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In the training ground, Repenhardt paused from sweating and smiled contentedly.

It had already been a month since Karl became the chancellor of the Duchy of Antares, giving Repenhardt considerably more free time. He had devoted himself to his previously neglected martial arts training and magic practice. He learned ground wrestling from Russ, stabilized the mana he had absorbed through mana drain, and spent his time productively.

“Hohoho, our Mr. Karl is indeed very capable.”

Beside him, Tilla, who was swinging an axe, beamed with joy.

She was currently training in martial arts with Repenhardt and Siris. Although Karl and Tilla had officially become a couple, Karl was so busy that they couldn’t be together as often as before.

Repenhardt clasped Tilla’s hands and pleaded earnestly.

“Hold onto him tightly, Tilla. You are our duchy’s hope.”

“Hohoho!”

Proud of her talented boyfriend, Tilla burst into laughter. At that moment, Siris, who was practicing something in one corner of the training ground, called out to Repenhardt.

“Repenhardt, is this how you do it?”

“Siris? Are you ready?”

Repenhardt quickly ran over to Siris and examined her. With a serious expression, Siris moved her hands through the air and began to chant.

“Spil Lagra Den Filcada, I am the flame that burns the darkness, a single arrow that strikes the enemy. Fire Arrow!”

A flaming arrow formed in the air and accurately hit the distant target.

Whoosh!

As the target burned, Siris jumped up and down excitedly.

“Success! I did it! Is this right?”

Repenhardt patted her head, smiling with satisfaction.

“Well done, Siris!”

With the newfound time, Repenhardt had started to seriously teach Siris magic. Though it had only been a month, she had already mastered the basics of sensing and controlling mana, and she had already mastered most of the 1st-circle spells and was challenging the 2nd-circle spells.

“Do you think I have talent for magic?”

“You do. Don’t worry and keep practicing. I’ve already told you about the future, haven’t I?”

“That’s right! I have to work hard!”

In her previous life, she had reached the highest rank of an 8th-circle mage in just 15 years since beginning her studies. It was a speed that was unbelievable for an elf, who were known to be slow learners.

‘Actually, it was more due to the voice of Elucion and the artifacts from the Age of Silver that I used all sorts of shortcuts. Plus, I pushed her to learn knowledge through rote memorization rather than understanding magic… but there’s no need to mention all that, right?’

Having confirmed her talent through the future, Siris could focus on magic without any doubt. Without hesitation in her heart, her magic skills seemed to improve even faster. Since there was no reason to spoil the mood, Repenhardt kept his mouth shut as well.

‘She’ll soon hit a wall at this pace, so once she starts on the 3rd circle, I’ll have to teach her like before.’

While Repenhardt was busy training himself and helping Siris and Tilla, Flora appeared at the training ground and called out to him.

“Repenhardt! The people you were looking for have arrived! They are in the meeting room now!”

“Oh, I’ll be right there!”

Quickly wiping his sweat with a towel, Repenhardt left the training ground with Flora.

Siris and Tilla, left behind, sat down on a bench to rest for a moment. Although it was late summer, the sunlight was still hot. Wiping her sweat, Siris asked Tilla.

“How are things with Karl? How is he?”

“Karl is always kind and gentle. Moreover, he’s becoming more and more handsome these days….”

Tilla blushed and shook her head bashfully. Siris shook her head as if she couldn’t understand.

‘How is that handsome…?’

Thinking of Karl, whose face was half-covered by a bushy beard, Siris clicked her tongue.

For dwarves, the symbol of manliness was a beard and broad shoulders!

That’s why Karl was diligently growing his beard to impress Tilla. From an elf’s aesthetic perspective, like Siris’s, he looked no different from a monkey, but Tilla was simply happy about how manly he had become.

‘Well, as long as Tilla is happy, that’s all that matters.’

At that moment, Tilla poked Siris in the ribs with a meaningful look.

“What about you, Siris? How are things these days?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think? I’m talking about Repenhardt. Honestly, it’s been obvious for a while that he cares a lot about you.”

“T-that’s….”

Siris looked embarrassed.

She already knew that she and Repenhardt were lovers in a previous life. She also felt that Repenhardt treated her with unparalleled kindness and affection.

“It’s frustrating watching from the sidelines, you know? What exactly do you think of Repenhardt?”

At Tilla’s persistent questioning, Siris fidgeted with her fingers.

“Uhm….”

Repenhardt always cherished her and wanted to give her so much.

Of course, Siris didn’t dislike him. No, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was the most precious person in the world to her right now. If someone asked her if she loved him, she could confidently say yes.

But…

“Well… Repenhardt feels more like a father than a man….”

Tilla’s expression went blank for a moment before she burst into a giggle.

“…Wow, never say that to Repenhardt. He’d get so discouraged and hole up in his room again.”

“Ugh… but that’s really how it feels.”

“Ah, I understand. Even though he’s clearly a young man in his twenties, Repenhardt has this strange old man vibe, right?”

Of course, his mind was in his fifties. Siris gave a bitter smile.

Tilla tilted her head repeatedly.

“It’s so strange. Technically, Repenhardt is only a little over twenty years old, right? So why does he give off such an old man vibe? His face isn’t even that mature-looking. Is it because of his build?”

“Hoho…”

Siris just laughed.

Since she couldn’t tell the truth, all she could do was laugh.

☆ ☆ ☆

In the meeting room, five humans—both men and women—were waiting for Repenhardt. As he sat in the seat of honor and looked down at them, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader bowed politely.

“It is an honor to meet the renowned Fist Emperor. I am Jackal, a bounty hunter. These are my companions.”

“Nice to meet you all.”

These were the bounty hunters Repenhardt had inquired about through the Taoban Trading Company.

Repenhardt had previously thought of hiring bounty hunters to gather information on Teslon. However, at that time, he had neither the money nor the time due to being caught up in the internal conflicts of Crovence, so he kept postponing it.

After suffering at the hands of Teslon recently, he decided to gather information more seriously.

“I have a task I would like to entrust to you.”

At his signal, Flora handed the prepared documents to Jackal and his team. As he skimmed through the papers, Jackal’s eyes gleamed.

“Teslon? I’ve never heard of this name before. An Aura User, yet still unknown….”

A woman in her thirties, who was also reviewing the documents, recognized some familiar names and added her thoughts.

“But Paladin Christine and Golden Knight Eusus are well-known figures. We should start tracking from here.”

Repenhardt’s request was for all the information on Teslon and his companions’ current lives. He wanted to know where they lived, what they did, who they interacted with, and what forces they commanded.

“As an advance payment, I’ve included a hundred gold coins. If you successfully complete this task, you will receive another pouch of the same amount.”

The bounty hunters’ faces lit up with excitement. Two hundred gold coins were a substantial reward that was difficult to earn from most commissions.

Of course, Jackal still had a tense expression. This only proved how difficult this task was, so it wasn’t something to be pleased about.

“I will do my best.”

Jackal bowed deeply with a determined face. Repenhardt nodded as he watched the retreating bounty hunters.

‘Good, now we have prepared for Teslon…’

Repenhardt gestured for the next person to enter. Soon, a man in his 40s holding a thick file walked into the conference room.

“Here is the information for this month, Your Majesty.”

The man was a merchant from the Greyd Trading Company. Repenhardt had commissioned merchants from the Taoban Trading Company, Greyd Trading Company, and Doran Trading Company, which had trade routes all over the continent, to gather rumors from various regions, and he received reports like this every month. It was to identify the locations of the various races scattered across the continent.

“You’ve done well.”

As the merchant withdrew, Repenhardt took the file and began to peruse it.

‘I can’t just focus on Teslon. I have to keep doing my work.’

Since he had instructed them to collect any unusual information regardless of its credibility, most of it was useless. Information like ogres appearing in the northern Vasily Kingdom or a giant octopus monster appearing in the northern sea of Graim Kingdom was common. There were even absurd rumors, such as a two-headed calf being born in a mountain village.

Repenhardt was reading the file with a bored expression when suddenly his eyes lit up.

“What is this?”

It was a rumor from monster hunters who were hunting trolls in the southern jungles of the Hallein Kingdom. The report stated that while capturing trolls, they were attacked by the legendary monster Ivory Fang, and most of them were killed, with only a few managing to escape.

“Ivory Fang used to be Attila’s nickname!”

Repenhardt’s face brightened.

In his previous life, he met Attila after the founding of the Antares Empire. Until then, Attila had been wandering the continent, rescuing fellow monsters captured by humans.

Therefore, Repenhardt had no idea where Attila could be in this era.

“Found him! He said it was the southern Hallein Kingdom? Then, knowing Attila’s personality, he wouldn’t have left without attacking the nearby Alchemist Guild.”

He immediately burst out of the conference room. This information was from a week ago. If he was late, Attila might have moved to another area. He needed to hurry.

Repenhardt ran straight to the training ground. He shouted towards Siris, who was still practicing magic.

“Siris! Call Silan! And Russ and Tassid too!”

The coastal city of Kaltizan in the southern Hallein Kingdom.

This historically significant port city, Kaltizan, was one of the main hubs of the Hallein Kingdom, bustling with numerous ships and people. Sailors, adventurers, merchants, and travelers constantly thronged this place, making it one of the largest trade cities in the southern part of the continent, not just in the Hallein Kingdom.

As such a major city, Kaltizan was home to various factions.

There were three magic towers established by the Magic School, seven temples, including the main temple of Seiya, and a significant number of guilds. The city hosted an adventurers’ guild that provided information to dungeon explorers, a hunters’ guild for monster hunters, a mercenaries’ guild for various commissions, and an alchemists’ guild that produced excellent potions, all of which had branches in Kaltizan.

The large alchemists’ guild, Tears of Santana, which held power in both the Hallein and Graim Kingdoms, had its southern branch located in a large three-story stone mansion on the western side of Kaltizan.

This vast mansion, surpassing even some noble houses, was filled with numerous laboratories and potion-making rooms. Since the alchemists’ potion formulas were top secret, most areas were off-limits.

Among these, the most strictly controlled area was the basement.

Under the dim torchlight, the image of a large underground stone chamber emerged. The room was filled with various flasks, glass bottles, and mysterious pipes, and it echoed with gloomy groans.

“Uuuu….”