In the world outside the cradle, Raviata’s expedition team had been attracting public attention.
Many journalists were waiting in droves. They were holding magical memory recorders or cameras… and spending tedious days wondering when the expedition team would emerge.
One day, while they were enduring this boredom.
“Oh, over there!”
“Hey, what is that?!”
The dark clouds that could be seen in the distance, even outside the cradle, began to disappear.
And when the mysterious beams of light filled the sky like a heavenly curtain and started shimmering, the journalists who had been passing time with card games instinctively grabbed their cameras and started clicking the shutters wildly.
“Wow… I’ve heard of this! I think I read that such phenomena occurred in the polar regions in ancient times.”
“What was it called? Orala?”
“Oh! Aurora!”
“Yeah, that’s it!”
“But has such a phenomenon ever been observed in the Great Mezaiya Forest?”
“Not likely; that place is always drenched in constant rain.”
All the familiar journalists were chatting away while busily printing the photos taken with their cameras onto magical parchments.
“What on earth is happening?”
“I don’t know. It seems like the expedition team did something…”
While the journalists were puzzled.
“Oh my god!!”
At that moment, one of the journalists who was also a former member of the Magic Tower screamed in surprise.
“The… the seal! The seal has been lifted!!”
“What? What has been lifted?”
“The cradle! The cradle has been opened!”
At those words, all the journalists felt a strange sensation down their spines and froze.
This was a feeling that all journalists had—a sixth sense for scoops. And this time, it was a huge scoop unlike anything they had ever felt before.
“Opened? You mean the opening we all know? The cradle has been cleared?!”
“Yes!! The magical barrier unique to the cradle has disappeared from the entrance!”
“Hey! Damn it!!”
The journalists hurried back to their carriages. They started frantically searching for their crystal balls before they shouted excitedly to someone on the other side of the crystal balls.
“I’m telling you!! The Great Mezaiya Forest has been opened, opened!”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“It’s the first time in a hundred years that a cradle has been opened!!”
And this huge scoop was like an ancient treasure that would make the journalists scream with joy for a while.
Have you ever seen a crowd surge like a tidal wave?
A week after the cradle was opened.
The expedition team, with the help of the elves, came out to the entrance of the Great Forest only to be met with an unexpected barrage of questions.
“They’re out!”
“Raviata is with them too!”
“Hey, but there are much fewer of them”
“Just run over there!”
The journalists at the forefront dashed straight to the expedition team.
They all thrust forward their crystal balls that were enchanted with voice recording magic and shouted.
“The cradle’s seal has been lifted! Can you make a comment about this?”
“We’re from the Yobram Tower Society! In the heart of the Great Mezaiya Forest, the dark clouds disappeared and light in the shape of a curtain appeared! Is this related to the lifting of the cradle’s seal?!”
“Wow.”
Seeing this, Dilaila wore a distressed expression on her face.
Since coming to the human world, Dilaila had been living in the capital of the coalition and thought she had seen many people.
But this was different.
Even the insect-type monsters that charged at the expedition team didn’t rush like this.
Meanwhile, Raviata opened her mouth with an indifferent expression. As if she expected this situation to happen.
“I’ll do an interview about this later. For now, there’s something I need to inform the coalition about first. There will be an announcement this evening, so everyone, please wait. At the earliest, we’ll schedule a time by tomorrow.”
But the journalists weren’t the type to back down with just that.
They had to cover what had just happened, regardless of Raviata’s fame or authority.
“P-please, just a quick comment!”
“There are ancient records stating that elves lived in the Great Mezaiya Forest! Did you meet them?!”
However, those journalists were soon pushed aside by the envoys from various kingdoms who had come out afterward.
Since Raviata’s intentions were clear, the envoys had to first deal with the journalists and find out what had happened elsewhere.
And so, the entire expedition team arrived at a nearby city’s castle.
The lord of the castle sat in a corner with a nervous look on his face, while various important figures from different countries took turns listening to the explanation about the expedition.
The next morning.
Just like Raviata had said, a separate press conference was held, and from that day on, the world was in an uproar.
[Breaking News! The Future of Humanity Looks Brighter! Great Mezaiya Forest Opened!]
[The Secrets and Elves Hidden in the Great Mezaiya Forest!]
[How did Raviata’s expedition team succeed in clearing rather than just exploring?]
[The imperial guard knights were massacred by an unknown group. What secrets lie behind it?]
[The story of 50 heroes depicted like a novel!]
Naturally, the opening of the cradle for the first time in 100 years was a subject that attracted huge interest.
And that was not all.
Unlike the previous methods of subjugation, this time, the cradle was opened with the recognition of the host race.
The mages of the Magic Towers also did not take this situation lightly and constantly visited the kings of their respective kingdoms and started begging to be allowed into the Great Mezaiya Forest.
They were not the only eager ones to visit the cradle.
Numerous adventurers were highly interested in the new dungeons that would emerge with the opening of the Great Mezaiya Forest.
Fundamentally, not all areas are opened just because the cradle is open.
The remaining dungeons are still sealed, and no matter how much one tries to clear them, they do not disappear.
This meant new natural resources were buried inside this cradle, and it was impossible for adventurers to ignore this opportunity.
Meanwhile, in contrast to the noisy outside world, Shane and the others spent some peaceful time together in a large mansion that had been prepared for them.
Raviata and James who led this expedition were handling most of the external activities.
During this time, the knights of the Kingdom of Haiel prepared to depart and went to see Shane separately.
Adam bowed his head.
“Before we leave, I want to apologize to you.”
“…”
“I apologize for my rude behavior and words at the beginning of the expedition. I’m sorry.”
“I, I’m sorry.”
Following Adam’s apology, the remaining knights also bowed their heads.
Among them was an interesting figure. It was actually Wells who had been swept away by the torrential rain in the Great Forest at the start of the expedition.
Just as Dominic had said, Wells was lucky enough to be carried by the current to the entrance of the cradle, and he chose to leave the cradle after he judged it impossible to proceed alone.
During those few months, he had heard with astonishment that many knights had died and that the imperial guard knights had been completely annihilated.
Anyway.
Adam who was now respectful towards Shane received a letter that Shane had prepared for him.
“What is this?”
“I am giving this to you as a sign of accepting your apology. You might not like it, but please read it when you are alone later.”
“Oh… I understand.”
“Make sure you read it when you are alone.”
Did Adam sense something from Shane who emphasized this once more with an expressionless face?
Adam always had good intuition, so he didn’t take those words lightly.
In any case, once Adam and his knights left the large mansion provided by the Kingdom of Haiel, they were followed by Eleksa of the Lampert Adventurer Party.
“Then I’ll see you later, Shane.”
“Yes, I’ll see you later.”
If Adam and his knights left in response to the kingdom’s summons, the Lampert Adventurer Party departed to avoid unnecessary attention.
In reality, they wouldn’t show themselves again until this situation had somewhat settled.
Someone above them wouldn’t like it after all.
With Adam and Eleksa gone, the mansion felt incredibly quiet.
However, it wasn’t completely quiet. Klein, for example, was outside every day honing his swordsmanship and organizing the insights he gained from his battles with Alpha and Dominic in the cradle. Dilaila too was growing in her own way as she continued communicating with the earth beside Klein.
Meanwhile, unlike the two of them, Anais came to Shane with a deeply pensive expression on her face.
“I have something to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“The person who killed the imperial knights. Was it you?”
“…”
At Anais’ question, Shane gazed intently into her eyes.
Her eyes, shining a light purple like the pre-dawn sky, seemed indifferent at first glance. But Shane could read the hidden emotions inside.
Distrust.
A deeply rooted distrust was gradually consuming Anais’ inner self.
Those eyes seemed to reflect a steely sense of justice he had seen in a previous life.
After a long pause, Shane finally spoke.
“Yes. I killed them.”
“…”
In response to his truthful answer, Anais remained silent for a moment before asking Shane again.
“Why?”
“Because they are harmful to humanity.”
“Do you know something?”
“To some extent.”
Anais closed her eyes for a moment at Shane’s answer.
“What is ‘Unification’?”
“It’s the delusion the current crown prince is dreaming of.”
“Delusion?”
“He desires war for the sake of a humanity without war.”
“…That’s a contradiction.”
“Yes, a contradiction.”
Shane continued to explain.
“A single unified country formed by integrating all countries. He wants to destroy the system of coalition and create a world solely under the empire’s rule. That’s the war he desires, at least on the surface.”
“On the surface.”
“In reality, he’s nothing more than a war maniac. A ruthless opportunist driven by his greed for power.”
However, if that were all, he wouldn’t be so threatening.
The problem lies elsewhere.
“The problem is, he has the will, ability, and influence to achieve it, and his chances of success are incredibly high.”
“…Is that what they call justice?”
“Justice, if you can call it that. It’s a mask he created to hide his contradictory nature, which he eventually began to believe was his true face.”
“…”
Anais ultimately remained silent.
The lies filled with contradictions from the imperial family had always been on her mind.
Yet, surprisingly, Anais’s ears were telling her that every word the boy before her spoke was true.
Seeing Anais deep in thought, Shane added a comment.
“Anais, while it’s good to think and make decisions alone, don’t handle everything that way.”
“…”
“At the very least, as your fiancé, I feel I should give you this piece of advice.”
It didn’t seem like a conversation meant to be shared between fiancés, but neither Shane nor Anais had the temperament to care about such things.
Anais quietly nodded her head.
“When facing an opponent stronger than yourself, there are three strategies.”
When Shane suddenly began speaking, Anais listened intently once more.
“The first is preparation. It’s necessary when the enemy doesn’t know you, but you know the enemy.”
“And the second?”
“The second is to wait for the right timing. Rather than seeking a hasty opportunity, wait for a definite one. For this strategy, it’s important to predict when that timing will come.”
“…”
“The third and last is to grasp both of these strategies in your hands.”
“That’s difficult.”
Shane nodded his head at Anais’s brief remark.
For Anais, who had learned that justice equaled strength, it inevitably felt difficult.
Anais had lived alone in that contradiction-filled imperial family. And there she continued to recognize and think about that contradiction.
Therefore, Shane spoke.
“It’s not difficult. You’ve practically solved two of them.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I’ll handle the preparation, and I’ll create the right timing. So as my fiancée, you’ve already gained both.”
“How arrogant.”
“You’re not wrong. But there’s no complacency in my arrogance.”
Shane’s roseberry-colored eyes looked at Anais without a hint of wavering.
“Soon, when the opportunity arises, I’ll show you the results of my preparations and timing.”
In the end, Anais couldn’t help but nod her head.
Her sensitive ears still told her that Shane didn’t speak a single lie.
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