"So," I said, breaking the silence,
"what exactly are you doing here?"
"Running errands," Cwal replied lightly. "Nagi said to give you guys a veeeeeery warm welcome."
A chill crept up my spine.
Right. Note to self. Never get on Nagi's bad side.
The image of her calmly smiling while threatening someone with a kunai felt far too easy to imagine.
"…And that's all?" I asked.
"No," Cwal said. "I came to ask for permission."
My brow creased. "Permission for what?"
"Permission to harvest Azalea—"
"No. Absolutely not."
The words came out fast, and I did not let him finish or entertain the thought of it.
Cwal paused.
"Whose commission is this?" I asked.
"That," Cwal said, "I can't say."
I stepped closer. "Then I am invoking my right to half of your life. I want answers now. You can refuse one question I ask you later."
A click of his tongue. Annoyed.
"…Fine," he said. "It's nothing serious anyway. It's Belle."
I blinked. "Belle? As in that mad scientist. Your coworker, Belle?"
"You keep calling us coworkers," he replied flatly. "I would rather not be lumped in with her. But for technical reasons, yes, we operate under the same group."
"Belle is different. You remember when I mentioned curses. She was the one I meant."
"Unlike the others, she has no interest in fulfilling orders from Lord Roy or any of the higher authorities. She follows her research. Nothing else. If something interests her, she chases it." He explained.
I exhaled. "Yeah. I know that group. Roy's hand-picked collection of broken geniuses."
I frowned. "What I don't understand is why Azalea, out of all people. She doesn't have the influence. No political weight. No reputation that would attract someone like Belle."
"She is talented," Cwal said.
"She is young," I countered. "And she stands in the shadow of her sister. Helle Regleia Blume. The strongest weaver in Salem. If Belle wanted a Blume, why not go for the obvious one?"
Silence.
"…Bloodline interest, maybe," I muttered. "Ancestry. Latent traits. Or I'm just grasping at air."
Something twisted uncomfortably in my chest.
This was never mentioned in the novel.
If this were new, then something had shifted.And if something had shifted, I had to be the reason.
Cwal glanced around.
"We should stop here," he said.
"Too many eyes. We will talk later. In private."
I nodded once. "Sure."
He began to fade, the distortion starting at his feet and crawling upward like smoke being pulled into nothing. Just before his head vanished, he glanced back.
A soft, clear, emotionless voice echoed.
〈 Home Base Status: Revera Team – Contested (Salinin Team) 〉
<30>
<29>
<28>
"Oh! one more thing," he said lightly. "Try to stay away from our home base. Unless you're in the mood to lose."
Then he was gone.
I scoffed. "Trust me. I wouldn't even dream of it."
Silence settled in his wake.
"…What was that all about?" Kenth asked.
"Uh?" I shrugged. "None of your business."
He winced. "Urk—okay, wow. Sorry."
I laughed and slapped him on the back. "I'm kidding, man. Relax."
Then, more quietly, "It's nothing important. Don't worry about it."
Kenth studied my face for a second, then sighed.
"Huh… sure. So what now? We keep defending this base, or do we jump and try to contest another?"
I looked up at the sky.
Sir Heather hovered high above the field, arms folded, eyes calmly tracking every movement like a hawk. Beside him floated a holographic timer.
24:16.
Our last scuffle had burned for about six minutes.
I shifted my gaze to the top middle.
Azalea was retreating and was forced back toward her home base under pressure.
Nagi, on the other hand, was still inside the capture circle, casually dismantling the unlucky team that had been sandwiched there.
Violet strings snapped and tightened around their bodies, wrapping them tight, cocoon-like, leaving them sprawled and helpless on the ground.
She tossed the last one aside like discarded cloth.
Then she looked up.
At me.
And smiled.
Ominous.
A chill ran straight down my spine again.
"…Man," I muttered, "women are confusing. I didn't even do anything to you."
I turned away, and that's when I saw Tasora and Finster talking near the edge of the zone.
Tasora looked over.
And smiled.
My stomach dropped.
Smiling…?
"Kenth," I said sharply. "Run back. Now."
"What?" he protested. "But the timer hasn't even acknowledged us as the home base owner yet because of that ghost basta-"
I didn't wait.
I bolted toward our base and shouted over my shoulder, "JUST RUN!"
"Right behind you!" Kenth yelled.
A sudden flash of blinding light exploded behind my right side.
"Shit—no time!"
"Kenth! Get closer to me!"
"Princess!! Protect us and give it your all!" I shouted.
In front of us, Solaris slammed the butt of her staff into the ground.
The impact sent a wave of frost racing outward.
Ice surged up and over us, forming a roof mid-air, crystalline like gemstones. The structure locked into place like a massive snowflake, each arm branching symmetrically, overlapping layers refracting light into cold blues and silvers.
A thunderclap cracked the air.
I snapped my chains outward, forcing them to arc and interlock, forming a dome just wide enough to shield both me and Kenth beneath the ice.
Lightning screamed.
An explosion detonated against the barrier.
The world shook.
...
After a while, I pulled the chains back around us as debris rained down.
"—cough—""—cough—"
Dust choked the air.
When it finally cleared, the ground around us was gone.
A crater stretched out nearly two meters wide and a meter deep. At its center, frozen solid, was the imprint of a perfect snowflake scorched into the earth.
Above us, the ice roof cracked—and collapsed into glittering fragments, its job done.
Then a voice drifted through the settling dust.
"Oh?"
A silhouette stepped forward from where our original contested base had been.
"You survived that," the girl said, sounding impressed. "As always… you're pretty quick when it comes to running, Matt."
The person standing there was none other than my nutjob psychopath of a master.
Shit. That was close. Way too close for comfort.
"So this is the power of our top one," Khenth laughed, oddly excited.
I was just shaking in my boots. Tasora was never the type to cast magic. She preferred getting in close and personal.
This had to be Finster's idea. She probably even told her to target me. I knew it the moment I saw that smile.
That girl enjoys beating the shit out of me during our so-called training sessions. I even see that smile in my nightmares.
I leaned in close and lowered my voice.
"Change of plans, Khenth. I thought we could just kite her aggro," I said, eyes never leaving Tasora. "Then some dense main character went and handed her unnecessary ideas."
He snorted. "I think we could honestly win, though."
I turned to him, disbelief creeping in. "You're kidding, right?"
"No?" he said, a smug edge sneaking into his voice.
I stared at him. Does he wanna go all out here?
"Do you actually swear on it?"
His shoulders loosened.
"Not really."
"You mother—"
I exhaled hard.
The words died halfway out. I ran a hand through my hair and forced myself to breathe. "Anyway. We play for allies. Right now."
He frowned. I pointed past him. "You go for Team Azalea. I'll handle Team Nagi."
"No," he said immediately.
I blinked. "Why?"
"Because I can't."
I turned fully toward him. "You can't what?"
He looked away, jaw tightening. For a second, I thought he wouldn't answer at all. Then he muttered.
"I don't talk to people much, okay? I thought you already knew that."
A white light flared beside us, and we immediately went defensive. I raised my chains. Khenth crossed his arms.
A bolt of lightning slammed into us, much weaker than the last one.
"Are you guys seriously arguing right in front of me?" Tasora asked, already charging another clump of lightning in her hand.
God damn it. No time.
"Go," I said.
"Don't blame me if the negotiations don't go well." He begrudgingly replied.
"Trust me. They will." I said with a smirk.
We split up. I headed for the top middle base. Khenth ran toward the top left.
"And leaving without saying goodbye?" Tasora called out. "You guys sure are rude."
Another lightning strike followed. I didn't look back. I already knew we'd be fine.
Solaris spun on her heel, coat flaring as she planted her staff into the ground. The air around us tightened, cold snapping into place. Frost raced along the length of the staff, spiraling upward.
A snowflake-shaped crystal bloomed in front of us. It hovered just ahead of our path, moving with us as we ran, close enough that I could feel the chill bleeding through my gloves. Lightning struck a heartbeat later.
It hit the ice and scattered, cracking into harmless particles of ice and died with a soft hiss.
Solaris was already tracking the next angle, keeping the shield aligned with our movement.
Ice creaked softly with each impact, veins of frost crawling and reforging themselves faster than I could follow.
I risked a glance over my shoulder. Tasora was still there, still smiling, already winding up another shot.
"Perfect," Solaris said calmly.