"Wake up, Priest."

A hand shook his forearm. Miguel’s brow creased as he stirred.

"Just one more hour..."

"I could pass that along. But then someone else would surely come to wake you."

At Nasser’s calm reply, Miguel let out a long sigh and pushed himself upright.

"Ugh... damn it... my body..." he groaned, eyes still half-shut. Every muscle ached, his body throbbing as if he had been beaten senseless.

"You look quite exhausted. Though if I recall correctly, you were the first to fall asleep." Nasser, seated at the edge of the bed, chuckled softly.

Miguel stretched stiffly and muttered, "Ugh... unlike the rest of you, I’m just an ordinary human."

"In my eyes, you’re quite extraordinary as well, Priest. Drink this and get up." Nasser held out a pewter goblet.

"Huh? What’s this for?" Miguel accepted it with a tired expression and took a sip.

It was diluted wine, strong enough to wake his senses.

"Don’t tell me everyone else is already awake except me?"

"You could say that. Sir Mev woke up not long ago as well. As for Sir Ian, it seems he didn’t sleep at all."

"Well, I’ll be damned. That man’s not human, though I suppose that makes sense—he’s a demigod." Miguel let out a dry laugh and shook his head before raising the goblet again.

Right then, a strange smile appeared on Nasser’s lips. "That’s not all. Our lord has also made yet another exceedingly merciful decision."

"Merciful?" Miguel asked, narrowing one eye.

Nasser let out a soft sigh and stood. "I’m not really in a position to comment, considering I survived thanks to that mercy. Come with me. I’ll show you."

"You’re making me nervous talking like that. What is it? At least give me a hint." Miguel drained the rest of the wine and got to his feet.

Nasser nodded while heading toward the door.

"You’ll see soon enough, but they picked up a test subject."

"A test subject?" Miguel stepped out of the room, his eyes narrowing slightly. His gaze moved across the column-lined corridor and toward the square central courtyard beyond.

Unlike the upper floors, the courtyard was paved only with smooth marble.

"Yes. It’s someone you’ll recognize, Priest," Nasser added as they turned diagonally into the marble courtyard.

Following behind him, Miguel’s eyes narrowed further.

"Don’t tell me... that girl?"

The test subject from Roben’s underground laboratory came to mind.

Nasser clicked his tongue lightly and nodded. "I thought you might realize. Apparently, turning the slaves into thralls wasn’t quite enough."

"How in the world did that happen?" Miguel murmured in disbelief as they approached the dining hall entrance across the courtyard.

Inside stood a long table easily seating six. The first person he saw was Mev, sitting at the far end.

Now dressed in comfortable clothes, she absentmindedly dipped bread into stew.

"You’re here. Nasser. Miguel."

Sensing their approach, Mev looked toward the doorway and offered a gentle smile.

Nasser simply bowed his head slightly in greeting and stopped beside the entrance.

"Oh, well now, what’s all this?" Miguel raised an eyebrow at the sight inside.

Across from Mev sat a place setting with stew and bread. But beyond that, the table was piled high with stacks of documents.

Ian sat at the table, casually sipping wine while reading one of the papers. Everything around him looked cleaner than the day before, but he was still wearing the exact same clothes.

"You should eat first, Priest," said Nasser. "I need to inspect my lord’s equipment."

"Ah, right. Got it. Much appreciated."

Oblivious to Nasser's unusual formality, Miguel dropped into the seat across from Mev.

"Then I’ll be off." Nasser gave a short bow and immediately turned down the corridor.

Mev watched him go with a slightly concerned look.

"I heard you took in that test subject earlier... where is she?" Miguel began cautiously, glancing at Ian while tearing off a small piece of bread.

"Thesa took her for a while," said Ian.

"Lily. That girl’s name is Lily, Miguel," Mev added while chewing her bread.

Miguel nodded as he popped the piece into his mouth. "You’ve already given her a name, I see. Understood."

"If we had named her, we wouldn’t have chosen that." Ian snorted.

Miguel paused and looked at the stack of documents beside the table. "That’s the name that man gave her?"

"Yeah. Looks like you’re starting to catch on quickly." Ian nodded and raised the goblet to his lips again.

The papers he was reading were clearly the spellcaster’s research journals.

"Well... still, are you sure this is alright?"

Miguel shook his head and scooped up a spoonful of stew.

"That spellcaster mentioned something about the top floor, didn’t he? And from what I saw... the test subjects that went up there..." His voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

Ian calmly lowered the goblet. "In that sense, Lily was particularly lucky. Imprinting chaos was supposed to be the very last step."

"So that means she hasn’t been corrupted yet?" Miguel murmured.

Mev nodded across from him. "So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t feel too uncomfortable around her. She won’t be traveling with us long anyway. She’ll return with me once we reach Drenorov."

"Oh, you’re coming with us to Drenorov? That’s good news." Miguel smiled warmly at Mev and took a bite of bread soaked in stew.

"Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, Redhead."

A clear voice rang from the doorway.

Mev froze slightly and turned.

Thesaya stepped inside, her silver hair flowing behind her. "Who knows? I might decide I want to take Lily with me."

"You?" Mev narrowed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Miguel quietly chewed his food and glanced beside Thesaya.

"Of course. She’s adorable. And on top of that, she’s a talented mage."

A brown-haired girl, clearly Lily, entered the room beside her.

Her thick hair had been braided into several strands, and she wore a neat, simple skirt in muted colors.

Looking into the girl’s clear blue eyes, Miguel murmured, "She looks different from what I remember...."

"Well, of course she does. I worked on her myself. What do you think? Doesn’t she look much better now?" Thesaya glanced between Ian and Mev.

Both of them nodded almost at the same time.

"Yeah, she looks much better."

"She didn’t resist?"

"Not at all. Lily? Say hello to this scary-looking gentleman too," Thesaya answered immediately and glanced down at Lily.

Already looking at Miguel with her emotionless blue eyes, Lily bent her knees in the imperial fashion and bowed.

"She looks younger than Lucy did when we first met." Miguel gave a slight nod, his tone uneasy.

Thesaya wrapped an arm around Lily’s shoulders and smiled. "You never know. Maybe she just didn’t grow properly because she was underfed. Like me."

"Hmm. That could be... anyway...."

Nodding slowly, Miguel looked at Lily again.

"You’re saying this child is a mage?"

"That doesn’t mean you should show him anything. Don’t do anything, Lily," Mev quickly added.

Lily blinked once and nodded.

Ian placed one of the documents on the table and said, "You should be careful when talking with her, Miguel. Especially with jokes. If you think you might’ve said something wrong, tell her immediately that you didn’t mean it and ask her to stop."

"Uh... alright. Is it because of the procedure she went through?" Miguel asked awkwardly, tapping his temple with a finger.

Thesaya gently stroked Lily’s braided hair and nodded. "Probably. She doesn’t have her memories, and her emotions seem faint. But that doesn’t mean she’s a complete fool, so don’t treat her carelessly, Prosthetic."

"Do I look like the type to do that? Still, we should know what kind of abilities she has." When Lily’s blue eyes turned directly toward him, Miguel hastily added, "I mean—uh, not that I’m asking you to show us. Lily."

Ian chuckled quietly behind his wine goblet.

"According to the documents, she has fifteen spells carved in her. Though those aren’t her natural talents."

"Fifteen?" Miguel’s mouth finally fell open. "That’s practically archmage-level, isn’t it?"

"If Roben had completed her the way he intended, she would’ve become a walking spell turret. Well, I guess you could say she still is." Ian shrugged and looked toward Thesaya.

Still holding Lily’s shoulder, Thesaya turned around. "Then get yourselves ready and come out. Lily and I will head to the plaza and see if there’s anything else worth taking."

As Thesaya led Lily away, Mev watched them go and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Is she seriously thinking about taking her?"

"She probably feels sympathy since they both used to be test subjects. Besides, living in the South might not be so bad," Ian replied calmly.

He was no longer looking at the documents on the table.

Mev hummed quietly in thought.

"If we searched more, do you think there might be other test subjects who could be saved?" Miguel asked while chewing his stew-soaked bread.

A bitter smile appeared on Ian’s lips. "There weren’t any. The rest had already lost their minds and were rampaging."

"Ah. So you already checked." Miguel replied awkwardly.

Mev frowned slightly and looked at Ian. "You checked the other test subjects while I was resting?"

"They woke up while the servants were looting the laboratories. I just went over and helped clean things up."

Mev’s eyes narrowed further at Ian’s shrug.

Miguel spoke up right after. "So you read through all these documents after that?"

"The timing was awkward anyway. Once we leave here, we’ll be riding in a carriage all day. I can sleep then." Ian shrugged again, pulled Miguel’s repeating crossbow out of his pocket dimension, and set it on top of the documents as he stood up.

It was something Miguel had left behind on the top floor.

"Finish getting ready and come outside," Ian added as he started walking out of the dining hall. "I want to check the plaza one more time and see if there’s anything else worth taking."

"Got it!" Miguel answered quickly, shoving the remaining bread into his mouth.

He reached out and grabbed the repeating crossbow, skillfully fastening it back onto his prosthetic before continuing his meal.

"Thanks for accepting her without hesitation, Miguel," Mev said quietly.

Miguel chuckled. "You’re too kind. If anything, you should try calming that Nasser fellow down. Looks like he’s got complaints."

Mev paused before speaking with a faint smile. "That’s understandable. Not all his prejudices have been broken yet. But despite how he seems, Nasser is doing well."

Miguel shrugged.

After finishing the stew in one long gulp, Mev stood up. "I’ll head out first. See you outside."

"Yes, my lord." Miguel didn’t get up until his plate was completely clean. He already knew it would take Mev far longer to prepare herself.

"You’re quick, Priest."

"Heh. Not at all. Let’s go."

As expected, only when Miguel had finished everything and started toward the entrance did Mev finally emerge into the corridor with Nasser beside her.

Unlike Mev, who now wore a full suit of plate armor, Nasser was dressed lightly. He seemed to have returned all the equipment he had borrowed from Ian.

"Looks like they’re ready to leave," Miguel muttered as they stepped out of the mansion.

The mansion was near the exit of the lower level. Several attendants, including the head attendant, were already waiting near the corridor leading to the exit stairs.

"Ah, finally." Thesaya waved at them. She still had Lily tucked under one arm.

Since Lily wasn’t that much shorter than her, they almost looked like sisters.

"Nasser, Miguel." Ian gave them a small nod.

Two attendants stepped forward, one carrying a metal chest and the other a bundled sack.

"This is quite heavy. Looks like gold and treasure," Nasser said as he accepted the chest.

Miguel sniffed the bundle he had received. "This one smells like food. Looks like there are a few bottles of wine too."

Meanwhile, Ian had already stepped into the passage along the wall with the head attendant.

Thesaya was already ahead of them, still leading Lily along as she climbed the stairs.

"We don’t know when other gray mages might return. Let them in without suspicion. What happens afterward will be up to you. And..."

Miguel followed them into the passage and listened to Ian’s voice ahead. He was carefully giving final instructions to the head attendant.

The attendant listened intently, as if determined not to miss a single word.

Once Nasser stepped into the elevator, Thesaya closed the door behind them and said, "That was quite a productive trip."

Nasser nodded in agreement while glancing down at the heavy metal chest in his hands. "Not only did we defeat the corrupted mages, but we also took the tower and its treasures. This place will eventually become the most important base for the alliance."

"Why leave out the attendants?" Thesaya scoffed and added, glancing at Lily. "And now we’ve even got this cute little pup tagging along."

Thesaya opened her right palm. Lily placed her slightly curled hand on top of it.

As Thesaya smiled and patted her hair, Ian clicked his tongue lightly. "Don’t teach the kid weird things, Thesa. Just keep an eye on her."

Mev, meeting his gaze, nodded, while Thesaya chuckled and continued stroking Lily’s hair.

Rumble—

The vibration faded, and the closed door opened.

The smell of damp water drifted in along with faint sunlight.

"I honestly have no idea how many days it’s been since we last came out. My sense of time is completely messed up." Nasser muttered as he stepped outside.

Miguel followed, glancing around.

The sky was overcast, and mist hung in the air, but it was clearly daytime.

Then Miguel’s eyes widened as he peered through the watery fog.

"So it wasn’t just love making Moro blind after all," Ian said, already looking in the same direction as Miguel.

From beyond the mist came the familiar sound of approaching hooves.

A carriage drawn by warhorses emerged from the mist, with Moro and Nila riding alongside it.

Miguel stared blankly at the pair approaching before finally muttering, "I tied it up tight... how did it undo those knots?"