[Two greed, a soul in a transparent orb.]

A transparent orb. Could it mean the bubble down there?

‘Yozen said he felt Lydon’s energy inside the bubble, so that means Lydon’s soul is inside the bubble. Then…….’

Two greed. It wasn’t clear exactly what action greed meant, so Cadel focused on the word ‘two’.

‘Two. Two is the important thing.’

His subordinates disappeared on the second search. Perhaps they were still searching below, but he knew it was a vain hope. They’d had the same fate as Lydon.

‘And so did Lydon.’

Although he didn’t realize it at first, Lydon had also seen the bubble ‘twice’. When he returned the first time, Lydon insisted on a second time to show him what he’d seen, where Cadel spotted it the first time and Lydon took a second look.

Then, as if mesmerized, he was sucked into the bubble, and dissolved. He became the soul that filled the transparent orb.

“That bubble of air was where the Stone of Peace was sleeping.”

There was more. Ever since he’d guessed that this was where the Stone of Peace would be, he’d been strangely disturbed. Demons. They always knew the location of the Stone of Peace before the humans did, and they always sabotaged the search. But this time was different: despite the certainty that the Stone of Peace was here, there was no sign of the demons.

‘Maybe the demons are trapped in that bubble.’

That meant that he might have to deal with the demons while freeing the trapped souls of his subordinates.

‘……I can take on the demons many times over, as long as I can save my subordinates. The real problem is that if I approach the bubble to save them, I’ll be trapped as well.

But there was no way to save them without approaching it. And maybe, just maybe, he could save them only by turning into foam and entering the bubble.

‘The courage to save.’

The courage to save, if it meant becoming part of the bubble. If that was what it took, Cadel would gladly sink to the bottom.

Setting the parchment down, Cadel clenched his fists, his expression heavy.

He considered blindfolding himself to get it, but it would be difficult. He was no Yozen. Not only would it be difficult to locate the bubble while blindfolded, but he wouldn’t know how to break it open.

So Cadel decided to approach the bubble in an honest way.

‘I expected it, but there’s really no one here.’

When he swam to the spot where he’d first spotted the air bubble, he saw nothing but a lone bubble. No subordinates. Perhaps, like Lydon, they had been sucked into the bubble.

The harder he swam, the closer he got to the bubble, the harder it was to manage his breathing as his heart raced. Cadel swam diligently, trying to soothe his lungs, which felt like they were about to burst at any moment. In front of the bubble of air he arrived.

‘……I’m ready for it.’

Cadel peered inside, which was filled with more bubbles than the first time. If he came a second time, he would be as enthralled as the others. Whatever it was, getting inside would be the key to releasing them, so it would be no great loss to be disturbed, but it would be better to be sane.

Cadel braced himself and touched the surface of the air bubble. It felt slick and slippery, but no matter how hard he pressed, it didn’t change shape.

‘So far, so good…….’

No immediate dramatic change. Scared to think about it, an unfamiliar voice pierced his head.

[I’ll show you a happy dream, I’ll let you live in it, and you’ll sleep there, painless and happy.]

An androgynous voice that couldn’t be easily gendered. Cadel felt his mind drifting away, following the strange voice.

‘If I let go, am I letting myself into the bubble? What if I don’t let go, what if I uproot myself from here and slip away to the surface?’

The questions persisted even as he drifted off. And then, as if to take over Cadel’s mind, the bubble filled with water showed him a scene like a crystal ball.

It was the image of the subordinates he thought he’d lost.

‘That place is…….’

They were trapped in another world. Whether it was an illusion created by the bubble or a special subspace, Cadel didn’t know. However, they were gathered together and talking to each other. Judging by their serious expressions, they were discussing ways to escape.

With a small shift of his gaze, Cadel saw bodies lying on the ground near them. Demon corpses.

‘These are the demons who came to search for the Stone of Peace. Were they really killed first?’

It seemed that once they were absorbed by the air bubble, they were all transported into that space. The demons and his subordinates gathered in the same space and fought. Fortunately, no one seemed to be seriously injured.

Once Cadel was certain that they were gathered there, he let go of his hard-won control. There was no way to save them from the outside, so he would go inside and escape with them.

The last thing Cadel saw in his blurring vision was his fingertips clutching the bubble, which turned to foam and dispersed.

* * *

“You’re awake!”

A familiar voice called out, and a familiar face filled Cadel’s vision as he struggled to lift his heavy eyelids. Lips drawn in a lovely curve reached out, leaving warmth all over his face. As he stood still, accepting the affection, he heard a sharp response.

“Get those filthy lips off of him, you fairy!”

“Get out of the way and stop harassing someone who’s just woken up.”

“I wonder what excuse you’ll come up with next, Cadel.”

“Everyone, stop being such a nuisance and move out of the way. As a healer, my priority is to take care of Knight Commander.”

A chuckle escaped his lips as he listened to the chatter through the cracks of his hazy consciousness. Cadel stroked Lydon’s head lightly as he snuggled down on top of him, then pushed himself up with a short groan.

“I couldn’t find a way to save you guys from outside. I had no choice but to come inside. I’m sorry.”

Cadel looked around slowly, relaying to his subordinates the meaning of the inscription he’d discovered. It was similar to the place he’d glimpsed from the outside of the bubble. They were in front of a tall castle perched on a cliff by the coast. It seemed as if they had awakened in the middle of a garden, with trees trimmed into curious shapes and colorful flowers right beside them.

A beautiful, colorful garden, a tranquil castle, and an emerald sea below the cliffs. The world inside the bubble was stunningly beautiful and peaceful.

“We didn’t realize all of us would be sucked in at once, either. You must have panicked, but you interpreted the inscription brilliantly. Maybe, as Leader said, everyone had to be inside the bubble to find the solution.”

Lumen smiled, delighted with the explanation.

“I’m a little bit resentful, darling. That bubble was whispering strange things to me and showing me your happy, smiling face, and I just reached out to touch it because it was so pretty, and then all of a sudden I got abducted!”

Lydon clung to his side, sobbing about his short-lived separation from Cadel. Van struggled to pull him away, but there was no way to overcome the fairy’s steadfastness.

“If you look at it twice, you’ll be irresistibly drawn to it. There’s no guarantee it’ll hold, and since we’re all in here anyway, let’s save the lamenting for later.”

“You have a point.”

“By the way, there were some demons in here, I believe you took them down. Were any of you hurt?”

At Cadel’s question, Garuel pointed to himself with a smug expression. None of them had been seriously injured, but if they had been, he’d healed them nicely.

As Cadel praised him, Yozen tugged on his wrist. He pointed to the pile of demon corpses at the base of the cliff.

“There were quite a few of them, but they weren’t hard to take down. Some of them were stronger than others, and some of them were weaker.”

“Weak? They must have been of a high caliber to have come to interfere with our search for the Stone of Peace…….”

“They didn’t seem willing to fight. They didn’t put up much of a fight, so it was easy to deal with them.”

Unwilling to fight? Cadel’s enemies in the Demon Realm were more than willing to fight, even the common monsters. They were relentless to the point of ignorance. To think that they would give up the fight so easily, without a struggle.

Cadel’s face grew grave at this incomprehensible fact. He wondered if their lifelessness had something to do with this unknown space.

“Commander, why don’t we go into that castle first? We’ve just dealt with the demons, so we haven’t had a chance to look into the castle yet. Maybe there’s a clue to get us out of here.”

“……Alright, let’s go.”

To the naked eye, there was nothing special about the shoreline. Perhaps it would be best to explore the castle, the most dominant presence in the area. Cadel led his subordinates inside the castle.

* * *

From the outside, the castle was built of faded gray stone, with reddish ivy covering much of it, giving it an old look. Inside, however, it was immaculate and quaint, as if someone had been maintaining it.

Smooth marble floors, colorful carpets, dazzling lighting, and a well-maintained spiral staircase. Fresh flowers and bonsai trees dotted the grounds, and a soothing scent wafted through the air.

“I haven’t seen a castle this perfect in a long time, and I want to applaud whoever maintained it.”

Garuel scanned the castle’s interior with genuine admiration, and it was clear that the castle had been carefully maintained down to the smallest detail. It was so perfect that even Cadel, who had been intent on tearing it down upon entering, hesitated.

And so, contrary to his initial resolve, he was enjoying the castle in peace.

“Darling! Come up here!”

Lydon, whom he hadn’t known since when he had been upstairs, swung himself over the stair railing. Maybe he’d found some important clue. Cadel hurried up the stairs, and Lydon, who had caught up to him in a flash, threw open the door to one of the rooms that lined the hallway.

And there it was.

“This is our room! I picked it first, so it doesn’t matter if the others barge in.”

A glass window took up more than half of one wall. Beyond the wide-open window, the sea stretched out in front of them, unobstructed. Lydon’s wide grin blended in with the view, the white curtains fluttering in the breeze.

Cadel stared for a moment, then spoke quietly.

“I don’t plan on sleeping here. Why don’t we do a proper search?”