Minotaurs are such losers, a long-distance conference

At those words, Gabri fell silent, the look he gave Meyer turning exceptionally complicated.

There was disappointment in his eyes, and confusion.

But more than anything, there was resignation.

In truth, from the moment Meyer chose to lay everything out, he had known that the sage before him—or rather, Faoken, which supported her—intended to make the Bull Clan choose a side.

Yet he could not quite understand what they hoped to achieve.

Faoken was merely an autonomous territory of the Empire. Whether in troop numbers or powerful individuals within its borders, it amounted to a drop in the ocean compared with the Saga Kingdom.

Moreover, he knew all about Faoken's current awkward position within the Empire.

Although the human governor named John Maslow had somehow managed to get Faoken through the initial sanctions arising from the Empire's internal factional struggles.

Ultimately, Faoken simply lacked the resources to help the newly appointed sage reclaim her authority in the face of opposition from the Beastfolk King. Unless, of course, the Empire threw its full support behind the endeavor.

But the increasingly fierce infighting within the Empire ruled out that possibility altogether.

So what exactly was that human governor thinking?

Did he truly intend to help the new sage reclaim her authority?

Or had he only ever regarded the new sage as a pawn?

A pawn to throw the Saga Kingdom into chaos so the Empire could profit?

Gabri did not know Faoken's intentions. But as he looked at Meyer, who was using some sort of spell to communicate over a distance and had even surrendered partial control of her body, he could not help sighing inwardly for this sage who was being "used" without even realizing it.

Gabri had wanted to take Meyer away immediately, lest those wretched humans exploit the new