"Hey, is that really true?"

"Yes."

"No, what's there to see that you're moving all the way to Citata?"

The two men gathered in the tavern were drinking beer with serious expressions.

"You don't know anything, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know that a mana stone mine has been found there, right?"

"Is there anyone in the empire who doesn't know that?"

The man, who had indifferently picked up the appetizer in front of him, licked his lips.

"Right, they say they're short on manpower there and are in a frenzy."

"And then?"

"The pay is enormous, I mean. And not only the mine, but they're also in a frenzy exporting all sorts of meat and specialties."

"Ha, you too. How many people can make a proper living by going to a place like that? When we first moved here, did we come because we heard there was nothing to eat?"

The man, who had silently raised his empty beer glass, was quickly served a new beer.

"Khuk... that's not all. You know the Rodrigo County, right? They say their children have all become mages. But there's a rumor that it's because of the mana stone mine."

"What?! Is that really true?"

"Why would I tell you such a baseless story?"

"Ha! This is..."

"I'm going to take all the kids with me. If you have any thoughts, you'd better come with me."

The man's expression began to become quite serious at his words.

Many people in the empire were preparing to move to Citata like this.

Some to get the newly opened jobs, and some with the high expectation that their children might be able to become mages.

***

The Rodrigo County.

"Count? Shall we reorganize our village a little?"

"The village, you mean?"

Allie and Cibie, who were sitting in the drawing room, were talking while drinking tea.

"Yes, you know the announcement we made last time, right? People are starting to move in after seeing that announcement..."

"...?"

"The village is so~ shabby! It's like you want to just leave as soon as you come to live here?"

Allie, who was building and selling houses to the immigrants who were moving in, finally spat out the words she had been thinking about all along.

She was right. Citata was shabby.

It was a place with not many people living or interacting, so putting aside the barrenness, it didn't even have the basic things needed to live.

There was no common square, and there were no proper shops that the residents needed to live.

"Is it... that shabby?"

"Yes, it's so shabby every time I go out to the village. How can there not be a single proper inn?"

"..."

"No, doesn't the lord support and build things like this?"

Allie, who took a bite of the cookie in front of her with an indifferent expression, was beating the Count with her words.

"..."

"Why are you doing that? Did I hit a nerve?"

"Ugh..."

The Count couldn't even put the ginger slice in his hand into his mouth at Allie's simple verbal assault.

"So, I'm saying. If you entrust this to our trading company, I think we can give it a complete makeover."

"...Again?"

"Haha~ again? Have I ever asked you to do anything bad, Count? Anyone who hears that would misunderstand~"

Allie, who smiled brightly, waved her hand.

As she said, she had never asked him to do anything bad.

The work she had taken on was surprisingly certain and perfect.

The Count also knew Allie's skills, who had already taken on the overall road repairs and the remodeling of the county estate.

But the Count was afraid every time Allie's eyes sparkled and she opened her mouth.

What kind of business would she start this time... what sweet words would she use to coax him and make money...!

There had never been a business that was not profitable, but he was just... scared.

"You don't want to? The village is really shabby~"

"...Let's do that."

"Haha~ as expected, the Count is hot-headed. Then please take good care of it this time."

Allie, who smiled brightly, held out one hand for a handshake.

"...Yes, please take good care of it."

A small spasm occurred on the corner of the Count's mouth as he took her hand.

'Scary... so scary...!'

***

Alberto's office.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, so you're saying there was a mage there? No, no. More importantly... is it true that you attacked the Count?"

"..."

"This! Not only did you disobey His Majesty the Emperor's orders, but you were also beaten by a woman you don't even know?!"

Stun, who stood before Alberto, lowered his head and bit his lip.

"If you give me just one more, just one more chance..."

"What do you mean by that? A chance? When did I ever give you a chance?"

"..."

Alberto, who had thought that Stun would be his faithful horse, had been beaten nicely, so he immediately threw away that card.

"Hoho! What a troublesome young man."

"...I'm sorry."

A perfect justification. As Alberto said, Stun had just acted on his own.

It was not something he had done because Alberto had ordered him to, nor was it something he had done in obedience to the emperor's orders. It was just an act he had committed on his own to be recognized.

Even if there was an unspoken permission, it was not a real permission, was it?

"So what are you going to do from now on? You are my adopted son. In any case, you are my son."

Alberto's head was also throbbing.

Although he had accepted Stun as his son in obedience to the emperor's orders, it was clear that the emperor would also blame him if a problem arose.

"That's..."

He couldn't think of anything. He had just stormed into Citata with the one desire to be recognized, and this had happened.

"I'm sorry."

Alberto touched his temple at Stun's repeated apologies.

"What did that woman look like?"

"She was a young woman with blonde hair and golden eyes."

"Blonde hair and golden eyes..."

Blonde hair was too common anywhere. In addition, if her magic skills surpassed those of Stun, a 4th circle mage, there was no way Alberto wouldn't know.

"Ah, and she called Count Cibie 'customer'."

"...Customer?"

"Yes, she called Count Cibie 'customer' quite familiarly... I'm thinking she might be a member of the Red Wolf Mercenary Corps."

"The Red Wolf..."

The Red Wolf Mercenary Corps. A mercenary corps based in the city-state of Lodrata.

They, who were born and raised in Lodrata, an island country at the northernmost tip, were so outstanding that they traveled all over the world and solved all the troublesome problems.

They were the best mercenary corps, without a doubt, who had built up their bodies based on their outstanding physical abilities, having been born and raised in a place where all four seasons were winter.

'No, she's not a mercenary.'

Alberto, who had thought of the Red Wolf Mercenary Corps, shook his head.

"No, they don't have such an outstanding mage."

"..."

"Blonde hair and golden eyes... Gold Nine?"

"Pardon?"

Then a person flashed through Alberto's mind.

"Why didn't I think of that! Right, Gold Nine. It must be that head of the trading company!"

"The head of the trading company... you mean?"

"Right. It must be that woman. Blonde hair and golden eyes, and even outstanding magic skills."

Stun couldn't put together the words coming out of Alberto's mouth.

A merchant? No matter how great she was, she was just a merchant.

"It's natural that you couldn't win. That woman... is a woman who abandoned the title of a great mage, crazy about money."

"...Pardon?"

Alberto had met Allie a few years ago.

Allie, who had come to the Mage Tower, had snorted at Alberto's teachings.

He clearly remembered her, who had laughed at him, who was called the best in the empire.

It was a place where they were debating a problem that was called a difficult problem in the world.

She had solved that problem in a flash, as if laughing at the researchers who were struggling with their quills.

Everyone had been surprised and had fallen over at the sight of her.

But she had turned her back and had left, even at the request to stay at the Mage Tower.

Leaving behind the words, 'Looking at how you guys live, it doesn't seem to be profitable.'

"Stun. Come closer."

Alberto, who had suddenly changed his attitude gently, gestured to Stun.

"It's a pity. To see my adopted son... my son so upset."

"Alberto-nim..."

"Do you want to beat that woman?"

"I must... I must make that wench kneel before me."

Stun gritted his teeth as he remembered the humiliation of the past.

"But what should we do... that woman might have skills similar to mine."

"Khuk...!"

"But it seems there's something I can do for you."

"For me... you mean?"

"Right. But know this. The choice is yours."

"I will do anything if I can just beat that wench. Anything."

Stun, whose heart had become impatient, stepped forward and beat his chest.

He was so angry that he felt like he would sell his soul right now.

A satisfied smile spread across Alberto's lips at the sight.

"Right, right... I know that feeling well..."

Alberto calmly comforted Stun, as if he understood everything.

"But know this. This is a dangerous power. Very powerful."

"It couldn't be better."

***

Now, the demons had all been driven out to the demon world and were not left on the ground, but it was not so in the past.

The demons also had their own autonomous regions and lived there together, and although their appearance and method of birth were different, they were also treated the same as other races.

But at some point, the monsters' momentum grew, and they began to harm other races, including humans.

The other races, including humans, began to turn their arrows on the demons for the monsters' movements.

But the monsters' movements had nothing to do with the demons.

Just as elves were close to nature and could communicate with plants and animals, the demons were also just a little more proficient in communicating with monsters.

The one who had not controlled the monsters' movements. No, the one who had not done it was none other than the dragons.

A thousand years ago, when the friction between the dragons and humans had reached its peak, the dragons had deliberately not restrained the monsters.

The friction that had begun after the Dragon Lord of that time had personally wiped out one of the human empires had begun to reach its peak, so much so that the renowned human knights had formed a dragon subjugation team.

"Gaaah... gaaah!!!"

The scream of a man echoed through the underground dungeon. The owner of that voice was Stun.

Molek's Breath.

The artifact that Alberto had given him.

This was an artifact left by the demon king before the demons were unjustly driven out to the demon world.

The artifact, which the demon king had created by breathing his breath into it, raised the user's abilities to the limit, but it gradually gnawed at the user and eventually consumed even the soul.

If a demon, not a human, used it, the danger would be less, but it was also a dangerous artifact for a lower-level demon.

Alberto had given Stun such a Molek's Breath.

Alberto's faithful horse, which didn't matter what happened to it.

Stun was just a card that could be used and thrown away.

"Gaaah... gaaah... gaaah!!!"

Stun was writhing in pain from the moment he had absorbed Molek's Breath into his body in the empty underground dungeon.

It would gradually eat away at his body.

'If I just... endure this... just this...!'

Stun, who was gasping for breath as if in pain, thought of only one thing even while crawling on the floor.

'You son of a b-tch of a wench! That wench... that wench...!'

(End of Chapter)