Chapter 125: The Price of Failure

The response was attached to the back of the application.

Vincent unfolded it and read the first few lines.

"They were refused."

Leona leaned closer.

"Permission to excavate was refused," she said, pointing farther down. "They were allowed to survey the outer forest under supervision."

Vincent read the rest carefully.

The permitted area was marked on a smaller map. It stopped well before the place Vivienne had indicated that morning.

There were also conditions concerning the removal of objects, the employment of local workers, and the number of armed escorts.

"So they might still be there."

He rang for a servant and asked whether his mother was available.

Vivienne arrived shortly afterward with Felicia. She recognized the letter before Vincent finished explaining what he had found.

"I remember this application. They wanted access to considerably more land than they were prepared to explain."

"Did they say what they were looking for?"

"Remains from before cultivation returned. They were willing to share their findings, but wanted to keep anything they considered necessary for further study."

Vincent looked at the list again.

"Which could mean anything valuable."

"Precisely."

He placed the letter beside the map.

"Do we know whether they accepted the conditions?"

Felicia stepped closer.

"I'll request the entry register and the supervisor's reports. This file contains the correspondence, but it won't tell us where they are today."

"Please find out whether they've hired any hunters too. If someone has been taking them farther inside, I want to speak with that person."

Felicia nodded and gathered the relevant papers for her inquiry.

"Do you want the permitted area closed?" Felicia asked.

Vincent considered it, then shook his head.

"Find out what's happened first. If they've followed the agreement, we should speak with them before changing it."

He tapped the equipment list.

"And ask for any reports they've submitted. They might have already found something useful."

Leona drew the papers toward her.

"I'll go through these while you question Celeste. There may be more details in the supplies they've requested."

Leona studied the marked boundary while Vincent returned to the equipment list.

The expedition had been arranging this well before he encountered the Dragon.

Whatever interested them in the forest had already been there.

He hoped it was something they could discuss over a table. He had enough problems without fighting an Imperial expedition over a pile of old stones.

Of course, hoping wouldn't prepare him for much.

"Mom, where is Celeste being kept?"

Vivienne looked at him.

"You want to question her?"

"Yes. Anastasia should be there too."

…

Celeste stood against a wooden support in a guarded room at the rear of the manor.

The Wayfarer's Belt remained wrapped around her. Her arms were secured, and the arrangement left no room for her to fold her legs beneath her.

Vincent examined the restraint before looking at her face.

She was watching him closely.

"You've recovered," she said.

"So have you."

Her gaze moved toward Vivienne, then stopped on Anastasia as she entered behind him.

Anastasia closed the door.

"You seem disappointed."

Celeste ignored her.

Vincent brought a chair forward and sat beyond her reach. Vivienne remained near the door, allowing him to speak.

"Who sent you?"

Celeste's expression barely changed.

"You already know I wasn't acting alone."

"That isn't a name."

She looked at Anastasia again.

Vincent waited.

Eventually, Celeste answered.

"Fate House."

He repeated the name inwardly, then leaned forward.

"And they sent you to kill her?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I was given a target. I wasn't invited to discuss the reason."

Anastasia folded her arms.

"Yet you were quite enthusiastic about carrying it out."

Celeste's mouth tightened.

"Would pretending otherwise improve this conversation?"

"No," Vincent said. "So don't."

He remembered the pressure of her attacks, how little room she had given him to recover whenever he made a mistake.

Sitting across from her now didn't make those memories less clear.

He kept his chair where it was and left the belt alone. Curiosity wasn't a good enough reason to give her another opportunity to kill them.

He rested his hands on his knees.

"You accelerated the monster tide. But you didn't create the Dragon's injury or the monsters that were already gathering."

Celeste watched him without answering.

"I want to understand how much you changed."

"Enough that you should have died."

"I noticed. What did you actually do?"

For the first time, she looked mildly irritated.

"Do you expect me to teach you my technique?"

"I expect you to explain what happened to my county."

Silence settled over the room.

Anastasia remained still beside his chair. Vincent could hear someone moving in the corridor before the footsteps passed the door.

Celeste finally spoke.

"Your county already had the conditions for a disaster. Beasts, people in their path, defenses that could fail. I pushed those things toward the destruction of my enemy."

"Including people who had nothing to do with you."

"They were in the way."

Vincent stared at her.

She held his gaze, but her chin lowered slightly when he didn't respond.

He had watched this woman fight and understood how unreasonable her strength was. Hearing her describe the people beneath that strength was considerably less impressive.

"Were you given information about the Dark Forest?"

"No."

"Have you been there?"

"No."

He studied her for another moment, then nodded.

There was no reason she would know every secret in the county simply because she could manipulate karma.

"Can what you did continue after we interrupted you?"

"Beasts don't return to their dens because I've stopped cultivating. If I bring down a bridge, it remains broken."

Vincent understood.

They would need to keep checking what the tide had disturbed, even with the Dragon stabilized and Celeste captured.

He looked toward Vivienne, who gave a small nod.

Then he returned his attention to the prisoner.

"What happens when Fate House learns you failed?"

Celeste became still.

It was a small change, but Vincent had spent enough time studying their fight to notice how quickly she usually reacted.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"What they lost. What I can still provide. Who handles the matter."

"Your cultivation doesn't count for anything?"

She gave a short, unpleasant laugh.

"Did you think they would mourn the loss of their greatest genius?"

Vincent said nothing.

Celeste looked past him.

"I'm useful. That doesn't make me irreplaceable."

Anastasia's expression sharpened slightly.

Vincent considered the treasures Celeste had exhausted during their fight. He had needed borrowed strength, Anastasia's help, and an absurdly durable belt just to stop her from sitting down.

Apparently, someone had considered that a reasonable amount of power to send out on an errand.

'Wonderful.'

He rubbed his thumb against his palm.

"Would they negotiate for you?"

"Would you release me?"

"I'm asking what they might do."

"Then yes. They might negotiate. They might also decide that leaving me here is less troublesome."

Her eyes shifted toward Vivienne again.

Vincent followed the glance and understood at least part of her calculation.

She had seen who was protecting this house.

"I'm not going to promise you freedom," he said. "You can give us information. We can verify it. Then we can discuss what happens next."

"And until then?"

"You remain restrained."

Celeste looked down at the belt.

"You intend to keep me like this indefinitely?"

"I intend to keep you from using your ability on us again. If we find another reliable way, we can discuss that too."

She was quiet for a while.

Vincent stood. There were other questions, but repeating them wouldn't make her suddenly cooperative.

"Think about what I've said."

He moved his chair aside.

"They already know."

Vincent stopped.

Anastasia unfolded her arms.

Celeste swallowed before continuing.

"I sent a signal in the Highlands. After I was healed."

Vivienne stepped away from the door.

"How?"

"A bead hidden in my mouth. I broke it."

"What did it transmit?" Vincent asked.

"That the mission had failed."

"Can you recall it?"

"No."

Vincent glanced at Anastasia. Her attention remained fixed on Celeste's face.

"Why tell us now?"

Celeste's fingers moved uselessly beneath the restraint.

"Because I would rather be present for any discussion about what to do with me."

"You expect them to ask us to hand you over?"

"I don't know what they'll ask."

Her voice had become quieter.

"But if they offer you something, don't assume they're coming to rescue me."

Vincent looked toward his mother. Whatever happened in the forest, someone needed to be ready here.

"We'll account for it," Vivienne said.

Celeste watched them for a moment before lowering her eyes.

"There's something else."

Vincent waited beside the chair.

"If they send someone to speak for Fate House, don't judge their importance by their cultivation."

"Why?"

"Because the person standing in front of you may only be carrying the message."

Anastasia moved closer.

"Then explain how we recognize the person making the decision."

Celeste looked at her, then at Vincent.

He pulled the chair back into place.

"Start with that first."