Ludger had gone out to Rederbelk.

It was to check on the condition of Alex and Phantos.

“How’s your condition?”

Ludger asked as he looked at the two, both covered in heavy bandages.

They both nodded as if it were nothing serious.

It was true that they had sustained serious injuries in their fight with Lutus, and that they really did need a long period of rest.

But because they were both exceptionally talented, their recovery rate was far from ordinary.

Contrary to Bellaruna’s opinion that it would take at least two weeks before they could move around properly, the two were already walking around without issue after only two days.

“Well, thanks to you. If you hadn’t stepped in midway to help, I’d probably be bedridden for the rest of my life.”

Alex shrugged playfully.

Phantos still sat there like a block of wood, silent and unmoving.

“Any progress?”

“I didn’t just lie there in the hospital doing nothing.”

Alex muttered that, tapping his temple lightly with his index finger.

“I kept thinking about it. That technique that man used.”

His tone seemed light, but his eyes were serious.

During his recovery, he had even cut back on sleep to repeatedly replay that day’s battle in his mind.

It had been a fight against someone far stronger than himself.

Not a single moment of it was worthless.

Alex recalled, remembered, and engraved every single second — not even wasting a single heartbeat — into his mind.

Even in his dreams, that fight would replay over and over.

And now—

Alex had # Nоvеlight # fully grasped the essence of the technique Lutus Wardot used.

“Rotation. And compression.”

Murmuring that, Alex looked at Ludger.

“Leader. You’re a mage, so I figure you’d have some idea. Wind magic can be compressed, right?”

“It can.”

“And to what extent, would you say?”

“It depends on the size. You can easily compress it to a certain level, but as the amount of mana and scale increase, the difficulty rises exponentially.”

“In that case...”

Alex asked seriously,

“To compress a typhoon into a sphere the size of a grown man’s fist — just how skilled would you have to be?”

“......”

Ludger gave it serious thought.

Alex wouldn’t ask such a question without reason.

A typhoon...

Considering the size of the aura Lutus had released, Alex’s words were no exaggeration.

To compress something like that into something much smaller than a human body?

No matter how renowned the mage, that was impossible.

Ludger believed even a 6th-Circle mage couldn’t do it.

‘A mage’s power usually becomes larger in scale as their Circle increases.’

But Lutus was the opposite.

He didn’t release his power in a grand, visible display — he compressed it to the utmost limit and packed it tightly.

In terms of sheer scale, it might have been slightly less than the magic of a 6th-Circle mage.

But the density of that power was on a completely different level.

“It’s hard to even imagine.”

“If you’re saying that, Leader, then I knew it.”

“From the way you mentioned wind, it sounds like you figured out his characteristic.”

“Yeah. That guy, Lutus Wardot — his aura has the wind element embedded in it.”

Elemental Aura.

Ludger had seen something similar before.

Veronica de Ville.

The Vice-Commander of the Cold Steel Order, who oversaw and patrolled the northern territories, wielded an aura infused with cold.

Each particle of her aura carried frost, freezing her target right down to the cross-section with a single cut.

It was a terrifying aura, dangerous enough to affect even its own wielder.

“A top-tier knight who’s an Elemental Aura user...”

When Ludger thought of Lutus charging in like a storm, it all made sense.

Alex followed up.

“And he controls it perfectly. Just like I said before — it’s like he’s holding a massive typhoon inside his body. Honestly, when I first thought of it, I wondered if I’d gone crazy.”

“But after seeing the result, you knew it was true.”

“Exactly. Phantos said it, right? That it felt like facing a raging storm. He must have felt it instinctively too.”

Alex jerked his chin toward Phantos, though the man showed no reaction.

“It also explains why he can so easily deflect every attack. He’s basically a living typhoon. On the outside, he might look fine, but inside, there’s this insane aura endlessly rotating and swirling. Of course attacks would naturally glance off. The fact that we didn’t get shredded apart must’ve been his way of showing restraint.”

“Think you can replicate it?”

“Are you nuts? An elemental attribute? All I could do is mimic it at best. I could train myself to spin my aura as much as possible, sure. But the real key is compression. You fought him yourself, so you know — the density of his power is on another level. To control such violently churning power perfectly... what kind of monster is he?”

And Lutus had even reversed the rotation.

He could spin it forward to deflect attacks or reverse it to draw them in.

Alex still couldn’t forget the sight of his own gray aura being sucked right into the man’s grasp.

From sheer volume to application —

It had been a complete defeat.

“Now imagine that kind of person holding a sword. Can you picture it?”

“I can see why he didn’t take the field in the capital.”

Yes, protecting the royal family was his priority, but if Lutus had stepped forward in the capital, the underground would have collapsed entirely.

He might claim to be controlling his strength, but would that really be possible against a demon?

He was practically a living, breathing strategic weapon.

“But now he’s on the move, is that it?”

Lutus had come to Rederbelk himself. He had exchanged words and blows with Ludger.

Whatever he’d seen that satisfied him, he left without a word — but it didn’t change the fact that Ludger now had another person to keep an eye on.

Ludger looked at Alex and Phantos.

“It’ll have to be you two.”

They knew exactly what that meant.

If, someday, Lutus stood in their way again—

It would have to be Alex and Phantos who faced him.

“I won’t tell you how strong you need to get. You’ve already seen the path, and with your talent, you’ve grasped it.”

They had sparred with Passius, and fought for their lives against Lutus.

For those already raw gems of talent, there could be no greater stimulus.

All that remained was to endlessly hone themselves.

“I expect the best results.”

Leaving those words behind, Ludger exited the room.

Right after he closed the door, he felt a surge of powerful ki from inside and smirked.

They might have pretended otherwise in front of him, but clearly, they were plenty frustrated.

After seeing Bellaruna off, Ludger stepped onto an empty street — just as Bellaruna herself approached, carrying a large pack on her back.

“Bellaruna. Heading to the capital?”

“Y-yeah, they said they’d be sending someone for me. It’s a bit of a hassle, but what can you do?”

Though she said that, her face was full of anticipation.

This time, she’d be able to connect to the World Tree legally.

Even though it was a dead World Tree, the “Wood Wide Web” access rights still remained.

As long as she could connect, she could learn a great deal through it.

“So, when are they arriving?”

“They, uh... said they’d be here soon.”

Just then, Ludger sensed someone approaching quickly from the distance.

His eyes turned toward that direction.

“So that’s who they sent.”

“Kehk.”

The person arriving also made a strange, awkward sound upon seeing Ludger.

Mandelina instinctively tried to step back, but then saw Ludger crooking his finger toward her.

She drooped her shoulders and walked closer.

“You?”

“H-huh?”

“The one sent to pick up Bellaruna.”

“Well, you could say that... right?”

She’d tried acting familiar, but one sharp look from Ludger had her switching to formal speech immediately.

She was so intimidated that it was hard to have a conversation.

“You can speak comfortably. We’re partners right now.”

“R... really?”

“Yes.”

“Then...!”

“Not too comfortably.”

“...O-of course, I wasn’t planning to.”

Watching her sweat nervously, Ludger’s gaze turned slightly disapproving.

He couldn’t understand how someone like her had been able to pass her magic down to Aidan.

“Still, thanks for what you did in the capital.”

Aidan and Mandelina — thanks to them, Flora had been saved from Basara.

Ludger never forgot that debt and expressed his gratitude.

At first, Mandelina didn’t quite understand, but then her eyes widened and she smiled brightly.

“Hehehe. Aw, it’s nothing.”

“Just take her with you.”

He tossed the words off casually.

And with that, Ludger turned and left. Mandelina watched his back with a complicated expression.

“Uh... excuse me.”

The voice from beside her brought Mandelina back to her senses.

“You’re leaving now, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“You curious about our Leader?”

“Leader, huh...”

Mandelina had heard of it — Ludger Cherish had formed his own organization.

If there was an organization, then of course it had members.

The one she was to escort today, Bellaruna Petanada, was one of its members.

A senior member, at that — and she’d been told by the 1st Princess herself to treat her with utmost courtesy.

Mandelina found that a bit strange.

The Ludger she remembered had been different.

How to put it... a man with no room for warmth in his life, dry and detached.

The first time she’d met him — the man then called Jack the Ripper — his eyes had been empty.

The fear it inspired in her had made her bow her head instantly, and that had saved her life.

But the Ludger she met in the capital had changed.

‘He’s... a bit more human now.’

The way he had acted to save a student, and even personally verifying her arrival to take Bellaruna — that was different.

Mandelina thought,

Maybe this was his real self all along.

“Heh-heh. Well then, shall we get going? To think I’ll be able to approach the World Tree again... it’s like a dream come true.”

“......”

What’s with her? Was she... drooling a little?

Mandelina put three steps’ worth of distance between herself and Bellaruna.

* * *

After seeing Bellaruna off, Ludger headed toward Royal Street.

He already knew exactly where he was going, so his steps were confident.

[House of Verdi]

It wasn’t open for business yet, but that didn’t matter. He was the owner — no need to ask anyone’s permission.

“Ah, you’re here?”

Violetta, who had been waiting, greeted him warmly.

Ludger gave a small nod in return and looked around the shop interior.

Aside from Violetta, there was one more person inside House of Verdi.

Ash-gray hair drew his gaze like a magnet.

“Wow...”

Rine, staring at the displayed dresses in admiration, was so absorbed that she didn’t even notice Ludger had arrived.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes. Especially this part is so beauti— P-professor?!”

She finally noticed him and hurriedly bowed.

“S-sorry, I didn’t realize you’d come.”

“It’s fine. More importantly, let me introduce you. This is Violetta, the manager of House of Verdi.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“N-nice to meet you.”

When Violetta greeted her, Rine politely returned the gesture.

“And this is Rine, a student at Seorn. She’ll be the model for the dress we’re making this time.”

“But... are you sure she’s a commoner? I thought she was a noble at first sight.”

“Huh?”

Rine squirmed in embarrassment at the compliment.

But Violetta meant it sincerely.

She stepped closer and examined Rine thoroughly.

“Uh... ma’am...”

“Hm. Clear skin, healthy hair... not a trace of excess flesh. Do you follow any special regimen?”

“N-no, not really...”

“My word. Looking like this without any special care? It’s enough to make me jealous. But that’s what makes you perfect.”

Finishing her inspection, Violetta’s eyes practically shone with joy.

“Honestly, it’s hard to believe. Inspiration is just pouring in. An average dress wouldn’t bring out even half her charm.”

“Think you can do it?”

“It’s not about whether I can. I have to. This is a matter of pride as a designer, not just a manager.”

Violetta quickly pulled out a small notebook she’d prepared in advance and began sketching rapidly.

Her strokes were both delicate and swift.

In moments, the draft of a dress was complete. She tore the page from the notebook and showed it to Ludger and Rine.

“This will be House of Verdi’s masterpiece.”

Rine looked at the design with a somewhat puzzled expression.

Ludger, on the other hand, looked intrigued and murmured an expression of interest.

“This... I’m looking forward to it.”