The barracks appeared different from my recollection. Moreover, guards were scattered throughout, even in the dead of night. However, a simple illusion sufficed to slip past them. As always, their discipline left much to be desired. Upon opening the vice commander's room, its light still illuminated the interior where he conversed with another person. I immediately halted and, through the gap in the door, began to eavesdrop.

"Hmm? Yes! The shipment arrived safely. The numbers are still okay. Elderan couldn't push past the jungle. We could snitch some more." I activated the recorder, obtaining the proof I needed.

"Hmm? Who's there?"

I hastily departed as he discerned the door was open. Utilizing my dark magic, I melded into the night. John emerged from the room, searching in vain for the intruder. Puzzled, he returned inside, locking the door this time. However, that didn't deter me. Using my dark tentacle, I scaled the window into his room and listened from the outside. My dark binding was potent and extensive enough to span from one window to the next.

"Sorry, sorry. Maybe the wind opened the door. I have locked it." John was speaking, and his window had conveniently remained open the entire time. It was summer, after all, and the barracks must have been stifling. "Continue on. Don't forget my share, and I will make sure to match your accounting."

Soon after, I exited the barracks and rendezvoused with R25B in the virtual room. Despite what I believed to be conclusive evidence, he sighed and shook his head.

"No. This is not what our employer is looking for. What we want to know is where the embezzled weapons go. While embezzlement itself is quite common, if he were discovered selling to a foreign nation, only then could we consider the commission complete."

"Eh? This is not enough?" I moaned. "Look! He was talking about embezzling for money."

"We need to find out where the embezzled weapons go. Without that, the country won't pay."

"Who cares about pay!" I whined.

"Hah… please, dear Elidranthia. Will you do this request for me? You are but the noblest of hearts. You wouldn't kill innocents just to satisfy your bloodlust, right?" R25B replied. His tone was annoying, but his words were true. I am a psychopath, but I promised I wouldn't kill innocents.

"Alright. I will scout him tomorrow, too." I relented, albeit begrudgingly.

"Thank you!" R25B said in a flat tone. He wasn't actually happy with the extra work, either.

The following day, Alicia greeted me as usual. However, it was apparent that I was in a bad mood, causing Safira to steer clear from my sight.

"Sorry, Safira."

"No, it is fine. Magical impression is not something you can always control. I had my episodes, too. Are you mad about something?" She looked away even though she was talking to me.

"Come on! Lady Eli was not mad. She merely shows her true self! It was a privilege," Alicia tried to flatter me. However, her words didn't make me happy in the least. I put myself back in control. This was getting dangerous, wasn't it? My killing urge was getting stronger day by day. It was especially bad if I was denied killing by my contractor.

During breakfast, John Sark was dining in our house. He lived in a barrack but came up here for lunch or dinner. It was the first time I saw him during breakfast. But now was a good time to confront him.

"Greetings, Lady Eli. It is an honor to dine with the higher children of the gods. And you too, Alicia. And Lady Safira. I am blessed to be able to dine with a higher water child of mana." He smiled.

"Greetings. We too, are honored to be able to dine with the land children of mana," Safira replied without missing a beat. We followed her example a moment later.

"Oh, they didn't teach the etiquette for mages in this countryside? I was rather aggravated when I saw commoners greet me so casually here. But such is the countryside, and I see that you even supported them, Lady Elidranthia. That won't do." He sighed. Well, I didn't want to listen to him. I have read too many web novels to know where I would be going if I became arrogant like that.

The mages were split into two factions in the web novels. The ones who understood and supported the first prince, while others were like him—those who thought that all commoners were beneath him. I have influenced Prince Ludwin and Safira not to act so high-handed against commoners. But adults were out of my league. They simply won't listen to children like us unless they directly benefit from it.

"Hmm?" Safira tilted her head, but Alicia answered her.

"We are a military family. Not churches, Lord John Sark. We follow the military chain of command here."

"I see. That is also important. I am busy building walls to care for petty accounting details, after all. Moreover, I think there were rats here inside the fortress."

"Rats are everywhere. Even the capital is rife with them," I answered. Alicia looked at me aghast, and John Sark looked at me questionably.

"What? Just go to the slums, and you can find them scurrying about. Even though we have the most mages there, the hygiene for lower commoners is neglected."

"Lady Eli… that's not what he was talking about…" Alicia facepalmed. And John Sark laughed.

"Hahaha. No, I think I know what she meant. She wanted us to do more jobs for the masses if we wanted respect from them? But that was naive. If the commoners had too much power, they would rebel. We need to make sure we have somewhere to throw unnecessary citizens who disobeyed us. I retracted my word. This place was clean enough. Compared to the capital, that is. Hahaha."

"Really? Mages are awesome, right? Just several tens of earth mages could build this magnificent fortress. Can't you fix housing and construction works for the entire capital?"

"We couldn't. You guys are still in the first year, so you don't know. But you know that creating something from nothing is much more taxing than simply moving or transforming them. Am I right, Lady Safira?”

"Yes, you are right. But was it important?"

"Yes. To build this kind of fortress, if you rely on mages alone, it could take years just to get here. So, to speed it up, we brought materials from somewhere else and used our magic to quicken the process. Those resources were taken from somewhere. Do you know from where?"

"Western front?"

"Yes. Wars were constant there, so forts were damaged all the time. We took quite a risk when moving the supplies from there to building this fortress here."

"We are grateful for it, Lord John. Please, spare the children from such political talk," Brother Zach said. "The order to build a fortress here was from a royal decree and had support from Duke Bron and Slane."

"Many were against it. It would be better to sacrifice this county and do a pincer attack from the capital and the western front when they make a landing here. Our weapons were more offensive-oriented. Maintaining a fortress took a lot of work, especially against enemy cannons. Not all mages could fix walls, unlike muskets and flamethrowers, where all they need are some commoners and a magic tool powered by a feystone. Which all mages could do, even for our newbie mages here."

I glared at him while tilting my head. I knew for sure he had embezzled money. However, I didn't know where the goods went. But seeing him so passionate about the Western Front, I had an epiphany.

"Did you embezzle military supplies to send them to the Western Front from here? Also, I need to correct you that building muskets and flamethrowers is difficult. They need specialized mages to enchant them," I asked him. The atmosphere froze immediately. Zach glared at me while John no longer laughed.

"Stop with such accusations, Lady Eli. If you were not a mage and a child of nobility, I would directly sue you for tarnishing my name."

"So, you didn't send any supplies to the Western front? You seem to have an attachment there. More than here, at least."

"We only have 10 casualties here ever since the first skirmishes with Elderan. Do you know how many died on our current Western front? Over ten thousand just for the last month. I urge you not to be so selfish, Lady Elidranthia."

I was silenced. His answers were incomprehensible. I thought he was going to refuse or laugh at me. But now, did he admit that he was pilfering some goods from the military? Moreover, did he think he was doing himself justice?

The breakfast was then filled with some more idle talk, and when we were done, he left for the walls.

"Ouch. So, he admits sending supplies to the Western Front, huh? Well, I guess our investigation ran to a dead end, then. Shucks." R25B sighed. I was lazing about in my bedroom after that eventful breakfast.

"Hey, are we in the Shadowstep County selfish? Should we care more about the Western Front than protecting this county?"

"Hahaha. That's why you are still a greenhorn. A little speech from a hypocrite like him, and you are being weak already? He was embezzling money, you know! He sold goods that were supposed to be sent here to the Western Front. There is nothing admirable about what he has done."

"But…"

"Or do you think that the shitty mage was smarter than the entire high military command who devised this plan? I didn't know what the high military command planned for us. But I ain't trusting some corrupt mage's words."

" I see. Then…”

"But our investigation is at an impasse now. While he certainly embezzled military supplies, he didn't give them to a foreign nation. This won't be enough to prosecute him. There were some people who supported that mage's plan in the military as well. They probably only saw him as a savior who managed to save supplies from our front and then sent them to someone who needed them more. Well, we should still receive a minimum of 5 or 10 points for it. Good work, R666," R25B explained to me.

"By the way, I have received a commission to survey the forest again. Do you want to do it?"

"No."

"I see the meetings with the musketeers left you afraid, huh?"

"I have never been so close to death except during that time."

"But this might be an opportunity, you know? We got a sabotage commission. If you could destroy their feystone supplies, the kingdom will pay handsomely for that."

"Would it be that easy to infiltrate enemy headquarters?"

"Well… No. But I thought stealth was your specialty! That's why the kingdom pays about 200 Points for it. Moreover, it doesn't even have to be a stealth mission."

"Really? Is destroying supplies worth that much? Moreover, it doesn't have to be a stealth mission? The ones currently in the forest were only the vanguard, right? It's not even their main army."

"Yeah. You could kill them all, or you could put bombs in the tents. The method is at your discretion. Even if they're only vanguards, it would still be a good blow."

"R25B, how's the war going on our front?"

"It went well. Better than we could ever hope! We won on every skirmish due to our familiarity with the forest. Zach's ambush was on point, and the enemy's Elites couldn't catch him. If only their elites could be lured out into the open, we could bomb them with cannons, and the Elderan Empire would be ours. We will be the ones doing the attacks." R25B said with a glee. I tilted my head at his words. How did he even know all of that was supposed to be secret military information? Moreover, he spoke of them so nonchalantly.

"Let's go then. I will scout the area tonight. But I make no promises. If I find those three musketeers, I will flee."

"Good thinking."

"By the way, I need those glasses that sync with my reaper card."

"Roger. Glasses for mages that sync with your reaper card come at 50P, bringing your points down to 170P."