The Lone Mage's Visit
Serian’s thoughts ground to a halt. ‘Wait… he only knows lightning magic?’
‘A mage… by himself?’
Everything had been going exactly according to her plan. She had issued reckless orders to burn through their potions at an alarming rate, and now their supplies were nearly exhausted. They had reclaimed the territory faster than expected, but battles still remained. There had been many close calls, yet she had successfully intervened from the shadows to keep that mage from being captured. Of course, she had grown a little anxious when he failed to appear in the latest battle—wondering if he had simply returned to the Astra Empire…
But why? Why had he come here of his own free will? And alone, at that?
‘No way…’
Had the mage finally lost his mind after her lightning magic proved ineffective? Was this some desperate, all-or-nothing final stand where he intended to throw every last trick he had left at her?
Why now, of all times! Just a little longer—just a little more endurance and everything would have been over!
Only four potion bottles remained. That meant only four knights could withstand another barrage of lightning in the next battle. If the Astra forces showed up alongside that mage in the coming fight, she could finally put a period on her long, long retirement plan.
“What? The enemy mage is coming here alone?”
BANG!
Braum slammed his fist on the table.
“Jehehehehe! The bastard’s finally gone mad!”
Braum yanked the stopper off a rubber potion and chugged it in one go. He looked ready to kick down the watchtower door and charge out at any second.
“······.”
If the report was true, this was a serious problem.
Serian glanced at the people holding the remaining potions. There were three of them: Vice-Commander Gideon of the Black Hammer Knights, Vanguard Captain Vares, and Tracker Captain Lucas. Together with Commander Braum, they formed the four great captains of the order.
If these four—who had all drunk the rubber potions—rushed the mage at once, he would have no chance of escaping.
‘Wait a second…!’
Serian’s furiously spinning brain sent out a warning signal.
Up until now, she had always been the one riding on Whitey’s back, secretly casting magic to keep the mage alive.
—Th-this is animal taming magic!
—Whoa! This time it’s wind magic!
She had caused all that commotion on purpose. But if the mage had truly come alone, the odds of him being captured alive instead of killed in battle were extremely high.
After following him through every single battle, Serian now knew the truth: that mage could only call down lightning from the sky. He couldn’t use any other magic at all.
No matter how dangerous the situation became, he had never once cast anything else.
‘This might be seriously fucked…’
If the mage were captured alive, he would be immediately handed over to the intelligence department for interrogation to extract information about Astra. Given his level of power, he was likely a high-ranking mage with plenty of valuable secrets.
And if, during those horrific interrogations, the words slipped from his mouth…
[Serian’s Memory Palace – The deepest, darkest corner]
An old, creaking film projector began to rattle to life.
Click. Whirrrrr—
The screen flickered with static before vividly displaying the worst possible future awaiting her.
In the dark, damp underground interrogation chamber of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, grim-faced interrogators stood with arms crossed, glaring at the mage beneath the faint torchlight.
“Don’t lie to us! Do you really think your pathetic tricks will work? Everyone on the battlefield clearly saw you using all kinds of different magic!”
“That’s right! Stick a needle under his fingernails—that’ll wake him up!”
One interrogator waved a red-hot iron poker while the mage burst into terrified tears.
‘Kyaaak! I’m telling the truth! Waaah, I really only know lightning magic! I’ll tell you everything, so please just spare me! Pleeeease!’
At the mage’s pitiful sobbing, another interrogator nudged his colleague.
‘Boss, I think he’s serious.’
“Hmm? Then who the hell cast that wind magic and plant magic?”
The interrogators’ eyes met in the air.
‘There were only… two mages on that battlefield, right?’
“!!!”
If that realization spread, the entire world would learn that Serian had been deliberately letting the mage go!
Her plan had always been to become ‘the incompetent commander who recklessly wasted potions until supplies ran out, ultimately causing defeat.’
But if it came out that she had been protecting a high-ranking enemy official the entire time?
She would instantly—
BAM!
Her image would skyrocket from ‘incompetent commander’ to ‘traitor who sold out her country.’
At that point, a gentle pink slip like “You’re fired!” would no longer be an option.
No—traitors were dealt with through extermination of their entire bloodline!
‘Hang that bitch’s head in the square immediately! Drag every last one of her family and relatives here!’
The moment she imagined the cold blade kissing her neck with a clean shing, the film in Serian’s delusion theater snapped.
‘Hiiiiiiik!!!’
Fucked. Fucked. So fucking fucked…
‘I absolutely cannot let that mage get captured!’
While Serian was desperately racking her brain, Braum’s thunderous roar shook the tent.
“You idiot! Speak clearly! What exactly did the enemy mage say?!”
The reporting soldier nearly burst into tears as he shouted,
“H-he made a demand! He said… he said he must see Lady Serian in person…!”
Every eye in the command tent snapped toward her at once.
“He wants to see Lady Serian?”
“How dare he… our Goddess?!”
???
Serian was just as shocked.
‘What the hell is this about? He came to meet me?’
At that moment, Vice-Commander Gideon looked at her with sharp eyes and asked,
“Do you… have any idea what this might be about?”
“No, I have no clue either.”
But one thing was certain. This was an opportunity. She had to step forward somehow to prevent the mage from being captured.
“G-Goddess!”
Serian stood up and snatched the potion bottle from Vanguard Captain Vares’s hand. Without hesitation, she gulped it down.
Gulp. Gulp—
Ahhh—! That hits the spot.
Now only two bottles remained.
“I will go.”
“!!!”
“You mustn’t, Lady Serian! This is almost certainly a trap!” Franz cried out urgently.
“He’s right! That mage is no ordinary opponent! We don’t know what other magic he might use besides lightning. He must be plotting something!”
The knights’ worried voices poured out one after another.
This was surely a suicidal last-ditch attack. He must have come to take Serian down with him before he died. And so on…
“I will go in your place!”
“No, let me!”
“I am prepared to burn my very life to protect our Goddess!”
Everyone rushed forward, insisting they would go instead, but Serian simply shot them a cold glare.
“…Do I look…”
Her icy voice silenced them all.
“…that weak? Do I look like someone who would lose to that mage?”
Franz couldn’t help but tremble.
She had always seemed cold because of her usual emotionless, expressionless face. People vaguely assumed it was the result of the harsh training she had endured since childhood in one of the Five Great Families (which had never happened), and that she had developed an iron poker face and icy composure (when in reality, that was just her natural face).
But this time was different.
For the first time, Franz clearly read an emotion on her face.
It was… anger.
Cold, sharp, blade-like fury.
Seeing this side of her for the first time, Franz’s breath caught in his throat.
“N-no, it’s just that we’re worried about you, Lady Serian…”
As Franz stammered an excuse, Braum placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
“That’s not it, young lord.”
Come to think of it, the other knights’ reactions were quite different from his own. Instead of shock or hesitation, they gazed at Serian with subtly trembling eyes and heated, emotional expressions—as if they were deeply moved by her resolve.
······?
‘Am I… the only one who doesn’t understand what’s happening here?’
Of course, Serian was only rushing out because she was terrified her treason would be exposed—but to those unaware of the truth, her actions could only be interpreted in a completely different light.
In that moment, Franz understood everything.
She already knew. She knew there were only three potions left.
If the knights rushed out recklessly in this situation, they might get caught in the mage’s final desperate attack and suffer needless casualties. She was worried about exactly that!
A commander who knowingly walked into danger alone to protect her subordinates’ lives. Even speaking so harshly was part of her deeper intention—to stop anyone from following her!
A burning heat rose in Franz’s chest.
“L-Lady Serian…”
He realized this was the true image of a hero. This was the caliber of a monarch he should devote his entire life to emulating.
Of course—Serian was actually just panicking over the very real possibility of her head going chop-chop, but that was beside the point.