Gilded Ashes-Chapter 260: We Have to Climb That

Raizen tried to imagine Esen hunched over a slate, watching the slots spin with a weird focus. Yeah, that really sounded like something Esen would do.

The problem... That guy was broke as heck.

Hikari leaned forward, actually comfortable now that it was just them. She read the menu again, then set it down with quiet certainty.

"I’ll get... This cake" she said.

Raizen blinked, like she just ordered a weapon. "Cake?"

Hikari nodded once. "Yea? Cake."

Raizen couldn’t stop the small smile that tugged at his mouth. "Of all things."

She didn’t deny it. "I’m a bit hungry, so what’s wrong with that?"

A server came by, and Hikari ordered something simple, Ukai-style. A pale slice with really thin layers, topped with fruit that looked too perfect to be real. When it arrived, she stared at it for half a second like she evaluated it on sight. It really looked just like in the picture. Then she took a bite.

Raizen watched her expression change in a way that was almost rare.

Not dramatic or wide-eyed.

Just... Really pleased.

He exhaled quietly. "So you do like sweet stuff."

Hikari kept chewing, calm. "Ufm... I like good food."

For a minute, it really felt like a normal moment. Like they were two students hiding from the world in a quiet restaurant, not two people carrying secrets through Ukai.

Then Hikari paused.

Not because of the cake.

Because something on her wrist buzzed, faintly.

She lowered her fork and pulled her sleeve back a bit.

A watch sat against her skin - sleek and dark, built in the same design as their slates. Smooth surface. Minimal lines with a faint glow.

Raizen stared at it for a second.

Hikari tapped the face once. Light flickered. Text rolled across.

Her eyes moved quickly.

The calm on her face held for two seconds, then tightened, almost imperceptibly.

Raizen’s stomach shifted. "Alteea?"

Hikari didn’t look up yet. "Yeah."

Raizen watched her read, trying not to ask any questions. Hikari always took a second to decide what mattered and what didn’t.

Then she talked, without looking up at him.

"She says she knows I’m with you"

Raizen’s eyebrows lifted slightly. "She does?"

Hikari’s mouth twitched, like she wanted to roll her eyes but didn’t. She looked back at the watch and read again, voice shifting into a faint imitation of Alteea’s tone.

"I hate to break your little moment..."

Hikari’s cheeks warmed just a fraction.

She quickly cleared her throat and kept going, pretending nothing happened.

"...but something weird is happening at the Echelon meeting."

Raizen sat a little straighter.

Hikari’s gaze sharpened as she read the next part.

"They’re taking advantage of the ceremony. They’re basically alone"

Raizen’s jaw tightened. That made sense. Everyone’s eyes were on the dead ruler. On the procession. A perfect time to shift something quietly somewhere else.

Hikari kept scrolling. Her expression turned more serious.

"There’s one person I just... Can’t identify."

Raizen almost chuckled. "Alteea can’t identify someone? Is that even possible?", but his mind started to spiral anyway - names, motives, meetings... 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Then Hikari set her watch down like she made a decision.

"Okay" she said.

Raizen blinked. "Hm?"

Hikari picked up her fork again. "We’re going."

Then she proceeded to finish her cake like it insulted her.

Raizen watched, stunned, as her calm pace turned into chaotic destruction. Two bites became four. Four became the entire slice. She swallowed, wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and looked like she’d never been emotional in her life.

Raizen stared. "You just- You just inhaled it!"

Hikari pushed the empty plate away, slowly. "We don’t have time."

"You were savoring it" Raizen said.

"I was" she agreed, completely straight-faced. "But it tasted good anyways."

Raizen let out a short breath that was half laughter and half disbelief.

Hikari reached into a hidden pocket in her dress, fingers moving quickly. She tapped the fabric once, then slid her hand in a hidden pocket.

Her fingers stopped.

Her expression changed. Hikari withdrew her hand slowly.

Empty.

She stared at her own palm like it betrayed her.

Then she muttered, very quietly, "I... Um... I forgot my wallet." She looked annoyed, but the annoyance didn’t hide the embarrassment. It was the kind of mistake she hated.

Raizen couldn’t help it. He laughed, soft and genuine.

Hikari shot him a look that should’ve killed him. "Stop laughing..."

"I- heh - I’m sorry" Raizen said, still smiling. "It’s just... You ate like you were in an eating competition, and forgot your wallet."

Hikari’s cheeks warmed again, this time from pure irritation.

Raizen leaned toward the server when they came by, paid without making a big thing of it, and stood up first. He didn’t want her to think about the wallet for even one second longer than necessary.

Hikari waited for him, thanked quickly and started heading for the door, already back in motion.

Raizen followed.

Outside, Ukai felt... Wrong. Unnaturally paused.

The city center should’ve been wet and loud with rain, leaves shaking under heavy drops, water streaming down railings. But the air was clear. Damp, yes. The ground still held the sheen of recent downpour. But rain wasn’t falling.

Hikari looked up as they walked and felt her breath catch.

The clouds still didn’t look natural.

They stretched across the sky like always, but something below them warped the image. A faint distortion, like some kind of field.

Hikari still didn’t take her eyes away from the sky. "What even... Is that?"

Raizen swallowed. "Eiden told me. He said that one of the Echelon members is working on it."

Hikari’s gaze stayed upward, focused. "An Eon field, huh... To deflect the rain."

"Yeah" Raizen agreed. "Remote controlled. And it doesn’t need someone standing there to hold it."

Hikari’s eyes narrowed slightly. "well that’s really smart..."

They kept walking, a bit faster now.

The closer they got to Ukai’s center, the emptier it became. Streets that should’ve been crowded were silent. Shops stood open but unattended. Lanterns swayed lightly in the breeze, their light reflecting on wet wood. It felt like the center was frozen in time while the rest of Ukai mourned in circles.

Then the central tree came into view.

Even Raizen, who already saw it before, slowed down.

The trunk was enormous - so wide it made buildings look like small ornaments. Branches thicker than towers spread outward above, disappearing into mist. It wasn’t just a tree. It was the axis Ukai was built around.

And nestled against it, half embraced by living wood, sat the a building. The Echelon meeting place. Or town hall, whatever it was.

It looked like a normal building at first glance - pale stone, round edges, a deliberate cylinder shape. But the tree had grown around it, wrapping the structure with bark and thick roots, holding it in place. Above, a glass dome crowned the top, half covered by branches and leaves like nature tried to hide it from the sky.

Raizen stared at the dome, then at the building’s base.

No obvious doors.

No low windows.

No guards.

Just silence.

Hikari stepped closer to him, whispering. "How are we supposed to even see anything?"

Raizen didn’t answer, because the answer started to form in his mind like a slow, annoying realization.

He looked up again.

The dome sat high. Very high.

Thirty meters, at least.

And the branches reached it. Thick. Intertwined.

Raizen felt his ribs complain preemptively.

Hikari followed his gaze upward, and her expression went perfectly flat.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

They both understood at the same time.

Then Hikari sighed. "Don’t tell me..."

"...We have to climb that."