—Mr. Maika's teacher, how should I address you? It's uncomfortable to just call you that, or wizard.
The man, a wizard, in a laboratory coat, thought for a few moments before answering.
—Leyson is fine. Just call me that or Master Leyson, like Maika does, I like the way it sounds.
—Noted that —agreed the young man—. Would you kindly tell me what is happening and how's Maika?
Leyson pushed himself, still sitting on a wheeled stool, towards the nearest window in the room. He proceeded to open the curtain and a strange world opened up for Aiden. Simply put, it looked like a picture taken from a science fiction novel. It was, in every sense of the word, a Geofront. Aiden, with his mouth open, looked from the bed at the upside-down towers; facilities for God-knows what end. A series of massive pipes stretched for hundreds of kilometers in many directions. It seemed as if someone had taken an industrial complex, flipped it over and then submerged it in crystal-clear and artificially lit water.
In the distance, he could see that, in the concave shape, like a hollow bowling ball, the walls were coated with some, unknown to him, extremely strong and flexible material. Essentially, he was in a reef inside an aquarium. Thinking that he was surrounded by water made Aiden very anxious.
—Is this what my taxes go to? —Said the boy.
—Don't play smart. You don't pay taxes, brat.
The ridiculous joke was the mechanism that unconsciously he had selected to process the new information that, knowingly, now was impossible to forget that something like existed under the city.
To be exact, he was in the central district, right under the imposing skyscrapers and headquarters of titans: the conglomerates and big entrepreneurs of the city. Of course, those people had no idea of the Geofront, with very few exceptions, of course, and those who knew acted as if they did not for their own good.
If ever a janitor in one of those buildings, doing his routine, wondered why the electricity bill was so high: here is your answer, sir; thought Aiden, yet not dare to say it out loud.
One of the fortress's metal pipes extended even through the abandoned district, another under the mountain behind Aiden's dormitory, and many more throughout the city. So yes, technically it was under his turf too.
—What do you think of my house? —said Leyson, perhaps in an attempt to joke, but his dry and quite monotone voice did not convey that intention at all.
Aiden did not know how to react, he just laughed uncomfortably and stumbled out a meaningless comment like "I like what you did with the garage".
—Let's start, then —said Leyson, unsatisfied with the reply—. Maika is fine, she was a little upset, so I put her to sleep. Again, the wonders of science.
—The latter part alarms me, but it's good to know she's resting.
—Yes. Let's continue, I don't have much time. It's been about four hours since the encounter with the redhead girl, she's currently being pursued by the pair of wizards. Or I should say, the wizard and toolbox.
—Damn it! Did we not manage to subdue her? And that pair still doesn't give up?? It can't get any worse, right?
—They are at a critical point. With their cat and mouse game, they managed to corner all the intruding agents in one place. As I said, a critical point is developing, especially for her, and it would be a shame to lose such a talent.
—Can't you do something to help her? If it's you, I'm confident…
—I saved you for a reason. This is a good opportunity, go stop their game and bring the girl to me. Save her.
—What? —Aiden felt a repulsion inside as he was ordered. Yes, he wanted to save her, but he simply didn't like the treatment he was receiving, being a lackey of a stranger. —I don't understand how, but I know, if you wanted, it wouldn't be more difficult than snapping your fingers to have the situation under control and rescue the girl… Y-yes i-if you c-care so much, do it yourself —as if in the middle of a sentence, Aiden, remembered who he was talking to, the last words came out stammering.
—It's more complicated than you think —Leyson said, rubbing his temple. Exasperation could be seen on his face—. Alright, I'll explain. The story goes something like this: The angel that appeared recently was anything but a coincidence. Homunculus records, most of the methods and arts of that type, were lost a long time ago. You have to have the luck of the devil or make a deal with the devil himself to find an alchemical tome that has survived the cleansing of that year. That's why the most realistic option is to have lived a long time, long enough to have that kind of taboo information at your disposal. Those bastards always carry out their experiments in the same way. Since they can't use magic, they resort to slaves and the unsuspecting.
¬ What nerve they have —Leyson continued—, breaking taboos and sending them to this city. They know that my organization resides here, given that this is a critical point that we cannot lose at any cost. And they definitely suspect that I'm hiding in this city. Anyway, they're testing the waters. It's a trap to force me to come out. I couldn't interfere in the case with the angel because of that, and because I was busy using all my power circumventing the restriction so that your little fight wouldn't awaken that thing sleeping in our city.
¬ I simply could not give them the pleasure of confirming their suspicions so soon, I thought. Afterward, I ordered some of my hunters to go after them, and managed to capture a few low-level vampires for my experiments. They were being transported here, but what I never expected was that, at some point on the journey, an uninvited entity, that girl, would sneak onto the boat and even bring along her pursuers. Probably, following her instincts, she sensed her food and sneaked into a port along the way. Once she arrived in the city's port, unable to resist any longer, the other monsters were discovered by the persistent pair that came pursuing her trail. The fight between them ended up freeing the vampires. I would have them killed the instant that I received the news, but to my great surprise, the girl was special, similar to you in that sense.
It was a constant bombardment, Aiden tried to keep up, glossing over what seemed delicate information; but that did not matter, he was focused on retaining the pieces of most crucial importance to the events that concerned him; about that girl and how to save her.
—As such, I decided to let things take their natural course and let the British bastard who calls himself a priest clean up the mess he caused. Now that I've seen what I needed to see over the past few days. It's time to stop his game. I don't want her to be hurt as much as you do. That girl is perfect for my cause, after all; the natural enemy of those vampirize monsters. If they feed on humans, she feeds on them; it's that sort of thing. By saving her, you'll be contributing more to humanity that you ever imagined, Aiden.
—I don't care about that, like, scaringly whatsoever at all. I just want to do what I can for myself. A voice inside me says it would be a shame for that girl to suffer so much undeservingly —Aiden's upper body stood up to face the wizard—. I want to save her. Save her and give that shitty priest a good wack.
—Take it —Leyson threw a talisman the size of a hand phone to Aiden—. I will now tell you where they are hiding and what you have to do. The final scenario is a condominium on the edge of the residential district, they are currently trapped inside by a spell; a decent barrier. Once inside, you cannot leave either until the mage himself dispels it, by destroying the catalyst, or the conjurer dies.
—Understood —Aiden swallowed saliva upon hearing the last part, but opted not to ask for further elaboration.
—I would rather not involve Maika in this, she's very sensitive, you see. Vampires are a delicate subject for her, a wound that has not healed with the years, and there's that girl accompanying the church mage too… She doesn't even listen to me, her master, when she gets like that. Therefore, all you have to do is go, put this talisman in the middle of the redhead's eyes, protect her while she's trapped in the illusion and defeat the mage to break the spell preventing access to my people. Then, we will take care of the rest.
—Uh… Understood? —Aiden had no more words for the clearly excessive demand and expectations of the mage named Leyson.
"Then, we will take care of the rest??!" Aiden yelled inside, feeling like he was going to vomit blood at any moment. "Take care of what? What else is there to do in this case? Will they prepare the snacks or what!?"
—It will be unpleasant, but it's the best method —added Leyson—. Currently, that girl is not in an easy-to-handle state. Far from optimal. You will have to work with whatever at your disposal.