At the east gate of the Magic Academy, in the Tarnished Ones' camp on the north shore of Liurnia of the Lakes, the atmosphere was unusually tense.
Inside the tent, a massive sand table stood in the center, marked in detail with the surrounding terrain and important locations.
"The All-Knowing" Gideon stood before the sand table, his finger resting on the North Gate Bridge as he said in a firm voice:
"The Caria Army will attack the Magic Academy's North Gate Bridge tonight."
Several other figures stood inside the tent as well, including "Raging Wolf" Vargram, "Errant Sorcerer" Wilhelm, and "Mad Tongue" Alberich.
They were all renowned powerhouses of the Roundtable Hold, and each had distinguished themselves on the battlefield during Leyndell's assault on Mt. Gelmir.
Every Tarnished One present had the right to vote on major decisions of the Roundtable Hold, yet at that moment, the tent seemed to have become Gideon's stage alone.
Only he spoke. No one else made a sound.
Gideon looked around at the silent faces, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Does anyone have any questions?" Gideon asked again, his voice echoing through the tent.
Still, no one answered. There was only silence. Beneath his crown-like black helm, Gideon's gaze swept over each of them.
No one asked where his intelligence had come from. No one asked how he had reached that conclusion. And no one asked what they should do next.
On the surface, this seemed like a good thing. It was as though the Roundtable Hold had become a place where his word alone held sway.
But Gideon was not pleased with it.
After the war at Mt. Gelmir, everyone seemed to have grown dependent on him. But war could not be fought by one man alone.
And with the Lands Between in its current state, he could not shoulder the entire burden by himself.
"My plan is for all of you to lead ambush forces and lie in wait near the bridge tonight, in case the enemy launches a sudden attack," Gideon continued. "If the Carians come, we'll wipe them out in one stroke."
"But why don't we strike Testu's Island directly? Or simply attack Caria Manor?" Vargram suddenly cut in.
"If Caria knows how strong our forces are, they wouldn't send only a few small fry to blow up the bridge. In that case, their internal defenses should be left exposed."
Gideon glanced at him with a hint of relief and explained, "Ever since the Cuckoo Legion's defeat, Caria has spent years entrenching itself around Liurnia of the Lakes. Almost every outpost is protected by magical arrays, making them easy to defend and difficult to attack."
"You're right. We arrived in Liurnia of the Lakes with great fanfare, so they won't send out mere small fry. But don't forget, they're only destroying the bridge, not launching a surprise attack on our main camp."
"In my view, Caria's greatest threats right now are none other than the Lunar Princess Ranni, the Carian Knight Loretta, and the Empyrean Shadow Blaidd. A night raid on the bridge would not require all three of them to move at once."
"I believe Blaidd will be the one responsible for this raid. He has always excelled at such tactics, and his night attacks caused the Cuckoo no small amount of trouble in earlier wars."
"As for the Lunar Princess and the Carian Knight left behind, they are both skilled in magic. With the magical arrays at their stronghold supporting them, even if our surprise attack succeeded, we would inevitably suffer heavy losses."
Gideon paused for a moment, then slowly raised his hand and pointed precisely at a wolf-head mark on the sand table.
"In that case, we might as well swallow this lone wolf first. With the right arrangements, we can erase one of Caria's top combatants without paying much of a price."
At those words, the Tarnished Ones in the tent nodded in unison.
With someone as clever and experienced as Gideon at their side to make plans, they had no need to think too deeply about the gains and losses.
They only had to follow his plan, and success would be certain. All they had to do was act together.
Amid the voices of agreement, however, one person seemed somewhat different.
Vargram's eyes flickered slightly, revealing a trace of doubt.
He kept feeling that things were not quite so simple. Everything was going too smoothly, so smoothly that it made him uneasy.
Even with that concern in his heart, when he heard Gideon's confident tone, Vargram still hesitated.
In the end, he pressed his lips together and decided not to voice his vague, baseless feeling for now. Instead, he chose to trust the judgment of a clever man.
...
Farum Azula, the City in the Sky, western district.
Fragments of shattered buildings floated here and there, as though the place had endured some terrible catastrophe.
Nolan walked through the ruins, his footsteps echoing along the empty streets, making him seem especially alone.
His gaze fell on the torches flickering along the walls. Their flames swayed in the wind, casting light over the surrounding stone.
The walls were carved with fierce reliefs, so vivid they seemed ready to break free from the surface.
The reliefs depicted ancient dragons spreading their wings. Their enormous wings blocked the torchlight, giving off a sense of majesty and solemnity.
Florissax had been away from Farum Azula for far too long, and her knowledge of this place was very limited.
The only thing Nolan could be certain of was that Maliketh was in the Ancient Dragon Temple.
But the Ancient Dragon Temple was not some simple structure like in the game. The entire connected district belonged to the area occupied by Maliketh.
So Nolan planned to find other Ancient Dragons and learn more details from them.
Of course, if he smashed the entire temple district apart, Maliketh would definitely have nowhere to hide. But the Ancient Dragons would also come after him with everything they had.
There was no one else visible around Nolan. Only in the distant buildings could he catch sight of Beastmen. Even so, he spoke.
"Young lady, still haven't sorted yourself out?"
No one answered, so Nolan had no choice but to speak again. "If there isn't a spirit-manifesting girl by my side, then I suppose I don't need to take any girl to Leyndell either, do I?"
Still no one spoke. Nolan could not help feeling a little surprised. Even threatening her with her mission no longer worked on this girl?
"If you keep quiet, I really am going to leave you behind."
Before his voice had even faded, a rosy-cheeked girl appeared beside him. Nolan looked at Melina, who had finally shown herself, and smiled.
"Laugh if you want!" Melina said sulkily. She paused, then suddenly asked, "Was I really that embarrassing?"
"If I wanted to laugh at you, I wouldn't have waited until now. Don't think I don't know about all the things you've done before." Nolan looked at Melina. "It's not that embarrassing. You see me naked every day. Do I look embarrassed to you?"
Melina's face turned even redder. "That's because you have no shame."
Hey, I'm trying to comfort you here. Why are you attacking me now? That's going too far!
Holding to the principle that revenge should never wait overnight, Nolan raised his hand in annoyance and chopped lightly down on the girl's head. She clutched her head with both hands, but her face remained blank and innocent. The blow had been so light that it did not hurt at all.
"Then if no one else knows, there's no need to be embarrassed, right?"
"Lansseax has a big mouth."
"Don't worry. I already warned her. She won't talk nonsense."
"When?"
"When you were curled up in bed."
"How did you know I was in bed..."
"I guessed."
"...I just couldn't help it."
"I understand. A young girl in love, right? If you need help, you can just tell me."
"Go to hell!"
"That's harsh. I'm only trying to be kind."
"Really?"
"Really."
Melina held it in for a long while, as though she had finally made up her mind, then said, "I meant the help."
"..." Nolan froze. This plot did not seem to be going the right way!