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Well, Loren couldn't really complain. He'd been looking for a way back to Eloa, and here it was, staring him in the face.

And yet.

Now that there was this new wrinkle in this regiment's mission, he had to admit, a part of him would be disappointed to leave. He felt now more than ever that Dozer had sent their sect to these Gettira Plains for a good reason. Surely, it was no coincidence that these Mendocava just happened to be here. Were they protecting something, perhaps?

It seemed he would not be among those who found out.


Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Eight: 'A candle in the Dark...'
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Hector approached the tree again, this time with only Garovel and Hanton behind him. It was the dead of night, and the rest of the expedition was staying at a luxurious hotel in the nearest town. Sneaking out had been rather easy with Hanton's help, though Carl and Ravi's reapers might've been wondering where his soul had inexplicably disappeared to.

He'd left them a handwritten note on his bed, just in case. If they grew too worried about him and stormed into his bedroom, then hopefully they would relax knowing that he would be back by morning.

Probably. Inspecting a single tree shouldn't take all night, right?

He tried to be as gentle with the tree as he could, even going so far as to inspect the whole thing top to bottom, to discover an alternate entrance to the bark-covered door that he'd found before. The sparse moonlight didn't provide much help on that front, and unfortunately, he hadn't brought a flashlight, either. He'd figured that he wouldn't need one, seeing as he could just materialize a glowing hot cube of iron for light, but standing in this giant canopy of leaves, he suddenly became too worried about accidentally setting this poor tree on fire.