Space Express, the Befuddled Hildegard

The higher one climbed, the smaller the circle became. That was inevitable.

The pyramid structure of human civilization meant true equality did not exist.

As long as the Legendary Space Mage Ophelia was alive, as long as he remained a Legendary Mage, he would never leave this circle at the pinnacle of humanity.

Space Magic could be called the most terrifying power.

And this mage, who had accepted the Empire's recruitment, was now in the Northlands. Since he had become an Imperial retainer, Ophelia still needed to produce some results.

He was constructing a spatial passageway that could, when necessary, transport and redistribute supplies within the Empire. If he succeeded, his position within the Empire would not be awkward simply because he was new here. He would become an honored guest of every noble.

That was the benefit brought by Space Magic.

Anselmo had agreed to introduce Ryan to Ophelia. In truth, he probably had profit in mind as well.

No one knew what such routes suspended in the void truly looked like, or whether they would resemble the roads stretching across the land.

And Grand Duke Russell's family was now plotting revenge against the Church of Dawn. They needed metal equipment and tools from Northwind Province, but did not want to make it obvious. That meant they wanted to use the power of space to move them without anyone noticing.

On the surface, they wanted to open a spatial passage from Hot Spring Province to Northwind Province this time. In reality, it was to ensure that, in the future, wealth from Northwind Province could be secretly transported to the territory controlled by Grand Duke Russell.

It was a win-win arrangement, once again making Ryan and Russell a community of shared interests.

Three days later, at dawn, Ryan met that