There is a saying that as you get older, you lose your morning sleep. Philip, who was now truly on the verge of retirement, opened his eyes around dawn.

As always, he neatly dressed in his Magic Tower uniform and smoothly combed back his white hair.

It was when he arrived at work earlier than anyone else in the Magic Tower and was drinking tea while handling business. There was a clattering sound outside the door, followed by an urgent knock.

“Tower Master, something terrible has happened!”

“What is all this commotion about?”

“This, please look at this!”

Philip’s assistant held out a newspaper and an envelope with trembling hands.

Philip checked the newspaper first. Sometimes newspaper articles provided a nice summary of current events.

‘…Oh ho.’

Philip’s eyes lit up as he read the headline on the front page. His wrinkled eyes, which had been drooping half-closed, turned sharp.

“Arasila Vandermir files lawsuit against Magic Tower!”

It was news that Arasila had filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the Magic Tower. Claiming she was pushed out by internal politics without just cause.

Provocative words that were perfect for piquing people’s curiosity stood out here and there.

Inside the envelope he checked next was a complaint sent by Arasila. And in the complaint, she had neatly written down the names of the magicians who had led the charge to oust her.

Urging them to participate in the trial.

“…Ho ho. Ho ho. Ho ho ho ho!”

Philip burst into loud laughter.

His assistant looked at him in bewilderment. A dismissed magician filing a lawsuit against the Magic Tower was surely a dishonor to the Tower.

Yet Philip, the Tower Master, let out a hearty laugh as if a weight had been lifted, which was puzzling.

‘Yes, that’s my disciple.’

Regardless, Philip smiled contentedly.

There were two things he valued highly in Arasila: her magical talent and her personality of charging towards her goals.

He had noticed her perseverance and determination that seemed like she would never give up on her dreams no matter what.

Given that a prideful magician like her had suffered such humiliation and been expelled, Philip guessed that she would definitely return to the Magic Tower someday.

Because if she gave up here, she wouldn’t be Arasila.

“Tower Master, what should we do? Since Lady Vandermir has filed a lawsuit, we must respond at the Tower level.”

“Then do so, what’s the problem?”

“No, but how can we possibly with Lady Vandermir…”

Get into a mudslinging match. The assistant swallowed the rest of his words and looked at Philip with anxious eyes.

Arasila was Philip’s last disciple. It wasn’t a beautiful farewell, but he didn’t want to see an ending where they were at each other’s throats either.

Moreover, what if Arasila slipped up and leaked internal Tower secrets, or exposed minor crimes committed by the executives?

While he was worried about how far the Tower’s prestige might fall, Philip seemed unconcerned and even had a faint smile on his lips.

‘If she’s going so far as to file a lawsuit, it means she must have solid evidence to prove her innocence.’

But fearing that if it was handled internally within the Tower, unfair things might happen again, she deliberately filed an external lawsuit.

That way she could properly deal with the people who had unjustly pushed her out.

The master who instantly grasped his disciple’s intentions let out a sigh of relief. It seemed he no longer needed to worry anxiously about Arasila.

Philip spoke quietly.

“Call an executive meeting, and tell them to form a response team with the magicians listed in the complaint.”

That was an order from the Tower Master preparing for trial, not a master waiting for his disciple.

People were intrigued by the news of a lawsuit between an expelled magician and the Magic Tower.

Not only had someone who was considered the next Tower Master been suddenly ousted, but now she was sharpening her knife to confront the group she had belonged to.

The day of Arasila and the Magic Tower’s trial approached amid everyone’s interest.

“My lady, are you ready?”

Demian asked as he greeted Arasila coming down the central staircase.

Arasila, who had put on her Magic Tower uniform after a long time, nodded confidently with a proud smile. She felt quite refreshed after sleeping well last night.

Her steps towards the courthouse were unwavering. Even more so with Demian firmly by her side.

The gallery was packed with people. There were so many spectators outside that the voices of those paying attention could be heard from the moment they entered.

“Oh, Lady Vandermir has finally arrived!”

“Look at that confident face. The Tower must have really unjustly expelled her.”

“I’m truly curious to see which side will be the winner today!”

Arasila scanned the Magic Tower magicians sitting on the opposite side with her eyes. Philip sat at the head, along with Fernando and five other executive magicians, and Travis.

While the executive magicians had participated in the vote for and against, Travis’s expression looked displeased at being here today with his name written in the complaint for no particular reason.

No, was he anxious? The corners of Arasila’s lips turned up briefly.

As soon as they saw Arasila, they slammed the table and shamelessly expressed their anger.

“To file a lawsuit against us without any shame! She truly was a disgrace to the Tower.”

“We thought she was at least smart enough to understand the situation well. How could she fail to make an objective judgment and bring things to this state?”

“It’s deplorable that this person was once part of the Tower.”

The magicians muttered loud enough to be heard. However, Arasila sat down without changing her expression and looked at the judge’s bench.

Instead, Demian threw them a chilling glance. Startled by the killing intent emanating from the Sword Master, they quietly closed their mouths.

Shortly after, the presiding judge appeared.

“Good day, everyone. I am Judge Schneider Moore, in charge of today’s trial.”

Schneider greeted with a formal smile and sat down, saying,

“Now, we will begin the trial regarding the wrongful dismissal from the Magic Tower.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! He struck the gavel three times to signal the start of the trial.

At the same time, people fell silent as if a mouse had died. It was to listen carefully to what each side would say.

“We will hear from the plaintiff’s side first.”

“Yes, understood.”

Colin, who was in charge of Arasila’s defense, stepped forward. Although he was originally an assistant, he was temporarily assigned as the defense counsel for today.

The gallery buzzed briefly and then quieted down at the fact that Arasila had not hired a professional lawyer.

Colin stood before Schneider with a very calm face and argued,

“The Magic Tower unilaterally expelled my lady based on false rumors about her private life, without verifying the facts. This is a clear violation of labor law and an unjust action that goes against the Tower’s internal rules requiring at least a month-long investigation.”

“Next, let’s hear from the defendant’s side.”

“The Magic Tower’s expulsion of Lady Vandermir was not solely due to her private life. The main reason was the magic lamp explosion accident she caused at Her Highness Princess Gloria’s party.”

The Magic Tower’s lawyer immediately rebutted. The magicians nodded arrogantly in agreement.

Colin looked at them coldly and said,

“That is not the truth. Lady Vandermir did not cause the magic lamp explosion.”

“Huh, the audacity…!”

One of the executive magicians exclaimed, grabbing the back of his neck. Amidst the murmuring crowd, Arasila’s gaze was fixed on only one person.

On Travis, who shrank his shoulders feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

“Dozens of people saw the lamp Lady Vandermir gifted to Her Highness the Princess. Moreover, the Imperial Office officially acknowledged the lamp explosion. How dare you try to deceive people with such groundless words that won’t amount to anything!”

The Magic Tower’s lawyer shouted angrily. However, Arasila’s side remained unshaken.

Their noble demeanor as they sat drew people’s gazes strangely and breathed a faint hope into their hearts.

A small doubt that perhaps the lady was truly innocent, seeing how confident they were. That began to sprout.

“The real culprit who caused the lamp explosion is someone else. In fact, they are even here with us today,”

“Wh-what…?”

“No, what is this person saying now!”

Everyone stirred at the shocking statement. The Magic Tower people all stood up at once, pointing fingers and squawking loudly.

The only calm one was Philip. He stroked his beard and said to the excited magicians,

“Everyone, be quiet. We shouldn’t make a spectacle in the courtroom where we’ve come as representatives of the Tower.”

“But Tower Master! Arasila is openly slandering us, how can we just sit still!”

“Whether it’s slander or not, they will prove it. So sit down. No more objections.”

Philip’s eyes flashed coldly for a moment. The magicians immediately tucked their tails and sat down.

Thanks to that, Schneider, who had been flustered, said,

“On what grounds does the plaintiff make such a claim? If you are spreading lies, new charges will be added.”

“We are only speaking the truth, Your Honor. We request that Lady Vandermir directly argue this matter.”

“I will allow it.”

As soon as the words fell, Arasila rose from her seat and stepped forward. Her elegant yet upright posture showed no sign of the typical shrinking of a criminal.

Rather, she looked more like a magician than those sitting on the Magic Tower’s side, dressed neatly in her uniform with her eyes shining intelligently.

“Judge Moore, I fell victim to someone’s trap aimed at Her Highness the Princess’s life and was falsely accused.”

“Who is that person?”

“It’s… that man.”

Arasila slowly raised her hand to point at someone. Everyone’s gaze followed her finger.

The person at the end of her straight, slender finger was none other than Travis.

Suddenly singled out, Travis turned deathly pale. The blood draining from his face was so clear it was visible.

“N-no! I have never tried to assassinate Her Highness the Princess!”

Abruptly branded a traitor who targeted the Princess’s life, he desperately waved his arms in denial.

“Arasila! The accident happened because of your mistake, and now you’re trying to pin it all on me?”

“Th-that’s right! No matter that Travis was your rival, how could you slander an innocent person!”

Travis’s master Fernando quickly chimed in. If Travis’s guilt was revealed here, the damage he would suffer would be great.

After all, Fernando had a hand in his disciple tampering with Arasila’s lamp.

Arasila smirked as if she had expected them to react this way, then turned her head towards Schneider.

“I have evidence to support the claim that Travis is the true culprit of the explosion accident.”

At Arasila’s nod, Colin quickly brought the remnants of the exploded magic lamp to Schneider.

This time, it was obtained by officially requesting submission of evidence to the government office.

“This is my magic lamp that exploded at the party. If you look closely, there are white powder-like dots stuck to it, which is a powder that causes an explosion when heated. Travis deliberately sprinkled it before the party.”

“Th-that’s nonsense―!”

“The materials Travis’s lab recently purchased for magical device invention include this powder. On the other hand, it was not in the purchase history of the lab I operated. I also submit the respective purchase records as evidence.”

Colin diligently delivered the evidence to Schneider.

Travis looked like he might faint at any moment. How on earth did Arasila’s side get hold of the purchase records?

It was evidence handed over by Billy, who had been threatened by Demian, but Travis had no way of knowing that yet. He was simply confused.

The other magicians also showed signs of agitation and didn’t know what to do.

Fernando stomped hard on his half-dazed disciple’s foot. Snapping to his senses from the pain, Travis said,

“I-I admit that I used that powder in my research. However, I understand that Arasila strictly managed the magic lamp internally without leaking it externally. So how could I have sprinkled the powder? Rather, couldn’t one of Arasila’s juniors have secretly obtained the powder and sprinkled it?”

Arasila’s expression turned ice cold at the mention of Sally and Rudy.

She glared at Travis with eyes full of contempt and anger. It was disgusting to see him drag down magicians much younger than himself just to save his own skin.

However, Arasila responded calmly.

“There is someone who can testify regarding this. Your Honor, I request a witness.”

“I will allow it.”

Travis’s eyes widened at the witness who appeared as the door opened. It was because the witness who entered with a slightly intimidated but proud attitude was his junior Billy.

He never imagined that he would betray him.

Billy stood in the witness stand, swore to tell only the truth, and then testified.

“I am Billy, working in Senior Travis’s lab. A few days before the explosion accident, the senior asked me to approach Sally and Rudy and bring back the lab key. Under pressure from the power relationship, I reluctantly stole the key and gave it to him, and then he went out and didn’t come back.”

“Billy, you bastard―!”

Unable to contain his anger, Travis kicked his seat. However, Billy didn’t even look in that direction and steadfastly gazed at Schneider.

Whether it was threats or whatever that made him decide to defect, he was quite resolute in cutting ties.

“Judging from Billy’s testimony, Travis had ample access to my laboratory. It was all with the purpose of assassinating Her Highness the Princess and then framing me.”

“This is slander! I had no reason to harm Her Highness the Princess in the first place!”

At that moment, Arasila’s eyes flashed brightly.

“There is. A reason.”

As if she had been waiting for those words to come out.

“Travis’s home, the Viscount Luther family, once disobeyed the Imperial family long ago and received a severe punishment. Since then, the family has been on a downward path. Travis, influenced by this family history, must have targeted Her Highness the Princess’s life out of revenge against the Imperial family.”

People who knew of this fact murmured loudly that Arasila’s words were credible.

On the other hand, Travis felt wronged. While it was true that his family was in decline, he had never harbored resentment towards the Imperial family, especially not towards the Princess personally, because of it.

As an illegitimate child, he was learning for the first time that his family had such a history.

This was indeed something Travis should feel wronged about. It was a reason fabricated by Arasila, which even he didn’t know about.

For her, it was an unavoidable choice. Isn’t it necessary to back someone into a corner to properly achieve what one wants?

Travis’s face turned ashen as he realized he was about to be punished for attempted murder of a royal family member at this rate.

Finally, the truth spilled from his lips.

“No! I, I was trying to expel Arasila from the Magic Tower, not Her Highness the Princess! Fernando, who conspired with me, will testify to this!”

The moment his master’s name came out of the disciple’s mouth, Arasila smiled.