The morning alarms rang in the morning, waking Leo up as he groaned and held a hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight shining down in his face.

A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the door and Elson's voice calling him. "Leo! Let's go get breakfast!"

"Right, right. I'm coming," he mumbled tiredly as he swung his legs off the bed and quickly got changed, pulling on a pair of socks before he opened the door.

Elson blinked slightly. "Your hair is pretty long when it's down."

"Bedhead," Leo smiled sheepishly as he slipped on his shoes before grabbing the hair gel sitting on his dresser and running some of it through his hair. "Let's go."

"Onward!" Elson bounded down the steps of his porch and began to walk down the road to the diner as Leo followed him.

"You asked about my hair, but what about you? You always wear a hat."

"I mean...I just trim it occasionally. They always said I looked better in a hat so I'm used to wearing one. It's become one of my most recognizable features, besides my wrapped up hands."

"Why wrap them?"

Elson grew quiet before he quickly smiled and changed the subject. "So, what kind of breakfast do you usually eat anyway?"

Leo smiled nervously at the subject change. "I usually eat protein in the morning. I'm not a fan of bread and stuff."

Elson nodded slowly as he opened the door to the diner. "I'm gluten intolerant so I can't eat bread either."

"Oh? I just heard something interesting~" Gin sang as he stood with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"W-wait a second," Elson backed up nervously.

"So...how allergic are you?" Gin smirked as he picked up an English muffin. "Anaphylactic shock kind of intolerance or just mild discomfort?"

"Mild discomfort?" Elson stammered as he backed up against the wall. "Wait, I don't like the look in your eyes."

Gin laughed as he sat back down. "How cute. You thought I would actually force feed you bread."

"Never mind that! What are you doing here, anyway?" Elson tried to change the subject, ears red as he sat down at the main table.

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I stayed here."

"All night?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No, but...what did you do here?"

"Cleaned up the mess that you children left after last night and cooked breakfast."

Leo rose an eyebrow as some other people began to walk in. "Fine, fine. But...don't you hate all of us?"

Gin sat down on one of the tables. "Of course I do. But it's also lonely to separate yourself from everyone else."

Phoenix, who had been listening in on their conversation next to Leo, suddenly grinned. "So...you just wanted friends, right? Aww, of course we'll be your friend!" She bounded over and gave the Ultimate Butler a hug.

Gin winced as he tried to push her off. "Sh-shut up!"

Leo couldn't help but smile as everyone else came filed in. "Have a seat, everyone," Raven said as she carefully grabbed an eggs benedict off of a plate. "Are we missing anyone?"

"On the contrary, we actually have one more person than usual," Yumi remarked as she threw her gaze towards Gin. "Cassini is still a no show."

Everyone collectively settled down as they began to eat. Leo reached over for a plate of scrambled eggs. "So, anything we wanted to talk about?"

Cornelia shrugged as she chewed her food. "We didn't go over anything important last night, really. Oh, but Dagger said he would be here this morning to show us something."

Raven sighed. "I would really have liked it if everyone was here for once...it must be important."

"Shall I try and get him?" Aspen asked quietly as he took a sip of coffee.

"Don't bother. He won't answer to anyone," Raymond said as he rested his head on the breakfast table.

"I guess it can't be helped. I'll tell him whatever the news is afterwards," Cornelia said. "Anyone want to join me?"

There was a deathly silence as no one volunteered. The Ultimate Pilot puffed her cheeks. "Come on, I don't want to deal with him alone!"

"I-I'll do it!" Brody raised his hand quickly.

"You know you don't have to raise your hand, right?"

"Well, in that case," Gin stood up. "I'll come along."

Yumi shot him a threatening glare. "I swear to God, Gin, if you're going just to provoke him more—"

"Whaaat? Me? I would never do such a horrible thing!"

"—I'll have your Japanese-Italian ass deported!"

From across the table, Raymond choked on his glass of water as he started to laugh, Angel joining in on the chuckles.

Leo couldn't help but smile at the exchange as the door suddenly opened and Dagger walked in with a big, eager smile on his face.

Immediately, the mood in the diner dropped.

Dagger tilted his head. "What happened? Is it Erik? Of course it's Erik, it's gotta be Erik that makes you all so somber!"

"Erik isn't even with you!" Elson protested.

"What a mystery," Dagger mused as he looked around. "I wonder what the source of your tension is."

"I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not," Nova groaned as she hit her head against the table in a futile attempt to knock herself out.

Dagger laughed as he climbed onto the booth closest to their breakfast table and sat down on the back the chair. "All things aside, are you ready for my announcement?"

There was a long pause as everyone waited in anticipation.

The host puffed his cheeks indignantly. "Excuse me, you're supposed to respond to that! Something like, 'Oh, of course, Master Daggy, we'd love nothing else than for you to impart your gentle kindness and wisdom upon us!' Or something along those lines."

"Is there something I can use in this room to hang myself?" Raymond muttered as his eyes began to scan the restaurant.

"Come on, don't be like that," Aspen smiled, clearly struggling to keep his cheery expression on as well. "Look, I'll do it, so we can move on."

A devious look came over Dagger's face as he grinned. "Oh? You will? Then bow in front of me."

Aspen was quiet before he sighed defeatedly and stood from his seat before taking a deep bow in front of Dagger. "I beg of you. On behalf of everyone here, I would love nothing else than for you to impart your kindness and wisdom."

"Hmmm...good enough, I suppose," Dagger looked up at everyone. "I'm here to give you guys your reward for getting the first case correct!"

Leo subconsciously clenched his fists under the table. "A...reward?"

"Of course! You guys can't be cooped up on these two tiny islands!"

There was a distant rumble from somewhere on the island.

Eve looked around nervously. "What...what is that?"

"It's the gate to one of the other islands getting opened!"

Leo's eyes widened in awe. "Other...islands?"

Dagger blinked slightly. "Don't tell me that you didn't see those giant iron gates barring the bridges? Those lead to the other islands. Every time you guys make it through another trial, I'll open it up for you to use permanently."

Everyone was reminded again of what they had gone through to achieve it.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say! You guys are free to explore the new island and get accustomed to it. Ah, but of course," Dagger threw a menacing glance to Elson, "he doesn't get to join you guys. I own him until 10:00 P.M. tonight."

Elson turned greened before he smiled nervously. "Ah. That's right. I made some kind of a stupid deal, right?"

"You have no one to blame but yourself," Phoenix muttered, "you were so impulsive that you didn't consider the consequences."

"Let's go, my little dog~" Dagger began to laugh as he got off the booth and started to walk out.

Elson looked over desperately at Leo, making eye contact. Leo smiled apologetically as he started to wave. "I'm sure he won't hurt you, but you can come over to my cottage at night if you need me to help you with anything."

With Elson's pleading looks, the two of them left, the diner's door closing behind them slowly.

Eve took a deep breath. "I'll...do my best...to tap into his spiritual energy tomorrow."

"He's not gonna die!"

"Did he write a will and testament somewhere?" Gin started to search under the tables. "Because I don't think he's coming back."

"Knock it off, you two," Raven said as she started to pile the empty plates together. "Gin, Brody, and Cornelia, you three go fetch Cassini and head over to the new island. The rest of us will meet you there."

Under the orders of Raven, the remaining people slowly got up and walked in a group towards the newly opened bridge.

Leo gazed upon the new island that was but a short distance across the sea. He could make out what looked like a traditional hut, with what seemed like steam billowing out from behind it.

Steam?

"I guess we'll just slowly break off as we continue to explore," Aspen said softly. "A few people should stay behind whenever we find something interesting."

"Sounds good to me. Let's all reconvene in four hours at this bridge," Raven said as she started to head down the bridge confidently, her jacket and hair flying out behind her.

Leo heard a whistle next to him as Raymond walked next to him. "She's not someone to mess with, huh? You can tell even by her stance."

"You're right, she's powerful, isn't she?"

The Ultimate Codebuster yawned before he started to walk after her. "Wouldn't want to end up on her bad side."

Leo nodded quietly as he started to follow him, the group looking around in awe as they stopped at the entrance to the island.

Phoenix peered out at the structure to the right, her eyes brightening as she pointed. "That looks like a hot springs resort!"

"P-perhaps...we should investigate more," Yumi said. Leo looked over, noticing that though her face remained stoic, her eyes had lit up in anticipation.

"Great! Let's go, Raymond and Yumi!" Phoenix cheered as she grabbed the back of Raymond's jacket and bounded off towards the hot springs.

Raven smiled faintly. "I'm glad they seem to like it."

Leo nodded as he looked ahead. "There seems to be a few more buildings ahead, we can let them investigate."

They began to move on, soon stopping to look up at the grand, gothic-style structure that stood before them. The building was mostly made of glass, with a fountain on the path leading up to it and grass surrounding the area. Trees lined the path, with its white flowers in bloom.

"Woah," Eve said in an amazed whisper. "It's beautiful."

"Isn't it?" a voice said from behind the rest of the group.

They quickly turned around to find Erik, who was busy putting a bandaid on his finger.

Nova scowled slightly. "What do you want?"

Erik blinked innocently. "I just wanted to talk about this building. Aren't you curious as to why such an opulent building exists on this island?"

"No," Nova responded flatly.

"...oh."

"Ignore her," Raven waved a hand. "So, what is this?"

Erik smiled eagerly. "It's a library!"

Leo's jaw dropped in shock. "Woah. There's got to be a lot of books in there, right?"

"Mhm! It's got basically any book you want, from fiction to fantasy, and records of nearly everything. Now, there's two more things on this island to explore besides the library, so if two of you want to stay behind and learn everything, then I would be happy to teach you."

"In that case, Leo and I will stay back. Aspen, Eve, Nova, and Angel, you four go on ahead."

The other four nodded before they continued on down the road.

Raven let out a breath as she turned back to the short host. "You must have some sort of reason for being here, correct? There is no way you came here without a reason."

Erik smiled apologetically. "You're right. Allow me to explain while we go in."

The three of them began to amble in along the path in silence, before Leo opened the door for the both of them to walk in.

The faint earthy scent of dust and new books rose up as soon as he opened the door.

Raven took in a deep breath as Erik turned to the two of them. "So, I explained that this library contains basically everything that you would want. This includes newspaper articles, and recollections of the past."

Leo's eyes widened in realization. "So...does that mean there's stuff in this library about why we're here and how to get off."

Erik nodded. "Dagger is the one who designed the library, but I'm positive that he hid the records in here."

Raven sighed as she looked up at the multiple floors of the library. "That'll take a while."

"Still, that's something to go off of, right?" Leo encouraged. "We might as well explore here for now! Will you help us, Erik?"

Erik blinked in surprise. "Me? But you guys don't trust me."

"You'd still be of help, right?"

"I...I suppose," Erik admitted as he went to one of the shelves. "In that case, let's try to get the first floor done for today. You guys have about three hours left before you guys said to meet back up, right?"

Leo ignored the fact that Erik had somehow known about their conversations as he began to look at the books. "Yeah. Let's start."

Raven stood next to him as she picked a book out from the shelf and began to flip through the pages, scanning the text.

"This library is impressive, isn't it?" Leo said, attempting to make conversation.

The Ultimate Knight never took her eyes off the text as she responded. "I suppose. It's only slightly bigger than the one that my lordship owned."

"Ah...that's right. You were a knight," Leo put the book he was holding back into the bookshelf before taking out another one. "You seem to speak fondly of your master."

Raven went quiet before she turned her face away, burying it into a book. Upon closer glance, Leo could see that her cheeks were flushed a light pink. "I-I guess I do. He was a good person."

"How so?"

Rave put her book back as she traded it for another one. "He was about my age, a few years older. My parents were family friends, so they decided that it would be beneficial if I served him. When he was of age he inherited everything that his family owned, and I served next to him."

"No wonder. You were childhood friends."

She tilted her head in confusion. "What is that?"

"Someone that you've been together with since you were little, a person that you always hang out with."

"But, I was merely a servant."

"I highly doubt that your master thought of you in that way. After all, he taught you everything you know, right?" Leo started to scan through another book.

"I suppose," Raven closed the book she had been skimming and sighed. "I guess I do wish that I knew him better."

"I'm sure that he wanted to do the same."

Raven pursed her lips. "Perhaps I was a little bit too formal. I didn't really think of us as anything more than a knight and her lord."

"That's probably why, then."

Raven shut the book that she had been reading loudly, sending up a cloud of dust. "That settles it," she said before turning to face Leo.

Leo blinked in surprise as Raven grabbed him by the shoulders, her gray eyes steely with determination. "When we got off this island, could I trouble you to help me get to know my lordship better? I'm not very good with dealing with people, so I don't know what to do to get him to like me better."

"Of...of course I'll help you," he said in surprise, shocked by her sudden boldness.

Though she didn't smile completely, Leo could tell that she was happy.

"Ummm...did you guys find anything?" Erik asked as he poked his head over.

They both shook their heads. "How about you?" Raven responded.

"No. I honestly think that there's no way Dagger would hide anything on the first floor...so perhaps this should be something that I'll continue to look over in my spare time while you two look more on the second and third floors."

"In that case, let's go up to the third floor," Leo said as he began go up the stairs, Raven following before they began to look through the things on the second floor.

A few hours later, Leo sighed in exasperation as he laid on the floor. "It's no use. We've gone through like a quarter of this floor and there's nothing remotely useful."

Raven closed her eyes as she tossed the book she was holding into the growing pile of things they had already examined on the table. "Well, we can't give up. It's about time to meet up with everyone else, so let's go."

The two of them went back down to the first floor defeatedly, where Erik had been sitting at a desk looking diligently through various papers. "We're gonna go, so you can rest for today. Don't pressure yourself."

Erik shrugged. "It gives me something to do since Dagger kicked me out for the day."

"In that case, thank you," Raven bowed before she walked out, Leo trailing behind her.

They both walked down the road, spotting a growing crowd near the bridge.

Raven looked around. "Is everyone here?"

"All but Elson and Phoenix's group," Aspen murmured as he started to recount the people. "Cornelia's group came back with Cassini," he mentioned, pointing to the Ultimate Explorer, who scoffed and looked away.

"Phoenix's group? Why aren't they back? It was just some hot springs, right?" Nova scowled.

"We can fill them in later, in that case," Raven sighed. "We should share everything that we found out first. I can go first. Leo and I explored the giant glass building. It's a library, which I think we should keep looking at further. Erik is in there right now analyzing documents, because he said there's a high chance that Dagger hid some secrets in there."

Aspen thought about her words, looking like he was in focus before he nodded. "In that case, we should have some people to look through them during their free time. I can volunteer to do that."

"I'll do it too," Cassini said. "It'll give me something to do while I'm on this godforsaken island with you people."

"That second half was not necessary," Cornelia chastised.

"Anyway..." Aspen took a deep breath. "I was with Eve. The building down the road from the library was a casino. There were many slot machines and various games. We didn't really find anything of interest besides an underground area that had more games. It's underground, though, so...perhaps there's something going on there?"

Leo nodded slowly. "This really is an island for vacationing, huh?"

"Our turn, our turn!" Angel began to laugh. "The last place was a flower garden! It was really pretty!"

"Flower garden?" Eve repeated.

"Tch. All useless anyway," Nova mumbled. "But, they're in bloom right now. I don't think I've seen more varieties in a single place. There was also a few gazebos, and there's a path that loops down to another beach."

"How romantic," Gin said, only to receive a glare from Raven.

"That's everything, then," Cornelia said, "The only other notable thing is the center, but it's just another grassy area with cherry trees in the middle."

"They must be important to Dagger if he has that many planted," Brody mentioned quietly.

"You might be right," Raven nodded as she turned to the hot springs. "Let's go over and see what those three are up to."

The group moved quickly to the hot springs, entering the large building. Leo peered around, noting that there was a section for the men and the women. In the center, dividing the main entrance, was an array of lockers for their clothing.

"I guess...the girls will look through the female's changing room and the guys can go to the men's?" Gin asked.

"What other option is there?" Nova frowned as she walked inside the female's changing room, the rest of the girls following.

"I guess we should get going too," Cassini said as he walked inside. "It's just Raymond that we're looking for, right?"

Leo nodded as they walked in. There were areas that had been curtained off, with a wall that had bathrobes and towels of various sizes. Next to him, Brody opened a door to reveal various sizes and designs of swimsuits.

"This place seems stocked," Leo muttered as he went into an adjacent room, finding a line of showers.

"There's even drinks and food," Aspen mentioned as he gestured towards a small fridge and basket of snacks arranged neatly on a nearby table.

"Well, I can't find Raymond in here," Gin said as he walked over. "Shall we head out to the hot springs?"

Brody's ears flushed. "B-but aren't the hot springs not separated by gender? What if we...um...see something?"

The Ultimate Butler grinned. "So?"

"Forget him," Aspen groaned as he pushed aside the curtain that led to the outside of the hot springs.

Immediately, Leo felt a blast of hot, humid air rise. It was clear that Aspen looked somewhat uncomfortable the instant the hot air hit him.

There was laughter from the hot springs.

Confused, Leo peeked out and let out a sigh in relief as he saw the three that had been missing, all smiling and clearly enjoying themselves as they sat in the water. There were maple trees lining the periphery of the area, with various stones lining the entire hot spring. An arched bridge suspended above the water made it possible for someone to get to the opposite side, where various tables and umbrellas were placed.

Phoenix looked over and waved. "Hey! You're finally here! Come join us, the water is super comfortable!"

From the other side, Raven blinked in shock as she saw them. "Have you guys been in here for several hours?"

Yumi waved a hand in dismissal. "Of course not. We actually did spend most of the time exploring the area. We've been in the water for...almost an hour?"

Raymond nodded as he sank deeper into the water so that only the top of his head from his nose up remained above the water.

Phoenix sat back in the water. "All of you should join us, and then I'll break down what we found. There were actually quite a few interesting things!"

"I suppose we can't refuse, right?" Raven asked as she turned around and went back into the building. "We'll get changed, then."

Leo quickly followed the rest of the guys as they all went in too, looking through the swimsuits before picking out a pair of swim trunks. Ducking behind one of the curtains, Leo changed into the swim trunks before stepping out with his clothes, walking out to the locker room and putting his clothes in.

"Here. A towel and some shoes," a voice next to him said. Leo looked over to find Gin, who was holding out the items.

"Thanks," Leo said as he accepted it gratefully.

Gin smiled as he finished folding his clothes and tucking them into the locker. "Let's go."

The two of them stepped back out to the hot spring, carefully getting into the water. Leo let out a deep breath as he relaxed into the water, closing his eyes as he felt his muscles relax.

Slowly, everyone else began to get in the water, except for Aspen who was content with sitting on the edge and dipping his feet in.

Phoenix smiled as she sat up. "So, ready to hear what we found?"

"Go on," Raven said as she put her hair up.

"First off, there's a small storage shed just outside of this area. We found quite a few interesting things in there. A lot of Dagger's old belongings are in there, so we spent most of the time going through them. I think they connect a little bit to his past. Maybe it'll help us get off?"

"Hmm..." Cassini pondered as he sank in the water. "We can look into those tomorrow. It's late so I don't think anything we do for the rest of the night will be productive anyway."

"You're right, you're right," Raymond said. "I think we should just relax for today, eat dinner, and then go to bed after."

"What shall we do in the meantime?" Raven asked.

"W-we can play card games, right?" Eve asked shyly.

There was an immediate fire in Raven's eyes as she nodded and got out of the water. "I'll go get them."

That evening, Leo felt as if all the tension that the group had gotten from the trial disappeared as their laughs echoed throughout the night.

~

Leo walked out of the diner that night after dinner, drowsy as he started to amble back to his cottage along with everyone else.

The announcements rang a few moments later as he was opening the door to his cottage, the TV flickering on in his room. "Attention! It is now 10:00 P.M. Please make your way to your cottages and get a good night's sleep!"

Exhausted, Leo closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed, looking through the window.

Elson should be out by now, right? I hope he's okay.

A few moments later, he heard a knock on his door. Leo got up carefully, groaning as he willed his exhausted body to walk over and open the door.

Elson stood in the doorway, hair messy and bags under his eyes as he walked into Leo's cottage.

Leo stepped aside as he watched the Ultimate Conductor faceplant himself into his bed and stop moving. "You okay?"

Elson held up a hand before letting it drop back onto Leo's pillow. "Your bed is more comfortable than mine," he mumbled tiredly.

Leo closed the door and sat down on the bed. "Was it that bad?"

Elson shuddered as he curled up into a fetal position. "Forcing me to eat disgusting things...trying to make me flexible again by forcing me into the splits...showing off his fancy weapons collection by testing it around me...using me as target practice..." Elson suddenly grabbed Leo's forearm. "He's despicable, Leo! It wasn't even hard, he never threatened to kill me, but I've never been that mentally stressed out. It was like Gin, but worse."

Leo recoiled in surprise. "I...I see. At least you're okay though, right? Not hurt?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Do you still want to go back to your cottage?"

Elson sighed as he rolled over onto his back, arm slung over his eyes. "He's gonna kidnap me if I come out."

"Oh, come on. Don't say that. You're welcome to stay though, I guess."

Silence.

Leo blinked in surprise as he carefully leaned over to look at Elson, realizing that the Ultimate Conductor had fallen asleep.

"I guess he's staying over for the night," Leo sighed as he got up and locked the door before he looked through his closet and grabbed two blankets, draping one of them over Elson before he laid down on the couch across the room, covering himself up with the other blanket.

He let out a breath, closing his eyes tiredly as he glanced over at the sleeping figure on his bed. "It must have been hard," Leo mumbled before he yawned drowsily.

It was 10:14 P.M. when he fell into a deep sleep alongside the Ultimate Conductor.