“What? Monsters at the Magic Tower?”

Melissa’s eyes widened at the unexpected news.

Of course, in her previous life, the Magic Tower had faced considerable trouble from monsters. But that was because Edgar had used long-distance transfer magic for an extended period.

The situation was different now.

The fact that they were having problems despite having many Magic Tower mages, including Everden, meant the number of monsters was substantial. Far more than here.

Why would all the monsters head to the Magic Tower when the Artzen Empire was right in front of them?

‘And they went around the imperial capital instead of through it.’

It must have been a considerable distance.

Yet they deliberately took that route.

Monsters, most of which weren’t highly intelligent, moved secretly as if to prevent any preparation.

What could be the reason?

No, what mattered most right now was something else.

“If they contacted you urgently all the way here in the north, it means they need your help at the Magic Tower, right?”

That explained Edgar’s expression.

Melissa immediately understood the situation.

Everden would have already heard that the northern situation had somewhat stabilized. So she was trying to call Edgar.

But Edgar wasn’t the type to leave Melissa alone.

He had promised they would stay together.

Yet the fact that he was troubled like this meant…….

“It must be very serious.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Edgar calmly acknowledged.

‘I thought he would deny it and tell me not to worry.’

She couldn’t even begin to imagine how bad the situation at the Magic Tower must be. Melissa let out a small sigh.

After checking that no one was nearby, she spoke.

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“No.”

An immediate answer.

No room for consideration.

“Why?”

“The situation is very bad. I don’t want to take you to such a dangerous place. I’ll be fine alone, but I’m not confident I can protect you too. Metus might appear.”

“……”

“Things are in the final stages here, so it should be fine. I’ll leave all the Magic Tower mages who came as support.”

“Is that really okay?”

“The Tower Master is planning to execute a wide-area spell, and I’m the only one with the ability to participate in it. The other mages don’t need to come along.”

Edgar moved closer to Melissa.

He took her hand.

“Melissa, you want to stay here longer, don’t you? Right?”

“Well, yes, but……”

“Then stay and continue to protect this place. We can’t both leave when the wall isn’t even finished. People would be very anxious. You wouldn’t want that.”

Edgar spoke in a pleading tone.

Finally, Melissa surrendered.

“……You absolutely must not get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

“You have to return safely.”

“I will.”

Edgar lifted Melissa’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“And if you’re in danger, I’ll fly to you anytime.”

Melissa nodded.

A few hours later, Edgar headed for the Magic Tower.

Only a quarter of the wall remained to be completed.

* * *

Even after Edgar left, Melissa diligently continued her work. She occasionally met with Ferdina and talked as they used to, and she got along well with everyone.

It was just like when Edgar had been there.

Though it seemed some people didn’t think so.

“My lady, is there anything you need?”

As fighting against monsters had entered another lull, Melissa was resting in her tent when Lloyd approached and asked.

His green eyes looked worriedly at her sitting on the bedding.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“I’m not lying. It might sound strange to say this in this situation, but……”

Melissa looked up at Lloyd.

“I feel good these days. Like I’m alive, you know?”

She was a bit worried about receiving negative glances, but Lloyd didn’t give her any.

“Is that so?”

Lloyd asked with a more relaxed expression than before.

His tone carried deep relief.

“Yes. This is the first time I’ve been out like this, doing things freely. After all, when I was in the north before, I was rather pushed around by people……”

“And it was the same when you were in the imperial palace.”

Lloyd immediately picked up on Melissa’s words.

“I’m still sorry about that. I should have done better as an intermediary. About the crown prince’s consort issue too……”

“That’s really fine now, Your Highness.”

Melissa quickly waved her hand.

But Lloyd still looked apologetic.

At this rate, he might apologize every time they met.

“Really. It’s really okay.”

“But becoming the crown prince’s consort would be troublesome for you, right?”

“Well…… that’s true, but……”

She had no response to that.

The reason she had accepted Joseph’s proposal to become the crown prince’s consort without objection was solely to avoid provoking Lionel and Joseph.

Melissa was flustered, unable to think of what to say.

Lloyd smiled at her.

His already gentle face became even gentler when he smiled. It seemed like a long time since she had seen Lloyd smile so comfortably. That was a relief.

But what did he mean there was nothing to worry about?

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see later.”

“……Please tell me too, Your Highness. It’s about me. I’m sick of things related to me happening without my knowledge.”

“Haha. Just wait a little longer.”

Lloyd, laughing softly, spoke quietly.

“This is something I need to finish myself. I’m sorry, but please bear with me.”

“If you put it that way, I have no choice.”

Melissa shrugged slightly.

She slowly rose from her seat.

“Where are you going, my lady?”

“I should scout again after resting a bit. Monsters might suddenly appear……”

Keeeeeek.

A loud cry came from somewhere.

“……Wow. I should be careful what I say.”

At the sound that clearly belonged to a monster, Melissa and Lloyd quickly ran out of the tent.

As expected, monsters had approached very close.

Melissa immediately cast a barrier.

“Everyone, get ready to attack! Stay inside the barrier!”

After shouting, she focused all her attention on maintaining it.

Other mages rushed over to add their strength.

Even without Edgar, the remaining mages were perfectly capable of handling ordinary monsters.

Yes, that should have been the case, but…….

Crack.

The sound of the barrier breaking came from somewhere.

* * *

A fierce storm swept over the Magic Tower.

It was a rough, powerful wind that made one wonder if it was possible to stand upright. The wind moved as if it would devour all living things around it.

But that was only how it appeared from the outside.

A deer passing by the storm jumped aside in surprise, but contrary to expectations, the storm had no effect on it.

Curious about this, the deer raised one foot to touch the wind. Still, there was no change.

This was only natural.

It was magic created by Everden Armus.

“Limiting the targets to monsters is quite difficult.”

Everden muttered as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

In the distance, monsters could be seen making strange noises as they were swept away by the storm. Judging by the height they were thrown, they would have died instantly upon falling.

After confirming that the magic was being executed successfully, Everden let out a sigh of relief.

It was already hard enough to cast wide-area magic, but trying to adjust the targets one by one to avoid harming innocent creatures was truly exhausting.

It also consumed more magical power than expected.

It would have been disastrous if they hadn’t called Edgar.

“I’m glad you came in time. Ugh……”

“Are you alright?”

Edgar, who was replenishing magical power beside her, asked.

Everden shook her head.

“I can’t even lie and say I’m fine. I feel like throwing up. Where did so many monsters come from? It wasn’t this bad around the Magic Tower……”

“It might be because of Metus.”

“Metus?”

Everden turned her head at the unexpected words but quickly looked forward again.

She couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

One wrong move and the Magic Tower would be gone.

“Why suddenly mention Metus? That’s a monster from the northern empire.”

“The northern empire is just a good habitat for Metus, but it’s not the only place it can live. We don’t know when it might have moved here.”

“How far is it from the northern empire to here? Why would it leave a suitable habitat to travel such a long distance? Why?”

After hesitating briefly, Edgar said:

“Because of me.”

“Explain it so I can understand.”

“I was previously attacked by Metus but escaped from my unconscious state. Because of that, Metus lost its prey that it had worked hard to capture. It’s probably seeking revenge against me.”

Everden made a face as if she were hearing nonsense.

“A monster seeking revenge? That’s absurd.”

“Other monsters might not, but Metus can. It’s a monster with such high intelligence that……”

Edgar stopped mid-sentence.

His blue eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

Something was off.

“……Were there only these types of monsters around before?”

“These types?”

At those words, Everden also looked around.

Come to think of it…….

“Strange. Now that you mention it, it seems like the number of high-level monsters has decreased compared to before. I mean, before you came to the Magic Tower. The types of monsters around have changed.”

“……”

“Looking at the current situation, I could handle this alone? How can this suddenly happen? This would be impossible unless someone was controlling the monsters.”

“……I agree.”

Edgar muttered something.

But due to the raging storm, Everden couldn’t hear clearly.

“What did you say?”

She turned around to look at Edgar.

Since the overall level of monsters had decreased, she could afford this much distraction now.

Everden, who had turned without much thought, flinched.

Edgar’s face had turned deathly pale.

As if he were terrified.

“I think I need to go back.”

His blue eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

Metus is a highly intelligent monster.

It seeks revenge against Edgar Shortiras.

He realized the meaning of these two sentences too late.

Ah.

His mind went blank, unable to think of anything.

Except that he needed to go to Melissa.

* * *