“Missed them?”

“They flew away on some strange disc-shaped object. Couldn’t do anything about it.”

As Lonian said this with a look of despair, Victor too sighed deeply.

“Old man Burdel managed to take down a few of their underlings with long-range sniping, but after that, it didn’t work anymore.”

The gaunt middle-aged man Lonian pointed to slightly frowned and nodded.

“I was shooting predictively from 2km away, but it seemed that they had figured out my position. If His Excellency Lonian hadn’t been chasing them on the rooftops, I would have been in danger.”

Burdel, who awakened his aura and acquired a range and accuracy beyond common sense, was probably now the continent’s best archer. His words heightened the sense of caution towards the enemy.

“…Scary old man. If you hadn’t come, I might have been in big trouble.”

“Well, of course. So always be grateful to this brother.”

“I’m older than you by birthdate.”

“Anyway.”

“Yeah, thanks! Are we good now!?”

Lonian looked better when he was playful rather than disheartened.

Victor chuckled at him, then Lonian forcefully summoned the skinny mage who had been crouching in the corner.

“And let’s thank Grik too, who ran into us after getting caught by some odd guys!”

“Embarrassing…”

Grik flinched and hung his head low, starting to draw in the dirt, but his ordeal didn’t end there.

“A good attempt to detour in front of the southern mountains to return via Macline. Thanks to that, we encountered the attackers later, and we met you as well.”

“Exactly. Thanks to Grik getting captured quickly without showing his true potential, we met right on time.”

Grik’s head, briefly lifted by Burdel’s defending words, dropped back down between his legs with Lonian’s teasing.

“Well, since I knew you had walked into the enemy’s trap, I ran like mad towards here.”

“It was an incredibly forced move. I’ve been running all day.”

“So now, I look like this…”

Grik added a comment in a gloomy tone, but his voice failed to capture anyone’s attention.

Instead,

“Thank you, Uncle Grik. Thanks to you, we survived.”

“Don’t… just don’t. Makes me feel more miserable.”

Victor spoke with earnest gratitude, and Grik looked like he was about to bury his face in the ground.

Watching him, Lonian let out a small sigh as if he recalled something.

“If it hadn’t been for that disc-shaped thing, we could have caught them!”

“Yeah. Of course.”

Encouraging his friend who seemed frustrated, Victor nodded.

It wasn’t just lip service.

Despite his newly awakened special trait causing his force to surge, Victor recognized that Lonian’s aura was just as formidable.

‘No, if we compare their purity, his might be even deeper. In that case…’

Victor was once again astonished by his friend’s remarkable growth when Lonian spoke up.

“Well, we’re not completely out of clues.”

“Huh?”

“One of the guys who died had this strange ring. Seems to react to force or mana, here…”

Lonian took out a plain-looking ring and infused it with force.

With a light vibration, the ring emitted a faint blue light, and soon a coiled black snake symbol appeared in the middle.

“A snake? Is that all?”

“Yeah. It must be an artifact indicating membership to some group. Is there any group with this symbol in the Empire? Just looking at it puts me in a bad mood.”

“I wouldn’t know. Maybe His Majesty does?”

Victor answered with a tilt of his head, and Lonian grimaced slightly before scratching his arm.

“Ahhhh, you mean my brother when you say His Majesty?”

“Obviously.”

“Oh, I can’t get used to it. It gives me goosebumps.”

Laughing at the absurdity, Victor was joined by a calm voice from beside him.

“You’ll have to get used to it now, Your Excellency Lonian.”

“Ugh, Your Excellency what! Just speak informally to me like he does! I don’t hold any titles…”

Seeing Lonian shiver, the tension from their mission seemed to somehow dissolve.

‘The mission is complete, and the goal is achieved.’

Although they had let the major enemy slip away, it was considered a success.

Victor patted Lonian’s shoulder and laughed.

“You’ll get used to it. Anyway, it’s good to have you back, congratulations.”

“Back? This isn’t even Macline… Huh? Congratulate me for what?”

“Because the honor of the youngest aura user on the continent, which His Majesty had, now goes to you.”

“Ah… haha, that. You’re the same age as me.”

“But I just awakened yesterday, whereas you’re obviously more than just awakened, right?”

“Sigh, that’s true. But only because I went through some real hard times. If I hadn’t discovered the relic of the Sword Saint, I would have almost died.”

The Sword Saint’s relic?

These were definitely significant words. Victor’s curiosity was piqued.

“Now that we’re on the subject, what did you do in the southern mountains to get so strong? And what about that swordsmanship?”

Although he hadn’t observed Lonian for long, his movements were clearly different from the Ironblood Sword’s mobilization technique.

The trace of the Ghost Shadow was evident, but the way he handled and attacked with his sword was quite unfamiliar. Especially the skill he used to create a barrier of aura to block the explosion was astonishing.

“Ah. That’s…”

Just as Lonian was about to share with a smile, a low humming sound filled the room as the communicator lit up with life.

It was the awaited contact.

* * *

“Lonian!?”

Logan, lost in thought, stared at the communicator as his eyes widened abruptly.

[Yes, brother. Long time no see.]

Surprised and bewildered by the sudden appearance of his brother, Logan was at a loss for words for a moment.

He soon unleashed a storm of complaints, no, scolding.

“You, rascal, you were safe! And you didn’t contact even once! Do you know how much mother has been worried!? Do you have any idea how much I’ve been harried to check regularly…”

“Cough, cough. Your Majesty, please preserve your dignity…”

Dwain, who had been watching the exchange, coughed and tried to intervene, and Damian stepped back with a look of confusion about where to look. It was only then that Logan calmed his excitement.

“Hmm. Right. Well, I of course thought you would be safe, but… the family was very worried.”

He tried to make it sound like an excuse, but Logan only felt the back of his head grow hotter, so he swiftly steered the conversation to the main point.

“So why are you there? Where’s Victor?”

[He’s right here. But this was his idea, suggesting that it might be better for me to communicate directly…]

“Never mind that. Tell me from the beginning what happened!”

[Yes. Well…]

Lonian’s explanation was rather lengthy but certainly worth listening to.

The fact that mages had been lurking in wait with a trap, with Macline as the target, was already astonishing. But the story of how they overcame that situation was even more remarkable.

Logan, who had been listening to Lonian with a growing smile on his face, burst out laughing as soon as his brother finished speaking.

“Ahahaha! Well done! Both you and Victor, and Burdel awakened their aura, amazing! Excellent!”

Praise flowed endlessly from Logan’s lips.

Damian and Dwain also sported bright smiles as they listened behind their king. However, Lonian continued with a worried look.

[But there’s the issue with that mage. He used magic we’ve never seen or heard of and escaped using a flying artifact.]

The news dampened the mood that had been ascending to the heavens.

“…Ah. Right. A superhuman waiting in ambush there… I was too complacent, even though I thought there could’ve been Imperial interference.”

Logan often thought he was too quick to judge and act.

Despite knowing this human weakness was hard to change, he was a king. He sighed by himself, thinking his decisions might be too light for someone who bore responsibility for so many, but then he heard a voice of comfort.

[No one can predict everything. Don’t be too hard on yourself, brother.]

“…When did you learn how to comfort people? You’ve certainly grown up a lot, Lonie.”

[…I am an adult now, brother.]

“Yes. That’s right. Already…”

Looking at the familiar face in the communicator, Logan vividly felt the passage of time.

‘Lonian awakened around the same time he did in his previous life. No, hearing his story, he’s not freshly awakened.’

With that thought, Logan’s heart felt lighter again.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, better even than expected. Meanwhile, Victor’s face suddenly popped into view on the communicator.

[There’s more, Your Majesty. Not only that, but Count Lonian has learned an incredible advanced sword technique.]

“…Advanced sword technique?”

[Yes, the advanced swordsmanship that is traditionally passed down in the Empire or the old martial families!]

Victor wore an expression rarely seen, one of excitement. He probably hadn’t heard about this for very long either.

[You’re interrupting? Move over. Brother. I’ll come and talk to Grang, and then I’ll explain the story of the Galaxy Sword in detail.]

“The Galaxy Sword?”

[Yes. It was also written as 갤럭시 소드 (Galaxy Sword). It’s a sword technique devised, according to its creator, to mimic the orbits of the stars.]

It was a swordsmanship Logan had never heard of in his previous life.

However, considering the confident look on Lonian’s face, it was certainly extraordinary.

‘High-level sword techniques are rare as it is.’

With fortune seemingly on their side, Logan’s smile deepened.

“That’s great. Thank you. But before that, you should first stop by Macline.”

[Excuse me?]

“Didn’t I tell you? Mother is worried! I will be away for a while, so you can go to Grang later. Ah, and this is classified, so don’t divulge it.”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty…”

Upon hearing this, Dwain and Damian’s expressions soured, as they were only listening from behind.

“My brother and Victor are here. Can’t you trust them?”

“It’s not that, Your Majesty. But we have found replacements now, so why should you or the Queen need to go in person?”

Dwain’s face held steadfast concern.

“If those two who caused a ruckus in Tahinan show up in the war, it’ll cause problems. Not showing your face isn’t everything. There are distinctive colors of force and specific techniques…”

“That’s why! Your Majesty’s force is golden! I have never heard of any knight with golden force. So that’s why it would be bad for you to go! No matter how much you disguise yourself…”

Dwain suddenly became flushed with excitement, but his argument didn’t dent Logan’s resolve.

“There’s a way around it.”

With those firm words, Dwain’s face fell, but Damian stepped forward.

“The Kingdom of Tria might not act according to plan. If that mage mentioned Macline, it’s likely that’s where information leaked from. If they decide to overturn the board completely…”

“They won’t. It’s their own grave. Even just for show, they’ll act because of Liberty and Teronan… If they don’t?”

“What if they don’t?”

“Then we wield Ignis and shake them up. The alliance war will happen one way or another.”

Even if Tria had laid a trap, they weren’t the main force behind this conspiracy. If they had the power and connections to send a mage inside Fort King, they wouldn’t ask Macline for help.

Then, it was more likely a third party involved with Tahiti’s revival and who used Tria for this recent trap.

‘The Empire.’

In that case, it was even more crucial to shake up the kingdom’s alliance and firmly hold them in his grasp. And the war the three countries mentioned would serve as a perfect method.

“We must extend our influence over the alliance at this opportunity.”

With Logan’s determined words, not even his two vassals could argue, and they stepped back.

[If that is what you say…, I understand.]

Lonian also nodded inside the communicator, but something seemed to occur to him as he suddenly produced a ring.

[By the way, brother, have you ever seen a ring like this? When you pour force or mana into it, a coiled black snake symbol emerges.]

“…What?”

[One of the mage’s minions had it. It seems to be a symbol used by that group. I haven’t heard of any organization that uses such an ominous sign, so I’m asking.]

As Lonian said this, he demonstrated by pushing the ring forward, which began to glow softly and then exuded the symbol of a coiled black snake within the blue light.

Seeing it, Logan immediately recalled a memory from years ago.

“The ring of Crown…”

[So you do know about it!]

Muttering to himself, Lonian brightened, but Logan’s expression only grew more complicated.

“No, not exactly. I didn’t realize such an organization existed.”

The mass-murdering mage Crown had an identical ring among his possessions.

It was a symbol unbeknownst to his past life’s recollections, so Logan had just passed it over.

‘There was such a group in the Empire? Or outside the Empire?’

Complicated thoughts swirled in his mind, and the words of Clayton came to mind.

– This isn’t the result of a single individual’s research.

Still, in his previous life, Crown had eventually joined the Imperial family, producing countless low-level artifacts like modern Macline, amassing an immeasurable fortune. There was never talk of him being part of a different faction than the Imperial family.

‘Another variable?’

Feeling slightly uneasy, Logan soon shook his head to cast aside the troubling thoughts.

It was a minor concern amidst the many great pieces of news.

No enemy would be larger than the Empire.

Whether part of it or an entirely separate enemy, now wasn’t the time to focus excessively on this.

Just a few instructions should suffice.

“Damian. Check if there’s any group that uses such a symbol.”

“Yes.”

“No need to push it. It’s likely part of the Empire, so if it feels too dangerous, stop digging. We don’t want to accidentally alert them.”

“Understood.”

With that, Logan turned his gaze back towards the communicator…