* * *

“This is ridiculous.”

It was absurd to meet a familiar face out of nowhere at a restaurant he visited to get a meal, but to think that the disciple whom he hadn’t seen in a long time was whimpering without any mana. Mamil frowned fiercely at Cadel as he stirred the stew with the corner of his mouth raised awkwardly.

“When I heard about the magician in the mercenary corps who killed the demon that threatened the White Kingdom, I assumed it was you. But what, with the Soul Explosion?”

“Haha……. It was a crisis of a lifetime, Mr. Mamil.”

“The crisis is ongoing. What were you doing without stopping this stupid disciple of mine?”

Lumen, who had been quietly scarfing down his cold potato stew, was startled by the sudden incrimination.

“Pardon? That’s…….”

A look of help reached him, but Cadel dismissed it with a quick shake of his head. If only he could get away from Mamil’s nagging.

“If your best friend is making a stupid choice that’s going to cost them their life, it’s your duty to stop them. Isn’t that right, huh?”

“……Yes, it’s my fault.”

Cadel kicked Lumen’s long legs under the table, and the impact spilled half the stew in his mouth, but Cadel didn’t bat an eye and smiled at Mamil.

“At least the mana is coming back. That’s good, right?”

“You got lucky.”

“Exactly, so I’m going to ride this wave of good fortune and go to the ‘Desert of Blood’.”

“Desert of Blood? I guess suicide attempts have become a hobby.”

Mamil scowled at him and said arrogantly. It was an expected reaction, but it was still funny to hear that from the very person who had just sent him to the Forest of Enchantment over a single herb.

“It’s not just out of curiosity, there’s a reason I must go, and I can’t tell you the details…… Just know that there’s something as great as the ‘Amplification Grass’. I’m not going for nothing.”

“I hope it’s worth more than death.”

“You sound ominous. ……Speaking of which, Mr. Mamil.”

With a chuckle, Cadel picked up his pack from the floor. His eyes twinkled cutely as he diligently arranged the magic books and herbs on the table.

“I have no bone powder, but I do have a lot of precious herbs. What can I do with them, Master?”

It was a stroke of luck to find Mamil in this barren land. He would use this good fortune as a straw to siphon Mamil’s knowledge. The jester of Cadel, who hid his devious intentions, stood tall.

* * *

The nights in Arhem were much cooler than the days. Without thinking, Cadel, clad in his thinnest clothes, was forced to deal with the headwind.

‘Aish, how come the temperature drastically changes like this? I’m going to catch a cold. Why is the inn so far away?’

Cadel rubbed his chilled arms and glanced to the side, and Lumen met his gaze as if waiting for him. He didn’t look away and soon heard a muffled voice.

“Mystic Principality has a big daily temperature difference. If you’re going to be out and about, you might want to pack a light coat.”

With that, Lumen removed his coat and draped it over Cadel’s shoulders. The smell of mint and warmth washed over him.

Cadel pulled the coat around him and muttered a small thank you. Without the coat, Lumen was dressed in a thin shirt, but unlike the shivering Cadel, he didn’t seem all that cold.

There was a strange wistfulness in the gaze that was quickly withdrawn. Cadel felt his body heat shift, felt his own pace slow, and felt Lumen’s familiar care, still pacing beside him.

That was when he bit his lip.

“I don’t understand.”

Cadel stopped dead in his tracks and looked up, still unable to fathom Lumen’s expression as he looked back a few steps ahead.

“I know it’s ridiculous that I’m saying this. I worked you to the bone, didn’t ask you to join, and just kind of dragged out the relationship. However…… It hasn’t been bad so far.”

Soon enough, the mercenary corps would be appointed as a knight order, their achievements would be known far and wide, and their reputation would be unrivaled. Then Cadel would be able to bring back Lumen, the one who had been suffering alongside him for so long. Lumen would be able to stop the insecurity and the gruesome relationship and fight alongside him as true allies.

Cadel couldn’t believe he had to let Lumen go because he couldn’t take that step again.

“……It’s my personal decision. Leader didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t worry about it.”

“You can’t even tell me why you’re leaving?”

If Lumen said he had lost his trust, Cadel would do his best to show it. If he wanted to go elsewhere, Cadel would delay the story process and take Lumen with him. If he said he was disappointed that Cadel didn’t offer him a position in the end, Cadel would beg him to hang in there with the promise of the future.

Despite everything, Lumen was his second comrade. A valuable subordinate. He didn’t want to lose him like this.

However.

“You don’t need to know. It won’t change anything.”

Lumen didn’t open up until the end.

Cadel was devastated. He had believed that he was a valued comrade, too, but he wondered if he had been mistaken.

Lumen’s dry eyes turned back to the front, away from Cadel, who stood there. And without another word, without another step back, he walked away, leaving Cadel alone.

“…….”

Cadel clutched the collar of the coat tightly as he chased Lumen’s receding shadow. The warmth of his body felt unusually fleeting.

* * *

It took exactly 10 days for Cadel’s mana to return, and that was only because Mamil helped him inject it.

Mamil also deciphered both of his magic books, but unfortunately only one of them worked.

「Intermediate Magic Book (Fire) has been deciphered!」

「Intermediate Magic Book (Darkness) has been deciphered!」

「Attribute Points (Fire) increased by 10.」

Fire and Darkness attributes. Darkness wasn’t activated because it wasn’t unlocked in advance, and Cadel had no intention of unlocking it in the future. Unfortunately, he decided to settle for enhancing his fire magic.

And since there was no [Demon Bone Powder] this time, Mamil didn’t go into as much detail as he did last time. He merely suggested a few spells to utilize Cadel’s current elemental powers.

‘I can’t help it, because he’s an exchanger. To be honest, just passing on the skill is a great harvest.’

Normally, this great man would have given as much knowledge as he received and then disappeared, but he seemed to recognize Cadel as a disciple in his own way, so there was no need to feel unfortunate.

As he slowly regained his strength, Cadel diligently gathered information about the ‘Desert of Blood’ and the supplies he would need for the journey.

In Arhem, the ‘Desert of Blood’ meant ‘death’ itself. It was not a place to wander into, even out of curiosity.

‘It seems to have a similar aspect to the Forest of Enchantment. Unlike the forest where only rumors abounded, there are real dangers lurking?’

The desert’s days were punctuated by unrelenting sandstorms that made it impossible to see an inch ahead, and the nights were said to have a vast array of monsters, as vast as the sands themselves, prowling for prey. That this was not an exaggeration was evidenced by the presence of sentries who guard the desert’s borders at night.

At one time, the Principality would periodically send out expeditions to explore the desert, but not a single expedition ever returned, and the Principality had naturally given up on investigating the desert. Entering such a place requires a stealthy approach, avoiding the night when the guards were out in force.

‘As soon as we get to the desert, we’ll see a sandstorm.’

Avoid the night and they were left with the day. Horrible, but there was no other way. The temple that would break Lydon’s seal existed within the ‘Desert of Blood’, a fact that both Cadel the transmigrator and Lydon the fairy were certain of.

‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could drop in front of the temple on our own, like in the game?’

In Hero of Knights, the Mystic Principality was one of those sub-regions that had no connection to the main story. Its only distinguishing feature was the existence of stages that broke the pesky ‘seals’ placed on S-grade fairies.

This meant players with an S-grade Fairy Clan Knight had to clear the Mystic Principality stage.

‘I didn’t think I’d ever go as far as I did here.’

Since he had already recruited Lydon, he had no choice.

Sighing heavily, Cadel squeezed the opening of his overstuffed bag shut. Lydon, watching him from behind, giggled as he shoved another candy into his mouth. Cadel’s mana had returned, and Lydon had changed back into the form of a human child.

“Can you finally break this seal? I can’t stand the anticipation.”

“You need to get your act together. With the mindset that there’s no other chance if it’s not this time, okay?”

“Of course, there will be no other chance. If we don’t find the temple, everyone will wither and die in the desert! Ahaha!”

He also made the bloody sound enjoyable. Cadel lifted the heavy luggage bag while letting go of Lydon, who did not feel the slightest sense of crisis.

“Stop unwrapping the candy and get up. Let’s head to the desert.”