing that, Jace continued to walk toward the library.
---
Inside the library, the air carried the quiet scent of old paper and polished wood.
Jace hung his coat and hat on the stand before settling into his usual workplace.
He muttered seven times.
"There is a gathering tonight."
...
The silver pendant turned clockwise, answering positive.
Jace chuckled softly.
At Braveheart Bar, he had asked Kasper if there were any gatherings in Cherrywood.
Jace had paid a hearty sum for the answer.
And today, the gathering was going to be held.
---
It was night—10 PM—and Jace, wearing a black cloak, walked through the dark alleys.
The place of the gathering was an abandoned half-constructed building. It was quite big, its unfinished stone walls looming like a skeleton in the darkness.
He walked there slowly, tapped on the iron gate, and said the necessary password.
He was then allowed access.
Inside, the room was dim. Several fire torches were fixed along the walls, their flames flickering and casting long shadows that danced across the rough concrete.
There were multiple wooden chairs arranged for sitting.
A few masked people were already there.
Jace found himself a quiet place to sit as he waited for the host to arrive.
After a while, a figure came in dressed in a dark cloak and hood.
It was difficult to tell the gender of the figure.
The person walked forward and sat at the foremost seat of the table—the host's place.
Then, with a disguised voice, the figure said,
"Let the gathering begin."