"Get your jaw off the floor, there's Aran," said Cora. The blond wore the same school uniform as Fez, but he kept his jacket on his shoulder and the tie without a knot hung from his neck.

Aran gave them a nod, bowed his head towards the companions and walked away. "Cora, Fez! Are you still here?" he said as soon as he reached them. "We were supposed to meet at the Grand Jalme."

"Was it Milena Dufil?" asked Cora, noting that the three were still looking at Aran and whispering among themselves.

"Yes," he said indifferently. "She invited me to the end-of-summer party." He turned to the girls and they smiled back.

Milena Dufil, the daughter of the only owner of the sulfur mine south of Lake Farent. A girl with whom Elidana had had a small argument some months before regarding the old clothes of Mrs. Flint that she was wearing. Cora, at the time, found the argument amusing, but regretted his attitude the same evening, when he found his friend crying in the garden.

"The end of summer party, huh? And what did you say?" Cora asked.

"We already have an arrangement, don't we? I was vague."

"Aran, are we really going to Kharzan or is it another of your jokes?" Fez asked, tightening the bolt.

Aran glanced at Cora, he run his hand through the hair. "Couldn't you wait? Did you have to tell him?"

Cora raised his hands in surrender. "He insisted, what could I do?"

"What do I tell my pa-parents? My father will find out, I already know. My head will definitely end up hanging among the hunting trophies in the store!" Anxiety had reached his curly hair. "Where will we find the gold coins?"

"Calm down, Fez, calm down." Aran put an arm on his shoulder. "For the gold we already know what to do and not to disappoint your father you can use the same excuse that Aran and I have established: 'We're going to Clodia for a summer job'." He smiled as if it were just this that would solve all doubts. "The Grand Prix of Edel will be something magnificent," he said with confidence and headed towards the walls, forcing the young friend.

"This is the answer to all our problems." Aran took out of his pocket a gold women's necklace with a porous stone as big as a fist in the center. Although faded, you could see a substance similar to a liquid dancing inside. On the structure that supported the jewel, half a stylized sun stood out, carved with infinite mastery.

"B-But where did you get it? Is that Seorite?" Fez asked, scratching the bush of hair.

"One of my father's old gifts to my mother."

"What do you want to do? Sell it?" Fez burst out. "What if he finds out?"

"I've never seen my mother wear it and the Seorite is drained. If we sold it in this condition, we wouldn't be able to make anything. The plan is much more complex and the result of an insight that Cora and I had."

Before they reached the west gate of the town, Aran concealed the necklace from the sight of the guards on horseback. Fez and Cora, on the other hand, quickly said goodbye and sneaked out of the walls.

"Did they see the jewel?" Fez whispered with his shoulders tightly.

"They didn't see it," Cora replied, irritated.

"I'm sure, look! He's still watching us," Fez continued, turning his head towards the entrance at regular intervals.

"Yeah, keep it up, it looks like you have "Guilty" written on your forehead."

"It will end badly."

Cora didn't understand if the sweat that was on Fez's forehead was due to the heat or fear. "You need to calm down!" he told him. "A bloody calm down!"

Fez inhaled. "Yes, I'm sorry," he said softly, but still gave one last look towards the west entrance.

"A few weeks ago, I was talking to Cora under the Great Jalme and by mistake, my watch fell into the roots," Aran explained. "By now, the Seorite inside the Cec system is long gone and I wear it on my wrist mostly because it's an old gift from my father." He unbuckled it and gave it to Fez.

"You said it was drained? It works just fine!" Fez exclaimed after a quick check.

"Exactly, my dear Fez. Exactly," he spoke with theatricality. "I assure you that I haven't changed the Seorite. The Cec system is working normally." Clouds moved quickly, covering the sun in alternations. A heavy carriage passing by raised the dust that dissipated in the air. "I realized that for some strange reason the Great Jalme is regenerating the Seorite or, at least, I suppose it has started doing so for a while."

"That can't be!" Fez exclaimed.

Cora took the stone from the watch and showed it to him. When he detached the crystal, the screeching ended and the light disappeared. Inside the small stone was a thread of liquid that moved between the veins.

"Imagine," Cora began dreamily, "if we could regenerate the jewel of Aran's mom. Just think for a moment how much the merchants in the capital would pay! There's not much Seorite around there."

"U-Unbelievable... an incredible amount!" Fez replied. "But how is it possible?"

"We don't know. But it happened," Cora answered.

"I know a couple of merchants who used to trade with my father and I have their address in the city. Tomorrow, if everything goes according to plan, we will make the sale. Those coins are just waiting to end up in our hands." Something shone in the depths of Aran's eyes; he always had that look when one of his ideas was a success.

"They'll tell your father," Fez resumed, unable to keep his hands still and taking the bolt from his pocket.

"No, they're not so stupid as to blow such a advantageous deal. Now, if I hear one more complaint from you, I swear I'll tie you up and throw you on board the first caravan that leaves for Harall."

Fez muttered something, but did not argued back. He bowed his head and followed them.

They climbed the hill. The branches of the Great Jalme formed a natural roof and enveloped the height.

"Shouldn't we inform the city council?" Fez suggested.

"Inform them? Have you gone crazy? If such a case were to arise... you can say goodbye to our trip!" Cora barked.

"I understand, but..."

"Hey, this is no joke... if the tree really charges the Seorite and it wasn't just a coincidence... everything will change anyway, very soon. We just want to take advantage of it." Aran bounced the necklace on his palm with ease. "Look at it this way: our journey will be the small reward for discovering it first."

"What about the kharzanians around?"

"The less they know, the better it is for everyone," Aran concluded. Cora looked away. He had been doing this for a while now, every time Aran or Fez talked about the Kharzanians in that way. A way that he no longer liked, at least not since he had discovered the metal plate and Ethan.

Fez said nothing more, but smiled as if he had shrugged off all the anguish. Now that he was there, the ancient tree was no different from the days before.

Cora looked between the roots emerging from the ground and pointed to a spot not far away. "Last week we were sitting around here and the watch ended up down there." He stamped the ground with force, Aran and Fez approached. "Let's start digging."

Aran took the jewel when Cora had already sunk his hand and pulled up a pile of wet soil.

"What are you doing?" asked a voice behind them. Clean timbre, sharp tone.

A chill ran down Cora's spine. From the other side of the mighty trunk, a red-braided girl with freckled face moved in their direction. She wore the same school uniform as the others and carried a canvas with a drawn sketch. She placed it on the ground between one root and another, and continued towards them with her hands behind her back, she smiled at the group.

"M-Marmorel," whispered Fez with a knot in his throat.

"What are you doing here?" asked Aran.

"Well, I was starting to sketch the landscape of the hill, we heard your voices..."

Cora narrowed his eyes. "We?" He already knew who would soon follow Marmorel and unfortunately his assumptions were confirmed. He saw her and it seemed almost as if she was aiming at him: Elidana had caught them red-handed, her arms crossed.

"What are you up to?" Marmorel continued, raising an eyebrow.

Aran made the jewel disappear into his pants pocket. "Nothing. We just have to fix some details for the job we found in Clodia."

Marmorel continued walking towards Aran, and gently moved her coppery braid over her shoulder. "Aran, so we won't see each other?" Marmorel sighed. "There's the end of summer party," she said. "You know... it would be a shame-" Elidana shook her like a twig. "Don't be fooled, there's no job," she grumbled finally. She approached him, grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand from his pocket. "What are you going to do with this jewel?" she asked, surprised. She also looked at the other two.

"It's his and he can do what he wants with it," Cora said, irritated.

Elidana stared at him and he suddenly blushed.

Marmorel looked at Fez who took a step back, "Can you please tell me the truth?" Her voice was smooth.

Cora brought a hand to his face, if Fez was sweating before, now it seemed as if someone had thrown a bucket of water in his face. Aran tightened his mouth.

"They want to go to Edel for the Grand Prix and to do that they need to sell Aran's mother's jewel," Fez confessed quickly.

"What a friend! You betrayed us at the first opportunity without even pretending to try!" barked Cora.

"Sorry guys."

"Cut it out!" countered Cora. "I'm sure you would have left with us. It's just that now there's Marmorel... and you want to be the knight of justice!"

Fez lowered his gaze in embarrassment and kicked a pebble.

"W-what are you saying? It's not true! I never agreed to leave with you," he muttered.

"Come on! Cora, Aran! What did you come here for with this jewel?" Elidana was tense and red-faced and was waving Aran's arm like a windsock.

"If you promise to keep the secret, you can come with us to Edel," Aran huffed.

Cora scowled at him. "What? You know what it means to bring both of them along?" he said loudly.

"It's better to go on a group trip than to stay in Lud all summer," he said.

"Yeah, but..." Cora sighed resignedly.

"Yeah, but NOTHING! You must return the jewel to Mrs. Allet immediately! There will be no sale and no trip," Elidana yelled.

"It would be fun to go to Edel, I've never been there," Marmorel whispered with a dreamy look.

Elidana gave her a dirty look. "Please, don't encourage them too!" she said.

Aran smiled at the girl's words, a smile he always used when the wind shifted in his favor. "Did you hear? She agrees too."

Elidana went back and forth between her friends. "Fez, try to convince them that we can't do it!" she finally exclaimed.

This time, he simply observed the ground without giving any answer.

"Turncoat," she growled at him. "I'm not in! You can do what you want, but don't involve me." She turned abruptly and left. Marmorel followed her and tried to stop her.

"Come on, Elidana, it will be fun," she said.

"Let's go," Cora grumbled contritely. Aran marked the spot where they should bury the jewel and he resumed digging between the roots. "That should do, give me the necklace!" he finally said, busy keeping a large amount of earth in his hand.

Aran handed him the jewel and he placed it delicately in the trench.

"Okay, now we can cover it up-" There was a small earthquake. The ground tore right under Cora's feet. The last thing he saw was one of the roots clasping his arm and pulling it with force. Then darkness. A dense darkness that surrounded him like a starless night.