Yunho sprinted to the temple workers' quarters. With the soldiers gone, there was a dead silence around the base. Yunho was like an anomaly of noisy movement in the quiet still. Yunho reached the area of the base for the temple workers and was met with the sight of the temple workers doing their morning prayer session. Irene and the other high-ranking temple workers had gone along with the Duke and the troops, so mostly the younger, lower-ranked temple workers were left.
At his arrival, the group collectively turned their heads to him. The one leading the prayer raised an eyebrow.
"Do you need something?" She asked.
Yunho took a moment to catch his breath. He was already getting nauseous from all the running, but he still forced himself to find his words.
"You all need to go to the canteen and stay in the cellar until it's clear. The cellar is secure, and since the base is currently unprotected, we should take shelter in the cellar for now." Yunho said between gulps for air.
He could feel the stares of the temple workers on him.
One of them spoke up, watching him with slightly judgmental eyes,
"Is that an order? If so, from who?" He questioned.
Yunho paused. He had to know his audience here. Maybe they wouldn't take orders from him, but he knew who they _would_ obey. And if you're lying for a good cause, then that's basically as good as telling the truth, right?
"Her Holiness."
All of the temple workers seemed surprised by the answer. Another one stood up.
"Her Holiness... told _you_ that? How? She's away, using her holy powers in battle." She asked.
Yunho reached into his pocket and took out the communication device.
"She communicated this to me through this. She said she had a vision which told her about the cellar. Baihye is clearly looking out for our safety and has conveyed the message through Her Holiness. So, we've ought to get going," Yunho said.
The temple workers exchanged looks, but one after the other, they nodded.
The one who had been leading the prayer stationed herself next to Yunho.
"We'll follow."
Yunho nodded and began to lead the group of temple workers to the canteen.
While they were walking, Yunho kept his head on a swivel, looking for any signs of the spy or other dangers. But, there was nothing.
A strange feeling grew in Yunho's gut.
"Why hasn't the spy shown themself yet?" He thought, "Is it possible that they were already taken care of? Or since this world has already deviated from the original novel, maybe there was never even a spy."
But, Yunho remembered the odd feeling he would sometimes get on the base. The feeling that someone was watching him.
"No, rather than there not being a spy... Are they waiting for something? But for what...?" Yunho wondered. He looked over the group of temple workers for anyone behaving suspiciously but didn't see anything.
Temple workers were often taken into the temple as children and were raised very devout, so Yunho doubted one of them would be the spy anyway since Bahitans worshipped a different deity than Lucivians and practiced a different kind of magic.
Yunho pondered some more. Who could it be? He had been trying to deduce who the spy could be but hadn't come very far at all.
The canteen staff who purely worked there and weren't just volunteering didn't have much status or access to anywhere on the base but the canteen. So, for the spy to gather information efficiently, they probably wouldn't have that position. So, that meant the spy was most likely not a temple worker nor a canteen worker. That just left the combat positions.
It wasn't long before the canteen was in sight. But just as Yunho was leading the group inside, there was a sudden boom. The ground shook, almost causing Yunho to lose his balance.
"Just when I was wondering where they were..." Yunho thought bitterly.
He looked toward the direction of the sound, and his eyes widened at the sight.
There, in the distance, Building 4 was ablaze with purple flame
Yunho could hear a whisper from a temple worker behind him:
"Mana fire?"
Yunho's curiosity was piqued by the unfamiliar term, but he wasn't about to waste time by asking while they were still out in the open. With a renewed sense of urgency, Yunho led the temple workers to the canteen's supply room. There, Mr. Jon was standing outside the cellar door with a worried expression. His face lit up with both relief and concern when he saw Yunho.
"Iris, you're back! Do you know what that sound was?" The man asked.
Before Yunho could respond, the temple worker that he'd heard before spoke up to answer.
"One of the buildings has been set on fire using mana." She said.
Yunho recognized her as the one who had been leading the prayer. She seemed to be the highest-ranked of the temple workers left.
Mr. Jon's face grew more concerned.
"What's mana fire?"
The girl continued, "It's fire created by a mana user that has different properties than regular fire. Her Holiness controls the fire at the temple. It's used so that it never goes out but can't burn anything. Her fire also has purifying energy. But the fire out there doesn't have the same aura as hers. It felt... bad. It's most likely infused with cursed energy. Though it may not burn anything down, someone who's exposed for too long may become incapacitated or suffer any of the effects the user infused the fire with. Perhaps the person was targeting someone in Building 4."
Mr. Jon nodded in understanding but didn't look any less concerned. The man turned his attention to Yunho.
"Well, you definitely had the right call," He said, "We should all go into the cellar for shelter now then."
Everyone agreed, and they began to go into the cellar.
But just as Yunho was about to enter, he realized something.
There could still be people left.
He knew that it was risky and dumb, but a sudden wave of courage washed over Yunho.
He would just take one more loop around the base. Wasn't this his purpose for coming to the base in the first place? To help?
Yunho paused at the entrance of the cellar. Mr. Jon looked back at him with a confused expression.
"Aren't you coming in?"
Yunho smiled.
"Just... Give me 10 minutes, okay?"
And with that, Yunho ran out of the canteen. As he left the canteen, Yunho retrieved the communication stone from his pocket and channeled a message into it. He was so exhausted that he almost couldn't do it.
"The base is under attack."
After doing that, he put the device back into his pocket and continued on his mission.
He didn't have a clear plan, but he began running to the buildings, checking if there was anybody left. But luckily, it seemed there was nobody.
"Looks like most of everyone was deployed," Yunho remarked to himself as he took a quick rest inside the hallway of a building.
Just when Yunho was beginning to think there was really no one else left, a pair of arms pulled him into one of the rooms from behind
Reacting quickly, Yunho whipped around and hit the person's face, causing them to let go.
"Ow. That hurt," they said.
The familiar voice made Yunho stop in his tracks.
"Drelle?" Yunho asked. Now looking at the person, he could see he really was Drelle.
"What... Why are you here? Aren't all the soldiers supposed to be gone?" Yunho questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Not all of them. They left a couple of us behind to watch over the base." Drelle answered.
Yunho paused. But he didn't see anyone else...
Without being asked, Drelle continued explaining. "I lost track of the other knight-in-training that was left on the base with me, so I was both trying to find him and trying to see who or what caused the fire when I saw you walking around. I was concerned, so I pulled you inside. This is my room, so I felt like you'd be a little safer here than out wandering. Where were you going, by the way?"
"...I was just walking around because I felt scared. You don't need to worry about me. If you're looking for someone, you should prioritize them."
Drelle paused and smiled.
"Ah, you have a point. I'll just go look around for a second, but I'll be right back," Drelle said before leaving Yunho alone.
Yunho looked around the room.
The architecture of the room was similar to Yunho's own; the only difference was Drelle's window was larger. But, Yunho noticed that in the corner of the room, a large cloaked object was sitting on a short table. The object seemed to be dome-shaped and was also emitting a foul scent.
Yunho approached the object and carefully pulled off the cloak, revealing a silver cage. Inside the cage, lying belly-up at the botto,m was a... Black Dewbird, Its talons were sharp, and its eyes were glossy. But It wasn't alive anymore, and the scent punched Yunho in the nose.
He felt nauseous.
Drelle was...
"Really, nothing gets past you, huh? Didn't anyone teach you that it's not nice to go through people's things?" A voice said behind him.
Yunho's heart dropped, and he whipped his head around.
It was Drelle. But the man looked different from before. His irises were now a purple color: the tell-tale sign of a Bahitan high mage.
"Surprise! Sweet, Little Drelle wasn't who you thought he was." Drelle said with a smile.
Drelle continued:
"You know what, Iris? This pains me as much as it hurts you. At the beginning, I was just determined to complete my mission. Share Intel and destroy the base. But then, I became acquainted with you. I actually knew you before that day I introduced you to Mr. Jon. That whole 'dewbird repellent disguised as perfume' thing was really interesting to see. Since that point, I knew that you weren't someone I could neglect, so I decided to become closer to you. And admittedly, I became attached. So, I gave you one last chance to align yourself with me and accept me. But as I expected, you rejected me. Funnily enough, that night was the night I tapped into the communication channel between you and the Grand Duke and overheard your clever, little strategy. It would've probably worked too if you didn't have that thing around your wrist sapping your energy. So, of course, then I had to-"
Drelle's sentence was cut off by the impact of the birdcage hitting him in the head. Yunho, who had just thrown the cage, quickly took the chance to force himself through the window.
As soon as his feet met the ground, Yunho took off running. His legs were sore, and he felt near collapse. But he couldn't stop now.
"I guess everyone here still operates on book logic. I was not going to just sit around for that monologue."
Yunho pumped his legs harder.
The canteen came into sight, and using the rest of his energy, Yunho ran into the supply room. Mr. Jon was still waiting outside the cellar, but after one look at Yunho's panicked face, he opened the door for both himself and Yunho to enter without question and quickly locked the door behind them.
Yunho reached for the communication stone in his pocket and realized that the Grand Duke was transmitting a message:
"I'm here."
----
End of Chapter 45