Discrepancies

When Leon came back to his room, he slapped his cheeks to snap himself out of his own pity. He'd had time to think on the way back here, and the more he did, the more sure he was that his theory on Morda's location wasn't wrong. Morda had to be in Laria Jungle — there simply wasn't another answer that made sense, otherwise. If Morda wasn't in that jungle, than why had all of the remnants of nearby ancient ruins, whenever they mentioned Morda, indicated that that was its location? Leon and his team of scholars had spent years analyzing those artifacts and records. They may not have had the sort of technology this era has, but they didn't need it since all of their answers lay in the past, not the future or the present.

Leon had been so fascinated with modern technology that he'd almost made a grave mistake by assuming it held all of the answers Leon couldn't find. He couldn't do the same thing again. He may not have been able to find the answer to stopping the catastrophe before, but that didn't mean his knowledge was obsolete. It meant something, so he would rely on it as much as he would on the technology of this time.

He paced around his room, deep in thought. What was the reason those researcher's machines said that nothing was there? How could it be that there wasn't a single trace of magic or minerals in that area? That wasn't possible. Magic is one thing, but minerals are substances to be found beneath the ground. From the way the researchers were talking about the Laria Jungle, it didn't seem like it was tamed any more in the last 2,000 years than it was in his time. The borders shrunk, but that didn't mean much since those were only considered the outskirts of the jungle previously. The center and middle of the jungle were still wild, dangerous, and unpredictable. There was little chance, then, that any of the minerals beneath the ground in the center of the jungle had been dug out and utilized for human purposes. Even if they were, how could it be possible to unearth every single bit of them? There was something not right with those results, and Leon wanted to know why.

Leon left his room and made his way back the space he'd been in just earlier. He remembered the way there now, so he walked briskly. When he arrived, he opened the door and marched to the big, center desk, stopping just before it and getting the attention of the woman he'd spoken with previously. She turned around and was about to say something, but stopped when she saw Leon's serious expression.

Leon said, "Call a meeting with all of your most experienced and trustworthy researchers. There is something I need to discuss. I'll be in the meeting room I gave my presentation in."

The woman looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped and nodded. Leon then made his way to his destination, entering the room, completely empty of people, and stopping before a long table in the middle of the room, the center embedded with a screen. He sat down in the chair at the head of the table and crossed his arms, waiting as researchers trickled in one by one.

When it looked like everyone had arrived, he sat up and leaned forward. "Why don't we all introduce ourselves first. I'm sick of just calling you 'researchers.'"

Everyone nodded.

The woman he'd been speaking to earlier, that had shown him the results of their search of the Laria Jungle, spoke first from the seat on his right. "My name is Kalea Lorent."

A man on Leon's left spoke. "Nadar Kalto."

"Olara Hagreves."

"Penta Detriv"

"Madox Vavel."

"Yennow Zater"

Leon nodded, satisfied. He met everyone's gaze once before he brought up a map of the Laria Jungle on the screen at the center of the desk. "Did everyone get the results of the search of the Laria Jungle?"

They nodded. "Good. Can ask you a question then? How much have you explored of the Laria Jungle?"

For all of Leon's theorizing, he couldn't be completely sure unless they confirmed it themselves. The man named Penta spoke. "Well, you can see the borders shrunk as the cities on all sides expanded their territories, but no one could touch the jungle any more than that. The jungle became too dangerous to be touched by anyone, and after the borders shrunk, there was no longer a buffer zone between human cities and towns and the jungle's dangerous wildlife, so a barrier was established around the perimeter of the jungle. There are always sorcers stationed at certain points around the jungle, maintaining the spell at all times. Since the barrier was created, no other parts of the jungle had been explored."

Leon nodded. "So then, I take it that all of the minerals beneath the Laria Jungle are still as they always have been? No one has excavated them?"

They nodded. Some had confused looks on their faces, not sure where Leon was going with his words, while others, such as Kalea, had realization dawning on their features. She turned to Leon and said, "Then, the results — there must be an error. I didn't question it at first since all of our focus was on Morda's suspected location, but our device scanned the entire jungle, and yet the results still indicated that apart from a few traces of magic from the Kaital ruins, there were no other traces of magic or minerals in the entirety of the jungle."

The others finally understood why Leon called them together. Leon stood, pointing at Morda's suspected location on the map. "If the results about the minerals are this wrong and suspicious, don't you think that the same can be said about traces of magic? What if the people of Morda had some sort of magic device that shielded their existence, including any traces of magic or any minerals they may have used? What if that was the reason no one could ever find it?"

The others considered his words, deep in thought. Leon had never thought of such a theory before, but if they were capable of creating a magic weapon that, upon failure, had the potential to destroy the entire world, why wouldn't they also have the means to shield themselves in such a way? They must have been well-versed in magic in ways neither Leon's time nor these researchers' time could imagine.

Silence descended as everyone thought about this. A woman, Olara, spoke up then. "If that's the case, how would anyone ever have been able to enter Morda, back when in its own era? How would other civilizations around it known if its existence if it tried to hide it?"

Leon responded, "There must be a key, of course. If they hid themselves behind a barrier similar to the one that is presently being cast around the Laria Jungle, then there must be some kind of key or password required for entry."

Madox, a man towards the end of the table, spoke up. "What is the key, then? Wouldn't you know, since you managed to enter Morda?"

Leon didn't respond right away. He'd forgotten for a few minutes about the lies he'd told, and upon Madox's question, was reminded that he couldn't let his guard down so easily. However, he felt the truth, or the partial truth at least, was best here. "Speaking honestly, I'm not sure how I entered Morda. I certainly wasn't looking for a key or password back then. It may have been something I picked up without realizing its significance."

Madox nodded. "Why don't you recount the specifics of your journey, then? Maybe we'll find a clue somewhere, so don't leave anything out, not even the smallest, most insignificant detail. You never know what may be turn out to be important."

Leon wasn't expecting such a suggestion. He met Madox's gaze, and saw a glint in his eyes. He was doing this on purpose. Was he one of the people that never believed Leon's lie? If so, Leon was in trouble. He'd never come up with a detailed version of his lie, had never needed to because everyone believed him even if he gave vague details. Or, if they had their doubts nevertheless, they were ones they kept to themselvs — they never had the courage to question Leon's expertise. Yet now, here sat a man intent on questioning him.

Leon was about to protest and ask him how he could question him so boldly, but the other researchers began nodding in agreement and looked to him with expectation on their faces. It seemed Madox had asked a question on all of their minds, not just on his. Leon struggled to not let the rising despair and panic show on his face. He tried to think of some way to get out of this situation, but knew it was pointless. He'd only look suspicious if he tried to avoid talking about his "journey." He sighed internally and leaned back on his chair, avoiding their gazes as he stared at the far wall and started a lie even more elaborate than any he had told previously.