Morning light poured into the halls of Mentil's mansion, warm and golden. The smell of toast, butter, and something spicy wafted from the kitchen. Kajala was already wide awake, dangling half-off a couch, red scarf wrapped around his neck like a sleeping python.
Rei stepped into the hallway, stretching with a small wince. His body still ached slightly from everything, but compared to what he'd been through, this was nothing.
"You sleep good?" Kajala asked, yawning mid-sentence as he rolled off the couch with a thud.
"I slept," Rei said flatly.
"You dream about me?"
"No."
"Liar."
Elrya walked past them, calm and elegant as always, brushing her hair with one hand and sipping tea with the other. "I don't know how you two haven't strangled each other in your sleep," she said softly.
"I tried," Rei muttered.
Downstairs, Rika was already poking at breakfast or more accurately, trying to pick the lock on the pantry out of boredom. Regulus stumbled in, tripped over a rug, and face-planted with such force that the mansion trembled a bit.
"Ow," he mumbled from the floor. "Still counts as an entrance."
Mentil entered the room wearing a light red coat with gold trim, her expression bright. "Breakfast is ready. Eat fast you've got a long day ahead."
Reiner followed behind her, quiet as ever, arms crossed. He looked around the room at the assembled group and gave a slow nod. "You're not as chaotic as I expected."
Kajala waved. "We get that a lot."
Mentil cleared her throat. "After breakfast, we'll guide you through the markets. Then we head to the cathedral. That's where we were told to look for your next clue on the Sin of Pride."
Rei paused mid-bite. "Cathedral?"
"Big, loud, dramatic place with too many candles," Reiner grunted. "Figures a guy like that would leave breadcrumbs somewhere that dramatic."
The long wooden dining table was stacked with fresh bread, butter, eggs, sliced meats, and some kind of glowing blue fruit that nobody dared touch except Regulus — who immediately regretted it and went pale for ten minutes.
Kajala piled his plate with toast and jam, somehow managing to make a mess even with just two ingredients.
"Do you always eat like you're in a food war?" Rei asked, sipping his tea.
"I am in a war," Kajala said with a full mouth. "A war against hunger."
Reiner sat at the end of the table, silently chewing while watching everyone with the patience of a soldier who'd seen a thousand mornings like this. Mentil, seated beside him, had an elegant poise even while buttering bread.
Rika was upside down in her chair again, legs draped over the backrest, nibbling cheese like it was a secret code she had to decode. "So. Big shiny cathedral today. Think it's cursed?"
"No," Elrya said calmly, "but the records say it was built over an older ruin. So it might be haunted."
Regulus, who was halfway through a sausage, stopped chewing. "Haunted?"
"It's just history," Elrya added with a smile. "I thought you liked history."
"I like dramatic history," Regulus said quickly, regaining composure. "Tragic kings, great betrayals, flaming swords. Not ghosts."
Kajala leaned across the table. "Rei, you're really quiet this morning. You didn't sneak off again last night, did you?"
Rei blinked. "I went to sleep. Like a normal person."
"You sure?" Kajala gave him a suspicious squint. "You're not secretly brooding in the moonlight again, sword in hand, thinking about destiny?"
"…No."
"Shame. That would've been hot."
Rei glared. "Eat your toast."
Kajala beamed and did exactly that.
Reiner finally spoke. "So none of you have a concrete idea what you're walking into?"
"We were told to track traces of the Sin of Pride," Elrya said. "Maestro Prenz, or whoever is tied to him. There's energy readings from the cathedral. That's our best lead."
Mentil added, "You're lucky. That place doesn't open to the public often. But since you're under guild mission clearance, we've arranged access."
"Fancy," Rika whispered. "Bet the place has secret passageways."
"Probably," Mentil said. "Just don't try to pick the walls apart."
"No promises," Rika mumbled with a sly grin.
Rei finished his food and stood, picking up his jacket. "We leave in fifteen?"
"Make it ten," Reiner said. "The guards will be waiting by the north gate."
Kajala stretched with a dramatic yawn. "Let's go, squad! Time to fight ghosts, egos, and whatever else this city throws at us."
Rei gave him a look. "If you call us 'squad' again, I'm leaving you behind."
"You say that every mission," Kajala said, slinging his scarf over his shoulder.
"And one day I'll mean it."
They all laughed except Reiner, who just blinked slowly and muttered, "Kids these days…"
The towering structure loomed ahead.
The Cathedral of Glasslight a pristine monument of white stone and glowing stained-glass windows that reached up like arms begging the sky for mercy. The air was still here, unnaturally so. As if even the wind refused to breathe near it.
Rei stood in front of the wide, arched entrance. His eyes scanned every inch. The doors were open, guarded by two knights wearing polished armor stamped with Esteria's sun-emblem. They nodded as the group approached.
"Elrya," Reiner said as they passed, "keep your eyes on the light sources. That's where weird stuff usually starts."
Elrya nodded. "Already sensing fluctuations near the upper levels."
Kajala stuck close to Rei, eyes wide with wonder. "Okay, I'm not usually into big fancy buildings, but this place is insane. Look at the glass! There's a mural of a dragon eating the sun. Why would they draw that?"
"Because it probably happened," Rika muttered, crouching to examine the edges of a worn floor tile. "People always forget how crazy the past was."
Regulus tripped over his own foot for the third time that morning and caught himself on a pillar with a loud clang. "Ahem! Tactical stumble. Checking for loose stone integrity."
"Smooth," Reiner muttered.
The group split up naturally Elrya with Rika to investigate the outer chamber walls, Regulus checking support beams, Reiner standing guard by the door with Mentil, and Kajala dragging Rei toward the altar.
"I don't trust this place," Rei said quietly.
"You don't trust anything," Kajala replied, nudging him. "But yeah. It's got that spooky magic vibe. Like something's watching us."
Rei's eyes narrowed at the stained glass above the altar a depiction of a man with seven glowing orbs orbiting him. One of the orbs, the golden one with a starburst inside, was cracked.
"Hey, Kajala," Rei said slowly, "what if Maestro wasn't the only one?"
Kajala turned. "You mean the other sins?"
"If he's Pride, there could be six more like him. Worse. Stronger. Hidden."
Kajala's smile faded a little. "You're probably right."
Suddenly, Rika's voice called from the west wing. "I found something!"
Everyone gathered quickly. Rika pointed to a section of wall that looked normal until she touched a tiny square symbol on a pillar beside it. The stone shimmered, like water rippling.
"It's a hidden door," she said, proudly. "Old magic. Very old."
Reiner approached cautiously. "Is it trapped?"
Rika gave him a slightly offended look. "Please. I know my locks."
She pressed her palm flat against the symbol and pushed.
The stone wall shifted sliding away to reveal a spiral staircase leading down into a dark, tight tunnel lit by dim blue torches.
"Well," Regulus said, drawing his axe. "Now this is more like it."
Kajala bounced slightly on his heels. "Rei, want to hold my hand if it gets spooky?"
Rei glared. "No."
"Okay, but offer's still open."
Reiner grunted. "Stay sharp. Whatever's down there it's not on any public map."
Mentil pulled a small enchanted compass from her pouch. The needle inside spun wildly.
"Great," she muttered. "This place doesn't even follow normal magic flow."
They descended.
The staircase creaked underfoot. The air grew colder, damper. The smell of old stone and something faintly metallic like rusted blood hit them as they reached the bottom.
A wide chamber lay before them. Dust. Cobwebs. Forgotten statues. And at the center a strange stone obelisk glowing faintly gold.
The moment Rei stepped closer, he felt it.
Pressure. Familiar and awful.
A presence.
Elrya frowned. "This… isn't just a relic. It's watching us."
Suddenly, a flash.
A symbol burned onto the obelisk's side the same golden orb with a starburst.
"Pride," Rei whispered.
And then a voice.
Not from the obelisk. Not from anywhere in the room.
"Did you think the story ended in Hallingway?"
Everyone drew their weapons.
Rei's grip tightened on his sword.
"Maestro," he growled.
But no one was there.
Only the echo of laughter, bouncing across stone walls.
"See you soon," the voice whispered.
And the obelisk went dark.
Silence.
Reiner stepped forward. "That wasn't an illusion. He was really here."
Mentil looked shaken. "We need to report this now."
Rei just stared at the place where the light had vanished, heart hammering in his chest.
He didn't know what Maestro was planning.
But the war hadn't ended.
It had only just begun.