The Ulburk Ducal House was situated in the northern reaches of the Empire.
It commanded vast lands, but the greatest portion of that territory was a dense and endless coniferous forest.
The forest was home to many beasts, and rumor had it that even spirit beasts dwelled there.
Freuden Ulburk had once again set foot in the land of his family.
“The young master has arrived.”
When he entered through the gate, the knights of the house stood in formation and bowed deeply in respect.
They wore uniforms emblazoned with the sigil of the wolf—these were the Wolf Knights, the guardians of the Ulburk family.
Such a reception might have been burdensome to some, but Freuden accepted it with a nod, his expression calm.
This was hardly his first time, and besides, he had matters more pressing.
“Where is the head of the house?”
“As always, he has gone into the forest.”
“I see.”
“Shall I guide you?”
“No. I can find him on my own.”
Freuden made his way alone toward the woods behind the manor.
Under a sky veiled by pale gray clouds, the forest breathed with a clear and solemn aura.
Each step Freuden took crunched softly against fallen branches and leaves.
The scent of the woods, the sounds of insects, the sheer vitality of life breathing all around.
Amidst it all, Freuden walked straight and unwavering, toward his goal.
The path was not carved, but he had been here more than once before.
At last, beyond the trees, his sight opened, and before him spread a lake.
The beating wings of birds startled into flight broke the silence, and a serene blue lake entered his gaze.
It was a scene beautiful as a painting, yet Freuden’s eyes did not linger on the water.
Instead, they were fixed on the solitary figure seated at the lake’s edge, a fishing rod in hand.
Amidst this thick woodland, the man sat alone at the lakeshore without a single guard.
Freuden called to him.
“Lord of the house.”
The reply came instantly.
“I told you to call me father.”
“I refuse.”
“Then how about ‘dad’?”
“Lord of the house will suffice.”
“Hmph. You really are a heartless brat.”
The man gave a dry chuckle and turned to face him.
It was a face so identical to Freuden’s that one might imagine it was Freuden grown older—save for slightly longer hair.
Yet unlike Freuden, cold and precise, this man exuded a certain listless ease, a sense of leisure.
The same face, but such opposite temperaments that it was almost strange.
David Ulburk.
Head of the Ulburk family, one of the Empire’s three great ducal houses, symbol of the wolf.
“Well then. What brings my taciturn son to see me today?”
“I’ve come to search for someone.”
“Someone, is it...”
“I ask that you lend me the men of the house.”
Freuden had come to David, his father, to borrow men to search for Rine.
The knights of the Ulburk family had, from olden days, excelled in tracking and pursuit.
Just as wolves followed the scent of prey, so too did they embody the nature of their sigil.
Even if one fled beyond the Empire, to another land, once the Wolf Knights set their mind to it, there was no one they could not find.
And the man who now let his fishing line drift, looking like some idle gentleman, was no exception.
Though he greeted with smiles and laughter, David was the very man who had woven and ruled over this dense web of information with ruthless care.
For that reason, though Freuden and his father did not get along, he had come here, swallowing his pride, to ask his help.
“Haha. Life does bring strange turns. My son coming to me with a request, of all things.”
David laughed, as though pleased.
To him, Freuden was a son worth all the pride in the world.
Though the weight of his future as heir must be crushing, he bore it well, displaying even now the fine bearing of a wolf.
“But still... you are immature.”
“...Me?”
Freuden twitched, reacting at once.
Immature.
He had heard something similar from Ludger not long ago. He could not help but bristle.
“And what part of me is immature?”
“The very fact that you react like that proves it. But more than that... you hide your emotions far too much.”
“...Hiding one’s emotions is natural.”
“Yes. Natural. But you hide them excessively. To the point where it is as if you are announcing to the world, ‘I am hiding something.’”
Freuden was at a loss for words.
“True concealment is when the other person never even realizes you’re concealing anything at all.”
“Are you saying you can do that, Lord of the house?”
“I don’t need to anymore, so I don’t bother. But you, my son—you’re not there yet.”
David turned his gaze back to the fishing rod.
The float drifted idly on the still lake, showing no sign of movement.
“So tell me. Who is it you’ve come to me so directly to find?”
“...A personal matter.”
“A family can’t know?”
“Not something that should trouble you.”
“That commoner girl, then.”
“...!”
At David’s words, Freuden’s eyes widened.
He glared at his father’s back, astonished that he knew.
Though David hadn’t turned, he laughed, as if he could see Freuden’s face clearly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know such a thing? You’ve underestimated your father far too much. That stings, you know.”
“...It must have been Henry.”
“Not at all. Henry kept silent, for the sake of your friendship. I have ears and eyes beyond Henry, my son. Some help from one particularly cantankerous old man, too.”
David chuckled, far too lightly for one who bore the title of Duke.
But soon he stilled his laughter, stood slowly, and faced his son.
“It’s been quite some time now. Nearly ten years, hasn’t it? The day you were kidnapped.”
“...”
Freuden said nothing, but he remembered it as well.
When he was young—back when he was far more arrogant, drunk on the privileges of nobility—he had been abducted.
The fault had been his own, too.
On what should have been a simple outing by carriage, he had thrown a tantrum, refusing the usual route and forcing them on a long detour.
Though the Ulburk house was one of the Empire’s three ducal families, many watched them jealously.
With Freuden exposed before such eyes, what followed was inevitable.
The carriage had been ambushed, and he was taken by unknown assailants.
That day had been unforgettable.
The first time he had realized the harsh reality outside the safety of his family’s walls.
But that misfortune had, in a roundabout way, granted him an unforgettable bond.
“You were saved by someone, and only after more than a month did you return to me again.”
“...”
“But in that month, you grew. From a clueless boy into someone far more like a man. I found it both regretful and admirable.”
“...Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I have the same feeling now.”
David smiled as he said it, and Freuden remembered exactly why he avoided his father.
His manner was unbecoming of a Duke.
Too light, too careless, with not a trace of dignity to be found.
“My son. Love.”
David spoke to Freuden as though offering gentle advice.
Those words.
To love.
It was the kind of phrase one might read only in a romance novel.
A noble could not love freely.
They were bound by their houses.
Their fate was to enter loveless political marriages for the sake of their families.
“Do everything you can to be with the one you love.”
And if one bore the name of the Ulburk family, one of the three great ducal houses, that was all the more impossible.
The greater the fame of the family, the heavier the burden it placed.
Yet David was telling Freuden not to enter a political marriage, but to love.
“Even if it ends in failure.”
David nodded as though it were nothing.
“The fact that you loved will remain in your heart, will it not?”
And Freuden realized the source of his discomfort toward David.
It was self-loathing.
Every time he looked at his unworthy father, he vowed never to become like him.
But in the end, he was his father’s son, not so different from him after all.
He had deceived himself, wearing a mask.
Telling himself it was right. That it was natural.
And so, when he looked at David’s honesty, he was envious—but smothered the feeling.
“Now you finally face yourself properly.”
Sensing Freuden’s shift, David burst into a bright, delighted smile.
“...All I’ve realized is that I am still a greenhorn.”
“Yes, that’s how it is. That’s how one grows, step by step. But to realize it at your age—that’s my son. Come, let me embrace you.”
As David spread his arms wide and approached, Freuden raised a hand to ward him off.
“That’s a bit much...”
“Ahem. So, still not ready for hugs. But it’s enough that you’ve steadied yourself. I’ll assign you aid, as you asked.”
“You’ll send the knights?”
“Better than that.”
Awooo—
The distant cry of a wolf echoed.
From deep within the forest came the sound of a beast. Freuden tensed for a moment.
Between the thick conifers, dark-blue shadows flickered.
As Freuden raised his guard, countless wolves revealed themselves around the lakeshore.
“Don’t be afraid. These children will aid you.”
“These wolves... what are they?”
“My friends. And soon, yours as well.”
Even as David’s words fell, one wolf emerged from the pack.
Three times the size of the others, with a sleek, powerful frame, its fur dark-blue like the twilight sky.
Mana shimmered along its coat like heat-haze, a sight both magnificent and terrifying.
“A spirit beast?”
“The guardian of our house. My old companion. This is your first time seeing him, isn’t it? I’d meant to introduce him when I passed the seat of Lord on to you. Never thought the chance would come so soon.”
“That spirit beast... it will guide me?”
“Yes. This one will find the person you seek, no matter where they may be.”
Even to the ends of the continent.
David approached and stroked the beast’s great neck gently.
The spirit beast closed its eyes, savoring the touch.
“I ask this of you, my friend.”
At his words, the spirit wolf opened its eyes, gleaming like starlight, and dipped its head in acknowledgment.
The beast lowered its body.
Freuden steadied himself and climbed onto its back.
“...Thank you.”
Before departing, he offered his father his thanks, then vanished like the wind atop the spirit wolf.
Having sent his son off with the spirit wolf, David returned to his seat by the lake and cast his fishing rod once more.
“To think I’d live to hear my son thank me. Perhaps this is the reward of being a father.”
A faint smile curved his lips, but then his expression hardened.
“The tide is shifting. The Theocracy of Bretus, the Pablo Family, and even several magical schools. And Lumos—you’re moving as well, are you?”
His eyes turned toward the still surface of the lake.
“Whatever it is that’s about to happen in this Empire... let it turn into a blessing, if the gods are merciful.”
* * *
“So until recently, there were many black mages.”
“After hearing from you, I’ve been working to make contact with them. Especially with those versed in curses, since that’s what matters most.”
“And you found one?”
“I did. The Ancient Curse School. It’s not just a name—it truly traces its roots back centuries. Their curse magic is far more vicious than modern cursecraft, which is why they’re branded black mages. But at its core, the lineage is the same. Their current leader is estimated to be at least 5th-Circle.”
“5th-Circle. For a black mage, not bad—but that might not be enough.”
“I said at least. They keep to the shadows. Considering how black mages often conceal their true strength, it’s not impossible that they’re 6th-Circle.”
“And someone of that caliber is hiding out on this island?”
“This is Isla Machia. Only here would such a figure come.”
Isla Machia harbored an intricately woven society of black mages.
The New Mage Tower, the island’s true power, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) left them be for a reason.
Black mages brought in money, yes, but above all, they were too difficult to root out completely.
“But then a problem arose. The pipeline I had painstakingly set up has collapsed, thanks to a newly risen faction.”
“Those pale-skinned humans.”
“Yes. I don’t know what those bastards did, but they devoured several black mage schools and grew enormously.”
Ludger nodded.
Considering that the Hellfire School had been crushed and driven off, it was inevitable.
‘Nicolai’s experimental army. That’s why he’s chasing me. Somehow he knew I came here—and he sees this as his perfect chance to kill me, to settle his grudge.’
Nicolai was moving as if he meant to devour all of Isla Machia’s darkness.
But the black mages did not go quietly.
Sensing the threat, they had formed a coalition, abandoning their usual solitary ways.
“Now the black mage coalition and that new faction are locked in balance, a lull. But it’s like a ticking time bomb—no one knows when it will blow.”
“Then we’ll need to reestablish the link with that curse school.”
“That’s the real problem.”
Gariel hesitated, then spoke.
“Even if they call this a lull, the fighting hasn’t stopped. And unfortunately, that Ancient Curse School got caught up in it.”
“So that’s why the pipeline broke down?”
“Exactly.”
“They haven’t been wiped out, have they?”
“Not yet. But they’re in no position to come out and make contact.”
Gariel glanced at Rine, her face filled with worry.
“So we’ll have to go ourselves.”
Straight into the heart of the battlefield.
They would have to move directly.