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The guild Lua Cheia had welcomed a new member, but since there was some downtime between events, there wasn’t much to do. Everyone just loitered around whenever they logged in.

One of the members had just logged in and appeared in the garden.

“Ah! Papa, Mama! You told me to hurry with the bath, but then I find you hanging out here!”

Right after logging in, she spotted Ryunosuke and Sara sitting at a table and went over to protest. She was the mechanical girl, Lycoris.

Lyco soon appeared and perched on her shoulder. After Lycoris gave the Doppelganger a quick pat, she went to sit next to Ryunosuke and looked around, noticing someone was missing.

“Where’s Freya?”
“She’s taking a bath. She’ll probably be a while. I still don’t get why my sister takes so long in there.”
“But then she keeps complaining that you’re too sloppy with your baths, Frey.”

When Lycoris asked, Frey replied with a slight grumble, and Crim quickly took a jab at him. They were twins, but somehow polar opposites when it came to their opinions on bathing, something Crim never really understood.

“Meanwhile it’s the holidays out there, with O-Bon and all that… yet we’re all holed up inside this castle.”

Crim scoffed lightly as she said that. Aside from Freya, who was still in the bath, all guild members were present. Even Kasumi was at a corner of the table, working through the last bits of her summer homework.

“Well, it’s just really comfy here.”
“The tea and sweets are too good. I keep wanting to stay. Thank you as always, Adonis, Elohim.”

Ryunosuke and Jade were leisurely enjoying everything the two servants provided. Sara sat on Ryunosuke’s other side, quietly reading a book. She gave a small nod of agreement without looking up.

“We’re just doing our job.”
“But we appreciate the compliment. We’re glad it’s to your liking, Master Ryunosuke and Jade.”

The Shabbat siblings bowed politely with a gentle smile. They had grown quite accustomed to serving Lua Cheia and were currently placing a blanket over Rouge, who had fallen asleep on a nearby bench.

Everything was peaceful… until Frey suddenly remembered something and raised his voice.

“Hey, Crim. I think we’re strong enough by now. Isn’t it about time we go?”
“Hm? Go where?”

Crim had been sipping tea while watching Hinagiku and Setsuna spar in the distance, so she didn’t immediately grasp what Frey meant.

“You know. Taking over the southwest of the continent.”
“Pffgh?!”

As soon as she heard that, Crim spit out her tea in shock. Her hands began to tremble violently, and the teacup clattered against the saucer as she set it down. She turned to Frey with an unnaturally wide smile.

“Never.”

Later, Kasumi would describe Crim’s expression as that of a monk who had reached enlightenment.

After delivering that one-word reply, Crim calmly raised her teacup again and resumed drinking, shutting out the rest of the conversation. But Frey wasn’t done; he walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Be realistic, Crim. That corner of the world map is still empty because we keep stalling. It’s getting ridiculous.”

Frey was right.

The southwest corner of the continent was largely cut off from the rest, with the only known path being along a river that ran through the Howling Ogre Ridge.

Naturally, members of Lua Cheia had attempted to explore it before, only to retreat almost immediately. Crim had always refused to go near that area again. But now, most of the rest of the map had been explored and conquered by other guilds. Only the southwestern region and the former Imperial Capital remained untouched, the latter being inaccessible at the moment.

Lua Cheia was the only guild with a direct path into the unexplored southwest, but with Crim constantly avoiding it, the area had remained abandoned.

“Come on, just own up to it. We can’t keep pretending that path doesn’t exist. It’s ours now. Stop running from it.”
“No! Never!”

Crim remained stubborn, acting like a petulant child. But she had her reasons. What they had seen in that unexplored region was…

“Why would anyone be so desperate to invade a territory ruled by undead, of all things?!”

…a region teeming with undead, which Crim loathed more than anything.

Downstream from the river that ran through the Howling Ogre Ridge lay a massive crater, supposedly caused by an arcane explosion. Over time, it had filled with water and turned into a lake. The only way to cross was by using the massive Galardia Bridge.

The ancient empire had also built a fortress in the lake’s center alongside the bridge, known as Garland Citadel, once an unassailable stronghold used to repel foreign invaders from the sea.

Now, it was known as the Garland Phantasm Citadel, ruins haunted by the Undead King…

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