Chapter 487

Viola couldn’t help but keep frowning as the convoy rolled forward.

They were traveling in one of Ludger’s runic carriages, another one built around an engine he’d brought from Linne and Dalan, but this one was on an entirely different scale. Bigger. Wider. Reinforced on every side. The interior alone was large enough to hold several squads comfortably, with space left over for equipment and supplies.

It must have cost a fortune. And yet, that wasn’t what bothered her.

What bothered her was what came

after

it.

Carriage after carriage was linked behind the lead vehicle, heavy chains and reinforced couplings rattling as they moved. Dozens of them. A moving column stretching far longer than any normal expedition had any right to be.

Inside those trailing carriages were fifty recruits and a full hundred trainees.

Kids.

Well-trained kids, but still kids.

Viola leaned slightly toward the window, counting again just to make sure she hadn’t misjudged. No, it was real. One hundred and fifty people being hauled across the land in what was essentially a mobile training formation.

The runic engine beneath them throbbed with steady power, its core housing glowing faintly as it consumed mana cores at a relentless pace. The thing was

drinking

them, burning through fuel to keep the entire mass moving at a consistent speed without slowing under the load.

Any other leader would have winced at the cost.

Ludger didn’t even glance back.

He sat in the driver’s seat at the front, posture relaxed, one hand loosely controlling the carriage while the other was extended downward, palm open toward the road ahead. Mana flowed from him in controlled waves as his geomancy reshaped the ground on the fly.

Ruts flattened. Stones sank into the earth. Uneven stretches smoothed out seconds before the wheels reached them.

The road wasn’t just passable, it was comfortable.

The entire convoy moved as if it were gliding over prepared stonework instead of rough terrain, the usual jolts and strain reduced to little more than a gentle sway.

Viola stared at him for a moment, incredulous.

He was driving one-handed. Rewriting the road with the other.

And casually burning resources that could bankrupt smaller guilds just to save time and fatigue.

Her frown deepened, not from fear, but from the dawning realization of just how far Ludger had already gone past normal standards. This wasn’t an expedition scraping by on efficiency.

It was momentum made physical. If anyone tried to stop this convoy, they wouldn’t just be facing fighters.

They’d be trying to halt a moving system, one powered by mana, planning, and a boy who clearly had no intention of slowing down for anyone.

Viola watched the line of carriages stretch out behind them and finally shook her head.

“This looks like a small army moving to war,” she said flatly. “Weren’t we supposed to be moving quietly? We’re looking for Lucius, not announcing ourselves to half the continent.”

Ludger didn’t even glance at her.

“We’re heading south for a summer camp,” he replied calmly.

Viola turned toward him, incredulous. “A… what?”

“A summer camp,” Ludger repeated. “Training excursion. Everyone knows about it. I made sure of that.”

He adjusted the carriage slightly with one hand while the other continued smoothing the road ahead, his tone as casual as if they were discussing the weather.

“I spread the news over the last three days. Recruits. Trainees. Field experience. Outdoor drills. Nothing unusual.”

Viola stared at him.

“That’s why we’re moving such a large group,” he finished.

She understood immediately, and grimaced.

“So that’s the cover,” she said. “It’s an excuse.”

“Yes.”

“And not a very subtle one.”

“No.”

That answer earned him another long look.

It didn’t

feel

like a good excuse. A hundred and fifty people didn’t quietly disappear into the countryside, and anyone paying real attention would know this wasn’t just a recreational outing. Still, the explanation was mundane enough that it discouraged deeper questions. Camps were boring. Training trips were common. Most people stopped thinking once they had a label.

Viola sighed and leaned back in her seat.

“Two days,” she muttered. “At least we’ll reach the coast in two days.”

She looked out the window, jaw tightening.

It had already been more than two weeks since Lucius vanished. Too long. Far too long for comfort. Every extra day narrowed the margin for finding him alive, or finding him at all.

Still, speed mattered. And for all her doubts, Viola had to admit one thing.

Whatever this looked like from the outside, Ludger wasn’t wasting time. If Lucius was anywhere near the coast, they would be there soon. And when they arrived… Whatever game Ludger was playing would finally begin in earnest.

Moving through the underground tunnels would have been faster.

Ludger knew that. Viola knew it too.

But not

that

much faster, not with a group this size. A hundred and fifty people couldn’t flow through those passages without bottlenecks, delays, and risks piling up. And speed wasn’t the only consideration. There was the matter of secrecy.

Ludger wasn’t ready to reveal the tunnels to the recruits. Not yet. And definitely not to the trainees. Information like that didn’t scale well. Once too many people knew, it stopped being a secret and started becoming a liability. Keeping stories straight afterward, who knew what, who saw which entrance, would be a nightmare.

No.

For now, only veterans and those already proven trustworthy would know the tunnels existed at all. That kind of knowledge had to remain layered, controlled, and earned.

Viola glanced around the interior of the lead carriage.

The three beastmen sat calmly inside, Harkun, Ragan, and Sivra, quiet, observant, their presence solid and contained. When her eyes lingered on them, they nodded back slightly, acknowledging the unspoken understanding.

She turned her gaze toward the back of the formation. Beyond the long line of linked carriages, one stood out immediately. Raukor’s.

Calling it a carriage was generous, it was a moving forge. Reinforced walls, open vents, heavy framework designed to absorb heat and vibration. Even now, smoke curled lazily from its vents as the convoy rolled forward.

He was still working. Forging while moving. Or at least trying to. Viola watched the thin trail of smoke for a few seconds, then shook her head slightly.

A summer camp cover story. A small army of youths. A moving forge. Beastmen allies. An ocean labyrinth. And a missing person…

She couldn’t help but think that this was one hell of a strange expedition, half training exercise, half resource grab, half quiet search operation. And somehow, all of it made sense in Ludger’s hands.

Weird. Dangerous. Carefully layered. Viola leaned back in her seat, eyes following the road as it smoothed itself under Ludger’s geomancy.

Whatever this was, it certainly wasn’t a normal rescue mission… And something told her it wouldn’t stay simple for long.

After a full day of travel, Viola finally ran out of patience.

She’d been watching Ludger work in near silence, inscribing runes, checking enchantments, making small adjustments as if this were just another extended training march. But the questions had been piling up, and eventually she leaned forward, arms crossed.

“How are you actually planning to do all of this?” she asked. “Find Lucius, prepare a crew,

and

secure the resources from another ocean labyrinth. You can’t just—”

Ludger finished inscribing the last line of a rune on a bracer before responding. The mana settled cleanly into place, and he set the piece aside with practiced care. Then he rolled his neck once, stretching as if he’d just woken up from a nap rather than spent hours working.

“I’ll start simple,” he said.

Viola blinked. “That didn’t sound simple.”

He continued anyway.

“I’ll use Seismic Sense in the towns and villages along the coast,” Ludger explained. “People move differently when something’s wrong. Routes change. Foot traffic disappears. New patterns show up where they shouldn’t.”

He glanced at her. “Missing people leave gaps. Crimes creates pressure points. I’ll look for irregularities.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Viola asked.

Ludger didn’t hesitate.

“Then I’ll shake down the bandits and underworld guilds in the area.”

Viola’s eyebrows shot up. “…Shake down?”

“Yes,” he said calmly. “Shake down.”

She stared at him for a moment, then let out a long sigh and leaned back in her seat.

“It’s kind of amazing,” she muttered, “how little you care about making enemies left and right.”

Ludger shrugged.

“People like that are already my enemies,” he replied. “They just don’t know it yet.”

Viola closed her eyes for a second, rubbing her temple.

She wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned.

Probably both.

A day later, when the air began to change, the kids noticed first.

A faint sharpness crept into the breeze, salt, moisture, something vast and unfamiliar. Whispers spread through the carriages, excitement bubbling up as realization hit. Most of them had grown up far inland. The ocean was something from stories, not memory.

By the time the scent grew unmistakable, the mood shifted completely.

When the first glimpse of water appeared between low hills and distant rooftops, the convoy erupted. Voices rose. Laughter spilled out. Some leaned out of windows just to make sure it was real. The endless blue stretched farther than any field or wall they’d ever seen, and for a moment, discipline cracked under sheer awe.

Then it stopped.

Not because Ludger said anything.

Because they saw him.

He had already gone still, posture straight, eyes fixed ahead, not on the sea itself, but on the land around it. Roads. Buildings. Elevation changes. The subtle way traffic curved away from certain streets. How close people walked to one another. Where they didn’t.

The excitement faded into uneasy silence as the recruits and trainees realized this wasn’t a sightseeing trip.

This was assessment. The beastmen noticed it too.

Harkun stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Do you want our help?” he asked. “Looking for the missing one.”

Ragan and Sivra shifted subtly, ready to fan out, to listen, to hunt in their own way.

Ludger didn’t answer. Not immediately.

His senses were already spreading outward, touching stone and soil, counting footsteps, weighing absence as carefully as presence. Towns near ports always looked alive, but sometimes life moved

around

something instead of through it.

He remained silent, focused, as the convoy rolled closer to the coast.

If Lucius had passed through here—

Ludger intended to feel it.

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