The man that was there smirked as he saw Peyton, and waved back.

As they descended in the elevator, he took a deep breath, concentrated, and a small pulse of mana emitted from him... though it wasn't noticed by anyone.

"So." he said.

"Been a bit." he commented.

"You still look like you have a lot on your mind." he then said to her further.

The man looked shocked.

"Why do I care?" he asked.

"Why, because this is a dreadful situation." he said.

"Your friend and her daughter are suffering, you are suffering because of it, and now your relationship with your significant other is suffering." he continued.

"And it's all because of that woman. That dark elf." he went on.

"The worst part? There's nothing that can be done for them." he lamented, before pausing a moment, and snapping his fingers.

"Ah! Wait! Maybe there IS!" he said, as though he'd just come to a realisation.

"Well... see, what's happened is because of that blasted pen and book, I hear." he replied.

"But... I also heard that the Order of the Sand was in quite a disarray, and that it needed to be fixed." he continued.

"Hell, it took the power of TWO djinns to do it." he went on.

"And two djinns are VERY powerful." he then said. "One would think that if they could fix something as colossal as the Order, they'd be able to override something that book and pen did, yes?" he asked her.

"I mean, in theory, yes?"

"....hm, that's a good point." he replied.

"Or IS it?" he then asked.

"I have it on good authority that Vanessa Encrae has that second djinn under her command." he then told Peyton.

"If you were able to get that djinn away from her... then you could help your friend and her daughter." he continued.

"Well... possibly." he then added.

"After all, it's only a theory that 2 djinn could do something about it."

Just as she said that, she heard the elevator ding, and it looked like they were back on schedule.

"Maybe." the man replied.

"But yeah, hope my info helps." he told her.

"A shame dark elves are so hard to kill." he added.

"Hey!" the guard snapped at him. "Watch it!" he warned.

"What, can't even say 'hi' to people?" the man asked, sounding offended.

The man watched her go, and smirked to himself, a satisfied look in his eyes.

'And the gears move even MORE...' he thought.

Meanwhile, Peyton managed to make her way to Sharp's office, and was told to wait for a moment, as Sharp was out. However, she was told he'd be back momentarily.

Sure enough, about a minute or two later, he stepped into his receptionist's area.

"Oh, Peyton." he said, seeing her there.

"My apologies, have you been waiting long?" he asked her.

"Of course." Sharp replied.

With that, the two of them stepped into his office, and he shut the door behind them. Once he did, he sat behind the desk, and she sat in front of it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What's on your mind?" he asked her.

"You say it's not extremely important, but I can see it's weighing a bit on your shoulders." he then commented.

"....." Sharp was silent as he heard that.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"We only have a few people here that require guards and an escort at the moment..." he said.

"Can you describe them to me?" he asked.

"Any notable features?" he asked further.

"Well, he has pale grey skin..." Peyton started off, which seemed to be enough for Sharp.

"Oh, damn it, it's Christopher Jenkins." he growled.

"...but what you describe IS strange, though." he said. "He has the mana restrictors on, so he shouldn't be able to do anything with his mana..." he muttered.

".....hm." Hal muttered.

"That... well, his mana is... well... it's technically dark elf." he said.

"It's complicated, but he was a human with necromantic mana, but an attempt was made to change his species to dark elf, which had... er... well, it resulted in the man you witnessed." he told her further.

"So he has access to dark elf mana now, but I think he lost almost all his necromancy in the process. I'm not sure, admittedly." he then went on.

"Still... the fact that the guard seemed to miss the conversation IS weird..." he admitted.

Hal looked at Syraene as she said what she did, and looked a bit confused.

"....eh?" he muttered.

"Admittedly, that confused me." he told her.

"His mortal mana, but not ALL his mana?" he asked her, clearly still a bit confused.

"Care to... elaborate on what you are referring to?"