The next morning, Kain and Mera boarded a boat and left Adia, their destination, of course, was Esten. Although they hadn't been able to fulfill their promise to travel to the Eastern sea together for a visit, Mera and Kain were both very satisfied with spending a whole day exploring Adia and broadening their horizons. After all, the destination wasn't as important as the company.

"Well... goodbye for now." Standing at the academy gate, Kain scratched his head as he said goodbye to Mera. She looked down for a moment, then raised her head and replied, "Goodbye for now." Both were reluctant to part, but in life, temporarily separating wasn't a big deal. They would see each other again, many more times.

With a mix of wistful and nostalgic feelings, Kain returned to his dorm. Entering the room, he saw Hardy absorbed in a book at his desk. Hardy's head was bowed low, his neck tilted, and his shoulders and neck were tense. It was clear he had been in this position for quite a while.

"Hey Hardy, if you keep that up, you're going to turn into a hunchback."

"Kain!" Hardy turned to look back, his voice filled with joy. "Why are you back so early, Kain? I thought you and Mera were going to travel to the east for a while?"

"Something came up, so we postponed it for now. But we did get to travel around Adia to make up for it."

"Adia? I heard it's the most prosperous place in all of Kanzax." Hardy and Kain chatted back and forth, mostly just idle talk about various things, but Kain didn't mind. He occasionally shared some interesting things he had seen in Adia.

But mid-conversation, Hardy suddenly stopped. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, causing his eyelids to crease as well, and his eyes simultaneously looked down. His chest contracted slightly, and his mouth was ajar. This was Hardy exhaling without immediately inhaling.

To Kain, this was a sign of suddenly remembering something, causing a state of localized concentration. It was expressed through his gaze and the "exhaling" action, which was sustained for a longer period than usual, indicating a shift in his brain's behavioral focus.

What did Hardy remember?

Without Kain needing to guess, Hardy snapped out of his state of localized concentration and spoke to him.

"Kain, I just remembered that a letter was sent for you earlier. Wait a second, I'll go get it."

Hardy then rummaged through his desk, opened the drawer, and took out a letter, which he handed to Kain.

It was a neat and precise letter, down to every fold, but that wasn't the main point. The main point was that Kain recognized this type of letter; it was identical to the first letter Faith had sent him.

"Faith..."

Kain couldn't help but recall the image and laughter of that blond-haired man. A man whom even Kain had to admit that, even when he made no mistakes and used his intellect to its fullest, he wasn't guaranteed to win against. This was likely the highest praise someone like Kain could give a worthy intellectual opponent.

But what disturbed Kain was this letter. For people like them, no action was superfluous, so Faith's purpose in sending him a letter was worth speculating about.

Kain tore open the envelope. Inside, a letter with flowing handwriting appeared.

"Kain, if you're reading this letter, you've probably guessed I wouldn't send a letter just to greet you, right?"

"But anyway, you must be very suspicious, and now is not the time for jokes."

"I have deceived Myra. We both signed an agreement where she gained no benefit, and is even under threat. Kain, the Sword Family is not a good thing."

"So, if you want to save Myra, if you want to defeat me and the Sword Family, then come to Adia and participate in the resource distribution game."

"As for what this game is, and how you will participate... figure it out yourself. You're smart, aren't you, Kain?"

Kain's eyes narrowed, countless possibilities swirling in his mind, but he still turned to thank Hardy and then ran out of the dorm.

The person Kain sought out was, of course, Mera. Myra was her sister, and she had the right to know what was happening.

Mera was also surprised when he came to find her and teased him, asking if he missed her that much. But when she saw that Kain wasn't smiling at the joke and his expression was full of worry, Mera knew it wasn't the time to jest.

When she read the letter, Mera's expression also darkened. When she had returned to her dorm, she had planned to muster up the courage to express her true feelings to her sister, but Myra wasn't there. Mera hadn't thought much of it, assuming Myra had just gone somewhere. She never expected...

"Kain, did Myra really go with that guy and get herself into danger?" Mera began to have doubts. What if Faith was intentionally deceiving them?

But Kain had clearly thought this through. If Faith was trying to deceive and lure Kain by threatening Myra's safety, Kain would first need to confirm Myra's safety. If Myra was fine, it would prove that Faith was lying. When he had just entered Myra and Mera's dorm, he had conducted a quick investigation. From the dust marks on the floor where a chair had been moved, to the condition of the household items in the dorm, and even the usage of the bathroom, Kain had realized that Myra hadn't been in the dorm for several days. This was odd, since Myra should have stayed behind when Kain and Mera returned to Whesling.

"Don't worry, Myra is my friend, and I'll definitely bring her back," Kain affirmed to Mera. But she shook her head.

"I want to go too. I can't just leave her there." Mera said emotionally.

"Leaving her there" wasn't just about leaving Myra to Faith; it was Mera's regret for having inadvertently neglected Myra for so long. She didn't want to leave Myra behind anymore.

"But that organization..." Kain was much more pragmatic, as he was still worried that she would get into danger. He knew that the reason they had returned to Kanzax Academy was to seek its protection, and leaving meant leaving that protection behind.

But Mera remained firm. Instead of just using emotions, she gave a logical reason. "I think it'll be fine, Kain. That Faith guy said we'd have to participate in some kind of noble resource distribution game, right? In that case, aren't we essentially protected by the nobles in Adia?"

"Adia has stood strong for hundreds of years. I don't think that organization's reach extends that far."

"You have a point," Kain nodded, unable to deny Mera's reasoning.

"But now, the hardest part is figuring out how to join that game..." Mera ran her hands through her hair, clearly frustrated by the challenge Faith had laid out.

Adia's nobility lived in the inner city, completely separate from the outer city where they had been traveling. Without the proper identity or an insider's introduction, they couldn't even get into the inner city, let alone meet a noble.

Not to mention, even if they met one, how would they suggest joining the game? From the name of the game alone, Mera understood this was no trifling matter; it was a game concerning the life and death of noble families. How could outsiders like them meddle in such a game?

And even if they somehow managed to get involved, it was unlikely they could make a difference. Nobles held their high status in Adia not just because of their history, but also because of their strength. Kain and Mera were just two mid-class Magus. While they were geniuses for their age, when thrown into a struggle between powerful families, they were incredibly small.

Thinking about this, Mera felt suffocated. Before even stepping onto the main battlefield, she felt as if countless chains were binding her. So, Mera could only look at Kain. She saw his calm expression.

Seeing her look at him, Kain smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have a way."

Seeing his familiar smile, Mera's heart calmed. Her frustration and worry seemed to vanish completely.

Kain wasn't just saying that to comfort Mera; he truly had a way, even though it came about completely by chance.

So, immediately after, Kain and Mera got ready to return to Adia. On the steamboat traveling along the river, Mera looked at Kain and couldn't resist asking, "So, are you going to tell me your plan now? You've been so secretive..."

"Well... it actually has to do with you, Mera." Kain's words surprised Mera.