Chapter 849: Distant Conversation

Trafalgar poured mana into the Shadowlink Echo. The small item reacted almost immediately, a faint pulse running through its surface as it began recording everything he said.

"We've arrived in Meraval. Everything's fine over here. How are you girls doing?"

He cut off the flow of mana. The pulse vanished with it, and the message was sent.

Trafalgar leaned back against the headboard and set the Shadowlink Echo beside him. There was no way to know how long the answer would take. A few minutes if they were lucky. Hours if they weren't. Maybe even longer depending on how the connection behaved across this distance.

He had barely settled properly when the item pulsed again. Trafalgar stared at it for a second.

'That was fast.'

He picked it up and fed mana into it once more. Mayla's voice filled the room.

"I'm glad to hear your voice, Trafalgar. We were worried about you, so hearing that you arrived safely makes me feel a lot better."

Her voice was clear enough that for a moment it almost felt like she was sitting somewhere nearby instead of far back in Euclid. Then another voice came faintly from behind her.

"Ask him how it is over there."

Cynthia.

Trafalgar's lips curved slightly. He could hear Aubrelle somewhere in the background as well, though whatever she said was too far from the item to make out properly.

Mayla continued, "You probably want to know about Aaron too. He's asleep in his bed right now. He was completely exhausted earlier." There was a short pause before she added, "How are things there? Have you learned anything yet?"

The recording ended, and the room fell quiet again. Trafalgar kept looking at the Echo for another moment, the faint smile still there. Hearing them worried about him felt better than he wanted to admit.

He poured mana into the artifact again.

"We don't know much yet. We only arrived today, so I think we'll spend the next few days watching before we start doing anything serious. The last thing we need is to make everyone suspicious of us the moment we get here."

He shifted slightly against the bed before continuing.

"We'll be careful. And if something does happen, I'm fairly confident Rhosyn and I can get out of Meraval without too much trouble, so don't worry yourselves sick. Although I know telling you not to worry is completely pointless."

A faint smirk crossed his face.

"I'll keep you updated whenever I can. I'll try to contact you every night, around this time if possible. If you're together, we can talk for a while. I'd rather not disappear for several days and leave you wondering what's happening."

His thoughts drifted briefly toward Aaron.

"Give Aaron a kiss for me when he wakes up."

Trafalgar stopped feeding mana into the Echo, sending the message. This time the answer took longer. Not hours, thankfully, but long enough for him to get up, walk toward the window, and spend several minutes staring out over the strange city beyond it.

Meraval remained unlike anywhere else he had visited. Even from this high up, the massive dome overhead dominated everything. Beyond it lay the dark ocean, water pressing against the barrier while the city beneath continued with its ordinary life as though having an entire sea hanging above their heads was completely normal.

Maybe to them it was. Trafalgar was still getting used to it.

The Shadowlink Echo pulsed again. He returned to the bed, picked it up, and poured mana into it.

This time Cynthia spoke first.

"You tell us not to worry as if that's going to accomplish anything."

Trafalgar snorted, and Mayla's voice followed from somewhere beside her.

"That's exactly what I told him."

"I know you're both strong," Cynthia continued, "but that doesn't mean you should do anything stupid. Especially when you're somewhere you don't know."

Then Aubrelle joined them.

"And if something changes, tell us. Don't decide that something isn't important enough to mention because you think we'll worry."

Trafalgar rubbed the side of his face. That sounded exactly like Aubrelle.

Mayla laughed faintly in the background. "She has a point."

"I know," Cynthia added.

Trafalgar sighed at the three voices coming from the artifact.

'I'm being surrounded from another country.'

Still, he wasn't complaining.

The conversation continued for a while after that, moving away from Meraval and everything waiting for him there. Nothing important, which was exactly what Trafalgar wanted.

Mayla told him about Aaron refusing to settle down earlier before finally exhausting himself. Cynthia complained about something Arthur had done during the day, only for Mayla to immediately correct half the story. Aubrelle talked about Euclid and a few minor matters that had come across her desk after Trafalgar left.

Trafalgar answered whenever a message came through, pouring mana into the Echo, speaking, cutting the flow, then waiting again. The delay made conversation slower than sitting together in the same room, but once they found the rhythm, it became surprisingly comfortable.

At one point, Mayla apparently moved the Echo closer to Aaron's room, though all Trafalgar heard was silence.

"He's still sleeping," she whispered in the next message. "I don't think even a dragon attack would wake him right now."

Trafalgar laughed quietly before imbuing mana into the Echo again.

"Let him sleep."

Eventually, the conversation began winding down. It was already late in Meraval, and tomorrow would be the first real day of work.

Trafalgar poured mana into the Echo one last time.

"Alright. I should get some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow night if everything goes normally. Take care of yourselves." He paused briefly, thinking about Aaron again. "And tell Aaron his father misses him."

The mana stopped flowing, and the message was sent.

Trafalgar waited long enough to receive their final goodnights before placing the item carefully on the table beside his bed. He remained sitting there for a little while afterward, letting the quiet settle back into the room.

It felt different now that their voices were gone, but not unpleasant.

He eventually stood and headed toward the bathroom. Warm water helped wash away some of the exhaustion from the journey, though it did very little for the thoughts already gathering in his head.

Tomorrow things would actually begin.

He still knew almost nothing about the real situation inside Meraval. Lyren had given him names, factions, relationships, and suspicions. Useful pieces, but pieces all the same. Now he needed to see the board himself.

'I'll spend time with Rhosyn whenever I can.'

They had already agreed on that much. They needed to exchange information, compare what they noticed, and make sure neither of them acted on incomplete assumptions. But there was another problem.

'We can't stay together constantly either.'

They had arrived together, and everyone knew Rhosyn was connected to him. If Trafalgar and Rhosyn spent every hour whispering in corners and disappearing into private rooms, people would start wondering what they were planning before they had even planned anything.

They would need some distance, at least publicly.

Trafalgar shut off the water.

17:03

'We'll figure it out.'

For tonight, there was nothing else he could do.

Morning arrived earlier than Trafalgar would have preferred.

He dressed without wasting much time, choosing dark clothes suitable for moving through the city rather than anything overly formal. Maledicta remained safely stored away, and the Shadowlink Echo went into one of the inner pockets of his coat.

After checking himself once in the mirror, Trafalgar adjusted his coat and headed for the door.

'Time to work.'

He opened it and immediately found Rhosyn standing outside his room. She had her back against the opposite wall, arms loosely folded, her black clothes blending easily with the shadows along the corridor.

Trafalgar stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Rhosyn pushed herself away from the wall and started walking.

"Don't worry about it. I couldn't sleep anyway."