* * *

“Good job.”

Mamil’s evaluation of each test was, ‘Your head resembles Jenga and is usable’. He received a perfect score on the written test, but about 20 points were deducted on the practical test. But that was also a point deduction due to Lydon’s help. When Mamil told Cadel that he had passed, Cadel stopped eating and hugged Lydon in joy.

“Then give them to me! The herbs!”

“As promised, I will give you the herbs first, but there is still a price to pay.”

“Give them to me, herbs!”

“……This punk, you don’t even listen to people.”

Perhaps because his disciple’s smiling face was cute, Mamil looked dumbfounded but obediently gave him some herbs. Cadel took the herbs, carefully wrapped them in a cloth, and stored them carefully in his backpack.

‘We can finally wake Lumen up.’

Knowing that he could help Lumen get better, Cadel felt like the anxiety that had been squeezing his chest was completely relieved. Behind Cadel, who was so uplifted, Mamil took out a letter he had brought separately.

“Stop rejoicing and get to work.”

“What is that?”

“A letter from the Emperor.”

“Pardon……?”

What a sudden letter. Also, he sent it through Mamil? As Cadel hesitantly accepted the letter, Mamil immediately spoke.

“It seems that the Emperor plans to have your Knight Order continue to inspect the outer seals. I don’t like it that much, but it’s not going to do you any harm. So, I have decided on your next dispatch destination myself.”

“You made the decision yourself? His Majesty gave you permission?”

“He gave me permission, so I wrote a letter.”

Did Mamil have a special relationship with the Emperor? It was an unexpected connection for Cadel, who did not know the story. Inwardly surprised, he opened the letter, and as Mamil had said, the next dispatch location for the Knight Order was written there.

‘The Yingmar Swamp, huh……. We’re going here first.’

Yingmar Swamp. It was one of the three options given to the player, along with the Inte Snowfields. Cadel didn’t know it would end up like this, but since it was a place he had to go anyway, it wasn’t a big problem.

‘It doesn’t say that we should go right away, but that we go as soon as Lumen’s condition improves. Well, nothing bad.’

Watching Cadel read the letter carefully, Mamil cut to the chase.

“The reason I sent you to that swamp is because there is an elixir there that I would like you to take.”

“Elixir?”

“To be precise, it is a ‘Heart’.”

“Are, are you telling me to take out the heart and eat it? Whose? It’s definitely not a human, right?”

“Neither human nor animal. At the heart of the swamp grows a plant called ‘Vita’, which has a heart. It’s a plant that grows every 10 years. There is only one in the entire swamp, and I happened to pull it out and eat it 10 years ago.”

Mamil, speaking softly, snatched the letter back from Cadel’s hands, and drew a picture of the plant on the back.

“It should have grown back by now. Make sure you eat it. It will be a great help in your growth.”

“A plant’s heart…….”

“You should be thankful that I am handing over something that was monopolized by me. And the monsters around there…… Take care of them yourself.”

Mamil, who has drawn a very simple plant, holds out the drawing to Cadel. Cadel’s expression visibly hardened when he saw it. Lydon, who was looking at the drawing with him, appraised Mamil’s drawing with a big smile.

“Ahaha! Disgusting! Isn’t this a monster, not a plant?”

Despite its hideous appearance, the ‘Heart of Vita’ had the same potency as the ‘Amplification Grass’ Cadel ate in the Forest of Enchantment. He was ready to scoop up the dirt from the ground to grow, so why not eat the heart of a monster plant?

“When we meet again, I’ll teach you some useful spells. Until then, don’t waste your time on unnecessary things.”

“Yes, Teacher!”

Despite the annoyance in his tone, Cadel knew that Mamil cared for him quite a bit. After a quick goodbye, he climbed onto the traveling magic circle Lydon had created.

“You can do it well, right? Don’t forget the tips I gave you.”

“Hmph, darling. There’s no way I could fail such a simple spell..”

When Cadel, who had a history of failing at such simple magic spell, kept silent, Lydon immediately activated the magic circle.

Lydon’s traveling magic brought them to the exact entrance of the Yingchen Village. Cadel waved to the surprised face of a young boy who happened to be passing by, and they hurried to the inn.

“Van! Garuel!”

Opening the door to Lumen’s room, they found Garuel still at his side, and Van shaking out his damp hair as if he had just come from a bath. The two men greeted Cadel and Lydon upon their return, asking about the results of their outing, and Cadel pulled out a stash of herbs.

“We’ve got it, now we just need to feed it to him.”

The realization that Lumen’s recovery was so close seemed to ease the fatigue of the past few days. Cadel handed the herbs to Garuel and watched as he crushed and mashed them into something more palatable.

“Commander, would you like some water?”

“……Huh? No, I’m fine.”

Van stood beside him, sipping the water Cadel had refused. Cadel looked like he’d lost another pound of weight from whatever he’d done to get the herbs. His companion, Lydon, on the other hand, was glowing. No, the sight of him was so revolting.

As Van fiddled with Cadel’s wrist in frustration, Garuel mixed the finely crushed herbs with a little water and poured it into Lumen’s mouth. Careful to keep the liquid out of his airways, a strange tension filled the room.

“…….”

Cadel clenched his sweaty hand into a fist, and Van’s hand closed over it.

‘Please wake up…….’

But despite Cadel’s pleas, Lumen would not open his eyes. His comrades, who had been quietly checking on him for over 10 minutes, couldn’t hide their disappointment.

“Are the herbs wrong? Maybe Mr. Mamil forgot and gave me the wrong one. I’ll go back and check.”

Finally, an impatient Cadel pushed himself to his feet. He had expected Lumen to wake up as soon as the herb was consumed. But the sight of Lumen still unmoving filled him with a violent fear. Maybe it wasn’t the herbs that were wrong, but Lumen. He wanted to find something to do instead.

Garuel glanced at Cadel, who looked like he was about to leave at any moment, and poured the demonic energy over Lumen’s chest. His eyes flickered with interest as he carefully examined Lumen’s condition.

“……I don’t think that’s necessary, Knight Commander.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Those herbs, they work.”

“If they work, then why…….”

Why isn’t he waking up? Seeing the urgent look in Cadel’s eyes as he asked this question, Garuel, who had cut off his demonic energy, opened his mouth.

“I didn’t mention it on purpose, but the energy remaining in Sir Lumen right before he consumed the herb was only a small fragment. If even that had disappeared, he would have become a completely dead person.”

“……And now?”

“Slowly but surely, the energy is spreading. At this rate, he should be able to open his eyes sometime tomorrow at the latest.”

He can open his eyes. At the assurance of the answer he so desperately wanted to hear, Cadel collapsed.

“Commander!”

Van rushed to Cadel’s side. Cadel’s face was pale with exhaustion, but a smile of relief tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Thank God…….”

He wouldn’t have to lose Lumen. He was so happy that he could be back in the arms of his comrades again. Cadel loosely hugged the neck of Van, who was looking at him with worried eyes, and whispered to himself.

“I’m going to take a break now.”

As soon as he heard that the herbs were working and that Lumen was recovering safely. The accumulated fatigue washed over him, sapping his strength. Cadel involuntarily clung to Van. Van quickly scooped him up and carried him to Cadel’s room.

“Is there anything you want to eat, Commander? You’ll be hungry when you wake up. I’ll get you something to eat.”

Van asked as he laid Cadel down on the bed, running his fingers through his hair as he looked exhausted. At that, Cadel closed his eyes with a faint smile.

“I’ll sleep for a bit and wake up. Let’s all eat together then.”

“Let’s do that.”

“You get some rest, too, Van. I’ll come find you when you wake up.”

“……Yes.”

Even with that answer, Van didn’t leave the room. He sat on the side of the bed and watched Cadel’s face as he closed his eyes. He hadn’t seen Cadel for only a few days, but he missed him with a feverish intensity. He felt such deep regret that he should have been more stubborn in order to go with Cadel.

No matter how hard he trained, the longing that crept up on him as he ate, washed, and went to bed was insane. The fists he rested on his thighs strained to resist the urge to touch Cadel. He didn’t want to bother the man who had collapsed from exhaustion. His feelings could never take precedence over Cadel’s.

Van stared at Cadel with that kind of commendable attitude, but it was not very useful.

“……It feels like my face is going to be pierced, Van.”

“Ah…… I’m sorry, Commander. Did that bother you?”

When Cadel, who Van had assumed was asleep, fluttered his eyes open, Van wiggled his hips restlessly, and Cadel chuckled a little and shook his head at the innocent reaction.

“Are you watching to see if I sleep well? I’m not doing anything else.”

“It’s not like that…….”

“Huh?”

“……I missed you.”

He said carefully, his ears quickly turning red with embarrassment. Cadel scratched the back of his head and stared blankly at Van, who smiled sheepishly, then burst out laughing.

“It’s been a few days.”

“Still. You have never been away for so many days like this…….”

That was true. Although his ‘first meeting’ with Van was different from what Van remembered, they had always been together. Now Van had spent more time with himself than with Cadel Lytos.

As he reached out out of habit, Van bent down to take it. Cadel lightly ruffled Van’s damp hair and spoke softly.

“I missed you too.”

He just gave back exactly what Van said. Van looked down, his face looking bright red as if it was going to explode. His stiff body flinched, but as soon as Cadel withdrew his touch, he fell back as if he had been thrown away.

“I, I haven’t dried my hair…… It’s damp, isn’t it, Commander? I’ll dry it.”

“I’m not particularly offended.”

“…….”

“But I don’t want you to catch a cold, so dry it.”

“Yes!”

It was not as if Cadel was kicking him out. At the sight of Van hurrying out of the room as if he were being kicked out, Cadel laughed and covered his eyes with his arm.

“Despite what he looks like, he’s really shy.”

It was fun to see a guy who never blushed except when he was angry at other people, got embarrassed in such an unexpected place. Cadel knew he shouldn’t make fun of him, but he couldn’t help but want to.

‘I couldn’t have imagined it back then.’

Back then, he tried his best not to stimulate them in any way. Perhaps it was because his guard against his subordinates had faded, but he had no particular reluctance to become entangled with them.

‘……I hope this isn’t the influence of Cadel Lytos or anything like that.’

Just thinking about that made Cadel feel so down in an instant, so he decided to rule out unpleasant suspicions as much as possible.

‘I can’t wait for Kunra to get back so we can start the soul separation process. And…….’

He needed Kunra’s help to fend off Yozen’s attack. Nothing much happened during his trip to Mamil, so he was getting a little anxious.

As soon as Van left, Cadel felt a rush of worry instead of fatigue. He lowered the arm that shielded his eyes, revealing ashen eyes filled with worry.

Even though he had been running without stopping until now, the endless hardships that were piling up were overwhelming. As Cadel tossed and turned in frustration, wondering when he would be able to throw off this heavy burden, he narrowed his eyes at the strangeness of it all.

“……?”

It was still daylight outside. The curtains were drawn on the windows, but they didn’t completely block out the light, so the room was still fairly bright. Until a few moments ago.

“……Why is it getting darker?”

Was it about to rain? There was no sign of that happening. Cadel’s expression turned to shock as he half rose, wondering.

“What’s that?”

It wasn’t dark outside; it was dark inside his room. Cadel sat up and swallowed dryly as deep shadows fell from the ceiling, soaking the room.

‘He’s here.’

That ominous aura was undoubtedly ‘dark energy’. Yozen Vardikta. It seemed that he, who hadn’t shown himself before, was about to appear now.