"Sage! Sage!"

At the Bright Palace, where the Crown Prince resides.

A young man, sprinting through the tranquil courtyard calling for the sage, was suddenly grabbed by the nape of his neck by another individual.

"What's going on, Langbarton? Have you forgotten where you are?"

"Let go, Nezo. I must see him immediately!"

"The sage is currently in a meeting with the Crown Prince. He won't be available for at least another half day. No point in rushing."

"What? Damn it..."

Hearing this, the young man, Langbarton, finally stopped in his tracks, his expression twisted in frustration. Nezo sighed and softly spoke.

"What's so urgent that you're in such a rush? Tell me first."

"Well..."

Langbarton hesitated momentarily, but then seemed to make up his mind.

"You heard about the signs of intrusion at our quarters, right?"

"Yes, what about it? Did you manage to catch the culprits?"

A few days ago, they had received a belated report of an unauthorized intrusion at the place they had been staying. Due to the tenants moving into the Crown Prince's palace and losing contact, the news had reached them quite late through someone from Diarca’s side, who was officially listed as the owner.

The bold criminals, who had intruded in broad daylight, remained at large, and they suspected that Nahan was responsible.

How fortunate it was that the sage's current stay at the Crown Prince's palace was a well-kept secret from the other members of the Star of Nagran. Those who followed the sage were covertly working to locate the Nahan miscreants first.

"That's not it... what's important is something else."

"What could be more important than that?"

"I've retrieved a letter delivered there from our southern base. It arrived yesterday, and the contents are concerning. It seems like Nahan might have stolen a letter they had previously sent from there!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Nezo widened his eyes.

"Look at this. It was written by Sera."

Langbarton pulled out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Nezo, who quickly adjusted his glasses and began to read.

Nezo's face twisted with a blend of anger and disbelief as he skimmed through the contents.

"What in the world..."

The letter was filled with anxieties, questioning why their previous communication had been left unanswered for so long.

The atmosphere in the southern base had become increasingly tense due to the Awakeners who followed Nahan. The letter detailed the daily conflicts and how many had either wished to leave or had already left the base.

It wasn't just the southern base; the central base, although the western one was gone, was also experiencing a high rate of defections. They were even requesting assistance from the south.

'So many defectors all of a sudden. Has Nahan finally revealed his dark intentions and begun instigating this?'

That was unlikely. People who had grown tired of hiding had simply been drawn in by the recruitment of the Cavalry, but to the overly cautious eyes of Nezo and Langbarton, everything seemed to be because of that.

However, the most baffling part of the letter read, 'Given the circumstances, if the delay continues, we might have to accept the offer made by Southern merchants to protect our southern base.' Nezo was at a loss for words.

"Southern merchants? Who the hell are these people?"

"I'm not sure either. After seeing the mention of a previous letter, I only then realized that there must have been a message we never received," said Langbarton, a hint of concern tingeing his voice.

"So the intruders rummaging through our quarters didn't just take petty items; they also intercepted our correspondence," Nezo mused, looking up from the letter he had been inspecting.

"Exactly. That's why we need to reply immediately. We'll have to change the route for our letters and secure our base as well."

Langbarton was visibly anxious. Nezo, who had been coldly scrutinizing the letter, finally spoke. "Then let's draft a letter and send it ourselves."

"Um? But..."

"You know as well as I do how busy the sage is right now. Didn't you hear that the monstrous assistant of the Cavalry Commander went west just yesterday?"

"Yes, I heard he ferreted out all the initial contacts that Baron Renbow had inserted in the west like a ghost," Langbarton replied, his face tinged with a shiver.

"Given that the sage couldn't even get a proper night's sleep last night while trying to reach out to them, and today he's worn out from attending to the emotional needs of the overburdened Crown Prince, he won't have time for such trivial matters."

"That's... true."

"We can tell him tonight after we've sent it. He'll understand the importance."

Grinding his teeth, Nezo continued, "The silver lining is that the sage has decided to send the people he'll plant in the Cavalry to the south. Through them, our communication will be faster. We can help Duke Diarca and take care of our affairs simultaneously."

"Ah, Nezo, you're always so smart!" Langbarton's face brightened considerably.

However, just then, Nezo covered Langbarton's mouth and looked around. "Wait. Did you hear that noise just now?"

"No, what noise? I didn't hear anything."

Still uneasy, Nezo cautiously scanned the surroundings before returning. "We shouldn't talk about such dangerous matters outside. Let's discuss it inside next time."

"People around here already shun us. They don't pay attention to what we're saying."

"Even so, we need to be cautious."

After the two had vanished, muffling their footsteps, a figure emerged from the shadowy corner that Nezo hadn't fully checked.

"So, those conmen are up to something, huh?" The figure, none other than Kiolle Da Diarca, grimaced as though he had just touched something filthy.

'Those bastards, besides those six, they have more lackeys elsewhere? And they're helping my father do what? Planting people in the Cavalry? Father entrusts those plans to those guys? What on earth is he thinking?’

Full of questions and indignation, Kiolle remembered something Yuder Aile had told him not long ago. The leader of the healers could potentially be a mental manipulator, so never let your guard down. And watch Duke Diarca carefully for any change in behavior.

Kiolle had thought those words ridiculous then, but after hearing these healer fellows talking about assisting both his father and the Crown Prince, an ominous feeling settled in.

"I'm worried about my father... though the Cavalry is not my concern."

However, the moment that thought crossed his mind, the small oath mark he had left on his hand activated, making his eyelids unbearably heavy.

"Ugh...!"

Staggering, Kiolle barely caught himself against the solid wall. His heart pounded, and cold sweat trickled down his face as he realized he'd almost died.

‘Damn, this cursed oath again!’

Lately, Kiolle had nearly mastered the limitations of his oath, avoiding sudden bouts of extreme drowsiness. However, there was one exception—the third clause: "Assist Yuder Aile to the best of your abilities."

‘Damn it all! What's the standard for helping that black-haired Cavalryman that tortures me like this! Why does the power of the third clause keep getting stronger every day?’

His line of thought was both correct and incorrect. The oath's conditions depended on how helpful Kiolle himself believed he was to Yuder.

Unaware that the more he focused on Yuder and the Cavalry, even dwelling on trivial information, the stronger the power of the third condition became, Kiolle kicked the wall in frustration again today.

‘Yeah, I get it, okay? You demon!’

At that moment, the "demon" in question was calmly exchanging final farewells with his colleagues in the west, completely oblivious to being cursed.

"What? Yuder's leaving already?"

"That's too soon. The second round of tests isn't even finished yet. Stay a little longer. You look tired. Isn't the Commander still resting?"

Despite the comments about looking tired, Yuder didn't bat an eye.

"I was supposed to leave yesterday, but I ended up staying an extra day. I've seen everyone I needed to see; the rest can choose for themselves."

"Ahh…"

Though his comrades like Emun showed signs of regret, they didn't try to keep him back. They understood how busy the Commander and his assistant must be.

"Make sure you follow the new training schedule I gave you. I'll check on your progress the next time we meet."

"Yes, who would dare not to follow it? You personally designed every bit of it for the Cavalry."

As soon as the conversation shifted to training, his comrades looked somewhat pained, but ultimately replied in a playful manner. Their faces looked better than when they were in the capital.

"But Yuder, can I ask one last thing? You received a blessing from the Awakener card reader during yesterday's test observation, right? What happened with that? Was it activated?"

"Ah! I was so curious I couldn't sleep!"

"Me too!"

Amid the twinkling eyes, Yuder quietly opened his mouth.

"I don't know yet."

"What?"

"I said, I don't know."

"How can you not know? It must have activated already, right?"

"You can't really be sure. In the first round, I had a similar blessing. I saw a stone that another participant accidentally dropped bounce off above my head."

Emun interjected.

"Then what? Could it activate after a day?"

"Just because the blessings received so far have mostly shown effects within a day doesn't mean this one will too. The name of the blessing is just that—it saves you from danger once."

In his previous life, blessings from Gloe, who had far superior abilities, activated regardless of time. Though her current abilities were still not mature enough to guarantee activation within a day, it might not be the case always.

Everyone showed disappointed faces at Yuder's answer.

"Darn it... I was really curious."

"Let us know when it activates!"

"But what about Marty and Robel?"

Yuder shifted the topic by asking a question.

"Ah, you haven't greeted them yet? Marty should be at the prison reconstruction site today. Where Marty is, you'll find Robel. Would you like us to go there together?"

"I'm good."

With a concise reply, Yuder headed straight for the site where Tainu's underground prison used to be. Located right near the Western Branch building, the place still bore strong traces of the destruction wrought by Nahan and his comrades.

Although rebuilding was necessary, the site, which had held criminals, posed challenges for unrestricted access. However, since those who had destroyed the place took it upon themselves to rebuild it, all issues had been resolved.

'I heard as much… but why is there no one here now?'

Lunchtime had already passed, and Yuder entered the vacant construction site and scanned the surroundings. Invoking a minor wind spell to assist his search, he soon heard amplified murmurs coming from somewhere.

“What should we do?... In this situation…”

“…is it…”

Yuder moved in the direction of the voices. Soon, he found a group of people gathered in a corner of the construction site.

Marty and Robel were there too.

"What's going on?"

"Ahh, Sir Yuder, you're here. Well… Two of the people working here suddenly had some issues related to second gender manifestation."

Upon spotting Yuder, Robel scratched his head with a troubled expression and spoke.