As our newest member, Vertere Dreamwalker, lay asleep, we began laying out all of the stuff that had been put into the bag. I pulled out the wine and lit a few candles, pushing away the darkness of night.

Taking the cork off an expensive antique wine, I took a gulp.

"To Master Index, for being a great mentor and for teaching me swordsmanship."

Taking the wine from my hand, Alleus took multiple gulps.

"To a master, a great and kind person... to Index!"

Handing over the wine, Lieur accepted it and took a drink.

"I haven’t gotten to know much about him, but he was a great protector. To Index."

Standing up, I opened the hallway window and poured out the rest.

***

Interrupting our hand-to-hand combat training session, Vertere scratched his dark blue hair as his ocean-blue pupils blinked several times.

"Huh, where am I?" Patting himself, he sighed.

"I’m alive..? I’m alive—!"

Looking at all three of us, he shuffled back.

"W-who are you people? What did you do to me?"

"Pin him down." Extending my hand, Alleus and Lieur held him tightly.

"Don’t be afraid. We just saved you from an early death."

Squirming, Vertere grimaced.

"What do you mean don’t be afraid? You kidnap me and hold me down, yet you expect me to be calm! You’re a rotten criminal! Let go of me!"

With a sigh, I slammed him across the face, shutting him up.

"Look, we saved you from being poisoned, correct?"

Answering with a nod, I continued:

"I want you to trust us, so I want you to answer my question. Do you want to know the truth?"

Tilting his head, Vertere gently nodded.

"...Y-yes?"

"But before I do, I want you to do something for me. Try and remember. Do you know what your family looks like? What led to your family going bankrupt?"

With a deep-in-thought expression, his face gradually changed from confused to something else. His eyes then bulged outward as a huge frown appeared on his face.

"W-why can’t I remember them?"

Tears then began to fall from his face.

"Let go of him." Alleus and Lieur stepped back.

Helping him stand up, I gave him a hug.

"It’s okay. All three of us went through the same thing."

"I wouldn’t say that..." Alleus whispered, kicking the ground.

"As for the truth I spoke of, we’re inside a novel."

Vertere stopped crying and looked up at me.

"I’m grateful for all that you’ve done for me, but I’m not an idiot. Your brain must have rotted. Such sad delusions."

Flicking him in the forehead, I made him stumble back.

"The door behind me belongs to the hero Incus. If you don’t believe that you’re in a novel, then try talking to her. Don’t worry, we’re her escorts."

Walking past me with hesitation, he put his hand on the door.

"If I get in trouble, it’s your—"

Seeing him freeze on the spot, I smirked. None of us were allowed to open that door aside from the maids who occasionally came by or servants who I presumed were written to interact with her.

Pulling him back by the collar, I scoffed.

"Why did you stop? Getting cold feet?"

Putting his hand over his throat, he began humming tunes.

"Captain, did we break him?" Lieur poked Kraken.

"Oh geez, I hope not. Is he okay?"

Pausing for a moment, Vertere turned to look toward us.

"I-If we’re in a novel, what will happen to us when it ends...?"

Shaking my head, I answered:

"Don’t worry about that. I have a way to get out of this place."

"I see... if I were the author, I would make nobles less discriminating."

Catching a piece of bread thrown by Lieur, she stretched her arms.

"So, new guy. What can you do?"

Sucking in his lips, he pulled out a wooden wand and pointed it outside the window.

"Water jet." A compressed stream of water shot out.

"...Freeze." The jet of water then froze, forming an arc.

"I can do water magic."

Not being able to hide a huge smile on my face, Alleus looked at me with skepticism.

"You didn’t recruit this guy just because he could give us water, right...? Right?"

"He’s a very talented mage." I walked up to the ice arc.

"Hey, don’t go, partner...! You didn’t answer my question...!"

Pinching the ice, I made it explode. I extended my hand to Vertere.

"Join me. Once you do, I promise a happy ending."

Accepting the handshake, he looked at me with determination in his eyes.

"I, Vertere Dreamwalker, vow to be your wand."

"Ring Euclid, your sword."

***

As Lieur and Alleus sparred against each other, Vertere practiced his magic outside the window.

Sitting on the floor, I studied the pages of the book on war tactics. I ripped out pages that hadn’t worked for me during the raid by Dragonborn and ones I deemed too inefficient, even if we had a lot more powerful members.

Most of these tactics were only theories, so most of the pages were ripped out.

With a sigh, I put the book back into my pouch and looked at the goods we had taken.

There was a lot of useful stuff, but most importantly, there were accessories. Some of them boosted stats, but not by much. No, some didn’t give anything at all, aside from a few.

[Silver ring (+0 mana)]

[Leather gloves (+0 physical)]

[Emerald necklace (+0.5 mana)]

Shuffling through them, I found gold amongst copper.

[Jade bracelet (Enchantment: Basic mana storage)]

With this, I could use ExcaliBurn without having to worry about mana fatigue. And since Vertere had a high mana stat and the others didn’t really rely on mana, I could keep this for myself.

Putting it on, I opened my stat window and focused on it.

[Jade bracelet (Mana: 0/35)]

How did I put my mana into this thing? Maybe if I used Blade Aura...

Focusing my mana to transfer into the bracelet, I slowly began to feel weak.

Stopping the flow of mana, I focused on the bracelet.

[Jade bracelet (Mana: 10/35)]