Claes opened his eyes.

He had suffered so much in his dream that cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He wiped his forehead with his hand and swept his hair back.

‘That was a terrible nightmare…’

It was a memory from the day after his mother Elysia died, when the Empress called him, Lars, and Karad and told them to call her mother from now on, her eyes sparkling.

‘Now she can’t do that anymore, but…’

She didn’t treat Elysia’s children like her own and constantly abused them. She would beat them for even one wrong answer during studies and slap them in front of maids and servants.

When trying to protect young Lars, Claes, who was just a boy at the time, experienced the pain of glass shards embedding in his back. Karad wasn’t treated much differently either, but just like the Empress intended, he felt ashamed that Elysia was his mother.

“…Ha.”

Of course, after he was chosen as Crown Prince and became an adult, the *buse stopped. However, whenever something bad happened, he would have nightmares about those times, which made Claes anxious.

“…Phew.”

Claes rarely calmed his turbulent heart with deep breaths. The subjugation of the Dark Mages was finished, so now they just needed to set up the wire fence and establish the barrier. He put on his outer coat and took his bow to go outside the barracks and check on those working.

The workers had almost finished setting up the wire fence. All that remained was to bury large magic stones here, make electricity flow through them, then establish the barrier.

“…”

Claes silently gazed at the area where the wire fence stretched endlessly. It was territory with fertile plains inside and dried vegetation on the outside. Since the wire fence was installed along the border where there was no vegetation, there was little worry about animals getting caught.

‘Only people pass through here…’

Since desert stretched all the way to the nearest village in Heritail Kingdom, neither people nor animals would approach. Only Dark Mages receiving support from Heritail Kingdom would come and go. Claes approached the wire fence.

Then one of the workers who noticed his arrival greeted him.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”

“Ah. I just stopped by to check. How far has the progress come?”

The worker wiped his sweat and said.

“We’ve almost finished connecting the electricity too. Now we just need to make final adjustments and then establish the barrier.”

“Good. Since the mage tower accepted our cooperation request and sent a mage, treat them well while establishing the barrier.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Claes asked, seemingly remembering something.

“Come to think of it, where are the corpses that were sacrificed for Dark Magic? I heard they would be burned, but I didn’t hear where.”

If Elysia disappeared like before, the place she would reappear would be on top of the corpses from this Dark Mage subjugation.

Since the corpses were burned with magic, only skeletons would remain… He had glimpsed how Elysia was composed from a distance, and according to Lars’s deduction, she would select the finest bones to construct her body, so he wanted to see them in advance.

“I think I heard they would pile the corpses outside the eastern side of the barracks.”

“I see. Then, carry on with your work.”

“Yes!”

The worker returned to his position. Claes moved his steps.

The cold dawn wind tickled his ears. Though it was summer, dawn was quite chilly. Claes thought he had chosen well to pick thick outer clothing while heading toward the pit where corpses were piled.

“…”

He silently looked down at the pit. The deeply dug pit was about 3 meters deep and quite wide, but despite this, so many skeletons were piled up that they formed a small hill.

This was the true face of Dark Magic that had sacrificed innocent imperial citizens.

Claes felt slightly nauseous.

“Are you alright, Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

“I’m fine. Could you give me some water if you have any?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

After drinking water, Claes handed back the canteen. The soldiers guarding the pile of corpses had indifferent faces, but Claes was furious that Dark Mages had made so many people into sacrifices.

However, he didn’t show it in his expression. He was the supreme commander. If he showed disturbance over something like this, those following his orders would pity or feel sorry for him.

‘And that would be fatal to the chain of command.’

Who would rely on an unreliable, weak supreme commander? Claes looked at the mountain of skulls once more, then moved his steps. The morning sun was beginning to rise.

‘With this subjugation, the Dark Mages will be quiet for a while. But we didn’t catch the highest-ranking Dark Mage. This definitely means there’s a spy communicating with the Empire.’

He didn’t report every detail to the Emperor. But he did report how future operations would unfold. Perhaps because of this, when they went to catch Dark Mages, the important figures were always missing and only small fry remained.

Claes clenched his fist tightly, then headed to the barracks where he would soon hold a meeting.

“We greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

After looking around at those greeting him politely with arms crossed over their chests, Claes spoke quietly.

“There’s still time before everyone gathers. Until then, report anything you have. Even the most trivial unusual matters are fine, so don’t leave anything out.”

“Yes. We’ll keep that in mind!”

When the assembled battalion commanders shouted this, Claes sat at the round table at the top. He noticed a map spread out with chess pieces placed on it. Most of the white pieces had won, but black pieces were still placed in Endera, the capital of Heritail Kingdom.

‘I heard Heritail Kingdom currently can’t properly raise crops or livestock due to severe climate change. That makes it perfect conditions for Dark Mages to sl*ughter people. 

There are plenty of people who would sell even their own family members to somehow put food on the table…’

Moreover, rumors were widespread even within the Empire that King Yanse of Heritail was someone who could only see what was right in front of him. 

With only sycophants who flattered him by his side, he didn’t care for his people and was completely absorbed in entertainment, so Heritail’s collapse was swift.

‘And the aftereffects are washing over to our Empire too. Soon an enormous number of refugees will approach the Empire. If we don’t want to absorb them, this wire fence is absolutely necessary. It’s to stop Dark Mages, but also…’

Battalion commanders gathered one by one in front of Claes, who was lost in thought. Among them were some nodding after hearing from soldiers.

Soon they stood before Claes to report.

“We have something to report.”

“What is it?”

Claes raised his head to look at them.

“News that the highest-ranking Dark Mage Sroze has appeared in this area. We heard he was heading toward where the wire fence is, so we had knights chase him, but…”

“Then we postpone the meeting. We chase Sroze immediately.”

Claes immediately stood up from his seat. The battalion commanders followed suit.

Soon a messenger bird landed on the arm of the reporting battalion commander. After unfolding the note tied to its leg, the battalion commander hurriedly told Claes.

“He’s at the southernmost point of Saraum Village, where the wire fence ends.”

“We pursue him. Everyone mount your horses!”

Claes grabbed the reins while opening his eyes sharply. His blue eyes glowed fiercely like a leopard just beginning to hunt. When he began the pursuit with bow in hand, the battalion commanders couldn’t suppress their excitement.

Master archer. Claes Seherta.

A Sword Master who could unleash sword energy and the perfect Crown Prince of the Seherta Empire.

‘Fighting while supporting this person’s back is the greatest honor.’

The battalion commanders lowered their postures and spurred their horses forward.

Now the hunt was beginning.

It was a high-speed chase of hunter and hunted.