After getting the answer from Ship Girl, Shade wanted to visit the castle ruins in the mountains again. But the Witches told him not to rush; they had plenty of time in the afternoon after lunch.
So everyone celebrated Vanessa and Siris's arrival aboard the ship. Although the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe had not come in full this time, Vanessa had still brought quite a few people with her. During lunch, she and Siris sat on either side of Shade, and Vanessa quietly teased him:
"How are things progressing between you and Claire?"
Siris smiled as she watched Shade explain himself. In her heart, she knew that her friend merely wanted to confirm whether anyone else had moved as quickly as Miss Edwardz.
That afternoon, Matilda, who was most familiar with the ruins, led the group into the mountains with Shade.
Though they had briefly explored the castle ruins and even left some spare supplies behind, the Southern Kingdom maids' exploration had been limited to the "surface." The castle's 1st Floor was now buried beneath the snow, so they knew nothing about what lay below it.
"And castles of this size usually have basements."
Matilda said this while they were climbing the mountain.
There were five people in total. Aside from Shade and Matilda, the other three young ladies were all Nine-Ring Arcanists, and all of them were Dragonborn. Since Bella had learned of the Seven Great Families' origins last summer, awakened her Golden Dragon bloodline, and learned to fly, many of the Moon Bay natives among her young ladies had displayed Dragonborn traits to varying degrees.
The Orthodox Church, Seer Association, and other Ring Arcanist organizations in the Moon Bay Area had also seen similar cases, though not as pronounced as Bella's young ladies. This might have been an