[V12C23] Before the Dawn

Melissa Roseberg crossed her legs at a chair in the conference room, propping her cheek with her hand.

“You’re a criminal, Walker!” Melissa shouted with a glint in her green eyes.

Isaac, Silas, and Ray were also seated in the conference room.

Ray only arrived a moment ago, having woken up from a short nap, so he glanced at Isaac and Silas seeking an explanation.

Isaac showed no intention of explaining, and Silas crossed his arms, apparently having difficulty choosing his words. Meanwhile, Melissa pounded her fist against the table and continued clamoring.

“This guy just served meat pie to a lady at night! If that’s not a crime, then what is!?”

“Can you really complain after eating it all up…?” Silas muttered.

Melissa glared back at him and yelled, “Shut up!”

A few hours ago, Melissa had noticed Isaac being idle and ordered him to make a midnight snack for them.

Thus, Isaac made a meat pie using the ingredients available. The crust was baked a crispy golden brown, and the meat juices were absorbed thoroughly into the vegetables. Everything about it was perfect, from the appearance to the taste.

“A meat pie at night will definitely give me acne!” Melissa shouted. “This is harassment! Undeniable harassment!”

“Come on, give him a break…” Silas replied. “Ike went out his way to make my favorite dish. He’s always been a considerate guy.”

As a side note, the real reason Isaac made the meat pie was because he had a craving for meat. The dinner provided by the Mage Association was far too meager for him.

It also served as a bribe to the great Nero-senpai.

Nero was currently rolling around under the table, in a very good mood after filling his belly with meat pie.

“…I’ll never be able to understand how anyone can have the appetite for meat pie in the middle of the night… Ugh…” Ray mumbled, pressing down his stomach.

Ray had always been a light eater, but his comment caused Melissa to scoff.

“Can’t even understand the temptation of a late-night meat pie? And you call yourself a man.”

“But you succumbed to that temptation,” Silas retorted.

“Shut up!”

Melissa pointed a red-painted fingernail at Isaac.

“Sazandol is currently under lockdown, and this guy spent our limited foodstuffs to make a bunch of meat pies! His nerve is unbelievable!”

“I see no problem there,” Isaac countered, staring at Melissa with his uncovered left eye. “As everything will be settled by the end of today.”

It was already long past midnight. Their operation would begin in a few hours, along with the rising sun.

If they failed, Sazandol, or rather, the entire Kingdom of Ridill would suffer catastrophic damage.

There were only two possible outcomes. Either they reclaim Gluttonous Zoe and survive, or they fail and become sustenance for the artifact.

The reinforcements from the capital had yet to arrive, so they needed to handle everything with their current manpower.

Melissa clicked her tongue and glared back at Isaac with a frown.

“If you end up being useless, I’ll demote you from a dog to a deadbeat.”

＊　＊　＊

Monica went to bed early and woke up just before dawn. Then, she was handed a mage robe by Lana.

The luxurious robe was covered in beautiful embroidery using golden thread. Monica could not help but hesitate, wondering if it was appropriate for her to wear such expensive clothes.

Noticing this, Lana swept up her flaxen hair and said, “Tell me, Monica, what do you think of my outfit today?”

Lana had already finished dressing up, so she was adorned in a very lovely outfit, with an elaborate hairstyle and makeup.

She did not seem to be wearing any accessories today, but her glamour remained undeniable.

“It’s… I-It’s cute…” Monica stammered.

“Exactly. So listen to me when I say that this robe will look perfect on you, Monica.”

Again, Lana pushed the robe onto the bewildered Monica and urged her to put it on.

Once Monica reluctantly changed into the robe, Lana sat her down and started combing her hair.

“Your skin is a bit pale, so I’ll skip the makeup and just put on some moisturizer. As for your hairstyle… Well, there’s really only one option.”

Lana braided Monica’s hair, then tied it with a ribbon.

Seeing Lana so satisfied caused Monica to feel a strange sense of excitement too.

“Now then… Oh right, Monica, do you have the pendant?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Monica handed over the peridot pendant that was hidden under the blanket, and Lana put it around Monica’s neck.

Even in the dim room before sunrise, the peridot sparkled off the light of the candlestick.

Monica still wondered if it was appropriate for her to be wearing such a lovely item. However, Lana said, “Okay, perfect,” with complete confidence.

This made Monica feel that everything would be fine. After all, Lana was amazing.

Meanwhile, Monica grabbed the paper rose also hidden underneath her blanket, and clenched it within the pocket of her robe.

(I can say it now. I can definitely say it.)

Monica took a deep breath and squeezed out her voice.

“Um…!”

“What is it?”

“Th-thank youugh…!”

She ended up biting her tongue, and her voice was hoarse to begin with.

Nevertheless, Lana twisted her mouth into a grin and hugged Monica.

“You’re welcome!”

＊　＊　＊

After transferring necessary items to her robe pocket, Monica descended the stairs with a firm grasp on her staff.

Monica was well-rested after sleeping early, and eating the rose candies allowed her to replenish all of her mana.

She found Cyril and Glenn waiting at the door, having already finished their preparations.

Karina was with them, holding a trumpet and rubbing her eyes. She quickly blew on the trumpet once Monica came into view, causing Cyril to frown.

“Miss Barr. Please refrain from playing instruments at this early hour. You will wake the neighbors.”

“Yawn. Sorry… I was trying to blow away the drowsiness and cheer her up…”

Karina put the trumpet away and smiled like a satisfied cat.

“Monica-chan, look at this! See?”

Karina spread out a beautiful handkerchief decorated with lace. However, small gemstones were sewn onto the edges, and a magical formula was drawn on the handkerchief using paint.

“I call it the Fairy Handkerchief. It can invoke a simple barrier when imbued with mana. That said, it only works if you wrap the handkerchief around something…”

A barrier so small had limited applications.

“I see,” Cyril murmured. “So we can temporarily neutralize Gluttonous Zoe by wrapping this around it.”

“Exactly!” Karina replied. “But it only works while supplied with mana, so the seal won’t last forever.”

“That’s more than enough.”

Gluttonous Zoe was an ancient artifact capable of manipulating dark magic. Being able to seal it would give them more options, even if the seal was only temporary.

Glenn observed the Fairy Handkerchief for a while, then raised his hand.

“Can I hold onto this?” Glenn asked. “Since I can’t use barrier magic.”

“That seems reasonable…” Cyril answered. “Do you mind, Monica?”

Monica nodded repeatedly to show her agreement.

Glenn folded the handkerchief and placed it in the pocket of his robe with a look of determination.

“Guess I’m holding onto two important items then,” Glenn said, patting his bulging pockets.

“You had better not misuse them,” Cyril said.

“Of course!”

Cyril glanced at Monica and Glenn, then took the lead in opening the door. Monica and Glenn followed behind him.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Y-Y-Yes!”

Monica ended up stuttering and biting her tongue again. She immediately hugged her staff and hunched her shoulder in embarrassment.

For some reason, Glenn and the usually angry Cyril were looking at her with a nostalgic smile.

“Good luck!”

“Do your best! You can do it!”

With Lana and Karina sending her off, Monica took her first step into the dark city streets.

＊　＊　＊

The white dragon Thule and the ice spirit Ashelpikeh were surveying the Sazandol branch of the Mage Association from a roof of a distant building.

The golden weasel Pikeh pointed at the Mage Association building with her front paw, asking, “Thule, should we get closer?”

“Nah.”

The white weasel Thule shook his whiskers and narrowed his golden eyes.

“They’ll notice us if we get any closer.”

The two weasels had focused on keeping watch at first, but they got bored of that pretty fast. They ended up huddling together and played ‘tail tag’, a game in which they tried to tangle the other’s tail. The loser was the one whose tail got caught first.

“Pikeh, Pikeh. His Excellency’s face is different,” Thule said.

“He had an eye patch,” Pikeh replied.

“Can we call him Mr. Eyepatch now?”

“That’s easy to understand.”

“Maybe he will be more friendly if Cyril calls him Mr. Eyepatch.”

Their white and gold tails were intertwined, but the two weasels had already lost interest in the outcome of their game. They looked up at the sky with their tails still locked.

It seemed to be about an hour before dawn. The darkness of night still dominated the sky.

The two weasels stopped playing with their tails and turned towards the north. They could vaguely make out Cyril’s location due to the invisible link of their contract.

“Cyril is coming this way,” Pikeh said.

“Yeah. Let’s go, Pikeh.”

The final battle was about to begin.

The two weasels descended from the roof and ran through the night.

The night air might be chilly for humans, even in early summer. But for the white dragon and ice spirit, who preferred the cold, this chill was pleasant.

As he ran across the cobblestone streets, Thule wrinkled his small nose.

(There’s a dark and lonely smell covering the entire city.)

As a white dragon, he recognized this scent instinctively.

It was the end that comes equally to all living beings. In human terms, it was the Goddess of the Underworld’s final mercy.

——The scent of death.

Apparently, humans go to the Goddess of the Underworld when they die.

In that case, where would a dragon go after death? Thule wondered.

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