The King of the Dead’s rapid fire words made Olek freeze in confusion.

But Tie, staring straight at Olek, continued passionately expressing her opinion.

"This nokijon is unfair! You cannot chase away not only the children who run and make noise, but even good children! That is not fair!"

"Of course Tie also understands why the owner made nokijon! Because bad children run around, make noise, break cups, and their fathers and mothers do not take responsibility!"

"......."

"But if you make nokijon, then even good children cannot do anything, that is unfair! First you should ask, "Are you a good child?" and then only let in half!"

Nokijon?

Olek stared blankly with his mouth open, hearing that strange word and its combinations for the first time.

Meanwhile the King of the Dead had already turned red to the tips of her ears and was huffing angrily.

At the same time she was still firmly holding the shockproof bag from the other side, the very bag Olek had been trying to confiscate.

Olek opened his mouth with a confused expression.

"I, I do not know anything about that, but I already said leave."

And he lightly pulled the bag toward himself.

"Aah!"

Losing her balance, the King of the Dead staggered forward.

But she refused to give up and immediately tugged the bag back toward herself.

"I will not leave!"

The bag stretched tight like a string, and Bale stepped in uneasily.

"M, kid... no, squad leader. What suddenly got into you?"

But Astie clearly had no intention of letting go of the bag.

"I will not go anywhere! I will resist injustice!"

Olek’s face grew even more bewildered.

He had only planned to quietly, quickly, and neatly escort Agavert out.

But it seemed the King of the Dead had no intention of leaving voluntarily.

Olek exchanged glances with the other blacksmiths and gathered his courage.

Then he frowned, clearly showing he would not back down.

"As I already said we will not sell you anything!"

Saying that, he pulled the bag harder, and the King of the Dead staggered again.

"Then give the hammer back! It belongs to Uncle Basto! Idiot!"

But the King of the Dead did not yield and pulled the bag even harder than before.

Veins bulged on Olek’s hand.

"Just let go already!"

"I will not leave!"

"Let go!"

"I do not want to!!"

The bag between them swung back and forth.

For a while the tense standoff continued.

"Oof!"

With a crack, the handle of the bag tore apart.

Astie, who had been holding it, lost her balance from the sudden jerk and tilted backward.

"Astie!"

Basto quickly reached out his hand, but the child staggered back several steps and fell heavily onto the floor.

"Ouch...."

"Astie! Are you alright?"

Basto rushed over and quickly checked Astie’s face.

She winced, but fortunately she was not seriously hurt.

The problem was something else.

When Astie fell, she hit something nearby.

Kiiiiik—

At the ominous sound everyone turned around.

"E, eh?"

Olek’s jaw dropped, and the blacksmiths rushed forward.

But it was already impossible to stop the main treasured exhibit of the Weapon Pavilion, the Heart of Krazar, which was already tipping over.

Kwadang tang tang!

A loud metallic crash echoed through the hall as it struck the floor.

Basto managed to cover Astie’s head, so she was safe.

But the Heart of Krazar was not.

Tie blinked widely in shock as she looked at the scattered pieces of armor.

The platinum gilded helmet rolled across the floor.

Near Astie lay a breastplate split cleanly in two.

The elbow guards and gauntlets had already flown aside and struck the wall.

Tie looked at Olek with the expression of a puppy caught stealing a treat.

Olek also stared at Tie with completely stunned eyes.

For a moment silence hung in the air.

"What is happening here—!"

A shout came from behind.

Wide eyes. Pale face. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The person standing frozen with his mouth open was—

"S, s, elder?!"

It was Verugon, chief of the factories of the weapons district and the senior master blacksmith.

"K, k, kk—!"

Verugon opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish on dry land, then rushed toward where the Heart of Krazar lay.

"The armor! The Heart of Krazar—!"

Astie swallowed.

At that moment Verugon stared at the destroyed armor like a man who had lost something and muttered,

"Where is the core?!"

Then he suddenly turned to Olek and the other blacksmiths.

"The core of Krazar! Where is the core?!"

The blacksmiths hurried over.

One after another they dropped to their knees and began rummaging through the scattered pieces of armor.

"The core...?"

Tie blinked in confusion.

She did not understand how everything had turned out like this, but she quietly began looking around as well.

'W, well it still fell because of Tie....'

She decided she should at least help find the core.

"Search everywhere! It could have rolled anywhere lift all the displays and check!"

The blacksmiths shouted "Yes!" and hurriedly began overturning the exhibition stands.

Glancing at Verugon, Tie hesitantly examined ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) the floor nearby as well.

"Oh?"

Under the torn handle of the bag she had just been pulling with Olek,

something was shining.

Something the size of a quail egg.

Its surface was so smooth that her face was clearly reflected in its dark red sheen.

Tie quickly reached out her hand.

And lifted the warm core high above her head.

"I found it! Here!"

Verugon abruptly turned his head.

When he saw the red stone in Tie’s hand, his eyes widened.

But—

"......huh?"

At that moment a crack suddenly ran straight through the center of the core Tie was holding.

Jjjrr—

Dark red smoke began to leak from the crack.

Verugon quietly muttered,

"...No."

At that moment Tie suddenly felt the strength leaving her body.

She sharply inhaled.

Her vision began to blur.

Through her slowly closing eyelids she saw something indistinct.

It was Verugon’s face running toward her.

Then everything plunged into darkness.

"What is this...?"

Bale murmured in a stunned voice.

He stared straight ahead, unable to believe his eyes.

Raul and Enzo were just as shocked.

"S, squad leader...."

Astie, who had just been standing in front of them, had completely vanished.

The red stone. The core of Krazar. Verugon.

Everything had disappeared.

Not a single trace remained.

"H, hey."

Nordix hurriedly called out to Olek.

Olek slowly turned around.

"What just happened here?! Our squad leader and the factory chief disappeared! What the hell happened?!"

Olek’s face had gone pale and he said nothing.

He stood frozen, then opened his mouth as if unable to believe what was happening.

"T, that is... I mean...."

The Weapon Pavilion was completely sealed.

"The subspace of Krazar?"

At the question Olek swallowed heavily.

"Y, yes... you know who Krazar is."

Krazar.

The being that had existed inside the massive magic stone that was besieged thirty five years ago.

A truly absolute enemy.

Even after all these years people still sometimes remembered Krazar.

There was only one reason.

"I heard he was a very unpleasant opponent."

His infamy had been far too great.

"That is right. The siege alone took five full days."

"Because of that strange mist you mentioned?"

Olek nodded.

"Exactly. And after that there are things only we insiders know...."

His expression grew even more uneasy.

"In truth that bastard could distort space and create his own subspace. He dragged in anyone who approached and drove them insane until they destroyed themselves."