It was early morning when Cale rose from the soft bed, opened the window a crack, and then went to the bathroom. Aaron and the group were going to leave early to catch the first ferry to Winstest. The three had it good that Aaron would use his magic to get them to the port city, this would save them several days of walking.

Just as Cale was walking back to his room in fresh clothes, Grischa woke up. For a moment, his friend looked at him wearily, as if he needed a moment to realize who had just walked through the door. Quietly, Cale strode to the bedside, knelt beside him and smiled before placing his hand on the adult's forehead.

His skin was cold, very cold. A sign that his Igrikum had been trying to balance the imbalance all along.

"Go back to sleep, it's not even bright yet", Cale admitted quietly, taking his hand down before Grischa laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. Unobtrusively, Cale closed the window again with his magic and made the heat crystal work more powerfully with the help of his magic. He then walked down the stairs, over to the kitchen. He began to prepare breakfast while he could sense movement in the room above him. The three Anuxers, as well as Aletta, were up and getting ready for the day.

When Cale sensed someone approaching his apartment, he merely went to the door of the kitchen and, with the help of his mana, opened the large front door. His usually empty apartment had become the hub of many people's lives in recent weeks.

"Good morning, Aaron", he greeted the High-Magician.

"Morning", the mage replied neutrally as he entered the apartment, locking the door behind him before following Cale into the kitchen. Almost simultaneously with him, the group came down the stairs before they all politely greeted the newcomer.

"Have you had any breakfast yet?", chimed in Cale amiably. Discreetly, the other High-Magician ventured a glance at the fully set table, but did not answer. "I'll take that as a 'no'. Sit down and eat with us, so much time has to be."

Cale pulled out another plate, complete with cutlery, and set it down on the empty space at the table before sitting himself down in the chair next to Aletta.

"Thanks", Aaron murmured softly and sat down. This had to be the first time in Cale's entire life that Aaron truly thanked him for something. A completely new feeling. Could it be the possibility, then? Was the High-Magician a little excited, but didn't say so?

Leisurely, the six ate and talked about plans for the next few days before Philippa casually asked if Grischa was still here. Cale explained to her that he was still asleep. After they finished and still helped clean up, Aaron asked if the three had already packed their things, which they confirmed with a nod. Cale had prepared some more supplies for the prince and handed them to him before looking at him with a serious look.

"Wait", he gave the word. "Let's trade swords."

"Trade?", the young man asked in irritation before watching Cale use his magic to make a silver weapon appear. The others had noticed this as well and had come to a stop.

"The sword is not one of Kama's three masterpieces, but it was also forged by him. Take it, it is a really good sword."

"You have another Kama sword?", Ben interjected in complete irritation, earning him a warning look from Cale. They had sworn to him to keep Karekama to themselves, but Ben had almost blurted out the secret.

"I carry around a lot of things in my zero magic", Cale replied simply, turning to William. "Take good care of it."

He hesitantly took the elegant sword with both hands before glancing at his own sword. It was a common sword, what every soldier in the city used, and had definitely survived the odd one or two.

"Is that okay to hand me a weapon like that? Isn't the sword worth quite a bit?"

"It is, but I don't need it anymore. It's clearly better off with you."

Intrigued, he looked at the gift before remembering that he had seen it before. It was the same sword Cale had always used against them, and also the sword with which he had defeated Sir Nolan. Carefully, William untied his old friend from his waistband, handed it to Cale, and tied his new weapon to it.

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"Thank you. I'll take care of it."

Cale smiled as he made the slightly worn sword disappear from William. His gaze wandered to Aaron, who was watching the action from a distance. Though his face was expressionless as usual, Cale knew exactly what he was wondering: where did he get such a valuable sword?

That Cale was the Keeper of Karekama, Aaron did not know, most High-Magicians did not know. Only the Elder himself and Grischa knew about it, they also wanted to keep it secret. However, besides them, William and Ben also knew by now.

"Well then, we'll be on our way", Aaron raised, which is why the three of them said goodbye to each other with a hug. Wished them all a good trip and asked them to check in regularly before watching the group disappear down the hall. He was uncomfortable letting his friends go just like that, but had to do it. They were the only ones he trusted enough to take things seriously. Besides, he was reassured that a High-Magician would be accompanying them, so he was pretty sure they would be fine.

"Do you have any plans for today?", Aletta asked him. They were both still standing in the hallway without shoes until Cale sighed and led her back to the apartment.

"No, why?"

"My fiancé, Miguel. I can't avoid him anymore. When I was with the other healers yesterday, they told me he knows I live here in the Magistrat. I'm afraid he's going to show up here today."

"He's not allowed in here at all without being registered as a guest. The mages at the entrance wouldn't allow that", Cale explained calmly, which made Aletta look up at him in surprise. "But I think you should meet with him."

"Why is that? I was going to give you a heads-up if he showed up here, but why would I volunteer to meet with him?"

"Do you want to run away from him your whole life?" Cale returned, taking a seat on his couch. "Why are you so afraid of him? Is it because he's a man?"

"That's such nonsense. I'm not afraid of men."

"Then why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"I don't like him."

"Have you ever met him?"

"No", the healer confessed sheepishly. "Father originally wanted to introduce us, but that was before I started my journey. I don't know what type of person he is."

"I think you're worrying them too much. Miguel is Chief Heriog's son, right? Do you think he would raise his son to be a bad person?"

"I didn't mean it that way", Aletta replied, shaking her head.

"Well, that's all right then. Because I suspect he feels the same way you do. Do you think he was asked beforehand if he agreed to the engagement?", Cale threw back. Surprised, Aletta looked at the mage, but remained silent. She didn't know that Cale and Miguel had been close friends in another life and that he had witnessed the whole marriage from his point of view then. He also knew that Miguel was a nice person, even if he could be a bit conceited and stubborn at times. He had always treated Aletta with respect throughout his life. "Don't worry about it. If you want, I can accompany you to a meeting, even if I have to bring Grischa with me."

"Do you really think I should?"

"Now more likely than ever. With the danger of creatures, you don't know what to expect tomorrow."

"You're right in a way", she finally conceded, exhaling deeply. "Maybe I'll write him an invitation to a meeting later."

"That sounds like a good idea. Do you know where he is currently?"

"He's staying with some healers from his tribe in a house near the Magistrat. I think the council had put it at their disposal."

That sounded pretty logical to Cale. They couldn't sacrifice all the rooms in the building for the healers, so they put them in one of the large apartment blocks west of the main building.

"I see. Shall we meet with him in the afternoon? In peace? At some coffee shop or something?"

"Doesn't sound wrong", the young girl admitted hesitantly. She was still nervously playing with her fingers before she thanked Cale and said that she had arranged to meet a healer this morning. Shortly after, she grabbed her things and disappeared, leaving Cale alone.

Relieved, he leaned back and closed his eyes. So Miguel Heriog was his mission today? How long had it been since he had seen the swordmaster? A good twenty years? More likely. Cale wasn't sure. When he was traveling in the restricted zone in his last life, he had been involved in a tremendous battle with the creatures shortly before his death. The last time he had met Miguel before his death was in the true north, where most people had fled to after the countries fell. It seemed strange to him to see Miguel again. He was one of the current best swordsmen on the entire continent, and on top of that, he would soon be one of the most famous people in the world. Even when Cale had fled to Sylve in his third life and spent his life there, his name was on everyone's lips. That was after he had met Grischa and the High-Magician had developed the communication crystal in 6 months, which was his own best time. This was one of the few lives that Frignez and Sylve were actually able to communicate with each other without messengers having to risk their lives to do so.

The third wave, however, was just as unable to prevent it.

Cale remembered well how he had pushed his friends out of Bellator a few weeks before the third creature attack and traveled south with them. He had originally intended to go to the province of Mornet, but halfway there he decided to wait out the attack on one of the islands of Sylve. While hundreds of thousands of people gave their lives in the days that followed, he literally had a great time with his friends on the island that belonged to William's family. Interestingly, this was one of the islands that was quite close to the island that would later belong to the Magistrat.

"I should get going, too", Cale muttered to himself as he realized he hadn't moved for minutes. He wanted to wake Grischa and pay a quick visit to Yusuf before he would meet with the swordmaster who succeeded Jonat Paseru this afternoon. But the very first thing he would do was to take care of buying the island. Therefore, he went to his study and wrote the letter that would prevent a conflict between the mages and the inhabitants of Sylve in the future.