~Chapter 37~
“I’m here for Magic Department business!”
“Magic Department even does work?”
Anyone overhearing this would think we were some useless organization that slacks off.
Ironically, the one who created this situation was probably Reyester. There’s no way this meeting was a coincidence.
‘No wonder he let me go so easily…’
He must’ve arranged it so I’d run into Felix here—to make me suffer. What a cruel man.
“This area is under the jurisdiction of the 3rd Investigation Unit. Magic Department, stay out of our way.”
“If I back off now, that’s neglecting my duty. I’m here on an official cooperation request, you know.”
“Your situation isn’t my concern. If you don’t want trouble, get lost.”
Felix stared at me like he wanted to tear me apart. But I didn’t back down.
“Why are you so edgy today? Scared an idle mage like me might outshine you?”
“What did you say?”
I smirked right in his face. His eyes flashed in anger.
For a moment, I thought we’d start fighting on the spot—but three agents from his team quickly jumped into action.
“Captain, please! We’re here to work!”
“Calm down! You’ll get suspended again!”
Two of them grabbed his arms, and one even stood in front of him to block his view—though with Felix’s towering height, it didn’t help much.
“Ahem, thank you for coming all the way out here, Ma’am Relshiz! We’ll start investigating Exhibit 3!”
They yelled while struggling to hold Felix back—basically begging me to walk away. I gave a small nod.
“I’ll do my job quietly. You do yours.”
“Just don’t mess with the evidence!”
Still grumbling, Felix stomped away with long strides. The faint smell of cigarettes lingered behind him.
“U-Um… you don’t seem to get along with him.”
Blair asked nervously.
“…Not at all.”
Of all investigators, it had to be Felix Guffero. I let out a sigh.
‘If I stay here too long, something bad will happen. I better hurry.’
My anxious footsteps echoed through the spacious hallway.
***
Meanwhile, back at Relshiz’s mansion in the capital…
“Ugggh…”
Little Shiz squirmed in frustration.
“This is so hard!”
She was struggling with the homework Relshiz had left behind—magic theory transcription. All she had to do was copy it word for word.
“My arm hurts! And it’s boring!”
It was a lot. And Shiz, still clumsy with writing, got tired fast.
“Ugh, not even one picture. Just a bunch of hard words…”
“Let me see.”
A large hand appeared behind her and took the paper from her hands.
“Waaah, Ash… I don’t wanna do this anymore…”
It was Aska, who had come to look after Shiz while Relshiz was away dealing with the rift in the east.
“This is hard?”
“Yes! Super hard!”
“Want to stop?”
“Totally!”
Shiz pouted and buried her face in the desk.
From Aska’s perspective, the homework seemed quite easy. But that was based on his standards.
Still, since Shiz didn’t like it—
“Then let’s stop.”
“How? Mom said if I don’t finish it, no snacks…”
“Then we’ll finish it.”
Aska lightly tapped the pen Shiz had been holding.
Suddenly, the pen began to move on its own. It danced across the paper with a soft scratching sound.
Shiz lifted her head in surprise.
“Waaah!”
Aska gathered the transcription sheets and placed them under the magically moving pen.
The pen began copying the text perfectly, quickly working through the pile of homework.
In moments, the challenging stack of papers was gone.
“There. All done.”
“Whoa! Homework’s over!”
Shiz clapped her hands in awe.
“Ash, I want to learn this magic!”
“Because you want to avoid homework?”
“Yup!”
Shiz answered boldly, then glanced up nervously.
‘Oops. What if he won’t teach me because I just want to cheat…?’
She worried he might scold her.
But instead, Aska just smiled.
“Then let’s learn it today.”
“Really? Really?!”
“Yes, really.”
“Yaaay!”
And so, without Relshiz knowing, Shiz’s fondness for Aska grew even more. Not quite the outcome Relshiz had hoped for…
“Hehe, I don’t mind having lots of homework now. I can just use trick magic!”
“It’s not a trick. It’s called efficiency.”
Efficiency! Shiz didn’t really know what the word meant, but it sounded cool.
She practiced the “efficiency” Aska had taught her, eager to show her mom the finished homework.
“Hmm… when is Mom coming home?”
“Maybe not today. There’s something going on in the east.”
“Whaat?! Then what about my snack?!”
“You’ll have to wait for her.”
Disappointed, Shiz hugged her transcription papers.
“I hate waiting…”
Her excited voice drooped sadly.
“Ash, are you going home later?”
“Probably.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. When should I go?”
“When Mom comes back.”
Shiz pouted again.
Since early morning, before Aska came, she had been completely alone in the mansion.
And that was… incredibly boring and lonely.
For the first time, the little girl from the past realized she was lonely.
Without her friends from the orphanage or the teachers from her time, the only person who truly understood her here was adult Relshiz.
That realization scared her.
The sun had already started to sink, casting the sky in a red hue. When night came, Aska would leave too, and she’d be alone again.
Shiz turned to look out the window.
“…”
Crrrk. Crrk.
A strange sound touched her ears.
It was the sound of something hard cracking. It came from far away, yet sent a chill down her spine.
It had been haunting her since yesterday—almost like it would stop, then start again.
It was one of the reasons she hated being alone so much.
Aska leaned down to her level when he noticed her go quiet.
“Why so silent?”
“It’s the sound…”
“Sound? What sound?”
Aska looked puzzled—he hadn’t heard a thing.
Shiz shook her head.
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
She kicked her feet gloomily, and Aska calmly tried to read her feelings.
‘She’s scared without Rel.’
Even Aska, who wasn’t very sensitive to others’ emotions, could clearly sense Shiz’s fear.
“Do you miss Rel?”
“Yeah…”
“Wanna go see her?”
That suggestion made Shiz’s face light up.
“R-Really?! We can?!”
“We can.”
“I wanna! Let’s—!”
But midway through shouting, Shiz suddenly stopped herself.
“No… I’ll just stay home…”
“Why?”
“I might mess things up again… like last time…”
“Ah.”
Aska immediately understood what she meant. He rested his chin on his interlocked hands.
“Didn’t your mom tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Hmm. Guess she didn’t.”
Aska narrowed his eyes.
Come to think of it, Relshiz had always been like that.
She was brilliant when it came to magic—but terrible at everything else.
Aska made up his mind to quietly cover for this big weakness of hers.
“Do you remember the prince we met at the palace?”
Shiz’s face froze.
