The next day, Allen and I visited Alisa once again.
It did not take very long for her mind, which had previously refused to have anything to do with the Markus family, to change.
“I understand. There must be a reason for you to speak of it this much. I will try talking to the Lord.”
She spoke those words with a serene face.
It could not have been an easy decision.
Currently, Alisa and the Markus family were in a considerably uncomfortable relationship, so she would have been hesitant even to set foot in the main house.
“And… it is more dangerous than Alisa thinks.”
Bafel Marx.
I had discovered traces of the Demon King’s involvement in him.
I could not send a valuable force like Alisa alone.
That was not a thought I held alone.
“Sister. I will go with you.“
Allen stepped forward and spoke.
Alisa let out a small laugh at the gaze filled with deep concern.
“Are you worrying about me now, after pushing me and telling me to go?”
“………. I am sorry. However, I never intended to send you alone from the beginning. There is no way the main house will show you any hospitality.”
From giving up the position of the next Lord to making Laplace independent from the Markus family.
Alisa’s actions were perfect for drawing the ire of the family’s Lord and the Elders.
“Furthermore, every other sibling except for Allen is siding with Bafel Marx. It is a time when everyone will be on edge.”
I agreed with Allen going with her.
“Leaving a guest alone while being away, that is simply not done.”
“Even so, it is not as if I can follow you.”
If I went to the fortress of Markus, it was clear I would be decomposed at the atomic level.
It was equivalent to jumping into a pit of fire after pouring oil all over my body.
However, it was not as if I did not understand Alisa’s feelings.
In the common sense of this place, leaving a blood relative of the Batenberg family in the royal castle of a magic Kingdom was an extraordinary action.
“If you are truly concerned, I will stay outside the Laplace Kingdom. Let us meet again after the business at the main house is finished.”
“Hmm.”
She made a sound and rested her chin on her hand.
The black cloth covering her eyes wrinkled slightly, as if she were contemplating quite deeply.
Soon, she shook her head.
“To treat our puppy’s only friend so poorly. And my eyes are quite accurate. No uncomfortable situations will arise. If you are fine with it, you may stay in the royal castle.”
***
Alisa and Allen quickly finished their preparations to head to the main house.
Since they were only stopping by for a moment, they did not have much luggage.
Piiiii—!
I approached Alisa while listening to the cry of the ‘Crying Bird’.
“Could you lend me your hand for a moment?”
“Hmm?”
Alisa tilted her head and reached out her right hand.
I looked down at that fair hand and put a Faithful Ring on her finger.
“Oh my.”
A simple Faithful Ring without a single decoration, containing 10 faith.
Alisa, with her mouth slightly open, felt the Faithful Ring and let out a pleasant laugh.
“Are you proposing to me? My, I should have reached out my left hand.”
Alisa was casually joking, but it felt as if lasers were about to shoot from Allen’s eyes behind her.
How foolish.
…… He doesn’t actually think I’m proposing, does he?
“Please do not remove this Faithful Ring.”
“Fufu. I understand. It is my first time receiving a Faithful Ring from a boy.”
Alisa also found Allen’s reaction amusing and continued to tease him.
Soon, the two of them flew far away on the ‘Crying Bird’.
‘If it’s Alisa’s eyes, she will see the traces of the Demon King.’
The pressure when meeting those eyes is indescribable.
An ordinary person would lose their mind, and if they were unlucky, the worst-case scenario could occur where they fall into heresy like Bafel Marx.
The Faithful Ring I gave her was like an insurance policy.
I watched the two people who had already become like dots in the distance and then moved my feet.
An Elder was clinging to my side.
“I will guide you to the guest room.”
It was the man Alisa had assigned to me, the Head Butler named Pyran Hall.
*While readily letting me stay in the royal castle, she attached this Elder to me. As expected, she is not easy.’
Pyran Hall.
He was the Head Butler of the Laplace royal castle and at the same time a man who had served as the 1st Magic Corps Commander of the Markus House.
Since such an incredible Wizard was following me like a leech, a smirk escaped me.
“.……. What is so pleasing?”
Did my appearance cause a misunderstanding?
Pyran stared at me intently with wary eyes.
“A Batenberg being assisted by Sir Pyran, whose fame is known across the Southern Continent. Where else could such a rare case be found?”
”I see.”
Pyran nodded calmly.
When he spoke again, it was after we had arrived at the guest room.
“I will bring some tea. Is there anything else you require?”
“Well, I need someone to talk to. I wonder if I could ask that of Sir Pyran.”
A gaze that hid his inner thoughts swept over me.
Soon, he turned around and left the guest room.
I looked at the closed door and then shifted my gaze.
As expected of the Southern Continent, the guest room’s bookshelves were filled with all kinds of magic books.
“Let’s see…”
From basic magic books to advanced magic.
It seemed that all the necessary books were provided.
「 Circle, Magic Circle and Formula, 4 Great Elements, Manifestation.』
Among them, a book with a fairly simple name caught my eye.
I pulled it out and was reading it leisurely when Pyran appeared with a tray containing a teacup.
“Are you interested in Magic?”
“Yes. Is there any power as mysterious and great as Magic?”
I had clearly asked him to be a conversation partner, but Pyran was not very suitable as someone to exchange words with.
Leaving him to silently sip his tea, I fixed my gaze on the book again.
『 Magic is largely completed in three steps. The first is Mana. By resonating the caster’s Mana with the Mana of nature through a Circle, one weaves the second stage, the Magic Circle. The third stage, the Formula, is different for each Magic, and Magic is completed by overlaying the correct Formula on top of the Magic Circle. The standard of a skilled Wizard is judged by whether the Magic Circle and the Formula can be manifested simultaneously…..』
Rustle.
The pages were turned quickly.
My eyes followed the letters that packed the paper tightly.
While I was engrossed in the book for a long time, I felt a strange gaze.
“It is certainly a rare case. A Batenberg taking a deep interest in Magic…….”
“There is no reason I cannot. Do Wizards not also feel quite a lot of interest in the existence of knights?”
“That is true. After all, even Magic Armor was created by imitating knights.”
Pyran expressed his agreement.
Then, with a bitter expression, he spoke.
“It is truly a lamentable thing. Why the human heart was divided into two kinds…”
Thud.
I closed the book I was reading and looked at him.
“Difference brings about disagreement, and discrimination brings about malice. Knights and Wizards are different due to the difference in their hearts. That conflict eventually spread into discrimination, reaching the point where it split into the Northern Continent and the Southern Continent.”
As if he had finally opened up, Pyran calmly continued speaking.
“Young Lord Richard, you said you came here to prevent a war, did you not?”
“That is correct.”
“To be honest, this old man still cannot trust the Young Lord. Even in this moment while we sit across from each other drinking tea, my Mana is flowing secretly. So that I can weave Magic at any time.”
Look at this.
Now that he had opened up, Pyran was quite a good conversation partner.
I frowned my brow as if I were offended.
“You are far too honest.”
“I am sorry. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Sir Pyran.”
“Yes.”
“According to your words, is the reason knights and Wizards became arch-enemies because they cannot covet each other’s domain?”
“I believe so.”
It was quite an interesting view.
I spread my hand over the table where the teacup was placed.
“In that case, if they also had a clear central point, the problem would be solved.”
“Hmm?”
The eyes of the Elder, where a question had surfaced, soon gradually began to fill with horror.
Kiiiiing—
A single Ring rose above my hand.
Wrapped in radiance, it rotated fiercely.
“Th-That is surely…”
Listening to the voice that sounded as if his breath were stopping, I concentrated further.
“I resonate my Divine Power with the Mana of nature.”
The rotation of the Ring became faster.
The Mana within the guest room was absorbed into the Ring.
This much was easy.
“I said the Magic Circle must be woven first. The most basic Magic Circle is surely…….”
I recalled the drawing I had seen in the book just moments ago.
Kiiiiiiing—
A round circle appeared in front of the Ring.
A beam of light drew a pentagram within it.
It was the basic Magic Circle, which served as the foundation from the 1st Circle to the 3rd Circle.
“If I overlay a Formula on this Magic Circle, the corresponding Magic will manifest, will it not?”
Staring intensely, the Elder was speechless.
Pyran Hall.
Until I learned Magic from Alisa, he was a Wizard who was more than sufficient as a partner to build my foundation.
“Could you give me a little help, Sir Pyran?”
I smiled brightly.
***
The blood relatives of Markus gathered at the main House.
Even though it was a family gathering after a long time, for some reason, the air surrounding the hall was only ominous.
“Ha, she actually came?”
“Where do you think this is…!”
A fierce momentum poured toward a woman in the center of the hall.
She stood perfectly still, enduring all of it calmly.
Slide.
Allen tightly grasped Alisa’s hand.
“Fufu. Little brother, there is no need to worry like that.”
“…… I am not doing this because I am worried. It is just that if I do not hold your hand, I feel like I might attack my brothers.”
The wide hall wonderfully amplified Allen’s voice.
At the bold statement of the youngest, two men fiercely furrowed their brows.
“Arrogant brat. Not only do you dare to oppose the Lord’s will, but now you even brought that woman here?”
The eldest son spoke with a threatening tone.
However, Allen and Alisa ignored him and passed by him with a snort.
An attitude that was unmistakably clear: they had no interest in someone like him.
“My brothers.”
Alisa, who was climbing the stairs of the hall, spoke softly.
“Do not show your teeth too much. Even though I have lost my eyes, it does not mean all my power has disappeared.”
A noble magic power pushed away all the surrounding air.
“Now, let us go. Little brother.”
She began to climb the stairs once again.
For some reason, the area around her eyes covered by the cloth felt very stinging.
‘There is certainly something bad here. And it is throughout the entire House.’
Should I call it intuition?
Alisa’s heart was ringing an alarm.
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