"Zera, Weston and Mavis have already gone far ahead."
"Aren't you going with them?"
This must be your first time on land too, right?"
Yuri and the others watched Zera curiously.
After spending days together, they'd sensed something unusual among the three brats: they clearly liked one another, yet the feelings were tangled with something else.
Take Weston and Mavis—kindred spirits whose souls resonated;
Weston and Zera shared a hazy, first-love sweetness;
strangest of all were Mavis and Zera—part sisters, part besties, sometimes giving off a cheeky-mum-and-tsundere-daughter vibe.
The spectacle left these three romance-novice boys doubting their own ideas of love.
They'd roamed plenty and seen nobles keep multiple wives, yet...
a trio like Weston, Mavis and Zera was unheard-of.
Fascinating.
Watching the three interact—and guessing how it would end—had become the boys' daily fix.
Skip a day and ants crawled under their skin.
"Not going!"
"I'm not a kid—nothing here interests me!"
Zera tossed her hair in tsundere dismissal.
Yet her eyes kept sneaking glances at the pair, envy flickering across her face.
Yuri's trio caught every nuance.
They exchanged looks, one thought echoing—
'She's totally interested!!'
"Come on, let's follow!"
"Any slower and we'll lose them!"
Soon the four caught up with Weston and Mavis.
After the earlier dash Mavis had calmed; once they crossed the market into the town proper Weston reluctantly set her down.
"So, how do we reach Magnolia?"
This time Weston already knew Blue Skull's location—no need to nose around taverns and risk tipping them off.
"Walking, about three days..."
Fiore had no 'Magic Trains' yet, nor 'Magic SUVs'.
You rode, hired a carriage, or walked.
For them, only walking was possible.
With the kingdom in turmoil, horses were costly war-stock; commoners couldn't afford them.
"No rush."
"We rest here tonight and leave tomorrow."
Night, in the inn.
The six held another briefing.
"Intel so far: Blue Skull HQ is in Magnolia, west of Hargeon, with about three hundred Mages."
"Satellite guilds in surrounding Towns—including Hargeon—number six."
"Each has roughly fifty scouts."
Total strength: six hundred."
"Know the enemy, win every fight."
Weston opened Super Ancient Text, overlaid Fiore's map, zoomed south, circled Magnolia and nearby Towns.
An enemy-deployment chart snapped into focus.
"Their spread is loose—perfect for picking off."
Battle plan..."
Mavis rubbed her chin, mind racing.
"We don't need one!"
"Numbers aside, only their master matters; the rest are pushovers. We can storm HQ right now!"
Weston tapped fallen Towns on the map.
"Once HQ falls, the branches will scatter or be swallowed by locals—no threat left."
He brought up a portrait: grizzled, goggle-wearing, cloak-draped, around fifty.
"Blue Skull's master—Jofre!"
"His magic: Terror Flame."
"The fire itself is weak, but anyone touched by it is drowned in dread, loses courage and will, and becomes his slave."
"With it he's corralled Mages and seized Magnolia and these Towns."
"Two of us pin him; the rest wipe out the three hundred."
Terror Flame?
Enslavement?
As vile as Dark Guilds come.
Yuri's group frowned, resolve steeling.
"Who pins him?"
"I'll—"
"Let me!"
Weston's sentence was cut short.
Zera stepped forward.
"Weston, assign me. My magic counters—"
She paused. "No, not just that!
"I'll avenge the people who died seven years ago—Tenrou villagers, our guild... my dad!"
Determination blazed in her eyes.
A daughter avenging her father—nothing more rightful.
The group fell silent, sharing her sorrow.