Hazel took a look through her other Astral Eyes, gazing into the different floors of the Jetport building and also the village still being developed in the Jetport airfield. Even as she sat down and watched through her astral eye, the players were hard at work making more homes and expanding the settlement in the process.

They were making quite a bit of progress, and Hazel figured that the settlement would be completed soon, considering their current pace. In fact, around three homes had been built since the last time she was there, just a few hours ago. Maybe even half a day at most. It was a remarkable growth in Hazel's eyes.

After she was satisfied with what she saw, she deactivated her astral eyes, allowing her vision to return to the view of the building where she and Astrid were currently monitoring their prisoners.

"Are you alright?" Astrid suddenly asked, catching her attention.

"Hmm? Yeah, why?"

"Because you looked like you were in a trance or something. You just...sat there without moving a muscle. It was honestly a bit disturbing."

Hazel frowned. "Ah, my bad."

She wanted to tell her partner what she was actually doing, but spared a glance at Olga and the other two prisoner players. Having them learn about one of her skills seemed like a bad call, so she resorted to using the Chat Room.

[Hazel Thatcher: I was using my Astral Eyes to do a little observing around the guild's territory and such.]

[Astrid Skogr: What did you see or learn?]

[Hazel Thatcher: Well, Zoe and the others figured out where they planned to have their meeting with the battle breakers guild.]

[Astrid Skogr: And where is that?]

[Hazel Thatcher: The hospital where it all started. According to John, it was the best place since he knew the layout of the building.]

[Astrid Skogr: That sounded reasonable. Though they would need to be careful.]

[Hazel Thatcher: Why is that?]

[Astrid Skogr: From what we've discovered, Dolk is the Guild Leader of the Black Exiles, and since we currently have Olga in our possession, then that bastard was likely going to act.]

Hazel paused to consider Astrid's statement. She was certainly right about their current predicament. Since they had one of Dolk's members, in this case, Olga, he might have been bound to act in response. And if that was the case...then there was a possibility that the dark elf would do something.

Like...planning an ambush when the two guilds meet one another at the Hospital.

[Hazel Thatcher: If you're right, then we might need to join Zoe when she and the others meet the Battle Breakers Guild.]

[Astrid Skogr: It's possible. Then again, I don't know much about Dolk anymore after everything that happened.]

Astrid wore a glum expression after sending this message. Hazel could tell that her partner was still sorrowful after what happened when Dolk and the other dark elves betrayed her. She clearly hadn't gotten over the betrayal in more ways than one.

Although she wanted to console her partner, Hazel resumed their conversation.

[Hazel Thatcher: Since neither of us could go to the meeting, maybe only one of us should attend.]

[Astrid Skogr: No, attending officially would only make things more difficult. Since Olga is in a party with Dolk, she could easily inform that bastard that you're coming. It would be a lot better if you went in secret. That way, you could catch Dolk off by surprise.]

[Hazel Thatcher: You make it sound like you don't plan on secretly attending the meeting.]

[Astrid Skogr: As much as I want to, I need to keep an eye on Olga. She's our only connection to Dolk, so it would be best for me to stay here and get some answers from her. Plus, it's possible that Dolk might attempt to rescue her during the meeting.]

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[Hazel Thatcher: Huh, I didn't think about that.]

During the meeting between the two guilds, Dolk could likely use the opportunity to try and get Olga while the strongest players were currently out of their territory. And if they were right about Dolk having spies within the guilds, that meant the potential spies could let Dolk or his allies in and attempt to rescue Olga.

If that were to happen, it would be best if Hazel or Astrid stayed behind so they could prevent it. And since Astrid had already volunteered to stay and keep an eye on the prisoners, then it was up to Hazel to attend the guild meeting in secret. Though she had no idea how she was going to pull it off. If there were spies within the guild, then that meant they could very well discover that Hazel went off somewhere and alert Dolk, who was either planning to ambush Zoe and the other during the meeting or attempt to rescue Olga.

Either way, she was in a bit of a bind in terms of keeping her whereabouts a secret to avoid rousing any suspicions. However, just when she thought she had no way to pull it off, a sudden idea came to her. An idea that would surely solve her little problem regarding her whereabouts and how she could avoid raising suspicions and alerting possible enemies who were scheming something.

Hazel began to smile, a common action she did these days to the point where she didn't even bother to hide it. Astrid noticed her expression and grimaced, clearly not amused by that wicked grin on her face.

[Astrid Skogr: I don't like that look on your face. What are you planning now, Hazel?]

[Hazel Thatcher: Oh, nothing serious. I just came up with a pretty cool plan to deal with certain issues that could pose a problem in the future.]

[Astrid Skogr: A part of me doesn't want to even ask, but the other part is curious about this little plan of yours. So, what exactly are you plotting?]

Hazel didn't give a reply and only continued to smile like an evil mastermind. Meanwhile, Astrid continued to grimace at the sight of her wicked grin, clearly disturbed by her partner's behavior. Because she knew what kind of trouble that smile would get them into.

...

Hazel left the building where they were keeping Olga and the other prisoners. Since Astrid was still there, she had nothing to worry about right now. Aside from the other dark elf, her partner should be able to handle them on her own.

As for Hazel, she was heading over to the second floor of the Jetport building, so she could have a chat with her mother. She walked down the stairs and headed over to where she saw a small group of players. All of them were injured, and they were being healed by other players with the cleric class. Including her mother.

She strolled over to Evelyn as casually and calmly as she could while glancing at the scene before her.

"You seem to be quite busy, Mom," She said, immediately catching her mother's attention.

"Oh, Hazel, I didn't see you there," Evelyn chuckled, still using a healing spell on one of the players she was treating. "What brings you here?"

Hazel shrugged. "Nothing really. I just wanted to see how you were doing, and I certainly have my answer." She panned around, taking in the scene of injured players currently being treated for their injuries.

Evelyn let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry you had to see this. There's usually not this many players nowadays."

Hazel already knew this since she had been keeping an eye out on her mother, making sure that everything was fine. That was why she was aware that seeing this many players was a bit unusual. And she already knew the source of the problem...but decided to feign ignorance.

"Is there something wrong?" Hazel asked, adding a bit of concern in her voice. "Did these guys run into a horde of monsters or something?"

Evelyn hesitated to answer, not wanting to tell her troubles to her daughter. Hazel knew this well after watching her through an Astral Eye earlier. However, it didn't take long before her mom finally gave in.

"There... have been recent encounters with Orcs," she confessed. "And the number of confrontations has been increasing by the minute."

"Really?" Hazel faked a gasp, doing her best to sound surprised. "Does Zoe or the others know about this yet?"

Evelyn shook her head. "Not yet. Zoe already has enough on her plate, and I didn't want to get Kane, John, or Anais to deal with this situation since Zoe might need them later. So, I've been trying to figure out how to handle it."

"I see..."

There was an awkward silence between the two. Neither of them said a word for a while, letting the silence persist as a response. Hazel waited a little more, just letting the weight of her mother's words sink in. Then, once she knew that enough time had passed, she spoke up once more.

"Hey, maybe I could handle this situation. What do you think?"

Evelyn looked at her daughter with a troubled expression. "N-no, you don't have to do that. This is a Guild issue, anyway, so it's up to us to handle it."

Hazel held back the urge to laugh as she watched her mother urge her daughter to reconsider. However, she felt a ping of guilt as she witnessed her behavior.

"It's no trouble, Mom," she told her. "I've got nothing better to do anyway."

"What about your training?"

"Taking down some Orcs would count as training, so you would be doing me a favor by letting me take this quest. So, how about it? Can I help you out on this?"

Once again, Evelyn faltered in giving her an answer. Hazel could see hints of guilt fester on her expression, only making her feel just as guilty for pulling off such an act on her mom. After a bit, her mom finally answered.

"Alright, you can help."

Hearing this, the same wicked smile began to form on Hazel's face, causing her mother and the other players around her to shudder at her expression. All the while, Hazel was elated that her little plan worked. Now, she had an alibi for her whereabouts when Zoe and the others planned to head out and meet the Battle Breaker's Guild at the hospital.

Now that step one was done, it was time to proceed with step two.

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