Raindrops began to tap on the roof, and Wolfram was glad he had decided to take the carriage. He had taken some books from his father's library and intended to read them during the trip, but he had never been a fan of reading in the saddle. The carriage was more comfortable, and even if he had to share it with Otwin - who still seemed angry with him for bringing lava and thus wouldn't even let him go to the river in the morning - his father's presence somehow made up for it.

He put the book he was reading down on his lap and looked out the window in the door. He felt that it had been ages since it had last rained. A gentle drizzle was falling from light clouds, which meant it wouldn't rain for too long. But it was still refreshing.

He stared at the landscape for a while, listening to the quiet clatter of the rain and the creaking of the carriage wheels. From time to time, one of the horses carrying his soldiers on its back obstructed his view, but he could still see perfectly the vast fields of the Great Highlands they had just left. He began to regret that their stay here was so short.

Not wanting to feel too sentimental, he turned away from the views and returned to reading. Before leaving, he searched the stone bookshelves and found those describing the characters he had met.

As his father has already mentioned, the human god of wind, wearing a silvery robe and a mask covering his face, was named Eurus, although he was just as often called a traitor. He was a scholar in Erythea who turned his back on his people in exchange for power and wore such rather than other robes because he was ashamed to show his face. Although Wolfram sincerely doubted that was the reason.

The second figure he had the opportunity to become more closely acquainted with was the creation of Eurus, probably the culprit of some experiment. Briareus, a beast with a hundred faces, able to assume any form. And what they saw then in the underground was his real body.

Now it was explained why the person in the mask appeared so suddenly and took the creature - he simply came to take his toy before someone destroyed it.

While reading, he also found the answer to the question of what happened to Erythera. According to the book, which he now had in his lap, it was destroyed by Eurus, who, after obtaining his god powers, decided to use the city as a training ground. Although Wolfram thought destroyed was an inadequate word. He saw the city with his eyes and knew it had emerged almost unscathed. Only its inhabitants had disappeared without a trace.

He mentioned this to his father, who began to question him more closely about the state in which they found Erythera.

"It may be because of the material from which everything was made," the man said. "Since the city was built by patrons, it was sturdy and did not succumb to the powers of the new god. So it's possible that only some of the inhabitants were killed, and the rest fled. And then, no one ever returned there."

"The stone withstood so much time and didn't even crumble, so you're probably right. Everything looked like it had just been built, and even when the stone statues started moving, it looked like they suddenly became malleable."

"How did they start moving?" asked Otwin, suddenly interested, and his sour face disappeared, instead turning into a curious scientist. Wolfram almost had the feeling that he was finally back to himself.

"I think they respond to simple commands. And it's possible that they are still responding to orders that someone once gave them, defending certain places."

"They didn't respond to the king's commands?"

"No. I think he tried to tell them to do something, but they didn't move."

"Interesting," Otwin replied. "So far, everything seemed to work only when Maou used it. Especially since no matter which angle you look at it from, you seem to have no connection to the city other than being obsessed with it."

"I'm not obsessed." Wolfram puffed out his lips and saw his teacher lift the corner of his mouth, the equivalent of a smile.

"You were so eager to learn about it that you even started asking me. And that is already a serious symptom." His teacher snorted quietly but not with disdain. It was the equivalent of a laugh. Something Otwin did when he was in a good mood sometimes.

He felt like breathing a sigh of relief. Sometimes he hated him because he was strict and had a strange approach to rules, but he was also a good teacher who could patiently explain everything to him and cared about how Wolfram was doing with his studies. That's why his sudden change bothered him so much at the time, although his first reaction to it was to try to make him angry even more. That's what he always did. He tried to make him mad to see how he would react. He wanted him to respond. Sometimes just for satisfaction, but then probably he just wanted to see if he would still have Otwin's reactions.

Maybe it was just that his teacher's behavior had changed due to stress. Maybe he was worried about what had happened in his home and reacted too strongly. After all, Otwin always had a tendency to overreact.

"Are you going to go back there?" His father asked.

"Yes," Wolfram replied, leaning against the soft back of the bench and looking outside again. The rain continued to linger. "However, I don't know when yet."

"Let me know when you go there. I think I can do something about those old scrolls. We could always use some new items for our library."

"Especially since you seem to have a big shortage in the collection," Otwin noted.

"So that's what you spent most of your stay on?" His father asked provocatively, smiling wryly. "And I was curious when you were lost after our conversation."

"I'm a scholar. So, of course, I had to familiarize myself with it." Otwin countered and turned away toward the window, letting it be known that, for him, this was the end of the conversation.

Wolfram went back to reading again.

"How exactly can someone create a god and a demigod?" he wondered quietly, reading more stories on Briareus.

"An interesting question. Unfortunately, we don't know the answer to it. Otherwise, we would have plenty of artificially created gods and demigods. However, if it helps you anything…." He stopped for a moment as if wondering if to tell him that. "According to the religion of the elements, Shinou is considered a demigod."

Will Great Sage be able to tell him anything about his origins? With his tendency to explain everything vaguely, Wolfram doubted it. He flipped the page. The creature with six faces was considered the patron of unfulfilled love. An interesting approach.

All the way back, the rain started and stopped every now and then. It intensified in the evening, only to ease in the morning when the sun's rays began to dry the ground. Through the rainfall, the views became more pleasant as the dried vegetation began to revive, but the views alone were not enough to make him lean his nose out of the carriage.

It was evening by the time they returned to the castle, and the rain had begun to intensify again, so Wolfram quickly went inside, leaving bringing things to his subordinates. And he immediately went to take a bath because it was stuffy all the time, and even if he didn't sweat much, he still felt uncomfortable. After that, he quickly went to the bedroom, where he immediately opened all the windows to ventilate the room. Right from the moment of entering, it could be sensed that no one had been there since the morning.

He didn't bother to light the candles, just leaned against the windowsill and listened to the rain with closed eyes. He had finished reading one of the books his father had lent him and now needed to digest it all.

Their first and so far only encounter with these entities took place at his grandfather's mansion. Briareus, the strange monster they found in the basement, used Burenward to gather power by killing humans, whatever that power might be. But then he used it to destroy an insignificant town, and Wolfram hoped he had used it all up then. So what was the purpose of this whole farce? Did someone plan it, or did Briareus simply do as he pleased and react emotionally at the time?

Then, the moment before the monster was about to be exterminated, Eurus shows up and, just like that, takes him away. He probably wanted to save his pet from being exterminated, but this may indicate that he was observing the whole situation. Since he was a scholar, according to the book, Wolfram doubted that he would have taken such senseless actions himself, so it's possible that he simply decided there was no point in intervening until the last moment. But that meant he didn't care about using up all the power that had been collected, so he probably had something else in store.

That something could have been the strange stones that began to appear. The purpose of their existence was unknown, but at least they knew how to get rid of them, so it's not such a problem now.

So the question remains, why? He had already asked it himself during his stay at the temple but still came up with no answer. Only the mention of him being a traitor gave him the idea that he was taking revenge for something or just didn't like the mazoku. But is it just his action, or are there other human gods who have a problem with them?

His father told him that each patron of the elements has a counterpart in human religion while mentioning how unoriginal they are. So far, however, there had been no sign of any action by the other gods, and Wolfram hoped it would stay that way.

The door to the room quietly creaked open, and someone slipped inside and began slowly treading the floor. Wolfram turned to look at the newcomer and smiled slightly at Yuuri, who stared at him strangely. He guessed that in the absence of light, he must have barely seen him, so he lit a small fireball next to himself.

"I didn't know you were back already." Yuuri smiled in relief and approached him, embracing him from behind. "How was the trip?"

"Fine." He lightly caught the hands embracing him in his arms and tilted his head back. Somehow he managed to look into the black eyes this way. "We performed the rituals. Destroyed the crystals. My father even lent me a book about the ancient gods."

"So the expedition was successful?" He turned Wolfram so that they now stood facing each other. "Without any problems?"

"Without," he replied, staring into the intense black eyes that were ogling him. They looked like the night sky, in which reflected the small twinge of the flame he had lit. "And what about you?"

Yuuri scowled, though he tried to mask it.

"What happened?" Wolfram asked when Yuuri showed no desire to explain the situation.

"Someone stole the crystals. Well, not someone. That guy in the silver robe. He took them and then stood with them for half a day on the tower's balcony, and everyone was afraid to even go near there."

Wolfram clasped his hands on the front of Yuuri's black shirt. It was wrinkled as if it hadn't been given to the maid to wash or he had even slept in it. He began to worry about his condition. He lifted his hands and ran his thumbs over the boy's cheeks, looking carefully for bags under his eyes or other signs of fatigue, but saw nothing of the sort in the faint light of the flame. Yuuri smiled weakly at him and rested his forehead against his head.

"We destroyed the crystals Gunter gave us," he said, hoping this would somehow comfort him. He wasn't sure whether to mention that the person in the robe - Eurus - had stood with them on the tower to charge them. Why now? Didn't he know how to do it before? Is that why he released so many of them into circulation? So that they would pay attention to them and start investigating? "Did he take all of them?"

"The ones we had. Who knows, maybe there will still be some others that he didn't take. Maybe then Anissina will be able to examine them and find out for what purpose they can be used."

Wolfram waited a few moments, hoping it was a joke and Yuuri was about to laugh. He, however, seemed to be quite serious.

"Are you going to hand them over to Anissina?"

"Gwendal has already decided this. He probably figured it would keep her busy with something and leave him alone." This time he smiled when he saw the look on Wolfram's face. "Don't worry, I'm sure they won't affect her in any way. But... " he paused for a moment, and a guilty expression appeared on his face. "I think she'll want to talk to you now."

"Why?" he asked slowly, pulling away from him a bit and reflexively preparing to run away as if the red demon was about to burst into their bedroom and snatch him somewhere.

"She just wants to ask about Erythera." Yuuri raised his hands in a reassuring gesture and began to speak more quickly. "I figured it would be better to ask you first since you know the most about it, and you'll be able to show her how these stone statues work. Actually, she has already planned the date of the expedition, but if you don't want to go there now, you don't have to. You can just tell her or quickly show her these statues and come right back. That's all."

Wolfram sighed, and his shoulders slumped. He rested his forehead against Yuuri's shoulder, who embraced him again.

"Don't you want to go?"

"I want to, but not now. I'd rather close things with Eckbert first. But maybe I can go take a look for a while to check on the statues."

"I talked to Gwendal, and he agreed to take down the traitor status. So everything is fine now."

"So there's just a funeral left."

"Are you going to leave again?" He embraced him tighter.

"He's my subordinate. I want to be there in person."

Yuuri sighed and loosened his grip for a second, but after a moment, he hugged him tighter again.

"But this time, I'm going with you. I've already caught up on work." He replied before Wolfram had time to ask him about it. "And Gwendal said he's going to get back to his place soon, so maybe we could team up and leave at the same time."

"And who, then, is supposed to take care of the castle?"

"There's Gunter. He's still in despair after he let the crystals be stolen, so I can tell him that this way, he'll be able to redeem himself."

"How sly of you." He laughed lightly. "Alright, you can go. This is the least dangerous place, so you should be fine."

Yuuri placed a hand on his cheek and lifted Wolfram's head slightly.

"I've missed you," he whispered, moving closer, so their lips almost met.

"I was only gone for a week."

"It was a very long week. I didn't like it, so now you go everywhere with me."

"Aren't you exaggerating? I won't be taking you on patrols."

"Then try not to make them last a week."

Wolfram smiled. It was no longer an answer that he didn't need to go on any patrols, and he felt grateful for that. Maybe for the time he was alone, Yuuri could think about a few things.

"I'll see how our bandits will behave," he giggled and kissed him lightly. When he pulled away, there was an expression of pleasant surprise on Yuuri's face.

His boyfriend pushed him back so that he sat on the windowsill behind him. Outside the window, the rain was intensifying, hitting the ground below with heavy drops. The sky had already darkened completely, and they could only see each other in the light of a faint flame. Wolfram did not want to brighten it. Such an atmosphere somehow appealed to him more. Yuuri moved closer to him again and started kissing him.

Despite the afternoon, the sky outside the window was dark, covered by storm clouds. The rains and wind were intensifying, but no thunder had yet appeared. Wolfram sat at a table in the reading room, having a window to his left and looking outside from time to time, feeling sorry for whoever was outside now. Earlier, he had carefully searched the maps gathered in the library and found one that accurately described the Fire Mountains. Or at least the edge of it. He now traced around it with his eyes, looking for places where someone could go deeper and find a hiding place.

This morning he went with Yuuri to his office, wanting to help him with work. He had had enough of pondering about ancient gods and felt that his head was starting to hurt, so he wanted to take care of something completely different. There, Yuuri promised him that he would ask Gwendal right away when they would be able to leave, and in passing, mentioned a band of highwaymen hiding somewhere in the Fire Mountains. Originally he just wanted to ask for his help in finding them, but Wolfram immediately announced that he would take care of it, saying that it would only take a day and he could even do it on the way when they went to Bielefeld. At first, the king had trouble agreeing, but after telling him that Wolfram was the only one who was immune to the heat and would handle the situation best, he finally relented. However, he still wanted him to take more soldiers with him since the bandit group was larger than his squad, but Wolfram managed to avoid that too. He had some more of his men in Bielefeld.

So when they finished the paperwork and Yuuri went to a meeting where Wolfram decided he was not needed, he went to his office to send a message to Anneliese, who was in charge of the rest of his unit in his absence, and asked her if her boys perhaps felt like beating someone up. It wasn't an appropriate letter to send to a subordinate, especially officially, but given her past, Wolfram figured she'd understand it better than a command following protocol. He had few opportunities to use such vocabulary, and Anneliese often ridiculed him for it, but he liked how it sounded - like from a picaresque novel - so he would continue writing such letters. Just hope no one would found them.

And now he was sitting in the reading room at the back of the library, planning hunting of the bandits until Otwin stood in front of his table and placed a stack of books before him. And Wolfram had almost forgotten he was here.

"What are these?" he asked, looking at the titles. It seemed like textbooks.

"Since you're going to continue your studies at the castle, you must have a proper teacher. Just helping out isn't enough, and I doubt Lord von Christ is up to the task."

"Gunter teaches Yuuri, so..."

"On which he is too obsessed. I doubt that with someone like that, the lessons will go according to plan."

"But I thought all I had left was practice, and I didn't need any more lectures." He picked up a book lying on top of the stack. Economics. Something he wasn't particularly fond of.

"We need to adapt your education to the current national policy. Previously you were taught from a military angle, but now you need to learn diplomacy. But before that." He took out another book from the pile, the title of which was written in one of the human languages."We need to see what your knowledge of foreign languages is like. You can't conduct diplomacy with people you can't speak to."

Wolfran instinctively scowled. Foreign languages were not his forte. He knew basic phrases in the most important ones and had also learned the alphabet, but if someone sent him to a foreign country, he would have trouble getting along with anyone not speaking the common language or even reading anything more complicated. However, Yuuri was in the habit of going to human countries frequently and didn't know their language completely. So if Wolfram wanted to accompany him, protect him, and help him communicate with humans, he should do his best to learn it. Conrad knew human languages, but he wouldn't always be around, and he still remembered the situation with the arena on Vandavia.

Otwin was in the habit of not teaching him one topic all the time, so every now and then, he would finish one lesson and pick up another book from the stack. They went through economics, reviewed the history, then moved on to the aforementioned diplomacy. At which, according to Otwin, Wolfram was hopeless.

"The basics of diplomacy are composure and thinking carefully about what you say. You have to control your emotions, no matter the situation, and know that sometimes it's better to just not speak. Something I doubt will be possible for you. You always said exactly what you thought and did not spare in insulting the speaker."

"I didn't insult anyone that much at all," he protested, but Otwin raised a finger to silence him.

"I'm afraid this will be the hardest lesson I've ever taught you. Harder almost than mathematics."

Wolfram pouted his lips. He had the impression that Otwin was trying to deliberately insult him. He was about to say something, but the man raised his finger again.

"You are completely out of control of your emotions and do as you please. So before you start learning how to conduct diplomacy per se, you need to start learning how to talk properly. No more sharp tongue and lashing out. And no more looking that way." He stared at him so intensely that Wolfram reflexively straightened up in his chair. His teacher's voice, as always, was calm and unmarked by almost any emotion, but it still somehow affected him. "It's best if you practice under controlled conditions so that you don't cause trouble for anyone."

"I'm already pretty good at controlling my emotions." Wolfram somehow got defensive in the end and even tried to keep the reproach from being heard in his voice. "At least better than before," he added, though, when Otwin again looked at him meaningfully.

"For the beginning." His teacher slid a stack of books on history under his nose. "You are forbidden to read any books other than these. I'm confiscating the rest. I'm even willing to ask your brother to help you with it."

Wolfram opened his mouth, wanting to utter another protest. It wasn't even about adventure or romance books. He still had the ones his father had lent him. After all, there might have been some valuable information in them. However, he held back. He closed his mouth and breathed deeply. This was a lesson in diplomacy, and he had already guessed what Otwin was getting at.

It wasn't like they would take the books away from him forever. And if he started to protest, they might ban him from other things as well, so long as he learned to respond appropriately. So he didn't speak, and they sat in silence for a long moment.

"All right," he finally replied, having no other idea what to say.

Otwin nodded, satisfied with his answer.

"Hand me the books this evening. And I'll quiz you on those later." He took the rest of the books and began preparing to leave. Soon after, the first thunder rumbled outside the window, and the door to the library opened.

Yuuri stepped inside and passed by Otwin, who started heading for the exit. The two said nothing.

Even after sitting in a chair, his boyfriend was quiet for a while, watching the storm outside the window. He leaned on his elbow and looked through the curtain of rain resignedly, seeming to be worried about something. Wolfram, however, did not speak, waiting for him to say something.

"I think I did something wrong."

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, putting the history books down on the chair next to him so that he didn't have to look at them. If they would at least be something interesting about great battles, but it looked like it was mostly politics.

"I brought in a bit of rain because people were starting to worry about the drought, but right after that, the rain started falling on its own, harder and harder. I feel like I poked an anthill with a stick."

"Storms are common this time of year. Maybe it's just a coincidence."

Yuuri sighed and almost lay down on the table.

"I've yet to have a flood instead of a drought. I don't even know which is worse. I think it would have been easier to regulate water during the drought. And now we'll worry about whether the rivers will overflow and flood the cities, drowning people. I know how to bring the water in, but I'm not sure I could make it disappear. Or maybe I could redirect it to the sea? But how? By rivers? I don't know if - "

"I thought you wanted to see me, and it turned out that you only came here to feel sorry for yourself." Wolfram sighed and stood up, taking a stack of books from the chair. "In addition, because of a problem that doesn't exist yet and may not exist at all. Don't you have more important things to worry about?" He walked out from between the tables, heading for the library exit.

"Wolf! Where are you going?"

"I have better things to do than listen to a wimp like you," he called over his shoulder, already disappearing between the shelves. There was the sound of a chair suddenly being pushed back and quick footsteps. Yuuri caught up with him and grabbed his arm.

"You are terrible. I can't believe you would leave me in such a situation."

"It's just a storm, Yuuri." As if to confirm his words, thunder sounded again. "Instead of being paranoid, you can help me with my homework. It will be useful for you, too."

"Like what homework?" He looked suspiciously at the books Wolfram was holding.

"I'm supposed to read them and report on them to Otwin."

"As far as I know, reading books is a one-man job." He seemed to finally manage to make out the titles of the books, and it was already apparent from the look on his face that he wasn't interested in that.

"Don't get peckish, just come with me." He adjusted the stack so that he could hold it in only one hand, and with the other, he grabbed Yuuri and pulled him toward their bedroom. The young king could also use a little history lesson.

When he went to Otwin in the evening to give him his books, the latter surprised him by asking if he had any ideas to convince him not to take them away. He hadn't thought of this before and started thinking about it, but according to his teacher, it took too long, so he was forced to say goodbye to his items anyway. He decided, however, that he would get them back the next evening.

The next day was fully packed with lessons, and Wolfram was only allowed out of the library for meal times. He survived this only by knowing that Anissina's trip to Erythea would take place the next day, so he would be able to rest from his lessons. But he was wrong because classes were scheduled for the evening anyway. And on top of that, he didn't manage to get his books back.

He still felt uneasy at the thought of letting Anissina into that city, but his father talked to her, and they agreed that he would take care of the library, so at least there was no need for him to worry about the scrolls and so on. So they set out in the morning, just as they had on the day of their family trip, and when they arrived, Yuuri immediately set about reviving the tunnel he had previously closed before they left.

They were accompanied by rain the whole way, again a light drizzle like at the beginning, but it persisted throughout.

Anissina took with her a whole cart with a mass of equipment, the purpose of which Wolfram did not even want to think about. He didn't care anything about it, as long as it wasn't tested on him.

Anissina took advantage of all the time during their journey to ask him about Erythera, which was probably the first time he willingly told her anything. She also asked him about the exact events of their stay there since it had been decided that nothing would be mentioned about it until now. And so now, as he waited for Yuuri to create a tunnel, Wolfram began to think about it.

"Did you know about this city before you and Otwin came here?" he asked his father, who was standing next to him.

"No. Only after you told me about it." The man looked at him with interest.

"So, how did Otwin know about what happened there?" He crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the lake. He was so focused at the time on his teacher's remark that he didn't think about how the man could have found out about it. "You don't suppose uncle would go as far as having spies among my people?" He shuddered. It was possible that one of his newest recruits still thought that Wolfram's uncle stood above him and reported everything to him. But he didn't want to think that way about his people.

"Don't think about it too much. I'm sure my brother wouldn't do anything improper." His father put his hand on Wolfram's shoulder and squeezed him lightly.

Yuuri finally created a tunnel, and Wolfram decided to abandon thinking about it for now.

As they walked down on the lake floor, Yuuri looked at him with concern every now and then, as if worried that he would get sick in a moment. But he was fine. And he turned slightly pale only because there was so much water around him. He trusted Yuuri with his maryoku, but the realization that it was the only thing separating him from drowning in it still filled him with anxiety.

When they entered the city, the pedestals were still empty, so he guessed that the stone soldiers had stayed in the square where he had left them. After that incident, he no longer felt like setting them up.

All the way, he told himself that everything was fine and he would be alright, but when they finally reached the main square, and he saw the first stone silhouettes, something squeezed his stomach.

He didn't want to show anything on himself, but he stopped anyway. He only has to let Anissina examine them. But now he was worried that the woman might do something that would make them attack her. He didn't know what other orders anyone had ever given them.

"Wolfram?" Yuuri stood next to him and looked at him worriedly.

"I wonder what to do with them. Maybe I'll just send them back to the pedestals and leave her one."

"Yeah, give her the smallest one. And maybe preferably with a shield."

So he gave the appropriate order and continued to stand still, watching as the statues slowly returned to their places. Only when they had all disappeared from his sight did he turn on his heel and leave the city.