After leaving the forest, Alicia and her group encountered monsters three more times.

Once right after leaving the forest, another time at the entrance of a village they reached after two days, and now.

It was an abandoned village with no residents, located right in front of the Priska Mountain Range.

Derek, who had cut down and felled a rampaging mutant by slicing its neck, watched as the monster’s corpse slowly turned into black smoke from the ends of its body and dispersed into the air, then let out a long sigh.

Monster hunting when it’s not even winter.

“What is going on?”

Derek, who habitually kicked the head of the mutant rolling on the ground and turned around, approached Killian.

“Your Grace, did you see?”

“Yes.”

The mutant that Derek had dealt with was continuously moving towards Alicia.

All the monsters they encountered while heading towards the Priska Mountain Range had shown a bit of obsession with Alicia, but the monster they faced this time was the most persistent among them.

“What could be the difference?”

“We’ll have to find that out too.”

The obsession with Alicia, which manifested differently in each mutant.

If they could find out why that difference occurred, couldn’t they also find out why the mutants were born in the first place?

With that thought in mind, Killian raised his hand, thinking that he should share this information with the Imperial City as well.

It was a signal to depart again.

Killian, who was the first to get on his horse and was checking that the group members had finished preparing to leave, stopped his gaze on Alicia.

From the moment the Priska Mountain Range came into clear view until now, she had been making that stiff, hardened expression.

Killian, who had been silently observing her face that vaguely read fear, grabbed the reins and turned his horse’s head towards the Priska Mountain Range.

It was early the next morning when they arrived at the entrance of the Priska Mountain Range after finishing their last camping.

Alicia, who had gotten off her horse and was looking at the surrounding scenery filled with blue air, realized that the guide had not yet arrived.

“They said the guide would be sent from the Sage’s Tower, right?”

“Yes, they informed us that they would send one of the disciples residing in the Sage’s Tower.”

Kasa, who answered Alicia’s question, brought a folding chair and unfolded it next to her.

Alicia, who accepted the consideration to sit and rest as there was still time left until the promised time, was immersed in the feeling of finally arriving here while listening to the sound of her rapidly beating heart.

Would the reason the sage summoned her be the same as what she thought?

If her regression was truly related to the mutants, what should she do?

Before that, how was I able to go back in time?

Questions that she had tried to suppress deep inside, thinking that she would never find answers anyway, kept popping up.

She was excited and scared at the same time.

If the cause of things happening that didn’t happen before was herself… what if the answer came back that it could be resolved by her disappearing?

The moment that thought came to her mind, her fingertips trembled.

She tried to hide it by clenching her fists tightly, but the trembling did not stop and spread throughout Alicia’s entire body.

“Wow, you really came?”

Then, a clear and pure voice was heard from somewhere.

Alicia, who had raised her head wondering where that voice containing pure admiration was coming from, could spot a man standing at the entrance of the mountain range where there was clearly no one until a moment ago.

The man, who had a strange atmosphere between a boy and a young man, spread his arms and gave a welcoming greeting to the group.

“I sincerely welcome you who have come to visit the tower. I am the second of the fifth, Brody.”

It was an introduction that he was the second disciple of the fifth sage among the seven sages.

Alicia, who approached him and slightly bent her knees, greeted him politely.

“I am the daughter of Craig. Thank you for the tower’s invitation.”

It was a unique greeting that was only used in the tower.

Brody, who seemed satisfied with Alicia’s greeting, smiled broadly and took in the rest of the group with his eyes.

The number of people invited by the Sage’s Tower was fifteen, including Alicia.

He was probably checking that number.

Alicia, who thought so, realized that she was mistaken the moment Brody opened his mouth.

“I’m so sorry. You brought the exact number of people, but our opinion has changed a bit.”

“Pardon?”

“The number of people who can head to the tower is five.”

Alicia and her group blankly stared at Brody’s face as he spread his right hand wide and said, “One, two, three, four, five!”

They had worried so much when summoning the imperial family to the tower, suggesting only fifteen people, and now they were saying five?

This was a situation where one would say they were at a loss for words because it was so absurd.

“The number of people the tower conveyed in the letter was fifteen.”

“That was then.”

“But why…!”

“Now it’s like this.”

Brody, who smiled brightly once again at Reilly who raised his voice, continued.

“But there’s really nothing we can do. They have already finished adjusting it. If more than five go, you absolutely cannot ascend the tower.”

Slightly lowering the corners of his eyes and saying, “I’m sorry,” Brody’s face was filled with playfulness, making it clear that it was not a sincere apology.

“…Can the five people definitely ascend the tower?”

“Of course! That’s why I came to greet you.”

Brody, who vigorously nodded his head at Alicia’s question, looked at the faces of the group one by one and said,

“There’s not much time left until the entrance opens. Please decide quickly.”

Kasa, who swallowed a sigh at his annoying appearance, turned his gaze to Killian, the leader of the group.

After quickly checking the faces of the group, he opened his mouth.

“Me, Your Highness, White, and Derek, and…”

“I will go too.”

“The young viscount?”

“I have a letter from His Majesty the Emperor to deliver to the first of the tower.”

“…This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“It was top secret, so I couldn’t share it.”

Killian, who was looking at Reilly who answered glibly, nodded his head.

Just like that, the five members were determined in an instant.

“Ah, but you know what? I’m one of those five too.”

If it weren’t for Brody who suddenly intervened, they would have confirmed the members as is.

Raising one arm high, he walked in front of Killian and said,

“I need to go home too.”

“…”

“Even if you look at me with eyes that want to kill me right now, there’s nothing I can do. It’s something I heard from the first of the first right before I came to greet you.”

“…Derek, wait here.”

“Yes! Have a safe trip!”

“Wow, you’re someone who makes decisions really fast. I wish the second of the seventh would learn a bit from you.”

“Stop talking nonsense and guide us.”

“You’re scary too.”

Brody, who waved his hand to the remaining members of Alicia’s group, assuring them that there were no wild beasts nearby, hummed a tune and moved his feet towards the Priska Mountain Range.

And Alicia, Killian, Reilly, and Kasa followed behind him.

As befitting the Priska Mountain Range, which was known for its rough terrain, it was a difficult hike from the start.

They had just started walking, but sweat was already forming on their foreheads.

Alicia, who pulled her sleeve to wipe her forehead, asked Brody, who was slowly leading the way as if considerate of her,

“Is it true that Savior summoned me?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I don’t know my mentor’s name.”

“Pardon?”

“Well, it’s true that it was my mentor who sent the letter saying they wanted to greet a visitor. But I don’t know the name.”

Can there really be a disciple in the world who doesn’t know their mentor’s name?

Brody, who realized that the others who were listening to the conversation between the two had also come up with the same question, responded cheerfully.

“Being able to hear and speak my mentor’s name is only possible after inheriting their position. So I will forget the name that the daughter of Craig has spoken.”

It was a rule of the tower that others did not know because only the emperor and his successor could communicate with the tower.

Alicia, who realized that she had made a mistake, quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was such a rule.”

“Hahaha, it’s only natural for those outside the tower to not know, so you don’t have to apologize.”

“Still…”

“The daughter of a high place is so natural at apologizing. Is it because you’ve experienced a lot of regret?”

“…Pardon?”

“Pardon? What did I say?”

“You said… I’ve experienced a lot of regret…”

“Really? I don’t know what I’m saying.”

It was the moment when Brody’s innocent smile felt like a mask.

He was smiling right in front of her, but why did it feel so hazy?

When Alicia’s steps stopped, Brody, who tilted his head and turned around, looked at her.

While the rest of the group was bewildered by Alicia’s sudden action, she stared at Brody’s face intently and suddenly closed her eyes.

Brody, who let out a small exclamation at her action, clapped his hands quickly and made a fuss.

“You noticed it so quickly? You’re completely different from the world’s evaluation of you?”

“Brody… who are you?”

Alicia, who opened her eyes after a long time, asked.

“Who are you… that I can’t recall your face?”

At her words, Reilly and Kasa, who seemed to have realized something, closed their eyes just as Alicia had done a moment ago.

“Oh my…”

Surprisingly, they couldn’t recall the face of the man standing right in front of them.

“Hahaha, everyone’s checking like that, but only that handsome and scary person isn’t doing anything?”

He must be referring to Killian.

If he was someone who had survived for a long time against non-human beings, he might have felt something long ago.

She wanted to ask Killian what he felt when he looked at Brody, but somehow she felt that she shouldn’t take her eyes off Brody.

As if he had noticed Alicia’s thoughts, the smile on Brody’s face deepened even more.

“You’re definitely of Craig’s bloodline. Or is it because you’ve reached the highest place once?”

“What are you saying now…”

He, who had been standing right in front of her until a moment ago, disappeared.

And in the place where he disappeared, only a cheerful voice remained and said,

“I am the second of the fifth, Brody. Now, shall we begin the test I have prepared for you?”