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I intended to instill some sense of alarm in the elders. No matter how short-handed they were, it was unacceptable for outsiders to come and go as they pleased, as if it were their own home.

‘Anyone would think this was a dog house. Damn it.’

After climbing the mountainside for a while, the cave where I first met the elders appeared.

Inside, the elders were each pouring mana into the magic stones with bloodshot eyes. They were so focused that no one even looked up when I entered.

While I stood there watching, Elder Isaac’s fist crumbled into magic stone dust, and a roar erupted.

“Argh! Again. Again!”

No matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t find Elder Norman, so I approached Isaac. Although there was no official title of Vice Elder, Isaac was effectively the second in command.

“Elder.”

“…….”

“Elder Isaac?”

“…….”

“Are your ears blocked from old age?”

Isaac, who had been staring blankly into space, finally turned his head to look at me. I was worried he might have gone deaf, but thankfully, he hadn’t.

“Oh, Ruin’s here.”

I informed Isaac, who now greeted me with a somewhat welcoming face, about what had happened below.

“What? Outsiders are coming and going?”

Normally, Isaac wouldn’t have considered this a big issue, but given the recent unusual situation in Kaoto, he put on a serious expression and muttered,

“It’s highly likely that it’s related to Bayern.”

Isaac gathered the elders and started a meeting. I waited patiently until the meeting was over and then asked,

“By the way, Elder Norman isn’t here.”

It was just a casual remark, but…

Suddenly, the elders jumped up from their seats and grabbed the magic stones again, starting to channel mana.

‘What’s going on?’

Isaac was muttering something with his mouth open, but I couldn’t understand him at all. I moved closer, and this is what he was saying:

“He’s gone senile. The Head Elder is senile. I’ve served him for so many years, and he gets arrogant after succeeding just a few times. He tells those without ability to stop wasting magic stones because they can’t do it anyway? Has this old man really eaten his age through his asshole?”

Hmm…

He’s definitely been influenced by Norman.

After confirming Isaac’s state, I turned around without saying a word. It’s best not to provoke someone who’s not in their right mind.

As I was leaving, I was surprised to see magic stones emitting light from one side. It seemed that not only Elder Norman but other elders had also succeeded in the past few days.

A sudden idea flashed through my mind, and I secretly picked up the magic stones and put them in my pocket. None of the elders noticed.

Anyway, since I had come this far, I thought I should see Norman before leaving. I had a rough idea of where he might be. People tend to stay in familiar places.

* * *

When I reached the location of the shrine, I saw human footprints.

I followed the footprints and came across a large rock. And there, as expected, was the old crow, meditating with his eyes closed.

Under the rock, I saw a large bundle. It seemed the old crow had brought his share of magic stones from the cave.

‘Hmm.’

Seeing that Norman wasn’t in a state for conversation, I looked around for something else.

‘It should be somewhere around here.’

While wandering around, I discovered strange footprints and tilted my head in confusion. The footprints led in one direction and then abruptly stopped, with no path beyond.

A curious, Crazy Mage wouldn’t just pass this by. Of course, I’m talking about myself.

I turned my head and looked at the old crow, still meditating with his eyes closed. I cheered him on with heartfelt sincerity.

“The power of Samael. Elder Norman… Fighting!”

As I disappeared following the footprints, Norman tilted his head with his eyes still closed.

“…….”

Suddenly, Norman’s concentration wavered. He felt as if he heard a hallucination from somewhere. It felt like someone was cursing him.

‘I must focus. Focus, focus, magic stone, magic stone, success, suc…’

Feeling an ominous sensation, Norman abruptly opened his eyes and quickly looked around.

“Magic stones. My magic stones!”

He hurriedly looked under the rock and sighed in relief. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the bundle.

“….It must have been my imagination.”

Norman comfortably resumed his meditation posture. After channeling mana into the magic stone for a while, he nodded with a smile on his face.

The magic stone was emitting light.

‘Success.’

He had succeeded twice today.

Suddenly feeling hungry, Norman brushed himself off and started moving somewhere. He had been storing the magic stones in a place only he knew. He couldn’t even trust the secret vault anymore.

Moving deep into the forest covered in bushes, Norman started digging at a spot he had marked beforehand.

Digging. And digging. And digging.

Digging again, and digging…

‘Hmm?’

Growing impatient, Norman even resorted to casting magic, turning the surrounding ground into a mess.

“Why, why can’t I find it? It’s definitely here!”

It wasn’t there. No matter how much he dug, it wasn’t there.

It was baffling.

Norman, who had been digging like a mole, collapsed on the spot. Feeling like he was losing his mind, he chanted a spell as if possessed.

“Don’t break, don’t break, don’t break…”

* * *

With my pockets full, I was joyfully descending the mountain when I stopped for a moment.

The old crow’s face lingered in my mind.

I had always considered Elder Norman to be a stubborn but insightful old man. However, something felt strange about him these past few days.

It was as if his insight had disappeared and been replaced by madness.

Of course, nothing helped improve one’s skills as much as madness, but the problem was that he often lost his mind even in normal situations.

Norman had hidden the magic stones like a squirrel hoarding nuts, but I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought to hide his footprints. Did he think that if he couldn’t see them, others couldn’t either?

It was too early to tell whether Elder Norman’s madness would be a gain or a loss.

I took out a handful of magic stones from my pocket, and the one containing the barrier was glowing.

The value of an object is relative.

To me, these magic stones were useless trash, but to a third-rate thug, they could be a precious treasure that could save his life once.

By the time I arrived at the lodging, the sunset was painting the sky above the mountain red.

I gathered the apprentices and Lihan and shared one last dinner with them for a while.

Everyone seemed to be avoiding eye contact, probably because of what happened earlier in the day. The only sound was Palge occasionally munching.

When the awkward atmosphere eased a bit, I looked around and said,

“Listen while you eat. Starting tomorrow, each of you apprentices will take turns guarding the main gate. Two-hour shifts. Just until the Head returns.”

Feeling their attention on me, I continued,

“Since we’re short-handed, you’ll have to work hard. Take good care of the house while I’m gone.”

“No way. Where are you going?”

“Shut up.”

Palge replied with a disappointed face,

“Do we have to guard at night too?”

“No need for that. Just until bedtime. Close the main gate at night and hang a bell on the doorknob. There shouldn’t be any trouble. If someone comes, record it and report to the elders when they come down.”

I didn’t think Bayern would launch a surprise attack. But this was a matter of principle.

Having a gatekeeper versus not having one.

I couldn’t let Samael be treated like an open dog house. And I hoped the apprentices felt the same way.

Once dinner was almost over, I sent everyone out except Lihan and Zion.

“Hurry up and get out, Palge.”

Palge, who had been lingering until the last moment, finally left with rye bread in both hands…

I gave orders to Zion and Lihan.

“Zion, pack a backpack and come to the main gate.”

“Clothes?”

“Pack a few.”

Zion nodded without saying much. He seemed excited and nervous, lost in his thoughts.

“Lihan, go get a flag.”

“A flag?”

Lihan blinked and then widened his eyes.

“Surely you don’t mean the Black Phosphorus Flag?”

I waved my hand.

“No, not the Black Phosphorus. Bring a small one.”

Lihan seemed to understand and let out a sigh of relief.

“I was surprised… Then I’ll bring the Blue Sea Flag. It’s in the warehouse, so it’ll take some time.”

Lihan and Zion disappeared at the same time. I returned to my room, took a bath, and changed into clean clothes I had never worn before.

* * *

A little later, I stepped outside the family estate with the Blue Sea Flag draped over my shoulder. Zion, who had been waiting, naturally matched my pace.

As we walked, Zion kept glancing at the flag on my shoulder.

“What are you looking at?”

“Is that our family crest?”

“One of them.”

Among the symbols of Samael, the Blue Sea was the most widely used.

“It’s simple.”

He was right, so I just nodded.

The Blue Sea Flag was a simple flag with a blue background and a white circle in the center.

The blue background symbolized the blue sea beyond Mount Kaoto, and the white circle symbolized the sun shining on the Blue Sea.

It was a crest that represented Samael’s identity of inclusiveness.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly my favorite crest.

“Open your backpack.”

As Zion stopped, I detached the Blue Sea Flag from its pole, rolled it up, and stuffed it into the backpack.

“Let’s go.”

We walked through the night streets in silence. The moonlight was particularly weak tonight, making the streets dark. We could barely see a few steps ahead.

One interesting thing was that Zion was still holding back his words, even though I had brought him along without any explanation.

Where were we going? What were we going to do? He didn’t ask anything.

But in the darkness, Zion’s face was faintly tense.

Seeing him so nervous yet keeping his mouth shut, it was clear he wasn’t going to ask until I told him first.

The moment we entered the central district, the world transformed. The crimson lights of the entertainment district brightly illuminated the streets, pushing back the darkness.

Zion let out an involuntary gasp, “Ah.” I looked at him, and his eyes were wide with wonder.

“Look at your eyes. What? Do you want to go in?”

“No. I’ve only heard about it, never seen it before. It’s amazing.”

Come to think of it, Zion had said that he had never actually wandered around Kaoto during his time as a black market merchant. His father had left him behind because it was dangerous, or something like that.

Suddenly, I saw a few thugs walking briskly from across the street and lowered my voice.

“Don’t say anything and let’s just go.”

Zion unexpectedly burst into laughter but quickly covered his mouth with his hand. I deliberately took a detour through the eastern outskirts, moving slowly.

As we moved away from the central area and the crowds thinned, Zion whispered in a low voice,

“There are so few people. It’s different from what I heard. Will business even be possible like this?”

“Do you think it will?”

“I’m worried.”

“About what?”

“Well, you know, if there are so few people, the maintenance costs will be higher. Are there only idiots in Bayern? I don’t understand what they’re thinking.”

I looked at Zion and raised my right hand.

“Are you a spy or something? What do you care if they fail or not?”

“A merchant always thinks about such things. I see you’re a brute, boss.”

I had nothing to refute, so I was going to stay quiet, but then I realized I had already raised my right hand.

I had no choice but to hit the back of Zion’s head and pretend I didn’t know anything.

“…….”

The two brutes walked west again without saying a word.

As we walked slowly, I realized that Kaoto was quite large.

It was true that it was underdeveloped, but in terms of size alone, it was indeed larger than Leon, the bustling city nearby.

Previously, I had used magic to move quickly, but today, as I moved stealthily at a normal person’s pace, we had only just reached the end of the eastern district. But I continued to keep my pace slow, just in case we missed anything.

The moment we crossed over to the western district, we heard a faint noise from somewhere.

I held my breath for a moment and listened. Zion also held his breath.

Clang— Cling—

The metallic sound of weapons clashing. It was sporadic, suggesting there were only one or two people involved.

“Are we going to check it out, boss?”

I shook my head slightly at Zion’s whispered question and headed towards the western district again. I had a hunch.

By the time we reached the center of the western district, it was well past midnight.

Unlike the eastern district, this area was quite run-down.

As expected, thugs from Dark Soul were patrolling the streets in pairs. It was completely different from the last time I was here. They all held torches in their hands, exuding a menacing aura.

They looked like soldiers preparing for a surprise attack.

We crouched down on one side of the street and observed the situation for a while. Suddenly, Zion covered his nose and muttered,

“That dirty bastard.”

I looked over and saw a third-rate thug staggering and urinating on the street in a corner.

Was he drinking and on duty at the same time?

The street was dark, but the torchlight was bright, so we had a clear view of him doing his business. He had nothing to be proud of. Suddenly, we heard the thug muttering,

“….Those bastards. Just try coming here. I’ll crush them.”

Looking closely, he seemed familiar.

———