"So, just to get this straight...", Crystal surmises while straigthening her robes, "...you claim to have actually seen the Zeaphyr fox and say it was a woman? What makes you so sure that she was the Zeaphyr fox and not just a female adventurer? Or treasure hunter?"

Sebarius smiles faintly and explains, "Of course you are right, they did naturally not stop to introduce themselves to me or anything, but I am fairly certain, that they were 'the Zeaphyr fox' band."

He pulls out a poster, featuring an artistic depiction of a fox with its eyes closed, its snout raised into the air as if it was sniffing for something and continues, "It was only for a very brief time, but the woman performing the acrobatics had a this tattoo on her shoulder. And I am certain, it was the mark of the Zeaphyr fox."

"...and you are certain about that? I mean, you only had a few seconds to take it all in, right?"

"Yes, but I have trained my mind to discern the most obscure of runes and match them with meanings. Runes, where a mistake can easily change the entire meaning. You need a good eye for detail in my line of work."

"...still, that woman must be very cocky to have such an obvious giveaway on her body."

"I think it's pretty smart, actually. You see, the tattoo is on her shoulder, so it's easy to conceal when she doesn't want to be recognized, yet still allows her to identify herself as 'the Zeaphyr fox' to potential business partners."

"You've certainly given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"Remember what I said earlier? In order to find someone, you first need to understand how they are thinking."

Crystal shakes her head, raises her arms to a shrug and asks, "So, what happened next? After you lost...her?"

Sebarius nods faintly and bows to the front again.

Considering that I had no immediate leads on where'd they go next, I spent the next days studying the ruins and most importantly the construct they had disabled so skillfully.

By the times my formed colleagues of the academic society arrived, I had already gathered enough information for a full fledged report, which I managed to sell to the graduate, who had been assigned to the ruins for a very pretty penny.

That took off quite a bit of a burden from my shoulders, considering that my travel expenses had already used up most of my savings at that point.

But thanks to that guy who couldn't tell an 'Ah' from an 'Oh'— those are two of the more commonly known runes, in case you didn't know — I was now funded to continue my hunt for the fox.

Interestingly enough, I later heard, that the young man I met back then was recommended for an award for his groundbreaking thesis on how to disable the ancient guard machines, which had already meant the end for quite a number of expeditions.

"Didn't that bite? To know that the kid was claiming the success that would've been rightfully yours?" Aiko suddenly asks.

"Initially it did, yes, but the feeling also quickly subsided again. After all, he kept me funded for months to go. Even more so, when I kindly reminded him, where the thesis that got him so much attention came from."

"In other words, you blackmailed him to keep the money flowing, huh?" Crystal asks, a slight chuckle on her lips.

In response, Sebarius raises his hands and replies, "I never claimed to be a saint. Besides, it's not at all uncommon to pay external 'advisors'. The society even has a budget for these expenses."

While Aiko just shakes her head in disbelief, Crystal chuckles lightly at the dirt this scholar so willingly shoved their way.

Anyway, after the incident at those ruins, I tried to pick up their trace again.

You see, it is much easier to trace someone, once you know what to ask people. And since I now knew, that the Zeaphyr fox is, in fact, a woman who travels with another woman and a fox, all I had to do was ask around for foreign young women, who would cover themselves up more than usually.

Considering that it's been rather hot and humid at the time, it was not hard to pick up their trace, which lead me to a library.

The librarian on duty even managed to remember which books the two of them looked at.

Unsurprisingly it was a compilation of works about the great reset.

"How comes the librarian would remember them that well?" Crystal asks.

"I failed to mention this before, but the women I saw were rather attractive and the librarian was one of those meek boys who only ever sees girls like that on the local cabaret. So yes, they naturally caught his eye, even though he did not talk to them any more than absolutely necessary."

"So...this 'compilation' gave you a hint on where to go next?"

"Actually, the Zeaphyr fox herself left me a hint."

"How so?"

"With a dog-ear."

"A...dog-ear?" Crystal asks, throwing an immediate angry glare over to Aiko.

"Yes, on the page that described the ancient, but inoperable mechanisms found deep within the so-called 'Freespirit' compound."

"What makes you think that the dog-ear was not left by anyone else?"

"The librarian insisted, that the book was in pristine condition previously that's what. And I believed him, so my next destination was the Freespirit compound."