The low-built structures unfolded before Rita’s eyes—just a few adjoining shacks that left one wondering whether they were simply too dilapidated, or had already been abandoned altogether.
There was nothing remotely special about them.
Compared to the warehouse where Rita had once faced danger, these seemed even more rundown.
Because of this, Rita found it even harder to understand why Cecilia claimed this was their final destination.
Rita tried to turn her head to check on Cecilia, who was riding on her back, but all she could feel was the friction between Cecilia’s arm and her own, and she could just barely glimpse a few golden strands of Cecilia’s hair trailing down onto her own shoulder.
“Lady Cecilia, is this the place?” Rita asked uncertainly.
“This place, huh…”
Cecilia released her grip from around Rita’s neck, as if she intended to leap off Rita’s back.
But instead, she lost her balance, flailed a few times, then collapsed back onto Rita, her tone taking on an awkwardness that seemed to puncture her earlier air of profundity like a balloon.
“Put me down first.”
“Oh.”
Rita crouched where she stood, allowing Cecilia to easily hop down from her back this time.
With her feet firmly on the ground again, Cecilia stretched a little, then strode directly toward the row of shacks.
“Based on the soldiers’ earlier inspection of the tunnels, there should be a secret passage left by Mel here, leading into the city. That’s where we’re going.”
Rita followed after her, stepping first into one of the rooms. A layer of dust coated the floor, making it obvious no one had been inside for some time.
“No, this isn’t right.” Cecilia took a glance around and stepped out again. “The dust is too thick, there’s no sign of activity.”
With each new room, Cecilia would make a quick inspection just like that, but after going through most of the houses, the two of them still came up empty-handed.
“Lady Cecilia, are you sure there really is a secret passage here?” Rita couldn’t help starting to doubt Cecilia’s claim.
“Just wait and see.” Cecilia’s tone was adamant, not a hint of wavering to be found—her earlier emotional wobble, when she nearly fell from Rita’s back, had been far more pronounced.
Rita even began to wonder if Cecilia was just wasting time this way, waiting for everything to settle down before returning to the city or simply leaving altogether.
But when Cecilia stepped into a half-collapsed room and murmured, “This should be the one,” Rita realized she’d misjudged Cecilia.
Cecilia had followed the traces left in the dust to this spot, but pinpointing the entrance wasn’t so easy.
At least, it was difficult for Cecilia—but as long as there were small animals around, Rita’s abilities would come into play.
Luckily, there really were a few Fat Mice here.
Rita found a plump mouse curled in the corner, its belly stuffed full, and squatted before it, smiling kindly.
“Fat Mouse, oh Fat Mouse, tell me—is there a secret passage here?”
This act instantly drew a look from Cecilia as if Rita were an idiot, along with an impatient prompt: “Rita, be serious. This is not the time for games.”
But right then, the mouse squeaked twice, turned and scurried off, then paused after a couple of steps as if waiting for Rita to follow.
Rita hurried after it, and the mouse continued to lead the way, stopping at last in front of a pile of broken crates.
With a few quick movements, Rita pulled aside the crates, lifted the dirty rug beneath them, and pried up a few floorboards to reveal a cellar door set with a pull ring, right before Cecilia’s eyes.
“Rita, how did you do that?” Cecilia, for once, seemed unsure of herself.
“Maybe because I get along well with animals? Didn’t I say before that a Tundra Direwolf once brought me back home?” Rita answered.
Of course, that was a lie! Enchantment magic! You fool!
But you had to keep up appearances—a mouse suddenly leading you to a secret door, wasn’t that a little suspicious?
“So that’s how it is…” Cecilia nodded, but instead of immediately crawling through the door, she crouched in front of the plump Fat Mouse and stammered, “F-Fat Mouse, oh Fat Mouse, can you lead us back into the city?”
The Fat Mouse didn’t even glance at Cecilia, just flicked its tail and scurried away, leaving Cecilia squatting there with a faint blush on her cheeks.
My dear Lady Cecilia, if you wanted to play along, let me know in advance next time—don’t wait until I’ve canceled my spell to pull this routine.
Cecilia shot Rita a furious glare. “Did you laugh?”
“No!” Rita replied at once.
“You did.”
“I really didn’t!”
“Forget it. Let’s go.”
Rita lit a floorboard she’d just picked up to use as a torch and led Cecilia inside.
Naturally, Rita always carried flint with her—after all, it was useful for light, warmth, cooking, and more, though Rita seldom needed most of those functions.
There was a faint dampness in the secret passage, but compared to the fetid stench of blood in the city, it was far more bearable, and the flames soon dispelled even that lingering scent.
“Carry me.”
Cecilia didn’t bother to act anymore, simply issuing the command.
Rita hoisted Cecilia onto her back again, and with Cecilia holding the makeshift torch, they pressed deeper into the tunnel.
“Lady Cecilia, I asked you earlier where we were going, but you just entered the tunnel without telling me the real answer,” Rita said, only remembering to ask the key question after a long walk.
“Use your little head, Rita. What might there be here?” Cecilia said, patting Rita’s head like a child. “There’s a way back into the city—Lady Cecilia wants us to surprise everyone, catch them off guard and take the city by storm!”
No sooner had Rita finished than she heard Cecilia sigh in her ear, then speak as if coaxing a kindergartener, “And what else?”
“And also… right, there are magic circles.”
“Exactly. Johnny already reported the magic circles to me,” Cecilia said, and she quickly summarized Old Johnny’s findings for Rita.
Rita found it hard to digest so much information at once. She spent a while turning it over in her mind, but everything was still a jumble.
Too many things could be tied to this tunnel—Rita didn’t know which connections would lead to the right answer.
Cecilia waited as well, all the while advancing through the pitch-dark tunnel.
Little by little, Rita began to piece some clues together.
“There are a lot of magic circles underground. A lot of people died here. It’s using blood as power… that is, as mana for the circles. And above ground, there’s…”
“Pretty much,” Cecilia finally prepared to reveal the answer. “If my theory is correct, the assassination attempt on me, the chaos among the wanderers that night—those were all just diversions. They were never meant to succeed.”
“There are three goals. First, to create confusion and mislead everyone. Second, to eliminate most of the insiders, like Mel and the Siren leading the wanderers. Third, to supply these magic circles with blood—that is, with energy.”
Rita listened in silence for a long while before hesitantly voicing her own thoughts.
“But with an operation on such a scale, how could the Magitors not notice? Even if the magic circles are hidden underground, they’d detect them once activated…”
At that point, Rita realized what she’d overlooked.
“Figured it out?” Cecilia prompted. “That’s right. There was a curfew that night—the only ones on duty were ordinary soldiers. There’s no way elite Magitor Troops would be stationed in Solus City, so when things happened, there were no Magitors on site.”
Cecilia didn’t need to finish—Rita could supply the rest herself.
By dawn, all the magic circles would have finished charging. At that point, they were nothing but batteries—if not connected into a circuit, a few isolated batteries wouldn’t be noticed.
Besides, places with magic circles had already been blown up—no one would likely discover them.
And even if someone did, they probably couldn’t unravel the magic circles’ secrets. Odds were, they’d bring the circles to Dorothy for advice—after all, with something this big and Dorothy’s authority, she’d be the obvious choice.
And today, just earlier, the reason that massive stone gate had suddenly risen had finally become clear.
Dorothy’s ability to react so swiftly wasn’t because of her power, but because after that night, the stone gate could be summoned by her at any time.
Rita spent several minutes sorting it all out in her mind, but her pace through the tunnel never slowed.
“But I still don’t get it—what exactly are we doing now?” After all this wandering, Rita’s question circled back to the beginning.
“We’re doing our best to return to the city through the tunnel, then deduce the flow of the magic circles from their positions, and find the true core of the formation,” Cecilia replied.
“What do you mean?” Rita was confused. “Lady Cecilia, do you actually know magic?”
“I don’t know magic, but I understand basic logic,” Cecilia answered. “Energy-supplying magic circles can’t exist independently from the others. Dorothy would never risk putting the core on that massive stone gate, just waiting for someone to destroy it—nor would she place it somewhere unrelated.”
“So, there’s only one possible place left, isn’t there?”