Faint rays of the morning sun revealed the conclusion of the disaster at Luminberg. Smoke rising from many of the buildings in the southeast up to the northern section of the city were at its thickest. Fire engines from nearby cities were sent to put out the smaller flames that remained of greater blazes that spread before. The city's fire department was left unharmed, except for the hapless firemen that were knocked out when the Wizards' Wall was turned on. The tasks of looking after the city and caring for all the victims of the incident were too much for the De Melvich army to tackle at once. Detachments from Blaurosen were sent out to handle the mostly medical and civic duties the city was in desperate need of.

With every Luminberger and visitor affected, all functioning hospitals had to be manned by a motley crew of army medics and civilian volunteers. Some places were converted to medical wards due to the number of people that fell victim to the chaos. The vast grounds of Luminberg's Academy became the busiest. Classrooms were cleared of desks and chairs; white beds made of steel frames took up much of the space, save for the few chairs that were more likely used by a visiting doctor or nurse. Soldiers patrolled the places where a common instructor or prefect would have been present. It was less likely that the perpetrators of this tragedy would return to the city, but they would be going against the Imperial Army should they settle any unfinished business in Luminberg.

Rinvar sat beside his wife. Elena used up all of her energy to utter a few words that night; she lay still, not minding the weak sunlight illuminating her face. There were a few knocks heard on the door to the room they were in. The captain stood up and opened it in response.

"Good to see you alive and well, Rinvar."

Farin. She donned the black, blue, and red uniform of Imperial Constabulary officers. Her normally loose hair was kept in a bun, which in turn was hidden from view by her beret.

"It's back to work the morning after eh?"

"Work didn't end that night, I'm afraid." She yawned. Farin moved her right hand in an attempt to cover her mouth, but the paper bag she held reminded her that it couldn't comply with what she intended to do. "You also look worse for wear yourself, maybe a little too stubbly."

"Been here all night. Also helped move the City Guardsmen to the other wards."

"Elena." Farin placed the goods she held on a table. She stood beside the captain while looking at the Silbern lady. "How's she doing?"

"A doctor checked on her a while back. She's in a state equal to complete exhaustion, like most of the others. She'll pull through with enough rest."

"Glad to know that she'll do fine. Elena is a tough girl after all."

"I should have checked on her right away. If only I didn't become too confident that they'll be unharmed."

Farin nodded, but then tapped Rinvar's shoulder and pointed to the bag on the table.

"There are some sandwiches and coffee. We should eat."

"Thanks." Rinvar stood up and dunked his hand in the bag, taking a flask of coffee with some of the bread items. "You coming here means you've got something new on the Gray Fox? And, how's the city?"

"It's chaos all over. The Minister of Defense is fending off the journalists as we speak. How he'll cover up a disaster this large is something I want to see. The other Armies of the Eight are being mobilized too, so it should be good news for your father. Lord Erik's men would be mostly moved back to your northeast domain by sundown."

"We'd at least get some battalions from the others I assume."

"Something like that, but the citizenry is very eager to help us in this mess, luckily." Farin took a swig of coffee from her own flask and bit part of her sandwich. "We do need more doctors and nurses than soldiers in Luminberg's state."

"Sounds good. What of the three we took in?"

"The two men are very cooperative. They were more than willing to help with the cleanup, but then I had to remind that we're keeping an eye on them."

"And that woman they were carrying?"

"She's a rather extraordinary case. The doctors last night said something about her right arm being broken, but they were quite surprised this morning."

"Really now?"

"The nurse-in-charge was supposed to change the bandages, but to their surprise, the arm was all healed up." A short burst of laughter escaped Farin's lips. "I did get a closer look at her. She's no doubt a local, and I think I've seen her before."

"You're not confusing this with someone else now, are you?"

"If I kept on doing that, you will have to replace me as Director sooner than you think."

"I'll have a look at her later, or we can ask a few nuns."

"The bishops sent help, so there will be good number of them working in the city."

Rinvar stood up and took his dress jacket from a nearby hanger. He buttoned up before saying:

"I almost forgot, I was able to get a few things while on my way to Elena. You have enough men with you?"

"Men? Why? I have a squad outside."

"More than enough. Let's go to the Southwest sector." Rinvar then turned to the sleeping Elena, held her hand, and whispered, "I've got a few things to do. I'll be back."

†

Awaiting them was a rather odd-looking army transport. It bore the front and turret of the regular armored car, with a longer chassis to carry more troops. Farin gestured to a group of men waiting outside to get in the vehicle, with her and Rinvar being the last to embark.

Festivity banners and decorations were offset by broken objects, and the occasional sight of a burnt-down house. There were soldiers who worked on clearing some of the ruined structures. They were mostly empty, as their owners fell victim to the disaster while celebrating outside. A scent of ash mixed with the morning air was circulated all over Luminberg. Tents were installed on wide, open areas, and more of them were stringed together with every meter the armored truck came closer to entering the southwest area of Luminberg. With little traffic made by passing government vehicles, the transport parked at the place where the most violence began.

Rinvar made his way to one of the large waste bins. The lock was still intact, and the captain pulled out the metal rod to reveal a man in undergarments who was bound in place. Even the metal container did not save him from losing his strength that night.

"You know, this is going to be a violation of our code of ethics, Captain."

"We'll ask our special guests later. It was more likely that this man was unfortunately robbed of his protective suit by one of the two foreigners."

Rinvar gestured two of Farin's men to lift the alleged syndicate operative out of the waste bin. The unconscious man was being put in a stretcher when the two officers decided to enter the battered Southwest Tower.

"We will need to seal this place off if we want to preserve whatever happened here." Farin looked at the bullet-riddled main door that hung in pieces as they entered the building.

"What's surprising is that the action took place here looked to be intended to take the Southwest Tower from its defenders."

"Wait. I don't get it." Farin looked at the staircase that led to the tower's Wizards' Wall machinery. "I mean they're supposed to have taken over all the towers at once. Don't tell me that some people appeared out of nowhere and driven them out."

"Now that you put it that way, those three didn't know of Luminberg's tunnels until they broke out with that magical energy-filled rock in tow." Rinvar looked at the inactive controls that could have been used to configure the ancient defense system. "This is going to be quite a gap here. I guess it's up to that woman to answer the rest when she wakes up."

"We could get some information from Volksflotte."

"Volksflotte? You mean the airship service?"

"There were passengers who were able to record some of the events." Farin approached an open cage-like device. She looked at the wires that were disconnected inside. "Also, the air arm in charge of this sector may have something for us."

"That might take a while. You said something new about the Gray Fox?"

"To be honest, I'm unsure if it has anything to do with our man, but our spotters noticed flying contraptions that were flying eastward from here. One of them drew something that looked like a flying plate, or a funny-looking oval object."

"An... oval?" Rinvar was right behind Farin, who stopped looking at the insides of the metal cage. "I think I've seen those used in Altrecht, and maybe in Aurelburg."

"So you've seen these before? You didn't tell me."

"I... overlooked that. I thought all the fire in Altrecht played tricks in my head. At Aurelburg, we never had the time to talk about that because of well, that attack."

"We can resume talking about that later. The spotters estimated that those flying things would be landing, or resting somewhere in the Antikwald."

"Just like some of the records from Neue Schwalwerk. Seems that the forest will hold part of the answers."

"Maybe the foreigners have a few pieces of this puzzle with them."

Farin stood up and looked at the ceiling; the mechanism that powered the Wizards' Wall was still in place. Charred and hanging cables converged at the top portion of the machine, where the wiring that led to the cage-like apparatus was. Her mind drifted from the machines, and she found herself looking at the open window of the Southwest Tower.