Resolve

The fire in the fireplace dimmed a little, and the orange-red light flickered gently on Fern's face.

She paused for a moment, then gently tapped the inside of the glass with her fingers, producing a soft sound.

"So, Lady Lowell," she spoke again, her voice clear in the quiet room, "Are you here to help Mr. Duncan defeat Macht?"

She raised her eyes, her pale purple pupils looking at Lowell.

"As for lifting the curse, how about we go to Lord Heiter? He might have a solution."

Lowell shook his head.

"No, Fern."

He paused, as if choosing the right words.

"First of all, Heiter cannot break the curse. He had witnessed the 'Diagoldze' magic shortly after Weise was transformed. Even he is powerless to change it."

Fern's eyelashes drooped slightly.

"And defeating Macht..." Lowell continued, his gaze drifting to the deep night outside the window, "Fern, do you think Duncan... would be willing to let me take his place?"

Fern thought for a moment.

"Hmm," she said softly, "Although Mr. Duncan seems to be a very proud man, after all, he rose from the army to become Court Mage on his own... but he is deeply in love with Lady Lektüre, and defeating Macht would greatly increase the chances of rescuing Lektüre. So, Mr. Duncan should be willing, right?"

Lowell nodded.

"Fern, you've really matured to be able to notice this."

He picked up an empty ceramic cup from the wooden table next to him, twirled it in his hand, and then put it down.

"Then, another question."

He looked at Fern, his dark eyes appearing calm in the firelight.

Do you think Duncan wants me to take the shot?

"?"

Fern tilted his head slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

"... What's the difference, Lord Lowell?"

"There is a difference," Lowell said, "And a significant one."

He leaned back, and the wooden chair creaked slightly.

"Duncan... he had a 'shortcut' to take. How was Macht sealed? He was sealed by several First-Class Mages working together. That barrier combined more than five high-level barrier magics to restrain this strongest of the Seven Sages of Destruction."

"But if Macht goes all out, those people won't have a chance to create a barrier. First-Class Mages and such... are no different from grunts in front of Macht. The one who faced Macht head-on back then was Serie."

"And Serie certainly has the ability to kill Macht."

"So," Lowell continued, his voice steady, "Why didn't Serie kill Macht? It wasn't that she didn't want to. She was already completely determined to kill Macht. But Lairen stopped her."

The reason is that "Macht, even when threatened with his life by Serie, still refused to voluntarily undo Weise's Goldification, proving that he himself was unable to undo the magic of Diagoldze. And if Macht dies, humanity may never be able to break the magic of turning Diagoldze again."

"That statement makes some sense, but it's not the whole story. Serie doted on her apprentice, so in the end, the First-Class Mages sealed Macht away and didn't do anything more."

He raised his hand and pointed out the window towards the Golden Land.

"So, what does Duncan really want? Is it to kill Macht? If that's all he wants, he could just ask Macht for Serie. Given a way out, Serie would never pass up an opportunity to fight a strong opponent."

"But he deliberately chose the long way and came here on his own. He said he wanted to retire here... He probably really lied to himself, deceiving himself into thinking he was a heartless person, wanting to see his hometown, forget everything from before, and end his remaining years... Ha, self-deception... How could that be?"

"A few days ago, he specifically sought out Serie and asked her to 'transfer' the 'anti-magic' spell he used to specifically counter Macht. It was all in preparation for a battle with Macht."

Lowell's voice lowered.

"He has his pride. It's not that he disdains seeking help, but... he wants to complete this redemption himself in his own way. He hopes to observe and understand through the battle against Macht... trying to find that sliver of possibility of breaking free from the Goldification."

"But what if I intervene?"

He looked at Fern.

"I can easily subdue Macht. Once I subdue him, there will naturally be a chance to find a way to undo it. Just because I cannot break 'Diagoldze' doesn't mean that the combined wisdom of countless magicians will never be able to break it."

"Think about it again, given these considerations."

Lowell said, word by word.

"He had the ability to take shortcuts, easily dealing with Macht with my help... but he chose the thorny path—to confront Macht alone. Why?"

Fern didn't speak.

She lowered her head, looking at the flickering firelight reflected on the surface of the water in the cup. Her pale purple eyelashes cast two quiet shadows beneath her eyelids.

After a long while, she finally spoke softly.

"Hmm... pride?"

"You're half right," Lowell said. "On one hand, there's pride. On the other hand, Macht is his teacher."

"Macht saved Weise countless times. His feelings for Macht were complex. Defeating Macht through the hands of others... was extremely difficult for him to accept."

"Secondly, it's not pride, nor is it."

He shook his head.

His parents were killed by Demons. His grandfather died in a political struggle. To fight against the Demons, he became an apprentice of Macht and eventually became a powerful mage. In order not to lose in the political struggle, he became the Court Mage, second only to the emperor.

"But his lover, his father-in-law, and his hometown were forever turned into gold."

Lowell's voice was as clear as a pebble falling on ice in the quiet room.

"As I said, he gained everything and lost everything. The 'everything' he gained was everything he had always thought he wanted since he was young; and what he lost was everything he now realizes he should have cherished."

"This is a wound in the heart of a strong man that can never heal. He chose a way that was almost self-punishing to respond to this regret. All his previous cunning and lust for power ultimately came down to this extremely personal, even somewhat stubborn, obsession."

He paused briefly, then looked at Fern.

I cannot break a man's resolve.

Inside the fireplace, the last piece of firewood cracked, scattering a few tiny sparks, before quickly extinguishing the flames.

"So, back to the original question," Lowell said, "Is he willing to let me handle it? He is. Because with my intervention, the success rate is highest, and I'm most likely to restore everything. So he's willing."

"And does he want that?"

Lowell exhaled softly, the breath condensing into a small wisp of white mist in the increasingly chilly air before dissipating.

He doesn't want that.

"Because what he hoped for was to save Weise and his lover with his own hands. He had the look in his eyes that threatened to die, but even more so... the look that yearned for victory."

"When Frieren asked Duncan if she wanted my help to defeat Macht... I stopped her. It was because Duncan was silent. Why was he silent?"

"Because he was afraid he would agree, afraid he would nod, afraid that all his preparations would be crushed by the imminent and easy victory, afraid that he would abandon what he had pursued for most of his life and completely throw away his pride in order to save his wife and his hometown."

He looked at Fern, his dark eyes reflecting the last embers of the dying fire, his tone calm yet heavy.

"Duncan is certainly not a truly good person. In political struggles, dirty tricks are inevitable, and his hands have long been stained with blood. But the world is not black and white, and an ideal political system has never existed."

"Duncan, you call him a cunning and calculating manipulator? Yes. You call him a romantic martyr? Yes."

"A concealed brilliance, a deep, still pool. The Duncan of the past, in my heart, was like a person named ' Xiao Yan '—'A young man in thin spring clothes, riding a spirited horse across mountains and rivers,' 'A young man with a sword, to prove his freedom between heaven and earth.' But now, he is 'Snow-covered in green robes at dusk, walking alone to knock on the gates of heaven,' 'An old man with a cane, to fulfill the old promise in his heart.'"

"He is prepared, even when facing the 'peak that no human can reach'— Macht, the leader of the 'Seven Sages of Destruction'... Carrying the burden of his lover and his hometown, Duncan will never lose."