Saikyou Mahoushi no Inton Keikaku (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 72

Seventy-Second Chapter

Scarred Soul

After returning to his laboratory, Alus thought back to what had happened last night.

Even though he was doing some research, his mind always returned to the same place: the chain of events that had happened around him that night.

After the discussions around Tenbram had wrapped up, he’d gone back to the Fable mansion and ended up saving Lilisha, who’d snuck into the mansion.

He didn’t know if intervening in Selva and Lilisha’s battle had been the right choice. But if he hadn’t, Lilisha would no doubt be dead. Although he’d only known her for a short while, it was clear that she wasn’t strong enough to take on the Fable family butler. And since she’d snuck in as an assassin, there was no reason for Selva to show any mercy.

Maybe I shouldn’t have meddled. No, was I made to meddle? Well, not exactly.

Sisty’s words may have pushed him, but in the end, Alus had made the choice. He hadn’t expected her to bring up the tragic invasion, but there had been more to it than that.

However, everything was working out too well. It was like he, Lilisha, the Fable family, and even Sisty were dancing in the palm of somebody’s hand.

“If that’s the case...just who is the puppet master directing this strange play...?” The corners of Alus’s lips raised ever so slightly into a smile.

Was there some strange plot at play? If so, it was being cleverly hidden so as not to appear so on the surface. Whoever was behind the scenes was intelligent and skilled at using people.

The performers of the play appeared to be acting of their own accord, but he couldn’t help but feel that someone in the shadows was pulling all the threads. The biggest proof of the puppet master’s skill was that the performers themselves didn’t realize they were playing their parts.

Like the principal said, it seems that Berwick has a hand in all this, thought Alus.

If Lilisha was part of the plan, Berwick, who’d been the one to send her to Alus, was clearly guilty. However, unraveling Berwick’s plans was like traversing through a huge, complex, and mysterious maze. Berwick was skilled in politics and at reading others to the point of manipulating them. It would be difficult for even Alus to expose what his true intentions really were.

But if Berwick was the one who had planned it all, it wasn’t very like him.

Regardless, if Alus could discern what the ultimate goal was, he might be able to follow the path that led to it.

“Sir Alus...you’re not concentrating on your research,” Loki pointed out, seeing right through him. He still hadn’t told Tesfia and Loki what had happened when he’d turned back to the Fable family mansion.

“I was just thinking about a little something I’m worried about, but hopefully it’s nothing.”

If Berwick was involved, he wouldn’t have gotten Alus caught up in it for no reason. So it was safe to assume there was some kind of intention behind it.

That said, he wasn’t completely confident in his interpretation, so there were no actual guarantees.

At any rate, Berwick was at the top of the military and Alus was still a soldier.

Their past bound them to each other, and Alus knew that if Berwick wanted something of him, blatantly refusing would be no different from throwing a tantrum like a child.

Because he was not familiar with the subtleties of people, Alus had failed to realize there was more going on in this chain of events than what was on the surface until Sisty had told him. Since there hadn’t been any clear malice behind it, his instincts hadn’t warned him.

It just feels like there is no clear aim here. There’s no heavy-handedness trying to push everything to the outcome they desire.

That is to say that there was no fixation on the outcome. Even though the plan itself was quite meticulous, he couldn’t sense any urgency. Though Sisty had given Alus information, it was still up to him whether he would save Lilisha or not, and that would be a gamble for whoever was behind the scenes.

And yet he felt that there were guardrails in place to keep everything from veering too far off the path.

Yeah, it’s probably not just Berwick. I can see someone twisted behind this.

Alus cursed the still-invisible mastermind, shook his head to clear out any doubts, and let out a sigh.

“See...you are not listening at all, are you, Sir Alus?” asked Loki.

“Hmm?” Alus responded, still distracted. “Well, no matter how much I think about it, I can’t take any actions myself. Besides, we have something else we need to do.”

“I don’t understand the context, so I will just say ‘sure.’ In the meantime, if you don’t say something, those two will never start their training in earnest, Sir Alus.”

“Hmph.” Alus looked over and saw the usual scenery in the laboratory. “You’re still tripping over the basics of mana control and yet you slack off?”

Tesfia and Alice were supposed to be doing their daily training, but like Loki said, they weren’t focusing at all.

They must have heard Alus, though, because they stopped and looked at each other.

“I know this is important too, but...” started Tesfia.

“Yeah, it’s an important time for Fia, right? Shouldn’t we be thinking of what to do on that Tenbram?” asked Alice. Alus had told them why they should prioritize training over thinking about plans for the Tenbram, but there was no way for them to stay calm with Tesfia’s life depending on it.

While he understood how they felt, Aile still hadn’t supplied any details on the Tenbram. So, lacking knowledge, there was a limit to what they could do.

So Alus reached his conclusion.

“No, just continue to focus on your training as usual. Mana control will be a foundation you will always have use for.”

To be frank, he wished Tesfia at least understood the general gist of Tenbram, but she’d have to make up for that with some personal study.

Right now, Alus’s own interest lay with the Fable family’s inherited magic.

Frose Fable’s words had sparked his inquisitive spirit. According to her, it was impossible for him to learn the inherited magic. He couldn’t replicate it or even arrive at something similar by accident. Alus refused to take that lying down.

“Are you sure you’re fine with that, Fia? You don’t act like it’s urgent, but you both might end up having to quit this institute.” Alice couldn’t get the risk of the Tenbram out of her mind. It was a natural concern.

“Well, yeah, but at this point things will happen the way they happen. With Al acting like that, even I get taken aback.” Tesfia scratched her cheek and smiled wryly. But it looked a little like escapism to Alice.

“You mean it’s Al’s fault? But I’m the only one who’s left out...so I can’t help but get worried,” said Alice, sounding a little sad. As an outsider, she hadn’t been told anything, but perhaps that was why she had been able to take the situation more seriously than anyone.

“Ms. Alice, this incident is certainly a big problem. I understand how you feel; I feel the same. I am just not saying it out loud.”

Loki furrowed her brow as she spoke. Her words seemed to express her confusion over Alus’s indifference to the matter. Even so, she continued, trying to be positive.

“But thinking about it, there might not be any need to be so serious about it. Sure, losing the Tenbram will spell the end of Ms. Tesfia’s life. And there would be considerable demerits for Sir Alus too. Even though the rank of No. 1 doesn’t bow down to the Womruina family, just having him owe them a big debt would send considerable ripples through the political sphere. And that might result in Sir Alus losing some freedom. However, not even the military could fully restrain him, so I doubt even the Womruina could do anything to him.”

Loki let out a somewhat anxious sigh.

“However, the reactions of the top brass of the military and the high-ranking officials who understand Sir Alus’s power do bother me. Who knows what they’ll do when it comes down to it...”

Tesfia picked up on Loki’s doubt.

“Hmm, I don’t really know much about the military, but nobles connected to the military usually see that as a problem.”

“It could invite conflict between nobles after all,” explained Loki. “Do you two know what benefits Alpha gets from having the current rank No. 1?”

“Noblesse oblige, the duty of the nobles and the responsibility of those with power. Many nobles tout such a slogan, and they wouldn’t stay quiet. And the rank No. 1 Magicmaster is a strategic trump card against Fiends, so having somebody like that attend the Institute...” Tesfia muttered to herself. Her words were sensible and hit the nail on the head.

“That’s right. The existence of Fiends is always the top priority for the various nations. In other words, having the greatest Magicmaster means a lot in terms of national politics and diplomacy. Of course, I am just a normal soldier, so I am a bit of an outsider. But if something were to happen to Sir Alus, his surroundings would suddenly get a lot noisier. If that happened, this daily life will be blown away,” Loki responded at a rapid pace.

Of course, Alus would rather pass on all that. In fact, owing the Womruina’s a big debt while also causing such a scene would only add insult to injury. He didn’t even want to imagine how long he’d be dragged into military and political troubles.

“Well, if that happens, I would just abandon Alpha,” said Alus.

“Excuse me?!”

“Hmm?!”

Tesfia and Alice were both bewildered by that response, but Loki was calm.

“It might be bad news for you two, but that is the kind of thing he might do. If that happens, neither the military nor the head of the nation would be able to stay calm.”

Abandoning the nation sounded bad, but strangely enough it would be the start of Alus’s retirement. The peace and quiet it would bring would be convenient for him. It might mean dumping his two students, but abandoning the nation was no doubt within the realm of possibility.

In fact, he just happened to have business in Rusalca. He’d received an invitation from its ruler, Lithia. They would no doubt welcome him for a long-term stay.

“No, no, no. You can’t just do that!”

“Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun, Al? That’s going a little too far, right, Fia?” Alice looked at Tesfia, who was desperately nodding her head in agreement.

Alus coldly looked at them and spoke bluntly. “Well, I doubt that’ll happen. I was just caught up in all this, and frankly I’m just hoping it turns into something interesting. I’m pretty motivated, you know,” he said, remembering some of the reactions Lilisha had shown during his negotiations with Aile.

Alus wasn’t well versed in politics, but Lilisha had clearly sensed the various schemes Aile was planning.

Even the whole deed of engagement was just another of the nobles’ many wrongdoings to him. He wasn’t trying to be righteous or anything, and he’d left everything about the Tenbram to the Fable family anyways so he had nothing to do.

Seeing Alus’s confident, almost arrogant, attitude made Tesfia shrug as if to tell Alice, “See?”

“Fine, if Al says so...” said Alice. “But it’s still an important matter for both of you, so don’t take it too lightly okay? Make sure you seriously think about it.”

“Okay, okay. But what happened to the training?” Alus brushed off Alice’s warning and urged the two to get back to their usual training. He soon stood up and assumed his customary teacher mode.

To tell the truth, their mana control techniques had improved considerably recently. But the world wasn’t easy enough for them to survive on that alone.

“Right... I would like to have you two, and Loki too, focus on learning a new spell. Of course, you should still continue your mana control training separately.”

With those words, the atmosphere completely changed.

“A new spell?!” Tesfia and Alice exclaimed at the same time. “Really?!”

They broke into smiles, curiosity filling their eyes as they leaned forward as if pushing Alus to continue. Even Loki was visibly excited, elated at the chance to learn new spells.

Typically, you start rejoicing when you’ve fully mastered it. But we can’t really afford to take our time.

Generally, it took a mind-numbingly long time to completely understand and trace the construct of a magic formula. Right now, the mainstream method was to rely on the AWR’s function while imagining what the spell would look like after manifesting, but the simplification of the spell reduced the level of completion.

Alus couldn’t help but have his doubts about that kind of mass production-like method, but he didn’t exactly have the time to open up study groups either.

In the end, Alus ultimately had to simplify things as he explained the steps in an attempt to get them to understand.

Still, he couldn’t help but coldly look at the three rejoicing girls.

How was it that he couldn’t motivate them without doing something like this? He felt like he’d glimpsed the stupefying nature of the creature that was a Magicmaster. In a way, Magicmasters were the kinds of people who became obsessed with magic. Because of their talent, they sought proof that they were more competent than others. As a result, they tended to get a sense of superiority once they picked up a new spell. But aside from Loki, these other two were novice Magicmasters, and any superiority they felt would be destroyed after a quick trip to the Outer World.

“Alice, your first step is to learn how to freely control the device in your AWR, those three rings. I’ll give you the formula on paper later, but if you get the order wrong it will just take more time to learn.”

Alice’s AWR, Shangdi Fides, was very high performing. Even its three rings were AWRs of their own. So when she used it, she was practically controlling two types of AWRs at once. The rings were the heart of the AWR, and their performance was made possible because of the meteor metal they were made from.

As such, mastering their use was essential and unavoidable. More specifically, Alice’s most important task was to learn remote mana control and to project magic formulas.

“Next is Loki. Well...” When it came to Loki, Alus was a bit hesitant. Someone with her level of experience had already mastered the bare minimum. She was a diligent student who never skipped training, and she’d even learned to fight with her mana sonar.

Loki had a phenomenal sense for learning magic, shown by her aptitude for detection magic. The reason Tesfia and Alice could use so few spells was because they themselves weren’t sure what kind of magic they would need. Due to a lack of experience, they couldn’t determine what they needed on their own, and it took longer to learn because of their unrefined practicing methods.

For example, if Tesfia were to start learning an expert-level spell now, it was doubtful she’d finish in a few years or even before she graduated. It depended on the spell, but typically advanced-level spells and above required not just effort but another talent too. Even people with the same affinity had strengths and weaknesses, and trying to learn a high-level spell that didn’t suit them was almost always just a waste of time.

“Well, I can’t say I’m not a little worried, but I’ll have you learn one of the vertices of thunder...”

“You mean Black Ikazuchi!” Loki’s excitement shot up. Unable to withstand it anymore, she stood up. Her eyes shone like stars.

“Mmm, that’s still a little early, or rather, too difficult,” Alus responded.

“Th-Then what?!” Even though Alus had kindly denied her, Loki’s excitement didn’t cool off. Right now, the most powerful spell she could use was Naruikazuchi. It was the highest class of magic in the orthodox lightning attribute, a high-level spell that made an instantaneous lightning bolt.

However, not everyone could learn the spells that made up the vertex of thunder. Without natural talent and extraordinary qualities, they were impossible to master. Moreover, Alus didn’t know of any more users of the vertex of thunder aside from Loki. That was just how rare the spells were.

“I will have you attempt to learn one of the spells that still hasn’t been acquired by anyone,” Alus told Loki.

“Wh-What kind of spell is that?” asked Loki. “I don’t know much about them. Your Black Ikazuchi is the only other one I’ve seen.”

“I bet there’s no other Magicmaster who can use it,” said Alus. “Plus it’s top secret; it’s not even accessible in the Magic Compendium. Normally, it would be impossible to even catch a glimpse of the magic formula. Incidentally, the thunder name comes from the thunder god in folklore. The typical perception is that nobody can use it. Surprisingly there are quite a few spells like that out there.”

Of course he hadn’t asked when Loki had learned Naruikazuchi.

Once Alus finished explaining, Loki’s eyes darted around, afraid of any questions. However, the other two girls’ eyes sparkled with interest.

Other attributes or not, magic was magic, and Tesfia and Alice were dying to know more.

“Hey, what level of magic is that?”

“Well, the name is still a secret, but I guess it would be ultimate-level. But since nobody’s mastered it, it’s difficult to grade it. Regardless, all eight vertices of thunder are exceptionally powerful. So at the very least they are all expert-level.”

“Ooooh!”

“Wow!”

Alus wasn’t sure how to respond to their exaggerated reactions. They were in awe of the frightening power of an unknown spell, but they also gave Loki a somewhat sympathetic look.

After all, Loki was about to challenge herself to acquire such a spell. Based on their own experience training under Alus, it was easy for them to imagine that it would be a grueling trial.

However, Loki herself was as excited as a child; her breath was ragged.

“Loki, you already have a basic aptitude for it, so you can take your time to learn it slowly. But it’s not something very easy to learn, so keep at it.”

“Yes! I swear I will live up to your expectations!” Loki was all fired up. Her frustration over losing to the snow man in Vanalis pushed her forward to take on a trial that would be like trying to scale a sheer cliff.

Loki is a Magicmaster through and through, Alus thought. That was a fact. Loki’s eyes were not just that of a veteran soldier but also those of someone who had only just started on the path of magic...just like the students at the Institute.

Alus let out a sigh as he sensed a pair of eyes staring at him as if to ask, “What about me?”

Looking at Tesfia, he frowned. For some reason he felt tremendous anxiety.

He’d known Tesfia since he’d enrolled at the Institute, but he felt like she hadn’t matured much mentally.

So when he felt reluctant to teach her anything due to her “Me too, me too” appeal, he wasn’t trying to be mean. For Tesfia, it was her normal mode of operation. This redhead tended to wear her emotions on her sleeve, for better or worse.

At the Fable family estate, Tesfia’s mother hadn’t even tried to hide that she wanted Alus as a son-in-law. But it seemed Tesfia still had a long way to go before she could be considered a full-fledged lady.

“Fia...you study up on Tenbram, I guess,” he instructed her.

“...”

Tesfia’s shoulders dropped at Alus’s curt answer, and Alice patted her back to try and console her. Loki was ignoring her, unable to find any words to say.

When Alus looked Tesfia’s way, she didn’t just look disappointed, she was starting to tear up.

Ugh... Alus started to feel guilt welling up. He’d only been making a bad joke.

But to think she’d seriously cry. Was it really that much of a shock? he thought. He reflected on his actions as he scratched his head. He couldn’t very well say nothing, but snapping back wasn’t a good idea either.

Loki quietly watched from the side as Alus looked unusually distressed.

She felt a little mischievous, but it was a refreshing feeling. Ever since coming to the Institute, Alus had started showing different expressions... In a way, it moved her and she enjoyed her new hobby of watching his expressions when he was troubled.

Meanwhile, Alus finally steeled himself and walked up to the crying girl.

He reached out and planted his hand on top of her red hair.

It was a blunt gesture, but it was his way of hiding his embarrassment.

“Sorry. It was just a little joke. I’ve got a task for you too.”

“Really...?” An unexpectedly feeble voice asked. Her reaction only perplexed Alus more. Moreover, Alice was still patting Tesfia on the back as a form of backup, which put the odds against him.

“Y-Yeah, really.” He was being cautious, as if he were dealing with a sulking child.

As soon as Tesfia saw that his reply had become more concerned towards her, she grinned.

“You said it,” she said, confirming their promise. Alice smiled too, as if to indicate that it was just an act, and celebrated Tesfia’s tactical victory.

Alus sensed the deceit, but he wasn’t particularly irritated.

Normally he’d slam a fist down on her head, but the real tears in Tesfia’s eyes made him hesitate.

While it had started as a performance, she’d put too much emotion into it and really ended up crying.

Alus was a man, and being weak to a woman’s tears came with the job. Therefore, he couldn’t bring himself to get angry.

But he wasn’t sure what to do about this atmosphere.

Is this my fault...? I don’t get it.

While Alus was somewhat dismayed, Tesfia wiped her eyes.

“Huh? Aha ha. H-Hang on. Huh?”

“Fia, are you really crying?” Loki interrupted them with an exasperated look. “Oh my.”

“Is that enough of this farce, Ms. Tesfia?” asked Alus.

“Yeah. Well, I was just thinking I was going to be the only one who wouldn’t get a new spell. Phew. I’m fine now. All right! Let’s hear it, then.”

Her eyes were a little red, but she was acting normal again. And so the curtains fell on the girl’s inconvenient, cheap farce.

Alus cleared his throat, hoping to also clear the strange atmosphere before returning to the topic at hand. “I’m planning to have you learn the Fable family’s inherited magic.”

“Huh?! But I thought only my mother knew that,” said Tesfia.

“Of course I don’t know the details. But your mother has given me a hint, meaning that she’s acknowledged that Zepel is one of the steps to the final completed version,” explained Alus. “Well, technically it’s just very similar and not an exact match.”

In fact, from what Alus could tell, Icicle Sword’s composition was more complex than it needed to be. But by analyzing it and applying magic theory to it the intended path for it became clear.

Since magic formulas were a very straightforward system, the next step would inevitably lead to Zepel or something very similar.

That meant that when those with the nature for it learned Icicle Sword, it would ultimately lead them to the complete inherited spell. However, it was doubtful if any researchers would be able to analyze the magic formula and notice the unnatural parts mixed in.

Alus’s conjecture was that Icicle Sword was prepared as a basic step to let the user learn ice sculpting. The reason he thought so was that the sculpting part of the formula was left vague. It had been left open to interpretation, which had probably been Frose’s intention when she’d taught Tesfia Icicle Sword. So Tesfia’s sculpting skills were in large part thanks to her efforts and exceptional sense.

Zepel was the stage that followed after that. To use it, one had to pick up the skills to manipulate the ice magic through spatial coordinates.

It’s quite the kind design once you figure it out. It’s carefully set up to reach the final form as you improve on it, Alus thought after explaining it to Tesfia.

Once she’d heard everything, she spoke with a lively voice. “Difficulty aside, that means it’s a challenge from my mother!”

“I’m not so sure about that, but there’s no doubt that she wants you to learn the inherited magic,” responded Alus.

“So maybe it’s maternal love, then?” countered Tesfia. “In the end, my mother’s still the only one who knows the inherited spell in the Fable family nowadays.”

“Hmm? No, that’s not...” From what Alus had heard, not even Frose had learned one of the inherited spells. So it was likely that Tesfia’s mother didn’t even know the complete form of Icicle Sword that Tesfia was after.

According to Selva, they’re fine with treating the spell I come up with as the inherited spell, but what to do...? Well, I’ll let whatever happens happen.

The inherited spell that Frose had been trying to master must have been quite advanced at the time. In fact, it was so futuristic it could have surpassed even modern magic theories. But even the talented Frose had been unable to master it.

With their level of technology at the time, how had people come up with such an idea? Although there were many mysteries draped around the Fable family’s inherited spells, Alus’s curiosity was fully focused on the complete version of Icicle Sword.

Just what kind of power will the completed form of Icicle Sword have...? It’s only natural that I’m curious about this mysterious magic since I don’t even know when it was invented.

Alus wanted to at least grasp the basics of the complete form, for starters. He would consider whether or not to teach it to Tesfia once he had a clue what the formula looked like.

And there was one more thing.

This is just a hunch, but Zepel probably isn’t the last step. There should be more ahead of it. But just reaching the next step should be fine, Alus thought to himself before continuing.

“About that, Fia. Frose hasn’t mastered the inherited magic either. She said so herself.”

“No way! Ah, but...” Tesfia seemed to realize something and puzzle over it.

“Hmm? Is there something else?” asked Alus. “Frankly, your family matters are unimportant right now. With the Tenbram ahead of us, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn a more advanced spell and learn to protect yourself from danger.”

“Y-Yeah...” Tesfia apologetically cast her eyes down, prompting Alus to smile.

“Hey, redhead. Just so you know, your task this time is the hardest. But if you’re able to master the next step, I’m sure Frose will rejoice. It does seem to bother her—parental expectations, you know.”

Of course, when it came to living up to expectations, Tesfia was already performing admirably, like she had during the Friendship Magical Tournament. But it wasn’t Alus’s job to tell her that. While Frose would rejoice, Selva would have apprehensions about an unfamiliar inherited spell.

“Really?! My mother feels that way...?” Tesfia’s jaw relaxed and her eyes sparkled. She was really happy to learn that her mother had high expectations of her. Although he’d made such a conjecture, he still felt that the bond between a mother and daughter was inexplicable.

While Tesfia was intelligent, she was also slow to catch on. This time he was going to teach her everything in a detailed manner, forcing the knowledge into her head. If possible, he wanted her to find her own foothold as soon as possible.

But if he were to just hand over some papers with magic formulas all over them, her brain would surely overheat. It was easy to imagine steam coming out of her ears.

He wondered if it was okay to talk about Fable family secrets such as inherited magic around Alice and Loki. But Frose probably didn’t expect him to reach the next step so soon anyways since she hadn’t placed restrictions on him.

Even so, he chose to say the bare minimum and keep the formula hidden from Alice and Loki. Of course, he planned on having the two of them not tell a soul about their own spells.

Once he’d made the arrangements, Alus turned back to an excited Tesfia.

“Sorry for not living up to your expectations, but it’s not Niflheim I’ll be teaching you. Besides, regardless of what the inherited magic’s ultimate goal is, you’ll get there eventually by partially fulfilling the requirements...” Alus trailed off. “But you really love this kind of thing, don’t you?”

“Huh? Uhm...did it show on my face?”

“It was clear as day,” Loki added with a blank stare. That prompted Tesfia to rub her face and forcibly collapse her expression.

Alice smiled wryly seeing her do that. “You really love that spell, don’t you, Fia?”

“Well, it’s expert-level magic and it’s a great ice spell that you can’t really overlook. And it shows you a world of ice that is just overwhelming.”

In Alus’s point of view, while Tesfia might not have been terrible at it, it was clear that she didn’t have a solid grasp of magic theory. Besides, she had a tendency to know everything from the outline. Though she might be able to learn, if it was a question of whether theory suited her or not, Alus concluded the latter.

“You’ll touch on that at some point, but this time it’s a different spell. Although in a sense it’s rarer than Niflheim.”

“Huh? What is it? Come on. Don’t put on airs. Tell me.”

Alus frowned at her impatience, but it was too late to complain about that. “You’re going to learn Cocytus.”

“Ah! There was that spell. It was what Ul...uhm, Ulhava, used during the demonstration at the tournament...” she said in a pretty evasive tone, hesitating to say the name for a moment. She then awkwardly looked away as if trying to hide something.

Alice stepped in to help Tesfia.

“Oh, it was that person with the mask... I wonder who that could be...?” She said in a monotone voice, her acting terrible.

Two glances came at Alus, awaiting his reaction.

The Magical Martial Arts Demonstration was an event that had taken place during the Seven Nations Friendship Magical Tournament. And Alus had participated in it under the false identity of Ulhava.

He tried to be considerate.

“It’s not like I was trying to hide it. But just so you know, it was the ruler who came up with that name. So if you say anything stupid, you’ll be punished for leaking state secrets.”

He’d said it as a joke, but the two shuddered and insisted they didn’t know anything.

“That’s enough of acting strange. I’d rather pretend it never happened, but it’s too late for that,” Alus continued with a bitter expression. That was when Loki stepped in to assist.

“Sir Alus! That’s not true at all! You looked very valiant and that mask really suited you!” Loki clenched her tiny hands.

Tesfia quickly read the room and added her own affirmation. “Yeah, that was cool in its own right!”

Loki had praised the strange mask Alus had worn during the extracurricular lesson too, so he thought maybe her fashion sense was just questionable... But if he thought too much about it, he had a feeling that he’d see a side of Loki he’d rather not. So for the time being, he just gave a simple reply.

“I see.”

Tesfia let out a sigh of relief, glad that nothing more had come of it.

“But I really didn’t notice right away, right, Alice?”

“Yes, you stood out quite a bit, so it was when we were thinking about it later,” confirmed Alice.

“Yeah, it was only when we looked at Loki’s reaction...you know?”

Alus could understand where Tesfia was coming from. Loki had a tendency to outwardly express her emotions. Since it had been Alus’s big day and she’d been so overly excited, it had made it obvious to those around her.

But for some reason I still have that outfit on hand... I’ll have to make sure Loki doesn’t see it. It had been delivered from the palace by express mail, but there was no sense in questioning every move Cicelnia made.

“No matter. There’s no time so let’s get back on topic. It’ll probably be quicker to show you.”

He signaled to Loki to bring his AWR, Night Mist, over, then he stepped away to a more open space as the two other girls looked on. Thinking about it, he felt like it had been quite a while since he last taught them magic like this.

“Because of the complexity of its structure, Cocytus is classified as an expert-level spell,” Alus explained as he pulled on Night Mist’s chain and held a ring with his other hand. The ring started glowing blue.

Before long a small nucleus of mana appeared in the palm of his hand. Eventually briar-like vines grew out of it and started wrapping around it. It was much smaller than what he’d shown during the Magical Martial Arts Demonstration.

Alus glanced at Loki, who threw a knife covered in mana. It sped towards the nucleus but was suddenly wrapped in ice briars and frozen in place.

“This is Cocytus, a spell that senses specific mana within a range and freezes, stops, or nullifies it.”

It was accurate to say that the workings of mana were sealed in the spell-construction process. It was a powerful spell that sealed the link between caster and spell.

“It’s incredible. But isn’t this...?” Tesfia started. Then she tilted her head and directly asked what was on her mind. “Isn’t this focused more on defense? It doesn’t look like a very offensive spell. Like it’s more suited for passive tactics.”

“So you noticed?” responded Alus.

“Yeah, but this is supposed to be an expert-level spell like Niflheim, right? Wouldn’t that actually be better because you can use it to attack?” Being able to ask whatever was on her mind was one of Tesfia’s virtues.

Alus nodded gravely.

“Well, it’s not like I can’t understand what you mean, but they both have their own advantages. If you could learn Niflheim, that would be fine, but I proposed this because that looks like it would be too difficult.”

“You mean that Cocytus is a substitute spell?” That was hard for Tesfia to swallow.

When comparing the effects and phenomenon each spell manifested, as well as how much mana each consumed, the two were completely different. But as Tesfia had pointed out, there were several spells that appeared similar to Cocytus at first glance.

Loki appeared to agree, but didn’t say anything. However, she did give Alus a questioning glance, meaning she couldn’t understand the point of learning Cocytus.

“I’ll repeat myself: This spell has its uses, and it’s no doubt an amazing spell. Stepping back a little...nobles typically have inherited magic that they don’t tell anyone about. Some are even categorized as taboo, their very existence classified. There are several reasons spells can be considered taboo, not just that they are lethal against people. Some are treated as such because they are useful but risky. In other words, they are both difficult and costly to use.”

Alus took a deep breath and focused on the mana flowing through his body. When he exhaled, his breath turned into a white mist.

“I’ll only do this once, so make sure you don’t miss it.” As he released Cocytus, Loki’s knife thawed and fell to the ground. As it fell, Alus reached out a finger towards it.

This time the knife froze entirely. However, the effects of the spell were clearly different. When he removed his finger, the knife didn’t continue to fall. It was frozen in air as if time itself had stopped.

“Huh?! What did you do!” Tesfia looked astonished. Alus wordlessly rubbed his fingertips together. The spell had been activated for less than a second, but his skin still tingled. Even momentary use resulted in frostbite, a side effect of the spell that reflected on the user. Requiring more than just mana made it riskier than other spells.

“This is the real Cocytus,” Alus said. “It’s powerful and it will ignore any half-hearted barrier to freeze even time and space, but in return, it hurts the caster. I don’t have much affinity for ice, so I get frostbite. Its range is also very limited.”

“Sir Alus, are you okay...?” As he explained, Loki took Alus’s hand and worriedly looked at him.

“It’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t make such a blunder over a mere demonstration.”

Loki sighed with relief as she warmed his finger with her hands.

“This is the spell that you used in Vanalis, isn’t it?” asked Loki.

Alus wordlessly nodded. He’d used the same spell to rip a leg off the Shem Azah. However, due to the narrow area of effect, he’d only been able to manifest it on the surface of the Fiend’s body.

The spell came with the limitation of only a small area around where the caster touched. As a result, Alus’s hands were in danger of serious frostbite after using it for only a few seconds against a swift opponent with wings. Meaning that casters without ice affinity were in danger just from using it. In exchange for the risk, it exhibited a tremendous effect.

Although seeing how it practically interferes with space itself, it wouldn’t be strange for it to be categorized as space-control magic, Alus thought. Well, I suppose it’s an effect associated with the phenomenon of freezing.

The more extreme spells became, the more their effects and ranges exceeded human frames of reference. They exceeded the realm of attributes, with several examples of high-level spells changing the laws of physics or controlling space.

And with such spells, mana control became all the more important.

“Do you get it? The Cocytus I showed first was nothing more than a camouflage for the real version. It’s a little complicated, but there are cases like that too.”

“Al...why do they have the same spell name?” Alice stepped in to ask.

Since it was a good change of pace, Alus answered her. “It’s probably to keep the spell from spreading and to keep some second-rate Magicmaster from attempting it. Normally, it wouldn’t be strange for a spell like this to be classified as a taboo spell, but the fact that it can be controlled to some degree is what keeps that from happening. However, the caster can still put their allies at risk, and things can go really badly if someone uses it carelessly... They might even self-destruct.”

The explosive types of spells that Lettie used were probably similar.

“But Fia is going to be practicing that, right? What if she self-destructs...?” Tesfia shuddered at Alice’s words and her expression was complicated. Alus’s explanation had brought the spell’s huge risk to light and ended up betraying the expectations she’d selfishly held.

It was a double-edged sword, and since Tesfia would be using it herself, she wasn’t confident she wouldn’t screw up.

“She’ll just have to be careful. Besides, Fia has the aptitude for it,” he answered Alice, then directed his response to Tesfia herself. “It’s an ice spell, and the groundwork from Icicle Sword and Zepel will help a lot. And since mana control will play a part in it too, it’s not like you can use it yet. It’s no doubt a spell that will suit the next step of your family’s inherited magic. And I don’t have to come up with a new spell either.”

“H-Hmm... Okay, I’ll give it a shot.” Tesfia finally nodded, her expression serious, having made up her mind.

“That said, I can’t just teach you the formula as is. This is an ultimate-level spell and not something known in the wider world. So I’ll only give you the foundation, but make sure you can at least use it in your fingertips like I just did.”

“So you mean that as long as I control it, it’s not dangerous? Okay, got it! In fact, I’m itching to try it!” She clenched her fists and her cheeks were flush with her enthusiasm.

Seeing that, Alice couldn’t help but intervene.

“But, Al, rather than that dangerous-sounding spell...why not look for the inherited magic and teach her that when you find it instead? I’m a little curious about what kind of spell the inherited magic is.”

“Hang on,” said Tesfia. “Even if you find out, you can’t just teach me as is. Not even Icicle Sword’s magic formula has been made public.”

“I know. Frankly, I still don’t know what the final form would look like. The only key for the necessary structural elements is Icicle Sword. At best, I could guess what the next step is. Besides, this is a task you must do. As long as you meet the necessary conditions, I’m sure Frose would love for you to learn the complete inherited magic.”

Alus also had another reason to teach Cocytus to Tesfia: it could strongly interfere with space within its range of influence. It wasn’t a secondary effect of the spell manifesting but a trick built into the formula. If Tesfia could grasp and understand it, she would surely find it useful when proceeding to the next stage of the inherited magic.

“Besides, I’ll pass on Frose glaring at me for a lack of consideration. I’ve created a fair share of spells and earned a fair share of grudge and jealousy.”

“Hmm, then I guess it can’t be helped...” Alice eventually relented and accepted it.

“Well, Al can read magic formulas, so it’s pretty reassuring. But there’s no point if I don’t do some of it on my own,” Tesfia said.

“Then let’s get back on topic,” said Alus. “First of all, Icicle Sword is characterized by its intricate sculpting of the ice sword.”

However, to Alus that sculpting was artistic but not practical. So if he were to use Icicle Sword, the sword would have a much simpler shape. That said, Tesfia was certainly skilled at sculpting, and even Alus acknowledged that.

“Next, the key to Zepel is grasping spatial coordinates and sequentially rewriting them. In your case, you link the movements to your body—your arms and limbs—to forcibly resolve it.”

“Ha ha ha...” Tesfia let out a forced laugh when Alus gave her a cold stare. Accurately grasping the spatial coordinates required a great deal of skill. As someone who wasn’t very good at thinking about complicated things, Tesfia was better suited for the rough method she was currently using.

Next, Alice raised her hand and asked a question. “B-But Fia is using it, so it’ll be fine, right?”

“True, as long as she can use it, there won’t be any problems.” Alus nodded and continued. “But the Fable family’s inherited magic doesn’t end just from learning the spell. In a way, the process of learning is also a form of training. In fact, you could say that it’s more important to go through all the steps and learn the theory behind it. I don’t know if it’s something your ancestors came up with, but it’s an interesting learning process for a family renowned for its ice magic.”

If such academics were part of the Fable family’s traditions, it helped explain Frose’s love for training.

“Anyways, the Fable family’s inherited magic has techniques and theories that need to be learned in steps. From the examples so far, those techniques are sculpting and understanding spatial coordinates and rewriting them. The next step, as far as I can guess, is spatial interference by using the freezing phenomenon of the ice attribute.”

“I see. So that was the point of the Cocytus you just demonstrated.”

“If you’re going to challenge an ultimate-level spell right off the bat, you won’t have finished by the time you graduate. So I will create a formula that only meets the necessary requirements. I’ll limit the manifestation area to your fingers, and I’ll add a time limit restriction too just like my own.”

“Objection! I want a spell that can actually be used!” Tesfia raised her hand and complained. Apparently she wanted to take on the proper version of the spell.

Following Tesfia’s exceptional student behavior, Alus shut her down like a teacher.

“Overruled! Your mother wants to give you the proper education as the future head of the family. In that sense, mastering the magic formula will secure your place in the family. It’s the necessary qualifications for you to call yourself the secret heir, the Ertlade. Besides, I’ve promised to turn you into Magicmasters who can fight in the Outer World. This is just another part of that. Whether you’re the rightful successor or the Ertlade doesn’t matter. But if you become the rightful successor, your entire situation will change, not just with Womruina.”

As for Frose, even if she were to give up the family estate to someone, she was too uneasy with Tesfia the way she was now. Alus had no intention of getting very involved, but Tesfia learning the inherited magic would also qualify her to become the next head of the family.

“So my mother is even thinking about that. I see.”

Perhaps she felt something behind her mother’s usual cool demeanor. Tesfia wriggled her body like she was embarrassed.

“All right. I’ll do it!” she said “Will one month be enough?”

“Don’t be foolish. If you could do that, you’d have more talent than me,” Alus said in an exasperated tone.

But Tesfia had a tendency to exceed his expectations. She was the type to learn by doing and would sometimes pick up things at extreme speeds.

“I might fiddle with the magic formula a little, but it would be very impressive if you mastered it in a month. Knowing that you’re all talk and gusto, I’ll keep my hopes low.”

In spite of those words, Tesfia immediately got excited.

However familial expectations aside, learning the real Cocytus was no easy task, even with an affinity for ice. Not even Alus could draw out the full potency of that spell. In his case, he was only able to reproduce some of its power by making up for the missing qualities with his extensive knowledge of magic formulas and space manipulation. It was said that this spell could freeze a portion of the world itself, that it would spell death for everything including time itself, and that it was one of the most extreme effects of magic within the ice attribute. The spell could literally seal a part of the world into eternal silence.

Anyways, I’ve arranged a pretty high hurdle, but I wonder what will happen.

This was Alus’s latest challenge. So far, Tesfia and Alice had overcome the hurdles he had prepared and done so without ever hitting a wall. Their talents had left Alus in wonder, but if they could overcome this trial, he would have no choice but to acknowledge their talent as the real deal.

Will they have the talent to rival Loki, I wonder, thought Alus.

Perhaps Frose’s instructorial nature had infected him, because he felt something resembling elation welling up inside of him. The sensation caused the edges of his lips to rise.

After that, Alus took Tesfia and Alice to the training grounds, where he spent two hours teaching them their new spells. When it came to learning magic, without some guidance in the beginning they tended to waste time.

In Tesfia’s case, the beginning was crucial. She excelled in other ways, but she was careless and tended to make a lot of mistakes in the beginning.

In fact, the first thing she tried was to use the spell Freeze from her fingertips, but it was just a beginner-level spell that was nothing more than a cheap imitation of Alus’s demonstration.

As a result of her improved mana control, she’d picked up tricks like these. Alus couldn’t help but think that either way, she had a long road ahead of her.

Loki, who was considerably skilled to begin with, didn’t need to go over the magic formula that Alus had given her for long.

That said, a complete understanding was still necessary because she was attempting to learn the most complex kind of magic. Such a challenging spell would only manifest itself thanks to the foundation in place from her efforts and understanding of theory.

Looks like I can’t take my eyes off Loki either. Just what will she come up with and what will she make.

For the first time since leaving the military, Alus felt some fulfillment. He felt like he’d found something aside from fighting to look forward to.

And finally there’s Alice...

Alice had been given the task of learning how to control the rings of her AWR. It was the kind of field where someone who excelled at studies shone. She needed to search for a solution on how to best control the rings, be it by constantly changing the spatial coordinates or by incorporating them into the structural elements of the spells.

Shangdi Fides was an excellent AWR, and it required something different from Alice than what it asked from Tesfia or Loki.

Initially Alus was only going to give them a brief lesson to avoid taking up too much of his time, but it was human nature to want to see things through.

As he supervised the three girls’ training, he self-deprecatingly muttered to himself, “Looks like I’ll end up using my time researching three different spells for the time being.”

His mumbles quietly disappeared amid the girls’ shouts and clamor.

◇◇◇

“Ow.” That was the first word from Tesfia on their way home.

“M-My body’s completely...” Her arms were as heavy as lead and she felt numb with each step she took. She was even leaning forward a little like an old lady.

“I-I didn’t think I’d get this tired... Wh-What about you, Alice?” asked Tesfia.

As Tesfia stumbled forward, Alice reflected on the day’s accomplishments. “I think I got the hang of it on the first day. We can’t have Al hanging over us all the time, so I think it was great to grasp the general idea early on.”

First she had been taught the crux for focusing so that she could learn how to control the rings. As a result, she felt like she’d be able to get over the first hurdle without much difficulty.

“I wish I could do the same,” said Tesfia, rubbing her tired shoulders. “I still haven’t gotten it. I don’t really understand how you’re supposed to freeze space.”

The distance from the training grounds to the girls’ dorm wasn’t all that far, but right now it felt really distant to her.

“But Al said you already have the foundation down.”

“It doesn’t feel like it though. If I ever get the feeling I can do it, I’m sure the rest will come quickly.”

“Heh heh, where is that confidence coming from? You should start by not freezing your fingers.”

It appeared to Tesfia that her strict best friend wasn’t going to overlook her half-confident attempt at a bluff.

“Ugh...come on!” she said, glaring enviously at her best friend, who’d gotten results before her. Then she let out a sigh. “Well, simplified or not, it’s based on an ultimate-level spell. I can’t even properly use expert-level spells, so I don’t think I’ll be able to do it right away.”

Alus had explained that ultimate-level spells were so advanced that it was questionable if even Singles could use them. Although since they were military secrets, it was difficult to confirm which spells Singles could use, but even when looking at Doubles within reach of the Single Digit rank, only a handful of them could use an ultimate-level spell.

And right now, Tesfia was learning one such spell. Even with Alus’s help, it was not so simple. “I wonder how long it will take.”

“I don’t know. But knowing Al, he wouldn’t teach us something that’s impossible for us right now,” said Alice.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. He might just give up in the middle of it and tell us to practice on our own until graduation.”

“Hmm... Still it does look like we have a long way to go.”

Their shoulders slumped at the same time.

“By the way, did you hear how things went for Loki?” Tesfia threw out the topic as an attempt to shake off the heavy atmosphere.

“Hmm? No way. I couldn’t possibly ask her.”

Unlike them, Loki had been an active-duty Magicmaster before coming to the Institute. So the training she was doing to acquire a new power was almost completely different from anything the two of them knew.

Every single time, she would focus on her task until she ran dry of mana. She was dead serious, and the air around her was tense. Alice couldn’t casually talk to her.

The two shuddered at how far Loki was driving herself into a corner on the first day. It was probably the right attitude when learning magic. And the two of them realized they were still stuck thinking of themselves as students.

Although she hadn’t done any heavy exercise, Loki had been drenched with sweat as she made her way home.

“If I recall, she was working on a very advanced spell too, right?”

“Yeah, I think it was one of those flashy spells called a vertex of thunder. It’s a different attribute so I don’t know much about it, but it seems to be an ultimate-level or at least an expert-level spell.”

Normally, ultimate-level wasn’t the sort of term that would appear in student conversations. In fact, lessons only went as high as expert-level.

Of course, any Magicmaster who climbed to the upper ranks might hear the term every now and then. But if any of the teachers overheard it, their eyes would open wide from surprise. However, the girls themselves weren’t very aware of this since they were always with Alus, an existence far outside of the norms.

“But trying to control multiple devices at once must be dizzying too, huh?”

“Ha ha, I’m not sure if using all of my brain is enough. Oh yeah, also can I ask you something later?” Alice turned a pair of pleading eyes to Tesfia.

“Wh-What...?”

“Can you teach me how you set spatial coordinates with Zepel?”

“Sure, but I don’t think it will be much use.”

“Yeah, I know...because it’s your own style.” Alice smiled but said nothing, well aware of it.

But Tesfia wasn’t very happy having been seen through. When Tesfia fell silent, Alice peered at her face. Suddenly a provocative smile appeared on Tesfia’s face. She raised her arms and made a gesture to attack Alice with a roar. In the face of that, Alice let out a shriek mixed with laughter and ran.

“What do you mean by ‘I know’! Jeez! Get over here, Alice!” For the last stretch back to the girls’ dorm, the two girls forgot all about their exhaustion and ran in a flurry of excitement. The students on the road stopped to watch them with looks of amazement.

Ignoring them, Alice took off in a half run, with Tesfia in hot pursuit.

Thank you, Alice. Tesfia thanked her friend in her mind. Just like Alice knew, so did she.

She knew that Alice had teased her a little to cheer her up since she’d been feeling down lately. Alice was trying to help her forget about the Womruina family even if it was for just a short while.

Having spent so much time together, she understood why Alice acted the way she did. That’s when she realized something. Perhaps Alus had given them such hard tasks so they wouldn’t have to think about Tenbram for a while.

Since the time and details still hadn’t been announced, perhaps he was trying to free them from constantly thinking about such things and give them a chance to reinvigorate their spirits.

However, thinking like that right now was just insensitive. So she reconsidered and quickly looked forward again.

With a cheerful voice, she chased after Alice with light steps. Before long, she caught up to and wrapped her arms around her best friend.

Once they got back to their room, they took in a brief moment of normalcy.

Tesfia was particularly mentally exhausted, but being able to rest in her room calmed her down. If she were alone, she would have been stuck in a spiral of negative thoughts. She couldn’t be as brash as usual in these kinds of times.

They both took showers to rinse off the sweat they’d worked up and changed into something more comfortable. After drying each other’s hair, Alice carefully combed Tesfia’s red hair.

This was the same as usual as well. While Tesfia was attentive to her appearance, having Alice assist with the things she couldn’t reach helped. Today she felt closer than usual to Alice.

As they walked to the cafeteria, they exchanged casual conversation. Tesfia felt light and free from any weight.

She couldn’t avoid the topic of Tenbram around Alus or Loki, but when it was just the two of them, Alice was considerate and didn’t touch on it. Most of all, she didn’t have to listen to their knee-jerk reactions telling her that everything would be okay.

While they made their way to the cafeteria, another girl noticed them and called out.

“Are you getting something to eat?” she casually asked.

When the two nodded, she smiled in return.

“I see. You two are always so close. Speaking of...” The girl’s face suddenly clouded over.

“Ms. Lilisha still hasn’t come for dinner. Did something happen? I’m in the room next to hers, but it looks like she was out. Just a little while ago, I sensed her presence, but it felt like something was wrong. So I called out to her through the door, but I didn’t get a reply. I was wondering if she’d at least come out to get something to eat for the evening, but...”

When they heard that, Tesfia and Alice looked at each other.

◇◇◇

Shortly thereafter, the two stood in front of Lilisha’s room in the girls’ dorm.

“Despite what you say, you do look after people, Fia.” Alice whispered into Tesfia’s ear.

“What else am I supposed to do after she stirred my interest like that. Besides, Lilisha went with Al to negotiate with Womruina. I still don’t like her, but I do feel a bit of gratitude.”

“Sure.”

“Jeez, she should at least make a friend she can rely on for times like these, or we’ll just end up getting sent instead.”

“Oh, you’re never honest, Fia.” Alice smiled again, prompting a somewhat blushing Tesfia to turn her face away and reach towards the buzzer to Lilisha’s room.

But no matter how many times she pressed the button, no response came from inside. So the two exchanged looks again.

“She did say she felt a presence in the room. That means she’s back, right?”

Lilisha had a room to herself, so it couldn’t have been a roommate. The girl saying that she felt something was wrong felt all the more valid now.

“If you’re in there, answer already! You can only get dinner at the cafeteria for so long,” Tesfia shouted, giving up on the buzzer and knocking instead.

But there was still no answer. However, when Tesfia pushed her ear against the door, she could feel the presence of someone inside.

Losing her temper, Tesfia put her hand on the doorknob. The door moved with ease as if it had never been locked in the first place.

Tesfia and Alice exchanged confused looks yet again. There was a limit to how careless one could be. After nodding their unease to each other, they opened the door and peeked inside.

The inside was dark, the lights off.

“We’re coming in.”

“Fia?! Uhm, Lilisha, are you there? The cafeteria is about to close, and...” Tesfia stepped in first, and Alice timidly followed, making excuses as she did.

However, there was still no response. Past the door and inside the room, they found complete silence.

Tesfia sighed and looked around. Her hand unconsciously reached towards the light switch and touched it.

The next moment, they heard strange breathing inside the room. A faint, peculiar smell drifted over from farther inside the room. It was a smell typical of plants, like grass being ground up.

“Lilisha, what are you doing? If you’re here, just answer,” Tesfia said, flipping the switch.

With the lights on, she saw a person-shaped lump lying on the floor covered by a blanket.

She caught a glimpse of blonde hair poking out from under it, so it was easy for her to imagine it was Lilisha.

“Something’s wrong, Fia!” Alice yelled in a fluster and rushed past Tesfia.

When she realized what was going on, Tesfia followed Alice and rushed up to Lilisha.

The blanket around the girl was rather dirty. The legs sticking out were bare and covered in mud. She could also see small scratches here and there. But what stood out most was that the window was wide open.

“Lilisha!” Alice got down on her knees to tend to Lilisha. She moved the blanket covering her head, but when she saw Lilisha’s complexion she was left speechless. She was as pale as a ghost. Trying for a response, Alice shook Lilisha’s body. That’s when she noticed Lilisha’s violent convulsions.

When she touched Lilisha’s forehead, she exclaimed, “She’s burning up!”

She tried removing the blanket altogether, but it wouldn’t move. On closer inspection, she found that despite being unconscious, Lilisha had a firm grasp of the blanket, like she was unintentionally hiding herself under it.

“Alice, I’ll run to get the nurse,” said Tesfia.

Alice only nodded in return and carefully reached her hand out to Lilisha’s hand. She slowly uncurled Lilisha’s fingers one by one, finally freeing up the blanket.

Shocked into silence, both Alice and Tesfia were chilled by what they saw.

Their lips quivered. It felt like their hearts were being squeezed as breathing became harder and their hearts started beating faster.

Alice was blindsided, and her body shivered. Tesfia gasped and quickly covered her mouth.

Beneath the blanket Lilisha’s skin was red and blistering. It was no accident as was clear from the marks. Lilisha’s white back held an eerie brand, an unsightly burn that spread like a claw.

Neither of them could look away, and their jaws hung wide in horror.

She must have been tortured. The spiderweb-like shape of the brand made no attempt to disguise the blatant malice of whoever was behind it.

Until now, the girls had been blissfully unaware the world could be this cruel. They had thought the only enemies that existed were Fiends. As novice Magicmasters, they had only pursued a simple-minded idea of justice.

A thin membrane had protected their naive worldview, but this violent act had blown it away. A cruel reality and the hidden malice of the world assailed the two girls.

A moment later, Alice returned to her senses.

“Fia! Hurry!”

“Ah, y-yeah!” Alice carefully picked up Lilisha, careful not to touch the burn.

Tesfia ran to get help, but a thought entered her mind for a moment. Was it okay to show the mark on Lilisha’s back to others?

She quickly realized what was most important and shook the idea from her head. Right now, Lilisha’s life was the priority. Considering the critical situation, public opinion was the least of her problems.

As head of the dormitory, it was Felinella who settled the commotion.

The dorm, of course, had a nurse. Unfortunately, she was out on other business, so once Lilisha was brought to the infirmary Felinella treated her instead. As she moved her hands, Felinella spoke to Tesfia and Alice who worriedly looked on.

“The medicine’s not strong enough. Unlike the infirmary in the main building, there’s only medicine for scratches and what’s prescribed for illnesses. Illumina is getting the nurse, so why don’t you two go tell Mr. Alus about what happened?”

“Huh, Al?” Tesfia asked with a quizzical expression and Felinella nodded with resolve. Her tone didn’t allow for refusal, so Tesfia swallowed any further questions.

Once the two girls rushed from the infirmary, Felinella furrowed her brows.

“This doesn’t look good...” Although Felinella had finished disinfecting the wound and administered some simple first aid, Lilisha’s forehead was sweating profusely.

In addition to her studies, Felinella assisted her father, Vizaist, with his work leading the intelligence department; she’d picked up the medical knowledge used in the military. Because of that, she understood what these burns meant.

She would have to report this to her father later, but she couldn’t let Lilisha die here. If something were to happen, it would cause a huge uproar.

This might just happen to coincide with the case we’re working on. This is exactly what my father was worried about, she thought.

The intelligence department had an extensive information network both inside and outside of the nation, and they also helped gather information for the jobs that Alus did behind the scenes. Because of that, Felinella was inevitably forced to pay attention to all kinds of things. Thus, she knew that the military’s interference around Alus had recently reached a point where it had gone too far.

To back that up, there was strange intel from the royal court that said the Fable family was trying to root out the truth.

The person Vizaist had paid the closest attention to was Lilisha. The other day, Alus had gone out of his way to return to the Fable family and intervene in the fight that had happened there, saving Lilisha in the process.

However, after Alus had saved her—considering Lilisha’s dark objective for breaking into the Fable estate—her failure had likely led to punishment.

As Felinella silently pondered the situation, she sensed the presence of more and more students gathering outside the infirmary, worried about their classmate’s safety. But once Illumina came back with Alus, they would be able to drive them away together.

First I will need to confirm how Mr. Alus will react. That will determine what the intelligence department does next. Depending on what happens, I might not even have time to contact my father.

Sensing a slight presence, Felinella focused and released her mana into the air.

Tesfia and Alice had probably reached Alus’s laboratory by now. Even though they were far away, with her talents in the wind attribute, Felinella could clearly sense the presence of someone with overwhelming mana coming this way. And also...

Oh? Now this is unexpected, Felinella thought, sensing not just Alus but the pressure of the principal’s mana in front of him.

Something seems strange. Felinella could sense the two waves of mana swirling around and trying to overpower each other.

What was going on? It seemed like the two were clashing. However, it was only for a moment, and they soon seemed to calm down. Alus’s intense emotions confronting the principal seemed to fade as they moved on to hold a discussion instead.

Felinella let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, it had safely resolved itself. Alus’s mana parted from Sisty’s and continued moving towards Felinella and the girls’ dorm.

◇◇◇

When Tesfia and Alice came flying back from the dorm with the blood drained from their faces, Alus and Loki were a little puzzled. They had been on their way to eat something too, but their appetite disappeared at the following words:

“Lilisha has been seriously hurt.”

“She collapsed in her room.”

Tesfia’s and Alice’s words were disconnected but told the story when combined.

Once he heard that, Alus had a bad feeling about it. At the same time, he felt something like pain at the back of his head, like his emotions had been hit by a rock.

“What kind of state is she in?” he asked in a stiff tone, and Tesfia and Alice took turns answering.

They told him about the horrible burn marks on Lilisha’s back and how they were no accident.

Loki, standing behind Alus, couldn’t help but feel her chest tighten when she heard the details of what had happened to Lilisha.

At the same time, as a spotter, she could also feel the pressure Alus emitted increasing as the gruesome report continued. It was like he was trying to restrain the mana and emotions welling up inside of him.

If it were to be released, Tesfia and Alice would no doubt collapse from the pressure. Regardless of Alus’s intentions, they would be like nothing more than saplings caught in a storm, falling to their knees. In the worst-case scenario, their Magicmaster qualities might even end up compromised.

“Then she told us that she would call for a healing Magicmaster...a-and to come tell Al in the meantime.”

“Who?”

“Feli.”

Alus fell silent, and neither Tesfia nor Alice tried to make eye contact with him.

They were shrinking away from his stiff expression, and they were unsure of his inner thoughts. To them, it didn’t look like Alus was particularly worried about Lilisha or obviously angry.

However, the two of them were just unaware of what was going on deep inside his mind. Although there were no obvious signs, Alus was in fact feeling inexplicably aggravated. They also had no way of knowing that his frustration was directed towards the source of the problem, whose very existence was uncertain.

The atmosphere continued to get heavier and heavier. The pressure Loki felt before was blanketing the whole room, and Tesfia and Alice ended up on the receiving end.

They unconsciously started sweating from their foreheads and their legs trembled. Loki shouted, “Sir Alus, these two have nothing to do with it!”

“I know...” Considering they were facing Alus head-on in that state, they were holding up surprisingly well. The pressure must have been overwhelming.

She knew she was being a little pushy, but Loki let out a sigh and took Alus out of the laboratory, heading for the girls’ dorm, leaving the two girls behind.

◇◇◇

“Sir Alus, just to understand the situation, allow me to ask...what happened between you and Ms. Lilisha before this happened?” Alus hesitated at Loki’s question but finally decided to tell her.

He explained that Lilisha was an Aferka assassin who had attacked the Fable mansion, that he’d intervened and saved her when she’d been cornered in her fight against Selva, and that all that was probably part of a much bigger plan where even his actions were just another cog in the wheel.

“If you had only told me a little earlier...not that I think that I could have done anything,” lamented Loki.

“The Governor-General’s probably involved. I don’t know if it’s Berwick’s intentions, but Lilisha is probably just a sacrificial pawn, both to Aferka and to the mastermind of this plan.”

Lilisha’s life had been left entirely up to Alus. But regardless of what he did, it wouldn’t have a major influence on the overall outcome. Alus didn’t like that one bit. It wasn’t so much Lilisha’s life but that he’d been forced to play the role in this trivial game.

Loki didn’t say anything.

But the next moment, Alus’s storming mana spilled out again.

This was because a certain person had suddenly appeared in front of him.

“I took you at your word, and this is what I get.” Alus pointedly said, fearlessly.

“I know what you want to say...” Sisty said in an apologetic tone as she slowly descended from riding on the wind.

But in contrast to her words, her eyes were dauntless. Moreover, as a former Single with the title of Witch, Sisty had vast mana of her own. It clashed with the storm of mana Alus was releasing. She could understand how he felt but didn’t intend to get pushed around either. Real hostility or not, a Magicmaster releasing vast amounts of mana in front of another Magicmaster was a sign they intended to use magic. It was like drawing a sword.

As the two clashed, Loki looked sorrowful.

It was like Alus was the destroyer of order and Sisty was facing him to protect the Institute.

Some in the military feared Alus’s power. At the same time he was used as a convenient blade. But no matter how much he contributed, he was always treated like a dangerous beast.

However, Loki had sworn to always be his ally, even if that meant Sisty becoming an enemy...

So Loki let her mana gush out in place of words. The mana took on the form of lightning, sparking around the surrounding area like the tail of a dragon.

Principal Sisty...why are you standing on that side! Loki thought.

Why was she opposing Alus? Why was she releasing her mana as if confronting him?

Loki walked to Alus’s side, keeping a vigilant gaze on Sisty. She then pulled out her knife AWRs and pointed them towards Sisty.

The act made Sisty gaze in wonderment. She was the absolute authority in the Institute, but she could feel Loki’s determination when she directed clear hostile intent towards her. However, she had sworn to always be his ally, even if that meant Sisty became an enemy...

“Sir Alus?” Alus had thrust out his arm to bar Loki and stop her.

Perhaps because of Loki’s own killing intent reaching him, he’d managed to calm down, and his surge of mana stopped. Sensing that, Sisty restrained hers as well.

Loki had done her job perfectly. While Loki had no qualms about turning her blade on Sisty, her turning into the voice of emotion, calmed down Alus.

“I know that confirming Lilisha’s condition is more important. But I’d like you to clear up the misunderstanding between us,” demanded Alus. “If you have any intention of doing so, that is. Perhaps I was just jumping to conclusions, but I’m not feeling very happy right now.”

“Yes, I know. I was on my way to check on Lilisha too, but before that, allow me to explain. Just so you know, I didn’t leak that information to you because I expected things would turn out like this.”

From her words, Sisty accepted that she shared some part of the responsibility.

While Alus had saved Lilisha’s life, the result had caused tragedy to befall her. Sisty had a vague idea of what was going on.

“What do you know?” asked Alus.

“Well, why don’t we talk about it as we move?” Sisty wore a mysterious expression as she walked forward.

Giving Loki a small smile, she lined up next to Alus. Alus silently accepted it too.

And so they walked towards the infirmary in the girls’ dorm. On the way, Sisty was the first to speak.

“First, I’d like to apologize. This is partially due to my oversight. I slipped up at the finish line. I never imagined he would purge his own sister.”

Alus’s eyebrows moved at her words.

“Purge. That makes it sound like Lilisha wasn’t just a member of Aferka.”

“She wasn’t. Lilisha’s brother, Rayleigh Ron de Rimfuge Frusevan, led Aferka,” said Sisty.

“So if she was the leader’s sister, was it some kind of political struggle?” asked Alus.

“I don’t think it was anything that dramatic. However, he is dangerous. Thinking he wouldn’t purge his own blood relative... That was my blunder,” Sisty spat out in remorse as she bit her nails.

It had been difficult for Sisty to investigate all of Aferka alone, and she’d also neglected to do so because she knew part of the plan. She’d avoided stepping out of line and adopted a passive stance, which had backfired on her.

Alus fell silent for a moment.

It seemed Aferka was quite the fierce organization. Perhaps this meant that anyone who failed a mission even once was removed from duty and disposed of as useless to the organization. They were assassins who lived in the shadows, after all. If dragged out into the light of day, they would no longer be assassins but brutes whose hands were stained with blood.

However, sometimes assassins were enforcers of justice in modern times. Such justification was often for military or state actions behind the scenes. In those cases, even though it might be illegal, there was no small degree of assurance in place. For example, this was the case when Alus took on such jobs. Only the worst criminals and villains were his targets. Based on Alus’s own experience, most cases required a quick response with the assassination carried out in secret. Moreover, Vizaist’s intelligence department often moved in the background too, as was also the case with Godma Barhong.

At any rate, the requests brought to him were typically about punishing evil. However, this time with Lilisha was different...

Alus unhappily furrowed his brows as Sisty spoke of her regret. Indirectly pushing Alus to save Lilisha’s life was the best option she had.

Thinking about it, Alus wasn’t without blame. If he hadn’t sent Lilisha home back then...

He hadn’t thought she’d been a sacrificial pawn at the time, but thinking about it, Aferka had probably anticipated that Selva would kill her. So he should have realized that she would be made to accept the blame when she returned in one piece without succeeding in her mission.

Tsk...! Alus clicked his tongue in his mind—at the situation and at the fact that he couldn’t help but feel frustrated by it.

“Principal, you said before that the Governor-General was involved with this. Berwick might just be another pawn in play... Does that mean that it’s Cicelnia who is pulling the strings?” Alus bluntly referred to the ruler, and he wasn’t going to let Sisty evade the question.

“That’s what I think too. Well, it seems Vizaist is on the move as well. I doubt that he doesn’t know anything about it.”

Alus said nothing. It was Felinella who had instructed Tesfia and Alice to tell him about Lilisha’s condition. He wasn’t a healing Magicmaster, so she must have had her own intentions. As Vizaist’s daughter, it wouldn’t be strange if she knew something.

At the same time, Sisty was shrewd to imply the involvement of Vizaist Socalent. She was probably thinking that she could get off lightly by getting Vizaist caught up in it.

Alus coldly stared at the wicked smile on Sisty’s face. “You’re saying that Lord Vizaist is helping with the situation?”

“Hmm... No, I don’t think so. He may have been investigating the situation on his own or have stumbled upon it by accident.” Sisty denied the idea but confessed she’d tried to make contact with Vizaist lately.

“So whose side are you on?” asked Alus. “I don’t really have the time to do an interview to see if you’re friend or foe.”

“Now that I’ve been given the chance to explain myself, I can’t just sit back and watch anymore,” said Sisty. “I hope you haven’t forgotten that Ms. Lilisha is my student. That’s why I can’t ignore this situation that she’s been dragged into. Of course that means I will cooperate with you,” Sisty explained with a serious expression. She then turned around to speak with Loki who was carefully observing her.

“Just so you know, Ms. Loki, I am this institute’s principal. No matter how much I might trust Alus, when he’s letting his mana out like that, I have to at least make a show of fighting back. It’s not like I expected him to go wild, but if something happens, it’s my job to protect this institute. I hope you can understand,” Sisty said with a smile.

Like she said, if something were to happen, Loki probably couldn’t stop Alus. When she calmly thought about it, Loki realized Sisty had taken on the role of restraining Alus in her place.

“I understand. As you say, if Sir Alus were to head to the girls’ dorm like that, even if he didn’t go on a rampage the waves of mana would make students collapse one after another.”

Loki shrugged, and Sisty smiled in return.

“What am I, some wild dog without a leash?” Alus cut in. “I don’t mind blowing up the dorm, you know? Besides, did it ever occur to you that maybe I unleashed my mana to get you to come meet me?”

“Oh, if that’s the case it’s quite the wild method. I don’t think such a way is very laudable,” responded Sisty.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Alus shrugged at Sisty’s theatrical tone and let the matter slide. He couldn’t muster the energy to get angry, and he’d secured the promise of Sisty’s aid as an individual rather than as the principal of the Institute. That would have to do for now.

Loki also appeared to be relieved that she didn’t have to make the principal an enemy.

“So what happens next...?” Loki asked, and Alus and Tesfia answered in turn.

“First we check on Lilisha’s condition.”

“Yes, I fully agree with that.”

Thus the Institute’s strongest student and the principal once called Witch Sisty made their way to the girls’ dorm together.

◇◇◇

“I’m glad there weren’t any problems on the way here,” Felinella said, welcoming the three with a smile.

Alus wasn’t entirely sure that his qualms with the principal had been so thoroughly resolved, but seeing how relieved Felinella looked, he couldn’t bring himself to give her a sarcastic reply. Sisty answered in his stead. “Yes, indeed. But, well, Alus is a boy, after all.”

“That’s true, Principal. He is indeed.”

Alus wasn’t sure why the two of them were getting along so well.

But as the only boy there, he started feeling uncomfortable and decided to change the topic by bringing up his purpose for coming.

“So how’s Lilisha?”

The healing Magicmaster nurse wore a stern expression as she answered him. “To be frank, it doesn’t look good. Too much time has passed since the burns, and since it wasn’t very sanitary, they might be infected to boot. Fortunately, medicine from the infirmary in the main building has been brought up, and repeated use of healing magic should see some effect, but...”

Noticing her fall silent, Felinella picked up where she left off. “That is just how bad the injury is. It’s a girl’s body, so normally we’d like to be more considerate, but this is an emergency. I think it would be best for the two of you to see it for yourselves.”

The two of them nodded, so Felinella moved over to the bed and slowly pulled down the blanket so that they could see Lilisha’s back.

“This is...” When he saw the brand on Lilisha’s back, Alus narrowed his eyes. From his time in the military, he’d picked up a knack for discerning between injuries, but that didn’t mean he was very happy to see an injury filled with so much malice.

“A curse mark,” finished Sisty.

“Yes.” Felinella affirmed it as well.

Loki slowly raised her hand. “Uhm... What is a curse mark? Based on its name, is it some sort of dark attribute spell?”

Alus furrowed his brows as he answered. “No. Well, it used to be one in the past, and in the underworld it was quite useful for torture and identification of prisoners and captives. Finally, a method was created to carve it into the body without using the dark element. This brand is probably the result of one such method.”

“I-I see.”

Lilisha’s back was wrapped in bandages, but the strange and eerie mark spread out beyond what they could cover.

Loki looked at the mark with a gloomy feeling. Felinella continued, “I think it is just as Mr. Alus says, but it appears to be different from a normal curse mark. For starters, it’s banned by international treaty. I’m quite knowledgeable but I’ve never heard of this type before. What about you, Principal? With your years of—ahem, with your experience—you should know more than us.”

“Hey, watch what you’re saying! Well, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that this time. But like you said, the curse mark is forbidden nowadays. It’s been years since I last heard rumors of it being used. The underworld’s not exactly my field of expertise, so please don’t expect too much from me. However, there are a few things I know.”

With that preamble, Sisty sat down on a nearby chair. Her complexion didn’t look good, but she was relieved to hear that Lilisha’s life wasn’t in danger. Letting out a deep sigh, she lowered the volume of her voice and recalled old memories as she began speaking.

“There are various theories on the origin of the curse mark. Some say it was created before the appearance of Fiends by a magic researcher employed by a noble with a taste for torture. The fear of magic in the past was so great that it wasn’t unusual for people to think of sealing mana. The curse mark was developed in earnest after that. It wasn’t all that long ago, but the acceptance and research of magic was much slower than it is now, and such powers were the subject of discrimination and persecution.”

Alus had an idea of the era that Sisty was referring to. Ironically, modern magic had seen dramatic developments due to the appearance of Fiends. With the intent of eliminating Fiends, mankind actively studied and adopted the power of the magic that Fiends used, and their knowledge and skill in the field increased tenfold.

Sisty was no doubt referring to the dawn of modern magic. At best guess, it was around the time the seven nations were founded and humanity faced its greatest threat with the attack of Cronus. Moreover, it was around that time that inhuman magic experiments were being carried out and most of the taboo spells were developed.

As the dawn of a new era was chaotic, the stance on magic and Magicmasters had still been uncertain in the various nations. While Magicmasters were revered as heroes, they were also feared and seen as overly dangerous beings, and many people demanded strict oversight or removal of them. Of course, Sisty wasn’t completely familiar with what had happened at the time, having learned much from documents and other sources.

“The main purpose of the curse mark is to impose a magical restriction on the person it’s branded on. Like Alus said, it was once a dark attribute spell that has since been developed so that even non-Magicmasters can easily use it. In other words, its unique concept developed when magic and magical techniques were not yet differentiated. If I were to explain it, I’d say it’s a conceptual magic tool not too different from a special magical circle.”

Sisty paused her explanation and looked to Alus. “By the way, can you tell anything from looking at this pattern?”

Alus stared at the brand on the part of Lilisha’s back not covered by the bandages.

They were calling it a brand out of convenience, but in reality some kind of magical power had spread out a unique pattern over her skin.

Like Sisty said, he could glimpse the old age of the technique. Because of that, something felt out of place.

“This is unnatural. It’s different from the modern concepts of magic, and it’s different from typical magical techniques too.”

“Yes, there’s a code to unlock the limits put on her magical information.”

“I see. A Fundamental Word. If it’s not unlocked properly, it will end up destroying the informational body.”

Alus referred to the informational body that defined a person’s experience and qualities. Mana is a mass of personal information, and at its deepest level it is fundamental information made up of Fundamental Words.

With a displeased look, Alus turned to the Magicmaster nurse.

“Can you tell what kind of effect this curse mark has on the body?”

However, she shook her head to tell him that she didn’t know.

“I see. In that case, we can assume that she was branded with this curse mark by Aferka.”

“I’m sure that’s true. Aferka served the ruler directly in the shadows. They no doubt have dark techniques and secrets shared only between them. It wouldn’t be strange for them to have curse marks for torture, restraint, compulsion of will, silence, and more. I can’t think of anyone else who would have any reason to brand Ms. Lilisha either.”

That only left the question of what the curse mark’s effect was.

Felinella was the one to answer Alus’s concerns.

“Mr. Alus, if I may? Aferka is an executive unit under the ruler’s direct control in name alone, and in the past they were nothing but thugs. So I believe it has a silencing effect to protect any secrets. I’ve also heard that it has a form of mana lock that reacts to specific mana wavelengths, so it can neutralize magical criminals.”

Felinella seemed to keep things a little vague as to not overstep her position as a member of the intelligence department.

A little surprised, Alus asked, “Is that all? Are there any restraints on hostile acts or forbidden acts?”

“As I’m sure you are aware, that sort of magic falls under mental domination. When it comes to controlling or guiding the mind, wouldn’t it be impossible for anyone but a highly skilled user of the dark element?”

“So at the very least, it reacts to certain mana wavelengths to bind what she can do. Talk about annoying.”

There, Loki spoke up to confirm something. “So does that mean that while her mind might not be restrained, there are large restraints on her use of magic?”

“Yes, when she touches on the restraints it will trigger a penalty-like change in her body, like the inability to emit mana or the inability to construct spells,” answered Alus.

“Then Ms. Lilisha won’t...?”

“Yeah, in her current state, she won’t be able to act as a Magicmaster. With strain put on her Fundamental Words, it could even lead to the collapse of her mind.”

If it was just some jamming magic, Alus could have done something about it. When it came to magic, Alus rarely fell behind.

However, this technique was problematic even for him. Lilisha’s own Fundamental Words were directly interfering with her mana. If he carelessly fiddled with it, he could end up killing her chances as a Magicmaster himself.

In that case, there was only one way to save Lilisha.

“Feli, you used the word ‘lock’ before. If there’s a lock, can it be unlocked?”

As Alus tried to get information out of her, Felinella turned to look at the girl on the bed... Then she turned towards the person most likely to have the answer, Sisty.

“Are you hoping for more of my ‘years of experience’?” Sisty asked with a sigh. “Young people nowadays really don’t know how to flatter someone. Well, many curse marks are made to be removed by the person who marked them. Typically a key of some sort is needed.”

“But it doesn’t have to be something physical, right? Perhaps it could be a password or a procedure using mana.”

“Well, it’s not going to be some password, but otherwise yes. It could be an old-fashioned magic tool as well. But like I said before, Ms. Lilisha is my student, and I won’t hesitate to help her,” insisted Sisty.

“Years of experience or not, I thank you,” said Alus.

Sisty sighed and said, “Just to confirm... Alus, how far are you planning to go? You are already pretty involved. You might not be able to turn back if you go any deeper. So are you sure?”

“I don’t want to hear that from you. I’ll admit that I was naive too. It’s not like I’m trying to play the Good Samaritan, but I do have part of the responsibility for what happened to Lilisha. So I’ll see things through to the end even though it shouldn’t matter to me.”

Alus turned to look at Sisty with resignation. He was being more assertive than usual, but he didn’t forget to add a few more words. “And, Sisty, you’re in the same boat. Those words from before weren’t a lie, were they?”

“O-Of course not. Besides, I’m the one who pushed you to make a decision. Well, you can trust me to back you up.”

“I suppose you mean you’ll support from behind. And you call yourself a former Single.”

“I have my own circumstances...okay?”

“Anyways, you will be supporting this, for better or worse. Now, Feli.” Alus turned a sharp look to Felinella next. “How much do you know? Based on everything you’ve said so far, you know more than what’s on just the surface.”

Felinella’s smile deepened as she met Alus’s gaze without concern. “Yes, if you don’t mind me sharing, I will gladly cooperate. My father has some thoughts on the matter as well, so I doubt he would object.”

“Oh? Lord Vizaist too? But he’s under the Governor-General’s command. And he should have plenty of political enemies due to leading the intelligence department. If he were to involve himself with this matter in public, his position would be in danger.”

While their relationship with Lord Vizaist was one of give and take, Alus was grateful for the help he’d gotten. Even if he ignored that Vizaist was Felinella’s father, he didn’t want to get him caught up in this. That was true for Berwick too, but depending on the circumstances, he might end up in an uncomfortable situation. Berwick might be a sly, cunning old man, but he wasn’t the kind of person to bring unnecessary chaos to Alpha. Alus could trust him on that point. So perhaps he had ended up being caught up in the situation too.

But Alus’s thoughts aside, Felinella smiled at his question and gave him a brief answer. “My father told me to do as I please. And I would love to do so of my own will. However, complete cooperation is a little...”

Felinella’s expression clouded over with regret.

“Sounds like something that’s hard to say.”

“Yes. Right now there have been no messages or directions from the Governor-General, so cooperating with you wouldn’t even be considered a violation of military regulations. My father was ready to call the whole Socalent family to arms...not to mention that the noble sphere is involved in the political balance of this incident. However, my father has some circumstances to consider.”

“Hmm?”

“Actually, an emergency top secret concern has arisen, and everyone in the intelligence department aside from me has been sent to investigate.”

“...A general mobilization of all of his forces, huh?” Alus’s eyebrows twitched. It must have been quite the situation, but he didn’t ask Felinella about it. Looking at her pained expression, it was clear that she couldn’t say anything.

“Then that’s that. It’s heartening just to hear Lord Vizaist say that. Besides, this time around we might end up stepping into the dark side of the noble sphere. Just having the backing of a great noble family is reassuring.”

“Oh? I’m a noble too, I’ll have you know. I’ve had peerage conferred on me.”

Sisty pointed to herself in jest, but Alus was cold.

“What’s somebody who’s only a noble in name going to do? The Socalent family might be up-and-coming, but they are already one of the three great noble families. They’re just on a different level.”

“Do you really think so? Because I used to have a lot of political influence in the past.”

Alus found the sight of an older woman pouting like this very questionable, not to mention that she was bragging about her past... He was exasperated but chose not to press it.

Besides, staying here too long might affect Lilisha.

Leaving the healing Magicmaster nurse behind, Alus and the others left the room.

With an air of a secret political meeting, the four of them headed for the girls’ dorm parlor.

Students gave them quizzical looks but that only increased their sense of solidarity. Now there was no need to skulk around; they could openly fight back.

The furnishings in the parlor were plain, although the vases had a strangely cute design that stood out, as it was the girls’ dorm.

After entering the room, Sisty sat down on a chair. Seeing that, Felinella smiled wryly and went into the kitchen attached to the parlor to prepare tea. That left Alus and Loki, who sat down opposite of Sisty.

From here, they’d likely have an unreserved discussion for nearly an hour. Alus just wanted to get to the point and go home, but there were several things he wanted to check on, so that wasn’t going to happen soon. Most of all, he couldn’t have her pull the rug out from under him at the last moment.

After all, Alus’s next action would be retaliation for this situation. He hadn’t lost all calm, but inexplicable feelings were swirling inside of him. Having seen that symbol of malice, the brand on Lilisha’s back, he couldn’t turn back. Or rather, he’d decided not to.

Besides, I don’t want all that time and mental effort I’ve spent around Lilisha’s troubles to be a waste, Alus calmly told himself.

Right now he was angry with Aferka and wanted to protect Lilisha. Having confirmed his feelings again, Alus spoke to Felinella’s back as she was making tea.

“Hey, Feli. You don’t have to worry too much about us. Loki and I will be going home soon anyways.”

“Oh, don’t say that. Despite the circumstances, it has been a while since we last spoke. I want to spend some more time together, even if it means keeping you waiting a little. Please just consider it a foolish woman’s feelings.”

Felinella looked back with a small smile.

Seeing Alus sit back down on the couch, Sisty flashed a wicked grin. “Looks like I’ve found Alus’s weakness!”

“Don’t expect the same thing to work for you,” Alus returned sarcastically, but Sisty’s smile remained.

“Oh, I wonder. To think the rank No. 1’s weakness was women.”

“Cut it out...”

Alus wore a surly expression as Loki pulled on his sleeve and whispered into his ear. “Sir Alus, if you don’t focus you will just end up getting pushed around.”

“...Indeed.” Loki was right. It would be pointless to get caught up in her banter and end up with insignificant results. Alus pulled himself together and began anew.

“So going back to the topic: what do you know, Principal?”

The abrupt question gave the principal a confused look. “What might you mean?”

“There is another possibility for lifting the curse mark on Lilisha, isn’t there? That is to find another person... There should be someone outside of Aferka who has influence over curse marks.”

Spit it out already, Alus bitterly thought to himself. This Witch was shrewd. Even in this situation, she still wasn’t showing her full hand. Alus sensed that she still had a powerful card to play. However, the cautious Witch was still indecisive about whether or not she should put her chips down on this hand. Something important regarding the Institute was likely hanging in the balance...

So Alus would give her a push. To get the shrewd principal to put her chips at stake and truly share her lot with Alus and the others.

Realizing Alus’s intentions, Loki turned sharply to glance at Sisty as well. Loki still hadn’t forgiven her for opposing Alus before. And the girl wondered if Sisty had told the truth about having no other choice as protector of the Institute. She still didn’t trust Sisty, nor did she know what was going on in the principal’s mind.

So this was the perfect chance for Sisty to clear herself of Loki’s suspicions, a unique opportunity to redeem herself. With those intentions in mind, Loki resolved not to miss even the slightest change in Sisty’s expressions.

“Wh-Why are you two giving me such scary looks?” Sensing that the odds were against her, Sisty let out a dry laugh.

Felinella held a freshly poured cup of tea in hand and innocently looked at Sisty’s face as a bright smile graced her own.

“What’s the matter? The students are proud to have you as our principal and admire your contributions to mankind. I still have great respect for you. But don’t tell me you have got a guilty conscience about something.”

“Not you too, Ms. Felinella?”

The three teamed up on her and narrowed their encirclement. Finally, Sisty broke down, glanced at the three, and sipped her tea out of despair.

“Fine! I just have to tell you, right? There is somebody who knows how to remove Ms. Lilisha’s curse mark...” After a meaningful pause, Sisty tilted her head and scratched her cheek as though questioning who it was herself. Then she put a finger on her lip, acting like a stereotypical airhead.

“It pains me to even ask, but are you making fun of us?” asked Loki.

“You don’t know when to give up, do you?” Felinella added.

Loki and Felinella cornered the evasive principal.

“If you’re having problems opening your mouth, maybe I should help? Fortunately, I happen to have a teaspoon right here.”

“Aaahhh, stop it!” exclaimed Sisty. “Fine, I’ll tell you, okay?!”

She paused before hesitantly saying, “It’s Lady Cicelnia.”

“Noted.” Felinella added with a composed expression.

Jeez... Alus had, frankly, expected as much. And based on Felinella’s reaction, she seemed to have as well.

The day Alus had returned from the Fable family estate, Sisty must have been waiting for him, pretending it was just a coincidence. She’d guided Alus to make the decision of whether or not to save Lilisha and had made it sound like it was all part of Berwick’s plan. However, Sisty herself must have sensed Cicelnia was present and chosen not to make her own existence known.

Alus, of course, knew that Sisty and Berwick were old acquaintances. That was why a few things she said hadn’t quite made sense to Alus, because he knew Berwick well.

Berwick wasn’t entirely innocent either. He was probably part of it. However, Alus found it strange that the Governor-General of the military was getting involved with the affairs of nobility and the palace, which were under the ruler’s jurisdiction.

The forced approach would have put the Governor-General’s own position in danger in the midst of the internal turmoil in the military. In addition, Berwick was getting Alus involved to this degree, which was uncharacteristically careless of him.

So if Berwick was involved in such an unlikely way, then perhaps he was just another pawn on the board. And there was only one person in all of Alpha who could treat the Governor-General like a pawn: a beautiful demon who wore the sublime skin of a goddess.

The image of the ruler covering her mouth with a fan to conceal her coarse expression popped into Alus’s mind.

Of course, Alus didn’t think the brand on Lilisha’s back was made by the ruler’s orders. But at that point, she likely had a better view of the whole thing than Alus did. So it was likely that she had known long ago that Aferka was out of control and had planned to use Lilisha as a sacrificial pawn but let it be.

“Now then, Sisty. Now that you’ve opened your heart, you can finally tell us everything,” said Alus.

“What? I was going to cooperate. Just so you know, I already knew what you were up to.”

Sisty stuck out her tongue in spite, and Alus continued in exasperation.

“We need you to say it out loud. Well, even with your help, I’m the only one who actually has to make a move. But either way, I’ll need to meet with the vixen...right?” He asked Sisty to emphasize his point.

But Sisty was in for a penny, in for a pound; she answered him directly with no intention of running away.

“Yes, Aferka might be running rampant but they were under the ruler’s direct control. Lady Cicelnia might be able to influence them in some way. And considering Aferka’s origins, it’s possible that she knows how to remove the curse mark herself. Then again, you directly forcing your way into Aferka might work too.”

Having listened until now, Felinella stopped drinking her tea and shared her opinion.

“Sadly, I don’t think it would be a good idea to mess with Aferka with how they are now. Rotten or not, they represent the dark side of this nation, so expect that they’ve taken all possible measures to maintain secrecy. So maybe the use of force—no, I can’t imagine that torturing anyone in a position to know would yield any results. And there’s no guarantee that you would be able to achieve any goals if you barge in with uncertain information.”

“That’s true. But I am certain that there is a way to lift this curse mark,” Sisty asserted.

“Either way, we should avoid fighting in the nation, right? If we send up smoke when it’s not necessary, the military will come in to put it out. So hitting up Cicelnia first would be the right thing. There just happens to be more that I want to ask her too.”

Felinella furrowed her brow at Alus’s words.

“Well...I have no objections to you doing it yourself. As a Single Digit Magicmaster, getting in touch with Lady Cicelnia should be quite possible for you as well. However, directly going against Aferka is too risky. Aferka is also controlled by the Rimfuge family...so you would be stepping into particularly dangerous territory.”

That shocked Loki back to her senses. “That won’t do! I don’t want Sir Alus to be in an even worse position!”

“Indeed. If you barge into the Rimfuge estate without any justification, the blame will fall on us,” said Felinella.

Alus said nothing.

“The problem is that there’s no proof you can use to corner Aferka. Even if we put up Lilisha as a witness after she wakes up, it’s too weak of a basis if they play ignorant. The curse mark is most likely related to Aferka, but as they report directly to the ruler, they have various exemptions in place. In fact, the assassination business is only possible because some of the higher-ups in the nation are unofficial patrons.”

These kinds of stories could be twisted any which way by noble authorities. Felinella acknowledged the achievements of the current system while also touching on the necessity of the dark side as she continued. “The ruler two generations ago created the foundation for Aferka. A group of misfits were unofficially reorganized and made into the Rimfuge’s family business.”

“I’m impressed you’ve managed to find out that much,” Sisty said, her voice deflated, as if witnessing something vaguely frightening.

Felinella’s reply was but a silent smile.

“So it would only give the antiestablishment groups material to attack Lady Cicelnia with?” Loki asked as if to confirm the answer she’d been given from the start.

For better or worse, none of the individuals here had any objections to the military’s current policies. Even Alus saw them as slightly better than before.

Cicelnia’s judgment in appointing Berwick probably played a big part in that. But they couldn’t go public with everything. It was as if an invisible will had intervened to keep all of these disturbing elements at bay.

Felinella’s expression was unreadable, and Sisty stepped in.

“Meaning that it’s too risky to pursue Aferka in the open. If it links back to Lady Cicelnia, this nation will fall. I understand your concern, Ms. Felinella, but it’s not like we don’t have any options. After all, I’m sure the Fable family will make a move behind the scenes.”

“Meaning that the incident with Lilisha and retaliation against Aferka are different,” Alus said and pondered for a while.

Selva had indeed shown signs of sparing Lilisha. Alus got the feeling that Selva was overlooking Lilisha’s personal mistakes and leaving the aftermath to Alus.

But there was no guarantee that the Fable family would be that tolerant of Aferka. A family of that scale wouldn’t stay quiet after having assassins sent at them. Nobility had the privilege of hiring private armies of Magicmasters for such cases.

Which means that...

As if reading Alus’s thoughts, Felinella muttered to him.

“If that happens, the worst case is there will be a conflict between nobles. A silver lining is that such a thing would make it easier for Mr. Alus to move. The Fable family would have a justification in the assassin sent at them. And Mr. Alus is close to their daughter, Fia. You’re also in the same boat in the upcoming Tenbram.”

The envious tone in her voice made it sound like she wanted to be close to Alus too, but Alus had more important things to think about. Of what she said, her knowing about the Tenbram was the most surprising.

“I see. My relationship to the Fable family,” Alus said under his breath.

Sisty seemed to have already surmised as much as she sighed and spoke in a bitter tone. “According to my source, an advisor to a certain organization was likely guiding them to this outcome from the inside. And they don’t seem to know that they’ve slipped up. By the way, Alus, who do you think will end up being the final arbiter if things turn sour between the nobles?”

“In the past it would be the various kings, and in the present it will be the ruler, no doubt,” he responded.

With Sisty’s response, Alus started being able to see the plot of the matter.

As I thought, the plan incorporated me into it. And the Fable family got dragged into it too.

Even Selva’s past had been skillfully put to use. Cicelnia’s goal was still unclear, but the costs were clear. For one, Lilisha was on the verge of losing her life...

Alus scratched his head and stopped thinking for a moment. “Feli, can you secretly look up Aferka’s movements?”

“I don’t think it would be too difficult,” responded Felinella. “I have been serving in the intelligence department for quite some time, you know. Besides, it seems they’re starting to leave the shadows.”

“Meaning?” Loki asked back.

Felinella answered as she refilled Sisty’s empty cup.

“Sacrificial pawn or not, sending Ms. Lilisha to attack the Fable family is a large change for them. Even though she’s in a unique position, she is still the younger sister of the most powerful member of Aferka. It completely ignores the risk of her being captured and her identity being discovered. We didn’t probe too deeply into it, but my father was very suspicious when he received this information. It’s a bold, aggressive move. Almost like they’re trying to provoke us.”

Alus nodded in understanding.

Whenever he took on work in the shadows, he worked together with the intelligence department under Vizaist. The information he brought was always highly reliable. So if he’d confirmed this information too, then Aferka was no doubt changing.

The organization draped in shadows was taking steps out into the light. But for those who lived in the shadows, the light would be blindingly bright. That was why when blinded, their steps were uncertain and could easily go astray.

Gradually, an idea of the whole started to form for Alus. Just how many pieces were there on this gigantic and invisible board, and who were they?

Alus and Lilisha, who had been sent by the Governor-General, were two of them. And since Lilisha was involved, Aferka was likely part of it too. It was also very likely that the Fable family was being used.

What about Womruina...?

Alus put his hand on his chin and pondered.

There was Aile von Womruina. The engagement problems couldn’t be part of the plan too. After all, the engagement was made too long ago.

However, while Alus had visited the Fable family due to Aile, he’d also gone in search of the taboo spell Garb Sheep. It was a frighteningly powerful spell that a red-haired man had used to cover Vanalis in a layer of snow. After searching for leads, Alus had ended up at Fable.

In fact, he’d gotten his information from the Magic Compendium. Governor-General Berwick had been involved in that part, so he had probably been guiding Alus.

“It looks like I’ll need to make a move. It might be a very sticky situation,” Alus said to nobody in particular.

Sisty immediately retorted, “Just so you know, I won’t participate in anything disturbing, like killing or the likes. My duty is to protect the Institute.”

She maintained the stance that she was retired from the military and now served as a teacher.

“It’s not like it’s bound to get violent,” said Alus. “It’s only possible considering the situation.”

“Really? But you’re on board with the Fable family part to get retaliation for what happened to Ms. Lilisha, right? Just what are you planning on doing to them?” asked Sisty.

Alus could only hold his tongue and narrow his eyes. He didn’t have any intention of turning it into a slaughter, but at the same time, he wasn’t going to get too caught up on justifications.

“It’s true that I’ve been in an uncharacteristically rough mood,” he said. “But I’ll only give them a little rough patting...that’s all.”

“A patting, is it?”

Alus sighed as Sisty gave him a suspicious look.

“As you can see, they’ve gone far beyond anything reasonable,” he responded. “If Lilisha has anything in mind for Aferka, then I’ll help her to a degree seeing as I have part of the responsibility here.”

Alus continued in a quiet voice, “Then there’s the matter of what happens afterwards.”

He then looked back to Sisty. “Well, all you have to do is give us the necessary information. You’ve already promised to cooperate, so all you have to do after that is help in whatever way you can and take responsibility if something does happen.”

“You really are twisted,” she said after a pause.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Alus answered. “Or so I’d like to say, but I don’t want to hear that from you. Besides, I think I’m being pretty compromising here.”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” Sisty raised her hand in resignation and shrugged.

It was hard to tell if she’d accepted it or just given up.

“Thanks to you, I was able to get an understanding of Cicelnia’s plan, although her ultimate goal is still unclear,” said Alus. “So, what are you going to do, Feli?”

“Please allow me to accompany you, Mr. Alus,” she answered. “My father has already told me I am free to do as I like. Even if it happens to stray a little from what’s suitable for a lady.”

Felinella said the rather unsettling line with an elegant smile.

“But as I mentioned before, my father and the rest of the intelligence department is busy with other matters, so you shouldn’t expect any personnel support. So I will be cooperating on my own...unless that is not acceptable for you.”

Rather than asking if he expected more support from the Socalent family, she was asking if she alone was enough.

Of course, Alus was well aware of Vizaist’s and his subordinates’ achievements. But when it came to their fighting abilities, Alus could only guess based on the glimpse he’d seen at the Godma incident and the matches he’d seen at the Institute.

At the very least, they wouldn’t slow him down.

Felinella herself had quite the confidence and her own thoughts on the matter. She placed her hand against her bountiful chest and looked at him with pleading eyes. It looked adorable, even playful, which was appropriate for a girl her age.

Normally, she was the extraordinarily beautiful student council president, who took care to always act in a suitable manner as a perfect lady, so this change had an overwhelmingly destructive power that any man would struggle to resist.

While giving off this new vibe, Felinella looked directly at Alus with beautiful amethyst eyes.

After a brief moment, he said, “It’s fine.”

The words naturally flowed out of Alus’s mouth, having been overwhelmed. The silver-haired girl next to him let out an exasperated sigh.

Alus would have loved to insist that it was inevitable, but he gave up since it would only sound like an excuse.

“Mr. Alus, abilities aside, just the presence of someone from the Socalent family on the scene could be of help. I believe my father gave me permission in such a case.”

“I see. Well in that case, Feli and Loki come with me,” said Alus.

“Yes!” Felinella’s happiness was like a flower in full bloom. At the same time, she fearlessly spoke.

“Mr. Alus, I do understand quite a lot, and I won’t let Aferka get the better of me.”

“I see. Well, I’ll not ask just what it is that you understand,” said Alus.

Frankly, he’d love to settle things on his own, but the girls likely wouldn’t forgive him. Both were fully ready to do whatever it took to support him in the rare possibility that he were to fall into the traps of noble society.

He was also a little uneasy about Loki when it came to battle against other people. So Felinella’s aid was perfect in that sense.

In the past, he likely would have considered both of them as a hindrance, but now their presence was somewhat reassuring.

He’d been planning on making his move tomorrow, but due to these twists and turns, he decided to have Felinella move first and wait for detailed information from her.

After the meeting, Alus and Loki returned to the laboratory where Tesfia and Alice were patiently waiting. Alus apologized for scaring them with the release of his mana and gave them a brief explanation.

Loki also explained that Lilisha had snuck into the Fable family estate. Her purpose being an assassination wasn’t very peaceful, but seeing the curse mark on Lilisha’s back made it clear to Loki that there were more circumstances at play.

However, clearing it all up was no easy task, and it took a while for Alus to explain everything.

He also ended up having to make a round trip to the girls’ dorm to escort Tesfia and Alice back. By the time he returned it was quite late.

That night, Alus was deep in thought as he lay in bed. There were several questions in his head. He stared at the plain ceiling and let his thoughts sink into the depths of his consciousness, as it had been quite some time since he’d last had the chance to properly relax.

If things get violent in the coming days... Alus coldly thought as if it were someone else’s problem.

Thinking about it, he hadn’t had a lot of chances to fight against humans since coming to the Institute. Incidentally, when he took on jobs of disposing of violent criminals, Alus closed the lid on his human thoughts or feelings. Taking their place was cold and logical routine.

It was like flipping a switch, and any resistance against killing disappeared immediately and his mind instead focused on how to kill his target in the most effective way possible.

He was thinking of just dealing with it in the usual way and let out a sigh. “I guess I can’t help but let out a sigh.”

His feeling of unease wouldn’t go away.

I just keep getting thrown off my game. Maybe acting out of character and saving her was a mistake, he thought.

But it wasn’t like he regretted it. He had no doubt he’d made his choice by his own will. So why did he feel so bewildered?

It might sound cruel, he thought, but in the end I guess I didn’t wholeheartedly want to save her. In that case...for whose sake would I follow my own emotions to save? For whom would I feel anger, or emotions, for and not hesitate to unleash all of my power...

Human emotions stirred within him. Even so, he could not name this tingle he felt in his heart. He had felt a small storm of emotions when he saw the brand on Lilisha’s back.

What a pain. It’s like I’m not meshing with people lately... he thought.

If his past self had been in this situation, he would have considered it laughable. He hadn’t felt anything for others, but now he was moving of his own accord for them. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find a logical reason for it.

It was a complicated equation of emotions, even if he were to forcefully substitute one side with retaliation against Aferka, he couldn’t find a motive that neatly fit in on the other side.

If I could let my fury take over, let my anger run rampant... No, would that even be right? thought Alus. What am I even trying to do?

His head hurt. Covering his eyes with his arm, Alus agonized over the inexplicable emotions. That was when he felt a faint presence.

Under the dim moonlight streaming in through the curtains on the window was a silver-haired girl in pajamas. Loki’s face was peeking in through a gap in the door.

Their gazes met beneath the silver light.

She had an apologetic expression and nodded at him ever so slightly. Even so, she wasn’t leaving, and instead chose to come inside the room.

“Sir Alus...” she began.

“What?” he asked. “You’re not normally up this late?”

“Do you think so? Normally, you would never act like that in your sleep.”

“What?!”

The way she put it made it sound like Loki was sneaking into Alus’s room when he was sleeping... He would notice if Loki was watching him sleep from afar, so it was just a joke. Probably.

But such farcical preambles aside, Loki was looking at Alus with a very calm smile.

“That was quite the serious expression just now,” she said.

“Ah, so you noticed. Say...do you think it’s only natural to save Lilisha?” Alus threw a frank question at Loki without any context.

In the past, he would have discarded the decision to help her since he wouldn’t have seen any logical reason for it. Like he told Sisty, he had no obligations to go that far.

But now... Before he knew what was happening, he was making a move to save Lilisha after she was chased out of Aferka.

Lilisha was quite the beauty, so it would have made more sense if there were some ulterior motives at play. It was a conundrum to Alus that he could not solve himself. Loki made no attempt to hide her smile as she walked up to his bed.

“I think it really might just be natural,” she said. “I think it means that she’s in that category for you. I believe that there is a special kind of power that is born when two people meet and interact with each other. You could call it destiny.”

“Destiny, huh? It’s such a vague word,” Alus replied.

“Although I can’t really accept that it is only girls who gather around you,” she muttered, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

A moment later, Loki’s expression turned softer. A big contrast to how she had been in the Outer World. For Alus, it was difficult to tell if she was being affected by the sweet air in the room or if Loki was maturing in her own way.

“Nothing is going to change,” Loki said, “so I think it’s best if you do as you please. At the very least, I felt anger well up inside me when I saw her back. It would have been one thing if it were a scar she got in battle as a Magicmaster. It would have been proof that she had managed to cling to life in a battle to the death. But that mark is an eternal insult to those who seek to improve their magic. I don’t know if that’s from some sort of code in Aferka or because she made some kind of mistake that she was judged for. But I can’t think of any reason a girl in her teens should be forced to bear such a thing. At least not from what I’ve seen from her in the Institute...”

Loki only spoke of inside the Institute as she surmised that Lilisha had stained her hands already with her work behind the scenes. Her understanding of assassinations and the like was still shallow.

But Alus couldn’t think of Lilisha as the same as him. After seeing her fight against Selva and her usual behavior, he could tell that she was not as committed as he was.

She had the technique, but she couldn’t keep her heart in check. She would hesitate, which made her lag behind.

She was not a natural-born assassin.

Perhaps that was why he sensed that she had put an almost obsessive amount of effort into her mana control. Rather than relying on overwhelming talent like Alus, she was a normal person polishing her skills to a higher level through sheer effort alone.

“Sir Alus, if I may be so bold to ask...” Loki spoke up trying to be as cheerful as she could. “Once everything settles down, can you add Ms. Lilisha to our group of merry friends?”

“You sure have taken a liking to her,” Alus remarked.

As someone watching from the side, Loki could tell that Lilisha was the kind of person Alus wanted to have by his side to make up for what himself was lacking, like with Tesfia and Alice, whose presences greatly contributed to Alus’s change.

That was very welcome to Loki. But at the same time Loki had her doubts.

She had thought it unnecessary to make allies within the nation, but with all of the problems concerning nobility lately, it made Alus realize how powerless he was. Brute force was one thing, but neither Alus nor Loki could cross swords with the tricky noble world.

Besides, if there was one point that made Loki accept Lilisha, it was that she could personally agree with the objective that Lilisha had mentioned in the Institute, even if it was more of an afterthought since Alus had already made up his mind.

“Ah, uhm, that’s not what it is. Besides, wouldn’t that be you, Sir Alus? This has nothing to do with liking her, I just believe she is necessary,” said Loki.

Alus could only smile wryly at her answer.

“I just agree with your intentions,” she continued. “I’ve also been thinking about why Governor-General Berwick would be complicit in this kind of recklessness. If there are political circumstances on the Governor-General’s level for his actions, I sure don’t comprehend them. But since he sent Ms. Lilisha as an observer, doesn’t that mean that he has intentions other than just the plan in motion?”

“Am I supposed to accept that speculation as truth?” asked Alus.

“But Ms. Lilisha said from the start that her objective was to protect your position in the Institute,” said Loki.

Moreover, Lilisha had said that she would eventually go on to spread Alus’s name and status as Single Digit Magicmaster throughout the world.

Due to his age, Alus Reigin’s existence and name had been kept hidden, but Lilisha had been laying the groundwork to proudly announce him as the Greatest Magicmaster, who stood at the top of all paths of magic and was Magicmaster to the world.

Loki agreed with that plan. She believed that Alus should be brought out of obscurity and be more widely known.

At any rate, Loki felt that Lilisha’s words should be taken as the Governor-General’s intentions. But what about Lilisha herself? Was she just obeying Berwick, or was she also taking Aferka’s intentions into account, working as a double spy?

Although that question would remain unanswered until Lilisha woke up, there was a lot about Lilisha’s personality that was still unknown.

Even though a lot of things had happened since she came, it hadn’t been that long ago that she first arrived. If Loki were asked if she really knew Lilisha, she would have to shake her head.

Alus looked at Loki’s expression... He had a slightly different view on the whole matter. He could keenly sense some parts of Lilisha’s personality from their mutual meeting with Aile, from how she had fought Selva, and the state of her mana.

There were a few things that came to mind when he caught a glimpse of the real her. The first was that she had an insolent and arrogant attitude—and cowardice filled the gaps between those traits.

He felt that her true personality was hidden within that aspect.

The time she flinched and shrunk when he reached out towards her head left a particularly deep impression. It was completely different from when she pridefully teased Tesfia or smiled in the guise of nobility.

It was surely the hint of an unhappy upbringing.

Lilisha most likely did not have a single shred of pride in her assassination work. She was unable to become a doll without wishes or a heart. She just wanted acknowledgment. She couldn’t help but depend on something or someone.

That was far too humane a weakness for an assassin, but that was most likely key in interpreting Lilisha’s true personality.

When Loki saw Alus had stopped to think again, Loki made up her mind and suddenly lay down next to him, her hair falling on her face.

“What a cold place to sleep,” she said.

Alus was unsure how to answer, and the short hair covering Loki’s eyes kept him from reading her true intentions.

So he had no choice but to be blunt. “That’s how they all are.”

“No, it’s very cold,” she said. “So I’m going to sleep here tonight.” Her face was hidden by her hair, but there was a clear blush on her cheeks.

“No, this bed doesn’t really fit two people.” By the time Alus finished saying that, Loki had already slipped in bed.

Apparently in her mind this was already the default course of action. With her determined attitude and quick movements, Alus was too slow to stop her.

He wondered how many times in his life he’d actually slept together with someone. But that thought soon disappeared as he felt the warmth of her small body.

Alus just lay down, giving up.

Because of Loki’s small size, the bed was big enough to fit them both, but there was only one pillow. Alus unconsciously moved his head to the edge of the pillow, and Loki put hers on the other side.

Silence returned to the room, and Alus realized that Loki had seen through him. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t have any worries or concerns for the future.

When he was doing work behind the scenes, he never had to think about anything. Rotten criminals and others beyond the reach of the law were nothing more than pebbles on the road to him, and the only problem in his mind was how to most effectively get rid of them.

Thinking about it, he’d always pushed the job of judging what was right onto someone else, while he made no decisions of his own. It was only now that he finally realized that this might be the first time ever that he was unable to see the future of his actions.

Or perhaps it wasn’t quite worries or concerns that he was feeling. He was still firmly convinced that he would be able to do whatever he needed. However, everything hanging in the balance and their values were starting to be too much for Alus to understand.

So far, he’d only ever had to take responsibility for himself. Everything was simple and delightfully easy to understand. All he had to do was determine if something was black or white, beneficial or detrimental. All decisions were instantaneous.

But no matter how hard or how often he thought about this, he couldn’t figure out whose sake this was for, or for what. He’d never imagined it would be so difficult to make decisions once he took himself out of the equation. That’s why he’d divide everything into two groups—hostiles and everything else—then eliminate only the enemies. That kind of shortsighted thinking seemed appealing and fast.

Still, retaliation, huh...? he thought. Just what do I even know about Lilisha. I tried snapping like a student, but it’s pretty embarrassing in retrospect.

While there was some shake-up involved, it did feel almost refreshing. There was a sort of undeniable beauty to youthfulness and single-minded honesty.

And frankly, it didn’t feel that bad.

“I hope everything can be resolved without any bloodshed, Sir Alus,” said Loki.

“Y-Yeah, me too.” Loki’s casual comment made Alus’s heart leap for fear that she had read his mind, and he replied with a safe offhand comment by reflex.

Without incident... he thought.

In terms of likelihood, there was practically no chance of that happening. It was nothing but wishful thinking. But if it was possible to achieve... The experience could open up a new path for Alus who knew only blood and power.

Alus took a deep breath to forget about the small warmth at his side and focus on sleeping. No further words were exchanged and both of them slept in a warm bed.

◇◇◇

The human domain was limited, and the classes of people who lived within it were varied. They ranged from commoners to rich nobles and members of the upper classes that included former royalty. And even Alpha had quite a few nobles and prestigious families.

The Frusevan family, which that girl belonged to, was actually only a small part when you looked at the entire picture. But for Lilisha, who had a tragic upbringing and had always been trapped in a mental cage, it was the entire world.

When Lilisha finally opened her eyes a few days later, she was lying in an inorganic, cold bed in the infirmary because that was where the majority of medical equipment was available.

However, once her condition stabilized, she was left to rest up in the girls’ dorm infirmary. When she woke up, she wondered why she was there.

The ceiling was unfamiliar, but then again even her room in the dorm felt that way to her. She woke quicker due to the unique smell of medicine. When she arose, her body was sluggish and weak.

There was no one else in the infirmary.

Lilisha was wearing an unfamiliar white gown, and she could tell that underneath she was wrapped in bandages.

A change of clothes somebody must have brought from her room sat on the bedside table. With unreliable movements, she managed to change her clothes and move back to the bed.

Her memories started to return, and she recalled why she was here. Clear memories brought back the pain and fear of her back being burned. And the smell; she remembered that too.

Lilisha had to wrap her arms around herself to fight off sudden core-shaking chills.

I’m unwanted, she thought, useless garbage. I’m sure Gill must have felt the same despair.

As the oldest brother in the family, it was probably even worse. The Frusevan family had been the leader of Aferka for generations. At the same time, they were the representatives of the Rimfuge family.

Their main role and value were as assassins. Using thorough resourcefulness to read their target’s weaknesses, their strength and skills were in killing.

It didn’t matter if they were related to the leader or not. In fact, the only thing blood relations brought Lilisha was even harsher training.

There was no love, only duty. It was a twisted ideal that was impossible to understand by logic.

It was a cursed family lineage. Those words had never felt truer to Lilisha, who was no exception to the twisted upbringing.

Aferka’s role as an executive unit could be divided into two parts: monitoring their targets and carrying out the assassinations.

Lilisha had heard that in the past they would end disputes between nobles behind the scenes or crush conspiracies in advance. Nowadays, their primary task was to eliminate unstable elements within the nation, expanding on the instructions given to them by the previous ruler.

However, the organization had been corrupted, and Lilisha was aware that they were drifting away from their original reason for existing. In fact, she couldn’t remember them ever receiving a direct order from Cicelnia.

Besides, it was strange for Cicelnia to order the elimination of the scum and trash that Lilisha had dealt with. When Lilisha had been obeying her father or brother’s orders, she hadn’t had the perspective to notice that. It was only now that she vaguely understood what was going on.

And now that she did, she couldn’t squeeze any words out of her dry lips. She didn’t know what her missions had even been for. She thought all of her targets were human trash rather than actual Magicmasters.

Just the other day she’d been given the order to kill the Fable family butler, Selva, which was clearly out of her league. When she’d managed to crawl back with her life, her brother had asked why she hadn’t died, making it clear that she hadn’t been given an order but rather a death sentence.

An indescribable void filled Lilisha’s chest. She felt empty, like she had lost her identity.

And the brand of a failure on her back labeled her a nobody. Attachments and familial standings, all significance that had once come from the name Lilisha Ron de Rimfuge Frusevan...were gone.

Now she was neither noble nor assassin. She was just Lilisha.

Like a newborn, she had no purpose or goals, no past or future. Everything was a blank void.

My brother was right. I should have just died, she thought.

The only place she had belonged had discarded her. She’d been thrown out of her home, and she couldn’t find any motivation to live.

She didn’t know if it was because of her own worthlessness or from the despair of losing everything, but before she knew it, lukewarm drops were running down her cheeks, landing on the bedsheets.

She even found herself wishing that Alus hadn’t saved her even though she knew it was unreasonable to blame him. If anything, she should be thanking him, but she just couldn’t bring forth any gratitude.

It was thanks to him that she’d gotten away with her life, but it had been for nothing in the end. Her brother had been expecting her to die rather than return.

There was only one thing she didn’t understand, and she felt that if she could find the answer for that, she wouldn’t have to care about herself anymore. She could become truly empty, someone nobody had expectations of and who didn’t wish for anyone to expect anything from her. Then, she could even consider just dying somewhere where nobody would find her.

That was why she wanted to answer the remaining question as soon as possible: why had she returned to the Institute?

She’d always clung to her family, Aferka and her brother, yet after everything happened, she’d ended up in the Institute for some reason. She’d obviously felt like she had to escape, but she wondered why it had been the Institute she’d set out for with her blurred vision and hazy mind.

I can’t think. My mind’s running in circles. She pressed on her forehead to try and answer but none came.

At that moment, the door was flung open, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her back to reality.

Lilisha thought it was a rather rude thing to do in the infirmary of all places and that someone coming to visit should open the door with a little more care. But it seemed to reflect her visitor’s mood.

“Ah, Sir Alus. You should at least knock before you...” a familiar voice said, while the person in question ignored her and walked in with large strides.

“How are you feeling?” he said. His black hair fell over eyes narrowed in displeasure. Even though he asked how she was, he gave no hint of friendliness and didn’t actually seem the slightest bit worried.

◇◇◇

“Alus Reigin,” Lilisha muttered his name with vacant eyes and a voice empty of hate, hostility, or any feeling.

“You look awful, but at least you woke up.” They were curt words but just what you’d expect from Alus.

Lilisha turned her whole body towards Alus to give him a self-deprecating smile. “Yes,” she said. “But I have no intention of thanking you. I guess it doesn’t matter that you got in the way of my mission when you saved me either. Just look at me.”

But she admitted with a hoarse tone, “I know that it’s not anybody’s fault.”

“Well, it’s not like it’s your fault either,” said Alus.

Lilisha immediately shook her head as if to say that he was wrong. She looked like she also wanted to say something but she remained silent. She felt an urge to contradict him, but she couldn’t find the words.

Loki directed a pitying gaze at her. She held a strange belt in her hand that caught Lilisha’s attention. It looked like something meant to strap down heavy luggage, but she couldn’t figure out why Loki had it.

As she wondered what it was for, Alus spoke up. “So how are your injuries?”

He was to the point, as usual, but she didn’t mind.

“It feels quite a bit better,” she responded. “Was this your doing?”

It wasn’t like she thought Alus had healed her injuries since he wasn’t a healing Magicmaster. But she had been carried to the infirmary, and she thought Alus had done that.

In that case, maybe I really should thank him... she thought, and her body relaxed just a little. The pain that pulsated around the shape of the mark on her back, however, remained.

Alus’s reply was indifferent. “No, it was Tesfia and Alice who found you.”

“I see...” she said, glancing down.

Alus mercilessly continued, “You can thank me after all this is finished. So I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come with me. It’s best to be quick with these sorts of things.”

“Huh?! What do you mean...?” Lilisha asked weakly.

Her blonde hair was in disarray. The usual vitality in her eyes was replaced with dark circles. The confident and impudent impression she usually gave off was completely gone—she just looked bruised and battered.

Alus stuck his arm in her bed, not waiting for an answer.

Before she could exclaim, he lifted her up. Lilisha was surprised by how powerful he was, but she didn’t have the energy to resist.

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Alus responded. “You still have something to do. You agreed to be the referee for the Tenbram. I have my own reasons that I won’t let you withdraw halfway through.”

“You don’t have to worry, then,” said Lilisha. “The promise won’t be broken. I’m sure the Rimfuge family will arrange for a stand-in.”

“And I’m telling you not to screw around,” said Alus. “It wasn’t your family that promised but you yourself. So take responsibility.”

After a momentary pause, Lilisha raised her voice like something inside of her had suddenly snapped. “Th-There’s...just no way!”

But Alus coldly shot back, “We didn’t make a promise with Rimfuge. We made a promise with you. Don’t think you can back out of it now.”

It sounded like he was admonishing her, and Lilisha found herself stumbling for words.

The role of referee could be replaced by anyone doing the bare minimum as long as they maintained neutrality. It didn’t have to be Lilisha. Yet Alus was insistent that she—and she alone—do it. So just what was his plan?

“Aren’t you being a little too hasty if you’re going to take me with you like this?”

Alus shrugged and put Lilisha back on the bed, sitting with her upper body raised. He called over Loki. “Loki, help out.”

The silver-haired girl nodded and walked over to the bed, belt in hand.

“Also... It’ll be too hard to stay in that position,” he said as if talking to himself.

Then he turned his back and crouched down. He used his body like a brace to support Lilisha. Loki fastened Lilisha’s body to Alus with the belt.

Lilisha just leaned against his back. She didn’t even have the energy to complain anymore. Regardless of what he might say or what might happen to her, she didn’t want to cause any more problems for others. She felt she was no more valuable than the trash in a back alley.

“Besides, I wasn’t expecting any thanks from you to begin with,” he said, and she heard the heavy sound of the equipment around his waist as he took on her weight. “This is all because I was too naive.”

“That’s enough!” Lilisha said, devoid of emotion. “My brother was disappointed in me coming back alive in the first place. He never had any expectations of me from the beginning. If anything...”

She helplessly planted her cheek against Alus’s shoulder and whispered to Alus that she was a sacrificial pawn whose death had been the entire point.

Alus had known as much for some time.

Now, he didn’t know what to do to rouse her spirit and get her to stand again. He glanced over to Loki for help, but she was silently strapping Lilisha’s body to his back, not letting her emotions show. She wasn’t really the type to give advice, so she was likely just as stumped as he was.

Oh fine, Alus thought to himself, and ultimately an uncomfortable silence filled the infirmary until he was ready to give Lilisha a piggyback ride.

When they left the infirmary, it was 7 a.m. and there were students here and there in the girls’ dorm.

With Lilisha on his back, Alus left the dorm and then the Institute.

“Uhm, where are we going...?” Lilisha asked in a faint voice.

Alus gave a short answer. “The palace, where this nation’s ruler is.”

Alus had ignored all paperwork and hurried on ahead for the sake of meeting with Cicelnia as soon as possible. They ran through byways rather than traveling by Circle Ports, where they would stand out.

As the wind whistled past his ears, Alus thought of the girl on his back. While he’d acknowledged to both Sisty and Lilisha herself that he’d been naive, even he was a bit surprised that he’d gone this far.

He was subconsciously feeling more responsibility for this matter than he’d realized, and it was due to Lilisha’s current state.

She had a way of being rather close to Alus that was similar to Tesfia. She didn’t fear him or humble herself before him, and while he thought she could be impudent, it was also comforting somehow.

Perhaps that was why he felt like helping her. Like Loki had said, it was natural for him to want to save her.

The words of the principal weigh heavy... thought Alus.

Slowing down a little, he called out to the girl on his back. “Hey. Are you sleeping back there?”

“You must be joking. I’ve done nothing but sleep.” Her response was weak, but it held a hint of her old vitality, which made Alus smile a little.

“I’ve been thinking... Do you have any plans after this?” he asked.

“Are you saying that out of spite? I’m a woman who was thrown out of her family and knows nothing but backstabbing. What kind of plans could I have? Are you going to take responsibility for me?” Lilisha’s emotions erupted, but she quickly recollected herself and apologized. “Sorry.”

“Maybe I will,” said Alus. “I did get involved in your business, so I’ll take responsibility for that. I owe you too.”

“What?!” exclaimed a bewildered Lilisha, unsure how to interpret his words.

“I’m talking about the negotiations with Womruina,” said Alus. “And like I said before, you took on the role of being the referee for the Tenbram.”

“So that’s what you were talking about,” Lilisha responded, more indifferent this time. But Alus wasn’t paying attention.

“First, I’ll get rid of that curse mark, and then we can talk,” he said, showing his unshakable will. He didn’t even care if it meant making an enemy out of Aferka and the five branch families of Rimfuge.

Loki, who’d been quiet all this time, spoke up and expressed everything she’d been bottling up. “Ms. Lilisha, if you’ve been ousted, I think it’s high time for you to make a decision on what you wish and what you feel you should do next. Sir Alus plans to tag along with you until the end.”

It was rare to see Loki make such declarations. Lilisha was not as well acquainted to them as Tesfia and Alice, so she wasn’t really someone Alus would consider an absolute ally. And even though Alus had briefly talked about siding with Lilisha last night, Loki’s reaction was unusual. And she continued to speak out of character.

“Even if that means crushing Aferka,” Loki firmly declared.

Lilisha’s face, however, twisted into a grimace, and it took a moment before she spoke. “I don’t understand. I’m worthless. Not even my brother needs me! I have no grudge against my family or Aferka, even this curse mark is just something I deserved! This all happened because I’m useless!”

Tormented by self-condemnation, Lilisha lowered her eyes as if to look away from the grave truth and escape her fears...

But Alus chose not to take that into consideration. “Don’t run or hide. Face the truth head-on and make your own decision. If you didn’t want that, why would you have returned to the Institute with that kind of injury?”

Lilisha was silent. If she knew the answer, she wouldn’t have any troubles. That was, in fact, the last question she wanted an answer to.

Once she found the answer, she would finally be able to become completely empty, free of obligations or desires. She’d be freed from trying to find a purpose in being here. At the end of her emotional confusion was a spiral of negative emotions where self-sabotage led to further self-sabotage, and nothing mattered to her any longer.

She felt so worthless that she questioned the point of living. She believed that once desperation got past a certain point, even going on living was like a torture.

So which choice to make didn’t matter, as the very decision was troublesome to her.

She entertained the thought of removing her hands from Alus’s shoulders and stealing the weapon on his waist to cut off the belt keeping her in place.

Then she could be free. She could plummet off of the edge of the world and return to nothingness, where she wouldn’t have to remember anything.

“Will you stop it already!” Suddenly, a shout reached Lilisha’s ears.

She flinched and timidly looked over to Loki, who glared at her before saying, “Ms. Lilisha, you’re more of a child than anyone else. You can’t make any choice of your own if you’re depending on someone else to survive. Do you still not understand?!”

Loki’s words so perfectly struck the core of the matter that they pierced Lilisha’s heart.

“What?! Don’t act like you know everything,” she shouted. “You’re the one who’s dependent on others!!! Whenever anything happens, it’s always Sir Alus this, Sir Alus that! It’s disgusting!”

The biting words made Alus come to a stop.

However, Lilisha’s quick anger had already calmed. Her words had struck back at Loki, but now seemed to hurt her as well. She looked like she might cry at any moment.

“I, uhm... I feel like I’m looking into a mirror.” Broken up, muffled words escaped Lilisha’s lips, but her weak voice was canceled out by an angry surge of mana filling the surroundings.

Loki’s fists were clenched so tight her nails had cut into her hand. If Lilisha hadn’t been on Alus’s back, Loki might have even taken a swing at her.

“Don’t lump me together with you, when all you can do is surrender your will to others and not decide on anything yourself!” exclaimed Loki. “I chose to devote my everything to Sir Alus on my own! I wouldn’t trust anyone else to live and walk by his side! Loki Leevahl made that oath to the world!”

Lilisha was speechless.

Loki’s balled up fist trembled as she held it in front of her chest and spoke of her lofty oath. She looked straight ahead, unashamed and boldly puffing out her chest.

The sight made her small figure look larger than usual, but any further would probably be a problem. Alus gave Loki a look to make her stop.

That said, the strength of Loki’s words made even Alus flinch. There was plenty he wanted to say in the face of such heavy loyalty. He felt he’d just seen the core of Loki’s soul.

Lilisha’s jaw dropped. She was stupefied, unable to say another word.

After saying her piece, Loki felt a little better, and she was able to calm down under Alus’s gaze.

“Do you understand?” she asked. “Sir Alus is going this far because the last place you asked help from was the Institute. Your personal reasons don’t matter. After your horrible burns, the place you ran to was the Institute. I don’t know what happened before you got here, but at the very least I thought you liked this place. Wasn’t this the place you wanted to return to? Because you could be yourself?”

Loki continued to line up her words as Lilisha was silent.

“Doesn’t that mean that the Institute is the last place you wanted to be? Wasn’t this the first place where you could escape the constraints of your home and exist as you pleased?”

As someone at Alus’s side, Loki could understand that he too had lost his place and was, in a way, searching for another.

After many twists and turns to blend in, he had finally come to terms with his new place, the Second Magical Institute. For people like Alus, Lilisha, and even Loki, who had all been raised in places exempt from common sense, the Institute offered them a calm atmosphere.

While Lilisha was a noble, she wasn’t an average upper-class girl. Her path was completely different from Tesfia’s and Felinella’s. She’d been taught how to kill and had worked in the shadows.

In that sense, she had more in common with Alus than those two.

Lilisha had probably been searching for something that the other students had but she alone lacked. Loki had seen Alus sometimes look so bright when he was with Tesfia and Alice. So surely Lilisha was looking for that same thing that the ordinary students had obtained without any difficulties.

Lilisha hesitated when she came into touch with the normal and obvious for the first time. She was unaccustomed to it but somewhat happy too. That was why she had returned in the end. Not even she had realized that the Institute was the last place she had.

Quiet tears flowed down Lilisha’s cheeks as Loki finished speaking. The question of why she had returned to the Institute melted away.

Lilisha had thought that once that moment arrived nothing would matter anymore and that her remaining strength to survive would disappear.

But reality was different.

She had thought that Rimfuge was the only home she had, but she’d already found a place where she belonged. In her short time at the Institute, a fragment of bliss had welled up inside of her empty heart.

Her friendly conversations with the students had started as an act, but like Loki said, Lilisha had truly enjoyed herself.

It was the same with her dorm room. It had been the first time she’d ever had to consider decorating. As a result, her room lacked unity and style, looking no different from a cheap hotel.

She’d also realized she hadn’t had many of the experiences other girls her age had.

After much deliberation, she changed her room to a simple monotone color scheme. It wasn’t the kind of room where she could invite anyone over.

The room was like a mirror of herself.

Whenever I woke up, I never thought of it as my own room, but that room was me... Lilisha realized. She made no attempt to wipe away her tears and smiled a little.

At first, it had been pure white, like it was newborn. She’d tried adding something herself, but the room had remained pure white, with no sense of her and no details.

It was just like what Lilisha was like inside.

That was why it never really felt like her room... She’d chosen and arranged the interior herself, but not a single thing in there represented her life.

It had been a faceless room because Lilisha’s life hadn’t given her any color.

Upon that realization, Lilisha’s complexion brightened up as if her tears had washed everything away.

It was something only someone like Loki, who had witnessed Alus’s change up close, would have been able to point out. She had sensed Lilisha’s loneliness and hidden envy, connected it onto Lilisha’s inner feelings, and put it into words. It would have been an impossible task for Alus, as he couldn’t even reassess himself.

Admiring Lilisha’s feats, Alus spoke.

“Don’t think about anything unnecessary. You only have to do what you want now. You just have to figure out what that is and how to go about it. You definitely have enough time for that.”

In response to Alus’s matter-of-fact statement, Lilisha closed her eyes tight, squeezing out the last of her tears.

“Yes, I still have to monitor you, so I’ll have to stay at the Institute.” She blinked her wet eyelashes and smiled brightly.

Out of habit, Alus put his arm behind his back and planted his hand on her head.

Rather than recoiling in fear, Lilisha took a moment to savor it with an embarrassed smile.

Alus sighed in relief. “Now, let’s go. We’re going to hit up Cicelnia’s place.”

“Wait, what?!” Lilisha asked in a panic. “We’re going to have a direct talk with the ruler?! I didn’t hear about this!”

She sounded like she was back to normal.

“I only mentioned going to the palace, but that’s the plan. That’s what I’ve decided,” said Alus.

“I will accompany you wherever you’ve decided to go, Sir Alus!” Loki fearlessly agreed.

With that Alus took off running.

“Ah... Am I clinging too?” Loki quietly asked, but Alus ignored her.