Maxi's chest swelled with pride as she watched her husband.
Drying her hands with a towel, she hurriedly tidied up her messy hair and smoothed out her rumpled tunic.
While she doubted these efforts would improve her appearance, at least she could avoid looking like a slut.
“Are you… finished with the search?” he asked, seeing Riftan look around the infirmary.
He turned to look at her, and she blushed as she felt his gaze roam her body.
Even though he had seen her in worse states several times, she still felt uncomfortable and embarrassed.
She covered the bloodstain on her sleeve, coughing lightly.
"I heard we're leaving in a week.
Have you found anything on the dark wizards?"
“Let's go for a walk,” Riftan said sharply, turning toward the tent entrance.
Initially, Maxi was confused, but quickly grabbed her cape when she realized that his suggestion could be an excuse to have a private moment with her.
His heart started to race.
They haven't had the opportunity to talk until now.
He was busy searching the city, and she was busy with the injured.
After informing the mages sitting in front of the brazier that she would be gone for a moment, Maxi followed Riftan outside.
To his surprise, the sky was already turning red.
They walked around a building with a collapsed wall and made their way towards the square lined with tents of various sizes.
They cut through a group of soldiers loading and loading wooden crates into carriages, the contents of which the knights meticulously recorded in notebooks.
Maxi deduced that they were counting the spoils of war.
"I-I heard that we would be staying in Osiriya for a while… to sort out the distribution of the spoils.
Are there many items of value?"
“Much more than we expected,” Riftan replied brusquely, leading her to the outskirts of the city.
They entered a narrow alley between two warehouse-like buildings.
A steep staircase rose at the end of it, and Maxi looked up curiously.
Where was he taking her?
Riftan motioned for her to follow him, saying nonchalantly, "A mountain of mana stones and artifacts made from viper skin, basilisk bones, and scales.
All found in an underground cellar.
There was even orichalcum."
Maxi's eyes widened.
“Orichalcum?”
“Indeed,” replied Riftan, a sardonic smile curving his lips.
"Your discovery has triggered some tedious discussions.
The possibility of finding orichalcum veins somewhere in this icy hell seems to have driven everyone mad with greed."
"And you...
don't want it for yourself?
I heard that orichalcum is hundreds of times more valuable than gold."
"That's only true of the smelted variety," Riftan replied dryly, "but the method of smelting orichalcum ore has been lost since the fall of the Roem Empire.
The ore is useless if you can't extract the metal, and the cost of developing a mine would be greater than the profit."
“So… why are others fighting for this?”
"For greed.
Few in this world can give up such a valuable treasure.
And there is always the possibility that someone will rediscover the smelting method one day."
The climb left Maxi breathless, ending his questions.
Now they were in front of a vaulted tunnel.
Maxi looked apprehensively into the depths.
“W-Where are we going?”
“I want to show you something.”
Riftan put an arm around her shoulders and led her down the narrow hallway.
It was difficult to calculate how long they walked in the darkness, but when they emerged on the other side, the glow of the sunset was blinding.
Maxi squeezed her eyes shut, and she sighed as she opened them.
“H-Heavens… it’s so beautiful,” she murmured in awe, stepping into the warm rays of light.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine such a beautiful place in this city of monsters.
Slowly turning, she took in the magnificent circular hall.
It could be a temple, but I couldn't be sure, as I had never seen anything like it.
The stained glass walls illuminated the spacious hall in stunning colors, the light dancing across the marble floor.
Looking up, Maxi saw stained glass windows in the ceiling, and the purple light shining through them made her feel like she was surrounded by fire.Although it was cold enough that his breath fogged up, his entire body relaxed under the gentle sun.
Maxi closed her eyes to savor the sweet sensation.
“No one has ever mentioned this place.”
“That’s because I haven’t told anyone yet.”
The suggestion in his voice brought Maxi back to reality.
Opening her eyes, she saw Riftan standing in the light with her, his dark hair now dyed mesmerizing hues of purple, blue, and dark brown.
The sunset cast her skin in fire and gold, and her eyes shone like the night sea reflecting the stars.
Desire ignited in his chest.
The desire to touch him burned in her fingertips.
She wanted to unite with this handsome man.
His need was so intense it momentarily scared her.
Her whole body tense, she looked up at him with burning eyes.
“I wanted to show you before the others could loot it,” Riftan said, looking around the room.
"For months you've only seen monsters and dead bodies.
You need something to replace those memories."
When he turned to face her again, she saw no emotion there.
A strange sadness invaded her.
Riftan seemed to be avoiding his gaze, looking at the light that played on the floor.
His voice trembled slightly as he said, "I pray that the memory of this place protects you.
If you are tormented by nightmares, a beautiful memory can be a great comfort."
“Did you go?”
Riftan's eyes flicked up to her question.
A desire to understand his inner thoughts swept Maxi.
"D-Have you ever been plagued by nightmares?
Have you had to remember beautiful memories...
every time you've had one?"
Something like pain flashed across his face.
“Yes, I've had nightmares, and a single memory helped me endure them,” he replied in a flat tone.
Before she could ask what the memory was, he stepped back into the shadowed perimeter and began inspecting the carvings on the columns.
The realization that he was still trying to keep her at a distance hit her like ice water.
She had thought he had finally opened his heart to her.
Was it just a momentary flash of emotions in the heat of war?
Maxi walked over to him and stroked his forearm.
He stiffened for a moment, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
She felt his comforting warmth melt away her anxiety.
Riftan was just being vigilant.
Once they left this battlefield for safer locations, he would completely accept her again.
Reassuring himself, Maxi wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Thank you… for bringing me here,” you murmured, your face against his chest.
His arm tightened around her, and she let out a sigh as she watched the streams of light disappear.
When the nightmares came, she would remember him standing in the bright sun.
Maxi's workload decreased considerably once the clergy began tending to the injured.
Soon, everyone from the Wizards' Tower, including Maxi, was tasked with investigating the city.
It didn't take long for her to realize that Anton wasn't exaggerating“the Temple Knights were actually watching them.
Under the guise of acting as escort, the paladins followed the mages' every step, and any discoveries were kept under a watchful eye.
Maxi was uneasy about the paladins' behavior.
With the common enemy defeated, she wondered if the next enemy would be the Temple Knights themselves.
After an anxious glance at the Osiriyan soldiers, Maxi went to join the mages.
Currently, the coalition army was camped outside the castle due to fears of traps inside.
Maxi navigated among the square's crowded tents, stopping near the wooden boxes stacked haphazardly at the entrance to the wizards' quarters.
Nevin, Albern, Miriam, and Geoffrey were sitting around a fire.
Maxi took out the leather scroll that was attached to his side and handed it to them.
"I'm done with the east wing.
Is the search for the main castle complete?"
A strange expression appeared on their faces at his question.
Maxi looked at them in bewilderment.
"W-What's wrong?
Did something happen?"
Miriam, who was stirring the fire with a stick, responded curtly: "They ordered the search to stop.
They will begin demolishing the city as soon as everyone has left the buildings."Maxi's eyes widened.
“B-But we still haven’t found any clues about the dark wizards, and… there are still places we haven’t investigated.”
“We are running out of time.”
Maxi turned his head up at the unexpected voice.
Kuahel Leon left the tent accompanied by one of his assistants.
They looked so intimidating that Maxi reflexively took a step back.
Kuahel watched her sternly and continued, "We must leave before we run out of provisions, or we will starve.
We cannot delay any longer."
"The buildings in this city...
are made of stone.
It won't be that easy to destroy them."
"We need to at least tear down the walls of the main castle.
If we don't, the monsters might use this place as a base again."
Maxi studied the paladin's face.
Although his argument was valid, something told him that the man was only telling part of the reason.
She hid her apprehensions and chose her next words carefully.
"As you know, the walls are fortified with magic.
They are also inscribed with runes that nullify any spell cast on them.
T-To tear down the walls, we must first deal with the runes."
“That's exactly why I'm here, to ask the mages to nullify the runes as quickly as possible.”
It sounded more like an order than a request.
Kuahel's eyes“a piercing golden green“passed over the mages.
“You can hear the full details inside,” he said, then walked away toward the rows of tents without waiting for a response from them.
Geoffrey shook his head as he watched them go.
“This guy seems to think we are obligated to obey his every command.”
"He is the supreme commander.
We have no choice but to follow orders until the end of this campaign," Nevin muttered bitterly as he stood up.
"Come on, we should go in and hear what Master Celric has to say about this.
Whatever they want us to do, I just want to get it over with so we can finally get out of this place."