Today, I returned to my bedroom after receiving successor lessons from Baron Dorus.

I was completely drained after attending the rigorous lessons without any breaks.

Of course, Baron Dorus was a good teacher. If there was one flaw, it might be that he was too rigid and strict.

Whether it was because I saved his son, Pavo Dorus, or because I made him repent, Baron Dorus now treated me as Severes’ legitimate successor.

Recently, Pavo Dorus also stopped picking fights with me like before and quietly attended to me. Though he still showed occasional discontent.

It was a day-to-day life where the only thing to worry about was Belissa Kreundel.

As soon as I returned to the room, Greed, who had come out of the sealing stone, pounded the floor with his front paws as if bored.

[Old human, too picky. Thought I’d die of boredom.]

“That’s why I told you to just stay in the room, Greed?”

[……Don’t want to be alone.]

Greed, who had become increasingly lonely lately, tried to stick with me as much as possible.

Seeing him trying to be by my side even during boring lessons made me feel both touched and puzzled…

Suddenly, I remembered Raeyan’s warning not to get close to the sins.

[Can I eat this cupcake?!]

But I just couldn’t bring myself to dislike the small black fox whose eyes sparkled at the sight of a cake.

“Yes. You can have it all.”

[Excited.]

I pushed the cake plate in front of Greed and sat down at the desk, taking out the communication magic tool.

It was to check if there were any missed contacts during the lesson.

Usually, people who contact me know my schedule and communicate after my schedule is over.

Today, I thought there wouldn’t be any contacts as usual and operated the magic tool, but.

“Raeyan?”

There were traces of Raeyan contacting me.

Why did he suddenly contact me when there had been no communication since he left for the Black Ravine without any notice?

Thinking there might be an urgent matter, I quickly tried to communicate, but couldn’t reach Raeyan.

“Is he in the middle of subjugation……”

According to the war situation I checked in the news, the magical beast subjugation was progressing successfully, and most of the beasts in the ravine had been dealt with.

Since no more beasts were coming out of the cracks, the entire subjugation team would return soon.

“Did he contact me to say he’s coming back soon?”

So Raeyan would be back soon.

It hadn’t been that long since I’d seen him, but it felt like years.

Recently, the capital’s social circles were in an uproar over the news of the restoration of the extinct Vietan family.

I heard that many people were already trying to curry favor with Raeyan, wondering if he would become one of the five great families.

Restoration, why did he suddenly make such a decision?

I felt somewhat hurt that he didn’t tell me about such plans.

While I was deep in thought about Raeyan, the communication magic tool was activated.

Thinking it might be Raeyan, I quickly looked, but the sender was Mario.

“Yes, Mario.”

[Miss Lili, please don’t be surprised.]

I had casually connected the communication magic tool, but I tensed up slightly at Mario’s serious voice, which had lowered considerably.

“Why, what’s the matter?”

[Well, you see……]

“Tell me quickly.”

[……It’s said that the magical beast subjugation team has been annihilated.]

For a moment, it felt like all cognitive activity had stopped, and I went blank.

“……What?”

[The entire Black Ravine area has been devastated, and no survivors can be found……]

“……”

It was news I didn’t want to believe.

***

The news of the annihilation of the Black Ravine subjugation team hadn’t even been published in articles yet.

But since Mario said it, it must be true.

Greed approached me, who was in shock, and said a few words.

[Impossible. He wasn’t the kind of human to die from mere magical beasts. To begin with, the contractor of Envy is immortal.]

“That’s right. Raeyan, …… said he doesn’t die.”

[So don’t make such a gloomy face like someone who’s lost their snacks to me a hundred times.]

Greed’s small, pitch-black front paw tapped on the back of my hand.

It seemed like Greed was trying to comfort me in his own way.

It was strange how even that was comforting.

“If we wait, we’ll hear news of his return. Thank you, Greed.”

[Hmph, it’s nothing.]

Seemingly embarrassed, Greed turned his head abruptly and ran towards the sofa.

However, the situation didn’t unfold as I had hoped.

Just a few hours after hearing the news of annihilation from Mario, all sorts of newspapers poured out articles about the annihilation of the Black Ravine subjugation team.

They all pointed out the failure of the subjugation team and criticized the incompetence of First Prince Adenmir, who was in charge of this subjugation.

It was easy to guess that the Salvatrice Empress faction was behind these articles.

I knew there were countless cracks in the Black Ravine.

Could there have been a problem with the cracks? If so, maybe I could do something about it.

After all, I had purified and eliminated spontaneously occurring cracks several times before.

The deliberation was short, and the action was quick.

I headed to Dad’s office. As soon as I entered, I declared,

“Dad. I’m going to the Black Ravine.”

At my words, Dad’s handsome face hardened grimly.

“But Elodie. The Black Ravine is a dangerous place.”

“I know. But I have a reason why I must go.”

I showed my determination not to back down no matter how much Dad opposed.

My visit to Dad now was not for persuasion but for notification. Even if he opposed it until the end, I was planning to go to the ravine somehow.

Dad, who had been silently meeting my stubborn gaze, asked in a serious voice.

“Is he a precious person?”

“Yes.”

I answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Raeyan is a very precious person to me.”

Yes, Raeyan was a precious existence to me.

After our strange first meeting, as we went through various things together, Raeyan became more than just a guard or a friend to me.

I couldn’t give up on Raeyan so hopelessly like this.

So if there was even a glimmer of hope that I could do something, I had to go.

Dad couldn’t break my resolute will this time either.

Rising from his chair and approaching me, Dad calmly gave his permission.

“Then, go ahead.”

Soon after, his broad embrace gently pulled me in.

“I believe Elodie will return safely.”

I buried my face in that embrace and hugged Dad back.

“Yes. Please believe in me.”

“I won’t tolerate even a scratch.”

“I understand. I absolutely won’t get hurt.”

I had to live up to that belief that I would return safely.

Because I had seen Dad’s fingertips trembling slightly as he pretended to be okay.

***

I traveled to the Black Ravine with Severes’ 1st Knight Division.

As it was a distance that took several days to reach, we rode horses non-stop to arrive as early as possible.

After riding for a full day, when we finally had a moment to rest the horses by a lake, the division commander approached.

“Miss. Wouldn’t it be better to take breaks as we go, since it must be tiring for you?”

He seemed concerned that I, who had never been trained, was pushing myself too hard.

But I smiled and shook my head.

“I appreciate your consideration, but I want to arrive as early as possible. Let’s continue moving without rest from now on.”

“Understood. However, please let me know anytime if it becomes too difficult.”

“Yes.”

As the division commander said, I was indeed pushing myself quite hard. It was actually impossible for someone with my physical strength to travel by horse without proper rest.

However, I didn’t want to delay our arrival time because of me alone.

After riding for several more days like that, we finally reached the entrance of the Black Ravine.

What awaited us as we slowly stepped into the ravine was a devastated landscape and a sight we had never seen before.

A massive crack.

It was like the eye of some higher being looking down on us insignificant creatures.

We were truly overwhelmed by that sight.

It was a majestic crack, undulating as if it would devour the sky, on a completely different level from any cracks we had seen before.

One knight, rubbing his arms as if getting goosebumps, spoke up.

“There are no magical beasts coming out now, but if they were to appear…”

“It would be the end of us.”

“Don’t say such things. Words can become reality.”

“Everyone, be quiet.”

The division commander silenced the knights who were each making solemn comments.

But even if they didn’t speak, the uneasiness didn’t disappear.

A strange sense of foreboding floated among us. Everyone was in a state of extreme tension.

It felt like the calm before the storm.

How much time had passed since then?

We went deep into the ravine, getting closer and closer to the crack.

But the strange thing was, although it was said to be annihilation, not a single human corpse could be seen.

There were traces of camping and carcasses of magical beasts everywhere, but…

‘What on earth happened here?’

After searching the area where piles of stones had fallen for quite some time, one knight suddenly shouted.

“There’s a survivor here!”

It was the discovery of a survivor that could directly refute the news of the subjugation team’s annihilation.

The man trapped between medium-sized stone piles coughed dryly when the knights joined forces to pull him out.

He was in a state where he couldn’t even speak properly because he hadn’t been able to drink water while stuck there.

A knight poured water into his mouth.

“What on earth happened?”

“W-well…”

The man first revealed his identity.

He said he was the leader of the subjugation team in charge of this Black Ravine operation. As a retired knight, he had participated to earn a large sum for his family left at home.

The subjugation team leader testified.

“You probably know that there were many cracks in this area originally. Magical beasts constantly poured out from there, giving the ravine its notorious reputation. We had cleared most of the magical beasts with this subjugation, but the problem was that the cracks remained as they were. The cracks suddenly merged… and caused a tremendous storm that we got caught in.”

The merging of cracks was a phenomenon I had never heard of before.

I urged the subjugation team leader, who was catching his breath, to continue.

“Where did all the other subjugation team members go?”

“Everyone… everyone was swept away by the storm. I was barely able to get out of range because Raeyan Vietan, that person, pushed me far away. We need to investigate the crack. There’s no way that person could have died…!”

The man’s eyes turned towards the crack that still boasted its tremendous presence.

At that moment, as if sensing that gaze, the crack undulated.

The entire knight division stopped their actions, even holding their breath.

But fortunately, nothing happened.

“We’ve grasped the situation. It seems everyone was swept into the crack and perished, so we should recover the survivor and evacuate this place.”

“That’s right, Miss. We don’t know when magical beasts might spring out.”

The division commander and knights urged me to leave this place, perhaps anxious that the crack might activate at any moment.

The more they did so, the calmer I became.

‘When cracks suddenly appeared before, there was always a medium, but this merged crack has no medium.’

It was a situation where I couldn’t rashly attempt purification.

But the knights weren’t patient enough to wait for me.

“Miss. That person must be dead. We must evacuate quickly!”

I turned my head towards the knight who said those words. He flinched once as he met my gaze.

“If you’re afraid of that crack, you may leave this place, Sir.”

“Miss.”

“I need to investigate that crack.”

I absolutely did not believe that Raeyan was dead.

Because he had promised to come back and tell me what had happened.