Jansi’s blue eyes shone kindly. He smiled gently, his eyes curving.

“I’m fine, Lili.”

He was the same kind and gentle Jansi as always.

I stared intently at his face. I thought about pretending to believe him again, but I just couldn’t let it go this time.

“Don’t say you’re fine when you’re not.”

“No, I really am fine.”

“You said we’re family. You said family shouldn’t hide these things from each other.”

For a moment, a flicker of emotion passed through Jansi’s blue eyes. Then, moving his lips slightly, he murmured softly, “Family…”

His expression clouded over, and after hesitating for a moment, he asked me.

“…Then, could you hold my hand? Just for a moment. I feel like controlling my power is not easy today.”

Faced with Jansi’s honest side after a long time, I willingly extended my hand.

“Alright.”

Jansi took off the gloves he always wore.

Taking advantage of that moment, I gestured for Carlot to come closer.

“Carl. You come here too.”

“Huh? Why?”

Even if we grew up as siblings, it seemed a bit odd for two grown adults of opposite sexes to suddenly hold hands.

It could easily lead to misunderstandings.

Even if we didn’t think anything of it, it was obvious that others wouldn’t see it the same way.

Moreover, since we were the main participants in today’s tower battle, there were quite a lot of eyes on us.

‘Besides, we’re from different families now.’

But if Carlot was involved too, we could avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

I quickly grabbed the hands of the now gloveless Jansi and Carlot with a “Yap!”

Carlot, whose hand was suddenly grabbed, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“Sis, what are you doing?”

“Wait a bit, Carl. I need to purify Brother Jansi.”

Even the clueless Carlot seemed to understand when I put it directly.

He fidgeted with his captured hand and mumbled.

“Hmm, of course, I would’ve been upset if you only held his hand…”

Carlot grinned and started swinging our joined hands.

“Hahaha! Haha!”

“Aack, what are you doing?”

“Let’s win today!”

“Ca-Carl!”

I tried to calm Carlot down, but he was acting up like a dog that had just met its owner after a long time.

With so many people around, drawing attention with such a loud voice.

We would definitely look like a pair of foolish siblings.

Just as I worried, I could hear voices whispering about us from here and there.

“What are those three doing?”

“Oh my, they seem to get along so well.”

“How cute!”

“I didn’t know the Perdia young masters had this side to them.”

But incredibly, people’s reactions were favorable.

From these reactions, I was reminded of one truth. God is unfair.

‘…Is it really all about looks?’

Even though we’re swinging our hands and laughing like foolish siblings, our popularity is still soaring.

Anyway, while Carlot was making us look like foolish siblings, I infused more power into Jansi than usual, and for longer.

It was a bit straining, but considering Jansi’s condition, I pushed myself more than usual. Just then,

“Lili, that’s enough.”

Jansi firmly let go of my hand.

“Ugh.”

As expected, I might have used too much power, and my head felt dizzy. Jansi caught me as I staggered, letting out a soft sigh.

“The subjugation battle is coming up soon, don’t overdo it, Lili.”

“This isn’t the time to worry about me.”

“This is enough. Thank you.”

At that moment, Carlot, who was still holding my hand, perhaps feeling left out, suddenly chimed in.

“What about me? Aren’t you worried about me?”

“Umm, Carl… I’m worried about you too.”

I was genuinely worried.

Not about you, but about the innocent terrain and objects you might destroy…

Anyway, Jansi’s expression looked much more relaxed than before, which eased my mind a bit.

As time passed, we received word that the preparations for the subjugation battle were complete.

Just before departing for the castle, I quickly scanned the spectator seats.

The two dads were sitting at opposite ends of the spectator area.

‘They’re not getting along today either. That’s reassuring.’

It would have been more worrying if they were sitting close to each other. You never know when they might clash.

It was fortunate that Duchess Perdia was also attending.

In the center of the spectator seats was the Archmage’s seat, where Isis, the culprit behind this incident, was also present.

Today, he was in his little Isis form, not his true form.

Our eyes met for a moment, and when I waved at Isis, he lazily waved back.

As expected, Gabe Jenade was not in the Archmage’s seat.

According to what I heard from Gretel this morning, he still hasn’t left the magic tower at all.

After staring intently at the empty South Tower Archmage’s seat, I turned my head.

With all the final members gathered, I said goodbye to Milo.

“Well then, Milo, we’ll be off.”

Milo, one of the mercenary trio, was the reserve candidate in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

I heard that the South Tower side also had one person on standby.

Milo let out a deep, sincere sigh.

“Ah, what a bother…”

“You probably won’t even be called up as a reserve, so just enjoy the show, you sloth.”

As Urania chided him, a darker shadow fell over Milo’s face.

“It’s bothersome to watch too…”

“How do you even live when breathing is too much effort for you?”

“Not breathing is more troublesome, so…”

“Want me to kill you?”

As Urania smiled brightly and raised her fist, Stephen, who was behind her, immediately grabbed her arm.

“You need to calm down, Urania. You need to calm down!”

Watching the boisterous mercenary trio, my heart became unsettled as well.

The trio plus the Perdia brothers…

‘Will this combination be alright?’

Eventually, both the South Tower side and our group arrived at our respective positions.

Below the castle walls, monsters swarmed, reaching out to attack us.

Soon, a horn sounded long and loud.

It was the start of the monster subjugation battle.

***

We first entered the castle.

Although it was indoors, it was partially destroyed, with the ceiling completely open.

‘Should I just consider this outdoors…?’

Each magic tower side was given one flag, and losing this flag would mean defeat.

The subjugation battle would also end if the flag was taken outside the castle.

Our strategy was very simple.

Jansi and I would guard our position, while Carlot, Urania, and Stephen, who were capable of large-scale attacks, would go outside the castle to defeat monsters and raise our score.

We had ruled out the option of raiding and conquering the enemy’s position from the start.

We couldn’t gauge the enemy’s strength, and it would be troublesome if a bloodbath occurred from spreading out our limited personnel.

‘It’s just a tower battle, absolutely no one should get hurt.’

No matter how much this started with the grand cause of not letting the large rift fall into Gabe’s hands, that was my personal circumstance.

The four of them were participating in this subjugation battle purely out of goodwill towards me.

“You all know that your safety is the top priority, right?”

As such, I didn’t want them to get hurt even more.

Carlot nodded his head boldly and shouted.

“We just need to smash everything, right? Right?!”

“How passionate! Kuh, you’re as cool as I’ve heard, Young Master!”

“Hey, you. I like you!”

“If you ever need anything, look for this Urania at the Earth Hawk Mercenaries headquarters!”

Carlot and Urania were getting along well. The more they did, the darker Stephen’s expression became, as he had to go outside the castle with these two.

“Lady Lili. How am I supposed to control these two?”

“Well, I guess you’re the only one who can handle Urania…”

Suddenly, Stephen’s expression brightened.

“Well, there’s no one else who can do it but me.”

With a sudden strange confidence, Stephen followed the two with a “hmph” and a smile.

“…I’m worried…”

Jansi and I, who remained in our position, were tasked with guarding the flag. As I held the flag preciously with both hands, afraid I might drop it, Jansi pulled me along.

“Sit here, Lili. Your legs must be tired.”

True to his gentlemanly nature, Jansi had laid a handkerchief on a flat, appropriately high stone debris.

I sat there, but Jansi remained standing.

“Aren’t you going to sit, Brother?”

“No. It’s hard to respond quickly if I’m sitting.”

Kwagwagwagwa-!

Before Jansi could finish speaking, the ground shook violently and an earsplitting roar was heard.

I presumed it was Carlot in action.

With the three strong individuals together, there was no worry about dealing with monsters or the South Tower people.

If there was a concern, it was me who was the biggest problem.

‘I hope I don’t have to summon the sacred birds…’

Although I had trained with Adenmir for several days, I still couldn’t handle the sacred object skillfully.

Apparently, the number of birds I could summon increased with my proficiency, but right now I could only manage five.

Adenmir said my current level was that of a novice swordsman.

‘Well, that’s something at least.’

Still, it was reassuring to have the calm Jansi beside me.

Come to think of it, while Carlot always lived with a sword in hand, Jansi didn’t.

I’d heard that he was as skilled as Carlot, but I could count on one hand the times I’d seen him use a sword.

I’d heard that as the heir of Perdia, while strong martial power was important, successor education was deemed more crucial, so training time was adjusted accordingly.

‘Even with little training time, he’s similar to Carlot, Jansi is really a monster…’

Just as I was glancing at Jansi in newfound admiration,

“Lili. Are they watching us with that thing floating in the air?”

Jansi looked curiously at the transmission magic tool floating in the air.

I nodded, thinking of the people who might be making eye contact with us through it.

“Yes. Wave your hand once, please!”

“To whom?”

“Umm… To the anonymous majority waiting for your greeting?”

“Haha. There’s no way such people exist.”

How cruel…

Jansi gently trampled on the hearts of dozens, maybe hundreds of people.

There are so many people who gathered just to see Jansi’s face, what is he saying?

The time we could leisurely chat wasn’t very long.

“As expected, they’ve come.”

Jansi blocked my front, taking a defensive stance.

Since we had expected them to come to our position, I was able to maintain my composure.

There could be a magician on the South Tower side, so the flag could be snatched in an instant.

I gripped the flag tighter and stood up.

But the other side, perhaps gauging our strength, didn’t reveal themselves.

It was at that moment when the tension couldn’t be any higher.

“Kugh.”

Jansi shuddered and let out a pain-filled groan.

“Brother?!”

“Earlier, could it be…”

Jansi, sweating cold, glared at one of the pillars.

I frowned and summoned a bird, sending it flying behind the pillar.

In an instant, the bird turned into a blade and flew at tremendous speed.

Swaaak, clang!

But the attack was futilely blocked by some kind of barrier.

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen such an ability?”

“It wasn’t in the report. Whose ability could it be?”

With these unfamiliar voices, the South Tower people finally revealed themselves.

It was one man and one woman wearing magician robes.

‘Are these people attacking Brother? How?’

Jansi’s condition worsened by the second.

Soon he was in too much pain to even stand, and then he collapsed pitifully.

“Huk, heuk…”

“Brother!”

“Don’t… touch…”

Black energy began to rise from Jansi’s body.

I knew what this energy meant.

-It was a rampage.