"Young Master!"

The door of the club's dilapidated building opened, and one of Edmon’s followers rushed in with a newspaper in hand.

"Ah, yes."

He diligently read the newspaper every morning. It was essential to quickly grasp how the magical society was flowing.

But somehow, the expression on the boy's face, holding the newspaper, was extremely pale. It gave a bad feeling.

Despite his young age, Edmon had experienced the dark political world to some extent, so he had an instinctual sense.

‘This doesn't feel good.’

Edmon had a chilling feeling in his chest, but he forced himself to swallow his saliva and calmly reached out his hand towards the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Baek Yu-Seol used disposable items during the duel and recorded the battle scene on video to send it to Alterisha through alchemy.

Although it was just a basic level item, the fact that he briefly overwhelmed Stella's second-year students without using any magic was enough to prove its performance.

In addition, by adding various experiments and footage of professional mage warriors, Alterisha Research Institute recognized the practicality of the item and was finally able to secure a page in the newspaper.

**[Alchemist Alterisha Develops Future Magical Engineering Technology.] **

And thus, Melian of the Starcloud Society was also able to receive the footage.

"Father, is that what they call an 'item'?"

"Yes. Isn't it fascinating?"

The head of the Starcloud Society, Melian, warmly smiled and handed a bead-like object to his daughter, Jeliel.

"When you throw this, it generates a slight paralysis effect along with an electric shock. I'm thinking of developing it as a must-have item for women's safety."

"That's great."

Her pupils turned blue. She wanted to determine its value through [Valuation of All Things].

‘Hmm, it's useful…’

Immediately, the value of that item might have been low, but its potential for growth was extremely high.

In other words, it meant that the value of the technology itself, called "Alchemy and Magical Engineering," was very high.

"There's a video recording of practical battles by mages utilizing such items. Would you like to see it too?"

"That sounds interesting."

She touched her pointed ears and looked at the video with great interest in her eyes.

As Jeliel was also a High Elf and currently attending the Astral Flower Magic Academy, she couldn't help but be interested in battles of mage warriors.

Among those videos, one stood out remarkably.

"This is..."

"Ah, yes. It seems that Baek Yu-Seol, one of the leading figures in Alchemy and Magical Engineering, personally recorded the experimental footage. I heard that he fought against a second-year senior using only items..."

"Let's watch this one first."

Jeliel pressed the play button on the video playback crystal.

Then, a rectangular barrier appeared in the air, and the video started playing.

And at that moment, a boy with black hair and black eyes appeared.

'...Huh?'

And instantly, Jeliel doubted her own eyes.

'What is this...?'

No matter what, even if something was recorded in the video, her ability [Valuation of All Things] could not escape it.

Therefore, Baek Yu-Seol’s value could not help but be captured by Jeliel's eyes.

But...

[???]

His value was not visible.

'This doesn't make sense… In this world, there should be no one else besides Father whose value can’t be gauged by me. When even [Valuation of All Things] cannot grasp the target, there are only two possibilities.'

The target was either someone the subject loved or someone who possessed an unknown value that couldn’t be measured by her own analytical skills.

‘Is he someone with an immeasurable value?’

No person or object could escape her gaze. Even ancient artifacts and treasures, all had value in Jellyel's eyes.

Even the Emperor of the Scalben Empire and the King of Adolveit, they all appeared to have value in Jeliel's eyes.

But, to think that the mere student of Stella's could not be recognized for his value...

When an ignorant person encounters something they do not understand, they feel curiosity. It is the natural truth that exists for unknown things.

However, when someone who thought they understood everything in the world encountered something they couldn’t comprehend, they felt fear.

Because it should not exist in this world.

That was why Jeliel felt fear.

"Jeliel? Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes...?"

It was belatedly that she realized she was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. She quickly wiped away the sweat with a handkerchief and forced a smile.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"... If you're in pain, please let me know."

"I'm really fine, so don't worry."

Jeliel slowly calmed her mind.

Yes, she felt fear at first when encountering something unfamiliar... but if she slowly unraveled it, it would be fine.

Curiosity.

Yes, once the emotion of fear completely vanished, Jeliel felt curiosity for the first time in her life. The desire to uncover something unknown to her.

It was a very... unfamiliar feeling for Jeliel.

Since Baek Yu-Seol mentioned that he would hold an investor presentation soon, she could meet him in person.

‘... At that time, I'll uncover your true identity.’

A strange excitement stirred in her heart.