Honey : The Empire's Treasure 219 Inconspicuous clue

Plugging her nose with scrap pieces of cloth, Mika walked into the section of diseased trees.

The first few she came across didn't have that much damage to them.

"It looks like these trees just recently contracted the sickness." Taking a few samples, Mika didn't stay long.

Wanting to find trees that were more like the one in the cave, she walked deeper inside.

When she finally reached the mid-section, the scraps of cloth stuffing her nose could no longer stop the stench from getting through.

Her eyes started to water and her breath became shorter. The stink was suffocating her, she didn't realize how hard Yumsa was working to purify the air for her in the Steppes.

If Yumsa wasn't with her in that cavern, she highly doubts she'll be alive right now.

Even breathing through her mouth was a struggle.

I need to finish this fast...

Ripping her handkerchief, Mika tied it over her mouth and nose, to try to reduce the odor.

Quickly making her way to the back-section, Mika succeeded in finding what she was looking for.

The majority of these trees had similar features as the one in the cave.

This must be the final stage of the disease...

Changing gloves, Mika worked fast and efficiently at gathering the samples. All vials were labeled with its test subjects' name and picture.

Packing everything away, Mika stood up but instantly got light-headed and fell to the ground.

Ow! Sh*t...! That hurt!

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Rubbing her head, Mika looked around for her pack, to check that nothing was broken before trying to stand up.

Rolling onto her knees and using a tree for support, Mika work her feet underneath her body when something caught her eye.

Bending down, she recognizes a design on the tree's roots.

What the hell?...

Clearing away debris and rocks, she took a closer look.

I'm not seeing things right, this is actually what I think it is, right?

Opening her pack again, she pulled out her camera to take a close-up picture.

Moving on to the next and the one after that she found the same design on all of them.

What the hell does this mean!?

*Ding!* *Ding!*

A bell tolled, signaling to the workers that it was lunchtime. She couldn't stay here any longer or Mr. Agis will come looking for her.

Stuff her camera into her pack and hiding it under her clothes. Mika made her way back towards the front of the orchards.

When she was close enough to see the workers leaving their post, Mika hung back so her clothes could air out. The stench from her clothes will alert Mr.Agis and all the workers to where she was all this time.

Rubbing some flower petals and leaves on herself to speed up the process, Mika had to wait until lunchtime was half over before she felt it was safe enough the leave.

At the gate, Mr. Agis had been watching the time, waiting for Mika to show up. He didn't know if she had bought food with and as eating it somewhere or if she was lost.

Halfway into lunch, he still didn't see any signs of Mika. Better to be safe than sorry, he was about to lead a search party into the orchards to look for her when Mika came strolling out.

"Miss Mikaela...!" Taking in her dirty appearance and sloppy hair, Agis thought an accident happened.

However, before he could go see what was wrong, Mika waved her hand goodbye and left through the gates.

Making the excuse that Mika is still a young fledgling to explain her behavior, he through the event to the back of his mind and continued about his work.

Racing back to her bedroom and locking the door, Mika reviewed her samples before turning her attention to the pictures.

Zooming in and enlarging the photos on her monitor, the detailed design became clearer than before.

"My guess was right...its a circuitry board."

Although the color and shapes were faint. With the help of her monitor, it was simple to make out the lines.

What was perplexing her more, is this circuitry design looks like something she would see in her old world. The Fae technology doesn't use circuit boards, they use something along the line of fiberoptics to create their technology.

"So what is this going on a tree?" If she hadn't taken that fall and looked closer at the roots, she probably never would have found this.

Was this why my nanobots work so well on the tree in the cave?

Needing more information, Mika turned to Drako.

Chapter end