"Come on, come on! You can line up here! Don't push!"

It was the line to enter the capital of the Empire.

A checkpoint had been established to enter the capital.

"That person..."

"Oh, if it's a man with blonde hair, isn't that him?"

There was someone who attracted the attention of the people in the long line.

Ian Astria.

The commander of the Royal Army stood prominently where the gatekeepers were.

With him standing in front of the city gate, the soldiers were also tense and disciplined, and the people entering opened their luggage without complaints.

This was exactly what Ian had intended.

If discipline was lax from the beginning, the outcome would be predictable without even looking.

Luggage checks were not being conducted properly, and if one was a noble, their luggage wouldn't even be opened.

Therefore, it was necessary to properly implement checks from the start to maintain discipline.

Ian stood there quietly, watching people enter.

"The operation is going well, but..."

Ian watched the line while thinking something else.

"I wonder what happened to Rudy."

Ian had not heard from Rudy since meeting him four days ago.

Rudy was unable to use spatial magic just four days ago.

He understood the basic theory but had difficulty implementing it.

Ian had many thoughts upon seeing this.

He wondered if it was too much to ask to use spatial magic within a week.

Even for Ian, it had taken more than a month to learn properly.

Nevertheless, there was no time to relax.

The head wizard had said that there wasn't much time left.

The leeway made for Rudy was a week, considering the circumstances.

"If Rudy can't handle spatial magic, do we need to prepare another method?"

The operation had already begun.

Blocking the passage to the capital was just the beginning, and the subsequent actions were already underway.

Rudy's help was essential to properly carry out the rest of the operations.

If Rudy couldn't provide proper assistance, the strategy would need to be slightly adjusted.

"Did I gamble too much?"

Pushing aside his father.

Ian had many doubts about this action itself.

To Ian, his father was the strongest and most magnificent.

Father, always dignified as a Duke of the Empire.

Yet, he had taken a stand against him because he judged that his father was no longer the same.

The spark inside his father's eyes had already disappeared.

His eyes were filled only with desire.

Ian didn't necessarily think that desire was bad.

Desire makes people grow and reach higher places.

However, his father had gone off track somewhere.

No matter how much he respected and followed him, the actions his father intended to take had to be stopped.

"Commander."

At that moment, a woman approached Ian's side.

A woman wearing a red uniform.

The woman was Astina.

"Now, I'll take over from here. Why don't you go and have a meal? We've prepared food in the barracks."

"…Understood. Thank you."

"Also, there's a message from Rie. She says things are going well."

"Things, huh…"

Ian's expression was subtle.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's about Rudy Astria. The issue is with him."

Then Astina spoke calmly.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem."

"…How do you know?"

"I know him well. I've had many of the same concerns as you, Commander. But, I often realize those worries are needless and feel foolish afterward. So, we just need to do what we have to do."

Ian furrowed his brow at Astina's words.

"Hmm… That's excessive trust."

"Because he has never betrayed such trust."

"Alright, I understand. I'll be going back."

Ian moved on.

Although Astina had such faith, Ian intended to prepare for the possibility of Rudy's failure.

With that, he went to the barracks for a meal.

"Good work!"

"Yes."

Ian passed the soldier guarding the front of the barracks and entered.

Inside, a meal was prepared, and there was a letter on top of it.

Ian picked up the letter puzzledly.

"…Hmm?"

Ian looked at the letter and then went outside.

"Is there a problem?"

"Did anyone come in?"

"Only the maids who prepared the meal, no one else. Is there something wrong?"

"…No."

Ian went back inside the barracks and stared intently at the letter.

"What's this?"

Ian immediately opened the letter.

The letter contained precisely one sentence.

[This is Rudy Astria. Enjoy your meal.]

"This is troublesome."

Perrian stroked his chin as he looked out the window.

Outside the window, the street was quieter than usual.

"Blocking the rebels' entry… The rebel scoundrels are making things difficult."

Perrian was bringing various materials into the capital.

Magic activated by mana stones created through summoning magic.

The documents he had been dealing with at the mansion were related to that.

All the documents were related to creating magic.

They were sent by necromancers and wizards outside the capital.

"Almost finished. Installing the magic shouldn't be a problem, but bringing in the magical tools will be."

Right now, in front of the capital, soldiers were not only checking luggage, but Ian and Astina were also there.

Both were exceptional wizards.

When bringing in magical tools, they would surely sense something was off.

Although they couldn't always be there as the commander and deputy commander of the Royal Army, caution was still needed.

"Should I ask Ian to do it?"

But that was problematic because there were too many eyes around Ian.

Now Ian had become too prominent a figure to be used carelessly.

Then, there was only one conclusion.

"I must go there myself."

Perrian gathered mana.

He hadn't used spatial magic much recently, so his skills had become a bit rusty.

Still, it wasn't to the point where he couldn't use it.

"Teleport."

As Perrian uttered the activation word, his view changed.

He arrived in a small room.

Perrian opened the door of the room and stepped out.

"…Perrian?"

As he came out of the room, he saw about a dozen wizards.

The place Perrian had arrived at was a workshop where wizards gathered.

A small workshop outside the capital.

It looked ordinary from the outside, but this place was a workshop where research was conducted using mana stones provided by Perrian.

"Is everything proceeding normally?"

As he asked, a person who looked like a high-ranking wizard ran over from a distance.

"Yes! Perrian, we are proceeding as ordered."

"How far has it progressed?"

"It's almost at the finishing stage. But regarding entering and exiting the capital…"

"I won't take any more reports on that. Since it's in the final stage, you can handle it yourselves."

"We can manage to a certain extent, but for things like the final magic circle…"

"I'll take care of that myself. Just do what you can."

"Understood."

Perrian looked around.

"How long do you think it will take?"

"A week… No, if we hurry, it might be possible within four days."

"Good, I'll trust and leave it to you."

Perrian was about to leave after receiving the report.

That's when the high-ranking wizard grabbed him.

"Perrian. There's something strange."

"Strange?"

"The ones providing the mana stones have been acting oddly lately."

"…Mana stones?"

Perrian narrowed his brows.

If it was about those supplying mana stones, he meant the necromancers.

Perrian hadn't noticed anything unusual in the reports the necromancers submitted to him.

After all, their reports were merely about how many people they had kidnapped and how many mana stones they had produced.

"The supply of mana stones is decreasing. And yesterday, we didn't receive any mana stones at all."

"Mana stones? I was told in the report that they were supplied?"

"No, we didn't receive any at all. We don't even know where they are, so we were just waiting."

"…What are they doing? Did they plan an escape because I'm not there?"

Perrian became annoyed.

"I'll take care of that part myself. For now, just do the tasks assigned to you."

"Understood."

The necromancers were acting strange...

'Thinking of joining the rebels?'

The only place that would take in necromancers was the rebels.

Only a family like the Astria could hide necromancers, as other families wouldn't even attempt to contact them.

'I'll have to check.'

"This is the final document. It's not much different, but there are some modifications, so it would be helpful if you read it."

"Alright."

Perrian took the documents handed over by the high-ranking wizard and manipulated mana.

"Teleport."

And then, Perrian disappeared.

"Now, did everyone hear that? We have four days left. Can we complete it by then?"

"Understood…"

The surrounding wizards spoke in a lifeless voice.

They had all been pulling all-nighters, enduring for over two weeks.

They were pushing forward with the work as fast as possible, under Perrian's orders.

'Ugh… My eyes hurt…'

'It feels like I can't even produce mana properly anymore…'

While the wizards were internally voicing their complaints.

Thud─

The sound of footsteps echoed.

That room was Perrian's private room.

It was the room Perrian used to come here through spatial magic.

"…Did you forget something?"

The high-ranking wizard, who had been responding to Perrian, tilted his head and looked towards the room.

Then.

Boom!

A huge explosion occurred near the room.

Most of the wizards couldn't react to the explosion and were swept away by it, falling to the ground.

However, the high-ranking wizard barely managed to use magic to block the explosion.

"What… What is this?"

The high-ranking wizard looked bewildered.

Then, a voice was heard.

"Everyone, stop moving."

It was a voice they hadn't heard before.

"If you move even slightly, whether it's your mana or your body, know that you will die."

As the smoke from the explosion cleared, the figure of a man appeared.

He had the same hair color as Perrian but looked much younger.

He wore gloves with mana stones embedded in them and was accompanied by a silver-colored wolf.

It was Rudy Astria.