The Underground was a strange presence in their world.
No one could point to a single place and claim it as their headquarters. It had no capital, no banner, no territory that truly belonged to it.
Yet everyone knew it existed in one way or another.
Perhaps through word of mouth.
Perhaps through coincidence.
But once people discovered it, they quickly found themselves relying on its services.
The Underground was a neutral network that dealt in information for the right price.
Hunters relied on them to locate Abyss beasts.
rchants purchased knowledge of rare wares and profitable trade routes.
Nobles paid for secrets that would never appear in public records.
If a piece of information existed, the Underground either already knew it or had a way to obtain it.
Their reputation had been built upon competence and an unparalleled information network.
Long before the Nightmare appeared, when hunters risked their lives exploring the unknown reaches of the Abyss, the Underground had already established itself as a guiding light.
They mapped safe paths through dangerous territories.
They tracked hidden settlents scattered throughout the frontier.
They even docunted the patrol routes of Abyss beasts within their domains.
With the right information in hand, hunters could navigate the Abyss with a degree of safety that would have otherwise been impossible.
Of course, such knowledge never ca cheap.
Information, after all, was the most valuable currency in a world filled with monsters and uncertainty.
But that was only on the surface. Most people only knew of the front that the Underground wanted them to know. Rarely do they know the operations that occur behind closed doors.
And next to Alice was soone who had a slight peak into that world.
"We need to reestablish ourselves as a mber of the Underground rather than just a client. There are certain privileges and benefits that only co from being a mber like my father rather than simply hiring them." Miki explained while Alice followed behind her.
They were now on their way to contact the Underground.
"I don't think they'll be happy to just let you back in without any conditions attached to them. It's very much a give and take relationship, no?" Alice asked curiously.
"Which begs the question of what we can even give them." She shrugged.
Miki smiled helplessly.
"All of the research we have on the Nightmare as well as potentially using Suyin's invention to retain mories from the Nightmare. Though I'm still not sure if that's enough."
As this was a transactional relationship, they needed to provide sothing of value.
"How did your father even beco a higher up of the Underground in the first place?" Alice scratched her hair.
Depending on what her father did, they might be able to copy the sa thod.
Miki scratched her cheek.
"I'm not familiar but… My father apparently treated the leader to a al."
Alice blinked her eyes.
"He what?"
"He treated the leader to a al. After that, the leader found him enjoyable and gave him a high ranking seat in the Underground."
Alice paused, it felt as though she had just been hit with a sledge hamr.
One of the most mysterious organisations in their world, one that could gather information like no other…
And Miki's father got a seat by… treating the leader to a al?
Alice massaged her eyes.
It was probably a hidden test of so sort and Miki's father had passed.
"Do we even have a way to contact him? Or are we stuck with those working below him?" Alice asked.
"I have a thod that I can try. If it doesn't work… I'll have to contact those below him instead."
They made their way through the quieter districts of Grand Cathia.
The streets here were wider, the buildings taller, their stone walls bearing the marks of history. Before the upper layer was constructed, this was where the nobles would've lived.
Among them stood the Nightingale estate.
It had been so ti since Miki last returned here.
After her father's death, she had moved most of her operations to the command center. It had been easier to stay busy there than to return to a ho that suddenly felt far too quiet.
Yet despite her absence, the estate had not fallen into neglect.
The tall iron gates were polished.
The garden paths remained trimd.
Lanterns still hung along the walkways, their warm light illuminating the front courtyard.
A handful of attendants were moving about the grounds.
So swept fallen leaves from the stone path. Others were tending to the plants lining the entrance hall.
They paused when they noticed Miki approaching.
Surprise crossed their faces.
"My lady, you've returned." One of the older attendants bowed imdiately.
Miki nodded her head.
"Sorry it's taken this long. I've been a little busy." She quickly stopped him from bowing.
Even though she was now technically the head of the Nightingale family, she didn't quite feel like a leader of a noble house yet.
"I thought I told everyone they could take ti off." She asked.
Since she planned on staying in the command centre, there was no need to keep this house in good condition. Not when no one was living here.
The attendant straightened, offering an apologetic smile.
"This is still the Nightingale residence. We should be here to maintain it. And…" He sighed, looking back at the house.
"This place hold many precious mories for us as well. The Lord treated us like family, giving us work and shelter when we needed it. Even though he is no longer with us, we will continue to carry out his will." He turned to Miki.
"As long as the Nightingale na still stands, this house will not be abandoned."
For a mont Miki did not respond.
She simply looked past him at the estate.
The stone building had not changed.
The sa pillars stood at the entrance.
The sa lanterns illuminated the garden paths.
mories began flooding back from her childhood. The days she spent running through the garden with her father. The attendants who watched her grow from a curious child into the person standing here now.
For a brief mont, it felt as though all the pressure weighing on her shoulders had disappeared.
She wasn't Captain Nightingale anymore.
Just Miki.
"You have so loyal people." Alice smiled.
Miki nodded.
"My father had a way with people."
The older attendant smiled faintly.
"The Lord always believed that loyalty could not be bought. It had to be earned."
He glanced toward the estate behind them.
"Now that you have returned, I imagine there is sothing you require from this place."
"Right…" Miki exhaled softly. "I'm looking to reestablish our connections with the Underground. My father's office should still be the sa as before, correct?"
The attendant nodded without hesitation.
"Of course. Nothing in that room has been touched since the day the Lord passed."
He stepped aside and gestured toward the entrance.
"If you are looking for sothing he left behind, you will find it exactly where he placed it."
The attendant stepped aside as the doors to the estate opened.
The interior was quiet.
Lantern light reflected softly against polished floors as Miki and Alice stepped inside. The familiar scent of wood and old parchnt lingered in the air.
Nothing had changed.
They walked deeper into the estate until they reached the study.
Miki pushed the door open.
Her father's office had been preserved exactly as it was.
Shelves filled with books and docunts lined the walls. Maps of distant regions and Abyss territories hung neatly beside them.
But the most striking thing in the room was the portrait above the desk.
A painting of her father.
He looked exactly how most people rembered him.
Noble.
Serious.
His posture straight, eyes calm yet firm. The portrait captured the quiet authority he carried without needing to raise his voice.
Alice walked closer to the painting.
While Miki searched the desk and drawers.
Docunts.
Sealed envelopes.
Old reports.
"So that's your father?" Alice asked as Miki nodded.
"He never liked posing for portraits. Said it felt awkward for him to keep looking at a picture of himself." Miki chuckled. "But this one he couldn't exactly reject since it was a gift."
"Indeed. I commissioned a good friend of mine to make this portrait in honour of your father."
"!!!"
Alice widened her eyes.
Without hesitation, she spun around and swung her fist infused with Abyssal energy as a singularity was aid at the third party.
*BANG!!!
Catching Alice's fist, the man ducked under her follow up strike before flicking his hand and their surroundings changed in an instant.
Instead of the office, they were now in the middle of a strange lake surrounded by white mountains. A single island with a tree rested in the middle and pink blossoms fell from the branches.
'Second resonance? No, this is just a standard ability!' Alice analysed. She couldn't feel the displacent caused by a resonance not to ntion the fact that the deploynt ti was too fast!
Miki took a mont longer than Alice to react but her spear was summoned and she stabbed towards the intruder.
But in the next second, he was gone.
"What the…" Alice imdiately activated Vision as her Sigils burned to life.
Snapping her finger, several singularities spawned only to be swallowed then extinguished.
Since that was the case…
Alice summoned her artifact. Switching forms, she was about to shatter the realm when a hand held her wrist.
"Now now, we wouldn't want to be breaking my dear old friend's office now do we? But then again, knowing you're the kid that Allura looks after, I wouldn't be surprised."
Upon the ntion of Allura's na, Alice froze.
"Nice to et you two. I believe you were looking for ."
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