“Is it similar to your past?” Lyla asked and Hans flinched. After all, Hans used to relentlessly torment Zich when he was “in a situation that could drive him insane.” Hans stole a furtive glance at Zich, but Zich didn’t show any particular response.
“I don’t know. That’s just the information floating around here. Even if the story is true, I don’t sympathize with her.”
“It would be stranger if you help her after saying that she is pitiful.”
“You really do know me well.” Lyla clearly showed her displeasure when Zich smiled, and that made Zich laugh harder.
“According to the rumors, it seems true that Elena Dwayne still hasn’t awakened her mana,” Zich stopped laughing and said, “You said that she definitely doesn’t have a level of mana that would prevent her from waking up her mana still, right?”
“Yeah. Since it’s not that her environment is inadequate, some external force is probably affecting her.” Lyla’s eyes shone. “I smell something.”
“It does. It smells really fishy.”
“But is there such a method? I don’t know of any method that could seal a person’s mana without them noticing.”
Since even Lyla didn’t know about it with her great amount of knowledge, it was surely a very rare method; therefore, Zich thought that there was a high possibility that the robed figures could be involved in this matter.
“Think about all the Demon People those robed figures have made so far. Every single one of them had incredibly rare abilities. Considering that, it won’t be strange if they know a method to seal someone’s power without the person noticing.”
“That’s true. I really wonder where those guys got such things.”
“Well, you know you have one place in mind.”
Zich and Lyla stared at each other. Their voices overlapped as they spoke at the same time, “Clowon.”
Lyla nodded.
“It wouldn’t be strange for that mysterious ancient empire to have all those strange abilities and items.”
“I also think that there’s a high chance that guy could be connected to the robed figures.”
Lyla blinked. Since Hans and Snoc were next to her, Zich used ‘that guy’ instead of his name, but Lyla knew who Zich was referring to.
She thought of Glen Zenard and asked, “Then, is that guy connected to Clowon too?”
“It’s nothing more than a possibility right now, but I think there is a clear ground for further investigation.”
“Ah, if only my memories were more complete.” Lyla lamented that her memories were full of holes like a leaf that bugs had eaten out from.
“There’s no need for you to be frustrated about something you don’t have. It’s meaningless,” Zich said simply. Then, he moved the conversation topic to Elena’s grandfather, Walwiss Dwayne.
“Walwiss Dwayne. It seems that he has established an outstanding name for himself with many great achievements, but we don’t need to know that…” They weren’t interested in how amazing Walwiss was as a person.
“The only thing we should keep in mind is that he opposes Elena Dwayne’s dream to study magic.” The owner of a clothes shop in the magical tower had told Zich this information while he packed a bunch of clothes they bought happily and spoke in a hushed, low voice.
“Now that I think about it, it’s strange for someone from a great family to do business on the streets. It didn’t seem like a daughter of a rich family was opening up a shop as a hobby or interest either.”
From Lyla’s guesses, it was obvious that Elena wanted money. Zich also agreed.
“The fact that a daughter of a rich family wants money means that she can’t use her family’s wealth. And that restriction usually forms when they want to do something that their family opposes. If she wants to do something even while going against her family’s wishes, she will need money outside her family’s house.”
“It must be because of magic.”
“I bet Walwiss Dwayne opposes Elena Dwayne’s useless dream to study magic while Elena Dwayne wants to stubbornly study magic with her own means. It’s such a picturesque struggle within a rich family.” They would be able to find dozens of similar stories in the market.
“But it must be hard for her personally.” Lyla remembered how shy and distressed Elena looked while handing the incomplete artifact to her.
Finally, they moved on to Walwiss Dwayne’s son who was also Elena Dwayne’s father, Orland Dwayne.
“You said that he was a quite famous figure in the magical tower, right? I also heard that he was a likely candidate to be the next head of the tower.”
“He’s obviously going to stand out as someone who could be the future master of the magical tower.” However, Zich wasn’t concerned about Orland’s skills.
“He’s someone who encourages Elena Dwayne to study magic…”
“Maybe he is just a father who wants to let his daughter do what she wants.” Her tone sounded positive. Since she was a mage, Lyla liked Elena since she didn’t give up on her dream of becoming a mage and naturally favored Orland who cheered his daughter on.
“That could be the case.”
“You don’t sound convinced. Do you have any suspicions?”
“The method to seal someone’s mana without them knowing—would that be an easy task to do?”
It was an unexpected question, but Lyla faithfully responded to Zich’s question. “I don’t know because I don’t have enough information, but I don’t think it would be an easy thing to do.”
“Yes. If the target is the granddaughter of the master of the magical tower, who holds the greatest authority in the city, it would be even more difficult. But, if the culprit is someone who meets her daily, the task would be much easier.”
“No way. Is…?”
“Yes.” Zich’s eyes shone menacingly.
“I think there’s a high possibility that the culprit is Elena’s family member like Walwiss Dwayne or Orland Dwayne.”
“…”
Lyla couldn’t refute Zich’s claims. Her brilliant head also concurred with the credibility of Zich’s words.
Suddenly, Lyla recalled what Elena looked like when she was able to sell her incomplete artifact. When the mage told them to not buy Elena’s product, a dark shadow seemed to cast over her bright smile.
“…Like you said, if one of them is the culprit, who do you think it is?”
“I’m not sure about that yet.” There were too few clues to figure this out yet. “It’s either Walwiss Dwayne who is stopping her dream or Orland Dwayne who is supporting her dream. We need a bit more information.”
“Isn’t Walwiss Dwayne the more suspicious of the two? He’s trying to stop Elena from pursuing her dream afterall.”
“I don’t know. It’s not like I can’t understand Dwayne’s decision. As a family member, he might want to stop his granddaughter from walking a path full of thorns. Also, it’s pretty common for humans whom you thought were on your side to betray you the next moment.”
Zich had seen so many betrayals that he no longer thought it was a big deal.
“They told me that Orland Dwayne lives separately from them, so we should also look into that.”
“Didn’t they also say that Orland Dwayne’s school of magic is different from Walwiss Dwayne’s?”
Since many different types of magicians gathered in the magical tower, it was inevitable that there would be different schools of magic. Normally, groups were formed based on the mage’s natural magic affinity, and competition naturally arose between the different schools. Walwiss Dwayne and Orland Dwayne were in different schools of magic.
Lyla said, “Even though his father is the master of the magical tower, he is in a different school of magic. Thinking about it, that is also strange.”
“We should also look into that. It might seem like a small matter, but it could be an important clue later on.”
“Then what are we going to do in the future? Are we going to keep on gathering information?” Zich rubbed his chin. “We have to continue gathering more information, but I don't think there's much point for me to keep wandering outside to gather information since we already heard all the rumors that were spreading around the magical tower and the shops around it. From now on, we have to learn information from the inner circles.”
“How?”
Zich smirked. “Won’t we be able to do this by connecting directly with the person involved in this?”
“Person involved in this…do you mean Elena Dwayne?”
As if he was facing a disciple who understood ten lessons after just teaching one lesson, Zich smiled and made a big nod. “Yep. We already know what she’s doing, and I also roughly understood what she wants from the rumors spreading around. It’s super easy to get into the hearts of humans who have low self-esteem and are filled with anxiety about their future and family.”
“…Do you realize that you sound like a super trashy villain right now?”
Walking a bit away from Zich and Lyla, Hans and Snoc also slightly nodded their heads.
However, Zich was the same as his usual self; he was completely unfazed. Instead, he confidently replied, “There’s no need to be surprised. Even if I’m doing kind acts, there’s not a day I forget that my personality is trash.”
Lyla, Hans, and Snoc were unable to open their mouths. If he also admitted it himself, there was nothing more they could say.
“Ah, you also can’t say stuff like that to me.” Zich put his arms around Lyla’s shoulder and continued, “You didn’t forget about our contract, right? Since this matter might become deeply intertwined with my hobby, you obviously need to do your best to support me.”
Zich made a bright smile while seeing Lyla’s face twist in annoyance.
“Welcome, human trash’s friend. Your future is to be trash like me.”
Punch!
Lyla’s elbow slammed into Zich’s stomach.
* * *
Elena exited her cart. Because of her dream, her grandfather and father had a fight. Even though it was an extremely sad situation, she couldn’t give up on her dream. For that reason, she brought her incomplete artifacts and went out on the streets once again. While she was setting up her station, she could feel the gazes of other mages; their gazes weren’t favorable or kind at all.
However, Elena moved more energetically under their piercing gazes. Since there were a lot of things that lowered her confidence, she became more shy and reserved, but Elena’s original personality was extremely strong and steadfast. The reason why she was able to push and carry on with her dream was also because of her innate personality. Like last time, she set up her items and waited for customers to come. During that time, she opened up a thick book about magic to pass the time.
A couple of customers came to look at her products sometimes. There were some people who showed interest in her simple but well-made items. However, as soon as she said that they weren’t artifacts, they immediately turned their backs. The people who made an annoyed face and just turned their back were the nice ones; there were even people who swore at her and yelled why she was selling crap like this. Every time this happened, the mages around her stared at her with mockery mixed in their eyes.
Nonetheless, she persevered. For her dream, she could endure humiliation and insults. However, even with her firm resolve, she was unable to sell her products. She was unable to sell a single item today as well—she could not stop herself from letting out a sigh.
‘I guess I really can’t do it.’
Thinking about it, even she wouldn’t buy products like the ones she made. Despite all her struggles and efforts, she had only been able to sell one item so far. Suddenly, Elena recalled the people who bought her item. One of the men in the group was tall and handsome, and the woman was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. And there was a man who had an expensive-looking sword on his side, and there was even a person carrying around a magical beast of the earth. They were the only group of people who had bought her item—the items that everyone mocked her for.
“Hello. You’re out here today.”
Elena had been so lost in thought that she didn’t realize that new customers were in front of her. She quickly raised her head and was shocked. The only people who had bought her item were standing in front of her.