A gleaming bead of magenta dripped from the bottle's mouth and landed, like a raindrop, within the cup. The fine ripples it birthed upon its surface shimmered against the light of the moon - the same light that faintly reflected from the cold eyes of the old man looking upon it.

"Mind control... huh?" he said, "that's one way to put it."

After swirling it in his cup for a few seconds. And when he finally took a sip, he felt an outpour of warmth from his stomach, radiating outwards.

"Hm..." On the same table sat another man, content with merely staring at his cup, enthralled from ringing his finger around its lip. He then muttered, "It seems our dear Heroine has her own way with words."

"Did you teach her that, Alphonso?"

"I did not, my Lord."

So she thought of it herself? And that demeanor she put on when she said it...

His gaze zoomed into the distance. And with quiet resignation, the King said, "I wonder... if we have underestimated the heroine."

Alphonso's finger stopped midway on the far side of his cup.

For a split-second, the air fell silent, and only the King's voice could be heard as he said, "For instance, what do you make of her proposal?"

The court mage thought for a moment and then took a shallow breath.

"I find it rather intriguing." replied the court mage, "Civilization. Are monsters truly capable of such a thing? Certainly, it has never been observed in the past thousand years. And yet she describes a level of sophistication close to that of humanity."

"I find it hard to believe..."

"As do I, but..."

The King glanced at him out the corner of his eye.

"...I do not doubt the heroine's words."

"On what basis?"

A long silence ensued as Alphonso contemplated his answer. But even before he could give it, the King suggested his own.

"Perhaps a holdover from your chaplaincy...?"

The man's face darkened. "Perhaps... but aside from indoctrination by the Church of the Seven Heroes, I do not believe the heroine would come up with a lie so incredible for such petty a motive. If she merely wished to impress your Highness, then she surely would have done without such striking embellishment."

"Perhaps."

"And by your Majesty's own account, she did show you a real living weapon..."

"Hrm," he grunted in acknowledgement.

"...Indeed, I wish one of these days to borrow it, to know about the properties of such rare treasures."

"Hah. I'm sure you'll your chance. But for now, I need to you focus on your research."

"I understand, my Lord. In fact, I have learned a few interesting things from the archives, and coincidentally... it would seem the heroine herself may be well placed to help me."

"Hm? How so?"

"My Lord, you mentioned that the heroine discovered a cache of mythril artifacts during her journey?"

"She claimed so, at least," he said with a shrug, "but I noticed neither her nor her knight wielding any new equipment, much less something made of mythril."

"I see... then it might be exactly what I was looking for."

"Did you learn something about mythril?"

"Yes, your highness," he said with a tiny, yet confident, smile, "or, at least, I have formed a theory based on the snippets of information I could gather from ancient texts... regarding the genocidal war against the elves."

The king's gaze sharpened. "Elves...?"

"Yes. After an exhaustive analysis of war reports, memoirs, prison logs and other scraps I could find, I have come to this conclusion: Not only did the elves possess immense magical power individually, they also used a device to further amplify it."

He paced around as he continued, "I believe this is part of the reason why, despite having inherited their blood, the best mages of our history could only conduct but a fraction of the devastating power unleashed by the elfin ateliers of that great war..."

The King shifted anxiously in his seat. "You can't mean-"

And then, Alphonso's gaze sharpened as he declared, "...that was Mythril."

Then, as if all tension evaporated from his body at once, the King fell limp on his seat.

He covered his eyes and laughed. "Hah... hahaha. Is that so...?"

"It... is only a theory," he answered meekly, "but if it is true that the heroine acquired such materials, I would be very interested in acquiring some samples. It may very well be the key towards creating a new generation of war mages."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"I see... I see...! Hahaha, haha… Oh, forgive me, my friend, I just find it hard to comprehend just how brightly the Goddess of Fortune shines on our heroine as of late... still, if it is Mythril you need, I believe we do have a mythril blade stored in the royal armory. You may do with it as you wish. The heroine has no use for it."

"Hm... about that. I certainly considered it... but I soon came to the conclusion that in order to carry out my research, I will have to, likely, destroy the artifact or, indeed, artifacts… I'm sorry to say that there is simply too much to understand about this unknown property of mythril. All I can say is that it is not a natural trait of the material itself. Simply holding it in your hand will not allow you to amplify your magic through it."

"I... see... I would certainly be loath to have you destroy the only mythril piece in my collection.."

"So it is. I understand that the heroine is currently selling such artifacts. Therefore, my Lord, with your permission, I wish to purchase them for the sake of my research."

"Hmph. Apparently, she is staving off a famine of sorts and thus selling them away for food. A waste, in my opinion. They would find far better use in your hands, so of course, your request is granted."

The court mage then bowed his head and said, "Thank you, my Lord."

"Mm. I'm counting on you."

And so, their meeting ended. Or so they intended, but as the man in the dark robe passed through the door, the King called out to him.

"Ah, hold on," he said, "Alphonso, can you tell Aster to keep an eye on Dellwick? As much as I wish to trust the heroine, these are still monsters we are dealing with. I simply cannot allow those dangerous beasts roam around the Kingdom. If she sees any around Dellwick, have her exterminate them, quietly. And report it to me."

"I shall pass it on, my Lord."

And with the rumbling clack of the door, the King was once again alone in his room.

He basked in the silence for a moment and then heaved a sigh.

"Now, then..."

He pulled the topmost document from the stack and read through it. The penmanship was unlike that of the castle's many scribes. It almost seemed like it was written in a hurry, perhaps on top of an uneven surface, like a tree bark.

One of Aster's agents...?

He sighed.

I told her to stop mixing it with my other documents.

Nevertheless, he soon got comfortable and gave the lengthy report a read.

"Hmm... Ardeal, Hellas and Jizzaro... huh? All the important people are listed here... a defense pact, perhaps?"

He reclined in his seat.

"Hm? That's strange... if they act now, all they'll do is provoke a response from Easter."

He glanced at the map pinned to a wall in his room.

It makes no sense.

"Unless..."

The three countries he mentioned, the Syndicate of Jizzaro, the Free States of Hellas, and the Grand Duchy of Ardeal, formed the entire eastern border of Londinium, stretching south to north, in that order.

He traced it with his mind's eye northwards, weaving around the hills and valleys, forests and lakes depicted in simplistic symbols on the tanned sheet of paper. And soon, he arrived at the northernmost tip of the continent. There laid Londinium's northern neighbor, Rafale.

His face darkened.

"I see... so that's how it is..."

Finally, he put away the report and closed his eyes in contemplation.

I'll have Aster look into it, but we may have no choice but to be involved in that is to come...

The King stood up and walked out to the balcony where he basked under the moonlight and felt the cold breeze sweep across his face.

...and if so, we will have to rely on the strength of that little girl...

And with a cold breath, he whispered, "The heroine... Sylphia."

Civilized or not... it is impossible to grant her request. That said, the strength of those monsters might just tip the balance in our favor...

He sighed.

So forgive me, miss heroine.

For the sake of my Kingdom.

For the sake of my people.

Please keep waiting for my answer.

For I cannot give it to you in the foreseeable future.