Giovanna and Sarah were waiting for the border control in the waiting room at the portal house. The document control process was taking a long time. Angelo expined to them that it could be because of an influx of immigrants and a limited number of pces to pce border checkpoints.

  While the girls were waiting for the official Sarah tried talking to Giovanna.

  “How do you find Angelo’s work?” Sarah asked.

  “What do you mean by that?” Giovanna said.

  “It’s just that… Angelo seems to do some really sketchy jobs,” said Sarah. “Like the st time with that separation of lovers case.”

  “Oh, yeah. They were lucky that it turned out that both of them were cait siths,” said Giovanna.

  “And now with all that gang war or something,” said Sarah.

  “Sometimes it does happen that Angelo has to help a bad person,” said Giovanna.

  “Were there more cases like that?” asked Sarah.

  “Yes, there were a lot in the beginning,” said Giovanna.

  “Then why is he doing that?” asked Sarah.

  “I know him well,” said Giovanna. “I know that he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t have to.”

  “Are you talking about his family?” asked Sarah.

  “Yes. He is doing all of that for them,” said Giovanna. “Their wellbeing is dependent on Mr. Ovid’s whims. And they depend on whether or not Angelo does what he tells him to do.”

  “Has he tried to oppose him?” Sarah asked, still believing that there is a possibility for Angelo to stop.

  “He hasn’t. He doesn’t have to to know what would happen,” said Giovanna. “You do not oppose a genie.”

  The conversation was paused by the border official coming into the room. He was holding Sarah’s and Giovanna’s passports in one hand and their entry permits in the other. He was speaking about something that the girls couldn’t understand because of the nguage.

  From what the girls understood everything was in order and they were free to return home. The official’s behaviour seemed to confirm that. Giovanna and Sarah thanked him, took their passports and went to the connection room. Returning home was just a matter of catching a lucky energy wave.

  When waiting for their transfer Sarah said one more thought to Giovanna. “I just hope Angelo knows what he’s doing.”

  Then suddenly an energy wave came, the girls got transported back to their world and Giovanna answered Sarah on the other side. “I’m sure he does. He had time to mature.”

  Meanwhile Angelo, Lily and Ursu were on their way to the other side of the city where Ni?fanat’s base was located. Angelo and Lily were constantly on the lookout looking for the enemy soldiers. Ursu was more concerned with comprehending the situation.

  “Did it seriously start soon after you moved?” Ursu asked Lily.

  “Yes,” said Lily. “I happened to move right in the middle of The Iron Coup.”

  “Did you really think you should not tell me?” Ursu asked again.

  “Maybe,” said Lily. “Or maybe I was afraid of telling you. I don’t know.”

  Their talk was stopped by Angelo noticing how far they’ve walked.

  “Watch out! We’re approaching the border,” said Angelo.

  Indeed there was a series of fences made of barbed wire in the middle of the city. They were higher than any barbed wire you could see in the human realm. It was clear that they were raised so high to keep uninvited guests through making flying over them a difficult deed. The higher fairies fly the more exhausted they become. And the constructor of the fences definitely knew this.

  “We need to find a way across this,” said Angelo. “And it better be safe. I would prefer not to meet any guards.”

  “I don’t think there is one,” said Lily. “The fastest way to go around this fence would be to get to the sea, find a boat and sail to the other side.”

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” said Angelo. “Is there really no alternative?”

  “Well, there is one, but it might be a bit time-consuming,” said Lily.

  “And what will it be?” asked Angelo.

  “If we find a fragment of the fence that goes through a forest, it might be possible to dig under it,” said Lily. “But of course, if we get caught with shovels we’ll end up in trouble.”

  Angelo considered Lily’s idea. It was dangerous, but there was nothing better they could do.

  “Better this than nothing, I guess,” said Angelo. “In fact… I think I know how we might be able to dig unnoticed. Ursu?”

  “Yes?” Ursu said. She spoke probably for the first time since she left Lily’s house.

  “Do you happen to have some of your figurines with you?” Angelo asked.

  “Yes, why are you asking?” Ursu said.

  “Well, I was hoping that you had some that would let us dig under the tunnel,” said Angelo.

  “Alright, let me see…,” said Ursu and opened her bag.

  Inside there were many different figurines of anime and game characters. Mostly from horror media. Demonman, Obelisk Head from Quiet Mountain, Dracu from Hell Song, Ded Moroz from Kami no Tensei and many more. And among them there was that one figure that she held dear from her childhood. It was Driller Man. Since Driller Man was a cyborg with excavation equipment in his arms he seemed like the perfect candidate.

  “Nice,” said Angelo. “Let’s find some pce where we could drill.”

  The party found a nice pce in the forest in the city. The ground seemed soft enough for the figurine to drill through. And it was fairly away from any watchtowers. Patrols in the area also seemed rare.

  Ursu took some animating cream and applied it to the figurine while reciting the spell “Through blood and earth and flowery seed, I give you life because I am in need. Dig a passage under the barbed fence for us.”

  The figurine quickly jumped to life and started digging. It first dug a hole big enough for Ursu to walk in. Then it started drilling the tunnel further. Soon it completely disappeared underground.

  “Looks like we can sit and rex for a bit,” said Angelo.

  But then Lily saw someone approaching. And that fairy saw her too for sure, because they started screaming.

  “Oj! Pin lili ?i atti?”

  It was for sure one of Ni?fanat’s soldiers patrolling the border. Ursu started to panic and Angelo was getting ready to fight. But Lily calmed them down in split second. She stepped closer to the wire.

  <> Lily said. <>

  <> the soldier asked.

  <> said Lily <>

  <> asked the soldier.

  <> asked Lily and pointed at the tunnel.

  <> said the soldier.

  <> said Lily. <>

  The soldier completely didn’t know what to think. Lucy’s tale seemed suspicious. But what if she was telling the truth?

  <> the soldier stuttered out. <>

  <> said Lily as the soldier was leaving.

  Angelo and Ursu were looking at Lily lost in admiration.

  “What did you tell him?” asked Angelo.

  “Oh, nothing much,” said Lily. “But that figurine needs to drill faster. In a moment this pce will be full of guards trying to refill the hole.”

  Luckily just as Lily stopped speaking Driller Man emerged from underground on the other side of the fence.

  “Well, no time to waste. Let’s go,” said Angelo and stepped into the tunnel.