The man, who was staring at them with his neck turned at a bizarre angle, muttered in an indifferent tone.

“If I let you go like this, I think I’ll be in trouble.”

It was before the question of “By whom…?” could even arise.

Whoosh, the man’s pupils seemed to roll upwards, and his eyes changed to resemble those of a reptile.

As the man lightly waved his hand, the small flames that had been spreading around suddenly flared up, extending beyond the corridor and starting to blaze in an instant.

“Kyaaaah!”

Unable to withstand the shock, Lady Megan screamed and collapsed on the spot.

“J-Just now, h-his eyes…? What on earth is this…?”

“My lady! Pull yourself together!”

Delphine quickly tried to help the fallen woman up, but the frozen Lady Megan didn’t budge an inch.

“The mysterious fire accident that occurred at the Marinski Theater.”

Between the flames and the wildly rising gray smoke, the man with reptilian eyes slowly walked out.

“Fortunately, there weren’t many casualties as it happened after the concert. Two charred bodies were found, identities under investigation.”

The man approached them step by step and curled his lips into a smile.

“…How about the newspaper report goes like this? What do you think?”

Lady Megan let out a long “Haaa” and promptly lost consciousness.

Delphine glared at the man while pulling the limp woman towards herself as much as possible.

If only I had power.

The fact that she had to be so helplessly victimized made her feel like a thousand fires were raging inside her.

“Hm? It’s fine, right? I’ll surely be scolded for burning down this historic theater, but…”

The man, with an innocently inappropriate expression for the situation, raised his hand.

Between those unusually long fingers was wedged a black crystal about the size of a pebble.

“…Surely they’ll understand if I say I was trying to clean up a situation that was about to be exposed.”

The man swung his arm.

Delphine didn’t close her eyes until the end.

Red sparks flew from the black crystal nestled between his fingers.

But that was it.

“Huh…?”

The sparks stopped before becoming flames, and the man who was about to swing his arm also suddenly halted his movement.

What’s going on?

Before the surprised Delphine could grasp what was happening, a circular ring emitting a soft white light appeared beneath the man’s feet.

“Unidentified charred bodies. Good idea.”

Along with that, a low voice was heard from beyond the flame-engulfed corridor.

Startled, Delphine quickly raised her head while hugging the fallen Lady Megan.

It was a somewhat familiar voice.

“…Rin?”

Through the increasingly spreading flames, a man wrapped in a black cloak slowly walked out.

As the man approached and swiftly removed his wet cloak, jet-black hair was revealed.

Her guess was correct. It was Rin from La Rouge.

“What are you… Aagh!”

Nicolai couldn’t finish his sentence.

Suddenly, white glowing threads shot out from the circle under his feet and began to bind him tightly.

“What is this! Eek…!”

Nicolai twisted his body violently and clenched the black crystal in his palm.

Soon, the man’s form shimmered like a mirage and then changed into a shape resembling black smoke.

Black smoke seeped out stealthily through the gaps between the white glowing threads that had wrapped around his body.

The white lines, as if they were a giant living snake determined not to let him go, wrapped around him even more quickly.

However, just before the black smoke dispersed and escaped.

Nicolai’s body suddenly regained its original form.

His face reappeared, and with a greatly bewildered expression, he muttered as he opened his clenched fingers.

“Huh? What is this… Why isn’t the crystal working…?”

As if answering his mumbling, the black crystal in his hand crumbled with a soft sound and scattered like ash.

The man opened his mouth with an expression of shock.

“Damn it! Already used up all the power… Aagh!”

Before he could finish speaking, the lines of light instantly wrapped around his body.

Nicolai, now resembling a cocoon, lost his balance and fell to the side ungracefully.

‘…It worked!’

Delphine, who had been watching him, let out a sigh of relief and exhaled the breath she had been holding.

“Ha! I told you not to do dangerous things.”

Rin, who approached her, reprimanded in an exasperated tone.

“I didn’t know he would be burning down the theater.”

“That was to catch evidence… No, more importantly, it wasn’t me who set the theater on fire in the first place, it was that man!”

As Delphine hastily offered explanations, feeling like a criminal for no reason, Rin chuckled and muttered.

“Really unexpected, I tell you.”

“Unexpected? That should be my line.”

Delphine asked, fixing her gaze on the man struggling on the floor.

“You also use strange powers. Is this also done with something from that northern continent?”

However, to say that, there was only a possum in Rin’s grasp.

“I told you there are two conditions for using magic. Energy and magic formula.”

Answering simply, Rin casually lifted his upper clothes.

Startled by the sudden action, Delphine narrowed her eyes as she discovered something.

Through the revealed gap in his clothes, a complex magic formula was engraved on his split abs.

“What in the world is that…”

“Explanations later. Let’s deal with that man first.”

Rin answered briefly as he lowered his clothes again.

It was the right thing to say.

Delphine turned her head towards the man who had become a white cocoon and asked.

“What do you plan to do with him now?”

“I’ll take him to headquarters like this for interrogation. Belly is waiting with sparkling eyes. …But.”

Rin showed his hand with a troubled expression.

The transparent possum, about the size of a baby’s fist, was now barely emitting a faint light.

“…It needs to be ‘charged’, I see.”

Delphine, who had guessed his intention without any words, silently extended her hand.

Rin handed over the possum with a pleading expression.

As she grasped the transparent crystal in her hand, mysterious five-colored light filled it again.

It was an amazing phenomenon no matter how many times she saw it.

As she handed it back, Rin immediately grasped the possum and muttered something.

At the same time, a magic formula emitting a soft white light appeared beneath Nicolai.

“Farewell, friend. When you get there, Belly will ask you various things. Answer well when he asks kindly. He’s more short-tempered than he looks.”

Rin raised the corners of his mouth coldly and snapped his fingers.

“No! This can’t be happening!”

As the magic formula faded, the body of the man struggling on top of it also became translucent together.

The man, who was becoming as faint as mist, managed to pull out one hand from between the lines that bound him tightly.

“Damn it! How, how could I have come this far only to…”

Then he scattered the black crystal powder he had been holding onto the flames in the corridor.

Instantly, the flames that had been gradually spreading along the wooden corridor flared up, beginning to burn fiercely.

The scorching heat exhaled by the suddenly enlarged flames hit Delphine with a whoosh.

Feeling as if her throat was burning, Delphine coughed roughly.

“Huh…! Cough, cough…!”

“Delphine! Damn it. I let my guard down at the last moment… Are you alright?”

Rin quickly knelt down and examined Delphine.

Still unable to stop coughing, Delphine shook her head.

She’s fine, don’t worry, more importantly, we need to get out of here quickly.

She was about to say something like that, when it happened.

“Delphine!”

Startled by the sudden shout, both of them raised their heads at the same time.

Someone called her name from beyond that corridor.

Although the rising flames and black smoke blocked the view, Delphine could clearly recognize the owner of that voice.

“…Ioan?”

Where did he suddenly appear from? Since when?

Surely he didn’t witness this entire scene, did he?

“Damn it. Pryde? There was definitely no one here…”

Rin was equally surprised.

“Delphine! Before he comes, with me…”

He hurriedly whispered to her.

However, Delphine had made all her judgments in that brief moment and resolutely exclaimed.

“No! I’ll be fine, so hurry and escape!”

“But…”

“He will absolutely not harm me.”

Delphine declared with a very determined face.

Unlike herself, if Rin were to be caught here, there was no telling what might happen.

Delphine whispered urgently.

“I can escape through the corridor that’s not on fire! So hurry!”

As long as she was here, Ioan wouldn’t pursue Rin.

After hesitating for a moment, Rin finally clenched the possum tightly.

“…Damn it.”

A white magic circle appeared beneath his feet, and soon his form scattered like smoke.

Flames and black smoke were everywhere.

Ioan probably hadn’t seen this scene yet.

Delphine anxiously scanned beyond the burning corridor while holding onto the fallen Lady Megan.

Where on earth is he?

With flames everywhere like this, how did he manage to find me?

But for now, with the fire burning so fiercely, even he would find it difficult to approach this side…

“Delphine!”

At that moment, a huge man came running through the blazing flames.

Delphine, who directly witnessed this unbelievable sight, screamed in shock.