Chapter 46 - Secret(?) Meeting

"Tell me, what do you know about [The Fool]?"

"E...Eh?!" Rin widened her eyes in shock. "P-Prez...how did you learn such a thing..."

'There was no way that she heard that from someone, right? I never told anyone about it yet, and I'm sure Mari wasn't there at that time when I extracted the info from Mantis Guy', Rin thought to herself.

She also checked if the paraphernalia she got from the demon was still intact in her possession, and it still is.

So how did she got that...

Meanwhile, Karen looked at her two friends with a puzzled face, unsure of the thing they're talking about.

"I'll tell you later. Let's call the others first before we proceed." Mari said.

-----

When Mari told them of the news that Karen and Rin had woken up, Iza immediately sprang from deep somber and rushed towards their tent with an unnatural vigor. The accompanying James was also happy, though not as hectic as her.

"KAREEEEEEENNNNNNNN!!!!! Thank goodness you're awake now waaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!" Iza instantly broke into tears as she leaped towards Karen's side as soon as she entered the tent.

"I-Iza...sorry for making you worry about me..." Karen said while gently patting Iza's back.

"Not only just her. Everyone's worried about you, Karen." James spoke.

"I-Is that so? I'll directly apologize to everyone once I fully recover."

"Hey...I just woke up as well, aren't you guys worried about me the same way as the way you worry about Karen?" Rin said from the side.

"Well, we also became worried for you, but considering you have those two fuel tanks with you, I'm sure you'll get up sooner or later", Iza replied with a small pout of her lips.

"F-Fuel...tanks..?"

"I say, everyone's having fun right now, but there's another important matter that we should discuss here right, Iza?"

After watching her classmates for a while, Mari spoke with a clear, strict tone to everyone present.

Having met her cold gaze, Iza immediately calmed down. "T-That's right..."

"Well then, we shall proceed with this emergency meeting."

Upon hearing the word 'emergency', everyone's bodies instantly felt tension.

After Iza and James took chairs and sat beside Karen and Rin respectively, Mari started the meeting.

"The reason for this emergency meeting was because, some of you obtained valuable information that would help us in the future encounter with the enemy forces. Rin, can you tell us what did you learned from the enemy?"

But before she answered the question, Rin asked, "Don't you think that their are others that could hear what I'm about to say? Aren't you afraid that there are traitors eavesdropping just outside this tent?"

The fact that even a well-defended city like Barchen could still be invaded by the enemy forces mean that there's a possibility of a collaborator within the city premises just like the late General Trajan, Rin explained.it may not be certain, but she deemed not to let any outsider know that they hold important information just in case.

Mari calmly replied. "About that...there's no need for you to worry..."

When she said those words, Rin and the others thought, 'as expected of Mari, she always does things meticulously!'

"There's no need to worry because...everyone's already hearing us speak right at this moment."

At that moment...

""""WHAAAAAAAATTTTTT??!!!""""

Her classmates shouted in unison.

"P-Prez, are you crazy? What's the point of having a private meeting here if everyone outside is listening at us in the first place?!" Rin protested furiously at her.

'Voluntarily letting any bystanders to listen at us...what in the world is she thinking?', the four thought.

"I-I will create a barrier around us! That way, they won't hear us talk!" Iza stood up in panic.

"Iza, no! If you do that, they'll become suspicious!" Karen stopped her.

"B-But, Karen..."

{Seems like you're forgetting about something...}

"Eh? Who's that?" Karen looked around to find where the voice came from.

{For you to forget my voice because of your condition...I'm sad, you know? Really, really sad...}

"Ah! V-Violet...!!!" Karen exclaimed.

Having met none who have telepathic powers other than her in this world yet, she knew that the one talking to her was one of her classmates.

{Iza, there's no need for you to panic. I got you guys covered!}

"Oh, Violet! Where are you right now?" Iza spoke to her while looking up the top of the tent.

With them being aware of telepathy there's no need for them to worry that they're hearing voices other than theirs inside their mind.

{Me and the girls might be on the other side of this country, but as long as Mama Mari needs our help we won't hesitate to use our abilities even if the distances between us is heaven and earth!} Violet sent her thoughts directly to them.

{I asked Violet's help to transmit our voices up to several meters away while filtering out any confidential information that should only be shared between us. Once the meeting has ended, she will transmit all the information to the all the members of the class so that they would not be left behind.}

{That's right! I'll make sure any bystanders would only hear random chattering if they try to eavesdrop on us!}

The four looked at each other for a moment, before they try communicating with each other telepathically.

{Uwaaaa! Telepathy sure is amazinggg!}

{Y-Yeah...}

{With this, I could finally hear what the girls are thinking right now. Mehehehe...}

{Oh great, I could hear someone thinking of indecent things right here...}

After confirming that all of them could communicate with their thoughts, Mari decided to calm them down.

{If you didn't know, Violet's ability would only last a maximum of one hour. I would appreciate it if we get to the topic as soon as possible, and not give her too much mental strain...}

{Acting as a medium...it really is hard...}, Violet sighed.

-----

A small table was placed in the middle of the tent. And on top of it, was a pink bear stuffed toy serving as Violet's proxy for the meeting.

{Violet, can you make Stuffie stand up and move using your powers?} Iza asked as her eyes glimmer in anticipation.

{I-I think I can but...that's not the reason I'm 'here', remember?}

{Iza...please get serious now...Mari's eyes look so scary now...} Karen shook her head.

{Prez, can you finally tell me how did you know about [The Fool]?} Rin asked.

When she said that, everyone's gazes fell on her.

{To tell you honestly...I heard about it from the conversation between you and your opponent. It only lasted for a few seconds, but I heard it loud and clear}, Mari answered.

{Huh? But I'm 1000 percent sure you're not there at that time...}

{Indeed, I was not there at that time}, she nodded slightly. {I was with the royal family at that time and yet for some reason, I heard your voices as if you're nearby. Even until now I'm quite confused as to how did that happen.}

{[Brain Waves], that's the reason!} Violet interrupted her as she spoke through the stuffed toy.

{Brain what?}, James asked.

{A-Ahem...let me explain it to you guys. You see, ever since we were born we always 'hear voices' inside our mind right? It happens all the time but there are cases when those 'voices' radiate outwards without us knowing in the form of waves. Then, in order for another person to 'hear' those waves he or she must have at least the same wavelength of thinking with the one transmitting the message} Violet explained.

She added that, it happened because both of them are having the same thoughts of saving people at almost the same time, apart from being familiar with each other.

While the probability that such phenomenon would happen is very low, with proper training one could either transmit and/or hear other people's thoughts at will.

{So that's how it was. Now, its your turn to tell us what that thing called [The Fool] is, Rin.} Violet spoke to her.

{Okay. But first, I will show you what I found...}

Rin then spread out a sheet of parchment on the table and presented it to everyone.

{I don't know what language is used for this one, but it seems like they're looking for this [The Fool] thing according to the Mantis Guy}, she said.

Shown on the parchment, is a map containing unknown texts, with lines and symbols written all over a specific place.

{Mm-hm...and they already narrowed down their search range within this area.} Mari took a quill from her pocket and wrote words beside the text already written on the map.

Iza peeked closer to the map. {Trifecta...?}

{That is the name of the ancient country that comprised what is called the Central Triangle now--Arandel, Narashel and Rashaim. Using the locations of past attacks in the modern maps as reference, I confirmed that this one is a map from about 2000 years ago, the time when the three kingdoms were just part of a single, larger kingdom}, Mari explained while placing another map next to the ancient map, showing the present locations of the three countries.

Feeling a bit unsure because of Mari's discovery, the four then compared the two maps--and they were surprised to see that her assumptions are right.

{Just by looking at it for a moment...you discovered such thing easily...}

{Even if she's not admitting it Mari's really a genius!}

{Well, she's not called 'Mama Mari' for nothing...}

{Prez...forgive me for having doubts to your deduction skills...}

{Though I can't see what's exactly going on over there right now, I could still say that Mama Mari is really awesome!} Violet added.

Hearing them praise her continuously, Mari placed her clenched fist on her chest as though stopping herself from showing any emotion to them.

{But still, being able to narrow down their search to just within three countries over a span of 2000 years...now that's what you call dedication}, James thought afterwards.

{Just what kind of thing that [The Fool] thing really is for them to comb the entire world looking for it?}, Iza also thought as she rested her chin on her arms.

Karen and Violet gave their own guesses regarding Iza's question.

{It might be a powerful weapon, or a magical artifact that could contain this world's deepest secrets...}

{There's also a possibility that thing may not be even tangible, something that only exists in the mind of whoever believes in the existence of such object...}

{Or it may not be an object--but a person instead?} Rin thought.

Having those words come right out from her mind, everyone present looked at her with eyes of shock.

{W-What's with that look, guys?! It's just an assumption, see?}

{W-Well, now that you've said it...I think that there might be a possibility that you're right}, Iza said reluctantly.

{If that's the case, then isn't 2000 years too much just to search for a person?} James asked.

{Compared to humans, 2000 years isn't that long of a time in the eyes of demons,} Rin replied. {Even if it would take them a million years, as long as they could obtain that thing and fulfill their objectives, patiently waiting for that moment is easy-peasy for them.}

Rin thought that [The Fool] was something owned by an individual from 2000 years ago and is inherited to his descendants, and the demons are currently having a rough time searching for the whereabouts of the latest successor.

{And until such time they found it more and more innocent people will be put into danger, just like what happened to Barchen and Arteim...}

Karen felt her heart aching as she realized that countless people died as a result of the demons searching for something even them didn't know what it looked like.

{So many people lost because of that thing, even...}

Even within her thoughts, she still couldn't bring up that certain matter to herself.

{When I asked additional details about [The Fool], Mantis Guy said to me that it's something humans like us won't ever understand, and even demons like him who can understand a bit what kind of thing that is, are also skeptical about its existence.} Rin said while feeling regretful.

{What shall we do now, Mari? We can't just let those guys wander around freely while looking for that thing, right?} James said as his eyes flashed with hype.

{Hm. You're right. Unless we found it before they do, this situation would continuously and inevitably turn against our side. However...}

No one knows what exactly [The Fool] is. That is the main dilemma that plagued demons for the past 2000 years.

{For us to obtain more information, we need to encounter as much demons as possible.}

Tightly gripping the quill in her hand, Mari drew a circle around a certain area in the ancient map Rin provided, then connected it with other areas Mari had already encircled minutes before.

{Sometime between one to six months from now, the demons would attack another city somewhere east--the most probable target being Sadari, situated at the border between Arandel and Narashel. We shall use that opportunity to obtain as much information from the enemies.}

Everyone could not believe what Mari has said. Did she just saw another vision just now?

{Until such time happens, we shall look into other sources of information regarding [The Fool] and other related topics. Violet, please relay this to all members of the class immediately}, she said to Violet.

{Leave it to me, Mama Mari!} Violet said before cutting the telepathic communication between them, thereby ending the meeting.

"..."

Meanwhile, her four friends looker at her with unsure looks on their faces, thinking of what will happen next.

"Mari...are you really sure about this?" Iza asked.

"Nn. I believe that [The Fool] could be something that would lead us to victory, and also back to our world," Mari replied.

'Also...', In front of her friends, Mari calmly fixed her glasses and spoke:

"Fate tells me that now's a good time to start the hunt", she said with a fearless smile on her face.