Chapter 78: Saga 78: Final Preparations
The three days before departure passed in a blur of practical preparation, the team methodically working through everything the expedition into contested Wastelands territory might require.
"Water purification wards," Claire said, cataloguing supplies spread across the safehouse’s largest table. "The Wastelands don’t exactly boast reliable clean water sources, from what Baldric’s reports suggest. Also, extra ward crystals in case we need emergency shelter against sandstorms."
"Sandstorms," Yuki repeated, unenthused. "Wonderful. Something new to add to the list of things trying to kill us."
"Better prepared than caught off guard," Harriden said, checking his own supply of daggers and shadow-binding components with methodical precision.
Sylvia, meanwhile, had taken point on reviewing whatever limited diplomatic documentation Baldric had managed to secure. "The demon kingdom’s border patrol protocols are considerably more rigid than I’d hoped. Any unauthorized crossing, even accidental, technically qualifies as trespassing under their territorial law, regardless of intent."
"Define ’technically,’" Kael said, packing his own gear nearby.
"I mean it carries genuine legal consequences, not just diplomatic embarrassment. Imprisonment, in some cases, depending on which patrol you encounter and how they choose to interpret the circumstances." Sylvia frowned at the documentation. "I’d very much like to avoid testing that particular consequence firsthand."
"Noted. We stick to Wastelands territory proper, avoid anything that looks remotely like a demon border marker."
"Easier said than done, given how poorly defined the actual boundary seems to be according to every source we’ve found."
Adian, packing considerably less combat gear and considerably more social supplies—trade goods, small gifts, the kind of items useful for building rapport with unfamiliar communities—glanced up with his usual confident optimism. "Leave the boundary navigation to instinct and careful observation. I’ve talked my way out of worse situations than accidental trespassing."
"Please don’t test that theory against demon border guards specifically," Claire said.
"No promises, but I’ll certainly try to avoid it."
Baldric visited them one final time before departure, expression carrying the particular weight of someone sending people he genuinely cared about into uncertain danger. "I’ve done everything I can to prepare you properly, but I want to be honest—I don’t have full confidence in how this expedition will unfold. The Wastelands, the demon border, this Lust System rumor—there’s simply too much unknown here for me to guarantee your safety the way I’d prefer."
"We understand the risk," Kael said. "We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought the information wasn’t worth pursuing."
"I know. That’s precisely why I’m allowing it despite my reservations." Baldric managed a tired smile. "Just promise me you’ll prioritize caution over curiosity, however tempting the mystery proves to be."
"We’ll do our best," Sylvia said, though something in her tone suggested even she recognized the limits of that particular promise given their collective track record.
That evening, the team gathered for one final meal together before the next morning’s departure, the mood considerably more subdued than their earlier celebration before the Verdant Pass mission, the genuine uncertainty of what awaited them in contested territory settling heavily over the gathering despite everyone’s determined attempts at normalcy.
"To finding answers," Yuki said, raising his glass with less of his usual theatrical energy. "And to actually surviving the process of finding them, preferably without international incidents."
"To surviving," the rest of the table echoed, the toast carrying more genuine weight than their earlier bandit celebration had required.
Kael found himself, in the quiet moments after the meal concluded, drafting one final letter to Ari before their departure, informing her of the expedition and promising to share whatever they discovered about the Lust System’s true nature, however dangerous that discovery ultimately proved to be.
Whatever waited in the Wastelands, whatever connection truly existed between this ancient desire entity and the Hollow Choir’s growing pattern of influence, Azure Blake would face it the same way they’d faced everything else so far—together, carefully, and with considerably more preparation than their usual habit of improvising through each crisis as it arrived.
Sylvia found him still writing well past midnight, the candle burned low beside him, several discarded drafts crumpled on the desk nearby.
"You’re still awake," she observed, settling onto the edge of his bed.
"Trying to find the right way to tell her we’re heading somewhere considerably more dangerous than a bandit escort, without making her worry more than necessary."
"There isn’t really a way to do that honestly, you know. If you tell her the truth, she’ll worry. That’s just what happens when people care about each other."
"I know. Doesn’t make it easier to write." Kael set his pen down, rubbing tired eyes. "Any advice?"
"Just tell her the truth, plainly. She trusted us with hers, back in Songrel. She deserves the same honesty in return, worry included."
Kael considered that for a moment, then began again, this time writing simply and directly, describing the expedition without softening the genuine uncertainty ahead. By the time he finally sealed the letter, exhaustion had caught up with him fully, and Sylvia guided him gently toward sleep, both of them needing whatever rest remained before the considerable unknowns of tomorrow’s departure.
Morning arrived too quickly, the team gathering at the eastern gate with packs shouldered and expressions set with the particular resolve that always preceded their more dangerous expeditions. Whatever the Wastelands held, whatever the Lust System truly was, they were as ready as three days of preparation could possibly make them, and there was nothing left to do now but begin the long road toward finding out, one careful, deliberate step at a time.
"Ready?" Sylvia asked, adjusting the strap of her pack one final time.
"As I’ll ever be," Kael said, glancing around at the gathered team—Sylvia steady beside him, Claire already reviewing her ward notes one last time, Harriden quiet and alert, Yuki cracking his knuckles with restless energy, Adian offering an encouraging smile despite his own evident nerves. "Let’s go find out what this Lust System actually is."
They set out together as the morning sun climbed fully over Renodin’s rebuilt skyline, the road ahead considerably longer and more uncertain than anything they’d faced in recent weeks, but together, as always, ready to face whatever waited at its end.
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End of Chapter—