Three days had passed since returning to Wenhardt. Well, three days and a bit. Left Casa Verde at dawn. Crossed the Serpente Strait by steamship——twelve hours from south shore to north shore, caught a storm midway, the rocking was terrible——then traveled north by rail. The main railway line along the Lagen River, cutting vertically across the continent, ran toward the empire's heart, trailing black smoke from steam engines. Leila Valentina watched the scenery flowing past the window the entire time. Jungle to farmland. Farmland to industrial zones. Industrial zones to cities. She couldn't sleep. Right hand stayed on her lap. The whole time. Under the leather glove, the light hadn't gone out. --- The Grey Eagle Inn——a one-night-two-guilder lodging in Wenhardt's old quarter——had a south-facing window. Sunlight only in the morning. Past noon, shadow. Now was that shadowed time. The room was dim. Leeva sat at the desk. Three notebooks lay open, side by side. Beside them, Imperial Archaeological Bureau excavation forms——genuine and forged mixed together——and pages thirty-seven through forty-two of a pattern-craft catalog spread out. Small numbers penciled along the right edge of the documents. Coordinate fragments. She was trying to reverse-calculate the coordinates she'd missed at the Parka First Ruin, working from memory and sensation. The precision wouldn't come. (Five days of route and pacing alone. Too much error margin.) She removed the leather gloves. Right palm compared against page forty-one of the catalog. Radial patterns. Intersection angles——close. Not matching. The seal shapes managed by the modern pattern-craft guild system——only one hundred fifty certified appraisers across the empire, trained five years as apprentices——all of it was in this catalog. She'd nearly memorized it when Aidan taught her. Not in the catalog meant——ancient. Undeciphered seals. Arkaion's legacy. She set down the pen. Closed her eyes. (What would Aidan say, if he were alive?) No answer came. She knew that kind of question. Didn't stop her mind from going there. Six years later, still the same annoying habit. --- A knock at the door. The innkeeper's voice followed——a woman in her fifties, Maruga, known for blunt speech. "You have a visitor, Miss Valentina. From the Imperial Archaeological Bureau." Leeva quickly pulled the gloves back on. Stacked the documents under the notebooks. Left only the catalog on the desk. "Coming right away." One second checking the mirror. Reddish-copper wavy hair. Odd eyes——left gold, right deep green——leather jacket. Wrong outfit for meeting Bureau people. No reason to change though. Descended to the open-air lobby. --- Saw her halfway down the stairs. A young woman in navy Bureau uniform——gold buttons lined vertically, bureaucrat's formal dress——stood in the lobby's center. Pale purple straight long hair flowed from shoulders down her back. Height slightly less than Leeva's. Around one hundred sixty-five centimeters. Slender frame. But posture was perfect. Small earring on left ear——get close enough and you'd see it was a metal ornament modeled after pattern-craft seals. Holding a document case. Both hands. Gripping it firmly. Chest level. Leeva saw that and thought one thing. (Nervous. Not conscious tension. Body doing it on its own.) "You're Miss Valentina?" The woman spoke. Voice low, calm. Last syllable slightly rushed. Clear silver eyes on Leeva. Expression barely moved——but something flickered in the depths of those eyes. "I am." "Imperial Archaeological Bureau, investigator Shena Largen." She pulled an envelope from the case as she introduced herself. Practiced motion. Bureaucrat's movement. "I'd like to review your activity records and conduct a brief interview——do you have time?" Leeva glanced around the lobby. This time of day, past noon, no other guests. Saw Maruga disappear into the kitchen. "Second floor dining room." --- Sat facing each other. Leeva asked Maruga for tea. Maruga confirmed "herb tea okay?" and returned to the kitchen. Shortly after, two cups arrived. Shena placed the envelope on the desk. "Authorization and the legal basis for the inquiry. Please verify." Leeva took the envelope. Before opening, checked the outside lightly. Wax seal. Imperial Archaeological Bureau's official stamp——hexagon with eagle motif. Tilted it to match the window's light angle. Slight misalignment at the seal's edge. Press pressure wasn't uniform. Upper right slightly shallow. Official imperial forms used a dedicated press device for uniform pressure. Field versions carried by local staff showed this kind of misalignment. Leeva tapped it lightly with her fingertip. "Portable press device. Not headquarters issue. Local branch field issue." Shena stopped for a moment. Half a second. Then back to her usual expression. "……You know quite a bit." "Licensed explorer work means learning imperial forms whether you like it or not." Shena paused. Silver eyes moved from Leeva's face to her hands. Then back to her face. "Licensed explorer, you say." Said it low, quiet. "We've confirmed multiple excavation cases without permits." "If you have evidence, prosecute under the Ruin Preservation Act." Silence. Then Shena gave a small——really small——bitter smile. More like breath escaping than actual laughter. "I didn't think looters and licensed explorers would differ in how they identify seals." "That's the job." Leeva opened the envelope. Documents were genuine. Authorization text, statute citations, signatures and dates——all proper form. Shena was right. Portable press, but official content. Meaning Leeva's observation wasn't questioning the documents. It was confirming Shena was field personnel. Not a desk officer at headquarters. Someone active. (And you stopped for a moment at that.) --- Questions began. Started with standard content. Entry date and time to Parka jungle, duration, any ruins encountered. Leeva answered——not everything, just what a licensed explorer should answer. Shena wrote. Fast pen movement. Fast but meticulous. The speed of someone with a habit of writing each character carefully. After a while, Leeva noticed. The questions' precision was changing. "Entry into the southeast sector of the Jade Veil?" "No record of it." "The gap between your departure from Casa Verde and return is five days longer than a standard exploration itinerary." "Jungle doesn't follow schedules." "True." Shena said. Stopped writing. "Then you're aware that encountering ancient architecture with underground structures requires mandatory self-reporting to the Imperial Archaeological Bureau?" Leeva didn't answer. One second. Two seconds. "I'm aware." "Then." "I have no obligation to answer about facts not in the record." Quiet exchange. While Shena considered her next question, Leeva observed her. Expression unmoved. But fingertips tapping the pen lightly. Against the desk surface. Unconscious rhythm. (Anxious. But hiding it.) Not a standard interview. This person came to confirm something. And she's anxious about not confirming it. --- An hour passed. Shena pulled different documents from her case. Large paper. Folded. Unfolded on the desk——a rubbing. Stone surface patterns transferred to paper. Dark charcoal traces. Geometric lines emerging. Radial structure. Complex intersection angles—— Something moved under Leeva's right hand. Not heat. Close to a pulse. A sensation pushing back from under the skin, through the leather glove. Grabbed the table edge with her left hand. "Do you recognize this pattern's shape?" Shena pointed to one spot on the rubbing. Leeva's gaze dropped. The one not in page forty-one of the catalog. "……I don't." "I see." Shena said. Then paused slightly. "If that device has fully activated——the imperial government won't treat it as merely an academic matter." Started to say more. Stopped. The air changed. Shena cut herself off. Realized the slip. The way someone stops when they notice a mistake. But too late——the words had already dissolved into the room's air. Device. Imperial government. Leeva measured the gravity between those two words in a single breath. Not a ruin. A weapon. When a Bureau investigator uses "imperial government" as the subject, it's not academic institutions. Military. Or something beyond that. "You said device." Shena held a long silence. Then nodded slightly. --- The balance broke. Shena began talking. This time not official questioning——more like she was selecting information to offer. Ancient structures confirmed in Parka jungle. Their possibilities——not just ruins, but potentially functional devices. And that within the empire, people exist trying to militarize them. "In your hand." Shena said. Suddenly her voice had certainty. "If part of this pattern remains——" Leeva didn't move. Three seconds. Looked at her right hand. Leather glove surface. Nothing visible. But inside, the pulse continued. Slowly removed the glove. Placed her right palm on the desk. Azure light threads visible through the skin. From finger base toward wrist, fine radiating lines. Especially clear in the dim room. Shena's silver eyes saw that light. Expression didn't move——but breathing stopped for a moment. Then Shena leaned forward. Across the desk, closer to Leeva's right hand. Pale purple hair flowed forward from her shoulders. "May I touch it?" Short. Businesslike. Sounding like she was trying to be businesslike. Leeva said nothing. Didn't pull her hand away. Shena's fingertips touched Leeva's palm. ——In that instant, the light changed. Calm pulse became brighter. Azure light spread from lines to surfaces. And the rubbing on the desk——the charcoal transfer's central intersection point——began glowing the same color. Faintly. Connected. Centered on the point where Leeva's hand and Shena's fingers touched, something was linking. Shena looked at Leeva. Distance was close. Across the desk but close. In the silver eyes, something different from before——uncontrolled surprise mixed with curiosity that exceeded the surprise. Leeva was also looking at Shena. Deep in her chest, something was quietly resonating. This person was touching what she'd carried alone. Both held their breath. Shena reflexively pulled her hand back. Leeva took the glove. Silence fell. The rubbing's light was gone. Leeva's hand's azure threads returned to calm pulse. "It responded." Shena said. Businesslike voice. But the voice was trembling slightly. Not breaking——breathing while speaking. "Apparently." Leeva pulled the glove back on. --- Outside the window was darkening. Wenhardt's evening was when steam pipes released white smoke. Industrial district smokestacks became active. Refracted the sunset. Made the sky an odd orange. The empire's heart's daily scenery. Shena talked. Leeva organized the content in her mind. Ancient Arkaion devices possibly placed strategically at four world locations. The one activated in Parka jungle was the first. Within the empire, people exist trying to militarize it——Shena stopped there. Didn't explain how she knew. Maintained silence on that. Leeva also didn't discuss her right hand's changes in detail. Didn't show the notebooks. "Can I ask something?" Shena looked up. "What position are you in to lose?" Quiet question. Not accusing. Not probing——just wanted to know. The real reason this person came here. Shena thought briefly. Silver eyes looked out the window once, then back to Leeva. "About the same as you." That was all. Leeva said nothing. Incomplete answer. But——not a lie, she understood. No basis for it. Just observed everything from Shena's arrival today and judged. This person didn't want to lose something, so she came here. "Understood." That's all she said. Shena put documents back in her case. Left the rubbing on the desk——intentionally or not, Leeva couldn't tell. "I'll co