Settling Oddities

I gently grabbed onto the layer that connected the tunnel from Teuton to Briton. Next, I pushed the rest of the layers away and turned the image vertically to show to the group. Next, I grabbed hold of the idea of the Five Domains using my other hand and overlapped the two.

I zoomed in to give the rest a sound vision of what I was talking about.

"I know it sounds dangerous, but we will be using the storm as a cover so that the enemy won't predict our movements. With the calculation that I've come up with, Vania, by the time we reach there, if we were to set off at dawn, we would end up facing the storm," I explained.

"Great; we can kill two birds with one stone if we head by that route. Although, I do have a question. Is the prediction saying that you two would be in time to greet that storm, or would you two be going through that disaster?" asked Mavislin.

"Most likely, we would be greeting that storm, but my ideal way of entering the tunnel would be using the storm as a cover. Thus, we would enter that area before the Eye of the storm comes along. That way, the enemy won't predict our timings. "

"First, however, I would want the storm to pass. If I need to brave that storm, we might end up stuck there for a prolonged time. What I can do is I can lessen the storm itself. Instead of being a Category 5, I can dwindle it down to a Category 1 storm."

"Which means that it would deal less damage but survivable."

"Don't fret about survival. We are evacuating the people who are in the path of the storm. It will pass through, but no lives will be lost. Hopefully, it's a natural disaster, not by the power of a Mage," replied Z, agreeing with my plan.

"So, is that plan alright with everyone?" I asked, hoping that Mavislin would approve of my route.

"I like it, but please turn that storm down in terms of power. That way, we could go through without asking for extra help. Also, I would be having Tomoe tagging along with you. In case of any unforeseen events. I'll be fine alone," ordered Mavislin.

"Are you sure? Do you have back up with you?" asked Bryan, still seeing stars.

"Yes, it's called me, myself and I. Now then, let's open these letters," instructed Mavislin.

Upon closer inspection, I found that those letters had a powerful scent of something I couldn't quite put my finger on... And I froze up as I remembered something important. I thought the Duchess was in the Urnsfield Domain?! My eyes widened as I stared at Mavislin.

Mavislin grabbed one of the letters and sniffed it, much to my shock.

"I don't remember this scent belonging to Vernice. Her house shouldn't have this type of smell. It's like the scent of somewhere rainy and earthy... The Midford house is fully sheltered, and it doesn't rain at that place," said Mavislin, opening the letter.

I found that odd. In the Map of the Five Domains, the Briton Domain looks a whole lot like Britain from my previous world. Britain was notorious for having heavy rainfalls and not much sun. My eyes lit up as I recalled a science-fiction series I used to watch with my brother.

"Petrichor, the smell of dust after rain. Otherwise known as the smell of rain, the scent on those letters. If there isn't any rain around where Vernice stays, then I can safely assume she was either somewhere else when writing those letters, or it wasn't her at all," I replied, clutching a letter.

"And not to mention that Vernice is in charge of the Urnsfield Domain. Why would she be at the Briton Domain?" I questioned, looking at everyone.

"The Duchess may be in charge of the Urnsfield Domain, but the Midfords commands the Briton Domain. Vernice was talking about her hometown. But you are right; why would she lodge for help if it wasn't her Domain? Shouldn't it be Li Ling instead?" asked Z, finally realizing the oddity.

"Li Ling doesn't know about the Prisoners' Den since it's a private area owned by the Midfords. So she wouldn't have access to or knowledge about the lowest district anyway. And I can guarantee that Li Ling is fine since I spoke to her a week ago," replied Mavislin.

That was a relief to hear, to know that no one else is involved in this spiderweb of a mess. Although, it didn't seem right for Vernice to sound out directly to Bryan instead of talking to Li Ling first. Do they have a strained relationship? I thought they were good friends, according to the books.