Fanilly approached the map and carefully, quietly looked it over. She wasn't entirely certain, without explanation, what it was meant to be conveying beyond the obvious map of the countryside. At least, until her former mentor provided a rather quick explanation. For a few moments, the smallish blonde girl was silent.

"... I'm... I'm afraid I don't understand," she began. The idea of such a cult acting in such a matter was quite vile, but at the same time... "Wouldn't it make more sense for us to simply go in force and quickly eliminate them, before they can commit any other terrible acts?"

She couldn't understand the need for an army to be brought to root out a cult, unless the cult was an army itself. Let alone two armies. As Fanilly understood, Velt and Ithillin, the countries included on the map, were quite militarily strong themselves. She had to confess her knowledge of their neighbors was limited only to what could be learned from her tutors, as she had never traveled beyond Thaln's borders. She could not, therefore, confirm all that she had heard. Though at the very least Fanilly was certain that the pastries of Ithillin were absolutely lovely, as indicated by the party she had attended when she was younger. There had been an Ithillin baker there, and what he had created...

Regardless of how hungry she suddenly felt, however, Fanilly could not be certain she knew why such a plan would be required here.

[hr]

Agenon let out another sigh.

"I cannot argue with you on that matter, to say the least," he responded. "Look where keeping secrets has gotten me. A stolen shard of an evil artifact, and a divided faculty who fight over what to do with it should it be returned.

He took a deep breath, stroking his thick beard.

"I can't make any excuses for my continued secrecy," he continued, "Aside from perhaps that I foolishly feared retribution would come upon some of those who work here. The men and women who believe they can re-purpose the shard are misguided, not evil. They think that using such a thing would be the ultimate rejection of its original purpose."

He sagged a little.

"And so, my affection for this school's faculty betrayed my common sense. From this point on, I pledge to assist in the shard's recovery however I can."

[hr]

The carts outside seemed like, well, carts. There was nothing particularly strange about them.

What may, however, have been noticeable is the rope in the back of one cart. Any close inspection would reveal that it had somehow been severed...

There was no-one in sight.

[@ghastlyInc][@AtomicNut][@TheFake][@Raineh Daze][@Aleranicus][@Saltwater Thief]