They've Gone to Death Valley

Ethyria City, Kingdom of Westya.

A man with tattered clothes had just entered the city gates.

He walked with a confident stride, paying no attention to the people's gazes upon him.

The man headed towards the military barracks. As he arrived, a working guard caught sight of him, briefly glancing at him, assuming he was just a beggar seeking food.

The guard was about to tell the beggar to wait for a moment while he went to the kitchen hall to bring some food for him.

However, he was surprised when the man kept approaching and stood in front of him. A bit taken aback, he took a closer look at the man before him.

"Ja-Jamie... What happened to you? You look terrible, like a beggar. I almost didn't recognize you..."

The man, Jamie, smiled and flexed his arm muscles.

"Hehe, I've been training hard at the Abyss border. Since I didn't bring spare clothes, I had to make do with what I had."

"...It's good to see that your stupidity hasn't increased as much as your muscles."

"Huh?!"

Jamie felt offended, but his fellow soldier just smirked mischievously.

"Go clean yourself up, Jamie. You have some messages waiting for you from the past few weeks."

"Hm? From whom?"

"First, Lieutenant Legia, she said she was going to Mr. Millard's place."

"Ah, I know about that. Just Lieutenant?"

"The second message is from Commander Kataleya. She said she's going with Lieutenant Legia. Please inform the other squad members about their departure."

"Ehhh? The Commander has returned, and... going to Death Valley? This… Won't she become even more terrifying?"

Jamie imagined his superior getting weapons from Cien.

Kirana was already so formidable, and adding unique weapons to the mix made Jamie shudder at the thought.

"Death Valley?"

"Well, no need to dwell on it. Is there anything else?"

"Hmmm... There are two more messages. One from Duke Terrion Grenhall, saying that you have to meet him once you return from training. The other is from his father, the Former Duke—Luis Grenhall, requesting you to meet him immediately. That's all."

Hearing these two messages, Jamie was stunned.

"The Duke and the Former Duke... why are both of them suddenly asking me to meet them? And with two separate messages..."

His companion just shrugged. There was no way he would know.

"Did you do something foolish during your training at the border there?"

Jamie pondered for a moment, feeling like he hadn't done anything to attract the attention of Ethyria's rulers. Knowing that he hadn't done anything wrong only made him more nervous.

"...did I do something?" Ask Jamie.

"Why are you asking me?"

Jamie was left speechless by his companion's response.

"Ugh, I don't want to go there."

"You'll only make things worse if you do that."

"Ughhhhhhhh…"

"Go! Clean yourself up first! I don't think they'll execute you. Maybe."

"Maybe? Aish…"

Jamie finally walked to the dorm, but this time, not with the same confidence as before.

He slouched with his shoulders drooping. Throughout the journey, he kept thinking about the mistakes he had made, afraid of making any inadvertent errors.

It didn't take long for Jamie to tidy himself up. He wore his complete military uniform and made sure Rupture, his weapon, was securely at his waist. He then headed to Grenhall's residence.

Upon arriving there and being questioned by the gatekeeper about the reason for his visit, Jamie felt perplexed.

He received messages from two different people who lived in the same residence. Could he meet them both at the same time?

"I'm not sure..."

"Hm? Umm, if you don't have a reason, it's better for you to leave," the gatekeeper interjected upon hearing Jamie's mumbling.

"That's not what I meant! Ugh…"

Jamie then recalled the two messages he had received.

Both of them asked Jamie to meet them after training. But if he remembered correctly, he heard the word 'immediately' in Luis Grenhall's message.

Perhaps this should take priority?

"Umm, Lord Luis Grenhal gave me a message to meet him immediately."

The gatekeeper observed Jamie for a moment before asking him to wait while he contacted the people inside the residence.

Upon learning that Luis instructed Jamie to go directly to his room, the gatekeeper escorted Jamie to the designated location.

Once they arrived in front of Luis's room, the gatekeeper knocked and informed that he had brought Jamie.

Luis's voice resonated from behind the door, instructing Jamie to come in.

The gatekeeper opened the door, ushering Jamie inside the room.

As he entered, Jamie noticed several people seated on the sofa: Luis Grenhall, an elderly man, and a middle-aged woman. There were also two servants standing behind the middle-age woman.

'Oh no! Did I come at the wrong time?!'

Contrary to Jamie's worries, Luis warmly welcomed him, considering it the perfect timing for his arrival.

"Jamie, come and sit."

"I dare not, Milord."

"Are you just refusing an order?"

"..."

With his body now sweating, Jamie reluctantly took a seat on one of the sofas. Luis sat in front of him, the elderly man on the left sofa, and the middle-aged woman on the right.

Gulp.

Jamie's nerves were on edge, unsure of what they truly wanted from him.

Jamie felt like he was being scrutinized closely, which made him extremely nervous.

"So, Jamie, the reason we asked you to come here is that we need some help from you."

"Help? Milord, whatever your problem is, I will assist you to the best of my abilities!"

"Hahaha, that's very promising. But first, I want to ask something."

"Please, go ahead, Sir."

"Do you know Cien Millard?"

"!"

Jamie was stunned hearing the name of the Shop Owner from Luis.

He wondered what the people in front of him wanted with Mr. Millard. Weapons? Jamie wasn't sure. He felt there was something else. This made Jamie hesitant to speak.

However, the woman in the room seemed perceptive enough to sense Jamie's thoughts.

She introduced herself as Ethel Kataleya, the mother of Jamie's current squad leader. Ethel reassured Jamie that they had no ill intentions towards Cien Millard.

On the contrary, they all knew Cien.

This reassured Jamie. With a peaceful heart, he recounted his encounter with Cien in Death Valley and his time there, as he had been under Cien's care for quite some time.

"Jamie, can you guide us to where Cien is?" Luis asked, his face filled with happiness.

Jamie paused for a moment. He had not planned on returning there for a while. However, since this was Lord Luis's request, Jamie couldn't refuse.

"I will show you the way, Milord." Jamie responded with a slight bow.

After the conversation concluded, he proceeded to explain the route they needed to take to reach Cien.

He emphasized that they would have to pass through the Kingdom of Farnodt, which caused the people there to frown since they were aware of the tense situation in that kingdom.

"Can we enter?" Niles asked.

"We should be able to. The gates of the kingdom have been opened. However, the situation inside could be quite tense. It won't be a pleasant journey," Luis explained.

"Sigh... I hope I can meet Kirana there," Ethel murmured, still waiting anxiously for news from her daughter.

"Hm?" Jamie was surprised to hear this, "Um, do you mean Commander Kataleya?"

"Yes, do you know anything about her? It's been a long time since my daughter gave any news. She has a way of making people worry."

"...Umm, I think Commander is already with Mr. Millard."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Commander Kataleya and Lieutenant Legia left for Death Valley weeks ago. I believe they should have arrived there by now."

Upon hearing this, Ethel's eyes widened, while Luis and Niles exchanged blank stares, trying to hide their nervous smiles.

They then looked at Ethel, who now had visible veins on her beautiful face.

Crack!

"Hehehe... so she already knows about her father and left her mother like that. Looks like I'll have to give my daughter a little lesson."

The atmosphere in the room turned tense as Ethel expressed her frustrations.

The other three people sitting on the sofa looked at Ethel's cup, which now had many cracks appearing on it.

Jamie, who was completely clueless, felt terrified. Questions swirled in his mind.

'Father? Mother? What is she talking about?! Why is this woman suddenly angry?!'

***

In Death Valley, Kirana and Legia were currently training around Fenrir's dwelling.

"Brrrr!"

Kirana shivered, feeling a vague sense of threat, but when she looked around, there was nothing there.

"Hmm? Maybe it's just my imagination."

"What's wrong, Commander?" asked Legia, drenched all over.

"Nothing. I'm just shivering a bit."

"How can you shiver? You're a Master of Ice!"

Right, Kirana thought. She felt something was off, but since she didn't see any threat, she eventually dismissed it from her mind.

The enemy in front of her was more important now.

Two dragons, one made of ice and the other of water, were flying in front of Kirana and Legia. These dragons were created by Fenrir's magic.

Knowing Fenrir's power, Kirana and Legia approached the wolf and asked to train with him. Fenrir initially refused, but seeing the determination in the two women softened his stance.

So, in the end, Fenrir created two dragons for the two women to battle with. As Kirana and Legia approached him for training, Fenrir set a rule for the fight.

Fenrir's instructions made it challenging for the two women. They couldn't attack with full force as it would destroy the dragons.

Thus, they had to focus on defense while trying to gain control over the dragons.

Kirana and Legia realized the approach they needed to take, but executing it wasn't as easy as they thought.

For Legia, who was still inexperienced with Water Magic, the training proved to be very challenging.

Fenrir explained that Element Manipulation is different from Magic Mastery. However, the more skilled someone was at manipulating their element, the greater impact it would have on the power of their magic.

Legia felt skeptical about this explanation, as she hadn't experienced anything about Element Manipulation so far. No, more correctly, she doesn't even know about it.

That's why, there was a bit of speculation inside her that Fenrir was just playing around.

That's what she was thinking until Cien arrived with some food boxes in his hands.

"Hey, Kirana!"

Cien arrived without knowing anything, witnessing the two women in intense training.

He then noticed the water dragon that Legia had just avoided, approaching him.

"Ah, Lord Millard!"

"Hm?"

Cien raised his hand, and the water dragon stopped in place. He then touched the dragon's snout, causing it to shatter and soak the ground.

"Let's take a break now. I brought you some food."

""...""

Kirana and Legia were left speechless as they saw Cien easily handle the water dragon that had given them so much trouble.