“What did I do wrong?”

“No, rather, why are you here?”

“I’ve been waiting all day to see when Aelfrie would come!”

Ino said that and took out a sheet of paper from the envelope I had brought.

“It’s the quiz solution for the week after next! I brought it to have you try your hand at it.”

“Oh.”

At the mention of “quiz solution,” Calon’s hand, which had been stealthily poking Ino’s side, stopped.

Though temporarily setting aside the fact that they had finally found an ancient language expert, there were more things Ash Trading Company expected from Aelfrie.

‘Who would’ve thought she’d also be talented at decrypting codes.’

Many ciphers are based on mathematics. So, Aelfrie, being good at numbers, was expected to do at least as well as an average person if she knew the method.

But Aelfrie showed more than that.

While Nisha and Ino simply admired her, Calon shrugged his shoulders, as if it were a given.

As if Aelfrie’s ability were his own.

“Aelfrie, would you like to try solving this once?”

Aelfrie looked at the quiz solution offered by Ino. The questions were quite unique this time as well but weren’t impossible to solve.

Once she accepted the quiz, she immediately concentrated, even forgetting the itch that had been on her forehead just moments before.

Watching Aelfrie lost in her world, Calon checked the time. Ino, too, quietly waited by his side for Aelfrie to finish.

After 12 minutes and 21 seconds had passed,

“I’m done.”

Aelfrie handed over the quiz.

“12 minutes 21 seconds. What did the headquarters say about the estimated time?”

“They said to contact them immediately if someone finishes it in less than an hour.”

“Only 12 minutes then.”

“Yes.”

Ino’s mouth almost reached his ears; he was that happy. Just by looking at Ino’s expression, Calon knew what he was thinking.

“You’re thinking you should give all the ancient language and decryption work to Aelfrie and head home early, right?”

“How did you…?”

“It’s obvious. Stop entertaining such thoughts; there’s plenty more work to do, so go figure out what you’re going to work on late tonight.”

At Calon’s words, Ino’s face looked as if the sky had fallen.

Listening to the two people’s conversation, Aelfrie tilted her head.

“I forgot to ask last time… but why do you keep entrusting me with these quizzes? Whoever makes these surely provides the answers, so it seems unnecessary for me to find them.”

“That is…”

Calon hesitated briefly before answering.

“To decrypt the ciphers from the southern kingdoms.”

“……!”

At his answer, Ino beside him jumped in surprise.
Incredulous, Eino could only make a stuttering “ah, ah,” his eyes screaming, ‘Are you insane? How can you say that outright?’

“……What?”

Aelfrie’s face also turned into one not much different from Eino’s.

An hour later, Calon, with a stern look on Aelfrie’s face, was on a carriage heading to the Academy Library.

Throughout the journey, Aelfrie’s expression remained troubled, a small wrinkle forming between her eyebrows.

“You don’t have to be that tense.”

“How could I possibly not be.”

Aelfrie sighed deeply in response. It was still hard to believe.

The quiz he jokingly gave was actually a basic question for decoding ciphers. And that a war might break out in the southern part of the continent.

‘And if I solve it quickly, I can stop it…?’

I’m still in a small country in the northeast of the continent; how could I prevent a war far in the southern part?

Did I have such ambitions? But it felt too vivid to be a dream.

“Don’t burden yourself too much.”

“But…”

Aelfrie had thought decoding ancient documents was stressful, but now it seemed like a relief.

“You don’t have to do it right away. Just assist when a request comes in from headquarters. It’s a matter of solving it as quickly as possible…”

“But if headquarters sends a letter all the way to Denerthum, it’ll take weeks, won’t it? Isn’t it meaningless?”

“That is…”

Calon bit his lip. When an urgent decryption request came in, headquarters would use the Golden Rule to contact each branch.

Of course, this was done with the aid of the Emperor.

‘I can’t tell her that.’

This was information only known to those closest to the Emperor and those in the Ash Company who had committed to spending their lives here after passing all the tests.

If someone unrelated found out, they would be under surveillance by the Emperor and Ash Company for the rest of their lives.

Depending on the situation, it could cost them their life.

Calon did not want to drag Aelfrie into that world.

‘I can’t look after her forever.’

He could care for her while in Denerthum, but once his duties here were complete, he would either return to the Empire or go to another kingdom.

Caring for Aelfrie after that was impossible. And above all, would Aelfrie herself accept such a life?

‘If she wants to leave here and get a job in the Ash Company… I can promise her that much.’

That seemed like the best option.

‘Then, I’ll have to show her only the good aspects of working for the company.’