After identifying the black key, Nero took his time observing the image of the sword. The first thing he noticed was that the sword was too large to be a typical single-handed sword, but not enough to be a double handed one. It was not easy to estimate through a picture alone, but it seemed like it was approximately 100 cm (39 inches) long, blade and handle included.

The majority of the blade was without embellishments, but the base of the sword, where it connected to the handle, there was a great deal of artistry, all around the black key, but never touching it.

The decorations were of gold, while the sword and handle themselves were silver, which brought a great deal of attention to the black key, which was not a good thing for Nero.

“It gets worse,” Gabriel said, and showed him another picture. It was still the same sword, but from the other side, which clearly had an empty slot for the black key, but no actual black key.

“They’re going to want the black key too,” Nero said as he came to a simple realisation. “What’s the story with the sword? Is it special?”

“It’s special in the sense that it was given to the original General Barakus by emperor Iskunder for his loyalty and service. I don’t think the sword actually does anything. But then again, maybe that’s because it’s lacking a black key. Who knows, once another black key is added, the sword might have some kind of reaction.”

“Depending on how much they want it, the black key might be used by Kolar as leverage in case they ever want to trade something of importance with New Velariya. The key has gained state level significance. The chances of getting our hands on it have diminished greatly.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Gabriel said, bringing out another picture of a small, heavily decorated red chest. It looked like some kind of royal jewellery box or something, though the thing that attracted Nero’s attention was that it had three keyholes, one of which had a black key inside of it.

“That is a picture of the jewellery box given by Wanhao Suharto to his wife when they got married.”

“Wanhao Suharto, the dictator of Creta?” Nero asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Gabriel said, nodding.

Nero frowned as he tried to recall what he knew about Creta and its ruler. About Creta, he knew a significant amount. It was a barren country, lacking vegetation and water, because of which it has a tiny population. Ironically, the lack of vegetation didn’t actually spare them from having to face curses, as it was home to one of the largest cursed zones in the world – if not the largest.

But about its ruler, Nero knew surprisingly little.

“What’s the significance of giving this to his wife? If he has a key that the Barakus family wants, wouldn’t it be smarter to trade with them? I can imagine they need the help.”

“This is not exactly common knowledge, but Wanhai married into his wife’s family. Suharto is not his family name, it’s his wifes. Tomoe Suharto is the matriarch of the Suharto family, and the real ruler of Creta. I don’t know what’s so special about the box, but Wanhao made a big show of presenting it to his wife during their marriage, which is the only reason I was even able to find out about this box. The point is, knowledge of these black keys is not exactly common, but you can bet that a lot of important people have their eyes on them. They clearly unlock more than just…”

Gabriel didn’t complete his words, but he didn’t need to. It was enough to understand that Nero wasn’t getting his hands on these keys any time soon.

“Keep an eye out for information on the keys, but don’t worry too much about it. I reckon this is out of our hands at least until we get Professions.”

“No kidding. By the way, I looked into Patrick like you asked. You’re right – someone has erased his records, and they’ve done a good job of it. Even his school records are gone. I even went through old yearbooks given to the senior and graduated students. Even the year books don’t have his picture! Whoever made him disappear did a very good job of it.”

“Did you get any leads on who did it?”

Gabriel only shook his head, indicating there was no lead.

“Keep looking, but don’t worry too much about it. We have more urgent matters to focus on.”

“Speaking of, I have some news, though I don’t know how important it is. You remember Vanessa from school?”

“Of course,” he said.

“Well, it turns out she’s a real big shot back in Nova.”

“I recall Silas’ father made a big deal about her last name, Abel. From what I recall, she was related to some bigshot artisan.”

“No, not just that,” Gabriel said. “She’s not just related to some big shot, she is a big shot. She’s being groomed as a candidate for future president of Nova. She has family connections to Golden Dawn, the largest political party in the country, family ties to the military, and has ties to the largest research institute in the country. Her coming to Kolar is not just a foreign exchange program, she’s a part of a larger diplomatic envoy.

“Honestly, if I hadn’t suddenly come into the limelight within the family, I wouldn’t have had the connections to find out about her. The chances that someone like that would just end up in Aetherpeak, right before the ruins are revealed…”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying. But I think we have enough things on our plate right now, there’s no need to get involved with her too much. At most it can be considered rubbing shoulders with foreign powers. Maybe in a few decades she will serve as an important contact, when we have enough influence as well.”.

In truth, Nero very much needed to talk to Vanessa, but he couldn’t let Gabriel know about that. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Gabriel, but some things were better left unsaid. Also, despite the fact that Gabriel was the closest thing to a best friend Nero had, their relationship was founded on the basis of mutual interest, not friendship. After distancing themselves from Vanessa, he was planning on casually asking if Gabriel knew where she was, when he saw a mischievous smirk on Gabriel’s face.

“Maybe you’re done with her, but I feel like she’s not done with you. Take a wild guess as to where she is right now.”

Nero was dumbfounded, but then suddenly thought of something.

“Don’t tell me she’s…”

“Yup, she’s at Fordham base,” Gabriel said. “Whatever is happening there is real secret stuff – even I couldn’t find out why your service is there. It’s literally in the middle of nowhere. But I’m willing to bet it was something to do with her.”

Gabriel slipped out a map of Kolar, and pointed to Fordham base on it. It was to the west of Jin river, which flowed from the mountains and passed by Lorilem, near a natural lake. On the map, that place was entirely empty, without even a sign to indicate that there was a base there. It was literally smack dab in the middle of the country, yet it was far away from any kind of settlement, town or strategic resource. Its position was highly unusual.

“Whatever her goal is, I’ll figure it out. What we need to focus on is what comes next for us. Will you be joining KMA?”

“Not yet. I’ve managed to push it to six months. I’ll join around the same time as you. It’ll also give me some time to ensure our placement in KMA is where we need it to be. It might be tough though – KMA is notorious for not being influenced by external forces.”

“Well, do what you can, but even if you can’t manage anything, don’t worry about it. Focus instead on becoming an Initiate. I think I’ll become an Initiate long before my six month service is up.”

The two spent the next hour discussing their future plans. It was impossible to plot out one’s military career, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t aim for specific departments and positions. Unfortunately, which corp and division they would end up in was not something they could easily influence.

Eventually, though, Gabriel left. Like Nero, he was departing from Aetherpeak, perhaps forever. But Nero didn’t get up from his booth. Instead, he pulled open his card case and took out the Flickering Lantern card.

Flintlock had given him this card, and if Nero used it, that meant he agreed to join Unity. After putting up a tough front for so long, Nero was forced to give it up, but it couldn’t be helped. If Unity knew anything about Irene, or could help in any way, then he had to join them – even if it meant signing a deal with the devil.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep