Gaegukja Yeol followed behind Deowi with a frown on her face. “Where exactly are we going?” she asked her brother. “If we get scammed again because of you….”

“Damnit, Yeol,” Deowi said, turning his head to the side to glare at his sister. “I was thirteen. Thirteen! I was scammed once in my life, and ever since then, I’ve heard nothing but constant nagging from you since then.”

“You did lose everything.”

Deowi’s expression darkened. “Let’s not talk about that, alright? My new team members don’t need to hear about the embarrassing moments in my life until after they’ve embarrassed themselves in front of me.”

“I think that’s something I want to hear about,” Stella said. She was hanging out of the tattoo on Vur’s chest as if it were an open window, her elbows propped up against his skin as she used her palms to hold her chin and cheeks, supporting her head.

“Yeah, well, I think Vur and Tafel want to hear about something else,” Deowi said and smiled at the fairy queen. It wasn’t a very convincing smile because red flames bursted in and out of existence around Deowi’s head as he spoke. “There’s no way to put it but bluntly; purchasing a residence is expensively prohibitive. As such, we’re going to obtain a personal residence for you through the second option.”

“The second option?” Gaegukja Yeol asked, a furrow appearing on her brow. “When you said you had a method, you’re planning on having just the three of them wage a war of conquest?”

“It’s not just the three of them,” Deowi said, raising an eyebrow at his sister. He gestured around. “As you can see, there’s at least six of us here. I said at least because I’m not sure whether or not to count elementals and fairies as people.”

“Of course, we’re people,” Erin said and snorted.

“Unless being a person requires buying an admission ticket,” Stella said. “Then we’re not.”

“Right,” Deowi said and nodded. “We have an indeterminate amount of people. That’s the amount most guilds and clans bring to wage war.”

“They’re only indeterminate because of how many people are recruited and hired,” Gaegukja Yeol said, her expression darkening. “Have you filled out the required paperwork? Did you send an application to the tower to launch a conquest?”

Deowi’s brow furrowed. “You have to do that?”

Gaegukja Yeol shot Lindyss a glance that said, “Can you believe this guy?” From what Gaegukja Yeol had observed from meal dinner at the clan residence, Lindyss was in a similar position as herself, both supporting powerful, irresponsible fools from behind. Gaegukja Yeol crossed her arms over her chest. “We’d better head back and properly launch the conquest. While we wait for the tower to approve our request, we can gather the few idle explorers in the clan and start purchasing supplies. The clan members will most likely be disgruntled by this.”

“No, don’t go back,” Deowi said and grabbed his sister’s arm. “We’re almost there.”

“It doesn’t matter if we’re almost there because you didn’t do any of the prerequisite work,” Gaegukja Yeol said. “You never listen to me when you’re wrong, and quite frankly, it’s frustrating.”

“But I know I’m right,” Deowi said. “Rules are flexible, and the tower makes exceptions all the time.” He continued marching forward despite Gaegukja Yeol’s protests and went around a bend, dragging his cursing sister along. Vur’s group exchanged glances with one another before following after them, and behind them, Kax walked along with his trusty crystalline hatchet hanging from his waist.

After traveling for a bit longer, Deowi came to a halt in front of a gnarled tablet which was as tall and wide as two people. “See,” he said. “We’re here.”

“I know we’re here,” Gaegukja Yeol said and jerked her arm away from Deowi’s grip, scowling at her brother. She turned to face Vur’s group. “This is the tower’s mission board. Before you ask why it’s empty, it’s reserved for explorers.”

“With this mission board, I can ask the tower to wage a war of conquest for you,” Deowi said and raised his left wrist. The root bracelet wrapped around it glowed with an amber light, and a similar sheen of amber covered Deowi’s flaming eyes. “If you complete a conquest mission, you can claim the place you’ve conquered and register it as your own.”

“How do you complete a conquest mission?” Tafel asked. “Are we sieging a capital?”

“In a sense,” Gaegukja Yeol said. “There are multiple towers. It’s not really a secret, but it’s a relatively unknown fact because only explorers and above have a reason to know. Waging a war of conquest is asking the tower to strike another tower to claim a piece of land. We’ll be attacking the residence of a clan or guild from a different tower. If we win, we’ll claim their residence. If we lose, we die or become prisoners of the other tower.” Gaegukja Yeol glared at Deowi. “However, a war of conquest isn’t so easily waged. It’s risky for the tower to attack another tower, so—”

“Damn,” Deowi said and lowered his arm. His eyes stopped glowing amber. “My request was shut down.”

“Of course,” Gaegukja Yeol said. “The last time you were wrong, you also said you knew you were right just like this time, and what are you this time?”

Deowi stared at the ground. “Wrong.”

“What was that?” Gaegukja Yeol asked, turning her head and cupping her ear at her brother.

“I was wrong,” Deowi said, louder this time. He exhaled and glanced at Vur. “I guess we could save up money while climbing the tower to buy you guys your own place. In the meantime, you can use our residence to save on boarding fees.”

Vur frowned and went up to the gnarled root.

“You won’t be able to interact with it,” Gaegukja Yeol said as Vur raised his left arm, his root bracelet shining amber. “It’s an explorer-only board.”

An amber sheen covered Vur’s eyes, and his eyes moved about as if he were reading words on a page. A frown appeared on his face, and he let out a snort as he took a step forward. He raised his arm and slapped downwards at the gnarled tablet as if he were a bear standing on his hindlegs. His palm smashed into the gnarled tablet, and the room shook as if it had been struck by an earthquake. The tablet flashed with amber lights, and for some reason, Gaegukja Yeol couldn’t help but feel sorry for it.

Vur squinted his eyes, and they moved as if he were reading again. His eyebrow raised. “War of conquest? Is that what it’s called?”

“Uh, yes,” Deowi said. “Are you…?”

“Got it,” Vur said, the amber glow disappearing from his eyes and bracelet. A red portal appeared directly in the center of the gnarled tablet. There was a hair-thin crack traversing the tablet from top to bottom which hadn’t been there before it’d been slapped. “Let’s go.”

“How did you…?” Gaegukja Yeol wanted to finish her question, but there was no point. Vur had already went through the portal without even looking back.

“And you said the tower was against forceful occupation of residences,” Lindyss said as she walked past the stunned flaming woman.

Gaegukja Yeol couldn’t help but scratch her head as Lindyss disappeared through the portal. Deowi came up to her with a poop-eating grin on his face. “Shut up,” Gaegukja Yeol said before her brother could say anything. Then, she floated into the portal.