The Mage Was Gone
Today was already the fourth night since Queen Catherine had left. The sky outside was gloomy, and out in the wilderness, it would not have been an exaggeration to say one could not see their hand in front of their face.
At this hour, although it was already late at night, the fortress council hall in Karyad City was still lit.
The oil lamps hanging on the walls occasionally gave off faint crackling pops as the grease inside burst.
Beside the oil lamp near the window hung a tapestry banner embroidered with Erathia's griffin emblem. No one knew where they had dug up such a flag-shaped tapestry.
At that moment, General Christian, the highest-ranking official in Karyad City and the surrounding region, was pacing back and forth before the long table in the hall.
He walked from the east wall to the west wall, turned around, then walked back from the west wall to the east wall, while the metal boots of his plate armor struck the fortress's stone floor with dull metallic clanks."
Not far in front of him stood a cavalryman covered in dust.
He was none other than the captain of the scout cavalry who had just returned from Teriya, the very unit sent to track down that troublesome little girl mage!
At the moment, his armor was covered in dust, filth, and bloodstains. Some spots had even rusted, as though he had never found the time to maintain or wipe it down.
Likewise, his face was filled with exhaustion.
Not only were his eye sockets sunken, but his beard had grown long as well. Clearly, tracking and pursuing that troublesome little girl mage, then rushing back, had not been easy for them. They might even have run into quite a few battles