"Cynthia—"

"I'm the Lord Overseer here," Cynthia said with a smug smile as she looked at Tairo, who had just arrived in Larmida.

Tairo smiled wryly at her antics. "I hurried here for three days, and the first thing you do is point out your title?"

Without waiting for a reply, his tone turned serious. "We can catch up later, but first, tell me anything you know about the Empire's knight who broke the rules."

Seeing the change in Tairo's expression, Cynthia also stopped joking and recounted everything that had happened with Nova, even describing the sequence of fights and his opponents to give Tairo a general idea of his strength.

Half an hour later, Tairo said lightly, "From what you've told me, he's an elite second-stage knight, but still somewhat average among them. I can't wrap my head around why someone like that would come here to fight when there are stronger people to face in the Empire."

"Maybe he wanted to feel strong. He didn't give me that impression though, but people's hearts are too hard to truly understand," Cynthia said.

Tairo nodded. "You know where he is now, right?"

She took a note from her pocket and handed it to him. "This is where he is now. He didn't even try to run away, so try not to use violence if you can when you escort him back to the Empire."

Grabbing the note, Tairo said, "Since he's being cooperative, I won't mistreat him."

He glanced at the paper and asked, "Is there anything you want me to tell the Commander?"

Cynthia stood silent for a long while, thoughts swirling in her head. At last, she gently shook it and said, "No. I'll speak to him personally in a few months, once my term here is over."

Tairo stared at her deeply. "Alright. Then take care."

She nodded, her eyes following Tairo's back until he disappeared through the doorway.

Outside the room, Tairo looked at the two knights waiting silently by the door. He coolly said "We have the target's location. Follow me."

The knights nodded quietly and fell in behind him as they made their way out of the arena, heading toward the inn where Nova was staying.

It didn't take long as, minutes later, the trio stood outside the inn, staring up at it.

One of the knights, a stocky man, asked, "Do we barge in and drag him out?"

"That would be faster than knocking on his door," the other knight, a lean man, said casually.

Both of their gazes landed on Tairo, the captain of the mission.

"No. Since he's cooperating, he might come out as soon as we ask. There's no need to complicate things and make a mess here," Tairo replied. A moment later he added, "Wait here. I'll call if I need help," and entered the building.

Hearing this, the lean knight only shrugged, while the stocky one sighed. Neither voiced their thoughts.

////

Seated on the floor of his room, Nova's hair and clothes whipped wildly as if a tornado were raging right in front of him but nothing could be seen standing there with the naked eye.

"I've managed to thin the wind enough to make it hard to notice, but its power is still too weak for the amount of Mana I'm consuming. I guess this can be called a raw application of wind, nowhere near what it needs to be as lethal as a true spell," he muttered, the near invisible currents still dancing around him.

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After three days of relentless effort, the best he had managed was strengthening his control over half of his wind core. Even so, his progress remained rudimentary, still needing more time and training to reach its full potential.

'It's been three days since I met Cynthia… that means the Empire's knights are either already here or about to arrive. I should end this training session for now. Controlling wind mana this long has been exhausting,' he thought, standing up on stiff legs.

With a tap of his foot, the runes etched into the floor slowly dimmed, and the sound-isolation array fell apart.

Right at that moment, someone knocked on his door.

With a faint smile, he thought, 'Letto should still be in the arena… so it must be them. What a great timing.'

He opened the door and found Tairo standing there, staring back at him with an assessing look.

"You are?" Nova asked, feigning surprise.

"I'm Tairo, a knight under Commander Senna," Tairo said calmly. "I'm here to escort you back to the army camp, where you'll be investigated for your crimes. Do you have any questions before we depart?"

Nova's eyes wandered over him and at his sides as he thought, 'I can't here, I need to wait.' Out loud, he said, "How do you know if I'm part of the Empire or not?"

It was a question he had wanted to ask Cynthia, but he had realized she wouldn't have contacted the knights if she thought he was clueless about the situation. He desperately wanted to know how powerful the Empire truly was, so he had stopped himself back then. But now that the knights had already come for him, there was no reason to hold back.

At his words, Tairo frowned. Seconds later, his expression eased. "You'll be interrogated when we bring you back. Then we'll find out whether you're from the Empire or not. If there are no more questions, follow me."

'They want to drag me to the Empire based on nothing but my strength? Doesn't this mean that if I had come here before becoming strong enough, I would've already been reduced to the Empire's pet? Something like what happened in Blackridge, most likely,' Nova thought, internally snorting at how arrogant and domineering these people were.

Tairo stared at Nova for several seconds. Seeing that the man had no more questions, he nodded, turned, and gestured for him to follow.

Without making a fuss, Nova walked behind Tairo out of the inn, where he spotted two knights waiting on standby. 'Three in total? There might be more laying down and waiting for us outside the city the city. I'll wait a bit longer,' he thought.

The two knights gave him a long look. The lean one smirked. "He's nothing much. Just another one of those weak willed knights who run to the kingdoms to feel strong."

"Indeed. What a letdown. Why did the Commander send three of us for this?" the stocky knight added, pointing a finger at Nova in disappointment.

Tairo's gaze snapped to them, sharp and cold. "That's enough. We've retrieved the target. Now we return to the army camp and deliver him. Don't let your guard down on the road."

The two knights nodded, unfazed by his coldness. The lean one muttered under his breath, "I prefer him when we're not on a mission together."

The other knight echoed the sentiment with a sigh.

Nova noticed their interaction but paid it no mind. Soon, the four of them were walking through the city, with him positioned in the middle of the three. Despite the hustle and bustle of the capital, not a single word was exchanged. Strangely enough, the most relaxed of the group was the so-called "prisoner" as the other three were on high alert.

None of the three knights spared him so much as a glance. As far as they were concerned, as long as Nova kept walking with them and followed their instructions, there was nothing to worry about.

Their pace wasn't exactly quick for what they were capable of, but they had to be careful. The target was, after all, an elite knight of the Empire and, although the kingdoms were all under its rule, this wasn't exactly their territory. They couldn't be one hundred percent certain nothing would happen.

Their caution paid off, and more than an hour later, the four of them left the city without any trouble. On the road, Tairo, without looking back, said, "We'll be avoiding any forests or mountain ranges and proceeding along the roads."

"Understood," the two knights echoed.

'Trying to minimize the dangers?' Nova thought, his lips curling upward. 'Why worry about some beasts at the periphery when the real danger is right beside them?' He kept silent and followed Tairo as they made their way farther and farther from Larmida, until it eventually became a dot on the horizon and soon disappeared from view.

Glancing at the desolate road around him, Nova thought, 'Alright, there's only three of them and this is far enough.'

With a stomp of his foot, he halted. The two knights beside him reacted instantly, stopping just a meter away, with Tairo close behind them.

"What are you trying to do?" Tairo asked, his brows furrowing.

The stocky knight grinned. "Maybe he wants to rebel."

"If that's the case, this is going to be exciting," the lean one added, his hand already resting on the pommel of his sword.

Nova smirked at them. "There's one thing I want to check before we reach the Empire and I hope you'll help me with it."

Tairo narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to know," Nova said, "how long it takes to deal with all of you."

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