After the fight, Klein returned to his tent at a leisurely pace, hands thrust into his pockets, without even glancing at the damage he had caused. A few minutes later, the curtains at the entrance parted to let the faction leaders through.
The atmosphere had changed radically. Where there had previously been barely concealed arrogance, Klein now perceived only prudence mixed with a respect tinged with fear. They settled back into their seats, avoiding eting his gaze for too long. Lysandra entered last. She had changed out of her torn combat outfit for new clothes, but the bandages wrapped around her torso where Klein’s attack had struck were visible under the collar of her shirt. She cast a brief glance toward him, a complex gleam in her eyes, but as soon as their pupils t, she abruptly turned her head away to find a place at the back of the room.
Silence fell, heavy and stifling, until Klein spoke to break the palpable tension.
"Well. Since everyone is here, let’s get down to business."
He unfolded a topographic map of the region on the rough wooden table. His fingers traced precise lines on the parchnt, indicating the strategic points.
"We will divide the forces into several distinct groups to maximize our chances during the final assault. A support group will be deployed on the eastern flank, where the terrain offers natural protection against the magical discharges of rank B monsters. And so on. Choose who among you will be on the east, as well as on the west..."
Klein looked up, observing their reactions. No one interrupted him.
"Regarding supplies, each faction must mobilize its own logistics units. I want a precise count of your reserves of mana potions and recovery crystals before tomorrow morning. There should be no negligence on this point. If a line falters due to lack of resources, the operation will pay a heavy price."
He continued like this for about twenty minutes, detailing the number of people each faction had to commit for the attack: sixty rank C warriors for the vanguard, twenty fourth-circle mages for remote support, and an elite unit to pierce the heart of the bases.
After everything had been said, Klein folded the map with calculated slowness.
"That’s all I had to say. If there are no questions, we will leave it there for today."
Silence answered him. The faction leaders seed to be digesting the orders, or perhaps they were simply too intimidated to challenge his strategy.
"Good. You may leave."
They began to stand up, exiting one by one in a rustle of cloaks and muffled murmurs. Lysandra stood up in turn, nervously adjusting her jacket. Before crossing the curtain, she cast one last glance toward Klein, a mixture of resentnt and submission, before disappearing.
Thinking the tent was now empty, Klein began to put away his parchnts. He was about to turn around when he felt a familiar presence right behind him, which made him turn abruptly. When he saw her, he appeared surprised.
"What are you doing, Olivia?" Klein asked in a neutral voice.
The imperial princess stood there, motionless, an indecipherable expression on her fine-featured face. She did not seem in a hurry to leave.
"It looks like this doesn’t please you at all?" she replied in a velvety, almost teasing voice. "But if I stayed, it’s to check sothing. I have the impression I know you... strangely, you remind of soone."
Klein held her golden gaze without flinching, his expression remaining a mask of marble.
"That’s not surprising," he said. Many people look alike. If I were really the person you think you recognize, then you would have known it long ago."
Olivia tilted her head slightly to the side. Her hair slipped over her right shoulder. She sketched an enigmatic smile stretching her pink lips.
"Why do you think that?" she asked.
"It’s simple," Klein replied in a flat tone, as if stating an obvious fact. "That person, the one you’re looking for, she would have already pointed it out to you."
Olivia remained silent for a few seconds, then shrugged.
"Not wrong," she conceded finally. "Your reasoning holds up." She paused, then added: "But I remain convinced."
"You have every right to think what you want," Klein replied. His voice had not varied by half a tone.
Olivia opened her mouth to reply, but she changed her mind. She stared intently at Klein, scrutinizing the curve of his jaw, the width of his shoulders. Everything reminded her of Kaiser. Yet none of his gestures matched those she knew. No intonation in his voice ca to confirm her intuition. Nothing proved irrefutably that it was him.
Maybe it’s simply because I miss him, Olivia thought, a trace of vulnerability crossing her eyes before she regained her imperial composure.
"If you are finished," Klein said, breaking the silence, "I will be leaving right away."
His words abruptly pulled her from her thoughts. She stepped aside from the passage and parted the canvas flap that served as the entrance to the tent.
Klein walked past her without adding a word. He felt her gaze weighing on the back of his neck until he crossed the outer limit of the camp, where the torches planted in the ground stopped illuminating the path.
---
The temperature on the continent of Tenebris was particularly low in this season. An icy wind descended from the mountain peaks and swept the valley without encountering any obstacles. Klein, however, did not feel the cold. His body, reinforced by aura, maintained its internal temperature independently of external conditions.
He walked at a steady pace toward the steep mountain that overlooked the valley. The path he took was narrow and strewn with unstable gravel. It took him about ten minutes of ascent to reach a rocky promontory. From up there, the view extended over several kiloters. He could clearly distinguish the areas where the monsters had gathered, their massive silhouettes moving slowly under the pale light of the moon.
Klein stopped at the edge of the cliff. He remained perfectly still for a long mont, content to observe the movents below. The wind whistled between the rocky peaks, but no suspicious sound ca to disturb the usual silence of the mountain.
It was then that he heard the sharp whistle of an arrow tearing through the air behind him.
He did not need to turn around to assess its trajectory. He simply shifted his head to the left, just enough to let the projectile pass a few milliters from his temple.
The arrow, charged with pure and vibrant mana, embedded itself in a rock in front of him with a dry sound. Cracks appeared around the point of impact.
Klein did not move. Behind him, a silhouette suddenly materialized on the rocky ground. Until then, it seed to have rged with the shadows cast by the rocks. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, the darkness dissipated and the form beca tangible.
Klein turned around slowly and recognized the person standing there, his long bow still half drawn.
It was Jasper Del Luna.
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