As the days passed inside the bunker, Rudra gradually acclimated to the tranquil and vibrant atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the world of suffering and pain outside. Magnusson Bonnofal, a prominent figure among the survivors, gathered the residents to announce the instructions for the coming weeks and the new mission for the 10 knights of the FIDELIUS group.

Rudra made his way to the designated meeting place in Bonnofal's chamber alongside his 10 companions still dispersed among themselves.

In the dimly lit room, Bonnofal revealed the details of his mission – a seemingly simple task of delivering a letter to a lord in the lands of Lisithea. However, he emphasized the crucial role this mission played in advancing his plans to end the protracted war.

"This letter may seem simple, but it has the power to change the course of our resistance. It is a crucial moment for FIDELIUS."

Connor, the red-haired knight of the house of Alitzaverdde in the Rista region, expressed skepticism, questioning the meaning of a mere letter.

"A letter? How does that make a difference in this war?"

Humbert asked Magnusson to elaborate, seeking a clearer understanding of the importance of the mission.

"Magnusson, could you explain why this letter is so important to our cause?"

Magnusson explained that the contents of the letter, delivered to Lisithean Lord, had the potential to turn the tide in favor of the resistance. Alyfir, hiding in a corner, asked about compensation for exposing himself to the risks of war.

"What about the risks we're taking? What's the compensation for that?"

Magnusson assured them of fair payment, approximately 800 argonis each. However, a visibly angry Edmond lamented the decrease in compensation since his last mission and the lives lost.

"We risk our lives, and yet the payment goes down? Unacceptable!"

Gael joined the protest, and a heated argument ensued among FIDELIUS. Excluding Rudra, Edgar, Caspian, Bart'Olimios, members Connor, Lloyd, Augustus and Gael nodded at Edmond's statement.

"That's not right, Magnusson!" – exclaimed Alyfir.

As tensions rose, a blond-haired knight in blood-stained armor entered the room, silencing the assembly. Walking towards Bonnofal's table, he exchanged glances with Rudra, intensifying the gravity of the situation. Bonnofal addressed the knight as Arnold, one of the strongest former knights in the Rista Empire.

"Arnold–!? Are you back yet?" – asked Magnusson.

Arnold's arrival changed the focus of the discussion. The former knight of Rista's army entered the room and Bonnofal handed him a bag of money containing 230 argonis.

“Are they giving you trouble, Magni?” – asked Arnold, who demonstrated considerable intimacy with Magnusson.

“Don’t worry about me, Arnold.” – Magnusson replied to Arnold.

“Here’s your payment.”

The FIDELIUS, previously outraged by their payments, were surprised by the amount received by Arnold. Alyfir confronted Arnold about the apparent inconsistency, and Arnold explained that he accepted the money only because Bonnofal insisted.

"Why did Arnold settle for less than the rest of us? That's not fair!"

“Think about it, I wouldn’t even need this money; I’m only accepting it because Bonnofal insisted on paying.”

“That same money could go toward food, drink and groceries from our suppliers.”

"Think carefully about the children who have dreams bigger than ours, before arguing about small values."

With a powerful message resonating in the room, Arnold departed, leaving FIDELIUS in contemplative silence. After silence, Magnusson closed the planning and business meeting. After the others left, Bonnofal asked Rudra to stay last, recognizing his cautious stance on money matters.

"Rudra, I could behold your conniving silence. Stay and share your thoughts."

Rudra showed his concern for his group, and Magnusson nodded with his thoughts.

“Magnusson, I recognize such immaturity towards the members of the group.”

“Huff… I know…” – Magnusson sighed in frustration at the disbelief of his members.

“For this reason, I entrust you with the position of second leader alongside your captain.”

“Second leader, you say?” – asked Rudra, surprised by Magnusson's statement.

“Yes, I have already informed your leader about this.”

“...” – Rudra remains silent, thoughtful about Bonnofal’s decision.

“Are you sure it’s a rational choice, putting me in that position?” – asked Rudra.

"Come on! Don't be so suspicious. We've already had a long talk, haven't we?"

Rudra, without many options, ended up accepting the position that Magnusson proposed to him.

“…”

“I will turn a blind eye to this.”

Bonnofal entrusted him with the surveillance, given Rudra's familiarity with the battlefield, and everyone went back to their dormitories, except for one knight, who was waiting for Rudra outside Magnusson's room.

“You… were one of the few who kept quiet, just like me.”

Rudra maintained a firm posture and responded to the knight's statement.

“There was no need for all that commotion. The other 9 were reckless.”

The mysterious knight agrees with Rudra's dialog and decides to introduce himself.

“By the way, we were not introduced properly. My name is Edgar Bonnofal, I am the son of Ingus Bonnofal and Ekaterina de Artas.”

“Bonnofal? But then that means–”

"Yes. I’m Magnusson’s nephew.”

"Nephew? " asked Rudra, surprised by Edgar's statement.

Edgar proved to be a prudent person. He was two years younger than me, considering I was 23 years old. He had dark hair and light blue eyes, and his physical stature was defined, he would be an exceptional infantry soldier. Edgar told how he, his uncle and his family paved the way so that this bunker could be habitable.

The Bunker began to be designed 5 years ago, still during the period when the great war was extending to the extreme south of Aleonia.

The Artas and Bonnofal families secretly acquired a gigantic excavation mine, with stalactites dating back more than 100 years, and began a mobilization to make it a habitable place to take refuge for their people who suffered from war, and natural phenomena.

This world is involved in a great war, similar to another in the past called “Decathus Bavier”, which translated from the old language Rùbarian means “War of Knowledge”, where everyone fought to dominate rival nations, in search of knowledge, after all , Knowledge is power. This war, compared to the previous one, has no explicit reason, but it seems to involve issues, political, monarchical or liberalist, according to the people's thinking.

This war involves the following blocks:

Central Thalassia, which is made up of the countries: Aleonia, Galèsia, Hortentzia and Superbia, all formed by humans.

Álfheimr, Tyrr and Sourthengärd forming the block of foreign countries.

Aleonia, together with Galèsia are in the Southwest of the continent, bordering each other, Hortentzia is in the extreme north, separated by sea.

Álfheimr and Tyrr to the northeast of the continent and Sourthengärd is to the extreme south, parallel to Hortentzia.

Superbia is the central country, and the largest of all. Tales say that it was the first place where the goddess Al'lethia set foot, and for this reason, they call Superbia the “holy land”.

These are the regions within Central Thalassia that are explorable. One could also say that Central Thalassia is a large archipelago of islands, but we have become accustomed to calling them countries or regions.

Edgar appeared to be a very knowledgeable individual as we talked, and he told details of the things he experienced, along with his purpose with his uncle, as we walked through the tunnels full of civilians.

“Ah, the light crystals… the hours are already advancing.”

Edgar had noticed that the Rubitrill crystals, which were in that cave, had begun to develop luminescence autonomously and naturally, according to the stages of the day. Civilians use this functionality to know what time of day they are, whether it is morning, afternoon or night.

“We must relocate for the next day.” declared Rudra.

"You're right. It was great getting to know you better, Sir. Rudra.”

Edgar responded warmly, as he said goodbye to Rudra, walking on the opposite side of where Rudra was.

Alone again, the golden-eyed knight resumes his journey to his dormitory, where he will need to organize himself for the next day. As he walks through the vast tunnels, Rudra reflects deeply on Arnold's words, along with those of his late companion Elio.

“...No reason to save lives…Fight to the end no matter what the cost…”

“...I was given a second chance at my bloody life...”

“...I must pay for my sins...by saving the innocent lives of this unsaved world...”

Rudra looks at his hands, and brings back the memory of when he was an elite soldier in the court of Aleonia, fighting incessantly, without rest and provisions. The hands that took the lives of many enemy soldiers, who also had dreams and families.

“I have to make this worth it, for my late brothers..!”

Arriving at his dorm, he finds a man sitting in a chair, reading a book from the dusty shelf. Rudra is surprised by the unexpected visitor, and questions the person who was there.

“You were taking your time.”

That man closes the book, and puts it back on the shelf. The mystery man identifies himself as Leslie Westellis. His appearance was that of a man of approximately 32 years old, with blond hair, blue eyes, and assumed to be the leader of the FIDELIUS group. Then, Rudra questions his unusual presence in the room.

"What do you do here?"

As Leslie continues his search on the shelf, she answers Rudra's questions.

“You know… the room you’re staying in used to be mine when I came here years ago.”

Rudra remains confused, restless and slightly alert, due to his soldier instincts.

“Let your guard down, kid. I have no intention of harming you.”

“After all, we are all one big family, and I just came to get my favorite book”

Leslie finds his book, and places it on Rudra's desk, wiping the dust off it with an old handkerchief. He maintained a carefree posture, even with Rudra's guard up. After finishing cleaning his book, he decides to leave Rudra's room.

"You-!" – Rudra catches Leslie’s attention.

“...don’t you mind me being a knight on your team?”

Leslie, who has her back to Rudra, sighs lightly and responds to the knight.

“Why should I fear this? We are all already here, everything is determined by Magnusson.”

“And by the way, we all have our moments of redemption, don’t we?”

After Leslie's words, he turns his gaze to the table, signaling Rudra's rosary and that of his late companion Elio.

“Boy, our mission will be in a few days. We certainly don’t know what awaits us out there.”

“Besides… I’ll never know when I’ll need to be replaced on the battlefield.”

Rudra thinks deeply about Leslie’s words.

“I’m just kidding, kid. don’t think about it too much.”

“Well, it’s time for me to leave, and don’t forget to keep the shelf clean, soldier, or is this place putting your mind at ease?”

Leslie laughed as he said goodbye to Rudra. His presence was firm and carefree at first glance, but he proved to be a shrewd and observant man, and to think that this man would be our leader... I still know very little about him.

                                                                plays: "The Urnipòra — the bad pressage"

After Leslie left, Rudra prepared the environment for rest. He sat on the ground, always with a dagger on his right leg; if he were attacked, his military hunting instincts would alert him abruptly.

…you are unique… you are the one who succeeded… you can change this once and for all…

Cloudy and indecipherable memories remained in my mind, only in the form of a dream. Always a woman with long hair, and a place that resembled an instruction and training center, with many men and children.

In this dream, I was always holding hands with a girl, who was walking in the same direction, towards a very confusing room. She was very scared. In this room, there were many men with loose robes and hoods.

I dreamed about these images every night, in the training camp, writing down every detail in my book, but I never came to an exact conclusion as to what these dreams meant.

“...Maybe someday I’ll find out…”

GLOSSARY:

"Aleonia" dèl Renoa: Aleonia is the country west of Central Thalassia. With the capital of the same name, Aleonia provides the most capable and strongest armies of all feudal regions.

Rista (region): is a coastal region, located in the southwest of the continent. It is a maritime escort center where boats and crews from the region carry out manned missions only in areas outside the dead zone.

Livero: A feudal region located in the east of Lisithea. At a time when war did not exist, Livero was a large commercial and agricultural center due to its vast territorial extension.

Rubitrill Crystals: Crimson-colored crystals, derived from the regions of Tyrr, Galèsia, Sulamària and Aleonia dèl Renoa. Commonly used in the composition of special jewelry, and have the ability to reproduce luminescence depending on the weather of the day.