Zich said, “Then Ms. Dwayne, did you try studying in a different school of magic like your father? Another school of magic might also fit you better.”
Lyla replied, “That’s only true if someone has at least a bit of mana. No school is going to accept someone like Elena Dwayne who hasn’t awakened their mana at her age.”
“Yes, Teacher is right.”
“Is that so?”
While they conversed, the carriage arrived at their destination. As expected of a mage who was able to participate in the top magical tower meeting at such a young age, Orland’s mansion was enormous and luxurious. Zich and his companions got off the carriage, and a servant led them to the dining room.
“Welcome.” The person who sat in the main seat got up and greeted them. It was the mansion’s master, Orland Dwayne.
“Dad!”
“Have you been well, Elena?” Orland smiled at his daughter and walked towards them. Elena jumped into his arms.
Then he continued, “You look healthy. It must be because you’re having fun with your new lessons, right?”
Elena smiled brightly and replied, “Yes!” Even though Zich and Lyla had gotten quite close to Elena, it was their first time seeing her interact with her father. “It’s really fun! My teacher is also really good at teaching! Ah, I’ll introduce her!”
Elena moved out of her father’s arms and moved back to Lyla’s side. Then she said, “This is my father.”
“I’m Orland Dwayne. As Elena’s father, I sincerely want to thank you for taking care of my daughter.”
“I’m Lyla. Ms. Dwayne is an amazing disciple. She’s very quick at understanding concepts, and she has a fantastic memory. You must be very proud of her as her father.”
“Haha! I’m very proud of my daughter.” Orland put his hand on top of Elena’s shoulder, and he looked as if he really loved his daughter; one might even call Elena a daddy’s girl.
Then Orland looked in Zich’s direction. “May I ask who the person next to you is…”
“Sir, my name is Zich. I’m a friend of Lyla’s, and I came here today to escort her.”
Elena added, “He also frequently helps us out with our lessons.”
“I see. Ah, I’ve left the guests standing for too long. Please come sit.”
They began sitting down according to Orland’s direction. As the head of the mansion, Orland sat on the main seat, and Elena sat on his right. Lyla sat in front of Elena, and Zich sat next to Lyla. As soon as Orland signaled to his servants, the food began coming out one by one. All the dishes were of very high-quality, and they began eating their food with the utensils in front of them.
Orland and Elena were a bit surprised by how Zich and Lyla ate as they both had perfect table manners.
‘As expected, were they not just wandering travelers? No wonder. There’s no way a powerful mage teacher and Mr. Zich, who can easily block Teacher’s magic, are ordinary folks.’ Elena thought it was more reasonable that they had some kind of complicated pasts.
Orland seemed to have similar thoughts as he stated, “Both of you have excellent table manners.”
Lyla replied, “I learned it while traveling here and there.”
Zich also replied, “In the past, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn them.”
From Lyla and Zich’s replies, it was obvious that they didn’t want to explain, so Orland quickly switched the topic. He stared at Elena and said, “You said your studies have been going well, right?”
“Yes!”
“Could you perhaps sense the slightest hint of your mana awakening?”
Elena had been smiling brightly so far, and she stiffened at Orland’s words; just her expression was enough of an answer.
“I guess not yet.”
“…Yes.”
Orland turned his head toward Lyla’s direction. “What do you think, Ms. Lyla? Do you sense any signs that Elena might awaken her mana?”
“No.” Lyla gave a firm answer. However, rather than looking down, Elena looked relieved to hear an expected answer.
Lyla continued, “However, I decided to teach Elena while fully knowing that this won’t be an easy task. I told Elena this, and Elena also agreed to learn under me. I don’t know how long I can teach Elena for, but I will try my best until it’s time for me to leave.”
Lyla gave Elena a gentle and kind smile. “And Elena won’t give up.”
“Of course!” Elena strongly nodded at Lyla’s reply.
“…Elena’s resolve is stronger than I thought. As a father, I tried my best to understand my daughter, but it seems that I was also prejudiced. Now I understand. If Ms. Lyla and Elena think so too, I will use every means possible to help with Elena’s studies.”
After he said this, he turned back to Elena and said, “Whether you succeed or decide to stop studying magic, do what you want to do. I’ll do my best to stop your grandfather’s objection. I also don’t mind if you decide to come and live in this house.”
“Thank you, Dad!” Elena tightly clutched onto her father’s hand. Her father always took her side and supported her in everything she wanted to do. “But I want to keep living in Grandpa’s house. Even though he disapproves of my magic studies, he still loves and cares deeply about me. I also feel comfortable in Grandpa’s house.”
“Yeah, if that’s what you want to do.” Then Orland continued conversing with his guests.
He mostly asked about what Elena’s magic lessons with Lyla were about. Moreover, as a senior mage and Elena’s parent, he requested Lyla to focus or help Elena in certain areas of magic study. He also talked with Elena about various matters. The rest of the conversation was then about how Lyla learned magic and whether or not she wanted to join the magical tower.
Lyla replied that she learned magic via self-study, and she firmly rejected Orland’s offer to join the magical tower. Orland was shocked that Lyla learned magic by herself, and he was very disappointed that she didn’t want to join the magical tower. However, he didn’t persistently insist.
After some time passed, everyone finished dining. In order to escort Elena and her companions out, Orland went out of his mansion to say his farewells.
“Please take care of my daughter in the future as well.” He said his farewells to Lyla first, and then to Zich.
Then he tightly hugged Elena. “Work hard. Okay?”
“Yes, I will!”
Like this, their dinner with Orland ended. The three of them returned to Orland’s carriage to go home. Elena, whose house was close by, got off first, and Zich and Lyla got off in front of their lodging.
“How was it? That Orland person.”
At Lyla’s question, Zich rubbed his chin. “He’s suspicious.”
“What’s suspicious about him?” Lyla asked with surprise in her voice. She was unable to find anything particularly suspicious about him. “He seems like a very kind and gentle person. Despite my young age, he made sure to put Ms. next to my name every time as Elena’s teacher. Moreover, as a father who is doing his best to support his daughter’s dream, doesn’t he seem like a good person?”
“That’s why I’m saying he is suspicious. He seems too nice. People like that usually have some kind of secret plans behind their bac—"
“Seriously!” Lyla hit Zich’s elbow and went inside their lodging. Zich also quickly followed her from behind.
Lyla sighed. “Really, the way you think…”
“A lot of people are like that. They act like the kindest people in the world, but behind everyone’s backs, they do all kinds of dirty deeds.”
“Is it not because you personally can’t stand them?”
“Well, I can’t say that didn’t play a factor.” Zich chuckled. However, his playful laugh didn’t last long, and his face soon turned serious.
“Like you said, he’s not particularly suspicious. But there’s a part that I’m slightly suspicious about if I have to find anything suspicious.”
“…There was something like that?” Lyla opened her eyes wide. For matters like this, she really couldn’t catch up to Zich.
“When I listen to Orland and Elena’s conversations, it seems like the reason why Elena didn’t give up on magic to this extent was because of her father.”
“And that’s strange? It’s a widely-known fact in the magical tower that the only person who is supporting Elena in her magic study is Orland Dwayne.”
“It’s different, Lyla. There’s a clear difference between helping your daughter follow her dreams and leading your daughter to follow her dreams.”
“…Are you saying that Orland Dwayne was the one who made Elena never give up on magic?”
“I’m not imagining this. From what I heard, I just subtly felt this in their conversations. Moreover, if he did that, he probably wouldn’t have made it obvious. He probably shrewdly mixed his intentions with Elena’s so that she wouldn’t give up on magic. Of course, that would have been more than enough for an immature child.”
“…Do you have anything more to add?”
“There was also something strange in their conversation when they talked about Elena’s education as well. Elena only has problems with her mana, and in regards to all other magic abilities, she’s a genius, right?”
Lyla nodded in response.
“Yet, he was barely curious about her ability to control mana. He could have at least asked your thoughts about possible ways to awaken her mana. On the other hand, he showed great interest in all of Elena’s magic abilities except for her ability to control mana. He even asked you which areas she should grow first and exchanged his opinions and thoughts.”
Now that Zich said it like this, it definitely seemed suspicious that Orland barely showed interest in Elena awakening her mana.
But Lyla shook her head. “A father could do that though. Since mana is Elena’s weakness, he might have purposefully avoided that topic. Since other magic skills are areas that Elena can be confident in, he could have tried to direct his questions related to that to bring up her self-esteem. His suggestions on her education is something that a father and an expert mage would normally do. If you think of it in this perspective, don’t you think Orland Dwayne just seems like a good father?”
“Yeah.” Zich didn’t contradict Lyla’s words. “That’s why I said that. If anything seemed off, this might be something suspicious. But Lyla—”
Zich put one finger up in front of Lyla’s face. “In a situation where we barely have any clues, something insignificant like this could be our clue to the truth. Of course, you don’t have to think about it too seriously. Just keep it in the back of your mind while we continue to execute our plans.”
Since Zich didn’t say anything wrong, Lyla nodded in agreement. “You’re not going to infiltrate this time? I thought you’d immediately infiltrate once you made Walwiss Dwayne and Orland Dwayne your suspects.”
Lyla thought of Albus Windpool and Renu Ent Dras.
“I was in a hurry before, so there was a need for me to risk some danger. But right now, Elena Dwayne is just a bit stressed, and it’s not really an urgent matter. We already have two suspects as well.”
“Then are we going to focus on steadily collecting clues then?”
“There’s no need to follow a set path. Depending on the situation, we can decide how we want to move. If the situation calls for it, I can infiltrate whenever I want.”
Zich stared in the direction of the magical tower.
“Nevertheless, the magical tower is a place I want to avoid infiltrating with my current skills, so I’m hoping more clues can come into light.”
* * *
One day passed after they received Orland Dwayne’s invitation. They received an invitation from Walwiss Dwayne this time. While giving Lyla and Zich the invitation, Elena looked extremely nervous. As everyone in the magical tower knew, her grandfather was different from her father and fiercely opposed her magic studies. Lyla comforted Elena and accepted Walwiss’s invitation.
The very same night, Zich and Lyla stood in front of a new mansion.
“You must be Elena’s teacher.” Even though he was maintaining basic etiquette, Walwiss greeted them with unwelcoming eyes.