When Yuder knocked on the door of Alik’s lab, it opened soon after. But the one peeking through the door wasn’t Alik, the lab’s owner—it was someone else.

“...Yuder?”

“Pin.”

Pin Elder blinked wide-eyed and looked up at Yuder. She was someone he hadn’t expected to see here in the slightest.

‘If Pin is here, then...’

“Did you just say Yuder?”

Before he could even finish turning his gaze toward the inside of the room, another identical face popped out from behind Pin. It was Hin Elder, of course—he was here as well.

‘The Elder siblings in Alik’s lab. That’s certainly unexpected.’

“Why are you two here?”

The Elder twins glanced at each other.

“Umm. Well...”

“Yuder!”

Before they could answer, the true owner of the lab rushed out, panting. Alik appeared with a flushed face, wiping sweat from his brow and catching his breath.

“Whew, I was in the middle of an experiment, so I was a bit late coming out. Wh-what brings you here...?”

“I came to greet you after returning from leave and deliver some news. Are you busy right now?”

“No, not at all. Come in and let’s talk. Haha.”

Yuder stepped inside behind them. Unlike the house where Tais Yulman stayed, Alik’s lab was neatly organized. Yuder scanned the room once and turned his gaze toward the large, sturdy table set atop a magic circle in the center of the lab.

Various parts and materials were pushed off to one side as if they’d just been tidied away, clearly marking the table as the spot where the mentioned “experiment” had taken place.

“Hin and Pin came to help with my research,” Alik said as he hurriedly placed a teacup in front of Yuder.

“As you know, the three of us returned to the capital a bit earlier than others after things settled in the South. With so few people at the base, we kept bumping into each other... and eventually, I received some unexpected help, and we became friends.”

The Elder twins were among those who refused to accept commendations for their contributions during the Blue Despair Wall incident and returned to the capital early. Many of those who had been punished for their mistakes during the Hosanra operation had behaved similarly, believing they were unworthy of praise.

Even after returning, the twins had remained quiet. There were no pranks, no disturbances—it was hard to tell they were even around.

Yuder had heard they hadn’t even returned to their hometown during their reward leave. Apparently, they hadn’t spent all their time locked in the training grounds after all.

He stared at the unusually quiet siblings before speaking.

“I see. What exactly are they helping you research?”

“Magic tool development.”

Alik scratched his head and answered frankly.

“To be specific, I’m working on developing magic tools that can be used by Awakeners—like the one I made back in the South. Remember? I want to turn that into a proper, expanded version.”

As a mage who was also an Awakener, Alik had successfully created a magic tool that operated not on mana, but on an Awakener’s power. At first, it had been just a secret prototype. But its usefulness had become clear during monster battles, and it had caught the attention of both Yuder and Kishiar.

That’s what led to this lab being assigned to Alik.

“How did you end up meeting them?”

“Um... Is it wrong for Hin and Pin to be helping me or something...?”

Alik looked nervous, unsure if Yuder was asking to reprimand him. Yuder glanced briefly at the silent twins and shook his head.

“It would’ve been better to report it first, but it’s not something that can’t be allowed. Unless you were doing dangerous human experiments or something.”

“I’m not that kind of insane mage!”

Alik jumped and waved his hands furiously.

“I know my mentor might seem like a stereotypical mad scientist, but... I’m not! Have you always seen me that way?!”

Yuder didn’t respond, only shifting his gaze. The twins, who met his eyes, shook their heads the same way.

“We didn’t do much. We just let Alik observe our movement abilities closely.”

“Alik’s weak and frail. What could he force us to do?”

That was hard to argue with. Yuder nodded in understanding, and Alik relaxed—though he wore a slightly hurt expression.

“Weak and frail... I mean, it’s true, but still, that stings a little...”

“I get your point. Now explain exactly what you’ve done so far. In order, please.”

“Yes, sir...”

Alik began his explanation without resistance.

“At first, I was shocked that the Duke of Peleta valued that tool so highly. But since I was given this lab, I thought I should try to develop it properly. The version I took to the South was just to test if the theory worked, so it only had a very basic function...”

The tool Alik had used in the South could absorb an Awakener’s power and emit a small, invisible force. Its durability had been terrible—most of them had broken after one battle.

So Alik’s new plan was to reinforce the durability while enabling it to channel more varied powers.

“I’ve already confirmed that an Awakener’s power can be used like mana # Nоvеlight # and output through a tool. The next step is to create tools that can actually manifest specific, real-world abilities. But my own power—water generation—can already be reproduced with existing magic tools. So I wanted to aim for something more unique and useful, something magic alone can’t replicate.”

After returning to the capital, Alik had wandered around the Cavalry base, trying to decide what ability to aim for. With most personnel still away in the South, the base was practically empty.

While deep in thought, he’d accidentally triggered a training trap and fallen deep underground. The ones who saved him were none other than the Elder twins.

“There was no one in the training grounds, and I couldn’t get out by myself. I thought I was dead. But then Hin and Pin rescued me. Watching them save me so easily with their movement ability... I knew that was it!”

Humanity has long pursued ways to move faster. It’s said that in ancient times, there were mages who could teleport. But such rare magic was too difficult, and eventually lost—no apprentices could properly learn it.

Mages’ best solution had been to create hybrid creatures like the Miststorm Steeds, bred from horses and monsters.

But Awakeners were different. Several had already emerged with movement-related abilities. And to think two of them were in the Cavalry? It felt like a gift from the heavens.

Breathless with excitement, Alik had explained his idea to the Elder twins and asked for their help. Until then, they had never even exchanged greetings, despite sharing the same space.

“Honestly, I thought they’d reject me outright, so I just wanted to put the idea out there. But they agreed right away.”

Alik praised the twins enthusiastically, practically spraying saliva as he spoke.

“Thanks to them, we’ve been meeting consistently and working together on this research. We haven’t produced any real results yet, but I’m learning so much more about how Awakeners use their powers—thanks to these two. That’s really all there is to it! I swear!”

If it were anyone else, Yuder might have doubted it. But with the Elder twins involved, skepticism was natural.

Still, Yuder’s instincts told him every word was the truth. He turned toward the twins, who had remained quiet throughout Alik’s explanation.

“What made you agree to help?”

“....”

The twins exchanged glances. They seemed reluctant to speak, watching each other warily—until Hin finally broke the silence.

“Just... maybe we thought this might help us develop our ability like he did.”

‘He?’

Before Yuder could ask who they meant, the twins suddenly stood up.

“We’re heading out. If the Commander later says we weren’t supposed to be doing this, let us know!”

Without even giving Yuder a chance to respond, they dashed out, slamming the door behind them so hard the small lab trembled.

“......”

Yuder slowly turned his head back to Alik. Alik, too, was stunned, mouth hanging open at the twins’ unexpected behavior.

“Alik. Do you have any idea who they meant by ‘that man’?”

“Uh... this is the first I’m hearing of it too, so... not really...”

“I see. Understood for now.”