Before anyone knew it, early August had arrived.
In the second-floor office of the Runes Editorial Department.
Roland sat in a spacious office chair, holding a book as he reclined in the shade of the curtains beside him and read.
Dust motes glittered like tiny grains in the sunlight, outlining its shafts. Amid soft scratching sounds, a magical quill danced like a lively fairy, writing line after line on parchment.
Beside him, the clear tea on the desk gave off a faint warmth. Steam rose from it, soon vanishing into the warm sunlight.
"Roland, you're certainly taking it easy. What are you reading?"
Suddenly, a voice drifted in from outside.
Lie Yi from the Editorial Department walked in as he spoke.
A faint smile touched his face as he teased Roland.
"Nothing much. Just some travel journals by high mages."
Roland closed the book he had been reading and answered with a smile.
"Aren't you supposed to be working too? How do you have time to come over?"
"Working? At a time like this? I've already handed over my duties at the Editorial Department and started preparing to head to the Lainer Kingdom.
"I came to tell you that our departure date has been set: August 15, in the middle of this month.
"The official notice will reach all the mages soon. Those still elsewhere will gradually gather here so we can head to that world together."
"Oh? The date's been decided?" Roland said thoughtfully.
"These things depend on both the Committee's arrangements and the patterns of the plane tides. Those of us here will take a magitech battleship across the Star Sea to the Outer Realm on the far side, where we'll meet up with the others.
"Without the help of special spatial powers, conventional travel might not get