"Is that the Magistrat?", Sir Maward spoke up when he spotted the large building in the distance. A white building that shone with a bright light despite the darkness and towered imposingly above the city walls.

"Yes, that's it", confirmed Julius Venlan, Left Hand of the King, leading his group along the path. They had left Bellator a few days ago and had spent the New Year at the port of Werbast in the northwestern province of Ameluxen. They took a ferry to Persiven on the first day of the New Year and were met by a thunderstorm, so they spent the night there.

After a day-long walk, however, you had reached the walls of Exarion and Julius looked at his destination with mixed eyes. If Loys had not asked him personally to accompany the escort at that time, Julius would not have come to Exarion voluntarily under any circumstances. Not because of the city, but rather because of one of the people he was to pick up.

Prince William of Sylve.

His one time student and arguably the person he got along with the worst. Julius had already been working for the royal house for two decades and had settled in well, but he had never been able to make friends with the youngest prince. Whereby Julius himself could not judge why. He had treated Prince William exactly the same as Prince Edward and Prince Marion, but William never seemed to have liked him even as a child.

"Now I understand why the Anuxers love to travel to Exarion. The city is beautiful", Sir Maward murmured.

"You haven't really seen it yet", another female soldier, spoke up. She was the sole, female support in the group, but of all of them, she was probably the strongest link. A talent that had literally appeared out of nowhere. She was the leader of the first company and had been responsible for border controls for years. Her presence was an exception, as she herself had asked King Leonhardt to come to Exarion. "I bet she will be a disappointment once we pass the walls."

"Exarion is a beautiful city, there's no denying that", Julius replied with a forced smile before his gaze fell to the red-haired woman. "I'm sure you'll like it, Madam Perendan."

"If you say so, Sir Venlan", the swordmaster replied skeptically, dropping her gaze to the guards on the wall. "The city certainly is well guarded."

"I suppose it is. No wonder, too, with the creature attacks last year", Sir Maward spoke up. "That must have given the mages quite a scare."

"Not all of them", Madam Perendan grumbled to herself, without taking her eyes off you. "I'd be interested to know what he was thinking that day."

"Who?", Sir Maward inquired, who had only partially understood the statement.

"Oh, just a mage friend of mine who lives in Exarion."

"You have acquaintances here?", Sir Maward threw back in irritation. "I didn't know that at all. Is that why you wanted to come to Exarion? To see if your acquaintance was all right?"

"No. If anything had happened to him, we would have known by now", Madam Perendan replied quietly.

"Does your acquaintance work for the Magistrat?"

"He does, yes. Quite possibly you have seen him before."

"Have you? What's his name?"

"Caleb Leuen."

"The 12th High-Magician of Altona?", the oldest member of the group interjected into the discussion. A man whose true position in the royal house was known only to Julius - Owen Seghers. "How is it that you are friends with a High-Magician?"

"High-Magician Leuen lived in Bellator for a few years. I met him when he was just a kid and not yet an official member of the Magistrat, let alone a High-Magician. I must admit, I was pretty surprised when I read his announcement in the paper back then."

"Crazy", Sir Maward replied. "I didn't even know he lived in Sylve."

"High-Magician Leuen is originally from Groka", Sir Venlan added, causing his followers to fall jerkily silent and give him a surprised look. Except for An Perendan, who by all appearances was informed of this. Julius had limited knowledge of the relationship between An Perendan and Caleb Leuen, but since he had independently researched the youngest High-Magician at the time, he could confirm with absolute certainty that the man was from Groka. And besides, Julius knew about the creature attack on Kutam, a village in the province of Pistori that was close to his hometown.

"By the gods", Sir Mawards muttered quietly to himself, turning his gaze to the last member of the group, who was the only one not yet making a sound. "Aren't you from Groka, too, Mamoru?"

"I was born in Groka, yes. But at the time of the attack, I was already working in Bellator."

"You are from Groka?", Julius Venlan repeated, turning to the unassuming man who for many years had been a counselor for new, young soldiers in Sylve. An older gentleman with light brown hair and a serious look, he was able to make a name for himself because of a tragedy.

The death of the duke's son Jarle of Mornet.

When it came to the suicide of the youngest member of the Mornet family, there were rumors about his life for months. Because Jarle of Mornet had worked for the royal house as a soldier for several years and was under the leadership of Mamoru Meyrl, many malicious statements were made about Sir Meyrl himself. Again and again, the soldier had to listen to questions about his way of teaching and at times he was also considered unqualified to work for the royal house. Julius had only casually overheard the rumors about Mamoru Meyrl at the time, as he was busy with other things at the time.

"Yes, I am."

"Did you have friends and family in Groka?"

"Yes", Sir Meyrl confirmed with a faint smile. "They all died during the attack."

"My condolences."

"It's fine. That was almost 20 years ago now", Sir Meyrl replied, but Julius couldn't help but be plagued by guilt for a moment.

Back when the attack on Groka occurred, Julius had been one of the first people to see the village after its destruction, and also to speak with the survivors who had fled to Rikadel that night. The sight of the desperation of the people was really burned into his memory, which is why he was cautious about the creatures ever since. A few years ago, when a message from the Magistrat arrived at the royal house, warning of a possible renewed attack by the creatures, he became downright frightened. King Leonhardt and Loys assured him that he had nothing to fear, but Julius could never completely shake off the unpleasant feeling. It bordered on a true miracle that High-Magician Caleb Leuen was in the right place at the right time.

"Lets hope we won't become the next Groka", Madam Perendan muttered softly to herself, which abruptly gave Julius goose bumps. Unobtrusively, he turned away from the group and focused his gaze on the soldiers outside the gates of Exarion. The uneasy feeling that he had been carrying around for days became worse from one moment to the next. He had known for a long time that there was clearly more going on in the background than he knew.

Arriving at the gate, they were politely greeted by the soldiers and asked their names as well as their reason for coming. Just as the guards let them enter the city, a dark silhouette appeared above their heads. Surprised, all the people looked at the small figure, who was calmly squatting on a roof and beaming with his eyes at the newcomers. Nervously, Julius returned the gaze of the young man, whose mana spread dominantly over the rooftops of the city. Julius had rarely seen a mage with such a large mana supply.

"Sir Mirai", the guard next to them, spoke up with a sigh. The unknown mage, on the other hand, grinned and jumped down from the roof, allowing the lights of the city to illuminate his exterior.

"Your mana sensitivity has improved", he said.

"Your presence cannot be overlooked, Sir Mirai", the gatekeeper replied, annoyed.

"I am honored", Sir Mirai murmured in amusement, stepping closer to the group. Julius had not turned his attention from the unknown mage at any point, but as Sir Mirai stood in the light, Julius couldn't help but stare downright at him. The mage in front of him was blind, it was immediately obvious. "Pleased to make their acquaintance. My name is Yusuf Mirai and I work for the Magistrat."

"The pleasure is all mine", Julius replied hesitantly, dropping his gaze to the red crystal the mage wore around his neck. A Levione - the famous blood crystal from the province of Mornet. A crystal so expensive that only the richest families in Sylve owned one. "My name is Julius Venlan and I work for King Leonhardt of Sylve. My companions are An Perendan, Owen Seghers, Lato Maward, and Mamoru Meyrl. We are here by order of King Leonhard."

"I have been informed of this. We had expected your arrival hours ago, which is why we were already wondering if anything had happened to you. High-Magician Leuen had even worried so much that he asked me...", Yusuf Mirai explained, when out of nowhere, a black cat jumped on his head and the mage cried out in surprise, flinging the animal away from him. "What the..."

"Didn't I forbid you to receive our visit from Sylve?", one of the shadows spoke up. The small, black cat ran directly toward this shadow and was lifted into the air by two hands before the figure stepped into the light.

A young man, dressed in a black robe to match his black hair and dark eyes. The man who had caused much excitement in recent months, and whose name was constantly whispered even across the country's borders.

High-Magician Caleb Leuen.

"If it takes you that long."

"I can't teleport", Caleb Leuen replied, slowly approaching the group. The guards next to Julius bowed to the newcomer and the few people around them began whispering quietly to each other. "Please forgive my friend. He doesn't take rules seriously."

At the comment, Caleb stopped beside the blind mage and rested his hand on Yusuf's head before bending down.

"And you wonder why people don't like to trust you with things."

"Always complaining", Yusuf replied, annoyed. "How about a thank you once in a while?"

"Thank you, Yusuf. Now go back to the Magistrat."

"Eh? But I want to hear their stories about the trip!"

"Get out of here before I call Sefra."

At the comment, Yusuf Mirai abruptly fell silent, causing High-Magician Leuen to back away from him. Politely, Yusuf bowed to the guests and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

"Well, then, I would ask you to follow me", High-Magician Leuen finally spoke up, indicating with a wave of his hand that Julius and his soldiers should follow him.

"Very well", Julius only managed to say and followed the tall, elegantly dressed man. The way he had appeared out of nowhere and the way other people behaved in his presence had something... threatening. In some ways, his demeanor resembled that of Loys.

"Why is a High-Magician picking us up personally?", Owen Seghers spoke up quietly, to which Mamoru Meyrl just shrugged his shoulders.

"Because I was asked to", Caleb Leuen replied. "After you didn't arrive in the city at the scheduled time, Benjamin of Freigoud had asked me to keep an eye out for you. If you had not arrived during the evening, I would have had some mages look for you."

"We are quite capable of defending ourselves", Lato Maward replied, but Julius jerkily raised his hand to prevent him from continuing.

"I know", the High-Magician replied, turning his head back as he continued to walk straight ahead. The small cat that sat on his shoulder next to him also stared at the group with its bright eyes. "I can tell that they are all swordmasters. However, that doesn't mean there's nothing to worry about. After all, I will be leaving two of my closest friends in your care", Caleb Leuen explained with a smile on his face as his gaze fell on the woman with the red hair. "But I am wondering why you're here, An."

"I'm looking for Yuma", An Perendan replied.

"Yuma? Isn't he in Bellator?"

"He came to Exarion with his students a few months ago and hasn't been in touch since then. I was starting to get worried."

"And that's why you left your post at the border?", Caleb countered, followed by a sigh. "Why didn't you just write me about it? I could have found out, couldn't I?"

"I didn't want to bother you. I was uncomfortable asking you for a personal favor."

"Women", Caleb muttered, shaking his head, and turned back to the front. "I met Yuma and his three students late last year. They were on their way to Exarion, but I'm afraid I don't know where they went after that."

"You met Yuma?", she repeated in wonder.

"Yes? Is that so reprehensible?"

"No, no! I was just... surprised. Yuma... he doesn't like..."

"He doesn't like me very much?", the High-Magician completed the statement. "I've become aware of that, too. I've spent a few exciting days thanks to him."

"Sorry..."

"It's all right. It wasn't that bad. Just don't leave your post next time without clearing it with me."

"Of course!", An Perendan exclaimed delightedly, smiling as Julius silently observed the conversation. He didn't understand half of what they were saying, but he didn't like the way High-Magician Leuen was dealing with one of his soldiers. He spoke as if Madam Perendan worked for him and not for the Royal House of Sylve.

"Alright, I'll see what I can find out about him later. Just don't hope for too much on such short notice."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome", High-Magician Leuen said, while letting his eyes wander to his other guests. "When we get to the Magistrat, you should wash up and eat something first. You all look pretty exhausted."