Professor Hein's thoughts were still untangling themselves when Nolan's voice slid in beside him like a whisper with weight.
"Did you know they were a scam too?"
The words struck clean through the fog of his reflection. Hein blinked, his shoulders twitching slightly from the jolt. He turned, caught in a moment of vulnerability, then slowly composed himself, hands adjusting the hem of his sleeves like it could smooth out the disarray inside his mind.
"Yes," Hein finally replied, steady but a shade quieter than usual. "Yes, I knew."
Nolan tilted his head, brow rising in quiet amusement, but he said nothing, inviting explanation with a gaze as calm as a still lake.
So Hein sighed—a long, reluctant breath—and began to speak.
"It started four weeks ago. One of the interns in the Artifact Registration Office came across a relic that, by all initial scans, registered as Class Three. However, it lacked any resonance signature.
