Where... is this?

Leon gazed up at the towering dome above his head.

He found himself within a splendidly ornate palace. Exquisite carvings and tapestries adorned the columns and walls, but when he tried to look farther into the distance, an impenetrable white mist blocked his sight.

An unknown impulse made him look forward again. Between the halls was a staircase leading upward, and at the end of the staircase stood a majestic throne.

Leon slowly lifted his foot and ascended the steps, one after another.

He walked for a long time, but the throne remained ever out of reach.

"This is not where you should be yet. Go back."

A voice—very familiar.

Darkness descended immediately.

......

When he groggily awoke, the first thing Leon saw was a rugged rock wall. Shadows cast by the flickering firelight danced unsteadily upon the stone, swaying with the wind.

It seemed to be a natural cave nestled between mountain crevices. He could hear the sound of wind and rain outside the cave, and he felt a momentary confusion.

Am I transmigrated again? Leon was startled for a moment, but as his sleep-induced confusion gradually faded, he remembered everything that had happened before.

He recalled that after his hand had shot out that flash of light, severely injuring the mercenary, he had unexpectedly lost all strength and consciousness. So now... Leon moved his somewhat stiff neck and turned his head to look beside him.

In his field of vision appeared the figures of his companions, which calmed him slightly.

Next to a simple campfire surrounded by stones, Azerion was lying on his side not far away, sleeping soundly with his head resting on a shield and holding a sheathed long dagger.

At the entrance of the cave stood Lohak, bare-chested under a chainmail shirt. He wore an iron helmet and held the one-handed sword that had belonged to the dead mercenary. Gazing out at the thunderstorm raging in the pouring rain outside, he was probably standing guard.

Rain was pouring heavily outside. Leon didn't know the time; seeing only the dark, gloomy world without any light, he guessed it was night.

Supporting himself on the ground, he sat up straight. Although he still felt somewhat fatigued, at least his body was fine.

Hearing the sound of him getting up, Lohak looked over. Seeing that the companion he was most worried about had finally awakened, he sighed in relief. "You're awake."

"How long was I unconscious? Where are we?" Leon sat cross-legged, taking off the thick gambeson someone had draped over him. He raised his hand to rub his temples to relieve the dizziness. Without the shackles binding his hands, every movement felt incredibly comfortable—the feeling of freedom was wonderful.

"You've been asleep for almost a full day. As for where we are, you probably don't mean this small cave, right? Azerion says we should be in Marmore County of Kantadar," Lohak replied, glancing at the other companion sleeping soundly beside the campfire.

"Marmore County?" Well, that was as good as not asking. The original owner of Leon's body had never left his hometown since birth. Let alone any geographical knowledge of the enemy country Kantadar—even within the Therian Kingdom, except for knowing the route from his home settlement to the Holy City, he had no idea about the locations of other regions.

Oh... perhaps not entirely clueless. At least he knew that the invading Kantadar Kingdom was to the west of the Therian Kingdom. It seemed that in his memories, he had heard from traveling merchants that there was an even more powerful Aurand Kingdom to the north. But that country had a good relationship with Therian, unlike the aggressive Kantadar.

"Is there any water or food?" Leon asked.

"Yes, we have some food left." As he spoke, Lohak got up and took out a water flask and some dry bread from a nearby torn cloth bundle, handing them over.

Obviously, these things had originally belonged to the Kantadar mercenary they had killed.

"What happened after I passed out?" Leon asked Lohak as he ate.

"...We killed that guy, then stripped him and dragged him into the woods to bury him..." Lohak briefly recounted what happened after Leon lost consciousness.

"You handled it cleanly—good that you didn't leave the body on the road. That muddy path was a trampled trail, full of footprints and hoof marks, likely a route mercenaries often use. If the body were discovered too soon, someone might start tracking us," Leon nodded.

"Uh, well, it was mainly Azerion who suggested it. My brain isn't that sharp," Lohak scratched his head awkwardly.

To be honest, at that time I just wanted to carry you away as quickly as possible. I didn't expect Azerion not only didn't rush to leave but even took the time to cover the blood-stained muddy ground with some dirt.

Anxious to leave quickly, he and Azerion had a bit of a dispute. After all, without proper tools, digging a hole big enough to bury the body was extremely difficult.

"Thank you for not abandoning me as a burden," Leon said gratefully.

"Not at all. We survived thanks to you; how could we leave you behind and escape alone?" Lohak shook his head. Thinking of your miraculous actions that day, I still find it incredible.

The youth's eyes sparkled with curiosity. Tentatively, he asked Leon, "By the way, that day... what was that? In a whoosh, I just saw a flash of light break that Kantadar bastard's arm."

He stammered a bit; with his limited vocabulary, the boy didn't know how to describe the light arrow he saw. He could only lift his right arm, showing the chainmail sleeve missing a segment, exclaiming, "That was amazing! You even pierced through armor. Is that sorcery?"

Leon smiled wryly and shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it either. I heard a voice—you can consider it a miracle blessed by the gods. After all, I'm not sure if I can do it again."

He remembered that mysterious voice had said there was only one chance. Though Leon didn't understand how the spell worked, he didn't think he could conjure that light arrow out of thin air just by making some simple gestures.

Recalling the sudden pain of his blood boiling when he released the light arrow, Leon thought that at most he had acted as a "launching platform"; the one who truly released the spell... was not himself.

Looking back, the power of that luminous arrow had indeed left a deep impression on him. With one shot, it completely blasted through the mercenary's arm, chainmail, and thick padding. Perhaps even some small-caliber bullets from his previous world couldn't sever a limb so easily and cleanly with one shot.

But the cost also exceeded expectations. Leon hadn't anticipated that releasing the light arrow would cause him to faint.

He looked at the torrential rain outside the cave, illuminated by flashes of lightning. If these two boys had been cruel and fled, leaving him unconscious in the woods at the mercy of fate, even if he wasn't captured by mercenaries again, he might have become a natural gift to some wild beast during his unconsciousness, or simply died of exposure in the pouring rain.

"Miracle? Voice?" Lohak was stunned for a moment and didn't continue to inquire. Such power beyond understanding was hard to grasp. Since his companion attributed it to a miracle, he could only assume that the Holy Sol and the Holy Prophet had manifested. "By Ilariel, it seems the great Holy Sun hasn't abandoned us. If we can return to Therian in the future, Leon, you might become a priest of the Church."

Viewing the power that saved them as a blessing of faith, the youth felt a long-missed sense of excitement.

After hearing the youth's words, Leon was happy to let it go without further explanation. As a soul from the modern world, he naturally had no particular stance on the Holy Sun and Holy Prophet worshipped in the Therian Kingdom, but it was a fact that he had been saved by an incomprehensible power.

As for that mysterious voice that he couldn't get a response from, he felt grateful. Besides, what if it really was a manifestation of a deity? Given that even the unbelievably absurd event of transmigrating had happened to him, who could say whether there were real gods in this strange new world?

"What should we do next? Do you have any ideas?" Leon washed down the dry bread—only slightly easier to swallow than what we'd eaten in the cage earlier—with some clear water and asked Lohak in front of him.

"I want to rescue my sister," Lohak said firmly without hesitation.

"You're going to look for her now?" Leon felt helpless at the boy's rashness.

"Of course! I can't let her fall into the hands of those Kantadar bastards. Those damned scum aren't even human! What if my sister is..." Lohak's eyes suddenly reddened. He couldn't help but recall his family being brutally murdered by mercenaries on the day the city fell, his voice growing more and more gritted with hatred.

"Do you know where she is?" Leon retorted. "Without knowing her location and having no place to stay, how do you plan to find her?"

"I... I..." Lohak's brow gradually furrowed, not knowing how to answer.

"Alright, brother, let me ask another question: Do you speak the language used by the Kantadars?" Leon asked very practically.

Lohak opened his mouth but was speechless; his expression was unwilling yet helpless.

"I understand how you feel," Leon sighed sympathetically. He wasn't just speaking empty words; after all, I also have the deep memory of the previous body's parents dying tragically. However, if the motivation of hatred and anger isn't released in the right direction, it's meaningless.

"We're still on enemy territory, and neither of us can speak the Kantadars' language. We can't disguise ourselves as locals. The moment we come into contact with outsiders, we could be arrested by soldiers again—or even face punishment." Leon looked at Lohak's tense expression and sighed. "Besides, even if you knew where your sister was sold to, you couldn't rescue her alone. The one who bought your sister didn't look like a commoner. Even if I wanted to help you, I'd be powerless."

"He's right," another voice suddenly interjected.

Leon and Lohak looked over at Azerion by the campfire. The fair-skinned youth had long been awakened by their conversation.

Azerion stretched his shoulders, stiff from sleep, and continued to say to Lohak, "The person who bought your sister is a noble of the Kantadar Kingdom. Judging by the emblem on his robe, he's at least a knight. If you go to confront him now to rescue her, it's just throwing your life away."

Holding back his anger, Lohak clenched his fists tightly and lowered his head, hating his own weakness and helplessness. Indeed, to confront an enemy country's noble alone was a reckless act that amounted to seeking death.