"Then go back and come up with a concrete plan. We'll need more people—several warbands acting together. We also need contingency plans for supplies and retreat, as well as how to make contact with the Resistance Army."
"Why not just bring Nora along?"
"That wouldn't be good. If Nora meets Nora and they merge like terms—I mean, if some kind of Transcendent accident occurs, it'll be a real mess."
Theus thought for a moment and pulled over a sheet of paper. "How about this? I'll write a letter, and Nora can write—uh, sign her name. Then attach a few of her personal belongings. If you take that to the Resistance Army, it should be credible enough."
"Okay, but Nora only has a head left. What personal belongings could she possibly have?"
Theus pictured Nora's immaculate, pure-white hair.
"Forget it. Why don't you go ask Isaac instead?"
"Hasn't he been locked in his room this whole time?"
"All the better. Go give him a little pep talk."
"No problem!" Nini swished her snake tail and rushed out of the room, vanishing in an instant.
Watching her leave, Theus suddenly had a bad feeling.
Isaac, leader of the Ashen Alliance, Castel's intelligence chief stationed abroad, and once the logistics director of Moth Chasing Flame, had now shut himself away in his room with a gloomy expression.
He was a strong man, but he had suffered far too many blows.
He was clearly a Transcendent of two pathways, yet whenever he made a move, the other side completely toyed with him.
Lina, who had toyed with him, had been wounded and driven off by Gwen, an ordinary person.
The injured Lina had then toyed with him when he came to challenge her fully prepared.
After returning to Castel, he had failed to recognize