Snap.
It was the sound of dry leaves being crushed underfoot.
On the silent wasteland, it sounded exceptionally harsh.
“Keep your voice down!”
A young man's voice was pressed extremely low, carrying suppressed nervousness.
“Don't make so much noise! If you draw the demons over, everyone is done for!”
The girl who had stepped on the leaves retorted unyieldingly.
“There are dry leaves everywhere here. Where am I supposed to step?”
“Be quiet.”
The oldest mage spoke in a cold voice.
His mage robes were adorned with two silver stars; he was the only High-tier Transcendent in this group.
“My concealment magic cannot block sound. If you don't want to feed the demons, shut your mouths.”
The girl lowered her head and whispered a reply.
“I'm very sorry, Mr. O'Brien.”
O'Brien nodded and withdrew his gaze.
He looked at the group of young Ross family descendants around him and sighed silently.
Among them were students wearing magic academy uniforms.
There were young people who had graduated from the academy only a few years ago.
Some were those whose names he could call out, while others were those he couldn't.
Dozens of young faces all bore the same anxiety in the cold wind of the wasteland.
“Since we've all come this far...”
He spoke, his voice somewhat gentler than before.
“Let us survive together and make it back alive.”
In the corner, the young man who had lost his temper earlier couldn't help muttering softly.
“What if we make it back alive?”
“If we can't complete the family's mission...”
He covered his face, desperation seeping into his voice.
“We might even be expelled from the family and become those lowly wandering mages.”
Beside him, an even younger boy couldn't help but say:
“At least... we're still alive.”
“Becoming a wandering mage isn't so bad either.”
The young man suddenly became agitated and grabbed the collar of the boy's student uniform.
“Have you not seen what happens to those lowborn wandering mages in the academy?!”
“So what if someone is a born high-mana genius?! Aren't they still mocked and ridiculed every day?!”
“Like rats crossing the street!”
“I said quiet!!”
O'Brien growled low.
He enunciated the young man's full name word by word.
“Kyle Ross. If you don't want to die, shut your mouth.”
The young man named Kyle was struck speechless.
He released his grip on the boy's collar and lowered his head.
O'Brien looked at him and sighed again.
At this moment, a voice sounded.
“Lord O'Brien.”
It was a girl.
She stood at the edge of the group, wearing a dark travel cloak.
The cloak was somewhat old, its edges frayed.
Her messy black hair was neatly tied into a low ponytail resting beside her shoulder.
Yet even such meticulous attire failed to make her stand out.
There was an extremely faint, almost transparent presence around her.
Like a fallen leaf resting on the water's surface.
Quiet, making no sound.
Always liable to be overlooked.
Her eyes quietly looked at O'Brien.
There was no anxiety, fear, or extra emotion in her gaze.
“Your concealment magic has become unstable.”
She spoke, her voice flat.
“It's time to swap shifts.”
When O'Brien looked at her, his gaze lingered for a moment longer.
This girl was the strongest person in this group besides himself.
Low-tier Transcendent.
If he remembered correctly,
she was in the same grade as Josephine Ross, the girl who had just apologized to him.
She had just turned eighteen this year.
O'Brien was thirty-eight this year, and he had been thirty-one when he broke through to Low-tier Transcendent.
An eighteen-year-old Low-tier Transcendent mage.
He didn't understand.
At this age and with this strength, she clearly should have been a high-profile genius.
Why was it that he only learned the Ross family had such a descendant on the day the group assembled?
He nodded, took a step back, and gave up the center position of the group.
The girl stepped forward and stood still.
Closing her eyes, she began to chant.
Incantations flowed from between her lips, long and intricate.
Every syllable was pronounced with extreme precision, every pause perfectly placed.
A thin curtain of light spread out from around her.
Faintly blue, carrying extremely subtle ripples.
Enveloping the entire group within it.
The light curtain was slightly weaker and more transparent than the one O'Brien had cast earlier.
Yet it was very stable, showing no sign of flickering.
The girl opened her eyes.
Those black eyes calmly scanned the surrounding wasteland.
“It's done.”
The group continued forward.
Advancing slowly toward the depths of the Withered Wood Wasteland.
Within the group, Kyle looked at the girl's back and couldn't help taking a few steps forward to Josephine's side.
“Who is she?”
He lowered his voice.
“I know almost everyone in the Ross family, but she's the only one I've never seen.”
Even though they had just argued, Josephine didn't show much displeasure.
After being shoved into this dangerous mission, none of the Ross descendants felt good inside.
In the family, being an illegitimate child brought them cold glares at most,
as well as mockery and bullying from descendants of legitimate bloodlines.
Whereas here, they might die.
The long trek after leaving the Magic City for the first time had also worn down all their spirits.
Every one of them was like a powder keg right now.
Even though they had disliked each other back in the family,
Josephine actually felt a sense of shared misery toward Kyle.
Josephine raised her head, looking at the girl who had unknowingly walked ahead.
“It's normal that you don't know her.”
“Didn't you see her hair and eye color?”
Kyle froze, then suddenly realized something.
“Could it be that she is—”
Josephine sneered, her laugh carrying mockery.
“Strictly speaking, she is the only legitimate bloodline among us.”
“She even has the right to inherit the headship of the family.”
She paused.
“Regrettably, her mother belonged to the Ashley family.”
“The Ross family has kept her strictly hidden out of fear of being implicated.”
“And now—the family has a sufficiently legitimate, non-humiliating reason to remove this stain.”
Josephine's voice was not deliberately lowered.
Almost the entire group could hear it.
O'Brien was stunned; looking at the girl's hair color, he instantly understood.
The girl's footsteps paused.
She turned her head back.
Black eyes looked over.
Josephine's expression instantly stiffened, and she subconsciously took half a step back.
Yet she still forced herself to lift her chin.
“W-What? What I said isn't wrong.”
The girl didn't respond to her.
Her gaze moved away from Josephine's face and swept over the surrounding wasteland.
As if searching for something.
Then, she raised her head.
Looking toward the sky.
Her brows furrowed slightly, a subtle trace of doubt flashing in her black eyes.
The girl's strange action raised everyone's vigilance.
O'Brien subconsciously tightened his grip on his staff.
“What is it? Are there demons?”
The girl did not answer.
She merely stared at that empty sky for a long while.
Then she gave up, lowered her head, and looked at Josephine.
After a single glance, she silently turned back around.
Continuing to lead the way while maintaining the concealment magic.
Rate on N.U.
