"Looks like you enjoy being in Exarion", Cale said with relief as he strolled through the city with Fengari. Fengari walked through the city in her human form, holding two meat skewers in her hand and eating them with relish. Every few feet, she discovered something new that she wanted to try.

Cale and the Eldest had a long conversation - the same conversation he had already had with the dragons. This is how the Eldest learned the exact events of Cale's last life and also who exactly Ahri Adenia was.

After all the explanations, the Eldest held his head as if he needed a few minutes to process the information he had just received. After a short pause, the Eldest began his questions, some obvious, such as the outcome of the war, and some personal, such as his behavior toward the dragons. Once they had overcome this hurdle, Cale shared his preliminary plan.

The Eldest was to take care of security in Altona and initiate some of Cale's projects on his own, while Cale would go to Sylve. He planned to infiltrate the royal family, even though he didn't yet know exactly how to do so. His best idea was to enlist as a soldier and simply climb the career ladder. It would probably take several years, but this was the only option he had left.

In the process, they had come to another topic: Karekama.

The Eldest was surprised to learn that Cale was the last owner of Karekama and a sword master. The mere fact that he himself had given him this valuable weapon left him speechless. Even though he trusted Cale, both because of his intuition and his vision... the situation was becoming more and more bizarre.

Knowing that there was someone who could truly travel through time and had been the only one left behind for 300 years made him feel cold. On the one hand, because of the things Cale had experienced and done, and on the other hand, because he would not want to trade places with him under any circumstances. Just the thought of living a life like Cale's, in constant uncertainty, worry, and fear, made him drop all doubts. He had known since their first encounter that Cale was his future, and now that he finally knew who he was and what he did, he felt as if the great chapter of his life had finally begun.

Therefore, the Eldest handed him the legendary sword without question. He then provided Cale with a guest room in the Magistrate before slipping him some money and saying that he would take care of the necessary paperwork.

After that, Cale set off to pick up Fengari and found her eating dozens of chocolate puddings, her whole mouth brown. Rangar said that she had eaten the desserts so quickly that he hadn't even had time to react. For a moment, he seemed concerned that Cale would disapprove of his daughter eating such an abundance of sweets, but Cale just laughed. He grabbed a cloth, wiped Fengari's mouth clean, and cleared away the empty cups before apologizing to Rangar for the inconvenience. Rangar, on the other hand, simply said that he found her presence a nice change of pace, as she was such an energetic child when she came out of her shell.

However, when they distanced themselves afterward and Fengari told them what had happened in the meantime, Cale was no longer so relaxed. He had expected Aaron to want to know who they were, but he hadn't thought he would be so direct. Once again, Cale was grateful that he had planned ahead and come up with a decent story that made sense. He had even discussed the encounter with the Eldest with him, and they agreed that they had met about five years ago during a joint boat trip and had become friends in the days that followed. The Eldest had actually been traveling a lot at that time, so no one could say for sure that this statement was false. And they added another lie to the whole thing.

That Cale had been an informant for the Magistrat for years and was also an experienced swordsman.

"I love it here, can we stay?", Fengari spoke up and swallowed the piece of meat almost in one gulp. She had been eating almost all day, which made Cale wonder if dragons even ate meals. How could Fengari feel such hunger?

"One, maybe two days. After that, we'll go look for Thormod and then go to Sylve."

"That's enough time to try everything here", she exclaimed happily.

"I still need the money, Fengari. Once I start working, I'll buy you a whole supply of sweets."

"Can't you ask the Apostle Raphael Maron to give you more money?"

"I could, yes, but I don't do it for two reasons. First, it would be noticeable if he suddenly gave me large sums of money, and second, it's not right to live off other people's pockets. Raphael is very generous in that regard, but that doesn't mean you have to take advantage of his good nature. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. You should be nice to each other, otherwise those friends might stab you in the back."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"I doubt that would happen with the Eldest, but basically you're right. Just be careful that no one finds out about you, and I can take care of everything else - if necessary."

"So you're my safety net if something goes wrong?"

"Yes - but that doesn't mean you have to provoke it!", Cale replied warningly as Fengari put the last piece of meat in his mouth, took the two sticks in one hand, and handed them to Cale. Without a word, he took them in his hand and discreetly made them disappear before taking Fengari by the hand and walking back to the Magistrat.

The Eldest had also invited Cale to participate in today's discussion. That way, all the High-Magicians would be able to meet him in person and know in future encounters that the Eldest knew him and that they worked together. Although Cale was not 100% convinced by this idea, if problems arose, it would be helpful that the High-Magicians would at least listen to his opinion.

When evening came and the time was right, he left Fengari alone in the apartment and followed some magicians into the Magistrat's meeting room, where a couple of High-Magicians were already present. Rangar was one of them.

"Sir Adenia?", he said, visibly surprised.

"The Eldest is letting him participate in the conversation today. Didn't I tell you that earlier?", Grischa said, rolling his eyes and standing up. He offered Cale a free seat next to him, while a few pairs of eyes were fixed on him.

"It is an honor to meet you, I am Zod Adenia", he greeted his old colleagues with an elegant bow and took the empty seat next to Grischa. Those already present also introduced themselves, even though Cale knew full well how much they disapproved of his presence. It had never happened before that an outsider was allowed to attend a gathering of High-Magicians; even Cale had never witnessed this in his other lives. The other High-Magicians who arrived later seemed just as surprised and dismissive as the rest, but none of them seemed as angry as Aaron.

When Aaron entered the room with the Eldest, Cale could swear he wanted to kill him with his gaze. It was no longer mistrust that Aaron felt toward him. The High-Magician did not seem to support his presence and relationship with the Eldest in any way - he seemed to truly hate it. In the past, Cale would not have been able to interpret this neutral expression, but his eyes and, above all, his mana seemed unable to hide this anger.

"I see you are all already present. Well, then, I will begin with the obvious. I would like to introduce someone to you", the Eldest announced calmly, while the rest of the high magicians watched sullenly as Cale stood up. "This is Zod Adenia."

"Nice to meet you", Cale said simply, as he had already introduced himself to many of them. It seemed a little inappropriate to him to have to introduce himself a second or even a third time.

"He is a talented swordsman who works with information and has spent much of his life in the creature planes. I have known him for a few years and thought it was time to introduce him officially. You will certainly be meeting him often", the Eldest explained calmly. "Sir Adenia will only remain present when the topic of Groka is discussed."

At this statement, the first of them relaxed, while Cale sat down and smiled politely. He fixed his eyes on the Eldest, even though he could see Aaron glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. As usual, Cale remained calm, and both his posture and his face showed no emotion, except for his eyes.

<No wonder Fengari said he was a strange man. Why is he acting like this?>

"Well then, let's start with Groka. Two days ago, on the afternoon of Spring 25, the village of Groka was attacked by a wave of creatures. Where these creatures came from is unknown, as is why they attacked the village. It is suspected that their proximity to the mountains made them an unintended target, but there is currently no evidence to support this. During the attack, two unknown magicians were spotted who were able to prevent the attack and avert greater damage. The identity of these magicians is still unknown, so the royal family asked us if they were magicians from the Magistrat. We are currently still searching for them, but it seems likely that these mages want to keep their identities secret", the Eldest explained matter-of-factly, gesturing as if he were giving a speech to hundreds of thousands of people. "As things stand, 214 people have died in the attack and a handful are missing or presumed dead. The number of creatures sighted by the soldiers is in the five-digit range."

"So many creatures outside the planes? The humans were really lucky", Joshua commented a moment after the Eldest paused for breath.

"Absolutely, yes. I agree", confirmed the Eldest. "Aaron, please give Zod the documents."

Without comment, the 3rd Seat placed a thin folder with many pages on the table before sliding it toward Cale. Cale took the documents and let his eyes read the lines of text, which were descriptions of the creatures. Many of them were only mentioned briefly, but Cale had now witnessed this attack seven times, so he could identify the creatures without any problems.

"Zod, you know that these are documents from the Magistrat. The information must remain confidential", the Eldest quickly added, so Cale looked up briefly and nodded politely.

"Of course."

"Good. Sylve is currently still assessing the extent of the attack, but they assume that it was a one-time situation. I don't share that opinion, but we will not interfere in the kingdom's politics. However, I want to make sure that something like this could also happen in Altona."

"Do you want to introduce border controls?", Nora asked, taken aback.

"That would be one option, yes. I have some plans in mind that I would like to discuss with you, both regarding the safety of our people and our cooperation with Sylve. The sooner we can detect such an attack, the better it is for the people."

There was a murmur of agreement as Cale's attention turned to the notes from Groka. It was the first time he had ever read the official report about his homeland, and he wondered what it must have looked like in his other lives. Since all the inhabitants had been killed, it was impossible for so many descriptions of the creatures to have been received. Presumably, therefore, the Magistrat only had the official figures at his disposal.

In particular, the information that there was only one survivor.

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