“She went upstairs a couple of minutes ago to sleep.”

“Bah!” Luca grunted. They were too late, his daughter was already asleep. Had he listened to Simone, they would have gotten here earlier.

“Hah... don't bother waking her up then, we'll only be a short while,” he replied to his wife.

“Hey! She's been looking forward to seeing you since today's her birthday—” Stella's pleading face made it hard for Luca to refuse. Even so...

“No, it's alright,” Luca answered, “The day we're rid of all these pests, I'll be with her every day. For now, I'll try to look for a day off to spend some time with her.”

There were only a few minutes left before they had to resume patrolling the city. Luca thought it impractical to wake Celeste when they were to leave right away.

“Growing kids need to sleep,” he reasoned.

Stella frowned at his lack of tact, “Okay, then what do you suppose I should tell her when she wakes up tomorrow and finds out her papa visited last night, huh?”

It was the voice she made when she was annoyed. Luca really had no idea how to go about it. He didn't want to ruin his daughter's sleep just to tell her he had to leave.

“Bah—! You don't have to tell her. Just greet her for me.”

“I have—!” Stella snapped, and her eyes turned fierce as she yelled, “More than the amount of times your daughter's seen you this month!“

“Now now, you two. Brother-in-law, it'll just be a moment. I'll go wake little Celeste up. She must have missed her uncle's handsome face,” stepping forward to intervene in the couple's bickering, Simone scratched his cheek resignedly. They didn't come here to argue but to greet Celeste on her birthday—he silently complained.

Luca, who was quarreling with Stella, suddenly turned silent.

He suddenly held his hand up and both Stella and Simone hushed themselves in understanding. They've been with Luca long enough to know that when he gets like this, he was conversing with the greater fire spirit.

Luca stated the greater fire spirit's instructions, “Simone, time to go back to work. Nifyr to the west, near Erden's Tower.”

“Captain!! A number of them in the south!!” a member of the Flame Brigade nearby rushed up to them with a panic-stricken voice.

“Bah—!” Luca was frustrated, he couldn't be at two places at once.

“You go west, I'll go with Simone to the south,” Stella offered her assistance. Luca clenched his hands, about to refuse; although there was no need to worry about Stella as she was quite competent in combat, between themselves they agreed to have at least one of them with Celeste at all times.

[Luca... Hurry...]

There wasn't even room to breath. The tone of the greater fire spirit demanded urgency, and although reluctant, Luca parted with the two and headed west.

“Bah—!” Frustration fueled his outburst as he decided to let loose. A bright hue the color of his hair emitted from his body, and the air visibly swayed around him as he ran.

“Fire and mana... The bait is cast, now come out you pests!” Luca grit his teeth and displayed himself a tempting offering to the beings in the shadows called Nifyr.

Nifyr had a certain peculiarity—craving fire despite it being the bane of their existence. Like moths drawn to a flame, they would burn themselves away after attempting to devour it. Without a source of fire nearby, however, they would be drawn to another type of condensed energy—mana. Any being possessing mana served as a meal for a Nifyr.

Humans and half-elves, born with the same system of magic in their bodies, could at least abscond from an encounter with a Nifyr. The prime targets for a Nifyr's attack—the elves—unlike the unfortunate elven child they had found earlier, they usually lived like unseen hermits within their dwellings.

The Nifyr were pests, with no real danger to them if handled correctly. But to unknowing children with dormant mana seeds who step out of the fire spirits' protection, the danger they posed was immense.

Luca stopped in place and continued circulating mana, but as he prepared himself for an upcoming battle, his thoughts had suddenly frozen over. A few meters in front of him, a specter of a magic creature clad in pure black had begun to rise up off the ground. The object of terror that had held the city in predicament for the past few years.

Although it wasn't the Nifyr that had caused Luca to lose focus. It was the crimson-haired little girl approaching him with an expression of longing on her face.

“Papa!”

“C-Celeste!? Why!? Get away from here!” The hair on Luca's body stood on its ends as he was gripped with great fear. He ran forward with all the speed he could muster and took hold of his daughter—throwing her behind him to avoid the mouth of the Nifyr gaping down.

The fire-attributed mana he had gathered earlier had been dispersed the moment he dashed for Celeste, and his body was bare of its protection. He acted quickly, however, and managed to evade the maw of the hostile creature.

“Celeste!?” Seeing his daughter nowhere near, frustration clouded his mind, “Volcanus! Where is she!?” he screamed and allowed his agitation to distract him from another incoming attack.

“Ah!!?” A swipe from a dark hand flung him across the stoney pavement, and gouged a good chunk of mana from his body.

[Luca... At the...Tower...]

“Bah—!” Luca staggered to his feet and looked towards the tallest structure in Daerin. Then he shifted his attention to the Nifyr; behind it, a few more shadows appeared menacingly.

Red threads of mana crawled up his arms from the tips of his fingers and he yelled as if commanding them, “Flame Gauntlets!” and immediately, they set his arms ablaze.