Dallion’s Tear.
A Wand designed for Intermediate Mages.
Starting with Wands intended for Intermediate Mages, each one contained a signature spell representing that particular Wand.
And Etro knew very well which spell was stored within Dallion’s Tear.
‘A 1st Circle Expert-level Fire.’
It was the exact spell Kano had demonstrated on the stage.
‘Then did he cast that spell using the Wand?’
It certainly had seemed strange.
Realistically, it was nearly impossible for Kano, who had not been born into a mage family, to have already reached the level of a 1st Circle Expert.
Unless he was a heaven-sent genius, reaching that level at his age was not merely a matter of talent.
It depended on whether one had been raised in an environment where magic could be properly learned.
‘But why?’
Etro suddenly remembered Kano before the lesson, when the children of noble families had mocked him for being of commoner descent.
Then Etro’s gaze moved toward the bookshelf.
“…….”
The shelves were packed with books so difficult that anyone without a genuine love for magic would struggle to finish even one.
They were the sort of books whose very existence one would only learn about through a deep passion for magic, much less actually read.
A picture naturally began forming in Etro’s mind.
‘...Does he desperately want to learn magic, but his talent simply can’t keep up?’
At first, Etro had been angry when he realized Kano had deceived everyone.
But the more he thought about it, the less angry he became.
Instead, he began to pity him.
‘He probably wanted to deny the fact that he had no talent for magic.’
Perhaps he had been so devastated by his own lack of talent that he had resorted to such a shortcut.
Even if, in the end, it would only eat away at him.
“Mm....”
At that moment, Kano’s eyelids trembled.
He slowly opened his eyes.
“What?”
Still half asleep, Kano rubbed his eyes and stared at Etro standing inside his room.
“...You’re awake?”
Etro looked at Kano, then lowered his gaze toward the Wand in his hand.
“I apologize for touching your Wand without permission. I have no excuse. It was my fault.”
Etro placed the Wand back down and bowed his head formally.
“Your mother asked me to come in and wake you.”
“...She did?”
Etro glanced at the Wand once more, then looked back at Kano.
Kano merely stared at him with puzzled eyes.
‘We can talk about it later.’
Etro decided that confronting him now would accomplish nothing.
“...We’ll discuss the matter of your Wand another time.”
“……?”
Ignoring Kano’s frown and the questioning look on his face, Etro walked toward the door.
“I’ll go downstairs first.”
“Thank you, Madam.”
After offering his thanks with perfect formality, Etro stabbed an enormous meatball with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth.
Everyone at the table could only stare at his ravenous eating in surprise.
‘His words and actions really don’t match.’
After eating for quite some time, Etro finally seemed somewhat full.
He wiped the crumbs from around his mouth with a handkerchief and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Thank you for accommodating my sudden visit. I felt it would be improper to arrive empty-handed, so I prepared a modest gift.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Butler standing behind him stepped forward carrying a stack of gift boxes.
“Oh my, Etro. You’re such a thoughtful boy too!”
Prel smiled brightly.
“A-ahem.”
Etro curled one hand into a fist and coughed into it.
His cheeks turned crimson.
‘...He’s embarrassed.’
He really was just a kid.
Kano watched him for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head.
After clearing his throat several more times, Etro continued.
“As my father is a devout follower of Goddess Mietal, I hope this bond between classmates will allow our two families to become even closer—”
“Yes, yes. You came because you wanted to see your friend, didn’t you? You don’t have to be so formal.”
Prel gave him an awkward smile and pushed a platter piled high with perfectly roasted chicken legs toward him.
“Have some of these too.”
Etro cleared his throat again before reaching for a chicken leg.
“…….”
Kano stared at him in disbelief as Etro abandoned his fork entirely and began tearing into the chicken with his bare hands.
Both his hands and the corners of his mouth glistened with grease.
Prel watched Etro with a pleased expression.
“Make sure you play nicely with our Kano, all right?”
“…….”
Etro quickly swallowed what was in his mouth and replied,
“Ahem. There have been no problems whatsoever with our friendship, so you may rest assured that there will be none in the future either.”
‘I don’t know about his friendships, but at this rate he’s definitely going to get a stomachache.’
It was almost impressive that so much food could fit inside him.
His already swollen belly had become even rounder.
“Kano, you should eat well like your friend too. Look at Etro. Isn’t it wonderful how well he eats?”
“...Yes, Mom.”
I wanted to ask whether she could not hear his vest screaming for mercy, but I could not bring myself to say it.
Instead, I simply smiled.
“Oh, right.”
Roat, who had been quietly eating beside us, seemed to remember something.
He reached into his clothes and handed Kano a rectangular object wrapped in yellow paper.
“Kano, a new book on Mana Cultivation Methods was recently published.”
“Wow! Thank you, Dad!”
“Do you like it?”
Roat slowly stroked Kano’s head.
“Yes! I’m really excited!”
“…….”
“Hmm?”
Kano had been enthusiastically acting like an excited child when he suddenly felt someone staring at him.
He turned his head.
Etro was slowly setting down a chicken bone that he had stripped clean, cartilage and all, while staring at him.
“You all seem... remarkably close.”
“How could we not be with such an adorable child? You could search the entire kingdom and never find another child as lovely as our Kano!”
Prel immediately pulled me into another tight hug and rubbed her cheek against mine.
“H-haha. Mom, this is embarrassing in front of my friend...!”
I gently pushed Prel away.
“Oh my, Kano. You’re pretending to be all grown-up just because your friend is here? You love it when Mommy hugs you.”
‘Since when...?’
“Prel, boys his age tend to embarrass easily.”
Roat muttered while moving his fork.
“Oh, fine.”
Prel stroked my hair.
“…….”
Etro continued watching the scene in silence.
‘What is with him? He was eating just fine a moment ago. Why does he keep staring at me?’
Dinner ended.
I was walking Etro out toward the front gate when he suddenly turned toward me and spoke in a low voice.
“I don’t know exactly what you were thinking when you did that.”
“……?”
Etro stared at me with a grave expression.
“But doing something like that will only eat away at you. Stop.”
“What?”
‘What the hell is he talking about?’
For someone saying something completely incomprehensible, he sounded remarkably serious.
“Of course, I understand. It must be extremely difficult for someone who wasn’t born into a mage family to learn magic. And when you love magic so much, it must be painful to watch yourself fail to improve.”
Etro stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“But don’t give in. I believe magic offers possibilities to everyone.”
“What are you talking about?”
“So you should try believing in yourself too.”
I had no idea what he meant, but the strength in his hand conveyed genuine sincerity.
Before I could say anything else, Etro turned away.
“I’m leaving. The night wind is cold, so go back inside.”
After walking several steps, Etro glanced back at me.
“My circumstances are at least better than yours. I was born into a mage family. If you ever need help, you’re always welcome to ask me.”
Without waiting for my answer, Etro walked straight through the main gate.
“What was that about...?”
I was utterly baffled.
‘Did he seriously come all this way just to brag that he was born into a mage family?’
“Hmm....”
I was reading through the information I had obtained that morning regarding Silver Wolf.
Silver Wolf.
The largest bandit organization in Aeria.
Human trafficking, robbery, murder....
If there was money to be made, they did not care how illegal the work was.
Naturally, the kingdom had not simply ignored the existence of bandit organizations.
‘But Aeria is an exception.’
Located farther from the royal castle than any other district, Aeria was where the kingdom gathered its poorest inhabitants.
By keeping them all in Aeria, the streets of Zeleta remained clean.
That was why the kingdom imposed virtually no restrictions on Aeria.
If the authorities stirred up the district and caused the poor and the bandits living there to scatter throughout the kingdom, that would create an even greater problem.
Still, some bare minimum of public order had to be maintained.
That responsibility fell to the Holy Order.
In a sense, it was inevitable.
A slum where no one thought it strange when someone disappeared.
For Black Mages in need of sacrifices, there was no better place to gather them.
And Black Mages, unlike ordinary criminals, absolutely had to be hunted down.
Under the pretext of providing relief to the poor, Black Mages frequently slipped into Aeria.
To exterminate them, the Holy Order regularly dispatched Holy Knights into the district.
That was why bandit organizations generally avoided Black Mages.
Become associated with Black Mages?
From that moment onward, the Holy Order would mark you as a target.
For the same reason, even ordinary slums tended to reject Black Mages....
“Are they that confident?”
I quietly muttered as I recalled the conversation between the bandits.
The information I had obtained from the Information Broker listed several Silver Wolf rendezvous points.
Frankly, I did not care what Silver Wolf did.
But if Black Mages were involved, that changed everything.
“Hmm....”
I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
Then I linked my mind with Lerajio and shared his vision.
Aeria’s back alleys slowly spread across my sight.
Lerajio was currently moving through the alleys, searching the area.
His smoky form suddenly stopped in response to my will.
Then he changed direction.
‘There were two rendezvous points in total.’
One of them was near Aeria’s border.
Surprisingly, it was relatively close to the Blue Mage Tower.
Lerajio moved swiftly and soon arrived at one of the rendezvous points, a stable.
‘Hmm?’
The stable itself was empty.
Two bound men lay unconscious on the floor.
Several bandits stood outside guarding the entrance.
‘Looks like I came at the perfect time.’
Something was definitely happening here.
“Seriously, just because he’s a Black Mage, does that mean he can keep people waiting?”
One of the men standing outside the stable scowled and spat onto the ground.
“Just do what the higher-ups told us.”
“Damn it. Nothing good ever comes from getting involved with those bastards.”
Some time passed.
Then someone wearing a black hood leisurely emerged from the forest.
‘Illusion Magic?’
His face was strangely blurred, as though hidden behind a layer of mist.
The men, who had been standing casually with their arms crossed, immediately straightened the moment they noticed the Black Mage and bowed.
“Mage, you’ve arrived.”
“Everything is ready, I assume?”
His voice sounded like several different people had been blended together.
The Black Mage glanced around before addressing one of the men.
“The horses?”
The man grinned ingratiatingly.
“The horses are sleeping soundly in the stable. Would you like to check them yourself?”
“No need. There’s a carriage in the forest. Load them up quickly.”
With that, the Black Mage sat down on a nearby rock.
‘Illusion Magic.... His realm isn’t particularly high. Good.’
If he had been more powerful, Lerajio’s Demonic Energy might not have been enough to see through his spell.
But this was a level of magic that Lerajio’s power could penetrate.
‘See through his illusion.’
At my command, Lerajio’s Demonic Energy surged.
The next instant, it pierced through the Black Mage’s illusion without alerting him.
The real face beneath the illusion was revealed.
“……!”
The Black Mage abruptly sprang to his feet and aimed his staff directly toward Lerajio’s exact position.
FLASH!
The instant I saw his staff turn white—
‘Lerajio, Vanishing.’
I immediately dismissed the summoning.
At the same time, my vision turned black.
“…….”
When I slowly opened my eyes, the only sound in the room was the dry ticking of a clock.
“……Ha.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped me.
The person I had just seen had been that unexpected.
“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I slowly rose from my seat.
At that moment, clouds gradually drifted across the moon.
The room became even darker.
I quietly murmured his name.
“...Prochi. I had no idea you were interested in Black Magic.”