The first thing I heard was the voice of an old man. His voice, coarse and mixed with phlegm, accused those who had come with him in a thick western accent.

"It's just the same as when we checked last night. I knew we shouldn't have trusted you folks and broken down a perfectly good door. What will the Baron say when he learns of this?"

"…A force definitely moved here."

The next voice that was heard was very low and slow, contrasting with the voice of the old man previously. Yuder quickly turned his head to glimpse between the shelves filled with counterfeit magic tools and catch sight of his opponents.

Beyond the shattered entrance, the shadows of three people were reflected in the flickering lamplight. The one holding the lantern was a hunched old man, and the other two were tall and well-built, their skin red where it peeked out from the heavy clothing that wrapped them as tightly as midwinter.

'The tavern owner and the southern merchants I saw before...'

Yuder had heard that the southern merchants were gone to meet Baron Willhem, but he hadn't expected them to return so quickly. Moreover, from the conversation, it seemed that they had accurately identified the movement of some force here for some unknown reason.

A sense of tension caused strength to surge through Yuder's body. He looked around to locate Kishiar but could not find him within his line of sight. The same was true for Nathan Zuckerman. Even though it was obvious and wise to hide separately to avoid the enemy's gaze, that fact felt terribly anxious at this moment.

'Damn it.'

Yuder bit his lower lip and clenched his fist tightly.

"There's nothing more to see here. Get out. Don't touch anything here until the time comes, even if it's you. I have to go out and make sure no one comes near this place!"

In the meantime, the old man began to push the southern merchants out, annoyed. He openly grumbled, visibly angry at the fact that the southern men had carelessly broken the secret door to the basement when nothing was wrong.

It would have been nice if they had simply left, but the southern merchants did not comply.

"We cannot leave. We need to check for intruders."

"Oh, there's nobody here! If anyone had come in here, I would have known!"

"There are not only this passage, aren't there?"

"The other side is guarded by the Baron's knights. Not even a bug can get in."

"We don't know that. If evidence of an intruder is found later, we will present your head to the Duke first."

"What... what? What did you just say...?"

A brief phrase in an incomprehensible southern language followed, and then one of the southern merchants bowed his head and began forcibly dragging the old man out.

"What, what are you doing? Why are you grabbing me!"

The terrified shout of what are you doing turned into a stifled moan. As those sounds gradually receded, the remaining southern merchant walked into the secret warehouse with heavy footsteps.

A long shadow spread inside the warehouse, and the air seemed to chill for a moment.

'...A gaze I've felt before.'

Though his face was almost hidden by the hat pulled low, sharp eyes like his were rare. He was undoubtedly the man who had turned his head when he felt Yuder's gaze at the tavern.

The man walked a certain distance inside, then stopped and looked around. A moment later, a resonant voice in the Imperial language came through.

"Intruder, I already know you're here. Come out."

The warehouse remained as silent as death. The man who had maintained his silence, waiting for a response, spoke once more.

"I've confirmed with my comrade that a great power is moving here in the city of Tainu. It must be you who have infiltrated various parts and caused explosions. If you come out now, I won't kill you."

For a moment, Yuder's eyebrows twitched in surprise.

'He must think we're from the Star of Nagran.'

"I am an Awakener, just like you. I have the power to kill you instantly if you try to escape. This is your last warning. Come out."

The Southern merchant spoke calmly, revealing that he too was an Awakener. It seemed that this fact was the source of his self-assured confidence in coming alone.

But knowing that he was an Awakener, Yuder regained his composure.

'I should probably thank him for revealing he's an Awakener from the start. I knew something was off when I first saw him.'

It's always easier to face a strong monster whose name you know, rather than an unknown one. Whether the opponent possessed a certain lineage of power or not, being an Awakener surely meant there was some way to deal with him based on past experience.

'And since he's already mistaken us, I should take full advantage of that.'

"I will give you one last chance to choose. I'll count to three. One..."

Yuder quickly thought, listening to the low voice coming from not too far away. Although he didn't know where Kishiar and Nathan Zuckerman were, they were probably all thinking the same thing: quickly deal with the Southern merchant and escape. There were three of them and only one opponent, so they had plenty of power to spare.

'And first and foremost, it's my job to handle him.'

Kishiar had already expended much energy today and was an important person who must not be discovered, while Nathan Zuckerman had a pile of magic tools that had to be safely taken out. Yuder was the only one free and with no reason to escape first.

'So first, I need to deal with the distractions.'

Yuder pulled his cloak's hood deeper and rummaged inside his garment, quickly finding the recovery potion given by Enon.

Enon would probably scoff at the situation, but Yuder couldn't complain. Who would have thought he'd need to recover so quickly?

"Two... Three...!"

Yuder roughly threw the potion into his mouth, swallowing it as he sprang up.

'Wind, and earth!'

As he used both elements at once, the surrounding shelves shook, and the duplicated fake items swirled in the wind, becoming a tangled mess. The sounds of shattering and breaking echoed like a scream from thousands.

Yuder, unable to overcome the shaking force, dodged a collapsing shelf and looked around. It was hard to tell what was what in the darkness, but he needed to find Kishiar quickly.

'I'm sure I saw him move this way...!'

At that moment, an unseen attack from the darkness aimed at Yuder's neck. He swiftly stepped on the wind and dodged to the side, just as the objects where he had stood exploded from the force of the Southern merchant's attack.

'Was it a wind-attribute attack? Or something like sword energy?'

Either way, a slight delay in dodging would have spelled disaster. Rolling to hide behind a relatively intact shelf, Yuder caught his breath, only to feel a sharp, stabbing pain below his abdomen.

'....'

Yuder clenched his teeth in silence, gripping the shelf and crouching down.

'...He said it would hurt quite a bit, but it wasn't just an empty threat.'

It was clear that the effect of the elixir Enon had warned him about had begun. The pain, which usually began inside the navel where an Awakener's power was concentrated, near the Mana Hole, rapidly transformed into a burning agony that spread to his heart, both arms, and legs. Among those, the most intense pain emanated from his left eye, as if something were branding it with fire in the unseen darkness.

Suppressing the urge to breathe too deeply due to the pain, Yuder rose again. Indescribable pain made his body tremble, but unlike before, he no longer felt suffocated in his chest whenever he exerted force. It felt as if everything that had been pent up inside him was finally touching the flames that would consume them, burning fiercely.

In the darkness, there was a sound like weapons clashing, as if someone were dealing with a Southern merchant. Kishiar had not brought his new sword today, so it must have been Nathan Zuckerman. The wind was still following Yuder's will, wreaking havoc all around.

'Kishiar.'

It was important to deal with the Southern merchant, but he needed to find Kishiar first and send him toward the passage.

'Where is Kishiar...?'

In that brief and simple desperation, the only thought left in the darkness.

Suddenly, amidst the eye-searing pain, Yuder 'saw' something.

A thin energy extending from his body.

That fragile and incomprehensible something, like a thread, was pointing somewhere. Instinctively, he realized that Kishiar was at the other end, even though no one had explained it to him.

Without a second thought, Yuder kicked the ground and ran.

And roughly grabbed the hand of the man who was twinkling alone like a light in the darkness.

"Commander...!"

Kishiar turned his head, as if he had been searching for something in the dark basement, breathing heavily. He could see that Kishiar's face had been altered with magic, but it did not feel strange. The quickly approaching hand had touched Yuder's cheek to confirm his presence before he could refuse.

The wind, following the turbulent emotions, swirled objects into a vortex, blocking the Southern merchant's path, and toppled a shelf.

"The exit is this way. Please go ahead!"

"Why is your body so hot? Didn't they say you shouldn't exert yourself too much?"

"I'm fine. The priority now is to secure the safety of the Commander and Zuckerman..."

At that moment, another attack came. Although he sensed it and guessed the direction, the attack was merely rough and blind, perhaps because controlling it was not easy due to the interfering wind. As Yuder was about to turn his body to exert force, Kishiar embraced him and reached out like lightning. A massive invisible power erupted from his hand, and the incoming attack was repelled as if it had hit a wall. Another shelf crashed loudly.

"...I have no intention of going ahead."

A small whisper, mixed with the wind, flowed into Yuder's ears.

"If we go, we go together."

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