At the mention of being in a dream, Rudger fell into contemplation for a moment.

It wasn't just a metaphorical reference to something being as difficult as dreaming.

Literally, inside a dream.

"It's Dreamland."

Dreamland is a single world created by the merging of all human unconsciousness, psyche, and dreams.

That's according to one magician's theory, anyway.

In reality, its origins could be different, as they dated back to an unfathomably long time ago.

One thing was important.

The path to Dreamland was not easy, even for Rudger.

"You seem to know a bit about Dreamland."

"Well, if you're among magicians, it's impossible not to hear the rumors circulating about such things."

Dreams are connected to the unconscious, and there have been attempts to maximize magic through such unconsciousness.

However, all such attempts failed spectacularly.

After all, Dreamland wasn't a place that individual magicians could handle on their own.

Marias agreed.

"As you know, Dreamland is truly difficult to enter. It's not somewhere you can go just by falling asleep. Even if you go, what comes after is also problematic. Because it's a world of unconsciousness, you don't know where to go, how to get there, or how to move around."

When dreaming, one experiences similar things.

Like being unable to make normal movements that you can do while awake.

Or conversely, effortlessly performing actions and movements that would be impossible in reality.

The standards aren't clear, and the methods are unknown.

Control of consciousness was the most basic virtue needed to head toward Dreamland.

"But there are people who can make it possible."

"You're talking about the Dream School magicians."

Dream School it's a school gathering those who use dream magic, an unusual branch that hasn't been standardized yet among the various magical branches.

Compared to other unusual branches that have very few practitioners, Dream School magicians are quite numerous.

Even among Rudger's students, there was one.

"For someone of your level, it wouldn't be strange to know at least one such magician. But do you know something? Even those Dream School magicians have limits to how far they can move."

Rudger nodded.

Being from the Dream School doesn't mean one can freely come and go through Dreamland.

Even among them, there are levels and hierarchies as magicians, and their ability to traverse Dreamland varies.

"Even the most excellent living Dream School magician has never gone below the middle layer of Dreamland. What do you think is the reason?"

"Is it because even the school's magicians can't handle the unconsciousness that Dreamland possesses?"

"That's correct. That's why most Dream School magicians, even when they go to Dreamland, only skim through the surface world."

Rudger recalled the meetings of the First Orders.

Even they held their meetings in Dreamland, but perhaps due to its dangers, they met secretly in the surface world.

In other words, even the Black Dawn Society wouldn't carelessly enter deep into Dreamland.

"And I told you before that if you go, you can never return. Actually, that's not true. If it were, there's no way the information about that scenery you mentioned would have been passed down until now."

"You mean someone saw that scenery and came back?"

"Just once, long ago a young Dream School magician tried to reach the depths of Dreamland. It was truly reckless."

"You mean he committed such an act knowing he could never return?"

"Dream School magicians tend to be a bit unrealistic. Something about dreaming big or whatever. Of course, that person was particularly unusual."

He said it would be fine even if he couldn't return.

That it would be worth it just to see the deep world of Dreamland that others hadn't seen.

That magician fell deep into the dream world making such claims and he saw it.

All the beautiful things in the world, things sadly abandoned, ruins and beautiful forests. The sky that split, mixed, and swirled dreamlike.

The time to take in all of that was just 3 seconds and at its center was a massive structure of unknown identity.

And there...

"That's all that remains in that magician's records."

"Are you saying there was something in that structure?"

"Looking at the context, it seems so. Maybe there was nothing at all. But that scenery is definitely a clue, and it's the place you’re looking for."

"..."

Rudger fell into thought.

Marias offered gentle, quiet advice to Rudger.

"Although you declared you wouldn't stop, sometimes there are cases where you need to know when to stop. That's not because you're a coward. It's being wise."

"..."

"I hope you don't forget that."

* * *

Even on the train returning from the empire, Rudger couldn't easily escape his thoughts.

'Dreamland, huh.'

Among the fragments he'd found while wandering the continent, only one place remained.

Although he'd sworn to find it no matter where it was, fate, as if mocking Rudger's determination, presented an overwhelmingly high wall.

A massive wall where one wondered if it could be crossed, or if anything even existed beyond it.

Facing this, Rudger could be said to be standing at perhaps the greatest crossroads of his life.

'Marias Selmore's advice isn't wrong at all. The depths of Dreamland are an extremely dangerous place. Once you enter, you can't easily escape.'

Rudger had heard stories about that aspect too.

There was an incident where a Dream School magician stayed in Dreamland's middle layer for a long time.

The deeper you go into Dreamland, the more the concept of time diverges from reality.

A day spent in Dreamland might only be a few hours when you wake up.

'One hour in the surface layer equals one hour in reality.'

But from the upper layer, one hour equals 10 minutes in reality.

In the middle layer, one hour equals one minute, with the gap gradually widening.

Even this is quite a difference, but even within the same middle layer, as you go deeper, that number increases exponentially.

From the middle layer, it's divided into upper, middle, and lower parts, and with each step down, the time axis changes dramatically.

There was a magician who focused on this aspect.

'He became overly obsessed with Dreamland, thinking that continuing research in dreams would reduce time waste.'

It was something he did thinking it would be fine but the results weren't so simple.

To cut to the conclusion, the Dream School magician who stayed too long in the dream went mad.

The reason was that while he spent decades in the dream, reality remained unchanged when he woke up.

What kind of feeling would it be to come out after continuing research for decades in the dream, becoming an old man?

Though he hadn't experienced it personally, perhaps it felt as if the world's time had stopped.

While his mental years had gone far ahead, his physical years remained in place.

The moment he realized that after waking from the dream, the outside world hadn't changed at all from the distant past.

Reality and dreams.

Mind and body.

Consciousness and unconsciousness.

All these things create a sense of disconnect and lead to terrible results.

Even a Dream School magician who boasts excellent mental strength in Dreamland eventually goes mad.

'Even those who went in and out of Dreamland like their own home couldn't avoid such a miserable fate. Can I really go there?'

Getting there might be manageable somehow but what comes after going is the bigger problem.

The place where the relic exists is clearly in the deepest depths of Dreamland.

The moment he entered there, what Rudger has to fight isn't simply unconsciousness or whatever but the time gap that endlessly grows as you go down.

He must endure the years that approach 'eternity.'

Those years cannot be endured even with superhuman mental strength.

Just look at Grandel, wasn't she immersed in boredom and tedium, worn down by the long years?

'Can I really do it?'

Though he thought he had finally reached his goal, what he was trying to reach was still overwhelmingly far away.

He thought he could see it, but it was just an illusion, and even that faint vision was out of reach.

Nevertheless, he couldn't stop.

'Dreamland along with Isla Machina. I'll have a lot to do during the break.'

He planned to send a letter to Isla Machina as soon as he returned.

He wanted to hear what had happened, checking on the fellow staying there.

'Nicolai, Victor Dreadful and Verom. What are you all trying to do?'

* * *

-Splash.

As the leg wearing black armor stepped forward, the mud pooled on the ground lightly splattered.

Though one might be concerned about mud splashing on the smooth dark armor, its owner continued walking, paying it no mind.

Black armor covering the entire body, a sharp black helmet that didn't show the face and a large black hooded cloak covering all of that.

The dark passage the knight emerged from was strewn with corpses and blood.

"Bravo. Impressive skills as expected."

At the sudden voice, First Order Verom stopped his steps and turned his gaze.

There stood a man with thin features and long seaweed-like hair, giving off a vile impression.

Though he wore a seemingly kind smile on his face, for those who knew his true nature, it was hardly reassuring.

"What brings you to this alley, when you usually only scheme from behind like a coward?"

Verom spoke, and inwardly lamented about this damn way of speaking but it couldn't be helped.

This way of speaking was a curse possessed by the armor itself.

Despite Verom's way of speaking, the man, Nikolai, continued without changing his expression.

"Thanks to you, it's become much easier to control the underworld of Isla Machina. To the point where I think it's about time to move directly."

"Truly a cunning one."

"It's all thanks to you, isn't it? Though there are still a few organizations remaining."

At Nicolai's subtle words, sharp killing intent extended from Verom.

"Greed that doesn't match one's status shortens one's life."

Even facing that killing intent, Nicolai's expression didn't change.

However, there were others who reacted to the killing intent.

-Swoosh.

Suddenly, a group appeared surrounding Verom.

Though they wore black hoods like rags over their bodies, the skin occasionally visible through them was white as if painted.

What stood out were the red tattoos crossing over the white skin.

From the alley to the iron railings on the walls, brass pipes, and shabby street lamps, they silently stared at Verom, each taking position in every surrounding location.

Verom also didn't hide his unpleasant feelings while looking at them.

"These half-baked experimental subjects..."

Just as Verom was about to put his hand on the handle of the greatsword on his back.

"Stop."

At Nicolai's command, those who had appeared like mirages disappeared again.

"I apologize. Those fellows are programmed to do anything to protect me, you see."

"That loyalty stems not from your leadership, but from brainwashing through Victor's drugs."

Verom removed his hand from the sword and turned his back as if disliking associating with Nicolai.

"Let me warn you once. If you try any more of your petty tricks on me, then my sword's tip will be aimed at your neck."

"My. I thought we had gotten closer through this incident."

"My involvement in this incident was purely transactional. And with that recent fight, I've fulfilled my duty."

Verom's role was to directly eliminate the most troublesome ones in Isla Machina's black magic society.

Now that he had sufficiently completed that, Verom had no more work left to do.

For Nikolai, losing his greatest force was quite regrettable so he made subtle suggestions, but Verom was merciless in such matters.

Even trying to pressure him by deliberately showing the experimental subjects made no difference.

"We are equals, there is no superior or inferior between us. If you're thinking of half-heartedly provoking me, we might as well end one of us here."

"Calm down. I had no such intention at all."

"Words without heart are as light as feathers and easily spoken."

Even at the pointed criticism, Nikolai smiled at Verom.

"If you're returning, will you join up with Victor? Could you tell him the experimental subjects were used well?"

"I won't join Victor either. He's very far from here anyway."

"Ah. That's right."

Nikolai nodded with a smile.

"Was it in the southern region's beastkin lands? I wonder what he's trying to do there."

"You pretend not to know while knowing."

Verom snorted.

The cunning Nikolai was always keeping a close eye on the other First Orders' movements.

Of course, Nikolai knew everything about what Victor was doing and where.

Including what Victor Dreadful was trying to do and for what purpose in the beastkin lands now.

And he would keep monitoring his own every move too.

Nikolai's voice briefly held back Verom as he was about to leave.

"Verom."

"What is it? Just state your business."

"Be careful. Seems there's been trouble in the Elven Forest recently."

"..."

Nikolai hadn't spoken those words with pure intentions.

Something happening in the Elven Forest meant that something had gone wrong with Ventmin's situation.

In other words, this was a warning that a First Order could be targeted again.

"Hmph."

Verom snorted and slowly disappeared into the darkness.

Nikolai, watching Verom's retreating figure, let out a light breath through his nose and slowly moved his feet but unlike Verom disappearing into darkness, he went towards the street full of lamplight.

Behind such Nikolai, the experimental subjects melted into darkness followed, as if protecting their master, like rats following the Pied Piper.