Chapter 953

“Isn’t it about time she came back?”

Ian furrowed his brow and muttered, drawing the attention of the mages around him. They immediately understood who he was referring to—their superior, Arena, who hadn’t returned to Bariel for well over a month.

“Well, yeah, that’s true.”

“She’s been gone way longer than expected. Even if the past month was the Empire’s joint recruitment period, that’s over now. It’s time to get back to normal. The minister’s seat has been empty for far too long.”

Ian shook his head as he read the letter Arena had sent.

If there had been a monster strong enough to kill two mages, they would have found it by now. They had scoured the Red Forest so thoroughly they even knew how many rabbit holes were there.

“That’s why you’ve been expanding the search area, right?”

“If she’s not wandering all over Gaia, it’s only right for her to come back now.”

The mages rested their chins on their hands, silent in response to Ian’s sharp retort.

They all knew the minister’s position couldn’t remain vacant for so long. If this weren’t a matter of “magic,” Arena’s prolonged absence would have already warranted disciplinary action.

“There’s only so much we can do by sending a proxy to the council meetings. Captain Darian went this week, right?”

“…Sorry.”

Darian’s face fell. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t speak as bluntly as Arena, but his authority was limited, so there was little he could actually contribute at the meetings. Because of that, even though the Empire’s joint recruitment had been a success, the Magic Department was struggling to keep up with the workload from other divisions.

Ian shrugged and added, “I wasn’t trying to hear excuses.”

“Couldn’t help it. Captain Hale had a stomachache back then.”

“Hey.”

“What? So?”

Hale glanced nervously at Ian and cut him off, while Darian shrugged as if to say it wasn’t fair that he was the only one getting scolded.

Ian always found their behavior puzzling. They were older, senior, and his superiors. So why was it always him doing the scolding? Or was “scolding” even the right word here?

“…Anyway, please persuade the captains to convince the minister to return quickly.”

The mages exchanged glances again. They had tried before, but Arena’s anger over losing two subordinates so senselessly hadn’t faded easily.

“I’ll try again.”

“She hasn’t even been giving us coordinates lately. This is going to cause real problems down the line.”

“Alright, alright, I get it.”

“They’re just worried you might suddenly portal over. Don’t be too hard on them.”

“Well, it’s a fair concern.”

After Ian kept insisting she come back, Arena had stopped sharing their coordinates altogether.

The mages guessed why. Ian could open a portal and be at Arena’s side in seconds. Even if other mages might resist, Arena wouldn’t be able to say no to Ian’s urging.

“And about that monster… I’m not even sure it’s a monster.”

“Hm, no unusual readings from other nearby rifts?”

“On the contrary, they’re disappearing completely. Even if we classify it as an anomaly, it’s too strange to consider it a disaster-level threat. Since the tracking team hasn’t found anything, we can’t rule out the possibility that it’s not a monster at all.”

“Right. Minister Arena seems to be thinking along those lines too. If there were a nearby rift, she’d probably assume it went back in or at least make some guess.”

“The rifts we’ve identified are too far away…”

Ian flipped through the documents, listening to the captains’ conversation, when he suddenly realized the room had gone quiet. He looked up.

“Why the silence?”

Everyone was staring at him.

It was a strange mix of discomfort, fondness, and a silent plea to just wrap up the meeting already.

“No, no, it’s nothing.”

“So, shall we conclude the discussion about Minister Arena here?”

“Yeah. Thanks. Really, thanks a lot.”

“Phew. Finally done.”

“Darian, go make some coffee.”

“Why me?”

“Because of you—”

Ian, who had been about to leave, suddenly turned toward the tea table.

“Ian! No! You don’t have to!”

“Usually the youngest does these things…”

“No, no, no. Just go. And make sure to tell the others what we discussed today.”

They all wanted to savor the coffee Ian made again someday, but for now, they just wanted to get him out of there quickly.

Ian reached for a teacup but was practically pushed out of the meeting room by the captains.

Squeak!

Thud!

“Haah…”

As soon as Ian left, Hale lit a cigarette, and the other captains slumped over the table, sighing deeply.

“Who did Ian send this time? Those kids know no one listens to them, so they only send Ian. We’re doomed.”

“But when did Ian even prepare for this meeting? Didn’t he leave early yesterday?”

“No idea. Maybe Ian’s day is 48 hours long.”

“Ah, but what do we do now? The Empire’s joint recruitment is over… we really have no options left.”

“Hmmm…”

The captains fell silent, and Hale kept puffing on his cigarette.

They had asked Arena to return more than once, but she kept refusing without reason, even extending the time before replying.

“Though we joked earlier, not giving coordinates is really strange. The minister wouldn’t do anything to get herself in trouble.”

Arena knew the risks of being absent from her post for so long. She must understand better than anyone how much chaos it would cause in the palace if her whereabouts were unknown.

“Surely she’s not just avoiding work?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Sorry, that was a stupid thing to say. I still remember how those kids died…”

“Maybe we should send someone to bring her back. If the minister won’t give up, it might be better to rotate the entire tracking team. Even if it means sending more people, we have to get her back to the palace.”

“…But we can’t send anyone without coordinates.”

If even one captain was taken away, the whole operation would grind to a halt. Among the regular mages, only Ian or Naum had the skills to fill a captain’s role, but they were both overloaded with their own duties.

“Ian, it’s not about you or Naum. Right now, no one can be spared. Our department has been working full days and overtime since last month.”

“Don’t even mention it. I missed my mom’s wedding because of this.”

“Wait, your mom got married? Finally? Congratulations.”

They all lay scattered around, necks craned back in silence—not because they were thinking about the news, but because Arena’s reply just didn’t make sense.

‘Why is she doing things she never did before?’

No coordinates, delayed replies—it only made the already struggling Magic Department’s situation worse. If she had just stuck to the old ways, it would have been easier to deal with. Either open a portal immediately or wait patiently.

“Damn it.”

No, it can’t be. Nothing bad has happened, right?

The captains bit their lower lips, afraid that voicing their worries would only unsettle their comrades. Little did they know, everyone was thinking the same thing.

---

Squeak.

Thud.

Ian let out a small sigh just outside the meeting room, half pushed out. Thanks to magic, he couldn’t hear what was going on inside, but the atmosphere in the Magic Department had been strange lately.

‘The past ten years of monster wars felt less chaotic than this.’

Back then, they were busy fighting all over the place, but it was still within the bounds of normal work. Now, comrades were turning up dead overnight, and the minister was absent for mysterious reasons.

“Ian, you’re here?”

“What did the captains say?”

The mages, buried under piles of paperwork since dawn, peeked out and greeted Ian. All of them had dark circles under their eyes.

“They said they’ll try talking to the minister again. The captains agree.”

“That’s good. Honestly, it’s better if you talk to her directly than us nagging all day.”

“Yeah. When I ask, they just tell me to shut up and get back to work. Haah.”

“Did they give a specific date?”

“They said they’ll reply by today, so maybe we’ll hear back sometime next week?”

“Next week? So we have to hold on for another whole week.”

“Yeah…”

The mages grew quieter.

What drained them most was knowing that no matter how hard they worked, there was nothing to show for it. The palace must have been investigating hard too. They said they searched the entire Red Forest, but still couldn’t find a trace of the monster that killed their comrade.

“They’d have to tear the skin off to satisfy the minister.”

“Right. They still haven’t even held a proper funeral.”

Besides the work, they had frozen the body to confirm that the monster Arena dealt with was the one who attacked their comrade.

But with no information on the monster, their fallen comrades were trapped in limbo, unable to leave the palace.

“Anyway, thanks for your hard work this morning.”

“No, nothing much—just a meeting.”

“Ah, could you pass this along to the administration?”

“Sure, got it.”

Ian took the documents from the wizard and stood up. He figured flying there himself would be faster than sending them through the staff.

Whoosh.

As Ian stepped outside and lifted off lightly, the entire palace and the central grounds spread out before him. Everything looked peaceful, yet somehow, something felt… off.

“Hey! Iaaaan!”

“Beric, keep it down while we’re moving!”

“Wah! Wah-wah! Iaaaan!”

The royal guards were on their way to the training grounds. Barsabe quickly glanced at his senior and clamped a hand over Beric’s mouth, but it was too late. Beric had already spotted Ian and was bouncing around, waving wildly.

“The food here is seriously amazing! Today, the senior’s off to beat someone up! Getting paid to fight and eat? It’s like heaven!”

“Eek! Sorry, sorry…”

“Beric, Barsabe! You two are running laps around the training ground for two more hours.”

“Huh? Why me?”

“Too loud! Everyone, quiet! Move out!”

“Move out!”

Suddenly being scolded and ordered to run laps, Barsabe straightened up with a look of protest—while casually elbowing Beric in the throat.

“M-move.”

“Iaaaan!”

Everyone else marched in neat formation, but Beric was a whirlwind of chaos. You can’t expect him to suddenly behave perfectly. Ian gave a quick wave in return and headed inside the administration building.

“Oh, Ian.”

“Hello. I’m here to deliver these documents. I just need the stamp, if possible.”

“Ah, this? One moment.”

The staff member checked the papers, then spun his chair around to find the person in charge. Hans appeared, his shirt collar crisp and hair slicked back, looking tense as he approached with the stamp in hand.

“…”

The moment their eyes met, the staff member burst out laughing. Ian looked baffled, while Hans seemed stiff and awkward to the point of being frozen.

“Hans, hurry up and stamp it. The Magic Department’s always busy, so make this your top priority.”

“Y-yes, yes, understood.”

Hans carefully, very carefully, pressed the stamp down with all the care he could muster. Watching him, Ian swallowed an inexplicable sigh.

‘Something’s wrong with the palace.’

In more ways than one, in so many ways.