Rubbing his hands together, Luke asked,
“Don’t we need to bring anything?”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t pack you a lunch.”
Master Temena repeated his warnings several times. Rosa was about to leave when she suddenly asked,
“You’re a mage too, aren’t you?”
“That was long ago. I’ve forgotten it all.”
“Why did you stop?”
“To marry a potter. Well, good luck.”
Master Temena extended three fingers downward to make the sign of Chand. Rosa gave an awkward smile. When the four of them went out, some of the men remaining behind tilted their heads in puzzlement. Onil was the first to voice what they were thinking.
“The young lady’s taking quite a risk.”
“Hasn’t she fallen for the captain?”
Neups answered immediately, and Terry objected.
“As if. Does Miss Rosa still look like a woman to you?”
Hal cut the argument short.
“Enough of that nonsense. After seeing today’s duel, even a rock, let alone a woman, would want to do something. Why do you think we’re all here?”
Rosa did not go far. She did not even leave the Grand Theater building. Instead, she went upstairs. Following her, Luke asked,
“Is Ayanad on the roof? Why are we going up?”
“Just follow, and you’ll see.”
Walking along the second-floor corridor, Rosa examined the doors on either side, one by one. After inspecting them all, she went up to the third floor and did the same. Tahyang and Hanbun followed without a word. When she went back down to the first floor and repeated the process, Luke asked again,
“Did you leave something at the theater?”
At last, they came out onto the stage. Deeply enclosed by the quarry, it was dark. Rosa looked at it, biting her lip in thought. Then she walked across it. As she went, she saw blood spilled here and there on the floor. And beneath the stage was a black mark, clearly visible even by moonlight alone. Blood still pooled there, as though a spring had welled up from the ground. Rosa stared at it for a moment.
“Let’s go.”
Tahyang spoke behind her. Rosa nodded and climbed into the seating, then eventually left the theater through an entrance. The guards at the door went inside to send out the remaining men as agreed, and the iron door closed firmly. Luke muttered,
“How are we supposed to get back in now?”
“We probably won’t be back before dawn.”
At Rosa’s answer, Luke glanced uneasily toward the theater and smacked his lips.
“I wonder whether he’ll be all right until then.”
Outside was Crystal Avenue. Instead of walking along it, Rosa slipped into one of the surrounding alleys. Countless buildings crowded together along the street. A newly built brick house, a collapsing wooden house beside it, a brightly lit tavern, a warehouse covered in iron plates, a gate in a fence through which the other side was plainly visible. Passing all of these, she stopped before a door. It was the back door of a small temple dedicated to the god of sleep. In other words, an ordinary wooden door. When Rosa studied it, Tahyang spoke.
“This door leads nowhere. It won’t open, either. They must have sealed it from the inside when they repaired the place.”
Before he began roaming the outskirts of Delphinad as he had recently, Tahyang had already explored every corner of the city itself. That was how he knew this temple. Without answering, Rosa stood motionless and stared at the door. Then she pulled the handle.
The door opened.
Luke’s eyes widened. What he saw through the doorway was not a temple. It was an alley. He could even see the night sky and stars. But when he stepped back, the surrounding structure was undeniably a wall, and the roof was solidly closed above it.
“Come in.”
Rosa went inside, followed by Tahyang, then Hanbun. Luke hesitated a little, then murmured as he put one foot through.
“Anir, I pray that mages like poetry.”
When Luke too had entered, the door closed. Moonlight shone on it as though nothing had happened.
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