“Lydia…”

“I tried too. I tried, I tell you! What do you think I’ve been doing for the past month? I’ve been studying magic every day except when I sleep. Just as he instructed!”

“He?”

Lydia, who had been shouting at the top of her lungs, suddenly closed her mouth. She composed her face in an instant and smiled as if nothing had happened. The sudden change in attitude was chilling.

“Sorry, Blaine. I’m a bit tired today. Would it be alright if I went in first?”

“…Sure.”

Rosenblur wanted to grab his sister right then and ask who “he” was, but he held back.

To be honest, he was afraid of getting into another argument with the sister he had found after just a month. Not knowing why she had left home and come back made him all the more cautious in how to treat her.

For the past month, he had prayed every day. If only Lydia would return safely, he wouldn’t ask for anything else.

So Rosenblur hid his troubled feelings and acted as if nothing was wrong as he escorted Lydia to the room where she was temporarily staying. Then he said to Lydia with all his heart:

“I’m glad you came back safely, Lydia.”

Lydia smiled sweetly in response.

He thought he knew his sister to some extent, having been closer to her than anyone else, but he couldn’t fathom what was going on in Lydia’s mind at all.

As soon as the door closed, he went straight to find Matilda. As the head of the Triska school, which mainly researches demons, she might be able to give advice on Lydia’s situation.

While going down the stairs, he encountered two welcome faces.

“Oh, Rosenblur. It’s quite hard to see you these days. You must be very busy?”

“I have some work with Elfenbaum, Master. It’s been a while, Cordelia. Have you been well?”

Keinnon laughed heartily and lightly patted Rosenblur’s shoulder. Rosenblur finally managed to relax his stiff expression. Cordelia greeted him with a bright face.

“I’ve been doing well. By the way, did you see Lydia?”

“I just came from seeing her.”

“You two seem to know each other well. Well, it would be strange not to know Atilei’s disciple.”

“I find it more surprising to see Cordelia and you together, Master.”

Rosenblur said, looking back and forth between Cordelia and Keinnon.

“Ah, you haven’t heard about that, I see. Our Cordelia here…”

Keinnon’s eyes shone excessively when he said “our Cordelia”. Rosenblur was a bit surprised by the overly familiar form of address.

“Would you believe it, she got a perfect score on the first intermediate magician test and passed the second test brilliantly too. Isn’t that amazing? Moreover, our Cordelia has only been learning magic for barely a year.”

“Master Keinnon…”

Cordelia, unaccustomed to praise, bowed her head deeply, seemingly embarrassed. Of course, Keinnon paid no mind to this. He spoke incessantly, as if boasting about a grandchild.

“I was the examiner for the second test, and she broke through a 7-fold magic circle in just one minute. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And that’s not all. Our Cordelia can even do a 5-fold overlap.”

“Cordelia has already passed the intermediate magician test?”

Rosenblur’s gaze turned to Cordelia. Cordelia smiled shyly and said,

“I was lucky. The second test happened to be about magic circles.”

“Ho ho ho. Magic circles are so difficult to learn. Only you would call that luck.”

“Our master always scolds me, saying I still can’t do more than that.”

“Scolds? Dares to scold our Cordelia? That Atilei bastard. Doesn’t know how precious a disciple he has!”

Keinnon huffed. Then he looked at Cordelia with eyes full of regret.

“Ah, why did such a talent have to go to Acheron of all places… Why!”

Keinnon cried out, looking up at the sky.

Rosenblur, who had been uneasy about Lydia all along, was able to smile for the first time at his master’s behavior.

“Two months ago, you said she could do a 4-fold overlap, but her skills have grown again since then.”

“What? You mean she can do a 5-fold overlap in just two months? Are you crazy? Cordelia! Why didn’t you tell me such an important thing?”

Keinnon was so surprised his eyes looked like they might pop out. Rosenblur could fully understand his feelings. He too had been very excited when he first learned of her talent.

Contrary to this intense reaction, Cordelia seemed unconcerned.

“Huh? Um… Did I not mention it?”

“You didn’t! Goodness, it takes others years to go from 4-fold to 5-fold. I have one more thing to brag about. Tsk, what a shame. What a shame! If only you weren’t Atilei’s disciple, I’d erase your seal and bring you to Diduasel.”

Keinnon continued to stare at Cordelia with deep regret. Rosenblur found it both amusing and understandable.

“Oh, by the way, is Lady Matilda in her research lab?”

“Matilda is in a meeting now, a meeting!”

Keinnon suddenly turned his body around as if he had remembered something.

“Look at me. I was on my way to the Seirius meeting when I completely forgot while talking to you. If I see Matilda in the meeting room, I’ll tell her you were looking for her.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Take care, Master Keinnon.”

Leaving Cordelia and Rosenblur’s farewells behind, Keinnon hurried towards the meeting room. When he opened the door and entered, four people were already seated.

“Hurry up and come, will you? Do you think we have time to spare?”

Before he could even sit down, criticism flew at him. Keinnon glared at Hayden and muttered,

“As if you always come early.”

“What did you say?”

“Are you already going deaf from old age? Why criticize me for being late once in a while?”

“Criticize? What did you say when I was five minutes late last time? Huh? Didn’t you say if I was going to be that late, I should just close my coffin lid and go in? Why don’t you just close your coffin lid and go in!”

Hayden yelled furiously. Leonard just yawned, too familiar with this scene.

They were old enough and held high positions in the Magic Association, but when they fought, they were no different from apprentice magicians.

“Stop it, you two. We didn’t call this meeting to watch you fight, did we?”

Only after Matilda, seated in the middle, calmly spoke did the childish exchange end. Hayden and Keinnon glared at each other, still fuming.

“As you all know, a massive collapse has occurred in southern Ersche for the first time in nearly twenty years. I called you to discuss the results of my investigation with my disciples.”

“Has the contractor been identified?”

Keinnon asked. Matilda quietly shook her head.

“We’re not certain about the contractor yet. But we’ve found out who summoned the demon.”

“What do you mean? How can the contractor and the demon summoner be different?”

“Theoretically, it’s not impossible. I’m surprised too since it’s my first time seeing this, but if the one who summoned the demon is Maximilian Atilei, that’s a different story. As you know, he lost all his magical power.”

“What?”

Menufio, who had been sitting silently until now, widened his eyes and straightened his back stiffly.

Maximilian was Menufio Alphan’s most cherished disciple.

It was openly said that Maximilian would be the next successor of the Rhiannon school. However, after it was revealed that he was the murderer of his own brother, Menufio had to watch helplessly as Maximilian lost all his magical power and was brought to trial.

“Are you certain about this?”

“I’m certain. Maximilian’s unique calculation formula was found in the summoning ritual. But as you know, without magical power, one can’t make a contract, and if this truth hasn’t changed, it means he’s not the contractor.”

“Hmm. The key is who the contractor is then.”

Hayden said, stroking his bushy beard. Matilda nodded lightly in agreement.

“Judging by the scale of the collapse, a demon ranked at least in the top 50 must have been summoned. That’s beyond what most low-level magicians can handle, so at least an intermediate-level magician or higher must have made the contract.”

“We were already tracking him after traces were found in Ansen.”

Leonard, who had been quietly observing the situation, spoke for the first time. Everyone’s attention turned to him.

“What do you intend to do, Atilei?”

“We must find and kill him. Despite all this talk of demon summoning, in the end, he’s just an ordinary person who has lost his magical power.”

“Tsk tsk. This is what happens when you unnecessarily keep someone alive to hold a trial.”

Keinnon clicked his tongue and threw in a remark. Then Menufio looked straight at Leonard and said,

“I’ll join that pursuit team.”

“Is there really a need for you to see such an unsightly scene?”

“I raised him. It’s only right that I end it with my own hands.”

Menufio’s eyes were stained with pain and responsibility. Leonard thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Alright. I’ll send someone separately.”

“I wonder if that contractor is with Maximilian too?”

“Whoever it is, we need to find and kill them as quickly as possible. Having contracted with such a powerful demon, their mind must be going back and forth by now.”

“With such great power suddenly entering them, they might be carrying out a massacre against innocent civilians somewhere.”

Hayden and Keinnon, who usually growl at each other on sight, sometimes have surprisingly similar thoughts.

“I’ll kill them as soon as we find them too.”

Leonard said, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

“Matilda. You have nothing more to say, right?”

“If we’re done, let’s go eat. My stomach is sticking to my back.”

“Wait. There’s still something left to discuss.”

Matilda made those who were about to leave sit back down. Hayden grumbled and asked,

“What else is there?”

“It’s about Atilei’s disciple, Cordelia Vasquez.”

“Huh? Why our Cordelia?”

Keinnon, who had looked bored throughout the meeting, immediately reacted to Cordelia’s name. Hayden snorted.

“What do you mean ‘our Cordelia’? Is she from your school?”

“You stay out of this. Matilda, go on. What is it? Don’t tell me you’re after our Cordelia too?”

“That child might be half-demon.”