"Finn!"
"Elder sister!"
In front of the Mavros family's main residence, a pair of siblings from the Elyssir family were finally reunited as they ran toward each other, crying joyfully.
"Ah, this is great, Young Lady, Young Master!"
Gerald, standing nearby, couldn't help but wipe his eyes in quiet happiness.
However, it wasn't just the three members of the Elyssir family who appeared here, as there were many others as well, all under the protection of the Mavros family's knights.
They were people of all ages, both men and women—some refugees, some soldiers, and even noble children, like Fanny's younger brother.
Some of them were reuniting with family members who had come to greet them after receiving the notice, while others were being cared for by the Mavros family's servants, eating or drinking, creating a scene that looked like a large-scale return of disaster survivors.
Watching this scene, Riezel, who had come with Fanny and Gerald, turned to Raven.
"Where did you find them?"
Riezel stood at the gate of the Mavros family's main residence with Lizbeth and asked Raven while gazing ahead.
"Deep in a mountain range..." Raven answered honestly. "There was a nest that was supposed to be built by monsters, but it had been converted into an underground base. Our people found missing individuals from the past two to three months there, so we didn't return empty-handed."
Shortly after Lydon's matter concluded, Raven decided to cleanse Mavros Territory and gathered the forces of the entire territory to begin a series of major actions.
First, he had the lords of the cities where disappearances had occurred arrested, then worked with Nibald and the court magician sent from the royal palace to interrogate, question, and even torture these individuals.
Ultimately, this led to the successful capture of all the local nobles and officials who had been trafficking citizens as commodities before they were all thrown into prison to await their punishment at a later date.
During this process, Raven also learned about the recent human trafficking situation. By extracting information from those who had recently cooperated with the magic dolls, he obtained intelligence such as the routes used to transport people as trade goods.
Once he had an idea of the general movement routes, Raven had his three sons bring in officials specializing in strategy. Using their calculations and coordination of the routes, they were able to pinpoint several locations that might be bases for the magic dolls.
With that, the next steps were simple.
Raven gave a few orders, and the Mavros family's knights immediately split into several groups, heading to these locations to conduct a thorough search.
In this way, the knights found the missing people from the recent period and brought them back from the nest.
However—
"Aside from the people who disappeared in the past two to three months, we haven't found a single one of the others who were missing..." Raven continued, his face darkened and his voice low. "Moreover, those mysterious people who committed these crimes, as well as the so-called magic dolls you mentioned—we haven't found a single one of them either."
Even though it was a disappointing result for Riezel, it didn't come as a surprise.
"Looks like they saw things going bad and retreated early, huh..." Riezel said calmly. "In other words, their main base isn't in Mavros Territory but likely somewhere else."
Otherwise, they wouldn't have pulled out so quickly and decisively.
"I think the same..." Raven agreed with Riezel's conclusion, looking frustrated and angry. "It's such a shame we couldn't catch them all..."
Hearing this, Riezel didn't agree.
"If your knights had really run into those magic dolls, who's catching who would be hard to say."
Riezel shook his head as he spoke.
It was only natural.
One should know that those magic dolls were troublesome dolls that even a Sword Saint, who was equivalent to Level 7, had to approach carefully. Not to mention their strange abilities, they also had combat power at the level of a Sword Master, who was equivalent to Level 6.
Simply put, they were not opponents that ordinary knights could easily handle, especially in a situation where they didn't know how many of those magic dolls there were. If the Mavros family recklessly made a move on them, the result could very well be that the magic dolls wiped them all out and then leisurely retreated.
For this reason, Riezel never expected the Mavros family to capture those magic dolls. As long as they could provide him with some clues, that would be enough.
"Are those magic dolls really that tough to deal with?"
Raven didn't seem to fully believe it as he asked this.
"You'll know when you encounter them yourself." Riezel replied without further explanation. "Since those mysterious people have already withdrawn, there's no need for me to stay here anymore. You all can handle things from here."
Upon hearing this, Raven reacted a bit.
"You're leaving?" Raven turned his gaze toward Riezel, his expression serious. "Why not stay a bit longer?"
"What's the point?" Riezel asked back and casually glanced at Raven. "Bessare isn't a tourist destination, and this isn't my destination either, so there's no need to stay here any longer."
In his original plan, he had never intended to come to Bessare but to bypass it and enter the neutral region through the border checkpoint.
Needless to say, coming to Bessare and staying here was already beyond his initial travel plans. In this situation, since the magic dolls had already left the Mavros Territory, he had even less reason to stay here.
Because of this, Riezel chose to leave without hesitation, leaving Raven in silence.
As several seconds passed in silence, Raven spoke again.
"I've written all your deeds during this time into a letter and sent it to the royal palace."
"I mentioned in the letter how you defeated me in a direct fight and how you can use what can only be called a miracle—space magic."
"I also mentioned that you're an Imaginary Magician. His Majesty has already read my letter and sent me a reply."
"And then? What do you wanna say?" Riezel asked calmly.
"You know what I want to say."
Raven stared at Riezel intensely.
"Just the fact that you defeated me in a direct fight must have already caused quite a stir in the royal capital."
"Now that it's also known you're an Imaginary Magician, a magician who learned space magic, and that you can use space magic to send a whole army to a distant place at will, just think about the value this would have in the eyes of the royal family and the nobles of the royal capital. I believe you understand this well."
"Do you know what His Majesty said in his reply to me?"
What else could it be?
It was simply that Raven should try to keep Riezel around, convincing him to pledge loyalty to Jinas and work for him.
"His Majesty even sent a message directly through me, offering that, if you're willing to stay, he can make an exception and allow you to enter the royal treasury again and take up to three treasures with you."
Raven openly laid the offer on the table.
"Heh, he's quite generous..." Riezel sneered and smiled. "Three treasures from the royal treasury, huh? Those are certainly priceless."
Not to mention anything else—just Riezel's Divine Meloe, and Raven's Rebellion and Moniz—these three ancient mystical treasures all came from the royal treasury and were not ordinary items.
Treasures like these, being able to pick any three, would tempt anyone.
Riezel, naturally, was no exception.
If one asked if he was tempted, of course he was, but being tempted didn't mean he would agree.
Raven seemed to have noticed this in Riezel's attitude.
"Looks like you're not planning to agree, huh?" Raven said, his tone almost regretful.
"What did you expect? It's not my goal in the first place." Riezel replied flatly. "If I wanted that kinda thing, I would've accepted the title offered by the King and become a noble when I was still in the royal capital."
"You're right..." Raven seemed to let it go, smiling at Riezel. "Though it's a bit of a regret that we couldn't strengthen this kingdom, at least we're not enemies with you, so I guess that's not too bad."
"Hmm, you weren't like this before, Marquis Mavros." Riezel gave Raven a curious look. "I mean, the old you was a lot more... domineering? Didn't expect you'd say something that'd make you lose face like this."
"If you were just a mere swordsman, then even if you beat me head-on, I might've recognized you, but I wouldn't have backed down like this." Raven responded, his tone cool. "But you're not just a swordsman—you're also a magician who's compatible with the Imaginary System. I still clearly remember all the magic you used inside Yarakulon. Honestly, I really don't want to face that kind of power."
"Is that so?" Riezel smiled faintly. "Alright then, let's just hope we don't cross paths next time."
Raven nodded seriously in agreement.
Afterward, the two chatted for a while longer, mentioning Fanny and Finn, as well as Nibald and Andrea.
Raven was already planning to send some of the noble children who were training here back home to report their safety, so he would arrange for guards to escort Fanny and the others back to Elyssir Territory.
As for Nibald and Andrea, they would stay with the Mavros family, working with the court magician sent by the royal palace to study the ancient books and treasures Maya had gifted.
In other words, Riezel would be parting ways with them here.
"Just help me pass on a message to them. Tell them we'll meet again if fate allows."
Riezel hadn't planned to say goodbye to them personally and had entrusted this to Raven.
Raven nodded, agreeing without hesitation.
With that, Riezel left the Mavros family with Lizbeth under Raven's watch.
Throughout this, Lizbeth remained silent, as if lost in thought.
As they neared Peace Town, Lizbeth seemed to have made a decision and made a request to Riezel.
"Master, I want to return to the royal capital."