This was Arasila’s purpose in framing Travis as an assassin of the royal family. To make Travis himself bring out his master Fernando.

In fact, when she heard from Demian that the real culprit was Travis, the first thing that came to mind was Fernando, who had attacked her as if he had been waiting at the Magic Tower executive meeting.

Considering that there were already firm magicians who would take his side, and that he immediately pulled out the extreme card of expulsion from the Magic Tower.

It was clear that Fernando had been involved in this from the beginning.

It wasn’t surprising. As long as the two were in a master-disciple relationship, it wouldn’t be strange if they plotted together.

Therefore, when bringing down Travis, Fernando also had to be pulled down for certain. Otherwise, Fernando’s forces would surely remain to torment her.

If it were Fernando, he could put forward a new disciple to check Arasila again, or call Travis back to the Magic Tower after some time had passed.

So she had to root it out completely, leaving no room for doubt.

“What are you saying, Travis! What did I conspire with you!”

Fernando shouted angrily with a bewildered face.

The back of his neck instantly became drenched in sweat. It was due to the sense of crisis that he could also be implicated in the charge of attempted assassination of the royal family if he wasn’t careful.

‘Rather than defending Travis for nothing, it’s better to just abandon him here!’

Of course, he knew well that what Travis was truly aiming for was Arasila, but it was difficult to take his side and try to reveal the truth now that the princess had been seriously injured.

Now that even the family circumstances had been revealed, it was much more likely that their claims would be dismissed as excuses and they would be branded as accomplices instead.

“Master Fernando, how can you do this? You know well that I did this targeting Arasila!”

“I don’t know! I don’t know even a speck about this matter!”

Travis glared at his master with a face full of betrayal. However, Fernando brazenly glared back at him.

A melodious voice intervened in the hostile atmosphere flowing between them.

“If Master Fernando’s words are true, then Travis must be lying to cover up the fact that he tried to kill Her Highness the Princess.”

It was Arasila trying to split the already divided master and disciple relationship even more perfectly.

Her purpose was to provoke Travis while supporting Fernando. When he realizes that he’s the only one being left out, he will surely bring out any secrets or evidence he knows.

She smiled gently at Travis, who looked like he was about to lose his breath at any moment.

“Is it okay to lie in this sacred court?”

“I warn the Magic Tower side. If you tell lies in court, you will be severely punished.”

Schneider said in a stern voice. The warning light lit in Travis’s head rang more violently than before.

If things continue like this, he will die.

Attempted murder of a royal family member was an enormous felony. There was no one to protect him, who was just an illegitimate child of a viscount family, not even a son of a great house.

Travis looked at Fernando with tearful eyes.

He thought that person would protect him at least a little, but now that belief was completely trampled, Travis had nothing left to lose.

“Your Honor, my words are the truth! Master Fernando is the one lying!”

Travis ran up to the front of the judge’s bench and pleaded. Arasila deliberately spoke to him as if reprimanding.

“But Master Fernando says it’s not true.”

“I’m telling you, I’m right!”

“Do you have evidence?”

At this, Travis paused for a moment, thought carefully, and then nodded desperately.

“There, there are letters I exchanged with Master Fernando discussing this matter. I’ve kept them without destroying them, so I can submit them as evidence!”

The last words were spat out while looking at Schneider.

“Travis, you bastard―!”

At the same time, Fernando called him in an angry voice and rose to his feet.

He never dreamed that this vile and petty bastard would have kept each of his letters. Logically, such letters should be disposed of on one’s own.

Thinking that he had failed to recognize the tiger cub that would cling to his ankle and had kept him as a disciple until now, Fernando’s blood pressure soared.

“How dare you implicate me in the ugly crime you committed because of your own incompetence and inadequacy?”

“Wasn’t it you who instigated it, Master Fernando! How many times did you threaten me to get rid of Arasila and take her place somehow!”

“When did I ever do that, you fool! I took in and raised a half-baked wretch, and this is how you repay kindness with enmity!”

At the remark touching on his birth complex, Travis felt the string of reason completely snapping.

Honestly, he thought that by this point, Fernando would confess the truth and explain that it wasn’t an attempt to assassinate the royal family.

But seeing his master trying to run away alone to save himself even when his disciple was in a life-threatening situation, he thought that if he was going to die, they should die together.

“Magic Tower Lord, I have something to say!”

Travis turned around and approached Philip this time. Philip silently looked at him while leaning on his staff with both hands.

“Master Fernando has long wanted to drive out the Magic Tower Lord and Arasila! So he created factions and told me to eliminate Arasila! Because then he could drive out the Magic Tower Lord later as well!”

The reason Fernando had been so wary of Arasila was ultimately because of Philip. He wanted to push out Philip who had become the Magic Tower Lord instead of him.

He vowed that when he retired and his disciple took the position of Magic Tower Lord, he would completely erase Philip’s traces.

As the internal problems of the Magic Tower burst out in revelation, the courtroom now openly buzzed.

People’s gazes turned to the magicians who couldn’t hide their bewildered expressions. Travis pointed at them and declared.

“All the people sitting here are those bought by Master Fernando to drive out the Magic Tower Lord and Arasila!”

“Shut that mouth!”

Unable to contain his anger, Fernando stood up, and at the moment he shot out an attack spell towards Travis.

Bang!

Philip blocked him with a defensive spell.

“What are you doing now.”

Philip’s voice, which had always been soft and gentle, resonated coldly and heavily like ice.

Frozen by that spirit, Fernando stumbled and stammered.

“Ma, Magic Tower Lord…….”

“Not only did you disrupt the order within the Magic Tower and muddy the waters with your greed, but you even try to attack your disciple, abandoning the duty of a master?”

“I, I’m not, it’s just that I was falsely accused…….”

Philip coldly gazed at Fernando, who was desperately trying to make excuses. That one look was more intimidating than a hundred words.

Feeling the pressure as if his breath was being crushed, Fernando opened and closed his mouth before firmly shutting it. He realized that whatever he said would be useless.

“Everyone, please be quiet.”

Schneider tapped the judge’s gavel to refresh the noisy atmosphere of the courtroom. Then he solemnly spoke to the Magic Tower side.

“All fighting is prohibited in the courtroom. However, the Magic Tower side has just caused a disturbance with internal fighting, so as punishment for this, your right to speak will be restricted.”

With this, the Magic Tower could no longer raise any objections.

Arasila, who had returned to her seat, stared at the silent opponents. The people who had been so triumphant and excited when driving her out now had faces full of dismay.

While it was satisfying to see their state, it was also pathetic, so Arasila looked at the judge’s bench with an expressionless face.

Schneider, raising his gavel again, concluded the judgment.

“I will now pronounce the sentence. After examining all testimonies and evidence, I acknowledge the wrongful dismissal by the Magic Tower. The Magic Tower shall immediately reinstate Arasila Vandermir and pay compensation for damages. And I order a reinvestigation of the lamp explosion incident.”

Tap, tap, tap!

The sound of the gavel rang unusually loud. Looking at the dumbfounded magicians, Arasila raised the corners of her mouth.

It was her perfect victory.

As she came out after the trial, warm sunlight welcomed her. Arasila spotted two people lingering near the entrance and broke into a broad smile.

She raised her hand brightly to call them.

“Hey, you two!”

“Senior!”

Sally and Rudy hurriedly ran to Arasila. Arasila opened her arms to welcome her juniors.

“You were waiting for me to come out?”

“Yes, we wanted to congratulate you on the trial result.”

The two had watched the trial from the spectator seats. How thrilling and exhilarating it was to see Arasila winning step by step.

Looking at her excited juniors, Arasila held their hands tightly and opened her mouth.

“I heard everything from Demian. That you two were a great help in uncovering the truth about the lamp accident.”

In fact, when she was expelled from the Magic Tower, she had to leave so suddenly that she couldn’t pay attention to her juniors.

They must have had many difficult moments after she left.

Yet they had investigated the case for her sake, and Arasila was truly grateful for that. She was deeply moved by her juniors’ loyalty.

“Thank you both so much. And I’m sorry. You must have had a hard time because of me.”

“No, it’s natural to help you when you were unfairly expelled, Senior!”

“And compared to you, Senior, we hardly suffered at all.”

Sally waved her hands urgently, and Rudy also shook his head.

“But I heard you were demoted to entry-level employees. You should have asked to be allowed into someone else’s research lab at least.”

Arasila said, patting their shoulders. But Sally and Rudy shook their heads firmly, even removing the smile from their faces.

“Senior, you are like our teacher, how could we do that? They say there’s only one teacher under the sky.”

“We still remember how you reached out to us when we had nowhere to go. We could never betray someone like that.”

The two had learned a lot from Arasila, but they also owed her a lot.

New magicians entering the Magic Tower usually enter a senior’s research lab to learn the work.

But that’s only possible if the senior chooses them, and those who aren’t chosen by anyone until the end have to do odd jobs while waiting for the next opportunity.

When Sally and Rudy first entered, they were often looked down upon as poor commoners without connections.

Unlike others, they hadn’t received magic education since childhood, so senior magicians didn’t show much interest in them.

Even when their peers were chosen one by one and left, the two quietly stayed in their place.

‘……Shall we just go home now?’

‘Let’s do that.’

It was when they were about to leave, looking around the empty seats dejectedly.

‘Hey, you two, where are you going?’

When they turned around at the voice that rang clear like a bell, there stood a magician with beauty that could make one’s eyes pop out.

‘Have you been assigned to a research lab yet?’

‘……No, not yet.’

‘Then, come to me. I was just looking for people because there’s no one in our lab.’

Enchanted by the brightly smiling face, Sally nodded first. The more rational Rudy didn’t respond immediately and asked for her identity first.

‘But who are you?’

‘Me? Arasila Hugo.’

‘……Why are you trying to take us?’

The question revealed wariness about why a noble would show interest in commoners like them. Arasila answered brightly to such a cautious question.

‘Because I think you’ll become shining gemstones if polished and refined nicely.’

‘……Us? We learned magic later than others and didn’t even receive proper education.’

‘That’s why it’s more amazing. It means you entered the Magic Tower purely with your own talent.’

It was words that stirred the hearts of the two who had heard more bitter words than praise, being pushed around and checked by others.

‘Above all, you two shine the brightest in my eyes. So come with me. What do you say?’

Arasila grinned. It was a smile bright enough to instantly erase the shadow cast by the label of poor commoner origin.

Even Rudy nodded without refusing that second offer.

From then on, the two decided to firmly believe in and follow Arasila. She believed in their potential first, so they vowed never to betray that trust.

So this incident was just repaying the trust that Arasila had extended first.

“We will always follow you, Senior.”

“For Sally and me, there’s only one senior we respect.”

“You guys…….”

Moved once again, Arasila looked at the two with slightly widened eyes before reaching out to thoroughly ruffle their hair.

“That’s right, the three of us will stay together until the end.”

“Of course, we’ll jump into hell together if we have to!”

“Just say the word and we’ll follow you anywhere.”

Cheerful laughter burst out from the three of them. Their faces were as bright as the shining sunlight, without any more worries or concerns.