Despite arriving early, the area outside the fog barrier was already teeming with people.

There were some, like Ludger, who were trying to return early—but most of the crowd had gathered after hearing the news.

Naturally, the gathered crowd had arrived in hired carriages, and the coachmen, knowing this was the final day, were waiting to pick up as many passengers as possible.

All around, people were joyfully reuniting.

“Samuel!”

“Mother!”

Ludger heard a familiar name just as a mother and son ran into each other’s arms, weeping.

‘So he survived to the end after all.’

Ludger observed them for a moment, then let out a faint chuckle and boarded the carriage he had arranged in advance.

It was obvious that lingering here any longer would only entangle him in unnecessary trouble.

The reporters swarming the area were proof enough.

Arfa boarded after loading their belongings and took the seat across from Ludger.

Just as Ludger was about to close the carriage door, he spotted someone running toward them from a distance.

“Ludger!!”

Calling out in a desperate—and slightly furious—voice, the woman charging toward him was none other than Loina Pavlini.

Uncharacteristically for her, she didn’t care at all about the attention she was drawing as she ran with all her might toward Ludger.

“Oh? That’s Miss Loina.”

“Driver. I’d appreciate it if you started moving—quickly.”

Ignoring Arfa’s comment, Ludger urged the coachman forward.

The coachman, a man who worked for what he was paid, gave a cool nod and took hold of the reins.

“Hyah!”

A phantom horse formed of magic manifested in front of the carriage, pulling it away at high speed.

“Ludger! Wait!!”

Loina gave chase, but her body, which was actually weaker than that of an average person unless reinforced by magic, had no chance of catching up.

In the end, she could only watch the carriage shrink into the distance like a dog chasing a chicken.

“I’m filing a complaint with Seorn later!!”

Her hollow shout just barely reached the carriage.

“That was close.”

Checking the view behind him, Ludger relaxed once he saw that Loina had stopped chasing them.

Judging from the fact that she didn’t resort to magic, she wasn’t angry to the point of losing her mind.

As he secretly let out a sigh of relief, Ludger met eyes with Arfa, who had been silently staring at him.

“...Let me be clear. I didn’t do anything particularly wrong.”

“What do you mean, ‘particularly’ wrong?”

“I mean I did it with good intentions. But from her perspective, it probably didn’t feel that way.”

During the tactical meeting to defend the leyline, Loina had been absent—and Ludger had spoken up in her stead.

However, in trying to share too much information, he had drawn unwanted suspicion, and as a last resort, he used Loina’s name to justify himself.

As a 6th-Circle mage with impeccable theoretical knowledge, Loina held considerable weight among mages.

And the moment Ludger said she had explained everything to him, everyone—mages and even the stubborn old Mage Tower—had nodded and stepped back in agreement.

Naturally, Loina had no idea any of this had happened.

She had been immediately dispatched to defend the leyline, leaving her with no time to hear about it afterward.

“So the reason we left so early this morning...”

“She would’ve come looking for me once she found out. I figured she would, so I made sure to leave first thing.”

Ludger had been right.

Had he left even ten minutes later, he would’ve been cornered by Loina and subjected to hours of nagging over why he did what he did.

“Ah...”

Arfa felt a strange mix of understanding and disapproval.

She could understand Ludger’s reasoning, but still felt like he had dumped all the hassle on Loina a bit unfairly.

Then again, Ludger had also given her credit for everything.

In a way, it was both the carrot and the stick.

Of course, from Loina’s point of view, she didn’t need the carrot—and only felt the sting of the stick. Double the sting, in fact.

Arfa shook her head, thinking once again that she still didn’t understand the complexities of human relationships.

* * *

Ludger and Arfa arrived at the train station and quickly secured seats on the fastest departing train.

This city would surely be thrown into chaos in the coming days because of what had happened at the Kasarr Basin.

Having completed all his tasks, there was no reason for Ludger to linger. The sooner they returned, the better.

If he waited too long, the rumors about a Seorn instructor riding a spirit beast would surely spread like wildfire.

Thankfully, there were still seats available in the first-class carriage.

And since everything was being funded by Duke Kadatushan’s family, Ludger confidently bought two first-class tickets and took his seat.

Only to find an unexpected person waiting for them.

“Well, then. How was the adventure, Professor?”

Heibach Kadatushan.

He welcomed Ludger and Arfa as if he had been waiting for them.

“You knew I’d be here?”

“I figured someone like you would take the earliest train out. And of course, first-class. The most expensive seat.”

“It’s not the most expensive—it’s free.”

Heibach chuckled as if he found that amusing.

“So, should you really be here, Duke? Isn’t it a bit improper for a man of your status to be traveling alone without attendants?”

“It’s fine. Most of my authority’s already been handed over to the heir. I’m just the head in name only these days.”

Though he said it was just nominal, if you asked anyone who led the Kadatushan family, they would still say it was Heibach.

“And besides, I have an excuse. Since Imperial-affiliated mages were in danger due to what happened at the Kasarr Basin, I reported that I was going to personally assess the situation.”

“You’re heading back right away, though.”

“The incident’s over, isn’t it? No reason to stay. And if I wanted to go into the basin myself, I’d have to wait until next year anyway. So all I need is the gist of it—and who better to get that from than you, during a boring train ride?”

Heibach grinned mischievously.

No matter how many times Ludger saw him, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° that playful smile always seemed so out of place for his age.

Ludger took a seat on a nearby sofa.

He’d been planning to meet Heibach at some point to report the events anyway.

If the man was willing to come on his own to listen, that saved him the trouble of setting up a meeting.

“So, what exactly happened in there? I may not look it, but I’m quite curious.”

“It’ll take a while to explain.”

* * *

“Good work.”

When they arrived at Rederbelk Station, Ludger exchanged farewells with Duke Heibach.

“Thanks to you, I have plenty to report to my superiors.”

“Aren’t you the highest ‘superior’ in this case?”

“Hey now. Appearances matter, don’t they?”

The truth was, Heibach probably didn’t care about reporting anything.

He was likely satisfied just knowing the incident ended without major casualties.

Anything else he wanted to know, he could ask Sempas.

And yet he had chosen to approach Ludger and speak with him like this—clearly for another reason.

It wasn’t suspicion.

Rather, it was to show his appreciation and strengthen his bond with Ludger.

From Ludger’s perspective, having one of the Empire’s three Grand Dukes in his corner wasn’t a bad thing.

Especially since it wasn’t a relationship built on chains or leverage, but on mutual benefit.

“I’ll be heading back to Seorn now. I have to report to the Headmaster. Let’s talk about compensation another time.”

“Hm? Compensation?”

Heibach feigned ignorance, as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

“I deserve some reward for what happened, don’t you think?”

“Ah, come on. Wasn’t the information I gave you beforehand reward enough?”

“And yet you still made sure to prepare multiple safety measures, just in case.”

Ludger subtly alluded to Sempas, and Heibach fell silent.

Now that his fallback plans had been exposed, there was no room to argue.

It was proof he hadn’t fully trusted Ludger.

“No need to worry. I’ll only ask for something reasonable.”

“That’s a relief—wait, did you say you’re going to ‘take’ something?”

“Looks like the train’s about to depart. I’ll be off now.”

Ludger gave a courteous farewell.

Arfa, holding their luggage, waved cheerfully.

“Bye-bye, Grandpa!”

“O-oh. Yes. Take care now.”

Come to think of it, he’d never figured out who that child really was.

Even with all his resources, he still hadn’t discovered where Arfa came from or what she had done.

The same, of course, applied to Ludger.

He was only being left alone because he wasn’t currently an enemy of the Empire.

But someday, he’d need to find out—just in case.

“Damn. Got played again.”

Heibach slumped into the first-class seat.

Outside the window, the station slowly began to slide past.

With a loud puff of white steam, the train began to move along the tracks.

As he watched it leave, Ludger spoke to Arfa.

“Let’s unpack at the lodging. Good work.”

“No, you’re the one who worked hard, Leader. I didn’t really do much.”

“Sempas would’ve strongly disagreed with that statement.”

After all, she had saved his life.

Arfa giggled and looked up at him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“It just feels strange. Spending so much time outside with just you, going through all those rare experiences... it was all so new.”

Well, true enough.

Ludger nodded.

He had brought her just in case—but the incident had spiraled far beyond what he expected.

They’d made it through safely, but in hindsight, there had been far too many dangerous moments.

“We went through a lot. Met many people. Had some unexpected farewells. Saw things I’ve never seen before.”

For Arfa, it was a completely new experience.

Though her body was made of cold metal, it was the kind of experience that filled her soul with warmth.

Whether it made her laugh or cry, that didn’t matter.

“I want to keep having experiences like this.”

Ludger blinked in surprise, then quickly composed his expression.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of chances.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. Anyway, it’s getting late. I’ll be heading back to Seorn. You should get some rest.”

Arfa, as an automaton, had no need for rest.

She didn’t sleep or eat.

Yet she still acted like a human—sleeping, eating, and living.

So when Ludger told her to rest, she was genuinely grateful.

Because it wasn’t said out of formality—he truly believed she was tired.

“Yes!”

With a light step, Arfa departed the station.

Ludger, too, boarded a carriage headed for Seorn.

As time passed and the majestic front gates of Seorn came into view, only then did he finally relax.

‘I thought I’d rested enough... but I’m still exhausted.’

Too much had happened for mere rest to recover everything.

‘Still, even this exhaustion is proof that I’m alive.’

Even his worn-out body proved his existence.

And for that, Ludger was grateful.

Grateful—and resolved to prepare even more for what was to come.

He walked through the campus grounds.

Some students recognized him and offered greetings.

He responded politely, and they giggled with joy.

Such a pleasant time.

Even though Ludger had been through hell just days ago, the students had likely been busy with homework and upcoming exams all the while.

Still, he didn’t feel bitter about it.

Just... that’s how things were.

Eventually, he arrived at the Headmaster’s office.

Knock knock.

“This is Ludger Cherish. I’ve just returned from Mystic Night.”

“Come in.”

The reply came immediately, as if she’d been waiting for him.

Ludger stepped inside.

The Headmaster had already prepared tea, clearly expecting him.

The rising steam hinted at perfect timing.

‘The Duke... and now the Headmaster. Why is everyone so obsessed with tracking my every move?’

Suppressing a small internal sigh, Ludger sat across from her.

“I heard the Mystic Night was a complete mess.”