"The Black Rose School is on the verge of collapse, Lynn." Elena's voice was calm.
Lynn froze for a moment. He was certain he had heard her words clearly, every syllable distinct.
But strung together, the meaning left him deeply unsettled.
After a pause, he asked hesitantly,
"You mean the Black Rose School in the northeast? The one with nearly a thousand years of history, a Third-Tier school?"
"That's right." Elena nodded evenly.
Lynn fell silent. The news struck him like thunder, almost impossible to believe.
A force with such history, one that possessed a Third-Rank wizard, was about to collapse?
"In as little as five days, in as much as ten, you'll start hearing whispers," Elena added.
Whether it was the Golden Shadow Society or the Bloodmark Society, they were ultimately just powers cobbled together by wild wizards. They couldn't match the schools in terms of information.
"Why?" Lynn asked, bewildered.
He didn't just wonder why the Black Rose School would fall; he also wondered why Elena had chosen to tell him this.
Elena chuckled softly.
"If you were still the old Lynn, I would have said: because the Third-Rank Black Rose wizard has reached the end of his life, and the school's collapse is inevitable. A war is already brewing.
"But now? There's no need for a special reason.
"Do you remember what Professor Hossens once told us?
'In this world, order is a miraculous accident; chaos is the cursed inevitability.'
"Out of sight, people die every single day. Forces perish every single day. Tens of thousands of wars are waged in the same moment, just as tens of thousands of newborns take their first breath in the same moment."
Elena slowly rose and walked to the window. Her figure was bathed in sunlight streaming through the glass as she continued, voice steady,
"Lynn, the peace and stability before us are nothing more than morning dew vanishing the moment the sun strikes.
"If you don't use this fleeting time to grow stronger, then when danger comes, you'll be helpless. All you'll have left is fate.
"…Just like that time nine years ago, on the Spider Vessel."
Lynn was silent, realizing she was trying to persuade him.
"So what do you want to do? And what do you need from me?"
Elena turned back, smiling.
"Exactly what you said yourself: grow stronger. Let's seize more resources together. Let's both become stronger."
"How do you intend to do that?"
"Once you agree, I'll tell you," Elena replied. Then she added a subtle reminder:
"I'm part of the school's Watch. You're a Second-Tier member of the Golden Shadow Society. With these two identities, we can accomplish a great deal, reap many profits, and seize countless resources…"
Lynn sank into thought, but it wasn't long before he shook his head.
"Forgive me, Lady Rose, but I must decline."
Her offer was tempting. But working with someone higher in both rank and power than himself was not wise.
No matter what Elena intended, her plan sounded like it required him to stand in the spotlight. He had no desire for that.
More importantly, he didn't trust her.
Alliances forged purely from profit were destined, in the end, to break apart for the same reason.
Elena's surprise at his refusal was evident. After a pause, she asked quietly:
"Is it because of the way I left back then? At that time, I didn't have much choice, everything happened too quickly…"
Lynn shook his head. He didn't bother parsing whether her words were true. For him and for the one whose memories he bore, it no longer mattered.
Calmly, he cut her off.
"No, Lady Rose. That's not the reason."
Elena was silent for a moment. Then she said softly,
"…I'm sorry, Lynn."
Lynn shook his head again, his voice even.
"There's no need to apologize. I don't care about the past, Lady Rose."
The words might have sounded heavy with emotion, but Lynn's face remained serene and composed.
Elena looked at him for a long moment, then murmured,
"It seems… You truly have been through a great deal."
For once, her tone carried genuine emotion and an almost wistful sigh.
She didn't press further. Turning away, she headed for the door of the study.
Lynn rose to escort her.
The two walked in silence.
As they descended the stairs, Elena suddenly spoke again.
"If you had been like this back then, perhaps everything would have been different."
"Hypotheticals that can never be don't mean anything, Lady Rose."
Her steps faltered for just an instant. Then she fell quiet again until they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Finally, she said,
"The Black Rose wizard lands are far from here. That war won't have much direct impact on this place.
"Right now, the Hossens domain's greatest problem is still the Emerald Shadow you discovered back then."
Lynn nodded. Elena studied him for a moment, then revealed more:
"The school has confirmed the Emerald Shadow is a modified creature from another world, a kind of pseudo-divine being. The hand behind it most likely comes from the Herlande School."
"A pseudo-divine being?" Lynn was startled.
"Yes. A being born from ignorance, one that requires sacrifices, or faith, to exist." Elena nodded, then added,
"You were wise to avoid the Autumn Hunt, Lynn. The school believes something unusual might happen during the Hunt. They've already begun gathering power in secret, preparing for it.
"Don't spread this news."
"I understand. Thank you for telling me, Lady Rose."
The two of them walked to the door.
Elena turned, fixing her gaze on Lynn, and said,
"When I return, I'll make a statement in the name of the Watch about what truly happened that night with the Bloodmark Society. It may put an end to some of the rumors…
"But it will only end, some of them don't expect too much."
"You need me to..."
Elena shook her head, cutting him off. Finally, she said,
"Think of it simply as my apology.
"Goodbye, Lynn."
With that, Elena didn't linger. She stepped straight into the carriage waiting at the door.
The driver cracked the whip, and the carriage slowly rolled away, disappearing around the corner in no time.
And indeed, Elena did as she said.
Only two days later, Lynn overheard members at a gathering discussing Ruso's death.
Some who had previously doubted the explanations now accepted them. Even the more peace-minded faction, which believed the societies should coexist in harmony, began treating him with greater warmth.
But, just as Elena had warned, that was the extent of it.
Lynn's life saw little real change.
Time slipped quietly by, and a week later, news of the Black Rose School's war finally reached the Hossens domain.
The ancient school, besieged by several rivals, had crumbled apart. Only a handful of survivors escaped.
The Black Rose lands had fallen into utter chaos.
That chaos soon wreaked havoc on surrounding trade and travel.
The convoys that once left Emeraldwood City every month for the outside world all ceased.
The Golden Shadow Society had maintained two long-running caravans between Black Rose City and Emeraldwood. Both were urgently recalled.
The one still on the road managed to return safely.
But the other, which had nearly reached Black Rose City, was completely wiped out. Even the First-Rank apprentice accompanying them perished.
For the Golden Shadow Society, which already had very few First-Rank wizards, this was a heavy blow.
Fortunately, their rivals in the Bloodmark Society suffered a similar fate; a First-Rank wizard of theirs vanished near Black Rose City as well. Balance, of a sort, was maintained.
Of the three great powers of Emeraldwood City, only the low-profile Serpentine Society came through largely unscathed.
The fallout of this great upheaval continued to spread.
As for Lynn, he lived according to his routine, step by step, until the time came once again for Insight.
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