Arcadia

Shimmering Resort, Iruka Island!

"The Pale Phantom issue was resolved rather quickly. Those people did a good job of covering it up."

The man, known as an archbishop, sat on his usual seat. He looked at the stained glass window behind him and sat quietly, pondering something. 

"The last one is quite a pity, am I right?" 

The door to the dark room slammed open. This did not seem to surprise the archbishop, who slowly turned towards the door normally. The person who slammed the door open continued.

"It could have been a perfect opportunity to set your plan into motion, with your spell being completed already."

"What are you here for, once again, Accenture's prodigy?"

The 'prodigy' tapped his feet on the ground as he leaned his back on the door. The poor lighting condition only revealed some blonde hair and a lean frame. 

"I'm here to tell you that if you need any help, Accenture will be here to help you. We're currently busy with a 'cleanup' operation just west of here."

"Northwest Arcadia... near the ocean."

"Let me correct you, sir. Under the ocean, not near. Looks like I will be able to drop by in a few days. Who knows, maybe you can even use the base if we're done with it. After all, it was your expertise in magic that helped our undertaking."

The man stood right up and looked at his watch. The watch showed that it was already 2am and a Saturday morning. He turned to leave.

"Hoping to hear from you soon. Gotta catch up with the others in a few hours."

~~~~~

Merely hours after the conversation, Northwestern Arcadia is back to its usual bustling everyday life. Just like most of the attractions in Arcadia, this area is a very busy center of tourism. Just like the southwest' region, this area is connected to the sea. Instead of trading and material transport, the northwest is a place of recreation.

Facing the beautiful bay, the place has been recreated into a seaside boulevard, with attractions such as a large ferris wheel and several stages for nighttime performances. Being surrounded by restaurants, this becomes a place of gathering at least once a week. At late afternoon, many people take time to sit by and enjoy the sunset at this place, and some people take their families out here for recreation. 

Ships abound here, some ferrying people all the way the southwestern part of Arcadia. The commercial ships carrying cargoes of supplies and food towards the south would sometimes pass by as well, Notably, the main attraction of this section of Arcadia is the series of ship rides past the borders of the main city. Going by ship here is the only way to access Iruka Island, location of a bountiful island resort past the borders of Arcadian mainland. 

"Are we near yet?" asked Leanne, turning back from her seat. She looked from her seat straight to the back row of seats in the cruise cabin. She meant to ask the question to their homeroom teacher, Sheryl Ortiz. As she waited, she took a bag of biscuits she brought and started eating, offering some to a female classmate seated behind her. 

The teacher noticed Leanne calling her and calmly smiled before shaking her head. "I know you're excited, Miss Sanchez. But, give it around half an hour more." She then crossed her legs and continued working on a crossword puzzle.

Leanne sat back to her seat with a sigh. She wiggled around her seat, looking for something to do.

Yura, who was seated beside her, tried her best to ignore her. She stayed fixated on a fast-paced puzzle game on her phone. She twiddled her thumbs on the screen, trying her hardest to finish and advance to the next stage. She was gonna make it, when Leanne accidentally bumped her arm, causing her to lose control of the phone. Due to the level of difficulty she was playing on, a simple mishap like that meant a game over.