"Not good? It’s not nearly as easygoing in Klande as it is here," Kaiten, who was teamed up with Santiago, commented flatly.

Wei’en glanced at him. The man rarely seemed to speak; Wei’en could count the number of times he’d said anything since they met on two hands.

He had about as much presence as Tina.

"It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just..." Chirut glanced at Wei’en, then hesitated and said no more.

"Alright, let’s get some rest." Santiago, clearly not intending to let him continue, waved his hand. "We depart in one hour sharp."

"Right."

...

...

「Meanwhile, inside the stone tower housing the Caster City State’s Core Array.」

Lisi and Yegor sat like foremen at the entrance to the stone tower, staring at the scholars bustling around the high platform.

"...I’ve found a problem. The pathways here don’t match the original design schematics."

"I’ve got something here, too! A pathway has been rerouted!"

"Professor Lin Qiaoya, could you please come over and take a look? Wasn’t there a rune node here before?"

"..."

As the scholars continued their work, they constantly uncovered new problems.

Meanwhile, on the high platform, Alicia stretched her stiff neck. After a quick glance around, she walked over to Lisi and the others.

"Alicia, have you found any other problems?"

"No major problems so far," Alicia said, looking at the three of them and pondering for a moment. "But there are a lot of small ones."

"Can it be fixed?"

This was Lisi’s primary concern. If it couldn’t be fixed, the entire City State would be affected in the immediate future.

"It will be difficult."

"Based on the issues we’ve cataloged, this Rune Array is not only missing the nodes for detecting the Bone-Eating Mother Worm, but the unactivated core node on the high platform... its main purpose was to activate the Array’s attack runes."

"Attack runes?"

Lisi froze. She exchanged a look with Yegor before quickly asking, "Can it really not be activated? If someone attacks the City State now, the consequences of being without the Array’s support are unthinkable."

Alicia shook her head. "I’ve already checked. It’s not just an issue with the Core Rune; the pathways connecting to it have also been tampered with."

"This is just about the worst news we could get." Yegor’s brow furrowed. He subconsciously took a deep drag, only to remember he hadn’t lit his cigarette so as not to disturb the scholars.

"Then what will it take to fix it?"

"The only way to properly fix the Rune Array is to shut the whole thing down and have Klande send a Rune Expert over as quickly as possible."

"Klande..." Lisi’s expression faltered. She called out to the busy scholars, "Professor Lin Qiaoya, could we trouble you for a moment?"

Lin Qiaoya glanced back at them, instructed a nearby scholar to continue the inspection, and then walked over. "Have you found something new?"

"We need to discuss how to repair the Array."

"Oh?"

"You explain," Lisi prompted, motioning to Alicia.

"Professor, the Array is currently incapable of activating its attack runes. It has to be completely repaired..." Alicia briefly explained the situation.

"In that case, we’ll have to wait..."

Before he could finish, Lisi held up a hand to stop him. "We already know we have to wait for someone from Klande. My question is, how long will that take?"

"The time frame?"

Lin Qiaoya met their intense gazes, thought for a moment, and said, "I already submitted a request to the Council this afternoon. We probably won’t get a response until tomorrow."

"Adding the time for the message to reach Klande and for them to prepare, we’re looking at four days, minimum." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Is there any way to speed this up?" Yegor’s expression grew even more grim, as if an idea had just occurred to him. "I’m very concerned something else will happen in Caster in the meantime."

"No, at least not on our end. Unless Klande dispatches their latest model of steamship, it will take them at least three days just to get to Caster."

Yegor mused, "Three days..."

Lisi looked at him. "Do you have an idea, Director?"

"If you had an expert from Klande providing guidance, could you perform the repairs yourselves?"

"Guidance?"

Lin Qiaoya paused for a second, then, as he considered the feasibility of the idea, his eyes lit up. "Yes, we could! As long as their instructions are sufficiently clear."

"You’re certain?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then submit the request that way," Yegor said with a nod. "As long as the Array gets fixed, it doesn’t matter if they physically come to Caster or not."

"Yes, yes, of course! I’ll go back and submit the new request to the Council right away." Lin Qiaoya left the stone tower, his face beaming with excitement.

’If this request is approved, my knowledge of runes will advance to the next level. In the future, the Caster City State might not need to rely on support from Klande’s experts anymore!’

After he left, Alicia said in a small voice, "Uhm, actually... I could help with that, too."

’She was well aware of the benefits of this approach and desperately wanted a chance like this. Even if she couldn’t work on it directly, just participating would be incredible.’

"Then when he gets back, you should suggest that everyone participate."

"Can I really?"

Lisi raised an eyebrow. "Of course. I’m sure that once Vice Director Nifa finds out, he’ll definitely help you secure this opportunity."

"My teacher..." Alicia’s expression was conflicted, but then she steeled her resolve. "If he doesn’t agree, I’ll go ask Teacher Nifa for help myself."

"There you go. Don’t be afraid..."

Outside the stone tower, Kali and Melbel stood guard.

"Looks like they found a way to solve the problem. That’s great," Kali said with a smile.

"I wonder who could have done something like this," Melbel mused. "I just don’t think the Abyssal Sect could have pulled this off on their own."