Aldric was gone. Just like that, the kingdom's strongest knight had walked away without drawing his sword.
Hikaru stood in the middle of the plaza, the tension still clinging to the air like smoke after a fire. The Magisterium's enforcers had scattered, blending into the crowd, their plan to silence Renholt failing before it could begin. The historian was still alive, still shouting his truths to the city, but none of that mattered anymore.
The real game had just shifted.
Budi ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. "Okay, so we just stared down the most dangerous guy in the kingdom and somehow didn't die."
Selene's silver eyes remained locked on the path Aldric had taken. "No. That wasn't a fight. That was… something else."
Hikaru smirked, flicking a card between his fingers. "It was a test."
Budi shot him a look. "A test for what? To see if we'd survive?"
Hikaru's grin didn't fade. "To see if I understood the rules."
Selene turned toward him. "And do you?"
Hikaru adjusted his glasses. "I do now."
Aldric wasn't a pawn of the kingdom.
He wasn't some loyal lapdog following orders.
He knew the Magisterium would fall one day. He expected it.
Which meant he wasn't fighting for them.
He was fighting for something bigger.
And Hikaru needed to find out what.
Budi sighed. "Great. So now we have two problems. The Magisterium is still looking for us, and now we have the most dangerous knight in the kingdom playing some secret game we don't understand."
Hikaru grinned. "Oh, Budi. That's not two problems. That's one opportunity."
Budi groaned. "I hate when you talk like that."
Selene pulled her hood up. "We should leave before they reorganize. Just because Aldric didn't stop us now doesn't mean the Magisterium won't try again."
Hikaru exhaled, slipping a card into his sleeve. "Agreed."
The three of them slipped into the shadows, vanishing into the maze of Velmoria's backstreets.
They didn't return to the Old Archive District.
Too obvious. The Magisterium's enforcers would check every historian's den and underground research hall within the hour. Instead, Hikaru led them toward the lower districts, where the city was dirtier, louder, and easier to blend into.
The streets smelled of roasting meat, spilled ale, and burning wood. Merchants barked their wares in crowded alleyways, and coin exchanged hands with a mix of honest trade and quiet theft.
Perfect.
Budi adjusted his cloak. "Alright. We're here. What now?"
Hikaru grinned. "Now, we start listening."
Information spread through Velmoria's black markets and gambling dens faster than it did through the noble courts. If Aldric was moving, someone would know. If the Magisterium was planning a counterattack, rumors would swirl before they even issued the first order.
Hikaru led them into The Drunken Raven, a tavern built into the ruins of an old fortress. The walls were still lined with cracked stone and faded banners, but the place had long since become a haven for mercenaries, informants, and people who didn't want their names remembered.
Gregor was behind the bar, as always, polishing a mug that didn't look any cleaner than the last time Hikaru had seen it. His eyes flicked toward them, his face betraying nothing.
"Back so soon?"
Hikaru smirked. "You missed me, admit it."
Gregor grunted. "No."
Budi leaned against the counter. "We need information."
Gregor raised an eyebrow. "That costs extra."
Hikaru pulled out a silver coin and flicked it onto the counter. "Then I hope this buys me something interesting."
Gregor took the coin without a word.
Then, after a pause, he sighed. "Velmoria's buzzing about your stunt. The Magisterium is trying to contain the damage, but it's too late. People are asking questions. That Renholt idiot is gathering more supporters by the hour."
Selene nodded. "And Aldric?"
Gregor's fingers tightened slightly around the mug.
"Different whispers about him," he muttered. "Some say he's meeting with the kingdom's High Command. Others say he left the capital entirely. One rumor claims he's going underground."
Hikaru's smile didn't fade. "Underground where?"
Gregor hesitated.
Then he leaned in slightly.
"There's a place beneath Velmoria," he said, voice lower. "Not the old dungeons. Not the sewers. Deeper. A place even the Magisterium avoids."
Budi frowned. "And you think Aldric is going there?"
Gregor exhaled. "I don't know. But something's stirring down there. People are vanishing."
Selene's silver eyes darkened. "Vanishing how?"
Gregor shrugged. "They go looking for something. They don't come back."
Hikaru's mind raced.
Aldric's cryptic warning. The stolen book's passages. The forgotten history buried beneath the city.
He flicked a card between his fingers.
"Sounds like a place worth visiting."
Budi groaned. "Of course you'd say that."
Selene exhaled. "If Aldric is down there, he's not just investigating. He's searching for something."
Hikaru grinned. "Then let's find out what."
Gregor shook his head. "You really don't know when to walk away, do you?"
Hikaru flipped a coin into the air, catching it effortlessly. "Where's the fun in that?"
Gregor sighed. "Fine. If you're stupid enough to go looking, there's only one entrance I know about."
He slid a small, tattered map across the counter.
"Take this. And try not to die."
Hikaru took the map, unfolding it. The entrance was marked beneath an abandoned temple on the outskirts of the lower district.
Budi stared at it. "So, let me get this straight. You want us to go into a place where people vanish, just because we think Aldric might be down there?"
Hikaru grinned. "Exactly."
Budi muttered something in Indonesian that Hikaru was pretty sure wasn't polite.
Selene adjusted her hood. "We leave before nightfall."
Hikaru tucked the map into his coat.
The game was changing again.
And this time, he wasn't just going to follow Aldric's moves.
He was going to get ahead of them.