“No, really. You’re the first person who figured it out just from seeing him. Usually, no one cares whether I call a cat my brother or anything else.”

“Really? I just thought, since you’re with the Cavalry, it wouldn’t be strange for someone with such an ability to be around.”

“That may be true, but actually thinking like that is another matter entirely.”

With those words, Pruelle grinned and stood up.

“Truthfully, this little one here, Reblin and I—we’d both been wanting to meet you for a while, Princess. I didn’t expect it to happen like this, but I’m glad we could be of help, even for a short time, and have a conversation.”

“Me? Why…”

Mayra looked puzzled, but then suddenly seemed to realize something. She looked between Pruelle and Reblin’s faces with fresh scrutiny. A flicker of recognition flashed in her eyes.

“Now that I think about it… Reblin. Yes. That name sounds familiar. Could it be—are you Reblin Shan Apetto, the third son of House Apetto, who temporarily joined the Cavalry…?”

“That’s me,” Reblin replied with a bright expression.

Mayra’s gaze shifted to Pruelle’s red hair.

“Then you must be…”

“These days, I go by the name Elre here.”

Mayra, quick on the uptake, nodded without mentioning the name of House Tain.

“I see. I never expected to meet people I’d only heard rumors about, here of all places.”

“We’re now official members of the Cavalry. We came to offer our ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ support.”

The conversation didn’t go on for much longer than that, but the mood between them was unexpectedly smooth. The three of them, while all from the great Four Ducal Houses, were also people who had stepped away from their traditional roles—so it wasn’t strange that they had similar temperaments.

In fact, for a first meeting, they seemed to get along extremely well.

Yuder watched the three of them and thought of the past.

In his previous life, they likely never even knew of each other’s existence. But this kind of meeting didn’t seem like a bad thing. The reasons they had each turned against their families may have differed, but the direction their convictions were headed held undeniable similarities.

For people walking a difficult path, realizing that others stood in a similar place could give them strength in many ways. Perhaps, they could even give each other the kind of support only they were capable of offering.

—

After leaving the Medical Division, Yuder accompanied Mayra until she boarded her carriage. Her expression, compared to when she had arrived, was visibly more at ease.

“Thank you for today. I received a lot of help thanks to you.”

All he had done was follow Kishiar’s orders and guide her to the Medical Division, but she said it had helped her greatly. It was quite the compliment.

“Every time I come here, I feel how free and inspiring the Cavalry is… but today, it felt like that freedom reached even me. It’s been days since I’ve felt this lively and clear-headed.”

“I’m sure the Commander will be glad to hear that.”

Even at Yuder’s perfectly blunt reply, Mayra smiled pleasantly.

“It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t get to talk more with the ones I met at the end. But I’m sure there’ll be another chance. Once the funeral ends, I’ll be formally declared House Hern’s successor—and after that, I’ll be able to do a lot more.”

Saying that, Mayra left with renewed energy.

—

Yuder was just turning away after watching her carriage disappear down the road when someone called out to him from nearby.

“Yuder!”

“Ever?”

Ever, who had been assigned to chase down the Sage as soon as she arrived in the South and had hardly been seen at the base since, was standing there. Beside her were the Elder siblings—Hin and Pin. All three of them were dusty, as if they’d just returned from travel.

“What are you doing all the way out here?”

“I was seeing off a guest who visited the Commander. Where have you three been?”

“We were out looking for the Sage, obviously!”

“The info the successful applicants at this branch gave us was amazing! We found out a lot!”

It was the Elder siblings who answered. Hin and Pin beamed like cheerful little wild beasts, eyes gleaming with excitement.

“We’re heading to report to the Commander now! Want to come with us, Yuder?”

Well, was there any reason to say no?

“Sure.”

Without delay, they headed to where Kishiar was. Kishiar didn’t look the least bit surprised to see Yuder returning with Ever, Hin, and Pin instead of alone with Mayra. He simply smiled.

“Did Princess Mayra return safely? No health issues?”

“Yes. She recovered after receiving divine power and medicine. According to Inon, she was born with low vitality and pushed herself too hard.”

“Being from House Hern, that’s not surprising.”

House Hern was known for having many members who died young.

With his usual serene face, Kishiar mentioned he’d send her a tonic, then turned his gaze to Ever.

“Now then, Ever. Has there been any progress with the mission I entrusted to you? I hope the news you bring is good.”

Ever’s expression tightened, her eyes steely.

“Yes. With the help of many people here in the branch, I gathered information about the Sage and tracked the southern base of the Star of Nagran. As a result, we’ve concluded that the Sage arrived safely at the base some time ago—but for some reason, left again not long after.”

“Hm.”

“Please take a look at this first.”

Ever carefully took out and handed over a map of the southern region. It wasn’t a military map, so it lacked detail—but that wasn’t the important part.

On the map, a clear path was marked in red ink.

It traced a route from the upper part of the South, through several cities, toward the desert, then curved again in the direction of the sea—before stopping abruptly.

A large circle was drawn around a certain area in the desert. Ever explained it.

“The circled area in the desert is believed to be their base. They used their abilities to completely erase the place from people’s memories—so much so that even those who had once been inside couldn’t accurately determine its current location.”

It wasn’t just hidden from sight. According to former members of the Star of Nagran, unless you were the one who performed the concealment or among a select few, it was nearly impossible to even be aware of the base from the outside or recall it clearly. Entering was also convoluted, unlike exiting—it was far easier to leave than to find your way back in.

“They’ve always been good at hiding their bases. We saw that even in the West.”

“Yes. But while it was hard to pinpoint the exact location, the method of accessing it hadn’t changed completely. It seems the Sage and Diemon also used that same path to head there.”

Of course, tailing them was far from easy. The Empire’s territory was vast, and finding someone who wanted to hide themselves thoroughly was extremely difficult.

That was why Ever said she had tracked them based more on Diemon’s appearance than the Sage’s.

“The Sage knows how to hide himself cleverly, but Diemon… he stands out in every way. Thanks to the traces he left in various places, and the memories people retained, we were able to track their route.”

“We helped Ever! And Debran did too! Debran couldn’t come because he’s still gathering more info!”

The Elder siblings jumped in with perfect timing. Apparently, the reason Debran—who usually stuck with them—wasn’t here was because he was still collecting data.

Kishiar nodded, his gaze resting on the final portion of the path drawn on the map.

“Good. So this is where they were last seen. If we extend the path in a straight line, considering that they continued northeast from the base…”

Kishiar pointed to the spot marking the Sage’s last known location. Drawing his finger along the same direction, it ended up at Sharloin.

‘As expected.’

Previously, Kishiar and Yuder had predicted that the Sage would come to the South—specifically, aiming for the Cavalry and Kishiar himself.

If that cunning bastard wanted to preserve his life and somehow win favor with Duke Diarca, he had no choice but to target Kishiar. And to do that, he would have to come to where they were.

‘Besides, this Southern region is where the southern base of the Star of Nagran is located. Anyone would assume the obvious move would be to regroup there before heading here.’

But could things have really gone the way he planned?

It was no exaggeration to say that nearly everyone who should have been guarding the Star of Nagran’s southern base had already been removed. Imagining what the Sage must’ve seen upon arriving there wasn’t hard at all.

‘To find the place he thought would be intact completely wrecked—he must’ve been terrified.’

The Sage must’ve made the journey relying solely on the idea that his allies would still be there. But the few of his loyal brainwashed followers who had any combat ability were currently locked up beneath the Cavalry’s Southern branch.

‘The Sage must’ve cried plenty of bitter tears on his way here, furious beyond belief.’

But Yuder felt not the slightest shred of sympathy.

Any ordinary bastard would’ve given up at that point and run away to save his own skin—but the Sage was the type who’d crawl to Sharloin anyway, even in the most disadvantageous situation.

That meant his greed was vast—and his persistence, monstrous.

And a monster like that deserved no mercy.

“If we go by when he was last seen, the Sage may already be in Sharloin.”

“Yes. That’s why we decided to return here for now. From this point forward, we plan to continue tracking him in and around Sharloin—but we’ll all need to be extremely careful.”