After they visited Khal’s parents, they quickly relaxed and went to what they had originally come there for. The atmosphere between entering the flower garden and leaving it was truly different.

The three might not have noticed it themselves, but if someone were there to witness it, they would ask... Just what happened inside for them to undergo that change?

The three were now entering the facility as they were welcomed again by different groups of people. Ayen knew he had to be used to it, as from now on... He would constantly see such scenes whenever he was with the two espers.

Soon, only the person leading in front and the woman beside him were left to accompany them where the person was.

The inside of the elevator as they descended was quiet, and Ayen only leaned to his espers. For some reason, he was more clingy this time and did not want to leave their side.

Of course, he had always been clingy to them. But in front of others, he still made sure not to act as if he had been deprived of their touch for weeks.

Now, he could not bring himself to care. The two were not much different from him.

Fortunately, the two other people inside the elevator remained looking in front of them, not minding their behavior. Once they were on the right floor and exited the elevator, Ayen’s eyes quickly feasted on the new scene.

Rows upon rows of monster corpses were preserved inside a cylinder as they decorated the halls. Ayen’s eyes lingered on them for a moment before shifting on to the next.

He did not ask any questions, preferring to just look at them. Certain things he was not truly interested in knowing. However, he could discern what floor this was for.

It was obvious.

They soon entered the different side, separated by a heavily guarded door. They were then asked to scan their wavelength. Even Khal and Devion were not an exception to this.

One could say it was unnecessary as none could ever impersonate them, but the future was always uncertain. Khal could not let any neglect happen in this area.

"We’ll register your wavelength now." Khal looked at the staff. "Register his wavelength and set it to the highest permission."

Ayen cooperated with them. It only took a few minutes, and it was done.

"This place’s boring," Devion whispered as they entered the area, walking through a room unknown to Ayen by this time.

Khal flashed an amused smile.

"Every place is boring for you."

"Not really. I just don’t want this particular place," Devion argued.

"Well, sure." Unconvinced, but still Khal relented as usual.

They were not hooking arms but staying close to each other. Ayen looked up at Devion and responded to what he had just whispered to him.

"It’s interesting for me."

Devion’s lips twitched, while Khal grinned.

For this round, Devion lost. It proved that every place was boring for him, as... Ayen, being the most indifferent to everything, even found this place interesting.

From Devion’s perspective, Dungeons were probably more interesting for him.

The person leading in front paused and then looked back at the three of them.

"Leader, the captured esper’s inside."

Ayen did not need to be told, as they could already see the inside through the glass walls. A huge enclosure was inside; a metal table was laid out inside where a massive beast was lying on it.

He blinked and observed it through the glass walls.

Its body was accurate from the reports; ominous mana surrounded the beast’s body, and if not for the vital equipment equipped on it, he might have thought it was already dead.

Khal put on a solemn expression, and Devion frowned, his eyes also fixating on the esper inside.

"Has she gained consciousness yet?" Khal began asking, in no hurry to enter the room and inspect it closer.

Both the man and his companion shook their heads.

"Not yet. We’ve used every means to wake her up, but it seems her condition’s far too unstable to do so. Probably because of this that she isn’t transforming into her human form."

Khal nodded slightly.

"Did you find any results about the curse on her?" This time, it was Devion who asked.

"About that," he paused and looked at the woman beside her and nodded.

The woman stepped up and answered in his stead.

"Unfortunately, we haven’t deduced more than knowing that the curse isn’t complete and lacks certain characteristics to categorize it."

Meaning it was a curse, but also not.

"Furthermore, we can’t examine her body for too long. The enclosure around her was put up because the corrupting mana continued to leak out and infect the researchers... especially if they had mana inside them, no matter how weak."

This was the troublesome part, the main reason they had yet to get concrete results. They could only do trial and error and slowly examine the body, and when they already felt stuffy, they put the enclosure back, and everyone had to leave the room.

They could not possibly look for researchers without mana... After all, in this world, ordinary people in this era were more or less already exposed to mana.

They were not able to utilize it without a wavelength to contain them, but they had it inside their bodies.

The woman could not help but be nervous, seeing that the three did not have a reaction, or more like, she was more concerned about Khal’s reaction.

She was not sure about Ayen’s temperament, and Devion was more detached from the organization matters, but Khal was different. Everyone knew he was not forgiving of his subordinates’ lack of results.

Yet, she had not received any reprimands, nor had the temperature dropped as usual. In fact, Khal still appeared calm and was looking at the inside of the room.

When they received Khal’s notice that he would come, everyone already braced themselves to be reprimanded. But reality was not as they thought. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She and her superior showed some surprise; their gazes went to Dveion and Ayen before they lowered their gaze again. Their hearts beating inside their chest.

Somehow... Both seemed to know why it was the case.