Haru arrived early.

Not out of anxiety, but by method. Someone who schedules a meeting and arrives exactly on time only sees who comes afterward. Someone who arrives early sees who was already waiting before the appointed hour.

And whoever was waiting beforehand had arrived early for a reason.

The underground corridor was the same—lights flickering in the second section, the floor sinking slightly on the left side of the third door, the smell of cold stone and cleaning solution that never completely faded.

But one thing was different.

There were already three people there.

Haru stopped at the entrance to the corridor before anyone noticed him.

He assessed them.

First: a short-haired girl, her uniform far too neat for someone who had spent the morning negotiating in the courtyard. The posture of someone who had arrived early because she had been ordered to, not because she chose to.

"An envoy."

Second: a tall guy, second-year judging by his badge, arms crossed, staring at the ceiling with the expression of someone pretending to be bored. His right leg was slightly forward, the stance of someone ready to move quickly if necessary.

"Guard or observer. Maybe both."

Third: a dwarf. Short, broad-bellied, repeatedly counting and recounting the map fragments in his hands as if the numbers might change. Genuinely lost.

"He came on his own. Doesn’t know what he’s doing here, but thought it was a good idea."

Haru stepped inside.

All three turned at the same time.

"Are you the janitor?" the girl asked.

"I am," he replied. "You came early."

"The notice never said we couldn’t," the tall guy answered.

"It didn’t."

He stood in the middle of the corridor—not leaning against anything, not in a fighting stance. Just standing there. Occupying space without asking permission.

"Wait."

"More people will arrive."

"And the way each person reacts to those who arrive later says more about them than anything they could ever say."

Isabela and Kira.

Haru noticed Kira first. Her ears found him before her eyes did, a tiny movement of recognition that she quickly suppressed.

Isabela came beside her with that unmistakable Valtherion posture that silently declared, "I’m evaluating everything, and I’m not pretending otherwise."

She looked down the corridor. Looked at the three people. Looked at Haru.

"Worthless bodyguard." Her lips formed the words without making a sound.

Haru smiled only with his breathing.

Kira stood beside Isabela, nose slightly raised, scanning scents that no one realized she was reading.

Then she leaned subtly toward Isabela’s ear.

"The short-haired girl smells like another district of the city. She was sent here."

Isabela didn’t turn her head.

"And the tall guy?"

"He had lunch in the cafeteria near the veterans. Back table."

"The back table is where Armand’s group sits."

"I know."

Four more.

They arrived together, a group that had clearly formed earlier, fragments already exchanged between them, carrying that dynamic of people who had decided to trust each other but were still testing the limits of that trust.

Haru assessed them in four seconds.

"Three Sector B fragments among them. Most likely."

"I can tell by the way they hold their envelopes. Whoever carries something valuable holds it differently from someone carrying a throwaway fragment."

"The one in the middle is holding his with both hands. He’s protecting something."

Ten people now stood in the corridor.

Haru slowly looked around—not evaluating anymore, simply confirming. He already knew what he had before he looked.

"Alright," he said. He didn’t raise his voice. It carried anyway. "Thank you all for coming."

Silence.

"No one expected that opening."

"Good."

"I’m going to tell you what I know about this sector," he continued. "Not in exchange for fragments. Not in exchange for points. In exchange for only one thing."

A pause.

"Honesty about what you have."

The tall guy opened his mouth.

"Why would I..."

"You wouldn’t," Haru cut him off. "But you don’t have to. You only have to show me your fragment. Don’t give it to me. Don’t explain it. Just show it."

He looked around.

"Anyone with a Sector B fragment, show it now."

Four seconds of silence.

Then the dwarf raised his envelope. Two Sector B fragments.

Then one of the four-person group. One Sector B fragment.

Then another from the same group. One Sector B fragment.

Then Isabela, looking at Haru with the expression of, "I’m going to trust you, and if you’re wrong, it’ll cost us," raised hers. One Sector B fragment.

Five visible Sector B fragments.

Haru had two.

Seven in total.

"It takes six to reveal the crystal."

"I have seven potential ones."

"But one of them isn’t real."

"Thank you," he said. He looked at the people who hadn’t raised theirs—the short-haired girl, the tall guy, and two from the group. "Those who didn’t raise them may stay or leave. It won’t matter for what I’m about to show."

He walked to the supply closet beside the third door on the left.

He stopped in front of it.

"This closet," he said. "Everyone who studies here walks through this corridor at some point. Nobody looks at this closet because a cleaning supply closet isn’t interesting."

He opened it.

Brooms. Buckets. Bottles of cleaning solution. Nothing special.

He placed his hand on the back wall, pressing a precise spot, exactly three centimeters above the middle shelf.

The back wall opened—not dramatically, not grandly. Just a stone panel rotating ninety degrees, revealing a one-meter-wide passage stretching about ten meters before turning.

Absolute silence filled the corridor.

"Holy shit," the dwarf muttered. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Haru didn’t smile. He didn’t need to.

"This passage connects Underground One to the old storage area that was sealed when they built the new east wing," he explained. "It doesn’t appear on any student maps because it was sealed before the academy ever had students. It only appears on the original construction blueprints stored in the Headmaster’s archives."

He looked around.

"And on the map every one of you has a fragment of."

The short-haired girl quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a communication sphere, the movement almost imperceptible.

Kira stopped her before it reached her ear.

Not forcefully. She simply placed a firm hand on the girl’s wrist without hurting her.

"No," Kira said simply.

The girl looked at her.

Then at Haru.

Haru was already looking at her.

"You were sent by Armand’s group," he said. "The tall guy is with them too. You were going to report this location so they could arrive with enough fragments to reveal the crystal before me... or steal it."

The girl didn’t deny it.

"Is that against the rules?" she asked.

"No," Haru replied. "But now everyone here knows. Which changes your calculations."

Silence.

The tall guy uncrossed his arms.

"Time to decide," Haru thought. "Stay and try another approach, or leave and report what you’ve already seen."

The tall guy left.

The girl stayed.

"Interesting."

Footsteps echoed from the outer corridor.

Then Golden turned the corner, uniform immaculate, wearing the expression of someone who had merely gone for a walk and accidentally ended up here—a lie so obvious it was almost respectful.

He looked at the group. Looked at the open passage. Looked at Haru.

"So you really found it," he said.

"You knew I would?"

"I suspected it when I saw the poster." Golden stepped into the corridor without asking. "A permanent janitor who schedules a meeting in the only sector no one is contesting is either an idiot or found something."

"And?"

"You’re not an idiot."

Haru stared at him.

"He doesn’t have a Sector B fragment... so what does he want here?"

"Information," Golden answered before Haru asked. "Not about the crystal. About the group."

He subtly pointed toward the four who had arrived together.

"Two of them have genuine Sector B fragments. Two bought fake Sector B fragments from someone who sold copies to multiple buyers."

Silence.

"How do you know?" Haru asked.

"Because I saw the transaction," Golden replied. "This morning. Cafeteria. The guy who sold to those two also sold copies to Armand’s group and two others who aren’t here."

Haru looked at the four.

Two had stuffed their envelopes away carelessly—the carelessness of people who didn’t value what they had.

Two held theirs carefully.

"The careful ones have the real fragments."

"The careless ones have the fakes."

"I don’t need Golden to figure that out."

"But he doesn’t know I don’t need him."

"How much does that information cost?" Haru asked quietly.

"Five hundred points."

"Two hundred."

"Four hundred."

"Two hundred and fifty, and you participate in revealing the crystal."

Golden looked at him.

"Participating in the revelation means the points are split."

"But it also means Golden will want the crystal revealed as soon as possible, which means he won’t sabotage it."

"A temporary ally driven by mutual interest is better than a permanent enemy born from saving money."

"Deal," Golden said.

He didn’t offer his hand.

Neither did Haru.

Both understood that a verbal agreement without guarantees was fragile, but it was enough.

"We have seven Sector B fragments here," Haru announced to the group. "We need six. But two are fake."

A pause.

"So effectively, we have five."

He looked at Kira.

Kira was already moving. She walked past the group of four, nose subtly active, stopping before the first.

She sniffed discreetly.

Moved to the second.

Third.

Fourth.

She returned to Haru.

"Second and third," she said quietly. "Different ink. Different paper. The genuine fragments smell like ancient stone because they were made together with the place they represent. The fakes smell like fresh parchment."

Haru looked at the two she had identified.

They still didn’t realize they had been exposed.

"Option one: I dismiss them and keep the five real fragments. One short of what I need."

"Option two: I let them think they’ll participate, use the real fragments from the others, and reveal the crystal."

"Option two is dishonest."

"Option two works."

"Option three..."

"Does anyone here have fragments from another sector they aren’t using?" he asked the group.

The dwarf raised his hand. "I’ve got two Sector A fragments. No idea what to do with them."

"They’re worth three hundred points for both."

"Four hundred."

"Three hundred and fifty."

"Deal."

"I didn’t buy Sector B fragments."

"I bought bargaining power."

He turned toward the two with fake fragments.

"Your Sector B fragments aren’t real," he said bluntly. "But I have a proposal. Stay here, take part when the crystal appears, and receive your share of the points."

"In exchange for what?" one of them asked.

"In exchange for not revealing that this passage exists until tomorrow at noon."

The two exchanged glances.

"They have nothing to lose. They were already scammed when they bought the fragments. Anything they gain now is profit."

"Deal," they said.

Six Sector B fragments.

All in the corridor. All with their envelopes open.

Haru was the last to step forward, placing his two fragments on the floor beside the others at the entrance to the passage.

Nothing happened for three seconds.

Then the stone walls of the passage began to glow—a soft golden light seeping through the cracks as though it had always been there, waiting.

The glow flowed through the corridor.

Turned the corner.

And from where they stood, they could hear it—the unmistakable sound of a crystal materializing. Soft. Clear. The kind of sound that only exists when well-crafted magic finishes exactly what it was meant to do.

Everyone moved.

The crystal rested at the end of the passage, the size of a closed fist, translucent blue, pulsing with the calm rhythm of something that had waited a very long time to be found and wasn’t in any hurry now.

Each person’s coin displayed a notification:

[CRYSTAL B-7 REVEALED] ◊ Value: 340 points ◊ Participants: 8 ◊ Distribution proportional to fragments ◊ Processing... [POINTS ADDED] ◊ Haru Mizuki: +97 points ◊ Kirathia Vex’ara: +43 points ◊ Isabela Valtherion: +43 points ◊ Golden Elegantius: +43 points ◊ [Other participants]: +varied

It wasn’t much.

Everyone knew it wasn’t much.

"Three hundred and forty points divided among eight people," the guy from the middle group said, staring at the number.

"Yes," Haru confirmed.

"That’s terrible."

"It is," he confirmed again. "But it’s only the first."

A pause.

"And I know where the others are."

A different kind of silence settled over them.

Not confusion.

Attention.

Golden stared at Haru with that unmistakable expression of Flavius’s son, weighing whether what he was seeing was an opportunity or a trap.

Then he smiled.

"Four hundred points for the next one."

"Two hundred."

"Three hundred."

"Two hundred and fifty."

"De..."

"Deal," Haru said before Golden could finish.