In the head of her excellency, a parallel monologue continued by itself.

"This is a pleasant orientation for our predicament. Duke Raressank himself sent a letter to me, all talking about the new lands eastward of the island. I can feel a surge of enthusiasm I had not experienced since the time that I got to rightfully dispatch the king. Besides, I can safely assume that I wasn't the only one who sent recon missions to those territories just as they appeared in my sights. The Grand North and the Unification Legion would not let such a workhorse opportunity of expansion pass right under their noses. Those greedy hands might as well be already digging into those unfettered lands; it does not matter if the territories are unexplored and the creatures of said lands are all uncharted or unrecorded, how much I despise that inconsiderate nature of theirs.”

Josyf and her Excellency moved in silence, the doors passing them one by one, and yet the monologue had no other option but to carry on.

“I did not expect the subtle balance of power on the island to remain for long. However, three years is still far below the estimated period of peace I had in mind.”

In that trail of thought, the woman traced the path along the paintings on the hallway walls with her eyes. 

“Such... unforeseen events weren't a part of any of my hypotheticals, but, so far it is manageable, easily so, I might say. No civilian face is yet knowledgeable about the new lands beyond the islands. But a few runaways are a given in this situation. It's best we don't try to find those curious chicks anytime soon, it would be simply a needless waste of resources. The best I can do is hope that no important figures have moved to the east yet." 

As that monologue concluded, she made a decision to ask the very person beside her. "Josyf." — "Yes, your Excellency?" The knight looked back at her Excellency on a twitch, now prepared for the potential third question of the day.

"If, let's say, the Grand Northern Federation and the Unification Legion of Ranesairan decided to take new, unaffiliated territories under their control, what would be your course of action as a hypothetical leader of the Saruf Ascension Church?" He still seemed puzzled... Regardless, in this sort of situation the reply felt far more natural to him, "Were that to be the case, your Excellency..." Josyf looked at her from behind, trying to gauge the implications. "Go on." — "Oh, yes.” That kind of nudging made him fall a step behind her stride, “I would try to outpace them, your Excellency." The woman did not react outright, which proved to have a straining effect on her knight as they kept walking in silence for a couple seconds.

"Interesting. Josyf, you made the right decision. All we would need to do is simply take the lands that they ogle in our own hands, no need to sugarcoat their obvious attempt at gaining an advantage."

"His idea fits my plan. But, clearly there are more than a few nuances in this barebones plan, if I could call it that. For once, we need to take into account the rest of the nations of Ranesairan and instead of going head first by myself, I should assemble an expedition composed of multiple nobles of the island, like Ollade had already hinted in his letter.”

Her Excellency waved her left hand at the hip, gesturing to Josyf to catch up and walk at her pace.

“Gather the group and head straight to whoever is in charge of that immediate locality, announce our presence and establish a proper connection. If that is not the case and there isn't a leader nor a nation overseas, then things will come to be far simpler than I anticipate. Though that will only become a concern once I receive a report from the recon unit. Perhaps I should've invested in long-range independent communicatory transceivers after all."

They continued on, turning time and time again, taking stairs on their way down. The people they were passing by wore mostly clerical attires, both men and women, bowing in sight of the woman while she didn't spare them a single glance. Finally, their trip ended in front of a large door on the last underground layer of the fortress. "Josyf." She said, "I will enter the treasury, leave the entrance at once." The knight didn't waste a single moment and walked around the corner, his steps quickly fading in the echo. 

She waved her right hand — a key appeared in a soft flash of glowing dust, clasped between her thumb and index finger. Her hand lowered towards the key well, sinking the key into the metal structure, the mechanisms inside the lock began to turn, alongside the process, a collection of veins of light spread in thin roads over the surface of the door. At the last click of metal, they blasted like confetti, the sparks dissipating before hitting the floor. 

Without moving her hands, the door began to open, a shroud of silk obstructing the view inside the treasury. The woman walked straight ahead, pushing the shroud aside. Inside the treasury no blinding gold could be found, only old, polished, but crude objects like swords and shields laid on silk pillows on pedestals made of marble, and the muffled sound of the door closing behind serving to supplement the isolated nature of this space. Giving no attention to the items and books, which were hidden under glass, she continued to walk towards the end wall of the long room, all covered in silk of different colours. Without reaction nor without any visible indicators of affection, the wall vanished in a blink of an eye, a bare hallway revealing itself. She walked inside, the permanent smile she had on her face lowering with each step, until her expression was but a grim, straight face.

A single turn of a doorknob and her right eye twitched. She stood looking at numerous chains suspended from the ceiling, countless tubes running along the floor, each leaking a thick, gold liquid onto the bare tiles bit by bit. Countless barrels inside the room were filled with the same contents as the tubes, machinery that seemed to be powered by nothing did not move, as the object of their purpose was nowhere to be seen. Passing by the empty barrels by the side walls, she took a quick look inside the cabinet by one of the machines, taking glass flasks full of liquid gold in an amount of over 20, throwing them on the ground. Yet, before they managed to break into a thousand shards, the flasks vanished without a trace. The woman did not spend any more time in the room than needed and left, leaving the silence alone.

She walked out, and before reaching the stairs leading up from the dungeons of the fortress, the old smile returned to her face. Passing through the wall of the uppermost floor of the dungeon, Josyf greeted her Excellency with a bow. "I hope your visit to the treasury went well, your Excellency." She didn't reply, instead, she walked past his hunched figure. The knight rushed to catch up with her. "Josyf. Gather a platoon of the Church Order Knights. I will lead the expedition personally." The revelation almost knocked the man back, "What? What is the reason for this?" — "Do not question my decision." Josyf shut his mouth instantly.

"Something very important vanished from the treasury."