The light in the valley soon grew bright and abundant, like a stretch of emerald wilderness. Brando narrowed his eyes as he admired the beautiful scene, answering Chiara's questions about Spellweavers in an absentminded fashion. Of course, most of those questions skirted the secrets Brando was unwilling to mention—secrets that belonged to him alone—but they were still more than enough to outline the mysterious and rich image of a Spellweaver in a young girl's heart.
While Chiara was not paying attention, Brando quietly incorporated Mount of All Saints into his Spellweaver world. The snow-covered sacred mountain stood right beside Storm's Nest, its pale-blue ridgeline drawn across the horizon of the Gemstone Plains.
About half an hour later, the scouts finally returned with news from outside—
There were no Jorgendigon residents outside the valley, but a small number of Cave Dwellers had stationed themselves on the plains. They did not seem to be Jorgendigon's frontline troops; rather, they looked like garrison forces with poor combat ability. Upon hearing this, Brando finally relaxed completely. This showed that Jorgendigon's main force had indeed gone to Yasa, while the remaining old, weak, sick, and wounded were merely there to prevent the defenders of Rune Port from causing trouble. But it was obvious that such a thing was impossible. Within the Empire's heartland, aside from nobles' private troops and knights, the guards of these cities possessed no combat ability at all.
Besides that, Rogers and the others had brought back another piece of good news:
They had gotten in touch with the defenders of Rune Port.
Rune Port—
The largest port south of the High Seas and the New Pearl of the Sea. The port was most famous for the enormous white towers lining its bay. These towers were relics left over from before