“So this was here too.”

Yuder carefully picked it up. The wooden fragment was inscribed with tiny, fine characters, but once again, they were illegible to him. Kishiar smiled as if he’d had the same thought.

“So it’s not only the pharmacist who has them, it seems.”

“Apparently not. Have you ever seen records like this used in a place like this before, Commander?”

As he asked the question, his fingers absentmindedly brushed over the engraved letters.

In that instant, the characters blurred—and something faint flickered in Yuder’s insight. Before he could even identify what it was, a rush of incomprehensible content suddenly flooded his mind.

—If you’ve returned here again, and if the purpose of your visit is something not easily accomplished here, then sitting here would be the very last thing you do...

“Yuder?”

—Thump.

At Kishiar’s voice, Yuder flinched, and the wooden fragment fell from between his frozen fingers. Only then did his senses fully return, and the thought that °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° had just flashed through his head vanished just as suddenly.

“Ah.”

What the hell had that been?

“What’s wrong? Your eyes turned golden.”

Kishiar looked him over with a cautious expression. Yuder struggled to explain what had just happened in a way that made sense.

“When I touched the writing with my fingers, I felt like I saw something—like a strange thought passed through my head. It’s hard to describe... It startled me a little.”

“It must not be just a record, then. Looks like it’s been imbued with some unknown magic.”

Kishiar turned toward Inon. The man, disturbingly focused, was crouched among the wooden fragments, barely visible.

“Inon. There’s something here.”

“......”

“Inon.”

Even when Yuder called, Inon didn’t respond. After a moment of consideration, Kishiar reached out.

“Let me take a look as well.”

Yuder stayed on alert, ready to react in case something happened. But it soon became clear that Kishiar did not experience the same phenomenon. He carefully flipped the wooden piece back and forth several times, inspecting it with narrowed eyes.

“No matter how much I touch it, nothing happens for me. It’s definitely not an ordinary wooden fragment. There’s a very faint magical current on the surface... But that’s all.”

“Isn’t the text in archaic script? Since you can read it, maybe you could just read it directly...”

“Unfortunately, it’s not pure archaic script. Even I have trouble reading it. It’s common for mages to use personal ciphers known only to them.”

“I see.”

“There must be a specific method for reading this. The pharmacist probably knows how to unlock it easily. As for you, your insight is likely letting you partially perceive it.”

Kishiar could use magic. He might have been able to examine it more closely with magecraft, but he didn’t seem inclined to go that far. Since Inon would likely clarify everything once he snapped out of it, Yuder agreed that Kishiar’s cautious approach was appropriate.

But even Kishiar couldn’t see anything from it, and yet I did—with no effort. This insight thing... it really is strange.

When Inon had first spoken about magical insight, he said it was a power only great mages could develop. Until now, Yuder hadn’t really felt how significant it was. The best it had done was help him see more clearly in the dark.

But now that he’d effortlessly seen through Grand Mage Luma’s magic twice, even with no deep knowledge of magic himself, he couldn’t deny he’d gained something incredible. It didn’t exactly feel good, perhaps because it wasn’t something he’d earned himself—more like something that had just been given to him.

If I hadn’t absorbed Kishiar’s mana, I wouldn’t even have this... But now I understand why Inon said it was amazing.

Touching the wooden fragment had felt a bit strange, but not dangerous. Then maybe it was fine to take another look before Inon came to.

“I’m going to try looking at this again. I don’t expect anything bad to happen, but if I seem out of it, please help me snap out of it.”

“You don’t even have to ask. I’ll be watching. Be careful.”

Apparently, Kishiar agreed with his judgment and didn’t stop him. Yuder reached out and picked up the wooden fragment once more. The moment his fingers touched the inscribed letters, his vision shimmered and more information began pouring into his mind.

—The future I can predict is extremely limited, but if you’ve come here looking for me, I can at least guess the reason.

—My Guardian. Do you believe it’s time to fulfill the task I entrusted to you?

Like reading a book, silent words rushed past his mind like wind. Yuder bit his lip to stay focused as the golden glow in his eyes intensified. More and more information flooded in—far more than before. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

—The land where I asked you to gather and protect the surviving humans... That land was the one least disrupted by the flow.

—We raised seven walls there to maintain the balance as long as possible. Like propping up a fragile plate with pillars beneath it.

—Nothing can last forever. But perhaps the fate of finite humans is to struggle to delay the inevitable, even knowing it can’t be stopped.

—If the time that my old friend feared and worried about has truly returned, then maybe now we’ll learn whether that desperate effort meant anything.

—Though I won’t be there to see it.

The text raced through his head like light. And strangely, it felt like a voice.

A calm, unknowable warmth radiated from that voiceless presence, steadily echoing through his mind.

—That’s why I entrusted everything to you.

—But our promise won’t last forever. Nothing does.

—Guardian. If you still believe it’s worth fulfilling that promise with me—

—If you’ve come here believing that land is still worth protecting—

—Then shed your physical body and return to where you once were.

—So that, at the very least, the place you guard—

—Within the reach of our strength—

—Will not fall, even to the very end...

“Hey!”

Yuder snapped out of it at the sudden grip on his shoulders. Inon stood in front of him—when had he gotten there?

“Snap out of it. Leave you alone for a moment and you can’t sit still!”

“You alright?”

Kishiar, standing beside Inon, cautiously placed a hand on Yuder and asked. Yuder blinked slowly and nodded.

“...Yes. I think I’m okay.”

“You’re going to be the death of me, seriously! What the hell did you see? And where did you even find this?”

Inon snatched the wooden fragment from Yuder’s hand.

“It was inside the desk drawer. I touched it without thinking and it was like... the content just appeared in my head. I wanted to take a closer look.”

“This can only be read by channeling mana in Luma’s specific style. I didn’t expect someone with insight to be able to read it just like that... Damn.”

“It didn’t feel dangerous... Was it?”

At Yuder’s question, Inon furrowed his brow.

“Just touching it is fine! But if some amateur mage tries to probe it with improper magic, it becomes a disaster. It’ll suck up all their mana and kill them.”

“...”

Yuder’s gaze instinctively shifted to Kishiar’s face.

It really was a relief that Kishiar didn’t try using magic on that fragment.

Truly, it was a wise choice not to investigate it in a mage-like way. Kishiar was used to handling old magical tools and clearly knew the dangers and precautions for these kinds of artifacts.

Yuder exhaled softly and opened his mouth.

“If what I read wasn’t false information, then that wooden fragment... It seems to be a letter Grand Mage Luma left for you.”

“...What?”

Inon froze, wearing an expression Yuder had never seen before.