"You're going to enter their base directly?"
Evelyn grabbed Raon's shoulder with wide eyes.
"What do you mean by that?"
She gripped him tightly, demanding a proper explanation.
"I'm going to return everything Derus did to us exactly as he did it."
Raon shook his head with a cold smile.
"I never accepted Derus Robert's proposal to start a war in one year."
He spoke of avenging the Five Kings for all they'd suffered, calmly closing and opening his eyes.
-Hmm?
Wrath tilted his head as if something was strange.
-Didn't you also acknowledge it? You often said "Let's see what happens in one year and one month"...
'Quiet.'
Raon waved his finger to silence Wrath for the first time in a while.
"I don't know exactly what it is, but..."
Evelyn exhaled excitedly with a flushed face.
"It's just cool!"
She nodded vigorously as if she would believe and follow whatever Raon said.
"E-Evelyn. You've identified all the barriers set up in the forest, right?"
Raon asked while slightly pulling his face back, pushed by Evelyn's intense gaze.
"Yes! I've identified all the locations! However, there are no gaps, so as I mentioned earlier, I don't think we can dispel the divine power magic or infiltrate."
Evelyn frowned deeply, saying she knew where the magic was installed but couldn't enter or erase the magic.
"It's fine. Just knowing that isn't bad."
Raon waved his hand, saying it didn't matter if they didn't erase the magic.
"Instead, from now on, please identify the main locations where people are being kidnapped across the continent and what kind of people are being taken."
Since they had found places where Derus and his forces might be hiding, it was time to move to the next stage. For that, they needed to find out how people were being kidnapped.
"The locations where people are kidnapped and what kind of people they are? Don't we need to investigate the forest anymore?"
Evelyn blinked as if asking whether it was really okay to go in that direction.
"Yes. Leave the forest alone for a while and just check occasionally if there are any changes."
Raon smiled calmly as if he had it all planned out.
"The Black Market and Shadow Agents will provide full support, so it won't be that difficult."
He nodded, asking her to focus on understanding the kidnapping methods from now on.
"Got it!"
Evelyn raised her hand vigorously as if telling him not to worry.
"I'll investigate everything so thoroughly that I'd know even if Derus Robert kidnapped ants instead of people!"
She gripped Raon's hand tightly, telling him to look forward to it.
"Thanks for always trusting me."
Raon smiled, feeling the warmth transmitted from Evelyn's hand.
'It would have been difficult in many ways without Evelyn.'
Although it started as an unpleasant encounter when Evelyn was called by the name Merlin, she had now become his sharpest and most secretive blade. He was expressing it directly in words, but he was always just grateful.
"I don't always trust you."
Evelyn gently shook her head as if reading Raon's thoughts.
"What...?"
Raon narrowed his eyes, seeing that Evelyn's pupils had sunk deeper than usual.
"I believe in you, Raon, but I'm not completely without doubt. I always want to exclude situations where you might be in danger."
Evelyn pressed her lips down firmly as if recalling times when Raon was in danger.
"But this time, something feels different."
She exhaled briefly and curled her lips into a thin smile.
"What do you mean by feeling different..."
"Confidence and composure are blooming from you."
Evelyn nodded, saying it wasn't bravado to reassure others, but she could feel composure truly emanating from deep within his soul.
"So I feel at ease."
She smiled without reserve, saying she could do anything for him now.
"Then I'll go to the Black Market and Shadow Agents right away!"
Evelyn stood up from her seat, saying she needed to start the new investigation and would go immediately.
"Hmm, since you've been moving around a lot, this time it would be better if I visited the Shadow Agents' Leader and the Black Market..."
"No! I'll do it! I've become quite close with both of them now!"
She waved her hand as if telling him absolutely not to come and quickly left the room.
"Confidence and composure..."
Raon looked at the door Evelyn had left through, then raised the palm that had been gripping his sword.
'Was I like that?'
He didn't really feel that he had gained confidence and composure. However, if Evelyn, who watched and observed him more than anyone else, said such things, it might be true.
-I have similar thoughts.
Wrath nodded with slightly furrowed brows.
-If it were the old you, you would have been buried in immediate matters and jumped in like a wild boar first, but now you're gathering information from various directions and making detailed plans.
He smacked his lips, saying it had been a long time since he saw this side of him.
'Is that so.'
Raon lowered his eyes after hearing Wrath's words.
'Certainly, my emotions and thoughts are different from before.'
In the past, just hearing Derus Robert's name would make him lose his composure, and instead of drawing the big picture, he only sought small revenge right in front of him. But now, perhaps because his soul and spirit had grown and he had become stronger in martial prowess, he could move while looking at a more distant future.
It was also like the desperation to definitely kill Derus Robert and protect the people around him.
-It's like seeing your childhood? No, that's not it. You were too cold back then.
Wrath shook his head slightly.
-I'd say you're starting to possess both composure and humanity. It's annoying, but truly...
He frowned as if he didn't want to say it, but still parted his lips.
-I suppose you could call it the complete form as both a martial artist and a leader.
Wrath nodded heavily, saying that Raon had now finally gained the qualifications of a monarch who stands above others.
'Complete form...'
Raon chuckled, looking at Wrath who was rolling his eyes.
'That's the highest praise you've ever given me, isn't it?'
Wrath was the king of the Devildom who did not lie. Since those words contained his true feelings, intense emotions began to boil up from his chest.
-Hmph! I just didn't want to lie! You're still far from it!
Wrath snorted, telling him not to get cocky.
'Of course. Both me and you...'
Raon nodded, feeling the nine rings that seemed to be rotating slower than usual for some reason.
'This is just the beginning.'
He clenched his fist in front of his chest, resolving that the time ahead would be the most interesting.
-Th-this is just the beginning?
Wrath shook his head in horror.
-You've been sucking my power like crazy until now and you say it's just the beginning! I just want to end it!
He screamed that his main body really looked like it would be reduced to just bones, so he should stop.
'Uh...'
Raon blinked blankly at Wrath who was suddenly wailing.
'This wasn't the atmosphere we had.'
Is this right?
***
"Hmph."
Evelyn hummed as she entered a tiny tea shop set up in the Zieghart commercial district. Unlike its shabby exterior that seemed like customers wouldn't even approach, the interior of the tea shop was spotlessly clean, with gentle lighting that was neither too bright nor too dark, and a relaxing fragrance wafted through the air.
Evelyn sat at the only table that existed with a familiar posture and crossed her legs. She waited for the tea shop owner while swinging her pure white legs that contrasted with her achromatic robe.
Before Evelyn could count to ten in her mind, the curtain inside the tea shop opened, and a beautiful woman with an eyepatch over one eye sat across from her, holding a jade-colored teapot and teacups.
"Lady Evelyn has come again?"
Denning Rose, the Zieghart Branch Manager of the Black Market, bowed her head with a subtle smile.
"Lord Raon must be busy, I suppose?"
Denning Rose smiled brightly while pouring green tea into Evelyn's teacup.
"Not really. He has a lot of free time too, but he just leaves everything to me."
Evelyn smiled no less than Denning Rose as she lifted the steaming teacup.
"It's troublesome that he trusts me too much. It's tiring."
She sipped her tea, saying Raon's trust was a bit heavy.
"Oh my, is that so. From what I know, he's currently receiving cultivation from the Head of House, staying only in the annex building, and barely going to the fifth training ground only at night."
Denning Rose shrugged slightly as if she knew all of Raon's movements.
"Heh, is that so? Still, he has some leisure time occasionally."
Evelyn rolled her eyes as she spat out the green tea she had been holding in her mouth, looking surprised.
"Anyway, he left this matter to me too."
She shook her head, emphasizing that Raon trusted her.
"I see."
Denning Rose nodded lightly as if that could be the case, but couldn't hide a wrinkle forming around her eye.
"So do you have the next instructions?"
"Yes. Now he's asking to gather information about the people being kidnapped and their details, not about that forest..."
Evelyn told Denning Rose about the things Raon had requested.
"Ah, so that's the direction. It might be a bit dangerous, but that method seems like it would be the best."
Denning Rose nodded briefly as if she immediately understood Raon's intention.
"Understood. I'll mobilize all available agents."
She calmly set down her teacup as if telling her not to worry.
"Instead, I'll bring this information to Lord Raon myself."
"Huh? No. Both Raon and you are busy, so I'll bring it."
Evelyn waved her hand, saying there was no need for that.
"I'm not busy, and you said Lord Raon isn't busy either, so it's right for me to visit directly. It's not that far anyway."
Denning Rose smiled brightly, saying she wanted to speak with Raon directly herself.
"Ahahaha. I see. Understood."
Evelyn waved her hand as if telling her to do as she pleased. She drank all the tea in her cup at once and stood up from her chair.
"Prepare some more expensive tea next time."
"That's the highest grade though?"
Denning Rose tilted her head, saying it was a type of tea that was hard to obtain even on the continent.
"I was royalty and a magician of the royal castle. Maybe that's why it tastes a bit cheap." (E/N: Was she?)
Evelyn left the tea shop, leaving behind the comment that her palate couldn't be satisfied even with the highest grade tea.
"Is it because she grew up outside? She's certainly different from those two."
She frowned, thinking of the two women from Light Wind Palace who didn't lose to her in looks but had gentle personalities.
"Really, he helps everyone everywhere and charms them, so there's no one who doesn't like him!"
Evelyn sighed briefly, saying she would probably be tired in the future because of Raon's charm.
"But in the end, I'll be the one who wins."
She smiled slyly and went to the Shadow Agents as Raon had requested.
"Oh my! You've come! What did Lord Raon say?"
Chad, the Shadow Agents' Leader, greeted Evelyn while panting as if he had met a postal worker bringing news from a lover. (E/N: WTF)
"Hah..."
Evelyn gaped at Chad's eyes that clearly seemed to love Raon.
'Not just women...'
He's been charming men too?
***
"Kugh!"
Raon let out an intense groan and collapsed forward. Above his fallen head, Glenn's branch, still intact, swayed gently.
"Not bad."
Glenn made what sounded like praise for the first time and turned his back.
"You seem to be getting closer to the answer. Continue your efforts as you are."
He left those words with a faint smile and returned to the annex building.
Raon slowly raised his upper body while watching Glenn's retreating figure.
'Is this the answer?'
Glenn's words meant that he was now finding and progressing on the right path.
'The movement of the Ring of Fire has definitely slowed down too.'
Just as he felt after finishing his conversation with Wrath, the movement of the Ring of Fire felt more detailed than before. In fact, during the recent sparring, he had completed three-quarters of the tenth ring. If given just a little more time, he felt he could create the tenth ring and discover the secret hidden in Glenn's branch.
'Let's maintain the current lifestyle.'
Raon was nodding his head, resolving to maintain his current plan when he heard unfamiliar footsteps in the annex garden. The owner of the small, delicate footsteps was Denning Rose, wearing a black rose-shaped eyepatch.
"It's been a while."
She smiled calmly, saying it had been a long time since they had seen each other's faces.
"You've come up with an interesting plan."
Denning Rose emanated a cold intensity with her one visible eye, as if she knew all of his plans.
"I've brought information for Lord Raon to enter the den of the angels."