“F***ing son of a gun, always leaving the annoying stuff to me.”

“Hmm.”

At Leopold’s straightforward speech, McCullen cleared his throat and observed Lena’s reaction.

Magicians all seemed to have quirky personalities.

Even though she could handle magic herself, she had little interaction with magicians and didn’t know much about them.

Especially those residing in the Crystal Palace.

“I apologize, Duchess. Professor Leopold’s speech may sound rough, but he has no ill intentions at all.”
Lena found the professor’s somewhat rough manner irritating, but drawing on her experience as a servant for centuries, she responded with a smile.

“I look forward to working with you, Professor. I am Lena Fermannes.”

“…….”

Leopold, who had been observing Lena with a somewhat neutral expression, gestured for her to come in as she greeted him politely.

‘More ordinary than I thought.’

She had expected the magical professor’s research lab to be somewhat unique. However, it was no different from an ordinary scholar’s lab.

“How much do you know about magic?”

As Lena glanced around the lab, Leopold, who had been skimming through documents, casually asked.

“I haven’t formally learned about magic, so…”

“What magic can you use?”

“I can’t use many. Basic magic like teleportation, illuminating fire, and memory erasure.”

As Lena spoke, the man who had been casually listening to her words paused when she mentioned memory erasure.

“…You can erase memories?”

“Yes.”

‘What went wrong?’

Leopold, who seemed to be deeply contemplating something from her words, spoke.

“Can you read the flow of magical power? For example, injecting your magical power into someone else’s body.”

“I’m not sure about that, but, um… I’ve removed the magical power from Hyperion wood before. That also involves reading the flow of magical power and removing it, so it’s somewhat similar, isn’t it?”

“You can remove the magical power from Hyperion wood.”

He lowered his voice.

“Seems like your magical affinity is towards the mental realm.”

“The mental realm?”

“Not all magicians can use the same magic. Each has their own specialized field. Broadly, it divides into the physical realm, the mental realm, and the natural realm. The mental realm, like you, utilizes magic using the flow of magical power. Erasing memories is also a type of such magic. The physical realm affects people physically, like offensive magic, mainly deployed for war. The natural realm, as the name suggests, utilizes natural phenomena, like manipulating the weather.”

Lena had heard that there were different inclinations in magic that suited individuals.

However, this was the first time she had heard these terms explained in such detail.

“But, teleportation and illuminating darkness, for example, aren’t those in the physical realm?”

“Those basic things can be used by any magician. When I talk about realms like physical, mental, or natural, it means specialization in that category of magic. It doesn’t mean they can’t use magic from other categories.”

Understanding the man’s explanation, Lena nodded.

Then, cautiously, she opened her mouth to ask about something she had been curious about.

“Professor, actually, since I removed the magical power from Hyperion wood, I feel like something’s been a little off with my body…”

“Specifically?”
“Things like the usual magic not working or feeling a fluttering in my heart, as if a cup that was once full is now empty—I’ve experienced those sensations.”

“Hmm…”

Leopold, who was carefully pondering Lena’s words, grinned.

“That’s a typical symptom of magical exhaustion… It’s strange, though. While it’s true that removing the magical power from Hyperion wood requires a significant amount of magic, it shouldn’t be a problem for someone like you, who has black magic…”

Unable to find the cause of her symptoms, he contemplated for a while before continuing.

“For now, I’ll look into that matter separately later.”

“Yes, thank you. But, can you tell me how powerful the black magic is, exactly? Honestly, I’ve never thought of myself as having a lot of magical power. In fact, I’ve always believed my magical power is less than other magicians. ”

“Just think of it simply. In the empire, or rather, on the continent, there’s no one with stronger magical power than you.”

“…What?”

Lena’s eyes widened significantly upon hearing Leopold’s words. The fact that black color appeared in the bead held such profound meaning.

Lena was suddenly overwhelmed with fear.

“Is there any chance the bead is malfunctioning, or my magical power is not at that level, no matter how I think about it…?”

In response to Lena’s skeptical expression and questioning, Leopold firmly stated,

“Since the establishment of the empire until now, there has not been a single instance where magical power was incorrectly measured.”

Even though he tried to console her by suggesting the possibility of a malfunction in the bead, he abruptly cut off her hope as if warning her not to harbor false expectations.

“Well, has there never been black color throughout the entire history of the empire? Not even once?”

Considering the history of the empire spans several years, there must have been at least one occurrence.

She looked up at him with a desperate gaze.

“Hmm…”

As if deeply contemplating Lena’s words, he rolled his eyes, and then it seemed he remembered something as he looked at her.

“Not in the empire, but there was exactly one person.”

“Who was it?”

“Ulysses.”

Leopold stared at her piercingly.

“He’s a magician who could be called the origin of all magic.”