Boom—!
Following the violent surge of mana erupting from the direction of the royal capital, a thunderous explosion rang out soon after.
The deafening blast made everyone in the capital freeze in place, faces filled with confusion and alarm.
Sensing the familiar mana coming from the city's center—
"Boss Julius…?"
Yami leaned forward sharply, one hand pressing against the table. Shock flickered across his face before he quickly turned his gaze toward Yuuki, who had also straightened up.
"The leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun,"
Yuuki murmured, his expression tinged with complexity.
"Licht."
He repeated the name softly, then looked at the still-stunned Yami.
"This really is unexpected."
"To think the Royal Knights went to attack the Eye of the Midnight Sun's base… only for their leader to come straight to the capital instead."
Yuuki's lips curled into an amused smile.
Yami's initial shock quickly faded, replaced by calm vigilance. He took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he studied Yuuki.
"Dodging the Royal Knights and going straight for Julius…"
He paused, his expression turning strange, as if unsure how to describe it.
"Hard to tell whether that bastard's insanely bold—or just absurdly confident."
As the Wizard King of the Clover Kingdom, Julius was both the highest authority and the strongest combatant alive.
And more than that—he wielded Time Magic, the most terrifying and unpredictable attribute among all magic types.
Only those who had personally witnessed Julius in battle could truly grasp his power.
In Yami's eyes, Julius was simply unbeatable.
Step—step!
Mariella and Neige, having also sensed the disturbance, rushed out from the back of the tavern, their expressions tense.
"Yuuki-sama."
The moment Mariella entered the hall and saw Yami seated across from Yuuki, her eyes instinctively sharpened.
Neige, on the other hand, sounded excited.
"There's some insanely strong mana coming from the capital!"
"It's nothing you need to worry about,"
Yuuki said lightly, turning toward them.
As he spoke, he cast a subtle glance at Mariella.
She immediately understood.
Giving a small bow to both Yuuki and Yami, she quietly led Neige back out of the hall.
"I'll go get more skewers,"
Rebecca said as well, finally snapping out of her daze. Picking up a tray, she headed toward the kitchen.
Yami glanced at Mariella and Neige's retreating figures, clicking his tongue.
"I seriously don't get where you found those two," he muttered.
"High talent, solid strength—better than some actual Magic Knights."
Yuuki didn't answer right away.
Instead, he looked out the window at the street, which had grown restless after the explosion.
"Every year, only a tiny fraction of applicants pass the Magic Knights' entrance exams," Yuuki said calmly.
"And among those who pass, over ninety percent are nobles."
"The number of royals and nobles in the Clover Kingdom may seem large," he continued,
"but compared to the sheer population of commoners and peasants, it's insignificant."
Turning back to Yami, Yuuki smiled faintly.
"With such an overwhelming base number, it's inevitable that geniuses will emerge among commoners and peasants."
"And the Eye of the Midnight Sun," he added,
"in a way, is nothing more than a gathering of those very talents—people born outside the nobility."
What had started as a casual remark left Yami momentarily stunned.
He fell silent.
For the first time, Yami felt like he was truly seeing Yuuki clearly—and finally understood why Charlotte and others considered him dangerous.
Before this, Yami had assumed that threat referred solely to Yuuki's strength.
Now, he realized it wasn't just that.
That way of thinking is dangerous…
Yami took a deep drag from his cigarette, the thought lingering in his mind.
Royalty and nobility—
Commoners and peasants.
The prejudice between those two sides was something Yami, as a Magic Knight captain, knew all too well.
There were only nine Magic Knight squads in the entire kingdom, each with extremely limited recruitment slots.
Even talented nobles often failed to make the cut—let alone commoners or peasants.
Yuuki himself was living proof of that reality.
In such a short time, he had grown into someone who made even squad captains wary—so much so that Yami had been sent to keep an eye on him.
Being perceptive, Yami could clearly hear the deeper meaning in Yuuki's words:
As long as dissatisfaction, conflict, and prejudice exist,
the Eye of the Midnight Sun will never truly disappear.
Still, that wasn't Yami's problem to solve.
The future could be dealt with later.
Right now, the Eye of the Midnight Sun needed to be destroyed.
And if one really thought about it, Julius had already been quietly working to change this reality long ago.
An outsider like Yami, and a commoner like Jack, becoming captains of Magic Knight squads—that alone was proof of that change.
The atmosphere grew quiet.
Neither of them continued the topic.
After all, it led nowhere—and more importantly, both of them were focused on the surging mana and thunderous impacts coming from the heart of the capital.
Before long, Rebecca returned with fresh skewers, breaking the silence.
"Thanks, Rebecca. Everything's fine here for now,"
Yuuki said with a gentle smile as he accepted the tray and set it on the table.
"…Okay."
Rebecca met Yuuki's calm gaze for a brief moment. Something flickered in her green eyes before she nodded and turned away.
A short while later, she left the main hall naturally and entered the spacious kitchen.
Opening the small back door in the corner, she stepped into a narrow alley behind the tavern.
The alley hadn't existed originally—it had been built after the tavern's construction, used mainly for storing supplies and disposing of kitchen waste.
Mariella and Neige were already waiting there.
"We've been waiting for you," Neige said with a light grin.
"That was fast,"
Rebecca replied, her expression serious—yet tinged with excitement.
"Yuuki-sama said a major event was about to begin," Mariella said solemnly.
"It's time for us to move."
She glanced once toward the capital, where distant mana clashes still raged—unseen, yet unmistakable.
Rebecca and Neige both nodded.
"Our first stop," Mariella murmured.
Spatial mana flared, wrapping around the three of them—
—and in the next instant, they vanished.
(End of Chapter)
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