“What’s wrong with your face?”

“Wh-wh-what? What’s wrong with my face?”

“Why are you so surprised? Why? Did you have an uncomfortable sleep?”

“Th-that’s…”

The next day, Cordelia somehow became conscious of even facing Leonard’s face, let alone mixing words. Even things she would normally do without a second thought made her more nervous.

“You’re being too obvious. Alright. I’ll ask Raksen to assign you a room quickly today, so wait.”

“…Thank you.”

Her voice was so small it was almost like the sound of the wind.

Leonard looked down at the top of Cordelia’s head. She looks like someone who didn’t sleep at all, with dark circles under her eyes. She must have had a very uncomfortable sleep.

‘I’ll have to change the bed to a better one. She might sleep there occasionally.’

Since he had no way of knowing what Cordelia was thinking, he simply changed his train of thought to providing a comfortable bed. Although Cordelia seemed unusually startled today, he dismissed this as insignificant as well.

“Since Matilda has returned, let’s go together.”

“Matilda? Ah, Mother’s teacher! Let’s go, let’s hurry.”

Cordelia, who had been fidgeting for a while, reacted strongly to the name Matilda. Although she still walked far apart from Leonard, excitement could be seen in her footsteps.

“What kind of person is Matilda?”

“A cold but caring old lady.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll understand when you meet her.”

Matilda’s research lab was quite far down. Even without asking if they had arrived, one could tell they had reached it. Strong magical energy could be felt rippling from the rusty iron door.

As they approached the door, eyes appeared floating above it, just like with Candias. The difference was that there were two eyes.

“Atilei.”

“Rukan. Is Matilda inside?”

Rukan, presumably a demon, blinked his eyes lightly to indicate affirmation. His gaze fell on Cordelia.

“Who are you?”

“Hello. I’m Cordelia Vasquez. I’m Master Atilei’s disciple.”

“Vasquez, you say?”

Rukan stared at Cordelia with curious eyes. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.

I don’t understand why demons are so interested in her. Cordelia hesitated and stepped back a little at the excessive attention.

“Hmm. Interesting.”

“Will you open the door already?”

“Fine, go in for now.”

Rukan took his eyes off Cordelia and opened the door. She looked around the research lab. It was the gloomiest and darkest atmosphere of all the labs she had visited so far. Even though it was broad daylight, all the few windows were closed, making the interior as dark as night.

“Hello.”

“Eek!”

At that moment, a small-framed girl with black hair suddenly appeared. Not expecting a person to appear, Cordelia was startled and stepped back.

Fortunately, Leonard was behind her to catch her, or she would have fallen ungracefully.

“The master says to bring you inside. Please follow me.”

The girl moved ahead first, as silently as when she had appeared.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Y-you’re too close.”

She had forgotten that she was leaning her back against his chest. Leonard’s voice in her ear seemed lower than usual today.

Cordelia moved away from him again, making a fuss. Leonard looked at her with strange eyes.

“What’s this? You leaned on me first.”

“Th-that’s different!”

Leonard was dumbfounded by her unreasonable attitude. But as they say, the one who likes loses, so Leonard let it go gently, unlike how he would have been irritated normally.

“Alright, let’s go to Matilda. She’ll be waiting.”

“Yes.”

As they were guided into the research lab, a small tea room came into view. A woman with white hair neatly tied without a single strand out of place was sitting there. Judging by the traces of wrinkles, she looked to be at least in her sixties, but her back was straight.

Leonard positioned Cordelia in front of her.

“This is my disciple. Greet her. She is Triska’s Sarius, Matilda Erk.”

“Hello. I’m Cordelia Vasquez. I’m Master Atilei’s disciple.”

Cordelia bowed as respectfully as she could, holding back her pounding heart.

“I heard from Hayden. You’re Grita’s daughter?”

“Yes! You were my mother’s teacher…”

“I understand, so sit there.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Matilda pointed to the opposite sofa with a small but dignified voice. Cordelia quietly sat where her finger was pointing. Leonard also took a seat next to Cordelia.

There was a clattering sound, and soon the girl she had seen earlier came with a steaming teapot. Matilda poured the tea herself.

“Try it. It’s brewed with flowers I grew myself.”

Cordelia took the cup without a word and sipped it. It was an ordinary tea with the scent of flower petals. However, as soon as Leonard put the tea to his lips, he immediately frowned and put the cup down.

“Ugh, what on earth did you brew?”

“Tsk tsk. Your taste is still the same. Fine. If you don’t like it, don’t drink it.”

Matilda clicked her tongue. Leonard pushed the tea away without a moment’s hesitation.

“More importantly, I heard there was a collapse.”

“Yes. In southern Ershe. At first, we didn’t think much of it, but the scale turned out to be bigger than expected.”

“How big?”

“At least within the top fifty.”

“Top fifty? A high-ranking demon of that level was summoned?”

“Yes. It’s the first time in nearly twenty years, so everyone’s on edge.”

Unable to follow the conversation, Cordelia just rolled her eyes. Matilda’s gaze fell on her.

“Do you know what a collapse is?”

“Ah, no.”

“What? You don’t know what a collapse is?”

“Tch. Master, you didn’t explain it to me.”

Cordelia pouted at Leonard’s accusatory question. This master often seems to forget that she’s only been a magician for barely half a year. Matilda asked.

“Do you know how contracts with demons are made?”

“Uh… Umm…”

“I think it’s best to explain from the beginning. Magicians can summon demons by offering their own magical power as collateral, and if they give appropriate compensation, they can make a contract.”

Matilda began to explain kindly.

“Why would you want to make a contract with a demon?”

“Because you can easily get what you want.”

Leonard added a supplementary explanation. Matilda added to that.

“We can’t say that making a contract with a demon itself is bad. There are certainly those who use it effectively. But it’s not easy to resist the temptation of the powerful force gained through demons. In the end, if you can’t control that power, it’s the contractor who gets eaten by the demon.”

At first glance, it didn’t seem like a very attractive option. No matter how powerful the force gained, if the end is destruction, is there any meaning in that choice?

Suddenly, Candias came to mind. Cordelia turned her head to look at Leonard’s profile.

“Then what about Candias, whom you contracted with, Master? Isn’t he dangerous too?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already paid the full price of the contract to him. And I didn’t make a contract asking for power.”

“…Atilei’s case is a bit unusual. He made a contract by cheating the demon.”

A rather intense word came out of the mouth of the very proper-looking Matilda. The little bit of worry that remained in Cordelia disappeared in an instant.

“Cheated… So that’s why Candias dislikes you, Master.”

“He’s just naturally twisted in character.”

“Your character is much more twisted, Atilei. You’re in no position to talk about others.”

“Pfft. Ahem. I’m sorry. A funny joke suddenly came to mind.”

Laughter burst out involuntarily at Matilda’s blunt revelation. She could feel Leonard glaring at her from beside her. Cordelia quickly looked away and pretended not to notice.

“…Weren’t you about to explain the collapse, Matilda?”

“Ah, right. A collapse refers to the distortion of dimensions that occurs when summoning a demon. Usually, the larger the scale of the collapse, the higher-ranking demon has been summoned.”

After hearing some explanation, the situation became somewhat understandable, but she didn’t consider it very important. After all, it wasn’t something that greatly concerned Cordelia.

However, it seemed quite important to the two of them, as they continued to discuss the collapse for a while. She understood the first few sentences, but as more complex and specialized talk came out, it became increasingly boring.

Noticing this, Matilda spoke first.

“If it’s alright, could you do an errand for me?”

“Huh? An errand?”

“Yes. It’s been a while since I met your master, so I have quite a lot to talk about.”

“I understand. What should I do?”

“It’s simple. Just deliver this to Keinon.”

She said, handing a letter to Cordelia.

“Who is Keinon?”

“Didoasel’s Sarius.”

“If it’s Didoasel, ah! It’s Master Rosenblur’s school, right?”

“You know well. He should be in his research lab if you go there.”

“Can you go alone?”

Leonard looked up at Cordelia with a bit of concern. Cordelia answered bravely.

“Of course. I’ll be back soon.”

Cordelia left Matilda’s research lab, carefully putting the letter in her pocket. Leonard watched her retreating figure until she was completely out of sight, then turned his head to stare at Matilda.

“Do you have something to say to me alone?”

“I do.”

Matilda’s face changed abruptly to a cold expression. She picked up the tea that Leonard had pushed aside without drinking and poured it on a potted plant next to her.

Then something amazing happened. The plant, which had green leaves that were lush just a moment ago, instantly turned brown and withered.

Leonard’s eye twitched.

“It’s tea mixed with demon blood. For a normal human, it’s natural to be unable to drink even a sip properly, like you, finding it disgusting.”

“Then how did Cordelia…”

“It means she’s not entirely human, at the very least. When Rukan tipped me off, I couldn’t believe it.”

“What are you talking about, that’s nonsense. Cordelia is the eldest daughter of the Vasquez family. Didn’t you say you knew her mother?”

“Yes. Grita was my disciple. And she was unable to bear children.”

“Is that all it takes to doubt Cordelia’s birth? Isn’t that jumping to conclusions too quickly?”

“I said this collapse was the first in nearly twenty years, right? To be precise, there was a collapse twenty-one years ago. How old is your disciple this year?”

Twenty years old. Cordelia turned twenty this year. Leonard’s face hardened.

“Judging by your expression, it seems my guess is correct. Do you now understand why I doubt your disciple’s birth?”