Deep within the mountainous crags of Windea, tucked away at the back of a cavernous crevice set into the rock face.
They had climbed high enough to leave the territory of the Blue Deer of the Ancient Land behind; it no longer pursued them. The two of them continued down a cave-like passage where veins of green-glowing ore were embedded in the stone.
"We went out of our way not to disturb the plants created by nature magic," Ren remarked. "I wonder why it targeted us so aggressively anyway."
"Maybe it was just in a bad mood?" Ragna suggested.
"……I wouldn't rule that out."
Even so, for a monster like that, the concentrated mana bursting from the Wind Crystal should have been more than enough bait to distract it.
"Or perhaps it sensed the Wind Crystals inside your bag, Ragna-san?"
"Unlikely. My bag is completely isolated from the outside world. It’s a specialized item that holds far more than its exterior suggests; I don't think a beast could have noticed what was inside."
"Then I suppose it really was just having a bad day."
They continued their walk, making idle conversation that reached no conclusion.
The tunnel was quite spacious—wide enough for five or six people to walk abreast. Ores emitting a soft green light slept in the walls throughout the cave, keeping the path ahead illuminated.
(Wait... what is this?)
A disturbing sight caught Ren's eye.
The ground was heavily trampled. The walls and ceiling of the cave were irregularly gouged and collapsed in places. It was clear that someone—or something—had forced their way in.
Ren felt his pulse quicken. He had no memory of such a scene occurring in the game, and his sense of caution intensified. Ragna shared his concern, his eyes scanning the damage as they moved deeper into the cavern.
Ten minutes later, they reached the innermost sanctuary.
The chamber was a vast, circular vault, measuring over twenty meils in both height and diameter. A few steps in, a spring spread across the floor, reaching roughly to Ren's knees. Every time the water rippled, it emitted a beautiful, lush blue light.
This area, too, bore the scars of an intruder. Rocks had been smashed, and the ground was churned up.
At the center of the spring stood a blue crystal that sparkled like polished glass. Within it lay the ring imbued with the Power of the Water Goddess. In The Legend of the Seven Heroes, equipping this item significantly boosted the user's water magic. However...
"Something is definitely wrong here," Ragna muttered.
Ignoring his wet boots, Ren waded toward the center of the spring.
The magnificent blue crystal, which should have sat undisturbed on its pedestal, was covered in countless scratches and gouges, as if someone had hacked at it repeatedly with a sword.
But the ring inside remained.
...Did someone try to take it by force?
Again, this was a scenario that never happened in the original game. As they stared at the damaged crystal, the same thought crossed both their minds: the Demon King Cult. Without more evidence, however, it was impossible to be certain.
Ragna turned his attention to the problem of how to retrieve the artifact.
"It appears someone tried to extract it through sheer violence and failed," he noted.
"……So it seems."
"Which means we’ll likely face the same result if we try to force it."
"No, that should be fine," Ren said with a knowing look before quickly correcting himself. "I mean... I think we should try bringing the Wind Orb close to it. Like you said earlier, Ragna-san, the water and wind elements in Windea have a very high affinity for one another."
He phrased it as a suggestion—that the resonance might allow them to reach the Ring of the Water Goddess.
The Wind Orb was a rare treasure, one of only a few in the world. The Ring of the Water Goddess was even rarer—a unique artifact. Ragna had been hesitating over whether they should even remove it, but he eventually gave a reluctant nod.
"The fact that someone else already tried to steal it is the deciding factor," the god-hating man said with a weary sigh. He motioned for Ren to proceed. "Your idea is worth a try. It’s far better for us to secure it than to let some dangerous group come back for a second attempt. As a member of the Ministry of Mysteries, I cannot ignore this."
While Ragna viewed this as an experiment, Ren already knew it would work. He took the Wind Orb Ragna produced from his bag and approached the blue crystal. He made sure to position himself so he stood between Ragna and the spring, just in case.
"……Look. I think it’s working."
"Indeed."
The moment the Wind Orb drew near the blue crystal, it released a gentle, emerald breeze.
"……A fascinating phenomenon," Ragna remarked, though he looked baffled.
The wind swirled around the blue crystal. It smoothed over the jagged scratches on the surface and then, as if drawing it out with a vacuum, pulled the Ring of the Water Goddess through the crystalline barrier.
It looked as if the ring were being carried away on a current of air. Seconds later, the artifact dropped into the water.
"……Good grief. This has been a strange journey indeed."
"Ragna-san, we still have to get back, so it’s not over yet."
"Ah…… true enough."
Ren reached down to pick up the Ring of the Water Goddess from the shallow water.
But then...
"Huh?"
Before his fingers could touch it, the ring moved.
It rose from the water of its own accord and hovered in the air before him. The ring began to shed particles of brilliant blue mana, which were sucked into the crystal on Ren’s bracelet.
It all happened in a flash, during a brief moment when Ragna had looked away.
Water ■ Sword ■■————■
For a heartbeat, Ren thought he saw text flickering within the bracelet’s crystal.
But it vanished before he could read it clearly. He stared at the crystal with sudden curiosity, but the only characters that remained were the same ones he had seen during the incident at Roses Kaitas.
"Ren? What is it?"
"Oh, nothing... the ring just floated up so suddenly, it startled me."
"I see. I’m hesitant to even touch the thing, given how it behaves..."
"I think it’s safe now. See?"
Ragna’s cheek twitched in surprise as he watched Ren grab the ring without the slightest hesitation.
They placed the Ring of the Water Goddess securely inside a reinforced box Ragna carried. Ren was also tasked with helping oversee its safety.
" I will be reporting this incident to the proper authorities," Ragna stated.
"In your capacity as a member of the Ministry of Mysteries?"
"Correct. However, given that the Demon King Cult likely has their eyes on this, I intend to keep the details confidential. I expect you to do the same, Ren. By the way, who else knows you are Emblem-bearing?"
Ren listed them: Licia, Fiona, Lezard, and Ulysses.
Ragna thought for a moment before deciding he would send personal letters to each of them. It was essentially a gag order.
"In that case, why not have Radius look into this?" Ren suggested. "With his special abilities, he might be able to detect if there are still any lingering traces of the Cult in the area."
"Impossible. There won't be any traces left to find now."
"Is it not even worth a try?"
"No. I know the extent of Radius's power better than anyone—I was the one who oversaw his training. By the time we could bring him here, too much time would have passed. Any lingering traces would be long gone."
"Ah…… I see. That makes sense."
There was also the physical and political difficulty of bringing a prince to such a remote, treacherous location.
"I’ll contact you later regarding our progress, including the repairs on that key. Still, this explains why the Blue Deer was so on edge."
"You think its aggression was a leftover reaction from when those intruders snuck in?"
Ragna nodded. "It’s just a theory. But it would explain why it was more concerned with intruders than it was with the Wind Crystals."
It was all conjecture for now. The only concrete evidence they had was the damage to the sanctuary and the scarred blue crystal.
Ren had a premonition that their work wasn't finished.
(I should probably check on the Temple, too.)
He was still worried about Vane and the others.
"Should we head to the Temple and check the spring there as well?"
"It's on the way. I don't mind."
"Thank you. Also... I think there might be people there already."
"People? Who would be up here?"
"My friends. Students from the Imperial Academy—though they aren't exactly ordinary students."
"Oh?"
"They’re the ones rumored to be the descendants of Hero Ruin."
"————I see. This should be interesting."
They weren't far from their next destination.
Further up the mountain, Vane’s group was struggling.
The ascent had been grueling. Despite being high up the mountain, water from Windea's rock faces frequently merged into rivers that flowed over bare stone without a trace of sand or silt.
Fish swam in those currents—vibrantly colored creatures reminiscent of those found in coral reefs. Some were considered delicacies, providing a much-needed feast for the group during their camps.
However, crossing those high-pressure rivers was often a nightmare. Between the strength of the current and the monsters that ambushed them, their progress was halted time and again. In some places, the wind was so thick with green mana that it formed literal walls.
Vane and the others had worked together to overcome these natural fortresses, and they were currently searching for the final path forward.
"That way," Charlotte said, her voice ringing with certainty.
As a master of the bow, Charlotte Rofelia was also highly skilled in wind magic. Her aptitude for sensing the subtle shifts in Windea's atmosphere was unparalleled. Throughout the journey, her intuition had been their saving grace.
Standing near a cliff edge, she let the wind whistling off the mountainside wash over her. Vane, who had been scouting the area with her while the others rested, wiped the sweat from his brow.
"We’re almost there, aren't we?"
"Finally! Ugh... I'm tired of magical showers. I want to soak in a real bath." Charlotte gave a weary laugh before her expression turned mischievous. "I know. Want to join me when we get back?"
"P-please stop saying such weird things! Focus... we have to find the next path!"
"Hmm... so it's okay after we find the path?"
"That's not what I meant!"
Vane’s spirited denial made Charlotte giggle. She looked at his profile, and for a moment, he seemed like a completely different person than the boy she had known a year ago. She found herself unable to look away.
"……You really have changed," she whispered, too softly for him to hear.
"Back then" referred to the period just before the preparations for the Lion King Grand Festival had begun.
At the time, Charlotte had heard Sera talk about Vane incessantly at various parties. To Sera, Vane was reliable—more than that, she seemed to be falling for him. But when Charlotte first met him, he hadn't seemed reliable at all. She had even doubted if his reputed strength was real. She never expected her first impression to change so drastically.
'Nice to meet you, Vane-kun.'
She had been polite but cold during their first meeting. She hadn't been interested in him; to her, he was just "the boy Sera likes." Nothing more, nothing less.
But then, a specific event changed everything.
'——Where did it go?'
Charlotte had a necklace she had treasured since childhood. It was a memento left to her by her grandfather, and she wore it constantly, removing it only to bathe or sleep.
One night, she realized it was missing. She searched her room and every inch of the manor, but it was nowhere to be found. In a panic, she had even searched the gardens and the gates late into the night.
'I see.'
'We'll let you know as soon as it turns up.'
The next day, she had asked the academy’s lost-and-found office, but no one had turned it in. Vane, seeing her distress, had approached her.
'Upperclassman Rofelia, is something wrong?'
'……Yes. I've lost something.'
'Would you like some help looking for it?'
That was the "search event" Ren had once recalled.
She had spent her afternoons searching until the sun went down. Eventually, it was discovered that the necklace had fallen off when the chain snapped while she was in the Imperial Capital. The person who found it was trying to fence it through a corrupt merchant company.
They had fought together to get it back. Charlotte had watched Vane stand his ground against the company’s hired thugs without a hint of fear. He had protected her.
In that moment, her perception of him shifted. He was no longer just her friend's crush; he was something more.
After the incident, they had both been lectured severely by Sera and the Archduke's family for being reckless.
'Vane! Sharo! Don't be so reckless! Do you understand?!'
'……I know. I'm sorry.'
'Me too. I'm sorry for acting on my own.'
They had been in a race against time to ensure the necklace wasn't sold, so they had been forced into a fight before they could call for backup. The two of them had spent the rest of the day apologizing.
'Both Sharo-senpai and I…… well, we just really wanted to get it back……'
'……Sha-Sharo-senpai?'
Vane had called her "Upperclassman Rofelia" only the day before. Now, he had jumped straight past her first name to a nickname.
'W-why did you call me that so suddenly……?'
'A-ah! Sharo-senpai said I could!'
'……I see. Fine. Then you'll have to explain your part in this properly, too.'
'Ehh?!'
The sudden change in how he addressed her had caused quite a stir at the time, but now, it was one of Charlotte’s favorite memories.
"Sharo-senpai?"
Noticing her silence, Vane looked at her with concern. She smiled at him, her eyes dancing with playfulness.
"It’s nothing. I was just thinking that boys really do grow up fast."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you've become a man, Vane-kun."
"……O-oh."
Vane never quite figured out why Charlotte was in such a good mood, but they had to prioritize the journey ahead.
As they discussed their route, a sound echoed through the peaks.
『————』
It was the roar of a massive beast, followed by the thunderous sound of a collision.
"Sharo-senpai, that sound..."
"I heard it. Just to be safe, let's regroup with the others—quickly."
Vane exchanged a sharp nod with Charlotte, both of them going on high alert.
They met up with the rest of the group, but fortunately, no further incidents occurred. They reached the plateau where the Temple stood and immediately collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from the climb.
Luckily, with seven hero descendants present, they had more than enough healing magic to go around. Within thirty minutes, everyone was back on their feet and surveying the area.
Lizred walked up to Vane’s side.
"I wonder what that noise was earlier."
"Upperclassman Kaito thinks it might have been monsters fighting," Vane replied.
"It was awfully loud. If it was a fight, it must have been between two incredibly powerful creatures. We’ll have to be careful on the way down."
The group had spent days exploring the path to reach this summit. Since they had anchored the Magic Ship Deus at a higher altitude than Ren's ship, they had managed to save a significant amount of travel time.
"Hey! Vane!"
Kaito called out, waving from a distance.
The Temple was a massive structure that seemed to grow out of Windea's jagged cliffs. Its design was complex; some wings were built directly into the sheer rock face, while others used natural stone arches as foundations. Instead of solid walls, the Temple was an open, airy pavilion supported by rows of thick stone pillars.
"Alright, shall we?"
"Shall we what?"
"Isn't it obvious, Vane? We’re here for the prize!"
Kaito laughed boisterously and pointed toward a corner of the temple plaza. Nestled among the stone architecture was a small, garden-like enclosure.
The sight of lush trees and multi-colored flowers blooming in such a harsh environment caught Vane's eye. He could feel the wind itself being pulled toward the spring at the center of the garden.
"Vane," Sera said, coming up beside him. "Let’s go. It’s time to see if the legends are true."
"……Right!"
Vane’s expression hardened with resolve. With a gallant stride, he led the way toward the spring.