Nero sighed in lament.
"You're really bad at acting," he said as he walked up to her. Anyone who saw her in her current state would immediately realise that she was trying to keep a secret or up to something suspicious.
"I'm… I'm sorry," she murmured.
"No need to apologise. Nobody is perfect, but your performance so far has been exemplary," he said, locking eyes with her. "Now, where is the secret compartment you discovered?"
"Right here," she said, as she placed her hand on a drawer in one of the tables in the study.
"The compartment is cleverly hidden. I actually found it by accident. The carpentry and engineering must be remarkable," she said, the stutter in her voice fading as she began to talk about the table, her eyes beginning to sparkle.
"If you pull the drawer out, it pulls out like normal," she said, demonstrating for Nero. The drawer pulled open, revealing that it was empty besides some velvet padding.
"But if you turn the handle clockwise, and then push the drawer in…" she demonstrated once more, and as soon as she pushed it open, a side of the drawer popped open even though it did not look like it was a door at all.
"How did you even discover that?" Nero asked, amazed. He saw no hint or indication on the drawer hinting towards the hidden feature.
"When I'm nervous I like to fidget with things. It was completely an accident."
"Have you opened the compartment to check what's in it?" Nero asked as he approached it.
"No, heavens no. I closed it the moment I opened it. I wouldn't dare experiment with it."
Nero nodded and approached the slightly open compartment, checking to see if it had any cursed aura leaking out. It did not.
Still, to be sure, Nero used Aether Pulse to reveal anything hidden, but nothing was revealed.
Carefully, he pulled it open, ready to lunge back at the slightest hint of trouble, yet no trouble came. The compartment opened to reveal a few items. There was a small, silver tube with no opening as far as Nero could see. There was also a card sealed within glass, kept isolated and insulated from all aether, forming a rectangular case.
Nero recognised it as an Eldrim card. It had all the telltale signs. The title was written in the top corner, there was an image, a sign indicating its star rating, some text describing its purpose as well as flavour text.
Of course, Nero could read none of the text, for it was written in an unfamiliar language. The image, too, was unclear. It was an abstract mix of red, yellow and brown colours, but not in a beautiful way. Instead, it looked like the colours were depicting something sick.
Nero was stunned. Of all the things, for some reason, he never actually expected to encounter an actual Eldrim card made by the Eldrim. He wondered what its purpose was. But he would most likely not find out - or even if he ever did, it would not be any time soon. Instead, Nero turned his attention towards the third and final item in the compartment.
It was a matt black key. It was large and ornate, clearly crafted with the utmost care and precision. The bow was a delicate filigree, gracefully entwining to form some strange letters within a circular frame, each curve and line perfectly balanced and elegant. The shaft was smooth and straight, leading to a traditional bit with two rectangular notches.
The key seemed almost alive, its gentle curves almost calling out to Nero, asking him to grab it.
If the card was ominous, then the key seemed quite auspicious.
None of the three looked like the artefacts he was told to look for, but Nero grabbed all of them. He checked them to make sure they weren't sensitive or brittle, before carefully placing them within different zipped compartments in his bag.
"Have you checked the room for any other such compartments?" Nero asked Remi, who was leaning over his shoulder to look.
"I looked around, but I didn't find anything. Even if there are some more hidden compartments, hoping to find them based on luck probably won't work so well. Not unless we spend hours combing through this place."
"We don't have hours to waste. We'll just report this place once we return. By the way, there's no need to try and keep this a secret from the others."
Remi was taken aback by Nero's statement.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're a terrible actor, so if you try to hide it, everyone will immediately realise you're hiding something. Just assume that everyone either already knows, or will find out soon enough that we had a discovery. It doesn't matter. Since I have taken this, I have the confidence to keep it safe as well. Even if everyone finds out, they cannot take it from my hands."
By now most of Nero's body aches had gone and he had recovered much of his aether using an aether shard. He was ready to go face some berserkers. Remi followed Nero silently, unable to hide her blush of embarrassment.
When they returned to the main hall, everyone turned to look at Nero and Remi coming out from within the mansion, with Remi blushing. Countless guesses went through their minds about what had just happened, and some began to give Nero strange gazes.
The short archer resisted the urge to give Nero a big thumbs up and a knowing smile. This wasn't the place to do that. Then again, this also wasn't the place to…
"Is everyone ready?" Nero asked, his calm and clear voice cutting through everyone's wandering thoughts. "I have a few ideas on how we can proceed, but it requires perfect cooperation. We cannot beat those berserkers on our own."
"What's the plan?" Leonard asked.
"We're going to have to kill them one by one, and Verdant-2 will play a big role in that. Although, I don't really know whether you have the harder task, or we do."
"We are not afraid," Leonard said, not even considering that Nero might be intending to use them as bait. Since he had made a deal with Nero, he would honour it.
"Basically, your task will be to block the other berserkers while we kill them one by one, taking up to a minute at most to kill each one. It sounds almost impossible, and even if the plan works we might need to retreat back here frequently to rest and recover. But I believe we can do this. Not to mention, if other teams end up coming down, they can help us by distracting them."
"Is that… is that the extent of your plan?" Leonard asked, suddenly feeling stumped. That wasn't much of a plan.
"I have a plan on how to kill them one by one. As for your part, I don't want to tell you how to hold them off since I don't know all your strengths and weaknesses. The more complicated the plan, the more prone it is to failure. You just need to hold them off while we kill them."
On the part of his team, he explained to them in detail what he expected them to do. Not a single one of their teammates was more important than the others, since everyone would have to contribute extensively for the kill. Even Remi was included, not that Nero expected her to use her gun.
But as an aether expert, there were many ways in which she could help. Nero just gave her the tasks that she could do at a distance. He did not trust her to be able to dodge an attack with her weak body and the berserker's insane speed and strength.
Once everyone was brief and they were about to go through the cracks, the tall teenager from the third team spoke up, "Wait, I also want to fight!"
He did not look too confident as he spoke, and the way he huddled his hands did not exude body language fitting someone going to war. But even so, despite his obvious hesitation, he spoke up.
"You should stay with your team," Nero said. He admired his resolve, but he could still end up being a liability. None of them had time to babysit.
"No, no I… I…" he was trying to speak but the words were escaping him. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he struggled to communicate his feelings.
"I am a Kolari too," was all he ultimately said, looking towards Nero as he tried to keep his tears from dripping.
The kid did not look strong, or brave. He did not look like he was over the trauma he had recently suffered either. But his words, as stupid and idealistic as they were, touched a part of Nero's heart.
It reminded him of the feeling he had as a kid, when he heard stories of heroes and warriors, fighting off unspeakable monsters, using their powers, their weapons, their blood and their bodies. It reminded him of a feeling he shared with his brother, once.
Nero met his gaze for a while, his thoughts hidden, and for his part, the tall teenager met his gaze, even if through teary eyes. No, not the teenager. The warrior, the soldier, met his gaze.
"Alright, follow me then."