“Plante. Plante...”

Ludger sifted through his memories.

But no matter how far back he searched, he couldn’t recall ever having any connection to the Plante family.

“Could there be some mistake?”

Galien shook her head, her unfocused eyes dull.

“The Shadewardens do not make such mistakes. There is definitely a scent. Other elves might not notice it, but we are trackers—we can smell it.”

“A scent... So that’s how you were able to follow me here.”

“The Shadewardens, trained over long years, can locate a target from the scent carried by the wind.”

“So the reason you came to Rederbelk was to catch this one, then?”

Ludger pointed at Bellaruna.

Galien nodded, her voice lifeless.

“Our mission was to capture the traitor who secretly infiltrated the Sacred Tree. At the same time, we were also tasked with recovering another Sacred Tree we had not known about.”

The Shadewarden trackers, Galien included, had first headed to the Imperial capital.

How they managed to reach the capital was irrelevant.

For elves, light as the wind and masters of stealth and concealment, borders meant nothing.

‘I remember during the colonial wars, elven guerrillas were a nightmare to deal with.’

A skilled elf with a bow could strike with precision rivaling a sniper rifle. Many commanders were famously killed by arrows during that war.

“When we arrived in the capital to find the Sacred Tree, we saw human soldiers guarding it thoroughly. It seems they had sensed something and were determined to protect its location.”

“And then?”

“We decided to observe the situation first, leaving the main force in the capital. Meanwhile, I and the vanguard came here to capture the traitor.”

“And while doing so, you found me, smelled the scent, and attacked?”

“Yes. We intended to capture you alive and interrogate you about your connection to the Plante family.”

Of course, that interrogation would have been far from peaceful.

What they hadn’t accounted for was Ludger’s strength.

“Tell me more about the Plante family.”

“The Plante family was once the closest caretakers of the Sacred Tree. They were chosen nobles. But they became intoxicated by the Sacred Tree’s power and committed sacrilege. They tried to increase the number of Sacred Trees.”

“And then?”

“A revolution broke out. Most of the Plante family was purged. A massive upheaval occurred among the noble houses.”

The Shadewardens were tasked with hunting down the surviving Plante.

“So when you say ‘most,’ that means some survivors remain.”

“Yes. But very few. The survivors scattered across the continent. For hundreds of years, our Shadewardens have been eliminating them. We never thought one would be hiding so deep within the human Empire.”

“Hm.”

Ludger processed Galien’s explanation.

The Shadewardens had come to the Empire, unsurprisingly, because of matters involving the World Tree.

But their attack on him was merely coincidence.

‘You say I carry the scent of Plante?’

Whatever that scent was, if a trained tracker like Galien said so, it couldn’t be a lie.

And under Bellaruna’s truth serum, lying was impossible anyway.

‘The elves I interact with are...’

Aside from Vierno Dentis, the Spirit Studies instructor, no one came to mind.

‘Or... Bellaruna?’

Ludger glanced at Bellaruna, then shook his head.

There was no way she was a survivor of the Plante family.

“Do you know of Vierno Dentis?”

“Dentis... The family that manages the outer forests. Vierno Dentis is the current head. Arrogantly, he chooses to live among humans rather than in the forest, despite being an elf.”

“Not a high opinion of him, then?”

“The Dentis family is popular among moderate elves, but to purists like us, they’re a thorn in the eye. To waste such fine blood by mingling with lesser races—disgraceful.”

Stronger emotions than Ludger had expected.

Even among elves, it seemed, ideologies were divided.

‘And the fact they sent trackers to the Empire so quickly means the purists must currently hold power.’

But the more important issue was the Plante survivors.

If he carried their scent, it meant he had frequent contact with one of them.

“Could you be mistaken?”

“No. The Shadewardens do not mistake a target we’ve hunted for centuries.”

“Then...”

“But there’s something strange.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. The scent is like that of a Plante survivor with strong blood, but the lingering trace is oddly faint.”

“Faint?”

“As if some other impurity has mixed in, diluting the scent...”

“......”

Ah. That explained it.

Ludger finally realized who Galien meant.

Mixed blood... Half-blood.

And among the half-elves close to him, there was only one.

‘Sedina Roschen.’

The girl from the Roschen family who had once belonged to the Black Dawn Society.

‘I always thought it strange how she despised her own family so deeply.’

Ludger had never pried into it.

Everyone had things they wished to keep hidden.

And for Sedina, anything related to her family seemed to be more of a trauma, a wound she wanted to forget.

‘A Roschen by name, but with Plante blood in her veins...’

To think Sedina, who yearned so much for acknowledgment, carried such a secret.

And from her behavior, she likely [N O V E L I G H T] didn’t even know herself.

Whether or not to tell her... Ludger pushed that thought aside for now.

He had to focus on the present.

“Then answer me this. If you found a survivor of the Plante family, what would you do?”

“Normally, we capture them and bring them to stand before the Sacred Tree for judgment. If that’s not possible, we abandon capture and kill them instead.”

“So you’re still hunting Plante survivors?”

“Yes. The frequency has decreased, but they are still marked for extermination. The Shadewardens never forget.”

“And the Lifret family gives the orders, right? But since they already hold all the authority, why pursue them so obsessively?”

“That’s...”

Galien hesitated.

A clear contrast to how she’d been answering everything truthfully under the serum until now.

Ludger narrowed his eyes, sensing something important.

“Answer. Now.”

“Ugh... Uugh!”

Galien shook her head violently, then bit down on her own tongue.

Blood dripped from her lips.

Even under a truth serum, she had forced herself to act, biting her tongue to prevent herself from speaking.

Her determination was almost unbelievable.

But biting her tongue wouldn’t kill her instantly.

And she certainly wouldn’t be able to keep quiet for long.

She stared at Ludger defiantly, as if asking what he would do now.

“A pointless struggle.”

Ludger extended his hand toward her.

Mana surged, forming a spell without any visible casting pattern.

A soft light seeped into Galien’s mouth, instantly regenerating the torn flesh of her tongue.

“......!”

Galien’s eyes widened in shock as the pain vanished completely.

She tried to bite down again, but Bellaruna moved faster.

“Ah. Guess the dose wasn’t strong enough.”

She casually pulled out a syringe from who-knows-where and jabbed it into Galien’s shoulder.

Galien’s briefly regained clarity faded again, her gaze turning dull.

Bellaruna smiled brightly.

“There we go. It’s always better to inject directly into the bloodstream than make someone drink it.”

“......”

Ludger sometimes thought it was a miracle Bellaruna hadn’t joined the Black Dawn Society.

If she had, she and Victor Dreadpool would’ve been a pair of mad scientists beyond compare.

Shaking off that pointless thought, Ludger focused back on Galien.

“Why are you so obsessed with eradicating the Plante family? Is the Lifret family after something?”

“That’s...”

This time, Galien could no longer resist.

“It’s because of the Sacred Tree’s ownership.”

“Ownership?”

Once she started speaking, the rest flowed without hesitation.

“Yes. The Sacred Tree itself holds immense life energy. If one could harness it, it would yield tremendous power.”

“And the ownership rights to it... you’re saying they belonged to the Plante family?”

“Only to the head of the Plante family at that time. But the family head fled. No one knows where—whether alive or dead.”

The Sacred Tree, the World Tree the elves spoke of, had existed for ages, storing vast amounts of information within it.

Naturally, to regulate and access that information, a key—a so-called ownership right—was necessary.

“But to think we would catch traces of Plante here... That can only mean the Plante family head is still alive.”

“...I see.”

The situation was turning out to be more complicated than Ludger had anticipated.

The trackers, who had come for Bellaruna, had by chance caught a lingering trace from Ludger simply because he had been around Sedina.

“You said you can smell the scent of someone from the Plante family. Then, were you able to do that as soon as you entered this city?”

Galien shook her head.

“No. The air here is too polluted, thick with smoke and all kinds of foul odors. In this vast city where almost no natural vitality exists, even a Shadewarden cannot track from long distances.”

“But you can detect it if you get close enough.”

“Yes. Within thirty meters, we can catch the lingering trace.”

“Then is there a way to erase that scent?”

“Hiding it with stronger, overpowering smells. It’s a basic principle.”

“Is there any particular smell elves—especially Shadewardens—dislike?”

Galien’s face twisted in disgust.

“Perfume.”

“Perfume?”

“Yes. That artificial human-made concoction. It’s filled with mixed plant extracts, and for someone sensitive to the scent of grass, it’s unbearable. It clouds our senses and makes our heads spin.”

“...I see.”

Their tracking skills were impressive, but not flawless.

Sedina was safe for now—she was staying within Seorn, and the Shadewarden trackers hadn’t even considered looking there.

Still, Ludger decided it wouldn’t hurt to take precautions.

He had gotten all the information he needed.

Crossing his arms, he gave Phantos an order.

“Finish it.”

Without hesitation, Phantos snapped Galien’s neck.

Crack.

Her body slumped lifelessly to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.

“What now?” Phantos asked.

Though they had eliminated the vanguard, the main force was still in the capital. Surely, they’d have to deal with them too.

“They’ll notice soon enough that contact with their forward team has been lost. They’ll send more men here. We’ll fight again when that happens.”

“You’re not going to the capital yourself?”

“I’m too busy to make a trip there.”

“Where are you going this time?”

“The Mystic Night is about to begin. There are things I need to find there... and some matters I need to settle along the way.”

“A gathering of mage-types, huh.”

Phantos snorted, clearly uninterested.

Among the members of Owenz, only Violetta had any significant connection to magic, and even she had no deep fascination with magical theory—her wind-element talent had merely been refined under Ludger’s guidance.

Still, given the increasing need for raw combat power lately, Ludger thought he might need to teach more magic to those around him.

“As for the capital, I’ll have someone else handle it.”

“Someone else?”

“Yes. I have just the right junior for this kind of work.”

At the word junior, both Phantos and Bellaruna looked puzzled.

* * *

The Shadewarden trackers were stationed inside an abandoned house within the capital, watching the outside carefully.

Though a significant number of Shadewardens had been dispatched, only a select few were sent into the heart of the city, chosen for their speed and stealth.

Their expressions were grim.

“Damn it. Why do we have to stay in this stinking human dwelling?”

“Just breathing here makes me feel filthy, as if I’m no different from these lowly creatures.”

They had no choice, of course.

Even if the Sacred Tree here was already dead, they needed to confirm it with their own eyes.

But the security was too tight. Sneaking in was far from easy—especially with so many human knights, some of whom had sharp senses, stationed around the site.

“Can’t we at least get rid of this corpse?”

One of the elves scowled at the bloodied dead bodies sprawled across the floor.

The former owners of the house—a man, his wife, and their grown son—lay lifeless, murdered to secure the place.

“We’ll be done soon. We just need to confirm and leave.”

“If we make it back at all.”

A new voice suddenly cut in, startling the elves. They turned toward the door.

There, standing in the doorway, was a blond man with a pleasant smile.

More shocking was that none of them had sensed his presence until he spoke.

“...Human. Unlucky of you, seeing this scene.”

“Hmm. Is that so? Personally, I think I came at just the right time.”

The man, Passius, muttered as his eyes flicked to the lifeless family lying on the floor.

His gaze sharpened instantly.

“I thought I might try talking to you first, but... I’ve lost all interest in that.”

“Kill him!”

The elves lunged at Passius, intending to finish him before he could even draw his weapon.

But Passius hadn’t failed to draw his sword—he simply hadn’t bothered.

He didn’t need to.

Orric light surged around his hands, sharp and deadly.

In the dark, unlit house, a dazzling white glow spread as his aura flared to life.