Around sunset,
the search party returned to camp.
The men looked exhausted at a glance.
A forced march.
They had barely eaten, and they had brought back no results.
The closer the lights of the camp drew,
the heavier their steps became.
Adel was waiting for them.
Cedric and Kyle,
and Marcel, with bandages and torn scraps of clothing, stood in the front row.
The three bowed their heads respectfully before Adel.
“Sir Adel. The search party has returned.”
Adel wasted no time on greetings and asked at once.
“Was there no black-haired girl with a sword on her back?”
The three exchanged brief glances.
Soon, Cedric shook his head.
“No one matching that description… was found.”
“Fine.”
Adel cut him off and asked again.
“There was a white-haired Haraya, I hear.”
“Yes.”
Kyle answered.
“We believe they are the ones called the White Wolf and the White Weasel.”
Adel nodded.
“Yes. I have faced them before.”
As if recalling the contents of a report, he continued.
“Judging from this, the enemy’s only plan is to weaken us.”
Cedric spoke cautiously.
“That is what… feels strange.”
“People hardline enough to blow up the Council,”
“why would they act like this… striking only at supplies and withdrawing…?”
“Perhaps they are trying to lure us into complacency….”
Instead of answering, Adel swallowed the truth within himself.
And aloud, he gave only the conclusion.
“We will form a detached unit.”
Cedric’s eyes narrowed.
Adel named them.
“Cedric. Kyle. You two will come as well.”
At that moment, Marcel stepped forward.
“Sir Adel! I will come too!”
Adel’s gaze brushed over Marcel’s left side—
where an arm no longer existed.
“You will remain at the camp and support the others knights.”
“But—”
“That is an order.”
Marcel bit his lip.
In the end, he lowered his head.
“…Understood.”
Just then, the commander hurried over.
“Paladin. Arku has sent supply support. However—”
Adel cut him off.
“Commander. I told you the supplies were entrusted to you.”
The commander bowed his head.
“…Yes, Paladin.”
Adel drove in the final point.
“Prepare the detached unit. Today we rest and make ready.”
“We depart tomorrow at dawn.”
—
The next day,
morning dawned over the scout outpost.
After finishing their meal, the members were each attending to their assigned tasks.
Some were maintaining their equipment, while others changed their bandages.
Raen was carrying a stack of empty bowls when she stopped
and checked once more toward where Bido was.
Just then, the door opened.
When Rangnan raised his head,
Sienna entered with several documents in hand.
“Rangnan. News from the Empire.”
Naturally, all eyes gathered on her.
“They say the Empire withdrew its search party yesterday and requested food support from Arku.”
“But from Arku… only the minimum amount was sent.”
Rangnan nodded.
It was news that let them breathe a little easier.
The more impatient the enemy grew, the more advantageous it became for them.
But Sienna’s expression said that was not the end.
“A small unit has been confirmed gathering.”
“They believe a detached unit is being formed. Fourteen in total.”
“Two knights, and… a paladin who appeared to be the commander.”
Rangnan’s eyes narrowed.
“Characteristics.”
Sienna answered immediately.
“They said he was a large, older-looking paladin carrying a greatsword.”
Bido’s breath stopped for a moment.
“…It can’t be.”
Raen’s gaze reflexively went to Bido.
Miryeong spoke first.
“Adel.”
Muryeong nodded as well.
“It’s possible.”
Rangnan spoke as if organizing the facts.
“Yes. In the end, their target is the Sword of Tiamar.”
“The one who was being chased has come to the front.”
Miryeong frowned.
“Ah, that guy is troublesome….”
Bido thought to herself.
Paladin Adel.
Once his Mirkin unfolds, it presses down everything around him.
But… if it’s me now.
I can sever it far more surely than before.
As if reading that thought, Rangnan looked at Bido.
“Bido. How far along is ‘that’ I mentioned?”
Bido answered carefully.
“Ah… if it’s only for a short while, I can manage it.”
Kallen added from beside her.
“Yes. Yeonhwa and I confirmed it.”
Rangnan lowered his voice.
“Adel would not begin searching with a detached unit in tow without a plan.”
“We must prepare for every possibility.”
Miryeong suddenly asked.
“Rangnan. How long until the full moon?”
“Three days.”
Ed’s eyes sparkled as he said,
“Then shouldn’t we wipe them all out then?”
Rangnan was firm.
“The situation is different from that time.”
“There is no way the enemy will recklessly come outside on the night of the full moon.”
Miryeong nodded.
“They’ll be holed up in their camp.”
“There’s nothing for us to gain by provoking them for no reason.”
Ed let out an “Ah…” of disappointment.
Rangnan added,
“Yes. If we did that, all our efforts so far would come to nothing.”
“The city would turn its back on us completely.”
Then Rangnan fixed his gaze on Bido.
“Bido. For now, can we see ‘that’ once?”
—
Inside the outpost,
there was a room larger than the others.
The floor had been firmly packed down,
and old maps and markings hung on the walls.
It was a place used as both a training ground and a meeting room.
People stood before Bido.
Kallen, Yeonhwa, Rion.
And Rangnan.
A little farther away, by the wall, Raen stood,
and by the doorway, Ria stood with her arms crossed.
Her expression was close to saying, Please don’t overdo it again.
Rangnan spoke briefly.
“Prepare.”
Kallen and Yeonhwa’s eyes turned red almost at the same time.
That redness was not a mere color.
It felt as though the air were being drawn taut and thin.
Everyone’s breathing grew just a little heavier.
Rion brought his hands together.
Between his palms, small, sharp sparks crackled.
A tiny flame came alive, like a breath.
Rangnan nodded toward Bido.
“Now, Bido.”
Bido swallowed.
She took a short deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them again.
Her eyes began to turn red.
At first, nothing changed.
But Bido did not stop.
And she spread her mind wider.
‘I scatter this feeling…’
The sensation that had remained only inside her body went outward, far away.
Like a drop of water spreading.
Like invisible powder being sprinkled into the air.
It began then.
The redness in Kallen’s eyes faded, if only slightly.
The same change appeared in Yeonhwa’s eyes.
In Rion’s hands—
the flame grew.
It did not surge up violently; it became more solid.
It felt as though the flame was taking on “form” before “size.”
Bido did not grit her teeth.
Instead, she exhaled slowly—
very slowly.
Rangnan’s voice came low.
“Maintain it.”
A moment.
A truly brief moment passed.
In that time, the room became strangely quiet.
Footsteps, the rustle of clothing, even breathing.
It felt as though everything were being aligned into its proper place—
as though “the rules were meshing again.”
Bido let out her breath.
“Hoo…”
At that moment,
the reversal was immediate.
Raen quietly pushed a waterskin forward.
Bido did not take it,
but Raen did not put it away.
Rion’s flame grew small again.
The red aura spread once more through Kallen and Yeonhwa’s eyes.
As if something that had been suppressed was returning to its place.
Bido felt the tips of her fingers go numb.
She had not used much.
Even so, the fact that “maintaining” it was difficult was clear.
Rangnan nodded.
“Yes.”
That one word was all.
No praise, no exaggeration.
Only confirmation.
Without realizing it, Bido thought of that night.
The moonless night.
The night when Mirkin had been amplified.
That day, Bido—
without intending to, had let her power spread into a “domain.”
The unstable grain of the moonless night,
within that space alone—
had briefly found its proper place.
Ever since then, Rangnan had repeated the same thing to Bido.
Unfold by will what had emerged unconsciously.
It was not easy.
It was different from simply using her power on a “larger” scale.
It was a matter of relearning the very sensation itself.
Even so, Bido did not give up.
Because she now had things she wanted to protect.
Because to protect them, she no longer wanted to rely on luck.
Rangnan shifted his gaze to Rion.
“How was it?”
Rion exhaled and said,
“My Arkin… definitely felt more stable.”
“If I hadn’t suppressed it, the flames might have flared more violently….”
Rion gave an awkward laugh.
Ria, standing by the door, immediately looked appalled.
“Hey.”
Rion closed his mouth.
Rangnan nodded again.
“Good.”
“There may be some here seeing it for the first time.”
A brief silence fell.
Rangnan spoke as if driving the words in.
“Bido possesses the Mirkin of ‘stabilization.’”
Some looked as though they did not understand,
while others looked at Bido with even greater wariness.
The word “Mirkin” carried weight in itself.
Rangnan did not explain at length.
Instead, he summarized only what was necessary.
“This power restores twisted rules.”
“That is why it can sever other Mirkin.”
“And it can make the grain of Arkin—straighter as well.”
Everyone’s eyes returned to Bido.
Bido said nothing.
She was only steadying her breath.
After thinking for a moment,
Rangnan raised his head.
“Miryeong.”
Miryeong pushed away from the doorway and approached.
“Let us speak alone for a moment.”
At those words, the air in the room returned to reality.
The atmosphere of the outpost sank low.
And outside,
someone else was using that same morning as a “departure.”