Alnea was not surprised when he saw everyone was walking out of their room at almost the same time. He was the one who had informed them of the time for their meeting in the first place. The only reason that he had come out earlier, was because he had already woken up, and did not have anything else to do. And he did not wish to disturb Yuri. After all, just like him, she needed some rest too. Probably even more than him.

  Although she did well to hide it in her Heart, Alnea knew how much pressure she was bearing. The burdens she carried… One of the reasons he had been working so hard was just to help her share some of her burdens. From honing his fighting skills to perfecting his Glyph Arrays and Arcanas, even managing their team and becoming a good leader, was all in preparation for what they would have to face later.

  Though from the things that Yuri had told him, even with all his preparations, he would be helping with only a part of her burdens. The rest, she would have to carry by herself. No, not would. She had already been carrying those burdens from as far back as she could remember. When he was still playing around in mud, chasing insects on the ground, she had already begun thinking how to face the difficulties of her clan, of her lineage.

  But that was a price she had to pay for her conviction. A price for her dreams. No one had asked her to carry the burdens left behind by her father. And no one would have said anything if she behaved like her age. Maybe except her mother. Though even she had persuaded her to stop chasing after some illusory prophecies. Of course, in turn, she had asked Yuri to bear her responsibilities as an heiress of the Faed clan.

  Still, no matter how heavy those responsibilities might have been, they would not have been heavier than carrying the fate of her entire clan. But giving in to her mother would have meant watching what her father had stood for all his life fall apart against the inevitability of Fate. That, she could not allow. No matter what.

  Besides, it was not as if she had given up her responsibilities as an heiress of the Faed clan. She had just delayed picking up those responsibilities by a few years. Though, in turn, she would have to face even more difficulties once she returned back home. The pressure of abandoning all her responsibilities for nearly a decade, along with the pressure of bringing an unknown boy back to her clan…

  Yet, despite all the pressure looming over her head, she could somehow still find enough time to go along with his impulses, and then influence him to find his flaws on his own…

  If Alnea had been working beyond his limits for the past few weeks, then Yuri did not even have such a thing as a limit. It was as if nothing could faze her. Or at least that was what she showed. He had never seen her break down, except when he was in danger, but that did not mean that he could let her take on all the pressure by herself. If anything happened to her, he would be like a headless chicken, just running about, not knowing what to do. So, if he deserved a rest, she deserved it even more than him. Unfortunately, as evident from the way she was glaring at him, she did not think the same as him.

  “Why did you not call me when you came out?”

  “…I did not want to disturb your rest.”

  “Do you think a couple of minutes is going to change anything?”

  “…Sorry,” Alnea said, preferring to admit his mistake rather than telling Yuri that he had been out in the hall for over an hour. “From now on, I will call you the moment I walk out from my room.”

  “You better keep your words,” Yuri said, nodding with satisfaction, as she took her seat next to him. Before he could let out his breath though, Cecilia came right next to him, reminding him of something that he had completely forgotten.

  “You are sitting in my seat, vixen.”

  “I did not know that these seats also have our names attached to them.”

  “…Do you want me to show you?”

  “You can try,” Vestia said, grinning back at Cecilia. When her gaze passed over Forne trotting next to Cecilia’s legs, her grin faltered for a moment, as her eyes flickered in thought. “Forget it. I do not want to embarrass Alnea.”

  Saying so, Vestia shifted to her seat, making way for Cecilia, who sat down with a snort.

  “Why did you not stop her from sitting on my seat?”

  “…By the time I noticed, she was already sitting next to me. And we were the only two people in the Hall. I could not have asked her to move away in that situation, could I?”

  “Why not?”

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  “Because it would have been rude.”

  “So?”

  “…It was only for a couple of minutes, Cecilia,” Yuri said, coming to his rescue once again. “Forget it.”

  “That’s right. It was only for a couple of minutes.”

  Just when it seemed that Cecilia was about to let go of the matter, Vestia chimed in, saying, “I had a good conversation though. I am looking forward to our future cooperation, Captain.”

  “…What did you two talk about?”

  Alnea turned towards Yuri for help, only for her to smile back at him.

  “Do not look at me like that. I am also curious about your conversation.”

  “…It was nothing too serious. Mostly about the murals in the hall.”

  “The murals?” Cecilia mumbled with confusion, glancing around the hall. “Why were you talking about the murals?”

  “We can talk about that later,” Alnea said, quickly shifting the topic away. “Now that everyone is here, let’s start with the meeting. Karl, how is your investigation going?”

  “…I am not sure,” Karl said, a little hesitant in both his words, and his tone. “My initial investigation of the Dark Priests went very smoothly. So much so, that I did not even need anyone’s help to gather a bunch of information about them. But that only made me more confused. It is not as if I have not seen any careless Wanderers. The way those Wanderers behaved though, it was as if they were deliberately leaking their information for the whole city to see.”

  “…Maybe it was their plan, like those Wanderers of the Lotus clan that Captain encountered earlier…”

  “Of course, I thought about that option. It would have been anyone’s first thought after reading their information. It is just that, the Lotus clan is laying out their trap for us. The Dark Priests, on the other hand, have been revealing their information to the entire city. So, the question remains, who are the Dark Priests laying their traps against? The entire city? How can they be so confident in their strength?”

  “…Maybe it is not just about their strength,” Alnea said after some thought. “If my guess is not wrong, then they must be planning to use natural forces to take down their enemies all at once… Vestia, has there been any news of sandstorm or thunderstorms recently?”

  “…There has been frequent occurrence of thunderstorms in the depths of desert recently. At first, everyone thought that it was the sign of formation of a new Fortune Spring. There were no further rumours about the Fortune Spring though, so the news about the thunderstorms died down. But as far as I know, there still quite a few people looking for the supposed Fortune Spring.

  “After all, it is a Fortune Spring related to the ‘Mysteries of Lightning’, one of the more common Series of Mysteries used in the Lightning Region. If they can get the baptism of the Fortune Spring, they are bound to experience rapid growth. Probably enough to give them a fighting chance of entering the inner city. Even if they know that their search might be futile, and rife with dangers, the temptation of the inner city is enough for them to take a risk.”

  “…I do not know what the Dark Priests have to do with this Fortune Spring, but I am sure that they will not miss this chance to deal with their competitors,” Alnea said in a solemn voice. “We have yet to completely digest the gains from the Fortune Spring we encountered last time. There is no need to take unnecessary risks for some illusory benefits. Let us ignore this ‘Fortune Spring’ in the future.”

  “Understood.”

  “I was not interested in the Fortune Spring anyway,” Zain said with a scoff. “Only the incompetent will search for opportunities. The talented will create their own opportunities.”

  “…If I remember correctly, you were one of the most excited people, when he found the Fortune Spring last time.”

  “…That counts as creating my own opportunity.”

  “Alright, Karl,” Alnea said, ignoring Zain and Ralph. “You can continue.”

  “…As I was saying, there is something wrong with the Dark Priests. If the way they are behaving, deliberately spreading their own information to everyone in the city, can be explained as them creating a trap for the Wanderers of the city, then what is their purpose? If they just want to enter the inner city, then their current strength is enough to disregard most of their competitors. And that is just the strength they have shown. To be honest, if we counted their hidden strength, I am not sure if even we can defeat them.

  “Yet, despite having such strength, they have been deliberating hiding themselves, and have begun laying a trap for the entire city. Most importantly, it seems that even the clans behind them have no idea of what they are planning. Rather, they have already fallen out with their clans. They tried to keep it a secret at first, but just two days ago, one of the Dark Priests killed a Wanderer from his clan in the Black Desert just because of a small disagreement… I know that it may sound cowardly, but I do not want to face these crazy Wanderers.”

  “…No one thinks that you are cowardly, Karl,” Alnea said, donning a solemn look. “There is wisdom in knowing your weakness, and courage in accepting it. Besides, I doubt anyone could have executed the mission better than you. Good work, Karl.”

  “…I can still find a few more things. Give me a couple of more days. This time, I will take Aren with me—

  “No, that’s enough. The information you have gathered is enough. Let’s stop this investigation here. For now, let’s try to avoid any contacts with the Dark Priests as much as possible. They are much closer to reaching the inner city than us. Who knows, they might just enter the inner city before we gain the qualification to join the battle. And if not, then we will deal with them as they come. As long as we are together, nothing can stop us.”

  “…Understood.”

  “Vestia, mark Karl’s mission as completed, and give him his due Stars.”

  “Done.”

  “Alright then, let’s move on to the next topic. Vestia?”

  “Leave it to me,” Vestia said, before putting on a solemn face, and informing everyone of the information she had received the day before.