Lily’s house was not really well-fitted for sheltering four guests, but there was no better pce for them to discuss their pns. A superweapon is not something to be taken lightly and therefore Angelo and his friends had to think carefully on what they were to do. What definitely seemed strange was that the person who probably wanted to recim the fairy weapon was Lily herself. The same Lily who just a few days ago expressed fear for her safety under the rule of kanimfelli Omiāk.

  Lily’s kitchen had too little chairs and she had to bring more from other corners of her house. She was sipping tea while her guests were drinking bottled water. Lily didn’t even bother asking them whether they would like some tea. One sip would change them into fairies. Just like that the group was talking about Omiāk’s weapon.

  The first to ask a question was Ursu. “Can you, please, expin everything that is going on, sister?”

  “Well… It’s true that in my letters to you I have hidden a thing or two,” said Lily.

  “Yeah, hiding the fact that your entire country has fallen under the rule of the mafia is not exactly a thing or two,” said Angelo.

  “Why would you hide this?” asked Sarah.

  “Maybe it was about not wanting Ursu to think that I did something wrong,” said Lily.

  Ursu was going to say that she wouldn’t think anything like that. But she was hit by the realisation that Lily might have been right. Lily has turned into a fairy only after a long time of making Ursu understand that it is not wrong. Having heard about the transformation West Moonwing Isnd was going through not so long after might have destroyed her sister. So it might have been good that Ursu hadn't heard about it while it was happening.

  Ursu’s face was stone solid, but Lily and Giovanna sensed what she was thinking.

  “Did it happen soon after your arrival?” asked Ursu.

  “Yes, it wasn’t even a week,” said Lily. “Without a warning a loud bang. Next thing I notice is the whole city on fire. And just then I’m serving as a transtor to a mafia boss.”

  Ursu was simply wordless.

  “Maybe let’s leave this topic for now and focus on that weapon,” said Lily.

  “I’d say it’s a good idea,” said Angelo. “First, do you know anything in particur about that stolen weapon?”

  “Right, Kalinimjā Anpesn, it’s not your random gunpowder powered cannon,” said Lily.

  “Excuse me, but can we call it by its English name?” asked Angelo. And all the other guests admitted that they would prefer it.

  “Alright, Sunset of the Gods,” said Lily and started describing the dreadful construction. “It is truly a special construction. It is fueled by the magic of the enemy and it redirects it at them in a devastating shockwave.”

  “Which means that magic is unusable against it?” said Giovanna.

  “Not quite,” said Lily. “You see, there is a little defect in this weapon that Omiāk doesn’t know about.”

  “And what is it?” asked Sarah.

  “It’s quite interesting,” said Lily. “You see, it is actually possible to overload this weapon. You simply need to direct a lot of energy into it. Once that happens it shall explode once you try to fire it.”

  “I do not comprehend,” said Angelo. “How was a defect like that even discovered?”

  “Let’s just say that I am not the only one in Omiāk’s party who wishes to see him fall from his seat,” said Lily. “I have an engineer friend who shared this little detail with me. Omiāk still doesn’t know about it and may it stay that way.”

  “Interesting,” said Angelo. “Now, what do we know about that guy who stole the cannon?”

  “Right, Khoti Ni?fanat. I’ve been there to witness the downfall of his diplomatic retions with my boss,” said Lily.

  “Sounds like it was quite a fall,” said Angelo.

  “They were cooperating for quite some time,” Lily started telling the story of the two fairy mafia bosses. “Thanks to their cooperation, The Iron Coup was successful. After overthrowing the president they divided the country between themselves. Omiāk took the North and Ni?fanat took the South. For a long time they ruled in symbiosis. But Omiāk grew to become even more of a tyrant than anyone could have imagined. And Ni?fanat started to become more and more of a vassal to Omiāk.”

  “So I guess it was only a matter of time before the guy would rebel?” said Angelo.

  “You might be right,” said Lily.

  “It all sounds like he’s trying to provoke a war,” said Giovanna.

  “It would not surprise me,” said Lily. “Why else would you like to make a heist like that? We need to act fast before any of them decides to perform the first strike.”

  “Knowing my experience, I think they both already did the first strikes,” said Angelo. “But it’s true. How can we get to that Nichefanboy or what’s his name guy?”

  “Ni?fanat,” said Lily as if Angelo cared about his enemy’s name. “Don’t worry, he operates from a location really close to us.”

  Saying that, Lily brought out the map of the city. Aside from an unreadable foreign alphabet there was one more thing that was instantly catching attention. A great red line through the middle of the city.

  “This line divides the city into Omiāk’s and Ni?fanat’s territory,” said Lily. “And their mansions are shown by those blue symbols.”

  Angelo looked at the map up close. He couldn’t find the mansions in the mishmash of all the icons.

  “I can’t see them,” said Angelo.

  “Let me see,” said Lily and after looking for the icons for a long time she pointed at the mansions. “Here they are. We need to go to the one in the south.”

  “One sec,” said Angelo and circled the mansion with a pen. Then he gave the pen to Lily. “Mark the route.”

  “We have to watch out around the border,” said Lily, drawing the route. “It’s heavily guarded by both Omiāk’s and Ni?fanat’s soldiers.”

  “Alright, is there anything else that we need to know?” said Angelo.

  “Nothing I know of,” said Lily.

  “OK, so, anybody that wishes not to go with me, raise your hand,” said Angelo.

  Ursu knew she had to go. She was too worried for her sister to leave her.

  Giovanna raised her hand. She wasn’t interested in helping the mafia in any way.

  Sarah was pondering her choice for a while and she decided to back out. She thought that she was too inexperienced.

  “Very well,” said Angelo. “I’ll get you two back to the portal. And then we’ll handle the weapon problem.”