"Waa..."

Only Lucarion reacted without emotion.

Selina and Pupu clapped—one with her hands, the other with his nose.

"Ahem!"

Pleased with their reaction, Tie turned with a dignified expression and took something out of her bag.

It was a round sheet she had drawn herself—a schedule.

"This is the schedule! First—nine in the morning! Everyone wakes up, washes up, and brushes their teeth!"

The squad members exchanged glances.

"Then from ten to four—free time!"

Bale frowned.

"Wait. What kind of free time is that long? That’s almost the entire day."

As if she had expected that question, Tie straightened her shoulders.

"This free time is only for you! During that time, Tie goes to a learning place."

Basto’s mouth fell slightly open.

Come to think of it—

Luminel was already looking for a suitable place for Tie’s education.

As soon as they found a way to move without being noticed, she could start attending immediately.

'But the schedule is too tight.'

Study during the day.

Assault magic crystals at night.

For a four-year-old child, it was too much.

Basto raised his hand.

"Tie. That schedule is too demanding for you."

Raul and Bale agreed.

"I think so too. Won’t it be too exhausting?"

"Yeah, kid. For children, sleep, rest, and food are the most important."

But Tie stubbornly shook her head.

"No! For Tie, becoming the number one mercenary squad is more important!"

And she continued passionately:

"Look! Tie is a king! The King of the Dead! But if Tie’s squad is not number one—that’s very shameful!"

"Shameful?"

"Yeah!"

Tie had just learned the word "shameful" from Selina.

She had been told about noble society.

"If you’re not first place, it’s shame and disgrace! So Tie will quickly conquer magic crystals and become a legendary mercenary!"

Bale ran a hand irritably through his hair.

Then stood up.

"Yeah... well, it’s about time we returned to our main work anyway."

With everything that had happened recently, Agavert had not done any assaults for a while.

"We’ll try it. Raising our rank will only benefit us."

He looked around at everyone.

"Then we start with small ones outside the capital? Everything here is under the Holy Knights’ control anyway."

Tie tilted her head.

"Bale oppa, what are you talking about? We should defeat both small and medium ones! That way we become number one faster!"

Bale smirked.

"Kid. You think medium ones are easy? Where does this obsession with first place come from?"

Tie looked away.

She could not say:

'Because then I can take away Papa’s income faster!'

She pretended to look at the schedule.

"But in Pearlcity, we already cleared a medium one. It was in the sea and not difficult..."

"That’s because you summoned a ghost ship."

Bale said in a strange tone.

"Though... with our current strength, medium level might actually be doable."

"If we’re going anyway, medium is more profitable than small."

Basto interjected.

He stroked his beard.

"If the goal is to raise our ranking, there’s no point wasting time on small ones. Better to go straight for medium."

Tie’s face lit up.

"Really?! Waa, Uncle Basto is the best!"

She ran over and hugged him tightly.

But then Nordix spoke:

"Then how do you plan to travel, Tie?"

Tie immediately ran to the table with the portal scrolls.

"Travel—with these! Selina’s parents gave a lot!"

Nordix nodded.

"I thought so."

And calmly continued:

"But there’s a problem. You can’t get close to magic crystals using portals."

Tie’s eyes widened.

Nordix folded his hands on his knees and began explaining:

"Around every magic crystal, there are waves of mana."

"Waves...?"

"Yes."

He picked up one portal.

And showed the patterns on the back.

"In these runes flows mana extracted from a monster core. That’s what allows the portal to function."

"..."

"But the waves from a medium crystal disrupt the flow of mana inside the portal. It won’t activate."

Tie’s lips slowly parted.

"If it weren’t like this, everyone would already be using portals to attack. It’s not that they don’t want to. They can’t."

"..."

"So you cannot teleport directly to the crystal."

Tie focused so hard she almost started drooling.

And suddenly remembered.

That day when she met Edmund.

He had said the same thing.

'Back then, they couldn’t send supplies either...'

Because there were magic crystals nearby.

And back then, Tie had suggested a solution—sending cargo using sky lanterns.

Tie looked at Nordix.

"Then... what do we do...?"

Her brows lowered.

Nordix gently patted her head.

"Move as close as possible—and walk the rest."

"How long is the walk?"

"For a small one—about twenty dio. That’s roughly four hours."

"Four hours?!"

Tie’s mouth fell open.

Even with a portal—four hours on foot.

And that was just for a small one.

"And for medium?"

"Safely—about one hundred dio. Less than that is risky."

Tie [N O V E L I G H T] had already heard about portal accidents.

'I heard the younger Viscount Mathias lost his arm.'

'Yeah. Used a portal.'

'There are still idiots like that...'

'He was drunk. Couldn’t input the coordinates properly. And the distance was only twenty minutes by carriage... Hey! Kid! What are you doing under the stairs?!'

Back then, Tie had been playing a sleeping bear.

And heard everything.

And had been very scared.

'If you use a portal near a crystal—your arm...!'

Tie clenched her fingers.

If it took four hours... or even twenty...

Her entire plan would fall apart.

First—she wouldn’t be able to take away Papa’s income quickly.

Second—

"Tie won’t be able to work two shifts..."

Studying during the day and assaults at night became impossible.

"What should I do...?"

And then—

Tie’s gaze landed on Marbas, standing slightly off to the side.