The moonlight poured down without a hint of cover.
Splash, splash...
The fountain in the center of the courtyard burbled gently, its silver-tinged waters glistening under the night sky. The atmosphere in the garden was unusually calm.
Leinas stood quietly beside Lyle, a rare look of ease softening her normally sharp expression.
Not far off, Imina leaned against a marble statue, her amber eyes flicking between the two with a flicker of awkwardness on her face. She suddenly had the distinct feeling that she didn't belong here anymore.
The image of Leinas swearing her allegiance just moments ago was still fresh in Imina's mind—jarring, to say the least.
Before, she hadn't thought twice about sticking around. But now? Now she felt like an outsider at someone else's family dinner.
Her eyes shifted toward Lyle, who seemed lost in thought, then drifted over to Leinas, whose full face was now revealed under the moonlight.
Was that the reason?
Imina frowned inwardly. Leinas' background wasn't exactly a state secret. Everyone in the Empire had heard the rumors.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Leinas turned slightly and gave Imina a brief nod.
The silent exchange of thoughts between the two women completely escaped Lyle's notice.
Leinas' sudden pledge of loyalty had caught him off guard, sure—but it also reignited a thought that had been buried in the back of his mind for a while now.
Building a power base.
He'd considered it before—just never seriously. Mostly because… well, he had no one to build it with.
But more importantly, what good would it even do? Four years wasn't enough time to build anything remotely significant. And even with the additional one-year buffer after the arrival of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, it still didn't matter much.
His enemies wouldn't be petty warlords or corrupt nobles.
Even a behemoth like Eight Fingers—a criminal organization stretching across an entire nation—had been effortlessly crushed like a roach the moment it came into contact with the Tomb.
Underground empires?
This wasn't some fantasy game where you could just set up a mafia club and call it a day.
He needed to think bigger. Much bigger.
Lyle knew full well what could give him even the slightest edge in the future.
As long as the undead king remained a paranoid narcissist—constantly flip-flopping between casually massacring tens of thousands to prove his power and trying to play the benevolent overlord—there was still hope.
And the only thing that could maybe stand against the Great Tomb?
A nation.
A brief silence settled over the courtyard.
Then Lyle spoke.
"So… how's the war between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire going this year?"
Leinas instinctively opened her mouth to answer—then paused, blinking. She hadn't paid attention to that sort of news.
"The Re-Estize Kingdom isn't doing so hot," Imina's cool voice chimed in from the side. "It's not even harvest season yet, and for whatever reason, the Empire launched a surprise attack. Border forces took a massive hit."
Leinas turned her head sharply, her deep blue eyes filled with surprise.
She hadn't expected someone like Imina—a half-elf, a lone operator—to be keeping tabs on political conflicts.
"There's no Adventurers' Guild to hand me intel on a silver platter," Imina said dryly, noticing the look. "When you're working freelance, everything is potential intel."
Lyle nodded thoughtfully.
Before the story's timeline officially began, there were only two events he really remembered about the Kingdom-Empire situation.
One: this year's royal martial tournament, where Gazef—future Warrior-Captain—made his debut.
Two: two years from now, Gazef would single-handedly kill two of the Empire's Four Knights in a border skirmish, and Leinas would be selected by the Bloody Emperor to replace one of them.
At first glance, the two events didn't seem connected. But Lyle knew better.
This year: the Kingdom suffers a devastating loss. The Empire scores a major victory.
Two years later: the Empire sends two elite knights into battle—and loses both.
Which meant… something big had to happen next year. Something that would force the Emperor's hand and deal a serious blow to his forces.
"Leinas," Lyle turned to her, sighing. "You did wipe out two noble families recently. That's not gonna stay under wraps forever."
Originally, Leinas had only managed to deal with those two families thanks to the Bloody Emperor's help. But this time? She'd done it solo.
And that made all the difference.
The moment someone connected the dots, the Emperor would see it as a challenge to his authority. And knowing his personality, a public bounty was basically guaranteed.
"…I apologize, my lord," Leinas said stiffly. Her pale cheeks went even paler as she bit her lip in frustration.
Then—suddenly—she whirled around to face Imina with burning eyes.
"Hey. Lyle!"
Imina startled so hard she nearly tripped. She raised both hands and took a cautious step back, flashing a tight smile.
"D-do you happen to be recruiting for your adventurer party?"
She was fully aware that what she'd overheard wasn't exactly public information. Might as well pledge some loyalty before she ended up on the 'clean-up' list.
The familiar question made Leinas' deep blue eyes twitch ever so slightly.
"Sorry," Lyle replied, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Still not hiring. But... I do have a big international job. Interested?"
"Deal." Imina answered immediately.
Leinas looked skeptical. "My lord…?"
"It's fine," Lyle waved off her concern. "Your situation was going to leak eventually, and I never planned to stay in the Baharuth Empire for long anyway."
Honestly, he was intrigued by Imina—not because of her looks, but because she was a half-elf.
A half-breed like her would typically have better innate talents than most humans, but also face discrimination from both sides of her heritage. That made her dangerous in the right ways.
"You two get ready. We're leaving the Empire. Your destination is the capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom."
Lyle's tone turned sharp as he continued issuing instructions:
"Leinas, keep a high profile on your way there. Don't hide who you are. Once you arrive, find someone named Gazef. He's well-known, shouldn't be hard to track down."
"Challenge him to a duel. Doesn't matter if you win, lose, or draw—just make it memorable."
Leinas didn't quite understand but nodded respectfully, placing a hand over her heart. "Yes, my lord."
"Miss Imina," Lyle turned to her.
"Just call me Imina," she said with a dramatic roll of her eyes.
"You don't need to go high profile. In fact, avoid being associated with Leinas. Once in the capital, I want you to investigate an organization called Eight Fingers."
"Don't go digging too deep—just stir the pot a bit. Leak that you're looking into them. Someone will definitely come after you. Make sure you stay alive."
With a flick of his wrist, Lyle tossed her a dagger with a silver sheen—it gleamed faintly under the moonlight.
A mythril blade. Taken from one of Eight Fingers' own operatives.
"My lord," Leinas spoke again, her expression tinged with worry, "What about you?"
"I've still got some business to wrap up in the Imperial Capital," Lyle replied, eyes gazing up into the star-sprinkled sky.
If he was going to plot something, better to start early.
He wasn't sure if the Blue Rose adventurer team had made it to the Kingdom's capital yet—but even if not, there were still things in that city worth planning around.
No point dragging his feet now. Might as well get the pieces in place.