The meeting ended after setting only a rough outline.

Given how the Giant of the Snowy Mountain had reshaped human existence for so long, trying to finalize an entire strategy in a single day would have been reckless.

For now, we’d settled on the general approach and left the specifics for later.

As I exited the headquarters, Muyeon followed closely behind.

Her eyes betrayed her expectation—she wanted an answer.

Damn it.

If things kept escalating like this, it could really become a problem.

I considered Pawra’s advice.

Maybe it would work.

But there was no guarantee others would play along.

I let out a long sigh.

Alright.

“Muyeon.”

“Y-yes?”

Her nervous voice and stiff posture made me feel a little guilty, but now wasn’t the time to focus on this issue.

Love could wait until humanity’s survival was no longer on the line.

“We’ll talk about this after the war.”

“…What?”

“Depending on how I respond, your mood could change, right?

If I accept, you might get too excited and make mistakes.

If I refuse, your morale could plummet.”

At the mention of ‘refuse,’ Muyeon’s shoulders visibly trembled.

Goddamn it.

It pained me to see how much weight my words carried for her.

Muyeon wasn’t thoughtless.

She was just easily swayed by her emotions.

Fortunately, she seemed to understand my reasoning, nodding slowly.

“You’re right, Tanton.

I’m sorry… I was too hasty.”

“It’s okay.

I promise I’ll give you an answer once this war is over.”

I rested a hand on her shoulder.

Her face flushed red with embarrassment, but this had to be said.

“So you have to survive.

No matter what.”

“…”

I could see my words had reached her.

Muyeon’s expression hardened into one of determination.

“Yes, I’ll survive—no matter what!”

With that, she hoisted her heavy axe and sprinted off.

Knowing her, she was probably heading straight to training.

“…You didn’t reject her?”

A chilling voice whispered near my ear.

It was Fiore.

“No, wait.

I just explained—”

“And yet you were so firm with me.

How very kind you were to that woman.”

What?!

Hold on!

“Bark!

Human!

You’re a hypocrite, bark!”

“…I like this side of you too, Tanton.”

“Wait, no!”

It was just a tactical decision!

Why was I suddenly being painted as garbage?

Okay, fine—maybe I was acting like garbage, but still!

And Aftha—don’t exploit the chaos to throw in those comments!

Tap. Tap.

At that moment, the soft sound of footsteps reached my ears.

Yes!

A chance to escape the suffocating pressure from the gods!

“Nutrice! Where are you going?”

“…?!”

I deliberately called out her name, and Nutrice froze, turning to glare at me with pure resentment.

Sorry, Nutrice.

Sometimes someone has to take one for the team.

“Hey, you bastard!”

Unfortunately, Nutrice caught on to my plan right away and gritted her teeth.

But it was too late.

The gods’ attention shifted to her as they began descending from my shoulders.

“Now that you mention it, we did have unfinished business with her.”

“Oh?

Wasn’t she the one summoned before us?”

“That’s intriguing.

I’m suddenly interested.”

Fiore and Zumya exuded a faint bloodlust.

Pawra and Belle, on the other hand, grinned with amusement as they followed after them.

Nutrice could only tremble in place, too overwhelmed to move.

Even Aftha sighed and joined the others, though she did leave one parting remark.

“…Go easy on her.”

With the four gods gone, I finally let out a breath of relief.

And so, I managed to survive for one more day.

*****

We returned to the branch and borrowed the multipurpose room.

I had to talk with the divine beings.

Nutrice, sitting between Pawra and Belle, kept drawing my attention with her utterly dejected expression. Still, thanks to her dedication, we were finally able to discuss the main issue at hand.

A moment of silence for her sacrifice.

"So, what exactly are we going to talk about now?"

Fiore let out a sigh, placing her hand on the paper I had spread out.

The paper I placed on the table was a map of the Empire.

I received it during my earlier meeting with the Saint.

I had no idea how he managed to get his hands on something like this, but it was incredibly helpful, so I couldn’t complain.

"We need to work out a strategy before we go to stop the Second Princess."

"Because that Knight Commander told you to?"

"Yeah."

Since I was supposedly well-versed in divine beings, I was tasked with coming up with the strategy.

The truth was, divine beings were the only ones who seemed remotely sane to me, and they were the only ones I was actually on good terms with. But that didn’t mean I was smart enough to pull this off.

It’s like expecting a university math professor to solve high school equations quickly—sometimes it just doesn’t work that way.

"Actually, Pawra and Nutrice’s roles are pretty clear. Nutrice will restore any knights who end up mentally broken due to corruption, and Pawra’s food can heal their bodies and enhance their abilities."

Pawra and Nutrice nodded in agreement.

They were much better suited as healers rather than frontline fighters.

I’d experienced it firsthand.

With their support, I figured none of the knights would end up dying.

"But how should we organize the formation to fight efficiently?"

I nodded at Fiore’s question.

I hadn’t seen their full combat abilities.

The only thing I’d witnessed from Fiore was her half-hearted attempt to attack me back when she wanted me gone.

Zumya hadn’t gone all out against the masked figure either, weighed down by guilt.

Belle? She was always too busy playing around.

And as for Aphta, they couldn’t directly engage in battle.

In other words, if I carelessly deployed them without thinking, it wouldn’t be surprising if half the Knight Order vanished without a trace.

It would be like calling an artillery strike on the wrong coordinates—complete disaster.

Their attacks covered such wide areas that they required extra caution.

"Can we even fight in our true forms? I remember hearing that getting too close to humans could be pretty dangerous for us."

"Nutrice will handle that. She just needs to knead their subconscious a bit, and they’ll recover…"

"Wait! Then I’m the only one being overworked!"

Nutrice, who had been quietly listening, suddenly slammed the table and stood up.

I understood her frustration.

But without this setup, it was guaranteed we’d have another disaster like the Snowy Mountain Expedition.

As if they knew what I was thinking, the divine beings all turned their eyes on Nutrice at once.

Frozen under their stares, Nutrice stiffened.

"So you’re saying you’re not going to do it?"

Fiore, in particular, was putting on immense pressure, and Nutrice shrank back into her seat.

She was a regular visitor to the gardener’s park.

If she pissed off Fiore, she might end up banned from the place entirely.

Damn it. I really felt bad about this.

I made a mental note to get her a gift later.

"Woof! Let’s just smash everything!"

Belle’s absurd suggestion earned her nothing but a gentle smile from me.

She tilted her head, as if confused by my reaction.

"Raydan wants to save them too, Belle."

Aphta patted Belle’s head, and Belle’s mouth fell open, her expression blank.

Hearing talk of battles and war, she’d probably assumed we were just going to fight and win.

"Ugh, this is too hard."

Belle scratched her head, looking miserable.

Exactly.

There were too many factors to consider, and I couldn’t get a clear plan in place.

"Hmm. But did you think about that part?"

"What part?"

I tilted my head in confusion at Fiore’s question, and she sighed.

"Judging by your reaction, I guess you didn’t. Who’s going to approach the princess?"

"Me, for now."

"You’re not seriously planning to go alone, are you?"

"Uh… no?"

Fiore nodded and gestured for me to hand over some paper and a pen.

When I passed them to her, she started scribbling furiously while muttering to herself.

"First of all, the Knight Commander’s out. He has to command the knights. And as much as it sucks, we’re out too. With that many knights relying on us, we can’t leave our positions even for a moment. Your maid can go with you part of the way, but given that her abilities are on par with that crazy bitch, she’ll have to stay behind and support the formation. That leaves us with just these options."

By "crazy bitch," she was probably talking about the Torturer.

Fiore handed me the paper with just three names written on it.

The Hunter.

And Aphta.

…Ironically enough, it was the same group that had started out together in the underground prison.

Fiore handed me the completed paper and spoke.

"Well? Now that it’s decided, what are you waiting for?"

She leaned out the window, her hair fluttering in the wind.

"Go call that Hunter."