One week had passed since they left the city.
Surprisingly, the journey had been almost completely uneventful.
Just endless roads stretching across the wilderness and the constant creaking of the dragon carriage as it rolled toward the north.
Of course, that didn't mean the trip had been peaceful.
At least not for Tanaka.
"That's not fair, you are definitely cheating!"
Zarestia was pouting with her cheeks puffed out
"I already guessed it."
For the past week, Zarestia had kept nagging him that she was bored so he suggested that they would play twenty question guess game, with Hugo participating via telepathy to not reveal their contract.
"You didn't."
"I literally did."
"You guessed the category."
"I guessed it was a flower."
"That doesn't count."
The problem was that she refused to acknowledge defeat.
The moment someone guessed correctly, the rules somehow changed.
He was already was aware of the fact that she was childish, it didn't bother him at all.
However when it came it Hugo's turn, disguised as his and he managed to guess it in twelve attempts, she still insisted the answer was wrong but Tanaka didn't concede this time.
"I won this time!"
Naturally, after hearing the enthusiasm in his voice, he couldn't let it go.
"There won't be a next time if you keep changing the rules."
"Hmph."
Despite her obvious dissatisfaction, she didn't argue further.
Tanaka couldn't help chuckling.
*********************************************************************************************************
The group had stopped for the night shortly after passing through Kyo, the first major city on their route toward Gusteko.
Their camp had been set up in a quiet clearing within a forest not far from the road.
The evening air was cool, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth.
The crackling campfire illuminated their small campsite, painting the surrounding trees in flickering shades of orange and gold.
Tanaka sat near the flames, warming his hands.
"As much as I love traveling," he said, staring into the fire, "I would've preferred if it was under better circumstances."
Across from him, Tristan poked at the burning logs with a stick.
"I can say the same thing."
The fire shifted, sending a shower of sparks into the night sky.
A moment later, Nora appeared carrying several wooden bowls.
The smell alone was enough to make everyone turn toward her.
A hot pot sat over the fire, steam rising steadily into the cold air.
"Soup's ready."
As expected, Zarestia was the first to grab a bowl without hesitation or shame.
"Thank you."
Nora handed the remaining bowls around before finally sitting down herself.
The brief silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable.
Just tired.
The kind that naturally settled over a group after a long day of travel.
Still, Tanaka found himself curious about something.
He accepted his bowl and glanced toward Nora.
"By the way, how exactly do you know your way around Gusteko?"
The red-haired girl looked up.
"Hm?"
"When we spoke with Riften, you mentioned knowing the area pretty well."
"I do." She blew gently on her soup before taking a small sip. "I was originally from there."
"Oh? Really?" Tanaka raised an eyebrow. "So how did you end up all the way in Kararagi?"
"I was kidnapped and sold into slavery."
COUGH!
Tanaka nearly launched the soup he had just swallowed.
The sudden coughing fit startled everyone around the fire.
After several painful seconds, he finally recovered enough to speak.
"Sorry." He wiped his mouth. "That answer was significantly heavier than I was expecting."
Nora tilted her head.
"My parents were also killed during the capture of the Mad Prince ten years ago."
COUGH!
This time the reaction was even worse.
"Why are you stating these things so casually as if they were fun facts?"
For a moment, Nora looked genuinely confused.
The conversation died for a moment.
The crackling of the campfire filled the silence as sparks drifted into the dark night sky.
Tanaka quietly stirred his soup.
The more he thought about it, the stranger their group seemed.
A Great Spirit was heading toward a nation whose ruler reportedly despised spirits.
A former slave was returning to the very country that had sold her.
A royal knight of Lugunica was travelling alongside a supposed Sin Archbishop.
And somehow, this bizarre collection of people had become a functioning party.
At least for now.
Deciding that dwelling on Nora's past would only make things awkward, Tanaka shifted the topic.
"This whole situation started because of the Mad Prince, right?"
His eyes moved between Tristan and Nora.
"What exactly did he do? Was it some kind of rebellion?"
The title itself was famous.
Despite Tanaka's collecting as much information as he could access in this world, the existence known as the mad prince remained ambiguous.
Tristan set down the stick he had been using to poke the fire.
"Vague Adgard, or as most people know him as the Mad Prince. In terms of raw strength, he is considered one of the four greatest powers among the Four Great Nations. He stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the 'Sword Saint' Reinhard van Astrea, the 'Blue Lightning' Cecilus Segmunt, and the 'Admirer' Halibel."
Tanaka was somewhat familiar with all the other three.
While Reinhard is the absolute apex of power, the other two outclass him in certain hyper-specific categories. Cecilus is faster and is a peerless sword prodigy who can even dodge literal light. He surpasses him in pure combat technique and excels at stealth.
There was absolutely no information about Vague Adgard but to be placed among them was enough to understand the scale of the threat.
"The strange thing," Tristan continued as if reading his mind, "is that despite his fame, almost nobody knows anything about him."
"Some claim he slaughtered over a dozen members of the royal family."
"Others say it took an army of several thousand soldiers seven days and seven nights to finally subdue him."
"Some even believed the Mad Prince never existed at all."
Tanaka frowned.
"What?"
"People thought Gusteko invented him."
The absurdity of the rumors had become their own source of doubt.
Nora quietly lowered her bowl.
"The Mad Prince is real."
Her tone was firm.
Unlike the rumors, there was no uncertainty in her voice.
"It might not have reached Lugunica because of the Royal Selection, but things changed in the north less than a year ago."
Everyone turned toward her.
Nora's expression darkened.
"A little under a year ago, Vague Adgard escaped." The campfire suddenly felt colder. "He broke out of the tower where he had been imprisoned, then he killed the king and whoever remained from his relatives."
Silence.
Only the wind moved through the trees.
Tanaka slowly lowered his spoon.
"...Killed the king? For what reason?"
Nora nodded.
"He was the last surviving member of the royal bloodline. Which meant the throne belonged to him."
Tanaka frowned.
"Wait."
Something wasn't adding up.
"I thought Gusteko's ruler wasn't chosen through bloodlines."
Everyone looked toward him.
"The title of Holy King is supposed to be granted by Odglass, right?"
Odglass is a spirit who, unlike most other spirits, interferes with the world by watching over the people of the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko. There was always a ritual where she picks up the new king regardless of blood and origin.
Nora nodded.
"That was how it used to work."
Her gaze drifted toward the dark northern horizon.
"A thousand years ago, when Gusteko was founded, Odglass formed a contract with the kingdom's first ruler. Since then, every Holy King was chosen through her guidance. It didn't matter whether someone was noble, commoner, rich, or poor."
Tanaka listened quietly.
The system sounded completely different from every other nation.
"That's why she's called the Benevolent Mother. She has watched over Gusteko since its birth. Countless spirits served beneath her. They helped people survive the frozen lands."
Then Nora's expression darkened.
"But that changed. Four hundred years ago, contact between Odglass and the church began to decrease Then one hundred years ago..." She paused. "She disappeared."
"And without Odglass, the kingdom had no way to continue the old succession system. So they followed the example of Lugunica and the throne became hereditary."
Tanaka stared into the fire.
This was the first time he had ever heard any of this.
Yet somehow...
It made sense.
And unfortunately, he already knew who was probably responsible.
That white-haired piece of shit...
Cepheus.
And now a king obsessed with exterminating spirits.
"No," Tanaka muttered.
"The kingdom would never let neighboring countries learn about something like this."
Tristan nodded.
"It makes sense."
"If word spread that Odglass had abandoned Gusteko, it would have made the nation appear vulnerable."
The campfire crackled softly, then Tristan's gaze shifted toward Tanaka.
"...By the way, what exactly are you doing?"
The knight had been watching him for several minutes now.
Tanaka sat cross-legged beside the fire with a large leather bag resting next to him.
Every few seconds, he would reach inside, pull out a faintly glowing crystal, absorb its mana, and casually toss aside the dull gray remains.
One after another.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The growing pile of lifeless stones beside him was becoming mildly concerning.
Tanaka glanced up.
"Oh, this?" He held up another glowing stone between his fingers. "It's a bag of Glintstones that the mayor gave me."
The crystal dimmed rapidly before crumbling into powder.
"Due to various circumstances I'd rather not explain, my gate has a lot of issues. These are currently my only reliable source of mana."
Tristan blinked.
"...That's the first time I've ever heard someone say that."
"Well, I'm not exactly eager to read you my diary."
The knight ignored the jab.
"No, I mean the Glintstones."
Glintstones are meant to be used for large systems and media, it's was an obvious that it wasn't meant to be used for human consumption due to their large concentration, there were previous records where people swallowed small glintstones and that led to their immediate demise.
His eyes drifted toward the growing pile.
"Isn't the amount you're consuming a little excessive?"
"A little?" Nora suddenly looked up from her bowl.
"Humans aren't even supposed to absorb mana directly from them. They are only used in machinery, magical tools, and city infrastructure."
Her expression became increasingly disturbed.
Tanaka looked at the crystal in his hand.
Then at the bag.
Then back at Nora.
"Huh."
Crack.
Another stone turned gray.
"I don't really feel anything."
Everyone stared at him.
Tanaka reached into the bag again.
Crack.
Another stone.
"Maybe if I absorb the whole bag, I would feel some difference?"
The campfire fell silent.
Even Tristan's expression became difficult to read.
The knight looked at the bag.
Then at Tanaka.
Then back at the bag.
"...The whole bag?"
"Yeah."
Crack.
Another crystal died.
The silence somehow became even heavier.
At first, most of the things that came out of Tanaka's mouth sounded like exaggerations.
Now they were watching him consume enough mana to power half a district without suffering so much as a nosebleed.
The frightening part wasn't that he could do it.
The frightening part was that it apparently wasn't enough.
Thankfully, the uncomfortable sensation of mana starvation was mostly gone.
For the first time in weeks, his gate didn't feel painfully empty.
Even so...
Tanaka could tell the difference.
No matter how many Glintstones he absorbed, they couldn't compare to the Light Sphere.
What he was doing now felt like trying to fill an empty lake using a wooden cup.
One scoop at a time.
"Your mana reserves must be monstrous."
Nora's voice carried genuine disbelief.
Tanaka shrugged.
"Given my circumstances, I don't think that's necessarily a good thing."
His gaze wandered around the camp before landing on Zarestia.
The spirit had been unusually quiet.
She wasn't eating nor arguing, she was simply staring at the crystals, watching them disappear.
Tanaka tilted his head.
"Hey."
The sudden call made her flinch.
"What?"
"Do you want some?" The question caught her completely off guard.
For a brief second, her golden eyes widened.
Then she immediately looked away.
"I'm good."
The answer came far too quickly.
Tanaka stared at her for a moment. he recalled the fact that she no longer possessed her light ball which was her anchor as a spirit, primarily his fault, the alternative solution was for them to make a contract. But still, he has no idea how exactly it substituted it.
Before he could say anything else, he noticed Zarestia glaring intensely at Nora.
Nora immediately understood.
"Oh."
She stood up.
"Tristan, can you come help me gather more firewood?"
The knight looked around.
There was already a large pile beside the fire.
"...It seems like we have enough for tonight."
Nora smiled.
"We might need more for the road, we might not come across another forest."
"I'm pretty sure there's another one half a day from here."
"..."
"..."
Eventually, Nora grabbed him by the sleeve.
"Come on."
Before Tristan could continue arguing, she practically dragged him into the darkness beyond the campfire.
The knight's confused protests slowly faded into the distance.
Silence settled over the campsite.
Then, without warning, Zarestia suddenly wrapped her arms around Tanaka's neck from behind.
"Hey! What's gotten into you?"
Tanaka nearly dropped the Glintstone in his hand.
The spirit ignored his reaction completely.
"Stay still."
Her voice carried an unusual amount of determination.
"I want my share too."
Tanaka blinked.
"Your share?"
"The mana."
She tightened her hold slightly.
"You've been hoarding it all this time."
"Didn't I literally offer you Glintstones earlier?"
"I don't want that garbage." The response came instantly. "It's much better coming from your gate."
Tanaka opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
He honestly had no idea how to respond.
Ever since Odglass explained it to him, he had been told repeatedly that the mana inside his gate was abnormal.
Mana naturally purified itself as it circulated through a gate.
However, for reasons nobody fully understood, the process within his own gate was far more efficient than normal.
The result was mana of the highest quality possible.
Apparently spirits loved it.
Unfortunately, Tanaka was oblivious to how significant that was.
"Wait a second." He turned his head slightly. "Weren't you already drawing mana from me?"
"What?"
Zarestia looked offended.
"I never got the chance."
Her chin rested on top of his head.
The warmth of her body was surprisingly noticeable.
"You told me to gather mana from the atmosphere and transfer it into your gate and I've been doing that."
She puffed her cheeks. "Now I'm collecting my share."
"Besides," she continued, "this only works through direct contact."
Tanaka's eye twitched.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Anyway, shouldn't we do this in a more discrete way? What if Tristan finds o..."
"Augh, shut up."
She tightened her arms around him again.
"The shorty and I already talked, We have ten minutes, the mana that I kept gathering went to your gate but I have never gotten any good chance to properly get my share."
"You talked? Okay, I understand but..."
Then, he suddenly stopped talking.
Zarestia had lowered her head.
Her chin rested atop his hair.
For some reason, all the irritation he had been feeling disappeared. A strange sense of calm washed over him.
The kind of feeling one experienced after finally sitting down following an exhausting day.
"You finally stopped talking."
A satisfied smile appeared on Zarestia's face.
Tanaka rolled his eyes.
Then his gaze shifted toward the bracelet around his wrist.
"You too, Hugo."
The blue jewel embedded within it pulsed softly.
A young voice echoed from it.
"I'm actually fine, Master."
"I'm not taking no for an answer."
Tanaka crossed his arms.
"And it's been a while since you've materialized."
The spirit fell silent.
"..."
"..."
Finally, a small voice answered.
"Understood."
A moment later, golden light emerged from the bracelet.
The light condensed beside him before forming the familiar figure of a young boy.
Hugo landed gently on Tanaka's shoulder.
His expression remained as reserved as ever.
Yet the moment he appeared, Zarestia smiled.
The three remained there quietly.
__
___
____
Hours later, the camp had fallen silent.
The fire had long since died down.
Only the distant sounds of insects and rustling leaves remained.
Inside his tent, Tanaka slept peacefully.
Or at least he had been.
Then the warmth disappeared.
The sensation arrived gradually.
The rough texture beneath his body changed.
The softness of his bedroll vanished.
Cool blades of grass brushed against his cheek.
A gentle breeze passed over his skin.
Tanaka's eyelid twitched.
Then opened.
The endless night sky was replaced with an endless blue one. White clouds drifted lazily across the horizon.
Not a single star.
Not a single trace of night.
"...Augh."
A groan escaped him immediately.
Because he already knew.
He knew exactly where he was.
Slowly sitting upright, Tanaka looked around.
Rolling hills of emerald grass extended endlessly in every direction.
Just an infinite sea of green beneath an equally infinite sky.
And of course, he was there.
His expression immediately soured.
That white haired scumbag...
Cepheus..