"How is it, Asta? Not bad, right?"
Rebecca looked at Asta devouring her food like a tornado, her face flushing slightly with pride.
For soone like her—parents long gone, raising several siblings on her own, playing both sister and mother—it was hard to be appreciated by most n.
But Asta didn't care at all. If anything, he seed happy to help with the burden.
At least from her point of view, that's how it felt.
He treated her, and her younger siblings, with genuine kindness.
And the children adored Asta.
As for Ethan Hayes sitting nearby...
"Lord Marquis, does the food suit your taste?" she asked a bit nervously.
"It's excellent—really. But no need to be so formal. I'm just Asta's friend. Just call Ethan."
He smiled warmly as he continued eating.
That's the difference status makes.
Once upon a ti, he was just so no-na kid from a rural village.
No money, no background, no strength.
But now? He was the Commander of Dawnlight, a full Marquis.
To soone like Rebecca—a commoner—his status was like a mountaintop. Even those who used to look down on him could only lower their heads and call him "Commander Ethan" with respect now.
But with old friends like Asta, there was no need to put on airs.
They were friends, after all. No need to act high and mighty.
"Asta, you go ahead and eat. Monty, let's go take a walk."
Ethan put down his chopsticks and smiled, motioning for Monty to follow him outside.
As he left, he glanced—subtly—at a nearby table.
He caught a glimpse of soone he recognized.
Noelle? Is she following Asta? …Seriously?
Shaking his head, Ethan felt a little sour inside.
This was probably what they call "hidden brilliance"—the real-life version of a slow-witted genius.
In the original tiline, Asta never really said anything romantic to Noelle, nor showed much interest.
Yet she couldn't resist his pull, like a moth to a fla.
And it wasn't just her—other girls were slowly being pulled into Asta's orbit too.
If it wasn't love, then it was at least admiration. Attraction to his charm—the protagonist aura.
anwhile, Ethan? Still single as ever.
"Ugh… I'll put love aside for now. Figuring out whether the plot's gone off track is more important."
Ethan stepped into the snowy streets.
The weather in the Clover Kingdom was strange—no set seasons.
One mont snow, the next sunshine.
Good thing the crops here were ridiculously resilient, or else people would've starved to death ages ago.
"No unusual fluctuations. The snow's natural," Ethan noted ntally after circling the town.
His magical sensitivity was incredibly sharp—he could easily tell the difference between naturally occurring phenona and magically induced ones.
"Commander, can we head back now? It's freezing out here," Monty whined.
"Freezing? Don't tell you don't know how to use magic to stay warm?"
Ethan gave him a weird look.
He's already Eighth Domain, and he's afraid of the cold?
"Ah… a-choo! H-how do I do that? I never learned..."
Ethan sighed.
This was a problem.
Actually—this was a squad-wide issue.
Yes, many of his mbers had strong raw power—so even Seventh Domain level.
But they were too commoner-like.
And that ca with a lack of knowledge, education, and awareness.
These things weren't "power" in the typical sense—but in a way, they were more important.
For example, a noble from another squad, even one in the Ninth Domain, could survive a snowstorm for days.
But Monty? With his Eighth Domain power?
He'd freeze to death in a day simply because he didn't know how to regulate his body temperature with mana.
That kind of magical illiteracy was dangerous.
"Control your mana, circulate it through your body constantly. It'll form a natural insulation to keep you warm," Ethan instructed.
Monty followed his words imdiately.
His control was decent—he had managed to build a spatial tunnel in one shot, after all.
In seconds, his face lit up.
"Commander, you're amazing! I don't feel cold anymore!"
Really? Ethan's face twitched.
It wasn't that he was amazing. It was that Monty was hopeless.
"But… why's she following ?" Ethan frowned.
Through his senses, he picked up Noelle—disguised in a red cloak—trailing behind him.
Shouldn't she be keeping an eye on Asta?
Why trail him?
Shaking his head, Ethan glanced at the dimming sky.
"Whatever. Ti to head back."
When they returned to the diner, Asta and Rebecca were gone.
Maybe off on a date.
Maybe… even in a hotel sowhere, already rounding the bases.
"Sleep. Sleep… early sleep ans no sudden death…"
Ethan flopped into bed and drifted into dreamland.
He had no idea how much ti passed when he suddenly shot up in bed, eyes sharp and alert.
A massive magical fluctuation had rippled across the area.
Whoosh—!
Throwing on his coat, Ethan leapt onto the rooftop.
The whole town was silent under the snowy blanket.
It must've been past 1 or 2 AM.
Yet down on the streets, dozens of footprints were still clearly visible in the untouched snow.
Too many to count—dozens at least.
And far in the distance, through the blizzard, he caught a glimpse of the owners of those prints.
They were children—lots of them.
So it's still happening? Just like before?
Ethan raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself.
Strangely enough, this shouldn't have happened.
After all, he'd already exposed Licht's identity.
If he were Licht, he'd be lying low, avoiding attention, keeping his profile hidden.
Yet just days later, the enemy was already on the move again?
"If I can't figure it out now—then I will figure it out."
In a flash, Ethan dashed off to follow the tracks.
At the sa ti, inside a remote mountain cave, strange research equipnt had been set up—almost like modern laboratories.
Nearby, dozens of hollow-eyed children stood like puppets.
Each one had their mana being drained as they were strapped into magical siphon devices.
"Brother… Lord Licht told us to lay low. Is this really okay?"
One of the boys asked nervously.
"You don't get it," sneered the other. "This is live mana. You expect to just leave it untouched?"
The older boy—Barro—glared at his younger brother, Neige, who was clearly more timid.
Sure, Neige was loyal and powerful, but way too soft.
And soft people don't survive long.
Those who dared, thrived. Those who didn't, starved.
"What, you think we're gonna live off the wind? Hurry up! These brats have so serious juice—especially that girl, Marie. Her magic level is rare. After this haul, we'll lay low."
Unbeknownst to them, Ethan had already arrived—watching everything from the shadows.
But he didn't act imdiately.
Sothing feels off...
There was a nagging sense in his heart that sothing didn't add up.
And until he figured it out—he wouldn't move.
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