Barbra is the southernmost of the five continents, bordering the two central ones—Prein and Afreista. Compared to the central continents, where the climate is mild year-round, plains and hills stretch forever, and great nations rise one after another, Barbra’s seasons swing wildly, its terrain is a tangled mess, and most of the so‑called “countries” here are just empty names.

Barbra is known for chaos. Law is paper‑thin; almost the entire land is lawless territory. Only a few spots are kept in line by major powers using brute force. It’s a world where the weak are meat and the strong are the knife, a paradise for mercenaries, adventurers, shady merchants, anarchists, and outlaws.

And not long ago, one explosive piece of news threw more fuel onto this already overcharged continent.

Cassol, a coastal city on Barbra’s far northern edge, is also the largest city in the north. Across the narrow Arlen Sea, it faces the small coastal kingdom of the same name—the Arlen Kingdom in Afreista. The Arlen Sea is so long and narrow that it’s more like a slightly oversized strait than a real sea; by boat, it takes only half a day to cross.

As one of the largest cities in the north, Cassol is naturally also the most mixed and murky. Mercenaries, adventurers, criminals, and crooked merchants all flock here, propping up a dangerous prosperity. The city is controlled by several families, with the Kotis family at their head. Lord Sanelis Kotis has always been known for his iron‑fisted methods. It’s only because he’s here that the city manages to keep a bare minimum of order.

In the past, whenever people talked about Cassol, they would bring up its staggering share of black‑market trade, mercenary bands brawling openly in the streets, the most high‑end chain brothels, or all sorts of outrageous stories about underworld celebrities. But now, everyone is talking about just one thing.

“Zerah’s Great Secret Treasure.”

About two months ago, across the narrow Arlen Sea from Cassol, in the small coastal Arlen Kingdom, an explosive rumor broke out. A major noble house of that kingdom, the Zerah Family, was thrown into turmoil. Brothers and sisters slaughtered one another until only the eldest son was left alive. Normally, this kind of trashy noble drama in a small country wouldn’t hold other nations’ attention for long. But one thing’s existence changed the flavor of the whole affair.

The Great Secret Treasure.

An ultimate treasure that can answer a person’s wishes—and it was still in an unclaimed state, with no master. This thing had apparently been hoarded in secret by a petty noble family for hundreds of years, and the root of the family’s internal conflict seemed to be this very item. What should’ve been a minor scandal instantly blew up into an incident big enough to make half of Marae turn its head. Yet the core of it all—the Great Secret Treasure—vanished without a trace. It seemed it had either been stolen by some surviving member of the family, or scooped up by an opportunistic outsider…

Either way, once the news got out, the situation blew far past anything the little Arlen Kingdom could control. The surrounding major nations didn’t even care about the diplomatic fallout; they all rushed their elite forces to the borders and jumped into the investigation like madmen. And the Cassol region, separated from Arlen by just a strip of sea, naturally snapped to high alert. Who knew if that bastard who ended up with the Treasure would try to flee across the water?

Some time passed, and just when everyone thought the matter would fizzle out, something changed.

Just over half a month ago, the Great Secret Treasure showed itself in the Cassol region.

It was only a fleeting glimpse, but that night, nearly everyone who was still awake saw the pillar of light erupting into the sky outside the city, and felt that overwhelming surge that shook anyone who sensed it. The most direct account came from the patrol on routine duty. That night, the patrol captain really had seen a suspicious figure running toward Cassol in a panic, clutching something in his hands. The captain hadn’t felt like getting involved at first, but he was bored out of his mind and was just about to stop the guy for questioning when, in his panic, the man seemed to activate the thing in his hands—

And that was how that night’s phenomenon happened.

A phenomenon like nothing anyone had ever seen, plus the recent news of the lost Treasure—those two things were instantly tied together. Only a few days later, investigation teams from the Heavenward Tower, the Pantheon, and the Knighthood arrived in the Cassol region. At the site of that night’s incident, they extracted “magic traces,” compared them with the “Magic Trace Samples of unclaimed Great Secret Treasures” that each of the three powers kept locked away, and reached the same conclusion.

What appeared that night really was a Great Secret Treasure—and a very precious unclaimed one at that. The suspicious man the patrol captain had spotted had died on the spot. He was clearly just an ordinary person who’d activated the Treasure without proper preparation and was killed instantly by the Treasure’s magic. The Treasure itself vanished without a trace.

And now—

——————————————

Under Cassol’s jurisdiction, in a certain small town—

The town stretched along a trade road, with only a few hundred residents. It was one of the rare places in Barbra that had pleasant scenery and a relatively low crime rate.

At the town entrance, there was a small inn, its wooden structure simple but cozy. Usually, it was never anywhere close to full. These last few days were the exception—its upper floors were packed, day after day, and the first floor was crowded with drinkers.

“The news is confirmed. We’ve got an update.”

“New info again!?”

“That fast? Out with it!”

A burly man in his fifties with a heavy long gun slung across his back took a sip of the inn’s best fruit wine and spoke to the excited young men beside him.

“This morning, something big went down in Cassol. Someone from the Knighthood died again, and the Great Secret Treasure—”

“““““…”””””

The entire first floor of the inn went silent.

The drinkers who’d been laughing and chatting just moments ago all fell quiet and pricked up their ears, glancing over at this table again and again.

The air turned strange.

Even this veteran mercenary, who’d been through countless battles, felt suffocated by the tension. The burly man hesitated, then clamped his mouth shut and lowered his head to drink.

But the silence in the inn lingered. “Zerah’s Great Secret Treasure” was the hottest topic lately. Even the lowest of commoners couldn’t help fantasizing about it, let alone the people who lived in Barbra, most of whom were knife‑licking desperadoes.

“Boss, another drink.”

The burly man called out with a dark look. The inn’s landlady, whose curves were almost indecently alluring, walked over slowly and set a fresh glass of fruit wine in front of him.

“You’ve only got fruit wine? This girly crap?” he snorted.

“This place is an inn. Drinks are just a side service. Please don’t treat it like a tavern.”

The landlady replied casually as she cleared away the empty cups. The men’s gazes tracked the sway of her hips beneath her long skirt until she vanished into the back before they finally looked away.

Then they all went back to staring at the burly man. Everyone wanted more first‑hand information about the Treasure.

“…Screw this, I’m not in the mood to drink. Let’s go.”

The burly man tossed a few coins onto the table, downed the rest of his wine in one gulp, and stood to leave. His companions sensibly moved to follow.

At that moment—

“Hold it, old man. You play cool like that and think you can just walk off?”

Thunk!!!

A flash of silver sliced through the air and stabbed deep into the floor right in front of the burly man’s foot. It was just a dull bread knife, but it punched straight through the boards. The man froze for a moment, then turned a vicious glare toward where the knife had flown from, his hand closing around the long gun on his back.

“Who the hell’s picking a fight!?”

“Whoa, whoa, hey, wait up, sir—”

The apparent leader at that table jumped to his feet, wearing a peacemaker’s smile that didn’t reach his eyes at all.

“Our companion isn’t in a great mood today. If she offended you, please let it slide, yeah?”

“You dumb or what?” the woman who’d thrown the knife snapped, still frozen in the throwing pose. She frowned, cursed, then lowered her head and went back to stuffing bread into her mouth.

“Uh… see? Everyone has bad days.” The man forced a chuckle. “But sir, I’d say you’re partly to blame too.”

As he spoke, his eyes narrowed a little, and the air around him turned dangerous. It wasn’t just him; people at several other tables exchanged looks, faces shifting. A few hands slipped under coats and tightened around weapons.

“Dangling bait like that’s just mean, don’t you think? You know everyone’s hunting for ‘those’ Great Secret Treasures right now. If you’ve got a lead, don’t hog it all to yourself.”

“The hell should I tell you for?” The burly man swung his long gun up into position. Pure, refined magic flared out around him. “You look like mercs, yeah? What, the dirty jobs you do every day ain’t enough? You really wanna come here just to die?”

“Hey… hey! What do you think you’re doing!?”

The landlady rushed out at the raised voices, ripping off her apron and hurrying over, a frown creasing her brow.

“No fighting in my inn! If you wanna brawl, take it outside—”

Of course, no one listened.

“Judging by that attitude, you’ve gotta be an adventurer,” the burly man’s opponent said. “Honestly, I’ve been sick of you self‑important idiots for a long time…”

Unexpectedly, the one who stood up this time was the woman who’d thrown the knife. She flicked back her white hair, her tone dripping with provocation.

“Let’s keep it simple. You leave the intel, or you leave your legs. Your choice.”

“Heh. If you wanna cause trouble, you damn bitch, you could’ve just said so instead of dancing around it!”

“Wait, don’t you dare start—”

Once the spark of violence catches, it spreads fast. Under the landlady’s helpless gaze, everyone at every table shot to their feet, eyes burning. Almost all of them were mercenaries or adventurers, or plain thugs. The charged atmosphere had stirred their blood; one careless word and they were ready to throw down—

Just then—

“Mom, what’s going on?”

A soft, childish voice that didn’t fit the scene at all cut in. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer—a cute young girl who’d come out from the back.

“Ah, Ariel! Don’t come over here!”

The landlady rushed toward her, trying to drag her daughter away, but—

“Anyway, Mom! I was washing a guest’s clothes and found this! Isn’t it pretty?”

“Don’t go messing with other people’s—huh?”

Beaming from ear to ear, the girl, who wasn’t even ten yet, reached into a coat pocket and pulled something out.

At that moment, everyone froze.

They stared, dumbstruck, at what the girl held in her hand.

It was a sphere about the size of a chicken egg.

Its shell was clear as crystal.

Beneath the shell, light particles flowed in a fiendishly complex pattern, shifting back and forth among various lines and sigils.

It poured out rippling halos of rainbow light. The magic it gave off was unlike anything anyone had ever felt.

It matched, perfectly, every trait in the rumors about an unshaped Great Secret Treasure.

———————————————

At the same time—

“““““…””””””

Lord Sanelis Kotis, ruler of Cassol, wiped away the sweat beading on his forehead. His face was pale, his hands trembling. He’d spent more than forty years licking blood off the blade, but he had never been this nervous.

The trusted aides at his side were all equally breathless. Their minds felt like they were running in slow motion. Every one of them had considered this possibility before, but now that it was actually in front of them, no one knew what to do.

On the table in front of them, a cloth bundle was spread open, revealing what lay inside.

Under a crystal‑clear shell, light particles churned endlessly, radiating shimmering rainbow halos. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Uh… Lord, what do we do?”

The captain of the guard swallowed hard to moisten his dry throat and asked cautiously.

“…”

Sanelis closed his eyes in thought. When he opened them again, the tension was gone. In its place was a cold sharpness that sent a chill down the spine.

“Gather our elites and track down that group’s movements. Heavenward Tower, Pantheon, Knighthood—I don’t care which. We need at least one Magic Trace Sample from them.”

“““““Yes, sir!!!!”””””

———————————————

At the same time—

“Waaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Rumble‑rumble‑rumble‑rumble‑rumble!!!

A girl came screaming out of the explosion, her whole body coated in dust. The boys and girls running beside her were just as filthy and gray from head to toe.

“What do we do, what do we dooooo!?”

“How should I know!?”

“Where’s Teacher Rodrigo!?”

“I—I’m here!”

Hearing the man’s voice from behind them—from the other side of the blast—the boys and girls all skidded to a stop, faces twisted with panic.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine!”

“I’ll hold them off here! You guys go first!” the man they called teacher roared.

“B-but what are we supposed to do with this thing?!”

“It’s a freaking hot potato!”

“We don’t even dare—”

The boys and girls were on the verge of tears, but the teacher’s shout cut them off.

“Since you’ve got it, don’t let go! I’m counting on you! Shul, Clara, Elwin, Chumila—”

“Hey—no, wait, this concubine’s name is Chumila, okay!”

“—Whatever! Just take it and run! We’ll meet at the usual place!”

“But—”

BOOM!!!!!

The new wave of explosions almost swallowed them again. That finally killed their hesitation; everyone used whatever tricks they had and fled the scene as fast as they could!

(Seriously… seriously, seriously, what the hell is this! For me, the Princess of Endless Chaos Darkness, to end up like this…)

Hugging the scorching hot potato—the Great Secret Treasure—in her arms, Chumila couldn’t help but let out a wail.

“Why—why is it turning out like thiiiiis?!”

Why did it turn out like this?

Time rewinds to three days ago—