“Right now, the wind’s behind the First Prince and the Second, with the Third barely there to make up the count.” Tengger clamped my arm like iron, yet his gaze drifted past me like cold smoke.

“The empire’s boiling over. I want more capable hands to join, and calm this storm sooner.”

“You’re not afraid you’ll spark a war and pour oil on the fire?” I said, the words cool as shade.

“Some things can’t be solved peacefully, or you plant seeds that will one day destroy the empire.” He steadied his breath; his eyes finally settled on me like a blade laid flat.

I curled my lip, a dry crescent. “Not interested.”

First, I’m not from the Miter Empire. Second, I’ve got my own business. Third, once the debt’s cleared, I owe Miter nothing.

What would I gain by diving into your power struggle? If the tide turns wrong, I’ll end face‑down in the mud.

Your Miter Empire still has a few ancient monsters breathing, and I can’t cross them yet. In this game of power, leave me out; talents swarm like ants. You’d only bring me to make up numbers, and I’d get nothing.

“Not even consider it?” His brow folded like gathering cloud.

I pried his hand off my shoulder, steady as stone. “City Lord Tengger, tell me—aren’t ‘friends’ in cooperation just people with shared interests?”

“...Put that way, you’re not wrong.”

“Then, my lord, where’s the gain? I’m a man unrelated to Miter. Why would I join a thing that might send my soul to the Western heavens?” I straightened my clothes, noticed a yellow smear on my leg, and rolled my eyes.

If I don’t head back soon, even if this isn’t pee, it’ll turn into pee under the sun.

“What do you want then? Money? Power?”

“My lord, an Archmage usually lacks neither power nor coin.” I shrugged, cloak brushing dust, and turned to go.

What I want is the truth—the truth of the Hero’s disappearance. Why do no national histories record it? Why do all who know seal their lips like a well with a locked lid?

I want the truth, a thorn under the rib.

I don’t want to be a Hero. It’s just—there’s a hollow in me I can’t accept. I have to find that missing piece, to learn why Birand vanished. That’s the real reason I set out, a road lit by a cold moon.

Power and money?

Call me shallow, sure.

But when I left the Draco Empire and shed a lofty station like silk, those stopped being what I cared about. I don’t lack them.

At the gate of the Mage Tower, my eyes sifted the river of people for my mark.

Edlyn stood at the corner, a little impatient, clutching a packet of papers while the street breeze tugged her hair.

I smiled and strolled over, ready to ruffle her hair like a gentle wind through grass.

She slipped aside, wary as a sparrow. She turned, saw me, and let the guard fall. I set my palm on her small head and ruffled it.

Edlyn shot me a look, sharp as a cat’s glare, and I eased off.

I looked at her. “Well? Did you pass?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?” She handed the papers over, smug as a peacock. I skimmed them.

The usual—“Congratulations on becoming a Tier Three Mage, blah blah blah”—then the scores lined up like pebbles in a tray.

Just as I expected, her weakest part was shaping her mana lattice. The raw mana in her body was the top score, a deep lake surpassing an average Tier Five mage.

That alone tugged her total up a notch, a thin thread pulling a bell.

I watched the preening Edlyn with a tangle of doubt. Is this also because the New Era Sect gave her that demon soul, a shadow stitched under sunlight?

“Hey, stinky Hero, what are you staring at for so long?” She tiptoed up like a curious squirrel to peek at the papers.

I snapped the papers shut and took her small hand. “Nothing. Come on, let’s head back.”

“Oh...” Edlyn frowned, a little cloud crossing her brow. What’s with him today—so strange.

Speaking of it, it’s been a while since I saw those New Era Sect people, their shadows long in memory.

Well, Edlyn’s tab will be settled with them sooner or later, beads of debt clicking one by one.

But... can anyone really fuse with a demon soul this flawlessly, jade without a seam?

I watched Edlyn. She glanced left and right, searching like a sparrow scanning the hedge.

I chuckled and shook my head. I was probably chasing mist.

This little girl is guileless and slow. Without me, she might not dare step past a door. I worry someone could whisk her away like a leaf in a sudden gust. I tightened my grip on her hand, guarding a lantern against wind.

I don’t know why, but the feeling hangs there, a chill before rain.