Upon having collected the sample from the longest extension of the vine, Akira lead the group towards the forest, where she was to meet up with Nilan again. As expected, he wanted to ensure a thorough investigation and had followed the infernal plant to its root. Both Akira and he had hypothesised that the plant would probably lead to the forest. The host of pages were rather silent, she felt a little like a strict teacher. It was rather odd, considering she was younger than a few of the recruits. She was trying to learn the dynamics of the group.

There were four guys and a single girl, which reflected poorly on the representation of the allegedly weaker gender in the faction. But it did make her job easier, having heard of her stories the guys were somewhat respectful. It could've easily backfired, sometimes boys are rowdy and challenge authority for the sake of it, especially if their superior was a female. It was a trend Aki had noticed way back when she was a mere apprentice, but perhaps it was fading or the legends around the Shimada forced them to see beyond her gender. The other girl amidst them did seem relieved though.

Finally, when the posse arrived, with Akira at the front, Nilan was quick to break away from the collection of scientists that stood around at the frayed edge of the forest. None of them seemed inclined to venture deeper into the thicket of the trees. She delivered the samples she and the team of Knights had collected. The inspector was familiar with the pages and praised them for learning to work together and getting rid of the long, high vine. He then excused himself again, to go deliver the sample to the scientists. Akira knew better than to leave or dismiss the group.

The Shimada was well aware that the job wasn't done here, the fact that they'd all conglomerated by the forest meant that there was more to the problem than the Inspector had initially let on. That was no surprise, when he wasn't intended to ask for help, he often downplayed problems and did quite the opposite otherwise. She noticed the group shuffle about as the waited for orders. A mere glance towards them had them all standing at attention again. The Shimada smirked, she sure wasn't accustomed to this kind of power and responsibility. Maybe she wouldn't make a bad leader after all.

Finally, a disappointed looking inspector returned to her and the group by extension. She could tell he was torn about whether he should relay the information to solely her or to the newer recruits too. With the way she stood her ground, Nilan was left with no choice but to burden the entire group. The Shimada wanted it that way, in general she was tired of the lack of transparency when it wasn't imprudent to protect the sensitivity of the information. First, the inspector let them know that the sample they provided proved that the source was magical and noxious.

Following which came the graver detail. He relayed to them that the forest was indeed the source of the growth, but the toxin was a little thick in the air. He said that those working on trying to get rid of the plant and hoping to understand its mechanisms were not equipped to go in there and collect the samples that were needed. Essentially, he sugar coated the fact that they were people who worked in labs and were weak. At least that's what she assumed the guys understood when she noticed their smug smirk. While not entirely wrong, Aki had always had more respect for brain than for brawn, her bias earned the guys a scowl.

The inspector volunteered to go in with Akira, but the Shimada insisted that he stay and continue to aid the scientists in gather more data as well as assuage them if need be. But she didn't extend the same offer and kindness to the group. The smirks on the lips of the guys faded rather quickly when she said that they'd be accompanying her inside. The girl showed more grit, or maybe once again, Aki's vision was coloured by just a little bit of bias.

This wasn't just to test them, but also a more practical way of doing things. They needed multiple samples, it would take Akira far too long to collect it all. Exposing herself to the toxin for longer. This stood true for anyone who decided to venture in alone. Considering the time crunch, the more the number of people, the quicker they could return. Of course, despite all this, she knew that if things got too hard to handle, she'd sent the pages back and go on alone. Her recklessness while usually cloaked under the heavy shield of logic, often provoked her to risk herself over others.

Once everything was organised, they all started deeper into the forest. They had to keep a look out for anything that stood out. It was usually assumed that female's had a keener eye to spot subtler oddities. But the boys did fine in sampling the more obviously notorious looking parts of the plant. She'd urged them to be safer, because in general the rule of thumb when it came to dealing with natural things, was indeed that the more vibrant it looked, the more poisonous it could be. She asked them to spot, while she risked the collection process, given her divinitas any damage she endured simply stole from the spirit of her magic.

The things got crazier the deeper they went, but what caught the Shimada's eyes were the underside of a few of the leaves. It wasn't easily visible, but some of them had strange effusions of various colours, oozing out and caking over the surface. She carefully collected a few of the leaves too. The other girl hinted at taking a chunk of the root, when they finally reached the source. Once everything was collected, they headed back to the scientists, all of them feeling tired and a little depleted.