Sunblind Serpent: The Zodiac Without A House

’Fine. Just for a few hours. That’s all you’re getting from me, Mom...’

Then, there came another thought that bothered him.

His mother had already been in this place. She had returned to the cultural center after Marek left, received his note, and somehow reached the clinic before he did. That meant she was currently somewhere ahead of their route—or perhaps—she was no longer following the same direction westward based on the old map.

’If she keeps going west and I stay here, she won’t find me unless she comes her way back to this place. I don’t know if that’s still the case with Linden having changed so much.’

Then, he glanced toward the clinic entrance and at the warped streets somewhat visible beyond the dusty windows.

’Maybe she isn’t moving purely west anymore. She had to return to the cultural center to get my note, then somehow reached this place before us. She could’ve taken another route and crossed back into ours.’

This solidified his decision to wait.

Marek’s expression turned from vulnerability to gradual resolve.

Rhovan apparently noticed the shift in his expression. ”It seems the Dear Ophiarch has finally accepted the wisdom of his Goddess of a mother.”

Marek’s face fell as he slowly turned to look at this guy. He did not say anything, but his thoughts were quite the opposite. ’This guy’s insufferable.’

Since the surrounding streets appeared to be relatively quiet and, for some reason, the electricity in the clinic was still functioning, they decided to remain there for a while instead of pursuing Amara’s trail.

Rafe and Silas made use of the time of their stay inside the clinic—by comparing their old map with a newer hand-drawn version mounted on the clinic’s bulletin board. Several streets shown as straight on the old map now curved around lifted sections of Linden’s land, while another route had apparently shortened enough that two intersections almost touched despite once being several hundred meters apart.

”Hmm.” Rafe nodded as he spoke, ”There are three places farther west where Marek’s mother—”

”Ophiarch,” Rhovan corrected. ”Tch.”

”...”

Rafe continued, ”There are three places where she could intersect the route we had already been following without entering one of the larger government checkpoints.”

Since Marek decided to remain at the clinic for the next few hours, there was no reason to leave another trail for Amara to chase immediately. For the time being, they would simply wait and see whether she could go back to this clinic through her route.

In the next few hours, although they were not ordered to do anything, everyone had their things to do individually, except for Rhovan. The guy got himself a chair from the stack on a wall and sat there, closing his eyes.

Meanwhile, Silas chose to remain near the entrance. Occasionally, he would check the streets outside, while Nadia went through the other notices pinned to the mobile whiteboard. Rafe continued examining the old map.

Eren, on the other hand, was sitting on the floor. He was holding a compilation of all copied government notices they got, including new entries connected to people whose locations were being requested. Then, he spread them all over the floor.

”Missing daughter... an escaped detainee... There was also a person who seemed to have been corrupted by that black seam here, and he used his power to escape the stabilization center...” Eren was just scanning when he discovered something. Then, he placed a sheet in front of Marek, who was sitting opposite him with legs crossed. ”The Exhibition Center, where you escaped from. They’re trying to find you, and it’s still an open case.”

Marek’s eyes moved toward the sheet handed to him. Unlike the notices concerning the detainees, his name was not marked as WANTED. He should have been at least happy, but the words beneath his name somehow accomplished the opposite.

MAREK VALE — OPHIUCHUS

MISSING — SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION

CURRENT LOCATION REQUESTED

Marek read the sheet twice, especially the part where they mentioned special classification. ”They’re looking for me.”

For some reason, Rhovan was already sitting next to him, reading the notice as well.

”When did you get here? I thought you were trying to rest,” Marek asked. ”You should go back to your seat and close your eyes. I think it’d be better.”

Rhovan did not speak and just stood up. He then bowed as though he was bowing toward some royalty. ”As my Dear Ophiarch commands...”

’You don’t really need to do that...’ Marek did not talk, but his behavior disturbed him in a way he could not exactly describe.

With that said, the notice did not really convince them to leave immediately. However, it made the situation surrounding Amara’s messages more complicated.

Every note Marek left could help his mother narrow the distance between them, but those same notes could also be used by the government or by the people from the Exhibition Center who were trying to find him. Moreover, the Scorpius Astrant, who seemed to be searching for Mara, was another trouble he needed to entertain.

’So technically, a route that connected two people could easily connect a third or a fourth...’ Marek concluded.

After some time, Rhovan apparently decided that he had already rested enough. While Rafe continued examining the map, he opened his eyes and stood up from the chair. He then went through one of the boxes of supplies stacked inside the clinic and returned with two transparent plastic bottles. He placed them on the floor in front of Marek. One contained water, while the other was empty.

Marek watched him do it before narrowing his eyes. ”You’re going to spill water on the papers. And whatever you’re planning, I already dislike it.”

Rhovan just smiled and pushed the containers slightly toward him. ”Dear Ophiarch, I want you to move the water from this bottle into the empty one using your Authority.”

’When he calls me that, it’s like he becomes a paper in a person’s form. You’re not a letter, are you?’ Marek thought as he waited for him to add something else. But the man just folded his arms across his chest and nodded—as though praising himself that what he did was something remarkable.

Marek raised his brow. ”What condition am I supposed to contain?”

”There isn’t one,” Rhovan replied.

’Huh?’