It sounded like a meaningless set of words that only seemed to point to the fact that Theron was actually incorrect this time, that she wasn't from another province at all and was quite related to the Sangun Clan.
But this wasn't what Theron heard at all. Instead, he was focused on something else entirely.
The old man that headed his branch of Daggers of the Night… he had a Sound Mana Echo, did he not?
Now, there was this woman here, also of Daggers of the Night, carrying intimate knowledge of secrets hidden in the most well-protected store of information in the whole Nightingale Province…
How did she know about it?
What was the goal of the old man in Daggers of the Night? Why did it seem like Raiden was so important to him, and yet he was willing to train Theron as well despite knowing they would certainly clash?
Why did it almost feel like the old man was laying low, hiding from something, or even trying to escape from something?
One speculation after another mounted, and Theron found himself spiraling through his own thoughts with no sights in end. He was having great difficulty just keeping his eyes focused.
It almost felt like he was very close to something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Each one of these powers seemed mysterious in their own right.
Of them all, the Nightingales seemed to be the simplest and most straightforward. But Theron didn't believe that at all. In fact, a large part of him thought that they were the most dangerous of any one of these powers.
Part of that was because they had to have something oddly special about them if they were able to suppress the Thistles while they were at their peak. But he would be lying if a large part of the rest of it wasn't Sadie…
Even now, thinking back, Theron felt as though he couldn't see through that little girl completely. Also, the more he learned about the world, the more he realized one very important thing…
A treasure that could change your Mana affinity was practically unheard of.
He thought himself to be knowledgeable, but there were obviously huge gaps in his knowledge compared to nobles. Much of his information actually came from deductions, and it wasn't until recently he began getting his hands on truly high-quality information.
If nothing else, just the fact Sadie would have such a necklace in the first place was shocking.
The fact that she likely wore it for no other reason than to see if she could find the secrets of the Galethunder Lineage… well, that was an even larger can of worms.
Sadie had never told Theron this directly, but when she revealed all of that information to him, the first thing she had said was what?
~... It has nothing to do with wind.~
That line alone was enough to make Theron understand what she was talking about, but when he connected the dots later on, he realized something even more…
Why would Sadie have chosen a treasure with Wind Mancy? Was it a coincidence? Or was she trying to test something very specific to reach this conclusion?
But there was a more important question than all of that.
Why did Sadie think that her using Wind Mana would allow her to see if it was related to the Galethunders or not?
That was the obvious elephant in the room.
What connection did Sadie… no, the Nightingales… no… the bloodline running through Sadie herself have to do with the Galethunders?
The thread of logic was simple. Sadie had to have some sort of link to the Galethunders for her to even consider that path as a viable option for checking off a theory.
Why was all of this important now?
It all led back to Theron's first question.
Why was this province so interesting to so many people?
The Luminescent Moon Sect had shocking origins.
The Daggers of the Night ran deeper than it seemed.
The Nightingales had connections to an ancient history most of the world apparently wanted to eradicate.
Amusingly enough, in all of this chaos, the Thistles seemed to be the most pathetic, forced into a corner of history where they were written in as the losers.
Much of what Sadie had said had to be taken with a grain of salt. But… Theron was also sure that there was some degree of truth to them as well.
The connection with Merchant Greycoat and the Galethunders was especially interesting.
The mission was in the Daggers of the Night, headed by the old man. The old man had sound-related abilities that just might be connected to the Sangun, or… the Bell and Harmon Clans that were likewise related to Merchant Greycoat…
For some reason, of all the territories those four figures sent by the Spirit Mancer could have targeted—of which there were four others aside from the Nightingales—they chose the Sangun Clan, which specialized in sound…
Raiden was a Lightning Mancer, was he not... could the old assassin be trying the same path as Sadie to see if it was related to Thunder or not...?
'I'm going in circles…'
Bits and pieces were coming together, and it seemed like they should all fit into one picture in some sort of beautiful, magical way. But no matter how Theron shifted and changed them in his mind, he couldn't come up with the full picture.
There was something here. Theron was certain of it. But by this point, he was staring at Aliza so intensely that she felt like she was being melted into a human-shaped puddle in real time.
She was an assassin by trade, very much used to being in high-pressure situations. But right now, she felt so inferior, so broken.
'Maze of the Minds…!'
Theron suddenly grabbed at the final puzzle piece, his heart pounding out of his chest.
What was his first thought when he didn't want to risk passing out to earn the technique of Maze of the Minds?
He had said it very clearly to himself…
He didn't need this technique because it already mirrored what his necklace could do for him.
Was it really such a coincidence that what he deduced Maze of the Minds to be capable of, the necklace of his father was likewise capable of?
Of all the territories in the world, why had his family chosen this one as their escape? Unless…
They had never left this region in the first place.