"Does that mean you agree to my proposal?" Christine asked.

"We can do as you say," Nachi said as an alert look appeared in his eyes, and the hint of weariness on his face completely faded. "However, we can't just offer you a safekeeping service for such a large sum of Loonies for free."

"Oh?" Christine waited to hear what Nachi had to say next.

"Hence, I want 10,000 Loonies from you as a safekeeping fee. That's not too much to ask, is it?" Nachi asked.

Christine thought about this for a moment before replying, "I don't think that's fair to me at all."

"Why is that?" Nachi asked.

"Prior to my withdrawal of the money at a later date of my choosing, your organization will have an extra 800,000 Loonies at its disposal," Christine said with a smile. "You can do a lot of things with this money."

An enlightened look appeared on Nachi's face upon hearing this. Indeed, their organization had just received a huge influx of funds, albeit on a temporary basis.

Christine could see that Nachi had understood her line of reasoning, and she continued, "Given that, you should be thankful that I'm not asking for money from you."

"You really are sharp," Nachi praised as he looked at Christine. "I was still yet to realize the intricacies involved. Having said that, no entity other than our Lodais Organization would be able to help you in your current situation."

"And I'm not denying that. Only an organization as wealthy as the Lodais Organization would be a place where I would feel safe to deposit such a large sum of money," Christine replied, giving the Lodais Organization the fair praise that it deserved. "Do you need to discuss this with Boss Night?"

"You don't have to worry about that, I'll definitely be sending a message to Chief Night to explain the situation," Nachi replied. "If he doesn't approve of this deal, you won't be able to withdraw the 800,000 Loonies with just an invoice from me."

Christine nodded in response. She was also aware of this. Nachi could make the decision to take this sum of Loonies off her hands, but as for whether her idea could actually come to fruition, that would ultimately depend on the mysterious Chief Night of the Loonies. Even so, she held a great deal of respect for this elder. He was always very decisive when faced with different proposals, and not once did he tell Christine that he had to raise the issue to his higher-ups. This was most likely one of the reasons why the Lodais Organization had been able to develop to its current scale in such a short time.

As for whether the Lodais Organization contact points in other cities would have sufficient Loonies for her to withdraw, that was not a cause for concern. The Lodais Organization's wealth was truly staggering, so a withdrawal of 800,000 Loonies definitely wasn't a problem.

In any case, now that the Lodais Organization had agreed to take the sum of money off her hands, she was feeling a lot more reassured.

Once Yamoyan finds out the sum of money was given to the Lodais Organization, I'm sure he won't come after us, Christine thought to herself.

"I'll get the 800,000 Loonies transported here first thing tomorrow morning, is that alright?" Christine asked.

Nachi thought about this for a moment before replying, "800,000 Loonies must be enough to fill several dozen crates, right? I'll send people to collect the money from the airship instead. I don't think I'll have enough space to store all that money here." 

Christine nodded in response, following which a curious look appeared on her face. "Elder Nachi, there's a question I've been meaning to ask you. Why is it that even someone like Prince Yamoyan holds so much respect for the Lodais Organization? I can understand these nobles in the north fearing your organization, but Prince Yamoyan is nothing like them, and he has so many subordinates as well, so why does he fear you as well?"

What she was wondering was why the Lodais Organization dared to accept such a large sum of Loonies from her in such a blatant manner. Were they not afraid of Prince Yamoyan coming after them?

"You have to realize something, Christine: there's no one in this world who doesn't fear death," Nachi replied in a nonchalant manner. "Our Lodais Organization could send a few assassins over to Madeira, and Yamoyan's self-imposed reign as prince would be over. If our Lodais Organization wants someone dead, no one will be able to keep the target alive."

Christine was silent for a moment upon hearing this, then stood up to take her leave. Prior to her departure, she reminded, "Please remember to notify me right away if you receive any news on Erwin."

Elder Nachi nodded in response, then accompanied her out of the secret room.

After emerging from the secret passageway, Christine and Sherry returned to the mansion together.

Neither of them said anything on the way back.

Christine couldn't be bothered to say anything as this had been an extremely long day for her.

I had no choice but to offload that batch of Fall Crystals. Please don't blame me for it when you find out, Brother Erwin, Christine thought to herself with a wry smile.

At the same time, the image of Erwin's face resurfaced in her mind, and she couldn't help but wonder where he was right now.

...

Atlas Empire, Sarus.

In an elegant courtyard not far away from the Old River Restaurant, a red-haired beauty was looking out the window with an absentminded expression, watching as flower petals drifted down with the wind.

Mistress Faye was lying on a bed in the room, and she cast her gaze toward the woman standing by the window, then glanced at the Shaved Purple Gem short staff that was sitting on the windowsill. An amused look appeared on her face as she asked, "Are you here to keep me company while I recover from my injuries, or are you here to act all sad and unhappy?"

Back on the Marrod Plain, Faye had been struck by the sword intent from Cameron's attack, causing her to sustain severe injuries. Ever since then, she had been recovering from her injuries in a bedridden state. Some time had already passed since the battle, and during this time, Lana had brought over all of the precious magic potion ingredients from Prince Lazaar's manor. After experimenting with dozens of types of magic potions, Faye's condition was finally beginning to improve.

It was only thanks to Mistress Faye's immense magic power that she was able to survive the attack in the first place. If a normal person had been struck by that attack in her place, then they would've already died many times over.

Mistress Faye had chosen this old courtyard as her home while she was resting and recuperating as firstly, Prince Lazaar's manor was too lively and noisy lately. There were countless people visiting every day to request an audience with the new emperor, and there were also military officials with reports from all over the empire waiting in the lounge and guest hall, all of whom were also wishing to see the emperor. Prior to the completion of construction on the new imperial palace, Prince Lazaar's manor was currently the political center of the Atlas Empire.

The second reason for her decision was to distance herself from Prince Lazaar. Throughout all these past years, her relationship with Lazaar had always been a pure one. If she were to live at Prince Lazaar's manor and be seen by the people visiting the manor, or the servants were to somehow spread the word of the fact that she was living at the manor, there would undoubtedly be some speculation about their relationship with one another. No one was going to care about the fact that she was recovering from her injuries. The birth mother of Lana and her brothers had passed away at a young age, and now that Lazaar had become emperor, there were many noble women eying the position of empress. If these people were to hear that Mistress Faye was living in Prince Lazaar's manor, they definitely weren't going to take kindly to that news.

Thus, Mistress Faye made a very wise proposal not to move into Prince Lazaar's manor, and Lana was naturally aware of her thought process. Thus, she sent some servants to clean up this courtyard in the outer city so that Mistress Faye could use it as a temporary home.

Lana was still displaying no reaction, so Faye flicked her index finger toward her, sending a magic arrow flying in her direction.

Only then did Lana return to her senses, and she dodged to the side in an agile manner, allowing the magic arrow to fly out the window.

"What are you doing, Teacher?" Lana complained as she turned around to face Mistress Faye with a displeased pout.

"I'm looking at a young maiden in love," Mistress Faye jibed.

"What are you talking about?" Lana grumbled as a faint blush appeared on her face, and it was quite fitting under the backdrop of the warm spring sky in the south. "Stop teasing me, Teacher!"

"Is that the boy's staff?" Faye asked as she cast her gaze toward the staff sitting on her windowsill.

Lana gave an almost inaudible affirmative response to Faye's question. The staff had been left to her by Erwin after the battle on the Marrod Plain.

While Erwin was fleeing from Sarus that night, she had returned the book of magic that she had borrowed from him, but for some reason, she had decided to keep the staff.

"Did he leave it to you?" Faye asked as she took a glance at Lana, then made a grabbing motion to draw the staff into her grasp.

Lana nodded in response, not quite sure how to answer the question.

"It's a pretty ordinary staff," Faye remarked after briefly inspecting the staff in her hand.

For a magician of Mistress Faye's caliber, she had seen countless types of magic materials in this world, so a Shaved Purple Gem really was very ordinary in her eyes, even though the staff had cost a small fortune in Erwin's eyes.

"Hold on, there's something not quite right with it," Faye said as her brows furrowed slightly, and she used her magic to examine the properties of the staff again.

"What is it?" Lana asked with a curious expression.

"Haven't you noticed that the darkness attribute in the Shaved Purple Gem on this staff has become a lot weaker?" Faye asked as she cast her gaze toward Lana. "Almost as if it's already been used for many years."

"What's the problem with that?"

"But take a look at the handle of the staff. This part isn't displaying any signs of wear and tear. No matter how you look at it, this should be a staff that hasn't seen much use at all," Faye continued as she offered the handle of the staff to Lana for examination.

"What are you trying to say, Teacher?" Lana asked with a perplexed expression.

Lana was silent for a moment as she watched Lana with a meaningful look in her eyes.

"What I'm saying is that this staff has perhaps witnessed the passage of more time than you can imagine, just like its owner."

Faye hadn't conducted any in-depth research into the secrets of time and space, but she had some understanding of the fundamental concepts of time and space magic. She was no time and space magician, but she was still one of the most powerful magicians in the world, so even a casual passing remark from her could still answer many of the questions that Erwin held toward magic. 

After hearing what Faye had to say, Lana thought back to the time and space magic that Erwin had used in the past, and she fell into a contemplative silence.

"Are you sure you want to fall in love with someone like him?" Faye asked as she looked at her student with a sympathetic expression.

"I haven't fallen in love with him!" Lana immediately protested in a reflexive manner.

"I certainly hope not," Faye said with a smile. "I heard that the boy is extremely promiscuous. Setting aside all of the other women he's been with, he also has his sights set on Onean. All he's going to do is break your heart..."

Lana pursed her lips with a displeased expression. Just the mere thought of that silver-haired fox put her in a foul mood.

"That boy has gone to the north, is that correct?" Faye asked.

Lana nodded in response.

"So you want to go and find him?" Faye asked.

Lana was unable to provide a response to this question. She couldn't go against her own heart and tell Faye that she wasn't going after Erwin, but at the same time, she couldn't find a sufficiently sound excuse to convince herself that going after him was a good idea.

At the end of the day, she was still the princess of the Atlas Empire.

A hint of sympathy intermingled with disapproval appeared on Faye's face as she looked at Lana. "I feel like you'll end up going after him sooner or later."

"Teacher, I..." Lana turned to Faye with a pitiable expression, unsure of how to respond.

"There's no need to explain anything to me," Faye consoled. "Have you forgotten what I've taught you? You must be true to yourself at all times."

"Teacher, does that mean you would support me if I chose to go after him?" A hint of elation flashed through Lana's eyes as she spoke. She had never revealed these thoughts to anyone else, including her father and her two brothers. As such, there had been a building sense of oppression in her heart, but all of that seemed to have abruptly vanished in the wake of this source of unexpected support.

"I haven't said anything," Faye sighed with a shake of her head, and her heart was filled with a myriad of emotions as she looked at her prized student. It didn't feel right for her to offer Lana her support, nor did it feel correct to admonish her for her innermost desires. Ultimately, the decision would have to come down to Lana herself.

She slowly leaned back on her reclining chair, and the memory of her own spell piercing through Professor Hawk's heart suddenly surfaced in her mind.

What right do I have to tell anyone to be true to themselves? Faye thought to herself as a hint of bitterness flashed through her heart.

"You have to realize that our army will march for Fooz before too long," Faye reminded as she cast her gaze toward Lana. "When that time comes, even if you make up your mind to leave, your father probably wouldn't let you."

"Aiden and the others will be more than enough to take care of Fooz," Lana said with a hint of weariness in her eyes. "Besides, there are countless people in the imperial court desperately searching for opportunities to appease my father. Those people will all be scrambling to lead troops to quell the army of Fooz."

A faint smile appeared on Faye's face upon hearing this. She knew that her student's understanding of the state of the imperial court was unmatched. As her mind wandered through all of the notable figures of the imperial court, she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you insistent on going after that boy? There are countless handsome and talented young men here in Sarus, have none of them been able to catch your eye?"

Lana shook her head in response before making her way back to the window, and all of a sudden, a smile appeared on her face, and its beauty immediately outshone the immaculately maintained garden outside.