Ayen thought they would enter the building and the two would give him a tour inside, but they only bid farewell to the group that welcomed them before they went in another direction.

Devion seemed to have anticipated this and so went along; only Ayen was confused. They went on a car this time, as using Liz was far too eye-catching, not to mention she was already acting up.

Khal took the driving seat, and Devion took the passenger seat. Naturally, Ayen was in the back seat. There was enough foot traffic in the city, and unlike in other cities they visited, cars were not rare.

"I told you that I want you to meet them." Khal’s voice rang inside the car; his voice was not as serious, but Ayen could finally feel the deep nuance in it.

Perhaps because this was Khal’s hometown, Ayen somewhat realized who he was referring to. Hearing no questions from him, both the espers smiled knowingly.

Ayen was truly perceptive.

Although there was a considerable number of cars on the road, there was not much traffic, and they soon entered a tunnel. The surroundings went dim, but crystals powered by mana illuminated the path.

For some reason, the three of them decided to fall silent inside the car. Ayen relaxed in the back seat and leaned his back, his eyes looking outside.

The tunnel was long and somehow deep; Ayen could feel the car slowly descending, and his vision of the surroundings also became wider.

Soon enough, the illumination crystals became bigger and brighter. His eyes constantly observed the surroundings as they passed by. They soon left the tunnel, but he knew they were underground.

Ayen’s mouth parted; eyes sparkled with intrigue. He leaned closer to the window as his gaze roamed about the place.

What a magnificent... underground facility. While it was considered a small city, Ayen still opted to call it a facility. Unlike the city above, this place appeared heavily guarded and more oppressive in nature.

There were no lively residents roaming around, and they passed by militarized checkpoints with espers in charge who bowed as they passed by them.

His gaze also went to a certain area in the distance; a huge white expanse stretched towards the whole underground area. It was ice sheets.

And on top of them were... ice palaces.

Devion probably noticed him looking at that distance. The esper seemed to have begun observing him the moment that they entered this place.

"Khal’s uh, hobby."

Ayen did not turn to him and continued looking outside.

"Hobby?"

Khal’s chuckle was then heard.

"Don’t listen to him. I went crazy one time and created it."

This was the truth. In fact, the main reason this place was created was because of that one time he went crazy... Devion was also a huge part of it.

Basically, before this place was used as part of the headquarters... It was Devion’s massive prison.

Ayen turned to him with an inquiring gaze. Khal did not need to answer as Devion had already done it.

"Khal locked me up here years ago."

Devion’s tone was filled with amusement, but there was also a kind of contentment in it. Cherishing those memories from a normal perspective was strange, but they were not exactly sane in the first place.

Ayen’s interest in the outside scenery was successfully diverted, and his attention shifted to his two espers’ history once more. He found it more interesting than anything in this world.

He wondered if, at one point in guiding Devion, he would be able to see it himself?

"That was when you returned?" Ayen was already briefed about this by Devion last time.

Devion nodded. "Yes, we stayed in this place for about two years? Or maybe three? I went through a series of tests at the last year..." he paused, knowing that was not a good memory.

"This place has expanded since then. If I can remember, that ice palace was the main building here. Now, it has grown to this extent."

The smile on Khal’s lips did not falter. Those years were tough and painful to recall, but it would not be hard to discuss anymore.

"They expanded the underground area," Khal added to his words.

He was not present in this place and so was not involved in the overall process, but his approval was needed.

"That ice palace still served its original purpose."

"What?" Ayen asked. Were they going to stay there?

Devion smirked at him. "A prison."

Khal nodded at his words. Ayen also understood and did not ask further, not knowing what to respond after that.

They began to discuss this place, explaining something to Ayen.

Neither of the two managed to notice or overlook the fact that Khal did not ask how Ayen knew about Devion returning to Khal’s side, as he did not ask Ayen his questions about it.

They were now preoccupied with this place to think about that.

Ayen thought they would go to the ice sheet and the ice palaces, but no. They did not even go to where buildings were gathered, but instead, they went through another tunnel.

This time, it was not dark... And it was even so bright as though they had returned to the surface. The path was adorned by ice-flower crystals sparkling in the light.

The car then stopped.

Khal met his eyes through the rearview mirror.

"We’ve arrived," he said with a gentle and assuring smile.

It affected Ayen, who subconsciously lifted the corners of his lips and nodded.

His heart skipped a beat, anticipation and anxiety creeping inside of him. The car’s door opened, and Devion offered his hand, which Ayen gratefully accepted as he let the esper help him exit the car.

His eyes quickly roamed with curiosity.

Different kinds of flowers adorned the whole place; some of them he could recognize, but most were unfamiliar, and Ayen could tell they were exotic and rare.

Khal also offered his arm. Ayen hooked his arm to both espers as the three began to traverse the flower path in front of them.

Right, it was a beautiful flower garden.