Chapter 31

That night, Clyris lay in bed, replaying the events of the last two days in her mind.

It started with seeing farmers selling grain in late autumn, which led to her asking about taxes. Then came the trip to the village, the tour of the greenhouse farms, and finally, the visit to the Mana Stone Factory to satisfy her curiosity about his resources.

And then... the bombshell news that the Archduke's daughter was coming to visit.

An Archduke's daughter would not visit a minor border noble without cause. A Viscount of the frontiers had no standing to receive such a guest.

So why was she coming?

Had Clyris been exposed? No, it couldn't be. If she were exposed, an army would be marching on Ironwood, not a diplomatic carriage.

If not that, then what? Was it a probe? A test?

She felt irritable and uneasy.

Finally, unable to find an answer, she decided to stop thinking about it. She would deal with the enemy's moves as they came.

She reached for a piece of paper on her nightstand. Drawn upon it was a strange diagram: eight inexplicable symbols arranged in a circle. In the center was a circle divided into two swirling halves—one black, one white—each containing a dot of the opposite color.

Charlo had drawn this for her after the banquet, claiming it might help her understand the nature of mana.

But she had stared at it for days and understood nothing.

When she asked him, he only said the outer eight symbols represented Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Mountain, Lake, Water, and Fire. The center was called... Taiji? He admitted he didn't know much more than that.

He spoke only of vague, superficial symbolism, offering no principles or deeper connections. How was anyone supposed to decipher this?

So, after holding this diagram for so long, she still couldn't see any connection to mana. Unless these eight symbols somehow corresponded to the Eight Basic Elements of magic?

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A few days later, a luxurious convoy entered Ironwood Territory, drawing baffled looks from the local nobles along the route.

The convoy consisted of three double-horse carriages, pulled exclusively by Dragonblood Warhorses. These steeds, rumored to possess draconic lineage, could run for a day and a night without rest, moving as swift as the wind. For most minor nobles, a single Dragonblood Warhorse was a prized mount for battle. Here, they were used as draft animals.

The carriage bodies were forged from Mithril—silver refined by High-Rank supernatural artisans using secret techniques. Highly resistant to magic, a single carriage was worth a fortune.

A squad of ten Sixth-Rank Knights rode guard on warhorses. The three drivers of the carriages were themselves Seventh-Rank Knights.

As soon as the convoy entered Ironwood, Davis, who had been waiting on Charlo's orders, rode out to meet them.

"May I ask if this is the visitation convoy of Lady Ophelia de Landon?" Davis shouted from horseback.

"It is, Knight! Inside is the daughter of Archduke Landon, Ophelia de Landon, here to visit your Lord!" the lead driver responded.

"Understood. Please, follow me!" Davis turned his horse around to lead the way.

He deliberately led them along unpaved dirt roads, avoiding the populated areas and the new asphalt highways. He steered them away from the industrial zones, making Ironwood look like any other undeveloped border territory.

Because it was winter and they were on back roads, they encountered few people, arriving smoothly at the outskirts of Ironwood City.

To further conceal the city's unique features, Davis led them around to enter through the South Gate.

They passed through the plaza and arrived directly at Ironwood Keep.

The convoy halted before the main gates. A young woman in a snow-white dress stepped down from the central carriage, assisted by her maid. From the other two carriages emerged a middle-aged man dressed as a butler and another in the robes of a mage.

In Clyris’s perception (conveyed later via reports), the butler was an Eighth-Rank Knight, and the mage was a Seventh-Rank Magus.

The maids of Ironwood Keep, who had been waiting for some time, bowed in unison. "We welcome the arrival of Lady Landon!"

Ophelia nodded in acknowledgment and followed the maids into the keep.

Crossing the courtyard to the main hall, Charlo stood waiting with Lawrence, the castle freshly cleaned and prepared.

"Welcome to Ironwood, Lady Ophelia!" Charlo bowed slightly, a perfect, standard noble smile on his face.

"Greetings, Viscount Charlo! Please forgive my presumptuous intrusion," Ophelia curtsied elegantly in return.

Despite being an Archduke's daughter, Ophelia was several years younger than Charlo. She had only just turned twenty and completed her coming-of-age ceremony. Her current title was merely a Court Baroness, marking her entry into the nobility. Thus, facing a Landed Viscount two ranks her senior, etiquette demanded a proper curtsy.

Of course, with an Archduke for a father, she could have chosen not to bow, but that would have labeled her as arrogant.

"The journey must have been tiring. Please, rest with your knights. I have rooms prepared, and dinner is being arranged," Charlo said graciously.

"Thank you for your trouble, Viscount Charlo!" Ophelia curtsied again and followed the head maid away.

Once they were gone, Charlo called out to a shadow in the corner. "Alice, what did you feel?"

Knights were generally poor at sensing mana compared to mages. Since Clyris couldn't show her face, Charlo had placed Alice nearby to gauge the strength of the visitors.

Alice stepped out, trembling slightly. "Lady Ophelia's maid felt similar to me, probably a Fourth-Rank Mage..." She recalled the sensation, her face pale. "As for the two men behind her... the one in mage robes felt deep, like he was merged with nature. He should be a Seventh-Rank Magus!"

"As for the other one..." Alice shuddered with fear. "I think I was discovered. He glanced at my hiding spot. In that instant, I felt like I was staring at death itself! He is definitely a powerhouse above the Seventh Rank!"

"Is that so..." Charlo frowned. "And what about Ophelia?"

"I don't know..." Alice shook her head. "I felt absolutely nothing from her. If she wasn't standing right in front of me, I wouldn't even know she existed!"

"Nothing?" Charlo’s frown deepened. "Is she wearing a High-Rank concealment artifact?"

To visit a minor Viscount with such vigilance? She definitely didn't come with good intentions.

"My Lord, what do we do?" Lawrence asked.

"Stick to the plan! Keep them company, play the gracious host, and see who slips up first!"

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"My Lady, when you greeted Viscount Charlo, there was a mage hiding in the shadows," the butler whispered as he walked close to Ophelia.

"Oh? What rank?"

"Not high. Only Fourth-Rank."

"Then ignore it," Ophelia said calmly. "We will discuss the rest inside."

The group remained silent until they reached their guest quarters. Ophelia dismissed the castle maids, entering the room only with her butler and the mage.

Her own maid remained outside, guarding the door.

After the mage cast a detection spell to ensure privacy and nodded, Ophelia finally spoke. "Alright, Grandpa Pales. Tell me your observations from the road."

The butler, Pales, replied with a slight frown. "Regrettably, My Lady, I saw nothing unusual. Aside from the roads being somewhat flatter and the city cleaner than most, Ironwood Territory appears no different from any other noble fiefdom."

"I figured Charlo wouldn't expose himself so easily," Ophelia nodded, unsurprised. She turned to the mage. "And you, Grandpa Reynolds?"

"I found nothing either!" Reynolds shook his head, sighing. "I maintained maximum-range sensory detection the entire way. I sensed no High-Rank presences. In my perception, the strongest individual here is Viscount Charlo himself—a Fifth-Rank Knight. There are no other powerhouses."

"It seems our Viscount Charlo hides very deeply indeed..." Ophelia smiled faintly, a dangerous glint in her blue eyes. "Then we will just have to search slowly! Starting tonight... let's see if he can keep fooling the heavens, or if we can catch his tail!"