"Why did you disappear to so quickly?", an unknown mage spoke up before Julius had even turned the corner, along with High-Magician Leuen. "Is that...?"

"Julius Venlan, yes", Caleb Leuen spoke up as Julius caught sight of the questioner. A tall man dressed in the clothes of a High-Magician, who could kill someone with his deadly serious eyes. Julius had met a few High-Magicians in his life, but he had only glimpsed the man before him a few months ago.

"I see, forgive my disrespect, Sir Venlan. My name is Aaron Thopas, 3rd seat of the Magistrat. It is my pleasure."

"Pleasure to meet you as well", Julius returned the greeting politely, inwardly trying to recall the information he had about High-Magician Aaron Thopas. A council member who had lingered by the Eldest's side since the beginning of the Magistrat, and about whose past frighteningly little was known. When he had no face to the name, Julius had always imagined the High-Magician to be considerably older, and had not expected to meet a man who, visually, should be even younger than himself.

"Sir Venlan and his men are here to escort Will and Ben to Sylve", he said.

"Admittedly, I should have guessed that myself. William had told me about it", High-Magician Thopas replied, stepping to the other side of High-Magician Leuen before they started moving. "And where did the rest of them go?"

"I showed them their room and had call for the kitchen."

"Does the Eldest know they are here?"

"Yes", High-Magician Leuen confirmed, causing Julius to give him a puzzled look. He had only been in the mansion for a few minutes, how could the Eldest already know they were inside? "Sir Venlan would like to talk with Eldest, which is why I was just on my way to see him."

"I see", High-Magician Thopas murmured thoughtfully before his gaze crossed with Julius'. "I apologize for speaking over your heads like that. I didn't mean to be rude."

"That's all right, I didn't blame you", Julius replied with a faint smile. "It's good to see the Magistrat doing well. When we found out about the creature attack back then, we had imagined the worst."

"We were well-prepared and nothing happened to your noble children either", High-Magician Thopas reported politely. "Although I'm sure you already know that. How was your journey? Did you come to Persiven by ferry?"

"We did, yes. We were greeted by a thunderstorm and had to spend the night in Persiven."

"Too bad you stayed in Persiven in such nasty weather. The city has become really lively and beautiful by now", High-Magician Caleb Leuen spoke up.

"Don't let Grischa hear you say that", High-Magician Aaron Thopas interfered. "He hates the city."

"I know."

"Why that?", Julius interjected in wonder, causing the High-Magicians to stare at him in silence for a moment. "Sorry, that was a rude question."

"No, no. Not at all", High-Magician Thopas announced. "High-Magician Vonstetten has some, bad memories associated with Persiven, which is why he doesn't like the city and doesn't want to hear about it in general."

"He's a bit... touchy about it", High-Magician Leuen explained hesitantly. "You couldn't have known that, but don't take offense if we don't want to talk about it further. Grischa Vonstetten is a close friend of ours, and talking about the subject behind his back seems rude."

"Of course, forgive me", Julius replied, having a rough idea of what the High-Magicians were talking about. After all, he too knew the story behind how Grischa Vonstetten had become famous back in the day.

"That reminds me...", High-Magician Leuen raised and turned to his colleague. "Aaron, I need you to look for someone for me."

"Looking for someone?" repeated High-Magician Thopas.

"Yes. For an old acquaintance of mine."

"Name?"

"Yuma Nolan, a soldier from Sylve."

"Nolan?", the High-Magician replied, putting on a somber expression. "Did you just say his name is Yuma Nolan? Is he a swordmaster?"

"Possibly, yes. Does the name mean anything to you?"

High-Magician Aaron Thopas did not produce a word and instead came to a halt, causing High-Magician Leuen and Julius to stop as well. Irritated, Julius watched the silent man before his eyes wandered to High-Magician Leuen. High-Magician Leuen looked at his colleague in silence, before his expression also turned somber, as if he suspected what was going through High-Magician Thopas' mind.

"No..."

"Yes, he is", High-Magician Thopas brought out softly.

"He is dead?", High-Magician Leuen put into words, so that Julius dropped a surprised look to High-Magician Thopas. The person after whom his companion and group leader of the first company, An Perendan had been looking for was dead?

"Yes", High-Magician Thopas spoke up. "Were you good friends with him, Caleb?"

"No, not at all. We knew each other, but we were not friends. His neighbor An Perendan was his childhood friend and An worked with me for years. Today she told me that she is looking for Sir Nolan. How do you know... that he's dead? Did you know him?"

"Not really", High-Magician Thopas announced, holding his head with one hand as he stared at the ground. "Sir Nolan probably saved my life."

"Did he?"

"Yes. During the second attack on the creatures. He died... in front of my eyes... I couldn't do anything."

Silently, High-Magician Leuen looked to his colleague as he seemed to realize the gravity of the words.

"And his students? Mats, Sylas, and Elijas?"

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"One of them died then too, but I can't tell you exactly who", High-Magician Thopas murmured, looking up. "Caleb... I swear to you, if I..."

"You can't change it. Don't blame yourself for something you are in no way to blame for."

"I... am to blame. Sir Nolan stayed behind to help me. If I hadn't argued with you at the time and come back to the barrier immediately, then this wouldn't have happened."

"Or it would have been worse and your lack of absence would have killed all four. You can't know that", High-Magician Leuen tried to relax the situation and stepped closer to his colleague. "Don't be so self-critical. It happened a long time ago. You just happened to be on the scene."

"William and the others... did they know Sir Nolan and his students?", High-Magician Thopas replied, looking up as High-Magician Leuen rested his hand on him.

"Yes. Ben and William trained with them for a few days when we were on our way to Exarion. Aletta and Philippa also talked to them, but none of them were really close friends."

"I see...", High-Magician Thopas muttered, slowly starting to move again as High-Magician Leuen stepped to his side, instructing him with a hand gesture to follow them. "Then I'll try to figure out what happened to the other two students. I owe them that much."

"Do that, thank you", High-Magician Leuen acknowledged the statement and turned back to Julius. "I think it would be better if you did not give this information to Madam Perendan. At least not right away. Sir Nolan and she had known each other since childhood."

"I think that's best, too", Julius replied, nodding, his gaze lingering on High-Magician Thopas. Strangely, there was something very human about this situation. Since his arrival in Exarion, Julius felt a huge difference in strength between himself and the High-Magicians, but only now did he sense that his caution had been exaggerated. High-Magician Thopas seemed like a stern, vicious man at first glance, but in reality he was very sensitive and soulful. The same was true of High-Magician Leuen.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I don't want to threaten the escort's safety with that information, which is why I wouldn't have said anything anyway", Julius explained, to which High-Magician Caleb Leuen smiled. "Forgive me, but I still have a small question for you, High-Magician Leuen."

"Go ahead."

"How did you actually came to know An Perendan?"

"How do I know her?", High-Magician Leuen repeated, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Long story, to be honest. I guess the short version would be that we met in Bellator about 10 years ago, dueled, and she lost the fight to me. She was pretty adamant that it was a draw and kept challenging me after that, but never won."

"So this was before she moved up to first company?"

"Long before that, yes. She was promoted by King Leonhardt after the events at Kutam."

"Had she been working for you then?", Julius finally got his curiosity out, so High-Magician Leuen looked at him silently for a moment, then dropped a quick glance at High-Magician Thopas.

"You could say that, yes. She had challenged me so many times that he eventually got on my nerves and I wanted something as compensation. So it happened that she kept an eye on events in Bellator for me and informed me when there were major problems or even the creatures became an issue."

"She was spying for you?"

"No, she didn't go that far. She just kept me up to date on what the Bellator residents and the soldiers were saying among themselves. She wasn't in such a high position then."

"And now?", Julius interjected, discreetly annoyed by the fact that one of Bellator's best swordmasters was actually an errand boy for a High-Magician of Altona.

"You're making it sound like we did something wrong", High-Magician Leuen retorted, clasping his hands in front of his chest as he gave Julius a somber look. "After she was promoted to the 1st Company, she went to the northern border of Sylve at my request and made sure that the soldiers there didn't get lazy. She has been careful to ensure that your land does not succumb to another creature attack, Sir Venlan."

"You seem to have a lot of concern for Sylve", Julius replied wryly.

"Can you blame me for that? While I have not counted Sylve as my home for a long time, I still have people there that I care about. It was my prudence that saved us all from a worse evil, you should be aware of that, Sir Venlan."

"Don't be mad at our poor guest like that, Caleb", another voice spoke up, causing Julius to turn aside in surprise. From the hallway next to him emerged an elegantly dressed man with blond hair and a slightly longer beard, who was accompanied by several mages. At first, Julius assumed that the stranger was a Frignezer, before realizing that it was the Eldest of Altona.

The unofficial representative of all of Altona. The most powerful mage that had ever existed in the world.

"Eldest", High-Magician Leuen and High-Magician Thopas uttered simultaneously, as Julius abruptly bowed. The Eldest was in the same position as King Leonhardt of Sylve, with the difference that he himself was a powerful High-Magician. His mere presence made Julius abruptly nervous. Thanks to his work in royalty, he often had the opportunity to meet dukes or other, high nobles, but the Eldest spread such dominance with his serene gait that it was difficult for Julius to breathe.

This was the second reason why he did not want to go to Exarion. He always had a problem facing powerful people because he never knew how to behave. Rather, he was also afraid of unintentionally starting a fight that could become a issue for the royal house. The mere thought of it made him nervous. That was why he had not left King Leonhardt's side at any time during his last visit.

"Rise, Sir Venlan. You do not have to bow to me", the Eldest spoke up, causing Julius to swallow nervously and stand up. "It is my pleasure to welcome you to Exarion."

"The pleasure is all mine, Eldest. Many thanks for letting us stay in the Magistrat, and also many thanks for looking after Prince William and Benjamin of Freigoud."

"You should thank High-Magician Leuen for that. I must confess, I did not know for a long time that we hosted such High-Magicians in our Magistrat", the Eldest replied with a smile, and with a quick wave of his hand sent away the mages who had followed him. "And you, Caleb, should apologize for your choice of words."

"My apologies, Sir Venlan", High-Magician Leuen spoke up without hesitation and bowed, causing Julius to turn backwards in surprise. "I unintentionally spoke up to you, please forgive me. It was not my intention. I am well aware why you are concerned, but I can assure you that neither I nor An Perendan meant any harm for Sylve."

"High-Magician Leuen..." replied Julius, dumbfounded, raising his hands, not knowing how to deal with the statement and attitude. It almost never happened that nobles bowed in his presence, after all, he was just a commoner who had gotten to his high position only thanks to his work. "Please... rise."

"Caleb is very sensitive to being judged without knowing the whole story", the Eldest interjected, coming to stand right next to Julius. "While he doesn't say it, he absolutely cannot stand it when people disrespect him and don't know how much sweat and tears he has given for the safety of our lands. Not even to someone like you, Sir Venlan. Don't hold it against him, in reality he's just worried about all of us."

At the statement, Julius' confused gaze wandered between the Eldest back to High-Magician Leuen, who now stood back up and cast a grim look at the Eldest. Behind him, however, High-Magician Thopas nodded in agreement, to High-Magician Leuen's unknown.

"You don't need to talk, Raphael. You were nervous about meeting Sir Venlan until just now", High-Magician Leuen replied.

"Don't say that out loud", the Eldest complained, his face abruptly turning red. Irritated, Julius watched the two mages as he could detect a soft laugh in the background. Turning to the side, he spotted what must have been the only truly familiar face since his arrival in Exarion.

"You're acting like frightened animals", Odin Ander, the 5th seat of the Magistrat spoke up. Odin was one of the few mages who came to Bellator almost regularly and with whom Loys also had frequent contact. For this reason, Odin was probably also the few High-Magician whose presence did not make Julius nervous. "Good to see you, Sir Venlan."

"Nice to meet you as well, High-Magician Ander."

"Please forgive my colleagues. Whenever we have visitors from Sylve, the tension is palpable."

"Pardon, I didn't mean to burden you with our presence", Julius brought up in wonder.

"Not at all, you misunderstood. You are not burdening anyone. Receiving high-level visitors makes us all nervous, even with our years of experience. Especially when it appears so unplanned... isn't it?", Odin Ander replied politely, directing the last part of his statement to the Eldest, who merely nodded. It was then that Julius really realized what the High-Magician meant by the statement.

Basically, he was not the only one who had been nervous since his arrival. His hosts felt the same way.