Once the plates had been cleared away and the remaining soldiers had settled into attentive silence, Ragnora folded her hands on the table and began to speak."Honestly, there isn’t much to explain." She said, her voice carrying the weight of someone who had delivered this briefing many times before.
"It’s quite straightforward. Around a month ago, we noticed a surge in mana fiends spreading throughout the mines."
"Of course, mana fiends are alr6 common here. With so much decaying mana in the area, we’ve grown accustomed to dealing with them. But this recent surge..."
She shook her head. "It’s been a complete anomaly."
Brenda leaned forward, eager to support her commander.
"Surges happen naturally, you see. During certain lunar cycles, when the full moon hangs high, the density and resonance of the underlying aether crystals spike dramatically."
"That extra energy bleeds into the surrounding ambient mana, decaying it faster and triggering a localized spike in mana fiends."
"Even the climate and weather affect how the land beneath us reacts. Increases, decreases...it’s all part of the normal rhythm."
She spread her hands. "So at first, nobody thought anything of it."
Ragnora picked up the thread, her brow creasing.
"But this past month has been completely abnormal. Every single day, the numbers keep climbing."
"At first, we assumed it was just another seasonal fluctuation—nothing to be concerned about. But then the soldiers stopped getting breaks entirely. They were being deployed over and over, wave after wave, with no end in sight."
Brenda groaned, slumping in her chair.
"Life has been absolute hell! No one’s been fatally injured, thank the gods, but we’ve been working non-stop. No rest. No recovery time. Just battle after battle after battle!"
Isabelle nodded sympathetically. She’d heard the complaints already.
Throughout their meal, half the conversations from nearby tables had been about about missed family dinners, the endless cycle of battle and brief respites that never seemed long enough.
Ragnora let out a quiet sigh.
"We’ve tried various measures to manage the situation. Increased defenses. Higher troop deployment. We even brought in retired soldiers, who were more than willing to return and help."
Her expression darkened.
"But unfortunately, we’ve only been able to suppress the issue and we haven’t found a solution at all."
"We also know that even if things are manageable now, if we let this continue, it will become a major catastrophe in the future."
She fixed Isabelle with an intense gaze.
"That’s why we need to stop this problem at its root. Not merely defend against the monsters, but find the source and eliminate it entirely."
Brenda leaned back in her chair, frustration evident in her features as she said in a dreary manner,
"Our own mages have tried their hardest to locate the source. We all suspect it’s connected to something happening beneath the mines—something mana-related. But we simply cannot figure out what."
Her fingers tapped once against the table.
"We also invited outside help. Prestigious mages, renowned across the continent. We paid them fortunes and gave them every resource they demanded."
Her jaw tightened in fury. "And those bastards took one look at the place, declared it beyond their scope, and fled!"
"One of them even managed to destabilize a critical formation!" She gritted her teeth. "His incompetence caused an entire mine shaft to collapse!"
Isabelle’s face went pale. "Oh no. Was anyone hurt?"
The very thought made her stomach clench.
You could defend against soldiers. You could fight monsters.
But when the earth itself gave way above you, there was nothing to fight, nothing to strike.
Just darkness closing in.
But Brenda simply smiled and laughed. "Of course not, Lady Isabelle! We had Commander Ragnora by our side, after all!"
She gazed at her commander with naked admiration.
"Luckily, she was with the inspection team when it happened. The moment she heard the disaster, she rushed in and suppressed the collapse using her incredible ability. She held up the entire mine herself!"
The other soldiers at the table burst into enthusiastic cheers.
"We don’t know what we’d do without you, Commander!"
"You’re the greatest of them all!"
"Serving under you is the greatest honor of my life
"It was no great feat."
Ragnora waved them off, genuinely uncomfortable with the praise before thoughtfully adding,
"After the first time a mine collapsed and I had to carry it on my back, I made a point of training specifically for such disasters. That’s why my back is as strong as it’s ever been and it was no trouble at all."
Isabelle swooned. The woman spoke of carrying an entire mine on her back as casually as someone discussing their morning exercises.
Beside her, Cassius made a low, strangled noise in his throat—something between a growl and a whimper. He looked ready to start barking again.
’Oh, absolutely not!’
Without missing a beat, Isabelle brought her heavy heel down squarely onto Cassius’s boot.
"Hrffk!" Cassius gasped, the pressure instantly cutting off his strange growling as his eyes snapped back into focus.
Isabelle offered him a sweet, murderous glare before turning back to Ragnora, clearing her throat to maintain her composure.
"So...is that why you reached out to Julie for assistance?"
"Indeed." Ragnora nodded firmly. "Unlike the mercenaries we hired, I can trust Julie and her soldiers completely. Additional combat support is certainly welcome—we need all the help we can get. But that’s not the main reason I reached out."
She folded her hands on the table.
"I specifically requested Aisha and the mages from her squad to come investigate. I’ve seen Aisha’s abilities firsthand. She’s brilliant—absolutely exceptional. She’s going to become a Archmage in the future."
She didn’t know, of course, that Aisha had already reached that level.
"With her expertise, I thought we might finally get some answers."
A deep sigh escaped her. "But unfortunately, the Holy Guard and my sisters have their own problems to deal with right now. They can’t come."
"Which is exactly why they sent the next best thing!"
Brenda declared excitedly, turning her shining eyes toward Isabelle.
"They sent a woman destined to become the supreme archmage of the future—you, Lady Sinclair!"
The soldiers turned toward Isabelle with expressions of admiration and awe.
Isabelle on the other hand felt her face heat under the weight of their expectations, the guilt of her deception churning in her stomach.
Ragnora nodded in agreement.
"I heard about your battle earlier—how you eliminated those wolves without any detectable mana signature. Only the most advanced mages can conceal their power so completely. It speaks volumes about your true abilities."
Isabelle felt two opposing emotions surge through her simultaneously.
On one hand, overwhelming joy—her idol was praising her.
On the other hand, crushing guilt, because none of it was real. She wasn’t a mage. She was just a woman who loved cooking for her husband.
Brenda leaned forward eagerly.
"So, Lady Isabelle—what’s your assessment of the situation? When shall we begin the investigation? You’re the only one we can depend on right now."
The other soldiers chimed in desperately.
"Please, Lady Isabelle! My old body can’t take much more of this!"
"If I don’t come home soon, my wife will murder me!"
"I haven’t seen my children in three weeks!"
"We’re at the end of our ropes!"
They looked at her as if she were the savior who had descended from the heavens to rescue them.
Even Ragnora was watching her with an expectant gaze, waiting to hear what she would say.
And Isabelle had absolutely nothing.
She could spin lies about small things without difficulty. After spending so much time with Cassius, she’d developed a certain talent for creative storytelling.
But this? This was real. She had no idea what was causing the fiend surges, no magical expertise to draw upon, no plan to offer.
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Desperately tried to think of something, anything until—
"Hold on now."
The voice cut through the commotion and everyone went still.
"There’s no need to hound my wife like that."
Isabelle’s heart soared with relief.
"The one who’ll handle the combat—defending our troops, fighting the beasts—that’s my wife. But when it comes to the core of the issue? The investigation? The research?"
A pause, and she could hear the pride in his voice.
"That’s me!"
Heads turned. Isabelle especially, relief flooding her features.
Cassius was smiling—awake, alert, fully present.
The lovestruck haze had finally lifted from his eyes.
Brenda let out a startled laugh.
"Oh! You’re back, Sir Cassius! For a moment there, I thought we’d lost you completely. I was about to call the healers to check on you."
Cassius waved this off with a chuckle.
"No need for any of that. My dear wife simply got a little too...enthusiastic with one of her experiments. As her loyal husband, I was the obvious test subject."
He gave a small, self-deprecating bow. "I hope you can all forgive the display I put on earlier."
The soldiers burst into laughter.
"No need to apologize, Sir Cassius! We got a good laugh out of it!"
"Honestly, it was the most entertainment I’ve had in weeks!"
"When you started barking—" One soldier wheezed. "—I nearly dropped my spear out of shock!"
But while the soldiers chuckled and welcomed him back, Ragnora’s body stiffened slightly.
That voice. That easy, warm manner of speaking. That laugh.
It stirred something in her—a strange, unexpected nostalgia she couldn’t quite place.
Where had she heard it before? Why did it feel so achingly familiar?
And there was something else.
Before he’d awakened, Cassius had seemed like nothing more than a strange man with an unsettling stare.
But now, his true personality was emerging, and it was...unexpected.
He seemed cheerful. Warm. Friendly. The soldiers were already responding to him, laughing at his jokes, accepting him into their ranks with surprising ease.
That was..rare.
The researchers she’d invited before had all possessed a certain aloofness.
They’d looked down on her soldiers, called them brutes and barbarians, made demands with the arrogance of men who believed their intellect elevated them above everyone else.
Cassius was the opposite.
And the way he pulled Isabelle so close—so openly affectionate, so unashamed was equally surprising. Even a woman as powerful as Isabelle blushed under that attention.
They were clearly, deeply devoted to one another.
A flicker of something passed through Ragnora’s eyes. An emotion she didn’t examine.
She shook it away.
"Sir Cassius." She said formally. "It’s good to finally meet you properly. I’m glad to see you’ve recovered and I apologise for the late introduction."
Cassius shook his head.
"The apology should be mine, Commander. I made quite a spectacle of myself earlier, and I hope you’ll allow me to make amends."
He extended his hand.
"Let me introduce myself properly."
"Cassius Sinclair! Husband of my wonderful wife, who will soon become a Supreme Mage!"
He gave Isabelle’s cheek a playful pinch, making her flush scarlet as the soldiers laughed.
"And the mana researcher Julie entrusted with this mission. It’s an honor to meet someone like you."
Ragnora reached out and clasped his hand in hers.
"The honor is mine."
But the moment their hands touched, Cassius’s eyes lit up like stars.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, his voice rising with genuine wonder. "What mighty, powerful hands!"
Everyone froze.
Cassius, seemingly oblivious to the sudden tension, placed his other hand over Ragnora’s massive palm, his fingers tracing the contours of her skin with open fascination.
"I knew you were large, Commander, but to think your hand would completely swallow mine..." He shook his head in amazement. "It’s remarkable."
It was true—Cassius had large hands, the kind his wives loved to hold and suck all night.
But Ragnora’s hand dwarfed his entirely. His palm looked like a child’s against hers.
"Not only are they big." Cassius continued, caressing her knuckles with a reverence that bordered on worship.
"But they’re so powerful! So solid! I feel like the slightest pressure would crush my bones to dust."
His eyes met hers with disturbing intensity.
"I wonder—if you were to choke me with these hands...how would it feel?"
Chapter 966: Choke Me!
10 min read