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was a time of hardship.

The north wind whipped through the fog, mercilessly hammering the blood-stained snow-capped mountains.

The land, trampled by the cursed monster’s army.

Only after the storm of steel had subsided did peace finally come to the place where the living and the dead intertwined.

The darkest hour had passed.

As the fog began to lift.

The crimson dawn rising from the east illuminated the ruined ruins.

It gently wrapped the scars of war.

It was the end of a long battle that felt like a midsummer night’s dream.

—

**Episode 12 – The Mightiest Magician in History**

—

It was morning.

Not a cloud was in the sky, and the typically overcast northern sky had cast the world in a gloomy hue.

A rare clear northern sky, one you might see only once every few years. The warm sunlight tickled my skin like a whispering child’s voice.

The snow-capped mountains, blanketed by the snowfall of the night, were a breathtaking sight.

Seeing the immaculate snow mountain and the perfectly clear sky felt like sitting in a famous art museum and gazing at a masterpiece.

As I stepped into the tent and gazed at the dawn that tickled my face, I muttered to myself.

“…It’s morning.”

It was too monotonous a tone to be critiquing such a rare view.

Yet just yesterday, I thought I’d never see the rising sun again. Wouldn’t even that mundane observation hold meaning?

Sitting on a makeshift bed, lost in such thoughts, a snowy white hand suddenly interrupted as it pulled back the tent.

“…Ah.”

Lucia entered, her blue eyes wide with surprise for a moment.

She greeted me with a gentle smile and said, “You’ve woken up. When did you get up?”

“Just now.”

It was the start of a new morning.

—

The long night had passed, and morning had come.

Though it was barely a day, much had happened. No, it’d be better to call it an incident rather than just an event.

I sat cozy with the people gathered since early morning, chatting away.

“I thought I was going to die yesterday…”

“But you didn’t die, did you?”

“That’s true….”

The monster that attacked the rift and the armored unit’s retreat. With just about a dozen people, we raided the monster, while the Imperial Army fought fiercely against the corpse spiders attacking the defenses from all sides.

Had the cult and Magic Tower’s advance team, or the Knights Order and Magic Battalion, not arrived on time, the rift might have turned into a playground for the corpse spiders by now.

Fortunately, the one who dealt with this unfortunate scenario was present here.

“…Sigh.”

Francesca crossed her legs and let out a light sigh.

“I appreciate everyone coming, but wouldn’t it have been better if you came a bit earlier? Thinking about all the hours we struggled just to kill one spider….”

“Well, it’s enough that you came. By the way, where’s the Imperial Army magician?”

“No idea. Maybe they got lost….”

The Knights Order and Magic Battalion, who received the request for assistance, had rushed straight to the area with the rift.

And the advance team, consisting of Pereyti and Martinez, even led their forces to help catch the giant spider.

Particularly, Pereyti, based on his outstanding skills, broke the creature’s shell, allowing Camila’s attack to land properly.

Right after the giant spider’s neck was severed, the main forces of the cult and Magic Tower successfully counterattacked the corpse spiders that were attacking the defenses from all sides, so this battle was undoubtedly a perfect defeat for the monster.

“Toward the end, that spider almost caused us to die, but overall, things went well. Are you two alright?”

Francesca nodded to confirm.

“Glad to hear that.”

I confirmed that neither Camila nor Francesca was injured, and thankfully, neither Pereyti nor Martinez nor anyone else was harmed, which was a relief.

If not for her following words.

“What do you mean ‘thank goodness’?”

My body froze at the voice that came from right beside me.

As I barely managed to turn my creaking head, I found Lucia staring at me with a cold expression while unwrapping bloody bandages.

“Everyone else is fine, but look at you, all hurt.”

“Uh, um, that’s….”

“Forget it. Just don’t talk.”

Lucia untied the bloody bandages and wrapped new ones around my arm.

Then, her hands trembled intensely as she tightly secured the bandage.

“Ow.”

“Stop acting like it hurts.”

“No, isn’t that too tight?”

“It’s just right. Are you doubting my skills right now?”

“Not at all….”

“Then, just stay quiet.”

Lucia’s tone left no room for counter-arguments as she cut me off.

The wound on my arm came from shoving a gun into the mouth of a corpse spider that had lunged at me, just as it was about to die, and its legs clawed me.

Fortunately, since it was a small one, it didn’t reach my face, but my arm, which held the gun, was an exception.

Since it wasn’t a severe wound and many casualties occurred, I had only wrapped it with bandages and postponed treatment, but it seemed Lucia intended to treat it today.

Or maybe she planned to tighten the bandaging until my wrist broke and obliterate my arm altogether.

Each time her rough hands pulled the bandages, my forearm jerked, and my palm trembled, but Lucia showed no concern.

“Um… Saint. You could just heal it with divine magic, so why are you wrapping bandages?”

“…….”

Suddenly, Lucia’s hands stopped tying the bandages.

She stared at me in silence for a moment before pulling the bandages tightly, making me shut up.

—

Many overlook the fact that just because a battle has ended doesn’t mean everything is concluded.

You have to tend to the casualties, reorganize the troops, withdraw the newly formed units to the rear, and fill the empty spots with the remaining intact forces—it’s a complicated and quite annoying procedure that must be completed for the orchestration to properly conclude.

The Imperial Army, which defended the rift, was tidying up their units.

“Send the casualties to the priests!”

“Magicians, follow me! By the way, when is the heavy equipment to clear the debris coming?”

“Coming! Coming!”

The Imperial Army toiled through the night in restructuring.

They classified the lightly and severely injured and siphoned off troops from the mostly intact battalion to fill in for the severely damaged ones.

Due to the bombardment from the division and legion artillery, which had completely reshaped the terrain, the Imperial Army’s tasks became incomprehensibly complicated. Even attempting to descend the mountain range meant one road was completely blocked, and fixing that would take quite some time.

Additionally, the Imperial Army utilized magicians to clear the rubble of the collapsed defenses and buildings.

As the magicians turned the earth to clear away the debris, the executives retrieved usable materials, and before anyone could snatch the classified materials and secret documents they couldn’t destroy while retreating yesterday, they promptly incinerated them.

I watched the smoke rising from various places in the unit.

“What a waste.”

Considering the significant role it played in defending the rift, there must have been quite valuable documents here. Confidential information sought after by Abas, Patalia, the Cult, La Tuang, Lushan Federal Kingdom, and even far-off eastern nations.

And now those items were turning into ash inside a drum barrel, which was absolutely heart-wrenching.

Why hadn’t I thought to steal those yesterday? Regret washed over me, but it was already too late.

I turned my gaze away from the rising smoke and licked my lips.

“Hey! Move aside!”

A sharp voice pierced my eardrums.

Looking up, I saw a golem striding forth as if it was about to crash into me.

“This is a path for golems! It’s dangerous, so please use a different route!”

The magician riding on the golem shouted that, rushing past. The cape with the sorcery school’s emblem fluttered in the rough wind like a banner.

It was a magician from the Magic Battalion of the Magic Tower.

The ones who came were the Knights Order and the Magic Battalion. The advance unit arrived first, and by the time the Giant Spider died, the main forces from both sides had shown up.

I cast a glance at the Combat Magicians of the Magic Tower passing by with quick strides.

Just then, I spotted someone familiar among the group.

“Who might this be? Sir Martinez, is it not?”

“Who… Ah, it’s Colonel!”

Juan Pablo Martinez, head of the Magic Tower Secretariat dispatch team.

Since he was the gentleman who fought alongside me against the Giant Spider yesterday, I could approach him without much formality.

“What brings you here? You seem quite busy since morning.”

“I’m on my way to hunt down the remnants.”

“Remnants, you say?”

“I’m talking about the Corpse Spiders that fled yesterday.”

“Ah, the Corpse Spiders…”

Martinez, leading the Combat Magicians of the Magic Battalion, was out to exterminate the Corpse Spiders.

After the Giant Spider, whether it was a Queen or a General, fell almost immediately after attacking the Corpse Spiders, the swarm scattered in all directions, fleeing like cockroaches hiding in the crevices of furniture to escape the light.

Those fleeing Corpse Spiders spread across the mountains surrounding the Rift.

Normally, it would be the Imperial Army and the divisions stationed below the mountains to tackle them, but…

“We’re short on hands. It’s not easy to call for help from the Empire.”

“Ah…”

Those gentlemen had been dead for quite some time now.

I turned my gaze toward the open area in the distance. Dozens of people lay on the empty training ground, covered with black cloth.

Although there were armored units, the majority of the forces stationed at the Rift were infantry. It’s easier to send a company of foot soldiers than to get a single tank up on the steep mountain.

I expected it, but the Imperial Army suffered heavy losses. If you include the bodies that were not collected, several hundred might have been killed.

“It seems the battle was more intense than imagined.”

“It would seem so. When is the Imperial Army coming to assist?”

“I heard they plan to send an advance unit from below the mountains today. Artillery support is also scheduled.”

The Magic Battalion had decided to exterminate the monsters scattered across the mountains in place of the Imperial Army. According to Martinez, they would receive support from the nearby Imperial Army division.

Of course, the Knights Order would not be an exception either. The more fighters, the better.

However,

“I noticed when I checked yesterday that there are Inquisition Officers mixed in with the main force of the Knights Order.”

“Inquisition Officers? You mean there are Inquisition Officers here?”

“Indeed, Colonel.”

Among the Knights Order of the cult that arrived at the Rift, there were not only Knights but also Inquisition Officers.

And the Inquisition Officers were one of the races that Magicians found most uncomfortable.

“I wonder why those folks came along.”

“It’s probably for the safety of Saint Lucia. Being a Saint, they would accompany her for protection, I imagine.”

When Lucia became a Saint and visited Abas, Inquisition Officers followed. To be precise, they coordinated with the Abas Information Agency beforehand to ensure their names were on the guest list.

It’s not unusual for information officers to accompany designated VIPs on international tours, so it didn’t concern me much. But it seemed the Magicians of the Magic Tower, including Martinez, were very uncomfortable with the presence of the Inquisition Officers nearby. They subtly revealed their displeasure.

After all, could Magicians and Inquisition Officers grace each other with friendly conversations? The cult must have tormented them quite a bit.

Of course, that wasn’t my business.

In any case, I felt fortunate to have gathered good information. I reassured Martinez to avoid unnecessary friction.

“There’s no need to worry too much.”

“I’ve wasted enough time. I’ll be heading off now. Please send my regards to the Administrator.”

“Take care.”

After exchanging brief formalities, Martinez disappeared into the forest, leading the Combat Magicians.

I walked in the direction of the unit, mentally noting everything I could see. It wasn’t for any business reasons; it was just a habit, sort of like a professional disease.

A monster ambush at a military base has occurred. What’s more, that base is the one defending the Rift, a national key facility.

This alone is strange enough, but now the Imperial Army, the Knights Order, and the Magic Battalion are gathered in one place. What kind of chaos would ensue when water and oil—people who absolutely do not mix—come together?

I didn’t know yet, but it surely wouldn’t remain quiet.

When three people synchronize, a tiger that didn’t exist jumps out, and when five people huddle together, one of them will inevitably do something silly.

“Senior Lyudmila?”

“Yes.”

“I’m really sorry to bother you in the midst of all this, but could you send a message to the Military Government Headquarters?”

“Of course, just tell me what to pass along.”

I utilized the communication network of the Imperial Army to notify the Military Government Headquarters that Camila, Lucia, and Francesca would be leaving the Rift as soon as they finished their tasks.

No matter how much of the Imperial Army they were, what authority did they have to stop my companions? Especially a Saint, an Alchemist, and a Hero. The Military Government Headquarters responded saying to proceed as we pleased. After all, the vehicle we arrived in was wrecked and could not move anyway.

With a calm mind, I wandered around, keenly observing what was unfolding.

But as is often the case with world affairs…

Events arrived much faster than I anticipated.

*

It was deep night.

The warm sun had disappeared, and darkness had settled in. I was slowly organizing the content to include in the report inside a makeshift tent arranged in place of the collapsed lodging.

Someone came to my lodging just as I was finishing the draft.

“Do you have a moment?”

“Who… Ah, Saint Lucia!”

It was Lucia.

Dressed in her usual white attire, she held a lantern in one hand and had come to the tent. Seeing the snow piling on her cloak, it seemed she had been outside for a while.

Perhaps since it was night, the wind felt colder than expected, so I quickly ushered her inside.

“Please come in.”

“Yes.”

Lucia didn’t add any further comments. Under her usual personality, it would have been normal for her to embellish her words a bit.

Something felt off.

I furrowed my brow in confusion and broke the silence.

“Would you like some tea?”

“No, thank you.”

Lucia flatly refused. She didn’t even brush off the snow piled on her shoulders and continued.

“I heard from Sir Pereyti yesterday. Something about the Imperial Army dispatching Magicians.”

The conversation began abruptly. I nodded at the random mention of Imperial Army Magicians.

“And if my memory serves me correctly, those people were indeed mentioned in our conversation this morning, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Lucia silently gazed at me.

To be honest, I hadn’t realized it earlier, but there was something dark in her expression.

A chilly breeze slipped through the gap in the tent and swayed the lantern. The flickering light cast shadows across Lucia’s face.

“…Saint?”

“…….”

“…Lucia?”

Lucia, who had maintained her silence, briefly closed her eyes.

As if lost in thought, she slowly lifted her eyelids, staring directly at me.

“…Actually, I just received a report from the Knights Order. While exterminating the monsters and returning, they searched for people, and it seems it might be those Magicians.”

“Is that so? But why are you telling me…?”

“Let’s go outside.”

Lucia opened the flap of the tent.

“I think it’d be better for you to see for yourself.”

 

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