Dark clouds gathered again overhead, dimming the sky little by little.

Several hours had passed since the group turned onto the narrow path leading southwest. If they continued forward, they would soon reach the rugged mountain road that wound toward the frontier.

Perched atop Moro’s saddle, Ian drank in silence, his gaze heavy and distant. It was not only because he was sorting through old memories.

The desolate land, choked with trees stripped down to bare branches, was enough to make him keenly aware that he had returned to life on the road.

"S-So... let me get this straight...."

It wasn’t just him who felt the weight of a new journey beginning. Miguel, glancing back blankly, worked his lips before finally speaking.

"You’re saying we’re heading to the Gray Magic Tower?"

"We’re going to the Western Empire. The tower just happens to be a stop along the way." From her perch atop the carriage roof, Thesaya corrected him coolly, the corner of her mouth twitching as if suppressing laughter.

"That’s the same thing— no, wait, that’s not the point."

Seeming to realize arguing was pointless, Miguel shook his head and looked at Ian instead.

"And we’re planning to wipe out every spellcaster inside?"

"I told you. Only the ones who’ve fallen or refuse to repent," said Thesaya.

"That’s the same thing! Do I look like a complete idiot to you?!" Miguel finally barked in frustration. His glare, however, lacked any real threat—especially toward the silver-haired fairy.

Thesaya narrowed her eyes. "Hmm, so in your mind, all mages are irredeemable and incapable of remorse. Good to know, Miguel."

"I—when did I ever say that—"

"You understood perfectly, Miguel." Ian cut in before it went any further, giving Thesaya a brief look that clearly meant enough. "That’s the contract I accepted."

"If that’s the case..." Miguel swallowed and faced Ian again. "Wouldn’t it be safer to march in with the entire Crimson Legion?"

"I won’t lose a single one of my soldiers to trash like that," Ian answered without hesitation, lifting the bottle to his lips.

Miguel’s brow furrowed. "Our lives are just as precious, you know. No matter how you slice it, five people storming a Magic Tower is insane! Actually, now that I say it out loud... maybe it’s not. Damn."

He let out a dry laugh and smacked his lips. "You’ve got demon-slayers, archdemon-killers, and fragment-of-a-god-smashers all gathered in one place."

"And now with the Golden First added, how reassuring?" Thesaya chimed in brightly, eyebrows dancing.

Miguel’s smile soured. "Reassuring isn’t the word I’d use in this company..."

"Don’t worry. I won’t put you in front." Ian lowered the bottle.

It wasn’t an empty reassurance. If Miguel were killed or even seriously injured, Lucia would lose her mind. Bringing him along in the first place had been part of preventing that future entirely.

"You just fire that crossbow of yours from the back when needed."

"That’s right, Miguel. You’re practically our secret weapon," Mev added lightly from where she leaned against the carriage window frame.

"You only need to step in if we find ourselves in real danger."

It wasn’t mere flattery. The spell circuit engraved into Miguel’s prosthetic arm was tremendously powerful, even if it required days to recharge his magic after a single use.

"A secret weapon... no need to praise me that much, my lord...."

Despite his words, Miguel’s lips twitched upward as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, maybe it won’t be as dangerous as I imagine. Even if it’s a magic tower, not every mage will be gathered there. Plenty of them roam around chasing coins, don’t they?"

"I doubt it," Nasser said calmly.

Miguel turned toward him, eyebrows raised. "Eh?"

Nasser met his gaze and shrugged. "They’re likely all gathered there. Or in the process of gathering."

"And why would you think that?" Miguel asked.

Nasser looked at him as if the answer were obvious. "The civil war has effectively begun. Mages are obligated to answer the Imperial summons."

"So you’re saying they are hiding in the tower to avoid being drafted?"

"No. A direct summons can simply be delivered to the tower."

"Then what?"

Nasser exhaled softly, as though explaining something painfully simple. "But if they delay their response, they can negotiate for greater compensation. You of all people should understand, given your mercenary background."

"Ah." Miguel’s expression shifted as realization dawned.

"They might intentionally ignore the summons for a time," Thesaya added smoothly.

Miguel frowned. "You’re saying they’d bargain while the Empire’s stability hangs in the balance?"

"Why wouldn’t they? The longer the war drags on, the more desperate the royal house becomes. And the higher the price of spellcasters." Thesaya snorted.

She let out a cold laugh. "Other towers will probably do the same at first—make excuses, stall for time. Creatures who conduct grotesque experiments won’t suddenly grow tender over common soldiers’ lives."

"Good heavens..." Miguel exhaled, sounding almost hollow.

A few years in priestly robes and he’s already forgotten his mercenary days.

Ian lifted the bottle to his lips.

"That means, if we time it right, we may be able to wipe out those revolting degenerates in one sweep," said Nasser.

As the others turned toward him almost in unison, he added with his usual composed smile, "It would be ideal if we could sever the Gray Tower’s lineage entirely."

"See? It’s not just mages who say horrifying things so casually." Thesaya shot at Miguel with a shrug.

"Unfortunately, the lineage won’t vanish completely," she added lightly. "Ian here is a descendant of the White Mage, after all. And not every spellcaster will have returned to the tower."

"Well, that’s true. Still, eliminating their central hub would be significant." Nasser nodded.

Miguel finally squeezed his eyes shut. "I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have come..."

"Oh, stop it. You knew it would be dangerous," Thesaya snickered.

Without opening his eyes, Miguel muttered, "I figured we’d be fighting monsters... I never imagined we’d be walking straight into a nest of corrupted spellcasters."

"There will probably be monsters too," said Ian.

As Miguel’s eyelids twitched, he added, "They’ve been conducting grotesque experiments, haven’t they? They’ll have results to show for it. Successes or failures."

"Exactly, just like the vampiric clan. You wouldn’t know, Prosthetic, but I’ve been subjected to that kind of experimentation myself," Thesaya added, her tone turning cold.

Miguel let out a long groan. "Damn it, Lu Entre..."

"What you endured, Elder, is also a sin of the Great Church," said Nasser.

Under Thesaya’s gaze, he lowered his head. "There’s a high chance the Round Table’s influence extends to the Gray Tower as well."

"So it wasn’t just about wanting to slit a few spellcasters’ throats," said Ian.

Nasser’s smile turned faintly bitter. "No. Even if I was ignorant of the truth at the time, I was still one of them. This is a path of atonement I must walk."

"Very admirable, Half-Ear. In that case, make sure you’re fighting on the front line." Thesaya curled one corner of her mouth upward.

There was a hint of mockery in her voice, but Nasser merely nodded. "Of course, Elder. That’s precisely why I raided Travelga’s armory so thoroughly before we left."

His gaze shifted back to Ian. "Larmut may also be receiving backing from the Round Table. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were members."

"Yes. I agree," Ian replied.

"As I suspected. You’d already considered it," Nasser murmured.

Miguel, who had been listening with his eyes closed, frowned faintly. "Larmut? That name sounds familiar..."

"It should. That’s the house Lucia was originally meant to be sent to," replied Mev, her eyes cold.

Turning her head, she slid open the small window toward the driver’s seat. "The Gray Magic Tower and House Larmut are in something like a partnership, Miguel."

Miguel’s head snapped up. "If we hadn’t smuggled Lucia to the North, they would’ve sold her to the Tower?"

"Yes."

A vein throbbed at Miguel’s temple. "Those sons of—"

Miguel’s nose wrinkled as he opened his eyes. "You could’ve just said that from the start. I wouldn’t have complained once."

There was no trace of fear or hesitation left in his voice—or his eyes.

Grinding his teeth, he looked at Ian. "Let’s kill every last one of those sons of kobold filth, brother."

The familiar address returned—because Ian had ordered it so. Unless they planned to announce his title of archduke to the world at every turn, Ian had ordered him to drop the formalities.

"That’s the plan. So you stick to firing your crossbow from the back." Ian answered with a satisfied smile, not bothering to add that Larmut wouldn’t be dealt with immediately.

"So where’s their nest?" Miguel asked.

Ian raised the bottle and pointed ahead. "Somewhere beyond that."

Miguel faced forward.

Under a night sky smothered in storm clouds, jagged tree branches clawed upward. Beyond them, uneven mountain ridges stretched on like layered shadows in the dark.

"Behind a mountain called Nosnel, there’s supposed to be a deep valley," Ian said, eyes fixed on the jagged ridgeline ahead as he took another drink. "Follow it far enough and you reach a lake named Eldor."

He lowered the bottle slightly. "The Gray Magic Tower lies beneath it."

"Beneath the lake?" Miguel muttered.

Thesaya snorted. "A very mage-like bit of wordplay. They burrow underground to hide from heaven and the world, then insist on calling it an inverted tower."

"The problem is, I don’t know where Mount Nosnel is. It’s not like there’s only one mountain out here," Miguel added with a grimace.

"There’s said to be a rock formation halfway up that looks like a bird’s beak," Nasser offered.

"And a sheer cliff stretching long behind it," Thesaya added smoothly.

They had known Ian’s plan well before departure. During the festival, as they mingled with the crowds, they quietly gathered fragments of information.

"So in the end, we wander until we find a mountain that fits the description," Miguel concluded with a sigh.

Thesaya shrugged. "That’s more than enough clues. Put those mercenary instincts to work."

"We may even encounter corrupted mages along the way. Though extracting information won’t be easy," Nasser added.

Thesaya smiled faintly at that. "Don’t worry. I learned interrogation techniques from Kitty."

"Ah. The merciful method that grants many opportunities. I remember it well." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Yes. Though I won’t start with the ears this time." Her voice trailed off—not because anything had gone wrong.

—It seems I’ve missed quite a lot...

A soft, amused whisper slid into their minds.

Moro snorted as Thesaya turned to Ian. "If you knew just how much you missed, you’d be pounding the ground in regret."

"Here we go again," Miguel muttered.

Nasser shook his head slowly.

—Tell me slowly, Pointy-Ears. I’m rather curious why I ended up sleeping so long.

Ian let out a quiet scoff.

He knew exactly why Yog had been unable to awaken for so long. Judging by the fact that it had opened its eyes only on the second day after leaving Travelga, it must have hovered near death.

—But before that...

Yog’s head rose from Ian’s wrist, purple tongue flicking as its obsidian gaze shifted.

—Would you relay my proposal to the red-haired one, my friend?

Its eyes were fixed squarely on Mev’s profile as she leaned against the carriage frame.

Ian scoffed again.

Bringing that up the moment it woke.

Then again, to Yog, it probably didn’t feel like much time had passed.

"What proposal did Yog make to Redhead?" Thesaya asked.

Miguel and Nasser looked over as well. Even Mev, who had been lost in thought, turned toward Ian.

"The same one it made to you." Ian clicked his tongue lightly as he answered.

Thesaya’s lips curved. "It wants to engrave a terminal of blood into her too?"

Yog gave a low, delighted chuckle.

Miguel and Nasser frowned.

"What’s that, Ian?" Mev asked.

"It’s a spell that lets you hear its whispers through my blood as a medium. Don’t worry about it. It’s just the usual nonsense."

"If that’s all... I’d like it engraved."