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“By the way, why exactly is the Necklace of Warmth a forbidden item? To be honest, it doesn’t seem to have that impressive of a function…”

Although it was certainly surprising that it could improve one’s constitution, at best, it merely made someone who was sensitive to the cold a bit more resistant. Wearing the Necklace of Warmth for a lifetime would not make one immune to cold itself or transform their body into something extraordinary.

Honestly, he wondered if it was something that warranted such a sensitive reaction.

Duke Iranad nodded.

“Of course, on its own, it’s not that significant. But magic that directly alters the human body is never permitted for humanity.”

In an instant, Duke Iranad’s gaze grew frighteningly stern.

“Because, ultimately, it leads to the path of immortality.”

Teslon’s expression changed dramatically.

“Is that even possible? Perhaps even among the Sages of Silver?”

“Well, among the Sages of Silver, there are indeed some who possess limited powers of longevity. Immortality or eternity might be too much, but if you’re lucky, you might meet one.”

‘Who could it be?’

As he looked at the curious Teslon, Duke Iranad’s expression briefly showed wariness. He spoke in a stern, scolding voice.

“Do not seek to know more. It’s beyond your authority.”

Teslon bowed his head silently. After Duke Iranad reminded him of future tasks, he exited the hall first. Watching his retreating figure, Teslon scratched his cheek.

“In truth, there was one more thing I wanted to ask, but it seems he’s not inclined to tell.”

Throughout his various tasks for the Sages of Silver, there had always been something that puzzled him.

‘How exactly do the Sages of Silver operate their information network?’

At first, he thought it was through the information networks of various countries or the communications of the magic towers. Given that the Sages of Silver were high-ranking figures across the continent, it was certain they operated such networks. Even that alone was an impressive information network.

But there were things that could not be explained by that alone. Like when he killed the mage Hal in Friesland.

‘That mage Hal never communicated with the magic tower during the mission, nor did he know in advance what was in the Salcana Dungeon. So how did they manage to track the movements of those with no apparent connection?’

It was clear that the Sages of Silver did not possess omniscient abilities. If they had been able to know everything in existence, they would have prevented Atres from announcing about the Necklace of Warmth in advance.

‘Despite having such a tremendous amount of information, there are still such lax areas. I can’t figure out how exactly they operate.’

Teslon crossed his arms, his expression hardening.

This was not the only secret the Sages of Silver kept from him. Even though he had been bestowed the title of Sage, he was still treated as an outsider. They never divulged the truly important secrets to him, and the tasks they assigned him were always trivial errands.

‘This won’t do. I need to change the situation somehow…’

Even after becoming one of them, the Sages of Silver surrounded themselves with layers of secrets and never revealed their true nature to him.

‘The true nature of the Sages of Silver? That’s an awkward expression.’

After chuckling to himself for a moment, Teslon started walking out of the hall as well.

* * *

In the vast white hall, tens of thousands of crystals covered the surrounding walls. Like a chessboard, the crystals were intricately connected, and images of various human figures were displayed on them. In the center of the hall stood a large silver pillar, and beneath it was a desk where about a dozen men and women were busily operating consoles.

Amidst the tens of thousands of images projected on the crystals, a few continued to move toward the silver pillar and blinked out. Watching this, a blonde young man in his thirties clicked his tongue and muttered.

“Indeed, many are trying to move under the influence of the Fist Emperor. We will be busy for a while.”

A man sitting at the desk addressed the young man.

“I will sort the processed issues, Guardian Arclight.”

“Do so.”

As the young man, Jade Arclight, gave his approval, dozens of blinking images moved down to the base of the pillar and disappeared. Among them was the image of a young man making a confession and a priestess diligently writing something.

The blonde young man gave a wry smile.

“I feel a bit sorry for those who were sacrificed without knowing anything.”

But this was all for the sake of humanity as a whole, a small sacrifice for a greater good. Guardian Arclight quickly shook off his uneasy feelings and turned his attention back to the images.

The vast white hall displaying numerous images was one of the most powerful artifacts possessed by the Sages of Silver, known as ‘Seiya’s Eye.’

All that the Seiya priests across the continent saw and heard, all those who wielded divine power in Seiya’s name, was transmitted to the Silver Sage through this artifact. Even an ordinary believer, while praying to Seiya, was connected to ‘Seiya’s Eye,’ making their eyes and ears a part of the Silver Sage’s information network.

This ‘Seiya’s Eye’ was one of the greatest powers that allowed the Silver Sage to dominate the world from the shadows. The priests and believers of Seiya spread across the continent, unknowingly becoming sources of information, providing every detail of their actions. It was no exaggeration to call it a divine power.

“Yet, there is still very little information on the Fist King Repenhardt. There are no Seiya believers around him… Does this guy not have a good opinion of the Seiya Order?”

The blonde youth, the Guardian Arclight, examined the images reflected in the silver pillar with a dissatisfied expression.

While it was true that this ‘Seiya’s Eye’ was an artifact with miraculous powers, it also had clear limitations. It only exerted its influence over the priests and believers of Seiya, making it impossible to fully grasp those outside the Seiya Order’s influence.

“Well, with such views on the slave races, a proper Seiya priest wouldn’t be close to him.”

After grumbling briefly, the youth soon relaxed his expression.

In any case, ‘Seiya’s Eye’ was not the entirety of the Silver Sage’s information network. There were high-ranking officials in various countries affiliated with the Silver Sage, and using their networks would suffice.

“It’s not my concern. My mission is simply to prevent any influence stemming from that person.”

Shaking off thoughts of Repenhardt, the youth continued to review the images in the silver pillar.

The amount of information ‘Seiya’s Eye’ gathered was enormous. It was impossible for a few humans to review all the information. The silver pillar at the center, ‘Seiya’s Law,’ automatically sorted through the vast amounts of information.

Images continued to be reflected on the surface of the pillar. These were the pieces of information ‘Seiya’s Law’ had filtered, deemed a threat to the protection of humanity. As he examined the images, the blonde youth dismissed some and put others on the list for further action.

It was at that moment that a voice called out to the youth from behind.

“Guardian Arclight.”

The blonde youth turned around. A cute silver-haired girl, appearing to be in her mid-teens, wearing a pure white robe, was looking at him.

“Guardian Serelein, what brings you here?”

“I just stopped by for a moment.”

After responding in a blunt voice, the girl began to examine the silver pillar attentively. It seemed she had come to check the situation while attending to other matters.

The young man shrugged his shoulders and asked the girl.

“Are you handling the matter concerning the Fist King Repenhardt well?”

The girl, taking her eyes off the image on the pillar, replied in a nonchalant tone.

“I sent your younger brother. No matter how strong he is, the Fist King is merely an Aura User. He won’t be able to withstand his opponent armed with ancient magic.”

With a cold expression, the girl disappeared back into the void. The young man tilted his head, pondering the completely vanished figure.

“Hmm? Merely an Aura User?”

The young man approached the desk in front of the pillar and fiddled with the console. Shortly after, an image of a battle appeared on the pillar. It was a combat scene from the perspective of Christine, a Holy Knight of Seiya.

Watching it, the young man muttered blankly.

“…This guy uses magic?”

* * *

In a giant stone chamber about ten meters high, an arched door stood at the center.

Generally, doors serve as passageways to traverse between obstructing walls. In that sense, this arched door had a peculiar structure. It stood alone without any walls on either side.

Nevertheless, it was undoubtedly a ‘door.’ This arch was not just an ordinary door but a great relic from the Silver Age, the Chloe Daiman Portal, which connected spaces.

Wooooong!

A faint noise arose from the previously quiet inside of the arched door, soon emitting a dazzling light.

After a while, a group emerged from the light. There were sturdy green-skinned orcs, a cute red-haired boy, and scarred orcs following behind them.

The orcs looked around the stone chamber and murmured in astonishment.

“Where, where is this?”

“How can this be? Just a moment ago, we were in a different place.”

These were orc gladiators who had escaped from the western part of the Graim Kingdom. Led by Tassid and Sillan, they had fled the human city, escaped to the Setellad Mountains, and arrived here at the Chloe Dungeon in the Gloten Mountains through the Daiman Terminal’s space portal.

After moving the orcs away from the door, the red-haired boy took a small stone from his pocket. Holding the stone towards the portal’s light, the boy mumbled.

“User, Sillan Phil Marcis. Authentication number 352525. Lockdown.”

Runes emerged on the stone surface, emitting light from the spatial portal. The swirling light quickly subsided, transforming back into an ordinary arched door. After putting the keystone back in his pocket, Sillan glanced at the Orc gladiators.

Sillan whispered softly to the green-skinned Orc, Tassid.

“Shouldn’t we keep this spatial portal a secret? Is it okay for more people to know about it?”

Tassid furrowed his brow slightly and nodded.

“I think so too, but without using the spatial portal, there’s no safe way to move them.”

For the past two months, Repenhardt and his comrades had been rescuing numerous non-human slaves and bringing them to the Duchy of Antares. Naturally, the humans who lost their valuable property didn’t sit idly by. Each time, they organized pursuit teams to chase after the escaped slaves.

However, no humans ever caught the escaped slaves. The trail of the runaway slaves always led to remote areas infested with monsters.

The pursuit teams were baffled.

The wilderness was uninhabitable for humans; that’s why it was considered a wasteland. No matter how fearful one was of humans, heading into a monster-infested wilderness was a suicidal act. In the past, there were occasional runaway slaves, but none dared to flee into the wilderness. They typically hid in secluded mountains, surviving by robbing passersby until the army eventually hunted them down. But this time, they had all fled in such a manner, as if they didn’t value their lives.

Baffled, the pursuit teams gave up on the runaway slaves. There were too many dangers in chasing them beyond the wilderness. They assumed the slaves wouldn’t survive long anyway, so they considered them all dead. Without knowing the existence of the spatial portal, their judgment was understandable.

“Therefore, if the existence of the portal gets out, it will be troublesome… too many people know about it already… but limiting the portal’s use to a few would mean not fully utilizing this efficient method of movement…”

As Sillan muttered, Tassid shrugged and patted Sillan’s back reassuringly.

“The benefactor must have a plan. I trust him.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust him… it’s just that Mr. Repen, while meticulous, can be quite careless in some areas…”

Tassid chuckled at Sillan’s constant grumbling.

“Well, such worries aren’t my concern. I just follow and trust him.”

Then he turned to the Orc gladiators and shouted.

“Alright! Everyone, follow me!”

Tassid and Sillan led the way out of the stone chamber. The Orcs, with expressions of mixed tension and excitement, began to follow them.