Even within the Tower, not many people call him by that title. Few knew the exact appearance of the Tower Master. Let alone outsiders, recognizing him was almost impossible. Keene raised his eyebrows and looked at her with interest.

“Pink hair. I know a little about you too.”

His gaze moved from her hair to her plum-colored eyes, which were slightly darker, and he smirked.

“Primis Starring. For a novice priest, your magic and holy power usage are impressive.”

“……”

“But.”

He tilted his head towards Prim. The breath that brushed past her ear made the fine white hairs on her neck stand up.

“I think an explanation is needed for what just happened. Miss Starring.”

“……”

Prim took a slow breath through her nose. She was more nervous than ever, but she couldn’t afford to show it.

She had pushed herself to the limit, even arranging an overseas dispatch to meet this man. Fortunately, she succeeded, but the real challenge began now. She had to make a bold move to draw his attention and then steer that attention towards her goal.

The only name that would catch the interest of this man who had come all the way to Rotricia to visit Mattnum Possun.

“Do you think your involvement with Duna Valorem is a coincidence?”

“……”

At the mention of a specific name, the relaxed smile disappeared from the man’s lips. His face, now devoid of any hint of amusement, was as cold and ruthless as a lion in a blizzard.

Prim hid her tightly clenched fists under her sleeves to conceal her tension. She needed to be careful with her words, as he was known to be merciless towards those he considered enemies.

“I am a priest of the Holy Kingdom, but what I’m saying now has nothing to do with the Holy Kingdom. I’m saying this because I want to help you.”

“Help me? You?”

“Don’t trust her too much. In the end, you won’t be able to achieve what you want because of Valorem.”

“……”

A long, silent standoff ensued. The bustling sound of staff helping new customers filled the shop.

Suddenly, the man broke the silence with a laugh.

“What I want.”

He muttered, looking at her with slightly less guarded eyes. His violet eyes shone lazily between his half-closed eyelids.

“Interesting. Miss Starring knows something I don’t.”

“……”

With a face that had lost interest, he dropped the Mattnum Possun bag he was holding in front of her. As the bag hit the floor with a thud, Prim’s gaze fell on the colorful bag.

“I’ll spare your life since you’re Du’s classmate.”

“……”

“But I don’t think Du would want to drink the tea you bought.”

With those words, Keene left the shop without any hesitation. Watching his figure grow smaller, Prim slowly exhaled the breath she had been holding.

She had done all she could at this point. Now, she could only wait for the next opportunity.

CHAPTER 8. The Spy’s Identity

“Duna!”

The priests who spotted me all shouted my name in unison. Passing through the hole Keene had guided me to, I indeed found my comrades gathered. Though there were only about seven of them, less than half of the original group.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Peidos, who stood up first to help me out of the narrow passage, whispered. His face, pale with fear, showed deep relief.

“The other priests…”

“We plan to send a rescue team after the exploration is over. I hope they made it out safely by now.”

Peidos, despite looking exhausted, still retained his handsome features. He looked extremely troubled, though.

Given his strong sense of responsibility, he must have felt a significant mental burden from this incident. I could easily imagine him blaming himself, and it made me feel sorry for him.

I looked around the cave to see who was present. As I spotted Rancho and Pine among the priests, I was relieved they were safe. But then, I noticed an unknown person tied up next to them.

A suspicious-looking woman with a black hood, bound with ropes made of holy power. Pointing at her, I asked Peidos,

“Who is that…”

“A dark mage sent by the Magic Tower.”

“What?”

Sent by the Magic Tower? So, it wasn’t just Keene who came here?

My gaze naturally turned to the small hole we had just passed through. Keene had pushed me through, saying he would join me soon.

I had thought that even with the best artifact, focusing attention on one person could reveal their presence. But was there another reason?

Whatever it was, it bothered me. I couldn’t deny that his absence was amplifying my anxiety.

Yes, ridiculously, even with the Holy Kingdom’s best knight in front of me, I was feeling uneasy. Because a spy from the Magic Tower hadn’t come with us.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. The problem was that my thoughts kept drifting in one direction.

Get a grip, Duna Valorem. This is all a misunderstanding. You know it’s the suspension bridge effect. Don’t mistake the tension from the ruins’ traps for something else.

“She was caught triggering a trap while following us stealthily. Mullion temporarily sealed her magic, but just in case, don’t get too close.”

“Ah…”

A woman with short, dark brown hair sticking out like a hedgehog suddenly looked at me. Her sharp gaze, as pointed as her hair, was like an ice arrow.

“……”

I flinched reflexively under her cold stare, and she quickly looked away. The unknown spy looked exactly like the dark mage from the Magic Tower I had first imagined. Unlike the ordinary office worker-like mages I had met at the Magic Tower, she had an aura similar to a follower of darkness.

As I kept glancing at her and sat next to Rancho, there was a thud, and someone fell through the hole I had passed through.

“Ouch, ouch…”

I worried that another spy might have appeared, but my anxiety vanished the moment I saw the man. With wide eyes, I called out to the newcomer.

“Your Highness?”

It was none other than Nizaz, with his tangled hair displayed on his head like a bird’s nest without a turban. He rubbed the places he had bumped into, groaning, and then quickly turned to look at me.

“Cutie! How could you do this to me! I went through so much because of you!”

“How…”

Before I could finish my sentence, I realized that the servant who usually followed him like a shadow was nowhere to be seen.

So, he sacrificed Tong. I sent my heartfelt condolences to the pot-bellied servant who must be waiting with tears in his eyes.

“You’re really disloyal.”

“It’s funny to hear you talk about loyalty! I will never forget this!”

It was Peidos who stopped the noisy Nizaz. He stood between me and Nizaz, blocking the view just like before, and spoke to him.

“Are you injured? If so, please let our priest treat you. We haven’t found Lucan members yet.”

“……”

Outwardly, it was a warm offer, but it was essentially a warning. Don’t act rashly, as your troops aren’t here.

Sure enough, it was quite effective. The arrogant prince clammed up once he realized none of his men were present. Of course, he soon started whining about getting treatment for minor scratches, true to his dramatic nature.

“Seriously, how did someone like him end up on an expedition?”

Rancho grumbled as he got up to tend to the prince’s wounds. Normally, such minor treatments were my responsibility, but for some reason, Peidos assigned Rancho. It seemed he thought the prince was bothering me.

I turned my gaze to see Peidos, two senior priests, and Mullion quietly discussing something. They seemed to be trying to solve a problem even before I arrived.

I nudged Pine, who was dozing off with a bored look.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, Duna. Well…”

He glanced at the wall where the other priests were gathered and sighed deeply.

“It seems we need to solve that puzzle to open the passage to the relic.”

“Puzzle?”

Looking at the wall again, I noticed fourteen squares with characters engraved in them. As I pondered how to solve it, the characters began to light up one by one.

“Huh?”

A blue stone, the only colored one among the characters, flashed repeatedly as if asking to be pressed. After that, all the characters, including the blue stone, returned to their unlit state. As I stared at the wall in confusion, Pine spoke as if he had expected this.

“No one can solve it. At this rate, we might not even be able to return to the temple, let alone see the relic.”

“Did you try pressing them in the order they lit up?”

I asked, thinking of a memory test puzzle, but Pine blew air through his lips in exasperation.

“Of course, we tried that first. There are so many characters that we thought we might have remembered the order wrong, so we even wrote them down on the dirt floor and tried again, but it seems that’s not the solution.”

“Hmm.”

There seemed to be some kind of rule.

One of the priests pressed the blue stone, and the scene repeated. I watched the characters light up again, trying to discern the pattern. Pine, losing interest, started dozing off again.

“We need to figure out what those characters mean first.”

Sighing, I scribbled the ancient-looking characters on the ground. It was even more challenging to figure out the rule when I couldn’t read them.

At that moment, someone whispered softly in my ear.

“They might be numbers.”