"Next," said the officer in uniform. It was Cora's turn. The man typed some keys on the terminal and a printed form emerged from a slot in front. Elidana furrowed her brow. "Fill it out well and send it to the Academy chancellery," explained the military man, and returned to the line. "Next one."

Cora gave a quick look at the sheet and returned it to the smooth surface of the counter. "I don't want to enlist," he said.

The soldier looked up and scanned Cora's figure. "You're not from around here."

Cora shook his head. "I need to trace back one of your soldiers."

The military man tightened his lips and spread his arms. He stared at Cora and looked back to his colleague next to him. "Is Sergeant Ferris in?"

"Yes, but I'll take care of it, get them out of line," the other replied.

The military man gestured for him to move aside to let the queue behind them advance.

They had already been waiting for over an hour when Elidana caught Cora's attention and pointed to a wall. "Look."

Embedded in the wall, a marble slab bore some carved names.

Orghein of the strong swords

Kaaras of the first sands

Tondor wood of the coast

Azul lord of steppes and hills

Roha of the mountain wolves

Biron filled with snow

Vuluran the navigator

Boros of the great flame

Nitwi of the short rivers

Forgas the small

Ebedin of the free clouds

Aion the indecisive

To them our gratitude, to them our unity.

"They are the leaders of the founding tribes of the Kharzanian nation," said a small soldier. "Sorry for the wait, but in the days leading up to the Grand Prix, we always have an increase in volunteers," the man in uniform said. With one movement of his hand, he adjusted his hair. "Are you two who need information?"

Cora nodded silently.

"I am Sergeant Ferris, follow me." He turned towards the door of an office.

As he followed that man, a vague hope took hold in Cora's chest. Perhaps he would finally know the truth. They entered a small room with only one desk in the center and a few chairs. The white light that came down from the ceiling was blinding and reflected on the shiny surfaces.

"Please, take a seat," the man said with a slight smile. Sergeant Ferris crossed his hands and looked at them. "Our policy is not to disclose information regarding the men who serve." His voice was calm.

Cora took the metal plate and placed it on the table. "But this man could be my father!"

Elidana reached out and put her hand on Cora's arm, her gentle touch calmed him.

"I understand," the soldier replied. He observed the tag and drummed his fingers on the table. Some purple luminescent lines appeared that formed a keyboard and a small screen. He entered the serial number and name. A row of files appeared that Cora struggled to read backwards.

The soldier raised his gaze again and made an apologetic face. "Mmm."

"Can you make an exception?" Elidana asked. But Sergeant Ferris seemed conflicted, continuing to look at the photo of the tag owner and Cora in quick succession.

"The good news is that the military man in question is certainly your relative. You are practically identical." He opened his hands on the table and turned the image towards them. Cora was stunned. He shifted in his seat at the sight of the old photo of a group of soldiers posing. In the last row there was a young man with brown hair, in his twenties with the same features, the same look, and the same mouth.

"Ethan Standford?" Cora asked excitedly.

Sergeant Ferris gestured. "It's the only thing I can tell you. According to the records, he died in battle a long time ago, a mission against the Hozmans to the south of Harall, a story that ended badly."

Cora observed him silently. He had no saliva in his mouth nor any desire to speak. Elidana took him by the hand. "Could I know something about him? If he has any other relatives? You can't dismiss me like this."

"I'm sorry. You're not the first in this situation." He made a defeated grimace and sighed. "But unfortunately, I can't help you."

Cora held his breath. He would have liked to jump over the desk and read everything related to that man. He felt in a dead end. All that journey for just a name. He slumped in his chair. Was it really over? No, he couldn't give up. He clenched his fists with anger and stood up ready to make his demands.

The light in the room had a peak of intensity. The Sergeant looked around bewildered until a roar from the main hall. "One second," he said, running towards the door.

Cora saw some smoke clouds coming from some large power supplies behind the panel on the wall. Eight soldiers piled up near the damage. "An overload?" the Sergeant asked loudly. "But we replaced them less than a month ago!"

Elidana jumped, circling the desk. "I'll take care of it," she said confidently. A button with "print" written next to the photo stood out. "Will it be like this?" she whispered, glancing at the door. A hiss was heard and a sheet descended from the bottom of the table. She tore it and took back the military plate.

She grabbed Cora by the arm and shook him. "Hurry up," she said. "We have to go!"

They sneaked into the middle of the crowd of military personnel that had just formed and left the building.

Cora was still upset and took the photo to examine Ethan Standford's face and his comrades more closely.

"He won't be able to give us any information... but the others in this photo will be able to help us," Elidana told him.

Cora looked at her for a moment and hugged her tight. "Thank you."

She didn't struggle and stroked his shoulders. "I'm sure you would have done the same for me." They looked into each other's eyes. A gesture that meant more to Cora than a thousand words.

They left the barracks and sat on the side of the road in silence. After about half an hour, Elidana took the piggy bank and left. She returned shortly after with two colorful bottles. "Something fresh," she said, handing him one.

Cora nodded and drank a sweet syrup that tasted of peach and apple. He swallowed the contents and stood up. "Let's go back to the hotel."

They waited a long time for the arrival of a vehicle like Mansell's. Throughout the journey, Cora remained with a blank expression, never looking back at Ethan's face. He wondered what had brought him to Lud, to enlist. If he liked living in Edel or any other Kharzanian city. But in the end, among all those ideas, there was always a shadow: Ethan was dead, he would never meet him.

"If you don't want to tell the others, take that long face off," Elidana told him in the elevator.

Cora looked at the mirror and nodded.

Voices came from the room and both rushed to knock on the door.

"What's going on?" Elidana asked when Aran opened with a happy expression.

Marmorel was pointing to numerous exhausted Seorite stones. "Eighty-eight, eighty-nine..." The young woman counted happily as she separated them by size.

"Why so many stones?" Cora asked.

"Well, we had a long explanation down at the mines..." Aran said with both hands behind his head in an enthusiastic expression.

"We-We can buy anything!" Fez said with his arms buried in the bag.

Elidana frowned. "But why did you bring them with you?"

Aran smiled and said, "It seems that exhausted Seorite is little more than garbage around here."

Cora lit up. "The Great Jalme!"

Fez nodded compulsively

"The funny thing is that I asked for permission..." Aran continued. He sat composedly in an armchair.

The three of them had recovered over ninety stones, and some of them were so big they couldn't even fit in one hand. At the end of the count, Fez crouched in the chair, fiddled with the bolt from one hand to the other. Marmorel's chin was trembling.

Aran patted Fez on the head. "I'd say calm down. Let's keep ours heads down. Since they're exhausted, the guide said we can even take them out of the Kharzan. We'll put them under the Great Jalme, hoping it will regenerate them." He began to walk around the room. "We'll sell the stones at exorbitant prices in the Lud region and with the gold coins we earn, we'll come back here to get more."

"I'd say let's forget the rest of the trip and go back home to recharge the Seorite," Marmorel suggested.

Aran shook his head. "No, not now! After the Grand Prix."

"But it's in two days!"

"I've come this far, I don't intend to miss it."

"Okay. But we'll come back to Lud right after. We'll say we didn't find a job," she insisted.

"I'm in... but are we sure they'll let us go? And then..." Fez muttered.

Aran shrugged. "I think so."

"Let's empty our bags and make room for the Seorite." Cora did as suggested and filled his backpack to the brim, checking its weight every now and then.

"I disagree!" Elidana roared. She looked at them accusingly. "We had decided to tell the city council of the Great Jalme. You made a promise!" She seemed unmovable.

Aran approached her, but she raised her hand to stop him. "Don't even try to fool me. You gave me your word!"

The boy scowled and stepped back.

"I suggest you worry about it when it's necessary. Right now we're on vacation and tomorrow we'll go see the Grand Prix. Elidana is right, but we're already in too deep. It's useless to think about it now," suggested Cora dryly. "I know it might sound strange coming from me, but it's a decision that we need to make together." He looked back at his friends. "Let's party tonight," he concluded.

Elidana raised an eyebrow, kept her gaze on Cora for a moment, and finally sighed. "Okay, let's enjoy dinner, we'll talk about it before departure."

Later at night, after an extraordinary meal, Cora and Elidana lingered on the girls' room balcony. "How are you?" she asked him warmly. Even at night, the number of vehicles on the streets of Edel was impressive.

"I knew I had a slim chance." Cora took the photograph and looked at it in the light of the small lamp that faced outside. "But now I don't want to ruin the vacation for anyone."

She stroked the back of his hand. "Thank you for supporting me."

Cora gazed into her deep blue eyes under the artificial light and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if sometimes I'm a fool."

Elidana looked towards the city, resting her head on his shoulder. "I didn't expect you to agree with me... about the stone matter." Her voice was calm.

"I admit that sometimes we should listen to your advice,"

She looked at him."Only sometimes?"

Cora took a pebble and he gave it to her. She seemed disappointed, but held it very tightly and thanked him with a nod.

The noise of the vehicles on the street alternated with that of the Grand Prix promotional trucks, which spread through the air the places to pick up the latest tickets.

"It was the Hozmans...," Cora said after a long silence.

"Eh?" she jumped.

"You heard the Sergeant. My father was killed by the Hozmans," he continued, his tone had changed.

"But that was a long time ago..."

"Now I would have a father... a family," he pointed out, frowning.

"What about Mrs. Flint? And the children of an orphanage? And me?"

"It's not the same," Cora replied, "you know what I mean."

"I understand," Elidana darkened. She slowly walked away and glanced at him one last time before going back inside. Cora remained to observe the lights of the Garden of Senses turn off in the night's darkness. He wanted to stay there, to discover that city that could have been his home.