The thin thread Kishiar had spoken of and the sensation Yuder felt in his previous life, as if being torn and stitched together, seemed very different yet similar in the aspect that they both felt 'connected' to each other.

It was a complex feeling beyond description, to be reminded in this way of an experience never spoken of by any second gender manifestor in his previous life.

"What are you thinking about?"

Just then, a familiar voice came along with the sound of a closing door nearby. Only then did Yuder break free from his deep contemplation and turned his head. He felt an approaching presence from beyond the unseen darkness. It was a unique presence of Kishiar, silent like a beast stepping on the ground, yet its existence was so palpable, he could feel it on his skin.

"Just... thinking."

"You're so pale, and you're not even covered with a blanket?"

Kishiar, who had closed the window, approached and touched Yuder's forehead.

"You're cold indeed. Wait a moment."

Beside Yuder, who was constantly fluctuating between fevers, there were always towels, a chamber pot, and a heat-retaining grain pouch that kept warm for a long time.

Yuder felt the formless mist-like power moving right next to him. After a moment, he felt a warmth from the pouch on his belly, so comforting that it seemed to melt his previous chill.

"You used magic."

"You felt that?"

"Yes. Is it okay for you to use your power so freely?"

Since losing his sight, some of his senses had become more acute. In particular, his sense of detecting unseen energy was so refined that he could vaguely distinguish when Kishiar used a power other than that of an Awakener, as he did now. As Kishiar wrapped Yuder in a blanket, he spoke.

"Indeed, magic puts a larger strain compared to other powers, but this much is fine. It's just a very basic heating spell."

Anyone unable to conjure even a spark among the many mages would be envious to hear such a thing. Yuder was curious about the extent of this man's skills, who mentioned a heating spell as if it was a trivial matter. As if noticing Yuder's curiosity, Kishiar spoke as he draped a blanket over him.

"Curious about my skills?"

"If I say no, I'd be lying."

At Yuder's honest answer, Kishiar let out a gentle laugh.

"I am confident that I can compete with anyone in terms of theory and magic power control. But honestly, I haven't learned many formal spells."

"What does the number of learned spells have to do with skill if you're good at magic power control?"

"Well, you're right. I've limited it because if I learn too many spells, I might end up using them unconsciously."

Kishiar gave a crisp answer and explained that he couldn't be evaluated on the same standards as other mages due to this reason. His words indicated that his capabilities exceeded the ordinary in every way.

"I don't know when I'll start working on removing the amplification circle, but I plan to do some warm-up exercises with small spells to awaken your senses. And heating up the heat-retaining pouch is a very good warm-up exercise."

It was a truly eloquent and cunning argument. Yuder, having no words to refute the man who subtly implied he would continue to use magic at his convenience, just closed his mouth.

"..."

"If you want to say you're uncomfortable, just get better. Then I won't have to do this, will I?"

"If it were that easy, I would've been healthy a long time ago..."

Kishiar spent most of the day assisting with research where the mages gathered, but in his spare time, he made a point to visit Yuder. He personally changed his bandages and checked his condition. Kishiar had also claimed to be busy with other work, so it was hard to even guess when he might take some time for himself.

"But we made some decent progress today. We confirmed that the monster's tongue causes resonance in contact with the amplification magic stone, so we're going to conduct further experiments based on that."

"Is that so?"

"I was wondering what we should do if they throw a fit about needing materials, but they figured out a substitute on their own."

Kishiar's tone was always cold when talking about the mages. Before his aura could become any colder, Yuder changed the subject.

"I informed my comrades about the weaknesses of my abilities today."

"Today? I see. What was their reaction?"

Unlike when he mentioned the mages, Kishiar's voice became brighter. Yuder recalled their chatter around him and smiled faintly.

"...It wasn't as bad as I expected."

"Did you only talk about the weaknesses? Anything else?"

"I also briefly explained the limits of my abilities."

"You mean you can't exert the strength you demonstrated when defeating the giant monster more than once a day."

"Yes."

Kishiar had already heard as much from Yuder. Now that he had told his comrades the same, Yuder planned to disclose a slightly more advanced piece of information to him.

"However, there's one more thing I haven't told them yet."

At this, Yuder's hand, which was stroking the blanket, paused briefly. After a moment, Kishiar resumed speaking.

"One more thing?"

"Yes. I suppose you may have guessed from recent events, but I have very little power against monsters, and thus can't use my power on items made from monster byproducts."

This applied to ropes made from sinews, weapons made from ground teeth or bones, or poison made from mixing blood. While not commonly used due to the difficulty in processing, these items were not extremely rare either. After vaguely recalling memories from a previous life, Yuder added a sentence.

"I wanted you to be the only one aware of this, hence why I'm telling you now."

Kishiar was silent for a while. As Yuder wondered about his expression hidden in the darkness, a low voice echoed in his ear.

"...Alright. I'll keep it in mind since you trust me enough to tell me."

He had clearly understood the implication behind Yuder's words. Yuder nodded, feeling a slight relief.

Despite several protests, Kishiar ended up staying by Yuder's side until his temperature returned to normal and he fell asleep. Both of them could palpably feel that the weight of the time they spent together was growing heavier compared to before.

Even being with someone could bring about such a myriad of emotions, a fact that still surprised Yuder every day, despite experiencing it constantly. He hoped that the mages of the Western Mage Union would find a good solution quickly, before he drowned in that enormous wave of feelings, or perhaps before the second dispatch arrived.

---

"Within the Great Sarain Forest, the earth shook and mountains crumbled as a great upheaval occurred, and it is said that this was not caused by a natural disaster or monsters, but by human power."

When this rumor first started to spread, people didn't believe it as fact. The Great Sarain Forest was not just anywhere. It was a vast labyrinth-like forest that had slowly grown over nearly a thousand years in the western part of the Empire. Many swordmasters and mages had tried to conquer it using their powers, but none of them could stop the growth of the forest. All humans could do there was merely build a few mountain cottages or pave small paths for trade routes and prevent the growing trees from consuming these efforts.

The Duke of Tain, whose base was in the western part of the Empire, thought it more credible to believe that the Duke of Peletta had become the owner of the Divine Sword than to believe such a far-fetched tale. Indeed, after the incident, the Duke of Peletta had been conspicuously absent, residing within the Cavalry.

However, not long after, when new rumors began to spread with renewed force, it became difficult for anyone to laugh it off as fabrication.

"Reliable testimonies are flooding in from the western border villages that throughout the night, monster cries and earthquakes continued from the direction of the Great Sarain Forest."

"After the incident, the surge in monster abnormalities abruptly ceased."

"The one who caused this upheaval was an Awakener, dispatched from the Cavalry to find and stop the cause of the monster outbreaks in the west."

"Moreover, around the same time, it was reported that numerous Sun God Priests in the west detected a massive divine power moving in the Great Sarain Forest..."

As rumors and testimonies continuously flowed from the west, spreading everywhere via all sorts of routes, many began to be bewildered. And as if waiting for people's attention to gather, the Cavalry announced official news.

The news was enough to whack the back of the heads of those who had so far scoffed at the Cavalry, not paying it any mind.

"What is this all about? The ones dispatched first by the Cavalry are already in the west, and the Duke of Peletta, wielding the Divine Sword, is among them? And there are plans to dispatch a second group soon? Is this the so-called accurate information you've brought me?"

Angry, the Duke of Tain heaved a breath, raising his voice, causing his servants to tremble in prostration.

"Haven't I been told that the Duke of Peletta is still residing within the Cavalry? There has been no movement, and if this is true, what happens to my dignity?"

The fact that they had failed to properly monitor the movements of a power group that had infiltrated right into the middle of the Tain family, who had influence throughout the west, was a shameful enough matter to warrant ridicule.