The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing and the occasional drip of sweat hitting the tent floor. The eight knights remained frozen in their kneeling positions, muscles trembling from both exhaustion and anticipation of their commander's judgment.

Finally, Seraphine broke the oppressive quiet, her voice cutting through the air with its familiar coldness.

"Rise. Your late arrival is forgiven."

The words were delivered with her characteristic detached tone, but there was no accompanying punishment, no harsh reprimand, no additional training assigned as penance. Just simple, direct forgiveness.

No extra drills. No threats. Just forgiveness.

I don't want Leon to think I'm too harsh. Her eyes flicked toward him briefly. Maybe I have been too hard on them. They nearly collapsed just trying to catch up.

The knights' heads snapped up in unison, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief. They had been bracing themselves for the inevitable consequences—extra training sessions, reduced rations, additional duties, or worse. In all their years serving under Commander Seraphine, delays and perceived failures had always resulted in swift and memorable punishment.

Kaela's mouth opened slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out. The other knights exchanged bewildered glances, their faces a mixture of relief and confusion. This was completely unprecedented behavior from their notoriously strict commander.

They had grown accustomed to her exacting standards during training, where even when the disparity in their abilities made success nearly impossible, she would still find ways to push them harder as a consequence for falling short. The woman who would make them run extra laps for being a fraction of a second too slow was now simply... forgiving them?

Leon observed their reaction with keen interest, his eyes sliding sideways to study Seraphine's profile. The knights' shock told him everything he needed to know about her previous leadership style. Their wide-eyed, almost fearful surprise at receiving mercy instead of punishment painted a clear picture.

She was more brutal than I thought. What can these poor souls even do when we are too strong? Poor Kaela, she must have it tough, Leon mused silently, watching as the knights slowly and hesitantly began to rise from their kneeling positions, still looking as though they expected the other shoe to drop at any moment.

The change in Seraphine's behavior was clearly as unexpected to them as it was revealing to him. These were seasoned warriors who had served under her command for years, yet they looked like children who had just been spared a scolding they were certain they deserved.

As time passed, Seraphine began issuing orders with her usual efficiency, directing the knights to begin moving the supplies through the portal. Her voice carried the familiar tone of command that they were accustomed to, bringing a sense of normalcy back to the situation.

"Begin transferring the supplies through the portal. Move systematically—priority items first, then everything else in order."

The knights' eyes were immediately drawn to the shimmering silver-white portal that dominated one section of the tent. For some of them, this wasn't their first encounter with Leon's dimensional abilities—they had witnessed glimpses of his power before during various missions. But for others, seeing the swirling energy gateway up close was a completely new and awe-inspiring experience.

The portal pulsed with otherworldly energy, its edges crackling softly as it maintained the connection between dimensions. Even the veterans who had seen it before couldn't help but stare for a moment, still amazed by the casual way Leon maintained such an advanced magical construct.

"Incredible," one of the newer knights whispered under his breath, before quickly catching himself and focusing on the task at hand.

The work began in earnest, with the knights forming efficient lines to move supplies. However, it quickly became apparent that Leon's inventory was the true game-changer in this operation. While the knights dutifully carried crates and bundles through the portal, Leon moved through the remaining supplies with systematic precision, entire sections of goods vanishing at his touch.

It took exactly half an hour to complete the entire transfer. In that time, Leon's inventory had absorbed roughly 90% of the remaining supplies during the travels, making him the undisputed MVP of this swift transportation effort. Without his massive storage capacity, the operation would have taken hours upon hours of back-breaking labor to move everything through the portal manually.

The knights, despite their exhaustion from the earlier sprint, worked with admirable efficiency, though they couldn't help but marvel at how effortlessly Leon continued to make vast quantities of supplies simply disappear into his personal storage space.

By the end of the half hour, the once-packed tent stood nearly empty, with only a few scattered items remaining that would be dealt with in subsequent trips.

In just a minute or so.

Everything was now complete. The massive tent that had once been packed to capacity with supplies stood completely empty. The portal continued to shimmer with its silver-white energy, maintained effortlessly by Leon's mana.

With the transfer finished, Seraphine suddenly turned to address her knights with an unexpected order.

"Return to the estate immediately. All of you."

Her voice carried the familiar cold authority they knew well, but the abruptness of the command caught them off guard. The knights exchanged confused glances—they had expected to accompany their commander and the young master, or at least receive further instructions about their next moves.

Kaela, as the knight captain, stepped forward with visible bewilderment etched across her features. Her silver hair still bore traces of sweat from their earlier sprint, but her sense of duty compelled her to speak up.

"Commander, if I may ask—why are we being dismissed? We could be of further assistance here. There might be additional tasks that require—"

"You have your orders," Seraphine cut her off coldly, her tone brooking no argument. "Return to the estate immediately. That is not a request."

Kaela's mouth opened slightly, clearly taken aback by the harsh dismissal. But Seraphine wasn't finished.

"Furthermore, when you arrive, assemble everyone. All of our people, all the spies we have positioned throughout the region—everyone. Gather them all. When I return, we will be departing on a long and important mission."

The gravity in Seraphine's voice was unmistakable. This wasn't just another routine operation—this was something significant enough to require their entire network of personnel.

Kaela's expression immediately shifted from confusion to fierce determination. Whatever this mission was, it was clearly of the utmost importance to her commander. Her back straightened as her training and loyalty kicked into high gear.

"Understood, Commander! I'll gather everyone immediately upon our return!"

Without another word, Kaela spun on her heel and began marching toward the tent exit. The other knights fell in behind her, their own confusion replaced by the urgency of their new orders. Within moments, all eight knights had departed.

The tent now stood completely empty except for Leon and Seraphine.

Leon glanced at the shimmering portal, calculating the time remaining. There was still about an hour left before the scheduled meeting with the Saintess and the blonde-haired woman. With the supply transfer complete, he had a perfect opportunity to distribute the goods to the people waiting inside his dimensional space.

It had been approximately six years inside the dimensional realm for them. Through his extreme spatial senses, he had observed from a distance the crude houses made of mud and other basic materials that the settlers had constructed. The sight told him that significant changes had taken place during their extended stay in that isolated world.

Time could indeed be both a curse and a blessing. While the accelerated timeline allowed for rapid development and growth within the dimensional space, it also meant that the natural human lifespan was passing at an alarming rate for those inside.

It's not my fault that time flows a thousand times faster in there, Leon thought pragmatically. The life they're living inside is far better than the fate they would have faced outside.

He felt no guilt about their situation. These people would have died from their fate, displaced and desperate, facing potential starvation or worse in the outside world. The dimensional space had given them safety, resources, and the chance to build something new. The accelerated time was simply a characteristic of the space itself—not something he had chosen or could control.

Still, I need to be practical about this.

Leon's expression grew more focused as he considered the implications. He would need to carefully select a few individuals soon to become awakeners, extending their natural lifespans before age claimed them entirely. It wasn't out of guilt, but out of practical necessity—these people represented valuable human resources, and losing them to natural aging when he could prevent it would be wasteful.

"Seraphine," he said, turning to her, "I need to go inside and distribute these supplies. The people there have been waiting for six years in their timeline. Some of them might not have much time left if I don't make them awakeners soon."

The portal pulsed steadily, awaiting his decision to step through and face the community that had been shaped by years of isolation and development.

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