Chapter 19
Terry Romance gazed down from the cliff.
Below the sheer, perfectly carved drop, waves crashed violently against the rocks, striking with a threatening smack. Since the morning after the chaotic battle, knights and mages had been combing the surrounding area in an effort to uncover the cause behind the poisonous dragon incident.
Yet even after half a day of searching, they had gained nothing of note.
There were no clues—none at all.
It was clean enough that calling it spotless wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
The sea was just a sea.
The land was just land.
There were no traces of suspicious individuals, nor even a single residue of magical energy indicating that a spell had been cast.
“The spell wasn’t cast here.”
Terry delivered the conclusion calmly.
“It’s not that they set up a ritual across the area to prevent tracing the origin. They implanted magic directly into each poisonous dragon. Then they activated it here—and elsewhere—after time had passed.”
A rookie mage, standing beside Terry and shivering in the fierce sea wind, asked with a pale face,
“A-all of them? Dozens of them?”
“Yes. Poisonous dragons are dangerous monsters, sure, but they’re not usually this aggressive. This theory explains it. It was probably a spell that manipulated their minds—or their behavior.”
An elderly mage beside them spoke with a grave expression.
“I found it strange that traces of magic appeared only on the dragon corpses. But if what you say is true, Count, it makes perfect sense. I failed to consider that.”
“It’s not an easy thing to imagine,” Terry replied, clicking his tongue softly. “It’s the sort of magic that’s dismissed as absurd even in theory. Ten years wouldn’t have been enough. They must’ve spent at least twenty bringing it to fruition.”
With a nod toward the old mage, Terry continued,
“Take one of the corpses back to the Mage Tower. Preserve it with magic.”
“I will see to it.”
As Terry turned away from the cliff, the rookie mage looked up at him, close to tears.
“Are we… going home now?”
“Yeah. You did well.”
“I should be happy about that, but somehow my heart feels heavier instead……”
“That’s understandable. If someone was insane enough to individually inscribe mind-control magic onto dozens of poisonous dragons, then they’re no ordinary madman. And now we’re the ones who have to deal with them.”
At Terry’s blunt remark, the rookie mage’s tearful face shifted into despair.
Terry felt a brief pang of guilt for dropping that bombshell so suddenly.
But the situation was just as troubling for him.
‘Mental magic isn’t my specialty……’
If it were an external factor—like tainted land or polluted air—he could deal with it, the way one might completely tear out and replace an environment.
But the mind, the inner self, lay far outside Terry’s expertise.
Even a grand mage couldn’t foresee the future, after all.
At the same time, a more fundamental doubt crept into Terry’s mind. The situation was growing far more serious than expected.
‘Is this really something that gets solved just by me finding the male lead?’
Could mimicking some once-in-a-century romance really make signs of catastrophe vanish overnight?
Terry stared at the sea for a long while, brows furrowed, before letting out a short sigh and turning away.
Doubting it wouldn’t change anything.
Clutching at straws, he still had to go through with that ridiculous ro-ro… romance.
Terry’s gaze slid sideways to Liam.
Given the current circumstances, that kid was a male lead candidate too.
The problem was that Terry’s feelings toward Liam were closer to that of a guardian. Seeing him as overlapping with his nephew, romance already felt impossible.
‘Wait—does he even like me in the first place?’
Terry knew Liam was obedient and compliant.
He had noticed long ago that Liam treated him with particular deference—so much so that it would’ve been stranger not to notice.
And yet, Terry couldn’t quite grasp the reason behind it. What kind of feelings were driving that behavior?
Saying it was simply gratitude toward a benefactor felt insufficient. The devotion was excessive.
Still, falling in love just because someone saved your life once was hard for Terry to understand.
It wasn’t as though they interacted often. Ever since helping Liam join the knight order, Terry had barely shown his face—aside from a single misdelivered letter.
‘If it were me, I’d have been upset, thinking my cold sponsor had lost interest.’
Was this the heroine buff at work?
Terry felt faintly uncomfortable.
That discomfort was part of why he’d always treated romance like a spectator sport.
Whenever a handsome man approached, he’d brush it off as “well, I am the female lead.”
But what even was true love, anyway?
In a story where every passing pretty man inevitably fell for the heroine, wasn’t it already too late to talk about fate…?
“Wow. They say we’re heading straight back to the capital without even resting here.”
The rookie mage’s lament snapped Terry out of his thoughts.
“There’s even more to do once we’re back.”
“……Are all field assignments like this?”
“You’ll get used to it, rookie. …Wait, what was your name again?”
“Ah! Claudia, sir.”
“Right. Claudia. You’ll be going on plenty more missions like this, so start by building up your stamina. After a while, it’ll all feel normal.”
“……Yes……”
“It also helps to develop your own habits so you can sleep soundly anywhere.”
As Claudia mulled over the veteran’s advice, a thought crossed her mind.
‘Then is the Count suddenly waking up at dawn and sitting quietly part of a habit too?’
Maybe some personal stretching routine for when sleeping conditions were bad?
Resolving to try it herself on the next mission, the rookie mage’s first expedition came quietly to an end.
* * *
It took ten days after a magical courier delivered the brief message—Victory over the poisonous dragons—to the royal palace before the Hesron Knight Order finally returned to the capital.
During the roughly month-long absence, the capital had been transformed by preparations for the spring festival. Decorations hung everywhere, making it feel completely different from when the knights had departed.
Despite being utterly exhausted from their grueling journey, the knights let out soft exclamations as they passed through the city gates.
Garlands made of colorful paper stretched between buildings, and nearly every flowering tree had reached full bloom, bursting with buds.
The entire capital was fragrant and radiant.
People waited for the festival in an atmosphere of peace and excitement.
Even knights who could barely keep their eyes open wore faint smiles at the sight.
Though they carried back with them the ominous truth that someone lurked behind the strange events, there was still a comfort to peace.
If they had arrived at night, they would have missed this view.
Returning after so long, the capital looked even more beautiful than when they’d left—washed in spring. It became a small solace for those who had endured hardship.
“Welcome back.”
King Margareta Charlotte Garvan of the Kingdom of Feltra greeted Terry and Liam—the first to enter the audience chamber—with a warm smile.
A grand mage.
A knight commander with the potential of a Sword Master.
The reason there had been no casualties in this mission.
“Feltra’s two blessings have returned.”
After gazing fondly at the two, the king gestured with his chin.
“Knight Commander Liam Hawthorne. Report.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
This was no place for idle chatter.
Liam’s low voice soon echoed through the quiet audience chamber.
“There are no injured or deceased, as stated in the telegram previously delivered. The enemy poisonous dragons numbered over twenty by rough estimate, and we successfully eradicated them all.”
So far, it was a pleasing report.
“However, the cause of this incident appears to involve deliberate human intervention.”
That was the problem.
The king’s expression darkened, rendering his earlier joy over the knights’ safe return meaningless.
“Human intent.”
The one outcome he had most hoped to avoid.
But even if it had been a natural anomaly in the ecosystem, his heart would have been just as heavy.
The king quickly regained his composure.
Maintaining calm, he spoke again.
“Then let us hear the opinion of Count Romance, who participated in this expedition as the representative of the Mage Tower Anados. What sort of intent do you believe this was?”
“It wasn’t petty malice, but something prepared over a very long time. They placed control magic on each of the more than twenty poisonous dragons individually. This isn’t something a handful of people could accomplish in a short period.”
“……Which means there are vile elements somewhere seeking to shatter Feltra’s peace.”
Terry fell silent.
Vile elements.
The moment those words reached his ears, a single name surfaced in his mind.
‘Adrahim……’
