Page 4204

To make matters even stranger, there didn't appear to be many people around, either. Hector only spotted a single receptionist, a petite secretary, and an apparent errand boy who looked even younger than himself.

Sermung even commented on it. "Keeping everyone busy, aren't you?"

"No sense in having them all cooped up in here," said Jackson's fiery avatar. "I can't stand this place when it's crowded."

Hector had to hold back a scoff. So not only was this building ugly, it also wasn't even functional, either. It was too small for their needs, so everyone just stayed away.

Aw, shit, he noticed Sermung side-eyeing him, probably reading his aura again. What a smug face, too.

Gotta be more careful, Hector told himself.

It didn't take long to reach Jackson's real body. It was one short elevator trip down into a basement, then through a pair of double doors into a large, warehouse-looking chamber filled to the rafters with metal shelves and containers. The human-shaped flame that had been guiding them vanished into thin air, and only a man reading a file in the distance remained.

"Welcome," he said, closing the folder in his hands and looking up. He wasn't very tall, but his dark features were about as chiseled as Hector had ever seen. If he turned out to have a history as a movie star out of Bellvine, then Hector would not have been surprised.

"Can we speed this along?" said Sermung. "I'm not in the mood for another lecture."

"When are you ever?" said Jackson.

Sermung had since removed his crystalline armor and now looked like the most normal dude Hector had ever laid eyes on. Brown hair, brown eyes, plain gray shirt with scuff marks on it, dark slacks with a few tears in them. No shoes, either. Just bare feet.

Meanwhile, Jackson over there was looking like a proper military officer, fully suited up, if only missing the coat.

Which one of these guys was the leader again?

Sermung tossed another glance his way.

That time hadn't been an accident on Hector's part, though.

"So we know that Jercash is somewhere in the northwest," said Jackson, walking closer. "He clearly has multiple camps that all keep moving, and we can only assume that he is traveling between all of them."

"Northwest, you say? I couldn't sense him in that direction when I checked recently, so either your intel is wrong, or he is concealing himself quite well."