The lich’s lair was located in the northern region—one of the nine parts the Kingdom of Birka was divided into.
While the adventurers from the northern branch acted as an advance party to assess the area, carriages filled with adventurers departed from the western, northwestern, central, northeastern, and eastern branches.
The three southern branches did not participate in this mission. The reason was simple: the distance. If they waited for those branches to arrive, the lich would have far too much ti to prepare. Instead, the southern branches were tasked with holding their territory, covering the gaps left by the many skilled adventurers dispatched from the other branches.
The procession that left from the eastern branch included five parties—two of fourth rank, and three of third rank.
Among them were so familiar faces from Bern’s past.
“Hahaha! I was honestly a little disappointed we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye last ti!”
Alces Bertraya.
A rare fourth-rank adventurer and soone Bern had t in Frencia, Alces greeted him in a friendly tone.
“I apologize. The situation was so urgent, I barely had the presence of mind to exchange greetings,” Bern replied.
Alces shrugged.
“No need to apologize. I ca to help and barely had ti to do anything before it all wrapped up in a flash. Still, the incident was resolved, and the victims were returned. I suppose that’s what really matters.”
“It’s not truly over yet. Until the rest of the victims are rescued, we can’t call it complete.”
“Hm, fair point.”
Alces stroked his beard out of habit, then asked in a slightly lowered voice, “By the way, did that bastard kidnapper cough up anything useful? Any weaknesses the lich has, or what kind of magic it uses?”
Bern gazed at him silently.
Alces, as if interpreting that look a certain way, lowered his voice and glanced around warily.
“I hate to admit it, but your party handled things so damn quickly, it’s made things a little awkward for mine. Everyone we run into keeps comparing us to you, and the team’s morale is... well, not great.”
Bern turned to glance at Alces’s party, who were resting near a campfire a short distance away from his own group.
At first glance, they seed to be chatting casually among comrades. But if you looked more closely, you could feel the sharp glances being cast toward Bern and his group.
Alces bowed his head, almost pleadingly.
“This request has the attention of the entire guild. If we can just pull our weight here, we’ll silence the ones mocking us. I promise you’ll be compensated. So please—can’t you help us out?”
Bern stayed silent for a mont, then let out a short chuckle.
“How much are you offering?”
Alces’s eyes lit up.
“So there is useful information?”
“My answer depends on what you’re willing to pay.”
“Hoho, you’re more money-minded than I expected.”
“Is there a single adventurer who doesn’t like money?”
“Well, no, but... You’ve got this calm look and composed manner, gave the impression you were above that sort of thing.”
“Common misunderstanding. I like money very much.”
“Hmph.”
Alces hesitated for a mont, then pulled a pouch from his belt and held it out.
It was heavy in the hand, and the gold shimring from its open mouth caught Bern’s eye.
“You’re quite generous.”
“When you’ve got fa, money follows. But if your reputation drops, your earnings disappear just as fast. That’s the life of an adventurer. This is an investnt.”
Bern accepted the pouch and lowered his voice.
“If you run into the lich’s apprentices in the dungeon, watch out for the black orbs they carry.”
“Orbs?”
“They’re about this big,” Bern said, making a gesture with his hands. “The color looks like a clump of oil, pitch black and gleaming.”
As he described it in detail, Alces’s eyes glead.
“Go on.”
“We were interrogating the suspect, when suddenly the orb he had transford into a blade and pierced right through him. We managed to heal him enough to get a few words out, but nothing too detailed. We almost missed the fact the lich was behind it all.”
“Then that guy’s dead? Who did the lord execute?”
“I made a deal with the lord. In exchange for additional compensation, he wanted it to appear that he’d carried out justice himself. They probably executed so random prisoner in his place.”
“Hmph. That does sound like sothing that lord would do. Any other info?”
“Only the location of a temporary hideout. We’ve already rescued the victims who were there, so it’s not particularly useful anymore.”
Alces nodded.
“Understood. I’ll be careful about those orbs. Has anyone else heard this?”
“Unfortunately, no one’s been quite as generous a custor as you.”
“Hahaha! You really are a rchant in disguise, aren’t you? Fine, I believe you.”
Laughing heartily, Alces headed back to his companions.
Bern watched him go for a mont, then turned and returned to his carriage.
From the shadows, the demon spoke.
[Hey... what exactly are you scheming?]
Bern changed the subject.
‘People are easiest to deceive when they think they’re the ones doing the deceiving. I’ll have to be careful myself.’
***
At the Sa Ti.
Blanca was thinking.
This is seriously uncomfortable.
“Um, I... I’m sorry about last ti. I think I... kind of went too far...”
Karina’s voice trailed off into a near whisper, barely audible by the end. At her awkward, almost cringing apology, Blanca responded in a voice as cold as ice.
“Karina. Don’t act like soone you’re not.”
Karina flinched hard.
Even so, she couldn’t bring herself to walk away. She stood there fidgeting, full of nerves, stealing glances—nothing like the proud, haughty mage Blanca rembered.
Blanca let out a sigh.
She wasn’t clueless as to why Karina’s attitude had suddenly changed.
‘They said things haven’t been going well for her lately.’
Karina’s party was made up of five mbers: two warriors, one rogue, and two mages.
But two of them—who had tried and failed to assassinate Bern and ended up completely wrecked—had left the party altogether and retired. Blanca had heard the story before.
Adventuring parties usually take a long ti and a lot of effort to build chemistry, so losing even one mber can drastically weaken the team.
And to make matters worse, the remaining bearded warrior was more of a tank due to his heavy movents, while the healing mage was soone who didn’t even qualify as third-rank but had been recruited solely for their healing aptitude as a temporary stand-in for Blanca.
Even if Karina was incredibly skilled, expecting her party to function well under these conditions would be unreasonable.
Starting a new party might sound like a solution, but Karina’s group had gained a terrible reputation.
Five people ganged up on a second-rank adventurer, only to get crushed without leaving a scratch—an utter embarrassnt for a third-rank party.
Blanca knew it only went that way because Bern was a monster, but to outsiders unfamiliar with the situation, it was natural to wonder: “Maybe that party was never worth much to begin with?”
It might not matter to soone lingering at the bottom of second rank, but to third-rank adventurers—or those aspiring to be—Karina’s party had beco deeply unattractive as allies.
Their strength had dropped, public opinion was harsh, and the outlook was bleak.
And now, the very person Karina had clashed with was rising rapidly through the ranks right before her eyes.
If Blanca were the vengeful type, this would be the perfect ti to strike.
Even if Blanca didn’t move against her directly, what if powerful adventurers chose to exclude Karina’s group just to avoid getting on Blanca’s bad side?
“Hmph.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Blanca, arms crossed, stared at Karina. Then she glanced at the bearded warrior and the healing mage standing awkwardly behind her.
The healer flinched and looked away. The warrior bowed his head, clearly ashad.
Renya, nearby, exploded in anger.
“What nerve ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) these people have! Miss! You shouldn’t even be listening to them!”
“I—I won’t ever do it again! I really thought I was soone back then! Just once—please, just give one more chance!”
“If you were going to apologize, you should’ve done it long ago! Instead, you disappear, only to show up now that Miss is doing well, when you’re desperate and down on your luck—what kind of mindset is that?!”
“I... I...”
Karina could only flush red in the face, unable to offer a real rebuttal under Renya’s relentless scolding.
Blanca let out a small, ironic laugh.
A fourth-tier mage, honestly speaking, could settle in as a court magician in any noble domain and receive better treatnt than most knights.
And yet here she was—reduced to this.
Maybe she didn’t have the confidence to leave the adventuring world and start over sowhere new. Or maybe things had gotten so bad she couldn’t even consider alternatives. Or maybe—and this seed unlikely, but still—maybe she felt responsible as the party leader and couldn’t bring herself to abandon the others.
What would Bern have said in this situation?
Blanca pondered for a while, then smiled faintly.
—Do whatever you feel like, Miss Blanca. Isn’t that what being an adventurer is all about?
She hadn’t even heard those words directly, yet they echoed in her ears, clear as day. With that, Blanca finally opened her mouth.
“Karina. I’ll ask you one thing, and I want a straight answer. Don’t dodge it or lie—if you do, I really can’t say what’ll happen.”
“W-what is it?”
“Why did you hate so much?”
Karina hesitated, unable to answer right away. But maybe the earlier scolding had done its work—she eventually squeezed her eyes shut and muttered,
“...I was jealous.”
“Sorry?”
“I SAID I WAS JEALOUS, OKAY?! I almost got sold off for a few coins, locked in a brothel for life, and only escaped because I degraded myself in front of a mage custor to beg for a scrap of magic. I clung to that one low-grade spell to beco a mage, and you—YOU were taught properly by your mother! Even carried a staff nobles would kill for! You flung around this spell and that spell like it was nothing!”
Blanca instinctively glanced around. She relaxed only after confirming no one had overheard.
She hadn’t pressured Karina with that intent, but if that story had gotten out and spread as a rumor, things would’ve gotten very uncomfortable.
“...Well.”
Blanca almost told her, “You should’ve just said so from the start,” but bit her tongue.
Karina’s circumstances weren’t the kind you could easily confess unless you were pushed to the brink, and Blanca herself hadn’t cared much about her forr party mbers’ personal stories.
Back then, they were nothing more than assets she needed to rescue her mother.
Her expression grew complicated for a mont before she spoke again.
“Fine.”
“...What?”
“I accept your apology. I’m not going to hold a grudge or drag up the past. I won’t retaliate, so stop skulking around like I will.”
Color returned to Karina’s tear-streaked face.
She looked from Blanca to the rest of the group behind her, bowed several tis, and quietly took her leave.
“You’re far too generous, Miss,” Renya grumbled. “She admitted to being jealous and acting cruel while you were struggling to save your mother.”
“We’ll see.”
Blanca couldn’t even imagine what Karina must’ve thought upon hearing about a mother who risked everything to protect her child—especially soone who’d been sold by her own parents for a handful of coins.
Honestly, she didn’t want to imagine it. It wasn’t a competition over who had suffered more.
“Well, if she stops dragging herself around and gets back on her feet, she’ll be more useful against the lich. That’s good enough.”
Even with the weakened party composition, Karina’s ice magic was still incredibly useful in group battles.
And with this joint mission involving multiple parties, the missing mbers could be covered.
This is all for the sake of strengthening our forces, Blanca told herself—mumbling it under her breath, as if she needed to justify it even though no one was questioning her.
***
So ti later.
At the entrance to the lich’s dungeon.
A middle-aged man radiating murderous intent spoke solemnly.
“─Everyone is present. Let the operation begin.”
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