His rude demeanor was just as before, but knowing the situation, he seemed a bit anxious. As he moved, a subordinate who had been waiting quietly on one side spoke.

“Have you finished your training?”

“What’s finished? There’s a long way to go.”

“But Geoffrey will be here soon. You came here secretly, didn’t you? If you don’t want to run into him, it might be better to leave…”

Who was Geoffrey?

She barely remembered the name in her mind.

Geoffrey Lycaon.

The eldest son of Marquis Lycaon, he also held a knight title, so he was often referred to as Lord Geoffrey.

At that moment.

“So what about it?”

Heres, who had been quietly listening to the subordinate, sharply retorted.

“Do you think I want to stand here in front of this monster-emerging hole? I should at least be able to accumulate some magical power. How long do I have to be treated like a non-entity by my father?”

His tone was calm and cool, but there was pent-up frustration in his words.

Through their conversation, Rosha realized an important fact and sighed softly.

‘The Marquis of Lycaon was… a family of mages.’

The statement about needing to handle magical power to be recognized by the father implied that Geoffrey Lycaon, the eldest son, was a magician. Marquis Lycaon was likely a magician too.

On the other hand, Heres was a person who couldn’t accumulate any magical power at all.

With this realization, the relationship diagram quickly formed in her mind.

Rosha thought silently.

‘…How many secrets are hidden in this world.’

Each time like this, she realized how ignorant she was. But there’s always a clear task to do.

At the optimal timing, with neither excessive nor inadequate power-

She will strive to unveil the truth hidden behind the veil.

And then it happened.

“You are well aware of your lack of talent, Heres.”

From another alley connected to this place, a thin and chilly voice rang out.

Soon after, a tall, slightly thin man appeared.

With slightly faded red hair and a pale complexion that seemed distant from any physical activity.

Although it was the first time she had seen him, the aura of magic around him gave her a hint.

“…Geoffrey.”

Seeing Heres gritting his teeth as he spoke, Rosha held her breath and observed the situation.

She was hoping to obtain some new information, but their conversation was quickly heading to a disastrous end, just like the relationship she had figured out in her head.

“I wondered where you went off to in the middle of the night, only to find you were wasting your efforts.”

“Wasting efforts, have you said enough?”

“Haha, no. There’s too much I want to tell you, who can’t get out of ignorance. That’s the problem.”

“…”

“I’ve been thinking about it. The only useful thing you could have done for the family was to engage with the Aper family… but having failed that, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that you’re completely useless.”

Listening to him, Koko nearby quietly chimed in.

“The magician’s intoxicated, his brain’s gone rotten.”

Indeed. Geoffrey seemed to be steeped in superiority. Did he feel special in this world for being able to use magic?

By the way.

‘Why is he so obsessed with our engagement?’

She thought there must be a reason for their actions…

But for some reason, she felt it wasn’t a simple reason, so she thought she needed to look into it more.

Something started to go strangely.

“Father seems troubled but I’m different. You were a failure from the start. You’ll just waste the family’s resources for the rest of your life without being able to use magic.”

Pulling a small crystal from his pocket, Geoffrey murmured ominously.

“If you have no talent, it’s better to die here.”

“…What?”

What? Is this turn of events a farce?

Not wanting to dirty his hands, Geoffrey threw the small crystal into the rift, and vanished as soon as he was joined by Heres’s subordinate.

‘…It doesn’t seem like teleportation magic, probably the power of a sacred relic.’

At this rate, everyone seems to be using relics.

After briefly focusing on the spot where they disappeared, Rosha turned her head toward the crack.

She knew what Geoffrey threw into it.

“That was a magic stone, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Demonic beasts will swarm here soon.”

Magic stones were crystallized forms of magic power.

It’s an item you can sometimes get by defeating demonic beasts, and perhaps because it amplifies power, the beasts coveted them as well.

As expected.

Creak-

Not long after, several beasts resembling wolves thrust their heads forward. Upon seeing this, Rosha immediately drew up her magical power.

“Oh, trying to help?”

“Yes, we have to. Why leave it alone?”

There was also a consideration that if a noble died near the rift, the surrounding perimeter would be strengthened, but in the Lycaon family— at least Geoffrey Lycaon seemed to wish Heres to die.

Then they should do the opposite of what they want.

“Uh, go away…!”

Heres, who drew his defensive sword with great effort, took a stance with his trembling body.

Either way, as the beasts drooling approached and exchanged glances, one of them rushed in swiftly.

Just as his throat was about to be bitten without a doubt.

Swoosh—

A flaming arrow flew from somewhere, piercing through the demonic beast’s body mercilessly.

The one who was thrown back by the powerful force turned into white ash without ever getting up again.

“What, what is this…?”

The startled Heres muttered as he fell down, but there was no desire to waste time.

As if the arrow just now was a signal, a rain of fire poured down.

Squeak, snap!

Seeing them fall at the strike of an arrow, they weren’t tough adversaries. However, because they had released magical stones into the rift, they needed to be dealt with as thoroughly as possible.

So… the other demonic beasts who were peering outside the rift immediately turned around as soon as they saw the rain of fire arrows.

“Ah, these beasts lack sense these days.”

Koko, watching potential victims run away, clucked his tongue.

Meanwhile, Heres, seeing the beasts rushing at him burn and disappear in an instant, took a deep breath.

“Huh, huh…”

His gaze turned towards a woman wearing a hood.

Without a doubt, the mysterious… magician who saved him when he thought he was going to die.

A magician, a magician!

He thought magicians only existed in his family!

“Who, who are you? Thank you for saving me anyway. But… can I learn magic from you?”

“…”

“I can tell you everything I know. Really. Despite how I look, I am a direct descendant of the Lycaon family who supports this Empire.”

The atmosphere around the woman turned a little cold, making Heres speak faster.

“You might not believe me, but it’s true. I want to tell you some things right away… but before that, if you teach me magic, I’ll tell you everything. How about it?”

It was the moment of an ambitious proposal.

With a slight flick of the woman’s finger, a severe impact hit the back of his head.

Bam!

Struck on the back of his head with magical force and falling down without even making a sound, Heres looked up at the woman with bewildered eyes.

As his vision blurred gradually, he saw a bird sitting on the woman’s shoulder open its mouth.

“Looking at this chatty one, this guy still hasn’t come to his senses.”

“Yeah. We need to gather more information.”

A bird, a bird is speaking…!

Leaving a short impression, Heres fainted on the spot.

* * *

The next morning. The mansion was very busy preparing for the banquet.

The Month of Abundance Banquet usually began around noon and ended late in the evening, so preparations naturally had to start early in the morning.

But there was one problem.

“Miss, it’s really time to wake up!”

“Uh, just… 5 more minutes…”

Despite Berri’s urging, Rosha could hardly get out of bed.

‘Uh… I came home too late yesterday…’

Despite the stamina built rolling around in the training ground for a month, last night seemed quite tough as she didn’t want to separate from the blanket.

Anyway. Even after meeting Heres, she visited four more rifts before returning home.

The sky on the way home was gradually brightening with a faint dawn light.

Of course, Berri, unaware of this situation, scolded her.

“Miss, you came back to the capital with me yesterday!”

“Yes, I did…”

“You even went to bed early, but you’re still tired like this. It won’t do anymore. When we go back to the County, I’ll ask the doctor in the mansion to brew a medicine filled with good ingredients for you every morning and evening. You have to take it even if you don’t want to!”

“Oh, no…”

That medicine is really bitter…