Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

"That way?"

Deputy team leader Bray leaned closer and looked at the map.

"Why would someone go that way?"

The others also peeked at the map with confused faces. 

"Are you sure about that?"

Kairen confidently nodded his head and tapped on the map with his finger.

"Yes. He was exactly here, and was moving this way, towards the north."

Tap Tap

Deputy team leader Bray put her finger in one spot on the map.

"That means he will be here in no time."

Asa poked her head closer and looked at the spot where the deputy team leader was pointing at.

"His destination is there? Isn't that the Frozen Ocean?"

The deputy team leader nodded her head.

"That's right. There is nothing else there but the Frozen Ocean."

The Frozen Ocean. 

As its name suggested, it was a frozen land past Mount Fiera, located on the northmost part of Hainston. It is an ocean that marks the northern borders of Hainston. The place is almost permanently covered with ice and snow, not allowing a single plant to grow in it. The temperature is too low for people to be able to live there. The Frozen Ocean is no different than an abandoned land.

"Why would he head there?"

"Maybe Philomns' other hideout is there?"

"A hideout? In the Frozen Ocean?"

Serria shrugged her shoulders.

"Who knows? They could build a hideout in that dry land after all. I wouldn't be surprised if they also had one in the Frozen Ocean."

"...You are not half wrong."

"Now that Serria mentioned it, I too think that might be possible. The Frozen Ocean is a place with literally zero residences. If they look for a place to hide from us, that would surely be that place."

"Shouldn't we follow them then?"

"We are still not sure if there is really a hideout there."

Kairen, who had been silently listening to the others until then, joined the conversation.

"I don't think that is the case."

He didn't wait for people to ask him why he thought that and continued explaining on his own.

"I'm not sure about Claire Raid, but it was obvious that that soil dude was quite experienced in battle. I'm sure there is no way for him not to know what my intention was for getting close to him. So he must have guessed that I've placed a tracker or such a spell on him. Even if he didn't, I'm sure Philomns is full of people who would inform him. He wouldn't go back to their base while knowingly carrying a tracker with him unless he is a traitor."

Team leader Dains, who had been listening to his subordinates until now without saying anything, raised one eyebrow after hearing Kairen's words. He smiled slightly and opened his mouth.

"Then, what do you think he is up to?"

Kairen looked at the map.

"He is running away."

"Running away?"

Kairen nodded his head.

Kairen, Serria, and the deputy team leader were the only ones from this unit who confronted the man personally. The others wouldn't know about it, but Kairen had personally witnessed that the man was not an easy opponent.

As much as he was powerful, he had a unique behavior as well. 

Why didn't he kill Kairen when he was trying to place the spell on him? Did he just act out of mercy? Or was it because he was sure that Kairen couldn't do shit? 

Kairen had heard from Kain about their conversation with the man. He had told Kain that he would let him go. He had also asked him about something called a gate. 

He had Also heard Alan's words as well. That man was the first and only one to notice Alan. Even though he knew that there was an enemy hiding inside their hideout, he hadn't informed the others and instead came forward to have a conversation with him. 

In short, it seemed like the man had no intention of tiring himself with fighting with SMF, either he didn't care about them or had other things to achieve by sparing them. There was also the possibility of him being a traitor, but Kairen didn't consider it much because no matter how talented he was, there was no doubt that he would be already found out by Philoms if he really was a traitor.

Also, there was something that he was so desperate to find that he went so far as to directly ask an agent about it. It also meant that whatever he was looking for wasn't something that Phimoms had intel about. If they did, why would their men come and ask SMF agents while risking so much on the line?

Kairen knew that he couldn't just judge others with such little information, but he thought he could at least try. 

He thought, 'What would I do if I was that man?'. 

What would he do if he was linked to some idiot from the group that wanted to capture him, but didn't want to engage in a battle with them?

"He wants to get rid of the Link as quickly as he can. There are several ways to do that. As he is not a mage himself, he can't cast the reverse spell to remove the link, and others can't do that for him either. The last time I placed a tracker on Claire Raid, the spell was forcefully canceled from the other side, which means that Philomns has a mage that is capable of forcefully breaking spells, but  I don't think he would risk going back to the base to get in touch with that mage. He could also wait for the spell to get canceled on its own after its time ran out, but he would get captured until then. So, he is left with only one option."

Everyone was looking at Kairen, and it made him feel so uncomfortable.

Kairen felt like he was back to his university days when he had to do a presentation in front of all of his classmates. 

It made him remember those days of suffering. He hated presentations back then and still does. He always prepared for them a lot but messed them up. He always got nervous after seeing everyone looking at him and forgot what he had to say.

But since coming here, he had gotten better at handling such situations. He had received so many continuous glares and weird gazes that he was becoming a master in ignoring people. He had also improved his talent on continuously saying nonsense in a way that kinda made sense so he thought if he went back now, he would do perfectly in all of his presentations. 

"Which is to get as far away as me as possible and break the spell by getting out of its range."

"Ah!"

Serria exclaimed after hearing Kairen as if she just realized that such a thing was possible. The others also had an expression of realization on their faces. 

"How long is the range?"

Kairen looked at the map for a few seconds before answering the team leader's question.

"Here."

He put his finger on a spot.

"It will end somewhere around this place."

Where he was pointing was exactly where the man was heading to, the Frozen Ocean.

"Wow! doesn't your spell cover almost all of the country?"

"It isn't much compared to the other mages. Its range would be larger if I had put more mana into it..."

Kairen mumbled that and lowered his head. Again, he had messed up due to the lack of mana.

"Can't we go after him? If Kairen moves towards that place as well, the range of the spell would move with him as well, right?"

Kairen nodded his head.

"Also, if we are lucky, we can capture that man on the spot."

"We can't move hastily as it might be a trap."

"But at least Kairen should move towards north so that the spell wouldn't get broken."

"Hmmm..."

Kairen thought the same. They had finally found someone that was related to two of their cases, they couldn't just let him go. 

BANG

While people were busy conversing about their options, the door was slammed open and Glenn jumped outside his room.

"Team leader!"

The unit members stopped their conversation as soon as they saw Glenn's stiff face and their faces turned serious in an instant.

Glenn didn't even wait for the team leader's answer and immediately conveyed the news.

"The ruins, sir. I received news that there were suspicious activities near the village that you visited not long ago. The agents that were disguised as hunters reported that they had seen a bunch of masked individuals roam around the destroyed ruin."

"What?"

"That village?"

Glenn raised his hand, gesturing to them that he wasn't done talking yet.

"Also, the second ruin..."

He glanced at Alan who was glaring at him with a frown on his face and continued.

"Something happened there.. We received signals from the devices installed there, before losing contact with them all of a sudden."