Beneath a dark night sky, where hardly any stars were visible,

the crackling flames of a modest campfire illuminated a small clearing in the forest.

“Come to think of it, is this the first time we’ve gone out together, just the two of us?”

A woman clad in leather armor, with short ‘brown’ hair and eyes of the same color, asked. The ‘brown’ haired man in similar attire responded.

“…That seems to be the case.”

The man, glancing at the starless sky for a moment, sighed softly.

“It would be nicer if there were more stars.”

“I like it just the way it is, what about you?”

Eileen said, leaning her head on her shoulder by the campfire, to which Logan responded with a smile and a nod.

With a clear purpose and on their way to the battlefield,

the tension was inevitable, yet there was a charm to the starless night sky they faced on that path.

Perhaps it was because of the person beside him.

Sentimentality unexpectedly surfaced, revealing an inner thought.

“Have you ever considered that maybe my headstrong plans could be wrong?” he murmured.

“…We’re doing this for our future.”

“Even so, my decisions could be wrong. There have been several cases of missteps.”

“This time will be different.”

“Hm?”

“Our strategies are convincing enough, except for having no choice but to match hair and eye color exactly.”

Eileen lifted the identity badge she’d been keeping close.

The badge flashed blue,

seemingly a simple token of nobility, but what they had was a transformation artifact made personally by the mage Clayton.

“Yes. It was quite an achievement of his recent work.”

The credit belonged to the research journals left by Ignis and Craune, but there was no need to delve into those details.

‘And if those journals belonged to an actual organization…’

A group of mages symbolized by a black serpent.

As Logan’s expression stiffened at the recollection of that ominous insignia, Eileen suddenly brought up a different point of discontent.

“I’m not quite happy with it.”

“Hm? What about?”

“It’s too mundane. You could have made me a more handsome face.”

“Ha!”

A chuckle was inevitable.

Though the face they prepared for Eileen’s disguise, while average, had retained some of her original features, making it rather attractive.

Logan smiled involuntarily as he realized that his wife’s teasing demeanor was meant to ease his burden.

“See?”

“What?”

“When you smile, even that face looks much better. We may be in a hurry, but let’s enjoy these few days we have to ourselves.”

It seems he had been looking too stern.

Logan, too, had a rather harsh expression due to his altered appearance.

“…Sorry.”

“And enough with the apologies.”

“Ah, that…”

A light laugh.

“We are enough as we are.”

Eileen spoke serenely, and Logan nodded emphatically in response.

“People might find our relationship dull, but we are perfectly content in moments like these, simply conversing together.”

Logan kissed Eileen’s forehead gently, momentarily setting aside his anxieties about the future.

Three days later.

“Is this the junction? It’s a shame. From now on, you’ll be known as Gail of Liberty, correct?”

Eileen’s voice, disguised as low as Logan’s, asked. She had cut her long hair short, so it wouldn’t even reach her neck, to maintain her transformed appearance.

“Right. And you’ll be Armud of Teronan.”

“…Be careful.”

“You too.”

Logan watched his wife’s retreating figure at one path of the crossroads for a long while before turning around.

As a king, but more so as a man, he couldn’t help but feel guilty for pushing his wife into the battle.

But there was no need to worry about a superhuman, especially one with awakened defensive attributes, in a small kingdom’s war, let alone an imperial conflict.

Suppressing his desire to follow her, Logan headed down his own path.

* * *

“Gail comes recommended by Lord Jordan Marlinz.”

Two days later, Logan arrived in Libertas, the capital of the Kingdom of Liberty. But even with such a recommendation, it wasn’t that simple to enter the castle of a nation on the brink of war.

So Logan showed his ‘Silver’ aura.

“Just a moment, please!”

The guards, after witnessing the aura’s performance, slicing through steel as if it was butter, hurriedly dashed into the palace.

– A superhuman has arrived!

Within a mere 30 minutes,

A bald official, similar in appearance to Jordan Marlinz, ran out to Logan.

“Huff. Huff. Are you Gail, sir? Unfortunately, Jordan Marlinz is away inspecting our supplies. So I’ve come out to meet you. My name is Eric Grice.”

Well aware.

‘That’s why I’ve come.’

Even though his appearance had been altered by disguise, Logan didn’t want to risk being recognized by Jordan, who had conversed with him previously.

However.

“Excuse me, but can I see the token, if you don’t mind?”

Proving one’s identity was an unavoidable procedure.

Without a word, Logan handed over a jagged, bisected identity badge.

Click.

Eric Grice, the bald official, matched the broken half from his own pocket and, smiling brightly, immediately bowed.

“Welcome to Liberty, Sir Gail.”

“Nothing to it. I too am a son of Liberty.”

It was merely a role play, but Eric’s smile deepened, and within less than an hour, Logan stood before the King of Liberty.

“Are you the reinforcement?”

The king and Logan, and one knight beside the king – just the three of them in the office.

“That is correct. It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”

Logan finished the greeting with a simple nod, and the old knight beside the king glared fiercely at him.

At the same time, an oppressive force emanated from the knight, bearing down on Logan.

– Kneel.

‘That must be Gunter Liberty.’

Without saying it aloud, the knight’s disdainful demeanor seemed to imply it.

Responding to the overt challenge, Logan’s eyes shone as he returned the gesture.

Vroom. Crackle.

The space between the two distorted with a rupture noise, sending wind gusting in all directions.

Gunter Liberty, the knight whose expression grew grave, bowed slightly to his king.

“He is nearly my equal.”

The king looked at Logan in awe. Logan thought it slightly amusing –

‘His prowess is comparable to Duke Luther’s. Impressive, yes, but…’

In the grand scheme, just a part of the alliance.

Gunter Liberty, the sole superhuman and also king, was just a mid-tier Aura User – respectable but not extraordinary.

Logan felt the stark contrast between the alliance and Maclaine, and even more so with the Empire.

“Remarkable. He appears to be in his thirties.”

“Your Majesty. Appearance is nothing. No doubt he’s much older. Of course, even then…”

As Gunter said, Aura Users often appear much younger than they are, rejuvenated after achieving certain stages.

But appearing like a young man was only possible for one reason.

“…He reached his stage in his thirties.”

“What? Inconceivable. How could such a man go unnoticed?”

“That’s what I meant. If Maclaine possesses such a force, we can start believing the rumors.”

The hostility earlier seemed to have dissipated, replaced with Gunter’s friendly demeanor.

Of course, it was perhaps because Gail was an ally from Liberty, but there might have been another reason.

‘He must think I am weaker than him.’

Barely a mid-tier Aura User – that was the disguised identity of ‘Silver’ that Logan maintained.

It was the consequence of forcibly altering his own essence, aimed at presenting a facade.

A trick he could only pull off now, as a superhuman looking to transcend the utmost tier – and not everybody could do it.

– Changing the essence itself when I told you to observe the essence and move the origin…

– It’s incredible that you remain intact after that. Truly, you are my student, but Your Majesty’s talent is…

Even his teacher marveled at this skill, ironically useful in the most unexpected ways.

Logan congratulated himself on his flawless acting and bowed gently.

“You flatter me. And until this war ends, I am a son of Liberty. Please, do not forget that.”

The king laughed gleefully at those words.

“Aye, of course! With Gunter protecting me and you in the battlefield, this war will turn in our favor quickly.”

Gunter could easily tip the scales if he joined the fray himself.

But how could one argue against a sovereign prioritizing their own safety?

Logan reaffirmed his choice and nodded.

However.

“As I came, I noticed that the atmosphere doesn’t quite seem ready for an imminent war. May I know what’s going on?”

“Oh, certainly. Tell him, Gunter.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The situation with the alliance is…”

Logan heard the following explanation fit closely with what he and the Flames of the Eye and Damian had predicted.

– We will not quietly accept the demands of the three kingdoms.

The four allied kingdoms had declared war in response to the aggression of the Triangle.

No fool would take them seriously when they said they’d only conquer Tahiti, and everyone could guess the next steps.

There was, however, an unexpected variable.

“The trouble is that the mobilization of troops in the Kingdom of Tria, who instigated this affair, is delayed.”

“What?”

“Well, they come up with plausible excuses, but can we really believe that those who clamored for war first were unprepared? According to our sources, it seems, unfortunately, to be the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems they thought they’d get away with just talking big without actual preparation.”

A glimmer of interest flickered in Logan’s eyes that neither Gunter nor the king noticed.

“So now Tria has started to move as well, and the four kingdoms cannot fully unify due to the situation in Tahiti. Hence, war will break out soon.”

“We’d like to position you at the forefront of this war.”

Placing a foreign reinforcement at the vanguard might sound audacious, but it made sense when said reinforcement was a superhuman.

Besides, this aligned perfectly with Logan’s own intentions.

“I understand. I will do my utmost to end the conflict as swiftly as possible.”

Logan spoke earnestly, his true intentions hidden beneath another layer of honest endeavor.

Thus, he was dispatched to the warfront just two days later.