As soon as they saw the werewolf tracks, the Tower Lord cast a mana barrier. Instantly, the wall of mana around them muffled their sounds and scent. It was a standard tactic when dealing with werewolves, which have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, and it came from the experience of slaying many monsters and many wars.

“Werewolves usually travel in packs, so this is a big problem.”

“They are highly aggressive monsters, so it’s difficult to drive them away without killing them.”

Only after sensing the mana wall surrounding them did the knights speak. This was further evidence that they all had extensive experience dealing with monsters.

“Sir Carmel, werewolves, huh? They’re not the kind of monsters you’d expect to find at the entrance to these mountains, right?” asked Roid who was surprised and turned to Carmel, the senior knight.

Carmel’s face was serious as he pointed to the discovered traces. “These are claw marks left by them as they travel, usually to mark their territory. It’s certain.”

On one side of a giant tree, there were three sets of claw marks stretching up higher than Siervian’s height, indicating the enormous size of the werewolf monsters.

“In that case, we need to hurry.”

Startled by the sharp voice, the knights all turned around. It was as they suddenly remembered the presence of the princess.

“Um, Your Highness, why don’t you return first…”

A group of werewolves was all they could handle right now. Even if the Tower Lord was with them. They didn’t even want to think about the consequences if something happened to the princess.

“We don’t have time.”

From the very beginning, they hadn’t expected to find traces of monsters. Therefore, it was possible that monsters had already invaded the mine.

Siervian left the perplexed knights behind and asked her teacher, “Teacher, is the defense in Karmen’s location sufficient to handle a werewolf pack?”

“Well… I assume the mine’s personnel were prepared to deal with a few small monsters.”

Even the expression on his face showed his conflict.

Werewolves are naturally fierce and aggressive toward humans. At this distance, the chances of them detecting the smell and noise of humans heading toward the mine were very high.

That was why he couldn’t ignore the safety of the princess standing right in front of him.

“I’m fine. We need to hurry, Teacher. We have to save Karmen.”

“But…”

“I’ll send another communication spell directly to my father from here. He will send reinforcements. And I have the gift he gave me.”

As the imminent danger approached, Siervian’s mind started racing. In this situation, she couldn’t afford to turn back.

“We can’t go back like this.”

Finally, the Tower Lord belatedly remembered the defensive pendant given by the Emperor and made an abrupt decision after a brief hesitation.

And she directly cast mana to connect with the message spell that was linked to the Emperor, sending a report.

The Kurchad Mine was one of the projects that the imperial family was currently focusing on. Especially during this period of intense conflict with the nobility, it was a crucial resource.

“Still, if Your Highness hadn’t awakened, I wouldn’t have let you go with us.”

“Yes.”

Siervian’s face brightened as she realized that this was as good as giving his consent.

As the highest-ranking knights, they quickly took action once the permission from the Tower Lord was obtained. They changed their formation to a position that would make Siervian easier to protect.

‘I must not become a burden.’

Siervian swiftly recalled the magic she had learned so far and prepared herself firmly. At the same time, she tightly grasped the pendant containing defensive magic with one hand.

She was determined that she wouldn’t hinder them in any situation.

“Well then, shall we go?”

They quickened their pace. As they went along, they encountered more traces of monsters. And after a while…

“No…”

“It can’t be…”

They arrived at a place overlooking the mine and were left speechless.

“How can there be so many monsters like that?!”

The path they arrived on was just above a short cliff where the mine was located. Below, a tremendous number of monsters were swarming.

“It’s fortunate that we came this way, Sir Carmel.”

The mine was located inside a basin. One of the small mountains forming the basin had collapsed, creating a steep cliff. And it was on that cliff that the mine had naturally formed, like a cave.

“Hmm, can we really consider this fortunate?”

Monsters continued to flood in like waves through the narrow path leading into the basin.

‘It’s the same as in my previous life.’

Siervian made an effort not to tremble as she bit her lip forcefully.

They had originally planned to follow the path of the monsters, but Sir Carmel had moved them off the trail. As a result, they were able to get a clear view of how many monsters were swarming from above.

“It’s strange to see monsters swarming like this.”

“It’s unnatural.”

The knights spoke in unison to let it be known that the situation was ridiculous.

“It’s more than a pack of werewolves!”

“And there are other smaller monsters in between. It doesn’t make sense for a werewolf to not attack the smaller ones in close proximity.”

Siervian had learned about werewolves from books, but she listened to the knights. It was certainly a lot more information than she could have gotten from a book.

‘But why?’

Originally, it was known as an accident. Count Mirccino, who was in charge of developing this mine, accidently provoked a horde of monsters that had traveled from the North.

‘But Karmen wouldn’t be that careless.’

Even as the knights were discussing, the Tower Lord, who had worn a serious expression all along, deployed communication magic once again. It was to inform the palace of the increasingly dire situation, following the previous report.

Without realizing it, Siervian’s pupils flickered as she tried to discern the Tower Lord’s true intentions.

[Turana Ellison]
Thoughts: It’s dangerous. This is evidence that someone deliberately summoned the monsters.

‘That’s it!’

Even in her previous life, it wasn’t the foolish actions of Count Mirccino that caused this situation. Someone had orchestrated this attack to prevent the Empire from developing this mine.

‘But where is Karmen? Is he okay?’

While Siervian organized her thoughts in shock, one of the knights spoke.

“Look over there for a moment. Aren’t the monsters behaving strangely?”

Reflexively, everyone turned their gaze to where the knight pointed.

The narrow path leading into the basin had been cleared for convenience. It seemed as though the monsters were gathering there as if it were an entrance, and some of the werewolves would viciously rush into the basin before crashing back.

‘There seems to be a pillar of fire?’

In front of the entrance to the mine, there was a semi-circular barrier-like structure.

The Tower Lord, who was carefully examining it, let out a bitter laugh and spoke. “It’s an ambush spell. Karmen must have cast it while taking refuge inside the mine.”

“Ah…!”

That meant that Karmen was still safe. Finally, Siervian’s tension eased a bit, and she observed the chaotic scenery near the mine.

Mining equipment and mercenaries’ belongings were scattered, as if their owners had hastily fled into the mine. At that moment, Sir Carmel, who was looking around, asked anxiously, “Tower Lord, how long do you think this magic will last?”

“It won’t last long. There are too many of them.”

When the Tower Lord looked into the distance, he saw monsters continuously descending from the mountains.

“We need to head inside the mine right away.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to take refuge outside?”

“Werewolves are skilled in climbing mountains.”

“…!”

As soon as Siervian heard that, a chill ran down her spine. When she anxiously looked at the crowd of monsters again, the monsters who had mindlessly rushed forward were now looking around cautiously.

From a human’s perspective, it was an easy path to enter the basin, but not for werewolves.

“They’re coming!”

As soon as she realized that, some of the werewolves began climbing the mountain with strange movements.

“Fly!” With the Tower Lord’s command, the bodies of ten people rose into the air. Then they descended slowly to just below the cliff.

They hadn’t been detected yet, but the basin wasn’t that large.

It was just a matter of time before they met the werewolves trying to enter the basin from beyond the mountain.

[Adante Roid]
Thoughts: It’s my mistake. I should’ve sent the princess back earlier! I must pray for reinforcements to arrive quickly.

As people dropped from the sky, the ominous cries of monsters grew louder. The knights drew their swords and prepared to fight.

“But the barrier….”

“Go inside. We’ll be trapped if we’re surrounded. We can only hold on from the inside.”

In the sudden urgency, the knights hurriedly led Siervian into the cave. But as they were about to enter, Siervian had a passing thought.

‘Did Karmen prepare for this?’

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Siervian instinctively cast light sphere magic and threw it forward. At the same time, she also sent a message using butterfly message magic to Karmen.

“Wait. That disciple must have done something inside……!”

“The mana is moving!” In their haste, the knights who had pushed the princess inside first turned around in confusion.

Mana’s intense energy began to gather, just like a trap had been set up at the entrance of this cave.

Siervian also sensed it keenly. However, on the other hand, she trusted Karmen.

“Your Highness!” At that moment, the overwhelming mana energy suddenly ceased.

The sound of footsteps came from the mine a few times, followed by an unbelievably familiar voice flowing from the inside.

“Siervian? Teacher…?”

—