Walking through the gates were the seven students who had appeared in the dungeon a month ago.

In the lead was a boy with golden blonde hair and blue eyes.

He had on what seemed like a worn golden armor covering his chest, shoulders, and wrists arranged over the black full body cloth he wore beneath.

Behind him was a sword made of hard light, and his expression was one of calm, befitting a leader.

Prince Lucian.

Beside him was a girl with chestnut brown hair and similarly colored eyes. She had on a long white robe that was light enough to let her move quickly.

She had an easy smile on her face as she glanced at the cheering people, it was a smile that helped solidify their hope.

This was Saintess Noelle.

Walking just behind them, slightly to the right, was a girl whose presence alone seemed to lower the temperature of the surroundings.

Her long white hair flowed freely down her back, untouched by the dust of the outside, and her icy blue eyes scanned the crowd with indifference.

Unlike the others, she did not acknowledge the cheers.

And yet... the moment Adrian’s gaze landed on her, everything else seemed to fall away. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Renelle.

The one they called the Ice Empress.

Just behind her was Darius whose hair now had more black spots than previously, and he had a large grin on his face.

But Adrian paid him no mind, as his attention was fully on Renelle, everything else becoming irrelevant.

Hell, he didn’t even notice Cassian who was walking with the group.

She was dressed in a black, high-neck bodysuit with matching fingerless gloves.

Above the body suit were silver, worn, metal armor that was placed over her chest, sides, hips, knees, and her arms.

The cheers got louder as the Saviors continued forward but as if noticing the gaze that was stuck on her, Renelle suddenly froze.

She then turned to the side and her blue eyes locked with a pair of grey ones.

Adrian’s smile grew wider as his lady looked at him, surprise evident in her eyes and she said, "Adrian?"

The name caused the group to pause and they followed his gaze only to notice the butler standing among the crowd with a smile on his face.

They immediately froze, especially Cassian who was certain that the damn Butler was properly dead this time.

"Adrian?" Renelle repeated, softer this time, as if confirming that what she was seeing wasn’t some illusion born from this cursed place.

He hadn’t changed much in the month she hadn’t seen him, the only difference was that instead of the white uniform she had last seen him in, he now had on his butler uniform.

"In the flesh," Adrian replied lightly.

She exhaled softly, and a smile appeared on her face as she muttered, "You’re late."

Adrian chuckled at her words before saying, "My apologies, my lady. I took a slight detour."

"A slight one?" Darius cut in, stepping forward with a wide grin as he looked Adrian up and down, "You disappear for a whole month and show up as if nothing happened?"

"A month?" Adrian looked at him with confusion.

But before Darius could say anything else, Lucian cut in, "Here’s not the place for a conversation."

He was right, the crowd was now staring in surprise.

But rather than the fact that their Saviors were talking to a random man, the fact that the Ice Empress was smiling was even more surprising.

Without a word, Adrian moved away from the crowd and towards the group, standing by Renelle who immediately wrapped her hand in his.

"U-um, welcome back," Noelle hesitantly let out, but she got no response since Adrian was busy processing the fact that he was holding his lady’s hand again after a few hours apart.

Or was it a month?

Either way, the group continued towards the castle that loomed in the, not so far, distance ahead, completely forgetting about Marion.

***

The walk back to the palace was a quick one, and although the cheering crowd seemed confused by the new addition walking alongside their Saviors, they quickly paid him no further attention.

Most simply assumed Adrian was someone the group had rescued from outside the walls.

They reached the Castle’s compound, but instead of walking to the main building, the group walked towards what seemed like a recently set up camp.

The camp was built directly beside the castle walls.

Large tents had been arranged in an organized formation, with wooden crates, weapon racks, and stacks of supplies placed between them.

Several spirit mages moved around the area carrying equipment or discussing something over large maps spread atop makeshift tables.

Unlike the rest of the city, this place felt quite militaristic.

And from the fact that the camps seem recently built, Adrian guessed that it was as a result of these seven.

The group walked into the largest tent at the center of the camp and Adrian noticed that in the center of the tent was a map similar to the ones the spirit mages were looking over, except a lot larger.

"You’ve been busy," Adrian muttered as he looked over the map, a couple of spots had been scratched off manually with black ink.

"We’ve been mapping the dungeon," Lucian was the one who answered.

"We’ve also been searching for exits," Noelle added with a small smile, "though... without much success so far."

Darius stretched his arms behind his head.

"Still better than sitting around waiting to die."

But before they could continue,

"And this is?" Adrian’s attention was pulled to the side when someone spoke up.

It was a girl seemingly only a bit older.

She had blue hair, similarly colored eyes, and a frown on her face as she looked at Adrian for a while before realization dawned on her.

"Another student from class two," she stated.

"Yeah," Darius was the one who replied, "this is Adrian, he was with our group in the red zone."

"With your group," She muttered before looking up at Adrian with a frown on her face, "then what were you doing this past month?"

"That’s enough Aqua," Lucian cut in before Adrian could say anything.

But he then proceeded to turn to the butler and say, "Still, we do have some questions."

"So do I."