As the group stepped out of Talan's house, Amukelo stretched his arms overhead, letting out a soft groan. "Well… he got me thinking," he said, glancing at the others. "What is even the reason we're asking about the past of this town? About Eland? I mean, I know we're trying to search for someone suspicious, but… he didn't seem suspicious to me."
Bral cracked his neck and shrugged. "Well, for Jinrai it seemed unusual for someone strong to not awaken their mana. But look at us. Half of us didn't awaken either. In our group, that's normal."
Idin said dryly, "Maybe there's something wrong with us."
Bral smirked. "Well, one way or another, not with me."
Bao raised an eyebrow at him. "You awakened your mana only because you lost your arm. If that didn't happen, you'd probably still be waving those stupid scrolls around."
Bral laughed as if it were a compliment. "Haha! No I wouldn't. I was totally on the verge of awakening even before that."
Bao didn't even respond. She just gave him a flat look.
Pao giggled. "So we truly don't know why we're asking those questions, huh?"
Amukelo scratched the back of his head. "Well… I guess we don't. Jinrai's the one who started it. We're just copying him at this point."
They all exchanged glances for a moment, slightly sheepish.
Pao tilted her head. "So? What do we do now?"
Bral rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the sky. "Well, Talan mentioned something about the surveyor's tools. Said they're in the town's storage. Might as well check it out. At least that's something that sounds like it's actually connected."
Idin nodded. "It's a good thing he remembered. Otherwise we'd be wandering around town asking questions that probably don't matter. 'Excuse me, ma'am, do you know what Eland had for breakfast thirty years ago?'"
They chuckled as they made their way through the town. It took them a while to find the storage building.
Eventually, though, they came to a large, blocky structure on the western edge of town. Two guards stood in front of the iron-banded doors, spears resting on the ground, posture half-attentive. They didn't look particularly concerned about anything.
Bral stepped forward and pulled out his adventurer's badge. "We're here regarding the investigation," he said confidently. "Talan the scribe told us we can find something of value in the storage."
The two guards exchanged a long glance. One of them blinked slowly. "What investigation?"
Bral blinked back. "Uh… the one regarding the recent incidents. You know. The merchant, the surveyor… the treasurer?"
The first guard scratched his chin, looking thoughtful. "Huh. I mean, I guess the road's been taking longer. Just didn't know someone was officially investigating that."
The second one gave a lazy shrug. "Eh. They put out quests for everything these days."
Bral cleared his throat. "So, can we go in?"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Come on in. Just don't mess anything up," the second said as he pushed the heavy door open.
As they stepped inside, the air shifted immediately. The room was cool and damp, with the smell of old wood and dust hanging in the air. The space was lit only by a few small windows up near the ceiling, letting in narrow shafts of daylight that barely reached the floor. Wooden shelves lined the walls, some stacked with crates, others with bundles wrapped in cloth or bits of old gear.
Amukelo glanced back at the door as it creaked shut behind them. "So… they don't know about the investigation," he said, stating the obvious.
Idin nodded, arms crossed. "Looks like it. They probably think everything that happened was just a bunch of unlucky coincidences."
Bao snorted softly. "To be fair, if not for Jinrai and Tharion, we'd probably be more clueless than they are."
Bral scratched his chin, scanning the room. "Well, let's see if there's anything actually useful in here. Talan said the surveyor's tools were brought here, so let's look for a toolbox or something that looks like it belonged to someone smarter than us."
After a while of searching, the initial excitement had begun to fade. Amukelo squatted beside a half-toppled crate of rusted nails. "Ughh… hey," he said, looking toward Bral, "what does this toolbox even look like, anyway?"
Bral was elbow-deep in a pile of discarded cloth rolls. He turned without shame and said, "Don't know. Just looking for boxes."
Idin let out a sharp sigh and slowly dragged his hand down his face. "I get Amukelo not knowing," he said flatly, "but how can you be so uneducated?"
Bral turned to him, arms raised. "What do you want from me? Never cared about that stuff. You think I spent my teenage years dreaming of being a cartographer?"
Idin rolled his eyes. "It's a wooden box, probably about knee height. It'll have a lock, and most likely a belt or handle to carry it. Maybe even some symbol on it if we're lucky."
Bao's voice cut through the room. "I think I found it."
All heads turned toward her. She stood at the back of the room near a stack of unused furniture, one foot nudging a box that matched the description perfectly. It had thick metal edges, a belt loop on the side, and a key still sitting inside the lock.
They gathered around as she clicked it open. The lid creaked slightly as it lifted, revealing a collection of iron tools fitted into grooves inside the box.
Bral leaned in, frowned, and muttered, "Well, seems like just tools."
Idin leaned closer too, squinting. "Surprisingly…"
Bral's head snapped toward him. "Hey, do you have a problem today?"
Bao gave both of them a cutting glare. "Can you shut up? Let's take these out and maybe there's something that can help us."
Bral raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. But I doubt there's anything good if someone really did push that guy off a cliff. No one leaves evidence with the body."
Still, they began taking the tools out carefully. Bral picked up one of the strange implements with two fingers, holding it like it might bite him.
Idin leaned over his shoulder. "That one's a plumb bob. It shows you true vertical. You hang it from a string, and it tells you whether you're building on a straight axis or a slope."
Bral turned slowly, wearing a face like he just got told the meaning of life. "How do you know all this stuff?"
Idin smirked. "Knowledge is power."
Bral's smirk turned right back. "Nah. I bet I could still beat you."
Idin blinked. "What? Should I remind you who had won the last time we sparred?"
"The last time we sparred, I lost, sure. But that was when I still had my arm."
Idin's face deadpanned. "Huh… is that your advantage now?"
Before the banter could escalate, Bao walked behind Bral and kicked him squarely in the lower back. Not hard enough to cause damage, but hard enough to make a point.
"Ow! That hurt! Why only me?" Bral whined.
"You were closer," Bao said, turning away without the slightest hint of guilt.
While they were distracted, Amukelo had crouched back down beside the now-empty toolbox. He was in his own little world, inspecting it closely, turning it in his hands and tapping its wooden frame.
Pao had wandered over to him and was now leaning over his shoulder. "Find anything?"
Amukelo didn't answer at first. He shook the box and a soft thunk sounded — like wood tapping against something inside.
His brow furrowed. "I think I found something."
He turned the box upside down and gave it a light knock against the floor. A narrow piece of wood, cleverly fitted, slipped loose and clattered out.
Pao bent down to examine it. "Huh… what is that?"
Amukelo looked back inside the box. There, tucked into the bottom, was a folded piece of parchment pressed flush against the base.
"There's something else," he said, and reached in carefully to pull it out.
"A parchment?" Pao echoed, eyes wide.
Amukelo unfolded it gently, and both he and Pao leaned over it. The paper was old but intact — a fine material that resisted weathering better than common scrolls.
Pao's eyes shimmered as she traced the text with her finger. "Could that be…?"
A smile crept across Amukelo's face — slow and satisfied. "It seems like the surveyor's work."
From across the room, Idin's head snapped toward them. "What? Let me see."
He walked over quickly and took the parchment from Amukelo, holding it up to the light. His face changed almost immediately.
"These are notes of the map," he said. "You could recreate the whole route from this. It's not a drawing, but it has elevation data, terrain notes, risks, landmarks... This is almost a finished project."
They all gathered around to look.