They had finally moved forward with the objective they had been planning for a long time.

Now that Karol was in the air, flying with all the inhabitants of the village toward the S-rank dungeon.

Ryan noticed as the clouds began to turn dark.

And then, the rain arrived without warning.

First, it was just scattered drops striking the dry forest floor, but then the clouds suddenly closed in and the water began to fall with a force that made it difficult to see more than a few meters ahead.

Ryan looked up at the sky for a moment and then lowered his gaze again.

’I have a bad feeling about this...’

Runa held out the relic with both hands, as if the object weighed far more than it appeared to.

Ryan took it and observed it for a moment. It was small, about the size of a medal, with a short chain; in the center sat a transparent gem, completely empty, reflecting the rain like a broken mirror.

It didn’t look like much for what it was supposedly capable of doing.

Helen and Mirian remained further away, just as Ryan had indicated before, staying within visual range but without losing sight of the group.

Ryan could see Helen’s silhouette to the south, holding that posture of hers that never changed regardless of the weather—her hand near the hilt, even though there was nothing to attack yet.

"So, what is it I need to do?" Ryan asked while holding the relic.

"Your Majesty." Mika’s voice suddenly intervened.

The alchemist stood before him, her hair plastered to her face by the rain, but her expression was that of someone who had been waiting for this moment for weeks.

"You only need to aim it toward the portal entrance and apply as much of your mana as possible."

She moved her hands through the air, drawing something Ryan interpreted as the process, though the gesture was more enthusiastic than it was clear.

"The portal will begin to shrink, and once it has fully reduced, it will remain sealed inside the gem. That will be the village’s new container until you decide to open it in another location."

"I understand." Ryan looked at the gem once more and then turned his gaze toward the portal entrance. "I’ll give it a try."

He aimed the relic at the portal and began to channel his mana.

It wasn’t a small amount he released. He felt the energy surge from his body in a constant, dense stream, and the gem absorbed it without any resistance.

The portal responded almost immediately.

What had once been a stable opening began to contract slowly from the edges, as if someone were pulling the ends inward.

The light that had always emanated from that entrance began to change tone, becoming more concentrated and smaller, until the entire space—which previously looked like a door to another world—was reduced to a glowing point that floated for an instant in the air before being sucked into the gem.

The transparent center of the relic filled with a blue energy that pulsed softly, like something living trapped inside the crystal.

Mika let out a sound that wasn’t exactly a word. Runa stood with her mouth wide open, staring at the gem in Ryan’s hand, then looked at Mika, and then looked back at the gem.

"It worked," Mika murmured, though her voice didn’t sound entirely surprised; it was more like someone confirming a calculation they had worked on for weeks but still couldn’t quite believe upon seeing it.

"Of course it worked." Runa crossed her arms, though the slight tremble in her voice betrayed her. "I designed it."

Alicia simply observed the gem with wide eyes without saying a word, which for her was quite unusual.

Ryan tucked the relic into his inventory and let the silence of the rain fill the space for a moment.

The forest around them remained the same—the fallen trees, the churned-up soil—but the portal was gone. Only empty space remained where the entrance to the village used to be.

’Beatrice should have been here by now. Did something happen...?’

He didn’t want to think it out loud, or even internally with too much detail.

More time than expected had passed. Even if her plan was logical, even if the appearance-changing relic covered her most obvious traits, even if Ophelia’s territory was different from Rohan’s.

There shouldn’t be any reason for them to recognize her, but none of those justifications made the weight in his chest go away.

’I hope she wasn’t attacked or detained by Ophelia... I hope she’s just taking longer than planned. And nothing more.’

"Ryan!"

The voice came from above, distant, but laden with an urgency that wasn’t normal. Ryan looked up immediately.

"Ryan, help!"

It was Karol. And she was falling.

The small silhouette came diving down from the clouds, her blue hair completely wild during the descent, her arms flailing in a panic.

Alicia pointed up and opened her mouth to say something.

She didn’t get to finish.

Ryan was no longer where he had been a second before. He appeared in the air at the exact height where Karol was about to pass, caught her by the waist with one arm, and landed back at the same spot in the forest with such natural ease that it seemed like something he did every day.

Alicia blinked.

Runa and Mika exchanged a look.

"I... I didn’t manage to see anything," Alicia commented in a low voice, more to herself than to anyone in particular.

Karol, now on the ground, was soaked from head to toe, her hair plastered to her face and an expression that mixed relief with an indignation she was still processing.

She made a pout that, in any other circumstance, Ryan would have found amusing.

"Everyone is already in the dungeon, but I ran out of mana trying to come back alone," she said with a mix of complaint and embarrassment.

"Using flight magic on so many people made me lose all my mana in such a short time..."

"There, it’s fine." Ryan used his buff on her again.

She felt the effect almost immediately and her body regained its usual adult form. Her hair was still wet, but at least she no longer looked like someone who had just tumbled out of the clouds.

"Is everything ready here?" Karol asked, looking at the space where the portal used to be.

"Yes," Ryan replied.

Then he approached Helen, who was already heading back from the south.

Mirian was also rejoining the group from the other end. Neither reported anything unusual along the perimeter.

Ryan observed them all for a moment. The rain continued to fall with the same intensity.

"Karol, take them all to the dungeon. I’m going to stay here a little longer."

Helen immediately opened her mouth.

"But why are you staying? I’m staying with you too."

"No." Ryan didn’t raise his voice, but he didn’t leave any room for negotiation either.

"I need all of you to be in the dungeon. It’s still not safe, and someone might have seen us. If they decide to attack, it’s better if you’re all with the rest of the village."

Ryan paused and looked at them intently.

"I’m going to scout the area for a while to make sure there are no enemies. Understood?"

Helen bit her lip. She looked at Ryan for a second, then looked toward the sky in the direction of the dungeon, and then looked back at him.

"Understood," she said at last, though it sounded like it cost her a lot to accept the order.

Mirian offered no objections. Alicia gave a brief bow. Runa and Mika were already preparing for the ascent.

"Don’t you dare run out of mana, Karol. Or I’ll hit you," Helen grumbled.

"That won’t happen, but if you keep talking to me in that tone, I’ll make you drop," Karol said defiantly.

"Hey, you two better hurry up. I don’t want to keep getting wet," Irina interjected.

"Yeah, yeah."

Karol activated the flight magic without further ado, and the group began to rise slowly through the rain, turning into silhouettes that moved away toward the clouds until they vanished.

Ryan was left alone in the forest.

He placed his hand on the wyvern’s neck. The creature hadn’t moved from its spot during the entire process, patient as always.

’Right. I think I’ll have to go look for Beatrice.’