The Witch and the Doll Swear

The 12th day of Moonless Moon is coming to an end soon.

At least in Tina's perception, this day passed quickly, eyes opened and closed, the past that Mr. Teeter described in the afternoon has not become blurred, and a new day has arrived without anyone calling up.

But the girl still didn't think of a gift for Liliana.

After getting up to wash up, she idly dumped out the things in the space storage ring and sorted them out over and over again, but nearly half a year of travel did not allow her to accumulate any souvenirs.

After tidying up her clothes and neatly stacking the water and food reserves that have only been used once so far, the girl looked at a golden scroll and a pure gold ring spread out on the table. daze.

——Speaking of which, did Miss Siren's lover finally wake up miraculously and usher in a fairytale ending with Miss Siren?

Tina still dare not ask Liliana and Alice, just thinking about this makes her stomach ache.

She finally put the scroll and ring back into the space storage ring, and left the room.

Moonless Moon, Day 13.

Miss Witch's birthday.

Ai and the witch made an appointment, the day of the subject test.

It is also the last day of the big exam - but this has nothing to do with the people and elves in this tower.

Today, for the first time, Ai was at the breakfast table.

She had obviously stayed up late again, and the deep dark circles under her eyes and messy hair made her young face look extremely decadent.

"Ah, Miss Ai, it's okay for a girl not to pay attention to her image~~~~~"

"No way~~~~~~"

Even the elves couldn't stand it anymore. Under the coaxing of Sylph and Salamanda, these noisy elves ignored the girl's refusal and persuasion, and hugged Ai to the spring water on the top of the mountain. When they reappeared, although The dark circles are not completely gone, but the skin looks smoother.

Thinking that even if I messed up my hair from sleeping, Nate and Akua would at most just remind themselves to comb it out. The huge disparity in treatment made Tingna's joy of sitting next to Liliana and Alice fade away. The head worked hard to cut the toast spread on the plate with butter and jam.

"That... Teacher Liliana, yesterday, I'm very sorry."

The girl who sat at the dining table again looked at the big hamburger that was more than ten floors in front of her, exuding the fresh fragrance of magic plants. She didn't pick up the knife and fork for the time being. Na's side, bowed his head and apologized.

"...Why are you apologizing?"

"That, I..."

"You did nothing wrong."

"—Thank you very much, Ms. Alice, Liliana's instructor."

"...Today, I am not your mentor."

"Eh?"

The girl raised her head abruptly, and then, those wine-red eyes seemed to understand the meaning of the words, Ai nodded heavily, and returned to her seat.

Halfway through, she turned around hesitantly.

"Director Liliana...Miss Liliana, aren't you interested in my past?"

"...It's not completely disinterested, but you don't want me to sympathize with your past. In that case, whether to tell me or not is up to you, not my curiosity."

"And no matter how sympathetic your past is, it will not change Lily and Alice's attitude towards you."

A piece of pancake was slowly twirling on the silver fork, and the maple syrup soaked the soft pastry with a sweet fragrance. The witch watched the viscous brown-red syrup flow slowly, and then put it in her mouth.

"Princess Lily, Princess Lily, how is the baking? How is the baking?!"

"……very delicious."

Stretching out her hand to caress Salamanda's little head, the witch didn't even look at the girl who was hesitating.

The flame girl wagged her tail happily, and the temperature in the restaurant rose slightly. Such ignorance was a bit indifferent, but Ai was slightly relieved.

When she sat back on the chair, she picked up a knife and fork to cut the first layer of the Big Mac into bite-sized pieces.

"I have no memory of before the age of 4."

She spoke slowly.

"Until I was six years old, it was just me and my mother in that cold room. I never thought it was a problem, but my mother would tell me every day that when I grew up, my father could take me away. Here, I am free to go wherever I want, to see the blue sky and the clear sea.”

Cut, chew, swallow.

Then tell.

"My mother told me many, many stories and taught me many things. Every day I was fed by my mother's milk, and I couldn't even sleep well when I was not in her arms, but my mother's body It's been bad all the time, one day, she told me that I must live happily, and then, I never..."

clang!

The Big Mac hamburger suddenly fell down, and the knife and fork that was struggling to cut it left a heavy crash on the silver plate, and the thick steak flew out from between the lettuce and tomato, but fell to Alice In front of Si's face, an invisible wind blew, and put the meat back on the girl's dinner plate.

There was silence.

"……sorry."

Putting down the knife and fork, Ai whispered, like a child who has done something wrong, whispering.

"Since then, a man claiming to be my father appeared in front of me, but I could not leave the metal room. He said it was to observe my physical condition, but there was nothing wrong with my body and I was not sick. When I asked him why his mother was not here, he just told me with an expressionless face that her mother was dead."

"My mother told me that everyone will die, so I accepted it after crying all night. Later, several gentle sisters took care of me on my mother's behalf. Although my father was always cold-faced and a little strict, he He was actually very gentle to me. I wanted to learn magic, so he found the best tutor for me. When I heard the maids and sisters talking about some interesting things, he would also give them to me. Later, he also allowed me I more or less left the room."

"Until one day, I overheard the gentle maid sisters who took care of me chatting in the lounge."

Ai closed her eyes.

——Did you hear that? The master has already negotiated an engagement with the old king of the Kingdom of Olympion. The eldest lady will marry the prince of the kingdom and become the queen in the future!

——Madam’s brother is the prime minister of the Kingdom of Olympion, and the Einhardt family is a prominent family in the kingdom.

——Does that mean we can also enter the palace with the eldest lady? Isn’t that what’s written in novels? Noble women who marry in other countries always bring their most familiar servants with them. This is an opportunity to make a career.

"If you get my love, you can become the princess or even the queen's personal maid, enter the palace, and maybe if you are lucky enough, you can also become the king's little lover. The maid sisters who are usually very gentle to me said this Words.”

Young Ai couldn't understand everything.

But she is very smart and very keenly aware of the meaning behind the words.

It made her shiver and gag, and she ran towards her father's office, but not before pushing the door open.

——Has Ai taken the medicine well?

——Yes, Miss Ai drinks medicine under the supervision of the maid every day. Her condition has always been stable, and her talents as a magician are gradually being discovered. It is a pity that the madam has left. Otherwise, she should be able to do more. good.

——I missed the best time for education and training, and I could only rely on other methods to make up for it. Although Ai followed her mother to believe... No, it was precisely because she inherited the surname of Lionheart King that she had to become a person worthy of this honor. An outstanding magician with the title becomes an outstanding girl worthy of the prince of a country. This marriage must be successful.

"When I came back to my senses, I had returned to the cold room and surrounded myself with quilts and pillows. It turned out that they were not really gentle to me. It turned out that they were just approaching me with their own purposes. Tenderness was just To make me let down my guard... So, I ran away."

Ai swallowed the last piece of meat.

"I remembered what my mother said to me, and her hope that I would be happy, and my dream."

"So I ran away."

The girl looked at her hands blankly, and slowly fell into silence.

Breakfast is over.

Liliana, who had already finished her portion of breakfast, held two cups, handed the milk to Tina's hand, and walked past Ai.

Putting the cup of milk with the witch's body temperature in front of the girl, the witch reached out and rubbed the soft black hair without saying anything, and left the restaurant.

"Ah, Miss Liliana."

It was obviously an indifferent attitude, but the girl lowered her head as if she had been saved, and her slender shoulders twitched.

Glancing at the girl worriedly, Tina quickly drank her glass and followed the witch's footsteps out of the restaurant.

Hearing the girl's cry, Liliana did not stop. She walked to the balcony of the study room. Liliana, who was holding the doll, turned back and looked at the girl with a dull look.

"……Now."

she says.

"...Now, what does Miss Tina think of the relationship between Ai and his father?"

It was like knowing what Tina wanted to say.

"I don't know who is right..." There is no particular conflict between Ai and Tit's statements. Because of this, Tina is particularly confused. For Tina who is so confused, she also follows Liliana. When Knight arrived in the study, he curled his hair and explained to the girl:

"Both sides are not wrong, Miss Tina, Miss Ai has no need to lie, and so does Mr. Teeter. His story explains the reasons for many of Ai's behaviors - the need to suck a pacifier to sleep peacefully, the tears shed in sleep, and Mature organs that don’t match their appearance, these are probably side effects of curing vampirism.”

"Tite said that he submitted a paper on treatment methods, and there must be cure cases as materials. Sylph has already gone to the Magician Association's database, and there is indeed a treatment plan for vampire disease submitted a year ago. The submitter It’s Tit Osforth, and there’s a cure case attached, so it’s indeed Miss Ai.”

"Is Ai lying?"

Tina looked at the dark elf in confusion.

"...Why does Miss Tina think one side must be lying?"

"If this were not the case, it would be impossible to explain why there would be such conflicts between family members..."

"That's not the problem, Miss Tina."

The light elf sighed slightly and motioned for Knight to continue explaining.

"None of them lied. That's why there was such a sharp conflict."

"I don't get it... because it's understandable to be afraid of someone who is gentle with someone who has an ulterior motive, but nothing in this world is taken for granted."

But Knight's words made Tina even more confused.

"...Maybe it's because of the family environment that Ms. Tingna can't understand such things for the time being. It doesn't matter if you don't understand, there is still enough time for Miss Tingna to think about it today."

The witch slowly put on a flame-like gown carried by Salamanda, with the aura of a queen, interrupting the conversation between the girl and the elves.

The wind picked up.

"Wow, Princess Lily, Princess Lily~~~~ It's not good, the one from the Osforth family has called a lot of people."

The Wind Spirit with a small bag flew in from the balcony, yelling in a panic, but even if Sylve didn't remind, the Witch and Tinna who were next to the balcony could already see it.

It was a convoy of carriages, slowly driving along the emerald green mountain road, around the carriage, the secret magic guards in silver armor were stepping neatly, like a small army marching.

A magical carrier pigeon landed on the railing of the balcony. With a wave of Liliana's hand, the magical creation scattered into spots of light, and then.

【Tite Osfuss, come here by appointment. 】

"By the way, there are a bunch of powerful witnesses and force agencies for coercion if necessary..."

"...Anyone who comes is a guest. Even if they are evil guests, they must be resolved or defeated in the courteous hospitality. This is the noble way of hospitality."

For the first time Tina saw a sullen look on the elf's face.

However, Liliana and Alice waved away the magic words floating in the air without seeming to care, turned around, and walked towards the door of the study.

at this time.

Benedict, Benedict.

There was a knock on the door.

"Instructor Liliana...Miss Liliana, I, am ready."

Ai's voice sounded from behind the ancient wooden door. Liliana opened the door, nodded slightly to the girl standing in front of her, and then walked towards the stairs.

The girl didn't immediately follow behind the witch, she glanced at Ting Na quietly, and then took a step forward.

That gaze was extraordinarily calm, but for some reason, it reminded Tina of a clear sky with a storm approaching.

………………………………………………………………………………

On the snow in front of the tower, a small banquet was held.

The long table rises from the snow, and a bright bonfire is piled up with pine wood. The plates and wine glasses are all made of crystal ice, and slices of kiwi and cantaloupe are lined up. The amber wine is fragrant with the cold fog.

The carriage stopped at a corner under the tower, and all the people in the carriage sat down in this pure white banquet.

There are people Tina has never seen before, and there are people who have shaken hands with stiff smiles in the ballroom of Flandia's house. They are all nobles from the city of a thousand towers. Si brought a full thirty or forty people.

These uninvited guests, who would frown no matter who they are, showed flattered expressions after being entertained by Liliana and the elves.

This was the first time Tina saw Liliana's social skills.

Wearing a gorgeous dress, the witch walks in the silver snow like a black flame, using skillful and ingenious words—perhaps, there is also the [magic charm] that makes people fall before they are discovered—in the noble world. Greetings and building rapport with the Arcane Guard—at least on the surface, a rapport in which everyone is smiling.

"Miss Liliana is amazing..."

Tinna, who is now more famous in the City of Thousand Towers than the elemental elves, in order not to expose Liliana's identity, can only be on the tower with the wind and fire elves who are not so suitable for receiving guests. Watch from afar.

"When Princess Lily was just crowned queen, the Seven Hills Empire was on the verge of collapse due to internal and external troubles. At that time, Princess Lily was not as powerful as it is now. Relying on social activities and banquets, she insisted on preventing the empire from splitting up and dealing with these young nobles. It’s still nothing to worry about~~~~~~”

"But it must be cold on the snow, why not let Salamanda go to make them warmer..."

"Ah ha ha……"

Reaching out to appease the gnashing charcoal and grinding her teeth like appeasing an awkward kitten, Tina turned her eyes away from the banquet-like table composed of many long tables. Part moved away, watching, small figure.

Ai is drawing a magic circle that Tina can't understand.

On the snowy ground, a metal magic wand melts the snow. In the severe cold of the City of Thousand Towers, the melted snow will freeze in an instant, leaving neat and stable lines.

The girl meticulously portrayed the mysterious pattern containing [law and reason], every line, every rune, she kept flipping through the books in her hand, striving to make everything perfect.

"Really solid basic skills."

"The subject is big magic, right? It's not easy to draw the magic circle of big magic so accurately at this age."

"As expected of the daughter of the Osforth family."

And the sound of praise is also floating in the wind, endlessly.

For magic apprentices, it is not the best choice for mental drawing to fail if the impression and memory are slightly confused, especially the magic that you are not proficient in. Once you fail, you will lose a spell slot, and once the spell slot is exhausted , magic can no longer be used until the clock has passed the moment of change.

This is a protective measure of the world's [law and principle] for magicians who are still apprentices. For Ai, this is also a limitation in this assessment.

Ting Na didn't know how many spell slots Ai De had, but... it must be better not to fail once, for Ai.

But, for myself...?

"...Miss Sylph, I... want to talk to Miss Ai."

"Eh? Yes~~~~~~"

The wind spirit, who was having fun with Salamanda's tail, tilted her head.

She didn't ask the reason, but just waved her hand, and the wind gathered into a small vortex in Tingna's ear, and then Tingna heard it.

—a tense breath.

It's Ai.

"...That...Miss Ai..."

"..."

The movement of drawing the magic circle suddenly froze.

The black-haired girl raised her head in silence, staring at each other from a high tower, her wine-red eyes flickered with impatience.

"You almost let me down the drain."

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry!"

Ting Na shrank her neck and quickly apologized, but this only made Ai's tone more impatient.

"Say something quickly."

"That, that, Miss Ai..."

Before today, Tingna had been thinking about what kind of mood she would use to face this day, but when this day really came, the girl found that she was neither happy nor relieved, just.

"Does Miss Ai not want to marry the prince that much?"

There are many questions to ask.

Although she asked some nonsensical questions, Tina really wanted to know a lot.

Why would Ai know about Liliana.

Why did Ai have to become Liliana's apprentice.

Why did the final test take place today? Did she also know that today is a special day for Liliana?

I don't know what kind of mood drove her to speak out the question.

"Nonsense, do you think being a princess or even a queen is something to be happy about?"

"……Is not it?"

Ai Meng coughed.

The girl who had lowered her head to look at the [Original Code] in her hand raised her face and looked at Tina with an expression of disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"Isn't it? That's the royal family of a country?"

"...I almost forgot, you are just a commoner with little knowledge..."

"What a shame."

Tina felt that when she looked at her own eyes, it was as if she was looking at some brainless monster walking on two legs.

"It's you who's being rude, don't think that everyone thinks what's good for you, it's stupid, you know that?"

The girl sighed.

"But since Miss Ai is so unwilling, why didn't she tell her father?"

"Why do you have the illusion that talking to that guy will be useful?"

"...Why does Miss Ai think so?"

"It's better for me to ask you this sentence, why do you think it's useful to talk to that bastard?"

Tingna held on to the railing tightly. It was the first time she had such an in-depth conversation with Ai, and the more she talked, the more she could vaguely feel the difference between herself and Ai.

And now.

"Even so... because it's family, isn't it?"

"……What did you say?"

"Because it is, family."

Taking off the surname of Feng Xia, which was obtained by relying on Liliana, Tingna was born in an ordinary small town, in an ordinary family, and spent eighteen years in an ordinary way.

She grew up like any ordinary person, went to school, and after she was dropped out of school because she failed to complete enough credits, she looked for a job in an ordinary way.

At first, her father told her that she could arrange for her to go to the fishing ground where he worked. He was an old employee there, and his colleagues knew his daughter well. It would be a secure job, but Tina was unwilling.

She remembers the days when her father went fishing with the fishing boat for several days and did not come back for dozens of days. She remembered her mother’s anxious expression of nervousness and prayer to the true God whenever it rained heavily and her father was at the fishing ground. She didn’t want her parents to worry, and even I want to find a more relaxed job that allows me to spend more time with my parents.

She decided to take the alchemist qualification test.

But when she was in the academy, Ting Na hardly took any alchemy courses. Learning from the beginning was not easy and quite expensive. Of course, this could not be approved by her father. For this reason, the father and daughter had a big fight, and the cold war lasted for several days. .

However, after that, they communicated many times, and finally, Tingna got her father's approval.

So Tina thinks so.

It is normal to have disagreements, conflicts, and incomprehension, because people are different, but family members, if they are family members, even if there are any misunderstandings, they will definitely understand each other in the end.

If you want to say why... it's family, isn't it?

"... Then I really envy you, Miss Tingna."

However.

After Ting Na blushed a little after saying this, Ai Que.

"But you have to understand that there are all kinds of families too."

He snorted disdainfully.

"But--"

"You told me to say to the bastard who puts the honor of the family and the face of the nobles first, I don't want to be your pawn to take power, I don't want to marry that prince who has never met so that you can be in the house Gaining a place in the royal court of Olympian will increase the importance of the Einhart family to the Osforth family, let alone being a queen to make you the father-in-law of the king?"

Ai's voice didn't fluctuate.

"In order to turn me into an excellent magician with the surname of 'Lionheart King', he gave me medicine since childhood. Knowing that drinking medicine for a long time would be life-threatening, he still made my mother drink medicine every day, and then fed me with milk. , to train me to be an 'excellent magician', do you want me to say this to the person who barely saw my mother and killed her?!"

"Eh? But, that's—"

"The last sentence my mother said to me was to make me happy, but what that man wants is power and power."

The girl's voice without ups and downs turned into a piercing scream at the end. The wand plunged heavily into the snow to complete the final drawing of the magic circle. The scream belonged to the interpretation of magic and chanted loudly.

"[The fool whom I hate swallows fire and brimstone, for my roar turns to dust!]"

The dark red magic light made the magic circle dazzlingly flicker, and the affected threads of [Dharma and Principle] weaved a high-spirited dragon head from the circle. The girl's eyes were burning with anger, and the dragon's head's pupils were boiling with killing intent. [Interpretation] The moment the song broke, the tide of the flame wave group stirred the snow-covered ground, the sublimated water vapor was blown away without a trace in an instant, the black pine was hunting and swaying, and the ground in front of the tower turned into a burning place. The wilderness is like a giant dragon breathing down here.

In just an instant, the snow melted, and even the steaming mist was blown away, leaving only the front of the tower.

Scorched wilderness.

After a while, there was thunderous applause.

Elemental system · Flame system · Great magic.

【Dragon Breath】

Magic, great magic, and great magic, except for the special classification criteria of forbidden spells, these three types of magic are distinguished according to their complexity.

The most intuitive manifestation is that many magic originals are only as thick as one or two dictionaries.

Great magic needs to fill a row of bookshelves with books of the same size, or even several bookshelves.

The original code of great magic, if there is no special magic book record, even needs an entire library to store it.

And the learning of magic starts from reciting and understanding the original scriptures.

At this stage of reciting, there are also [Professor] and [Remember] magic that can be cheated, but understand.

Excellent talent is required.

Good mentors are needed.

The common feature of self-taught magicians and magicians without talent is extraordinarily lengthy interpretation. At this age, the interpretation of a great magic known for its complexity and power can be condensed to only 22 characters. Of course, the Secret Magic Guards knew how difficult this was, so they used the roar of applause to pay respect to the rising stars and excellent teachers.

"Miss Ai, you really are a genius. Such a beautiful flame, such a beautiful anger..."

Salamanda also stopped flicking her tail.

The fiery elf stared blankly at the virtual image of the dark red dragon head dissipating, and couldn't help but lay down on the railing, showing an expression consistent with the time spent for the first time.

Cortina.

Cortina didn't understand.

She looked at the flames that were about to reach the long table of ice and snow, and there were only countless echoes in her mind.

—You want me to tell that to the man who barely saw his mother and killed her? !

No.

——Knowing that drinking medicine for a long time would be life-threatening, he still made my mother drink medicine every day, and then fed me with milk.

No, that's it.

Your mother drank potions year after year to cure you of vampirism.

Your father was busy researching and working in order to find a way to heal your mother's body eroded by medicine.

The information Sylve brought back also included these things. Tite didn't lie, he didn't tell a story about Ai's marriage contract with a prince, but he didn't lie about other things, at least everything about curing vampirism.

This is the reason why Ai hates her father, her initial opinion is not wrong, this is——

"It's Ai...it's you, I misunderstood..."

The heat wave blew across her face, blowing Tina's murmurs to the end of the sky.

"The dragon's breath technique disturbed the wind, Miss Ai can't hear it now~~~~~"

"And even if they heard it, they wouldn't believe it. Ai's preconceived notions are very heavy now, but this is also their own fault."

Also because it might expose the real Liliana's identity, Alice, who also didn't go under the tower, used magic to dispel the heat, and said in a neutral manner.

Ai didn't know that she had had an incurable disease, let alone that her father had made the incurable disease a thing of the past for her sake.

It is a common method used by nobles to use some medicines when children are young to improve the elemental affinity of offspring, develop intelligence and memory.

She only knew that her father, in order to make herself an excellent magician, made her mother take medicine all the year round, which finally led to her death...

"Mother's, passed away..."

"Compared to arbitrarily arranging a marriage contract, this is probably the main reason why she hates her father."

"..."

"What is Miss Tingna going to do now? Find a way to resolve this misunderstanding and let Miss Ai go back with her father?"

The little puppet calmly looked at the girl who squatted down and rubbed her forehead in pain.

"Miss Liliana and Alice, what are you going to do..."

"This is their family business. At least for now, there is no reason to interfere."

"Ah... I guessed right, Miss Liliana and Miss Alice will stay out of it at such a time."

"... But, Miss Alice, I... When I was in Pike Town, I also said that since I have the ability to do it, it is better to do it than not to do it."

Rubbing her head in pain, the girl gritted her teeth, distressed, distressed, and then, at the end of her distress.

"Miss Alice, I want to talk to Miss Liliana."

The girl stared at the man who toasted with the witch at the banquet, and spoke quietly.

……………………………………………………………………………………

"Marriage to Prince Olympian..."

A trace of confusion flashed in Tite's eyes. He didn't understand why the witch in front of him would suddenly ask such a question, let alone why she knew about it.

"...It was your daughter who told me. Obviously, she is very dissatisfied with this arrangement."

Liliana plainly wrote down a formula made up of magical runes on the parchment. The captain of the secret guard kept silent for a long time before discussing with the surrounding nobles in a low voice.

It was already afternoon, and the lunch prepared by Noam and Aqua conquered everyone's stomachs. In the harmonious atmosphere, only Tite's expression was as cold as iron.

The use of big magic consumes mana and mental power. Ai will have a long rest time between two magics. Up to now, she has successfully used four big magics.

Flame System·【Dragon's Breath】

Sky System·【Tesla's Hammer of Thor】

Earth system [Rock Essence Tectonic Technique]

Ocean System·【Sea Emperor Sword】

And the time to learn these great magics is only one week.

Apart from admiring the girl's talent, almost everyone was curious about how Liliana taught her.

"Ai ran away because of this incident..."

"...Probably one of the reasons. Although I don't care about this kind of thing, Ai believes that you want to marry her into the royal family to gain power and power."

Liliana looked at Tite calmly.

"...You have only become a member of the executive council of the association in recent years, and it is not uncommon for you to be treated like this by your own daughter."

"Is this the reason..."

Tite finished listening to the witch's words in a daze.

He sighed a long time, smiled wryly and looked at the girl who would rather stand and rest than come here.

The eyes of the two intersected briefly, and Ai immediately turned around, with his back to him, like a stubborn black pine tree.

"Ai and Prince Fahe of Olympian do have a marriage contract, which was made for her by my lover and I without her knowing, but I don't want to gain any benefits through political marriage. That's why."

"..."

"Miss Liliana must have checked the treatment information I submitted. I filled in the column of recurrence possibility as unknown. Now there is no evidence to prove that Ed's vampirism will not recur, so even if Ai has already Suspected of recovering, I have been letting her live in the room where I can teleport back at any time, and I dare not let Ai out of my sight for a moment."

When he said this, the man was very calm.

He can't take care of Ai forever.

Years of research affairs have exhausted his body. Although he is still middle-aged, he will grow old soon, lose his alertness, and gradually lose his judgment.

And Ai has to walk a more distant life.

So as a father, what Tite can do for her is to prepare a safe home for her.

"When my wife leaves, I also hope that Ai can live happily and safely in the future."

He said without hesitation, but when it comes to whether Ai really desires this happiness.

"Marrying into the royal family would be a very good choice - this is because Ai listened to the fairy tale told to her by her wife when she was a child and wanted to be a princess, so our Einhart family is a family of prime ministers in the Kingdom of Olympian, He has a lot of influence, so we let Ai's surname follow our mother's, and Prince Fach is the one chosen by our wife. He is still young, and Queen Olympian is also young, and she is well-educated..."

"...So, did you make a marriage contract without discussing it with your daughter?"

He hesitated, then shook his head with a wry smile.

"I originally wanted to tell Ai at the right time as a surprise, but if this is the reason, although it may be a little troublesome, I will ask Prince Fahe."

"……Yeah?"

"That's right, other than that...Miss Liliana."

"...?"

"If Ai successfully uses the seven great magics...will you really accept Ai as your apprentice?"

"...Do you want to stop it?"

Liliana looked at the serious man speechlessly.

While they were talking, the frosty air re-covered the scorched ground with crystal frost.

When the magic is released, the pure white freezing air will surge around the caster with a devastating impact, like a winter chariot, impacting and destroying everything, leaving only countless crystal clear ice clusters.

Frost System·【Winter Car】

The fifth great magic, successfully used.

It is a great magic created based on the image of the goddess of ice and snow driving a chariot in the myth of the North, and covering the earth with cold and dead hoarfrost. It is written in obscure Old Nordic, and has a complicated structure. More like a ode to a goddess.

Ai stood on the snow covered with ice clusters, holding up the flying ice dust in a daze. As if she was proud of herself who brought this mighty power into the world, the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, revealing a proud yet relaxed smile.

"I almost forgot how long ago it was the last time I saw Ai with such a relaxed smile."

Noticing his gaze, the girl straightened her face immediately, lowered her head, and cleaned the ice clusters around her to prepare for the next magic release.

"Parents always hope that their children will spend their lives in peace and stability according to their arrangements, and I am no exception, but..."

He maintained the serious expression of a nobleman, but Tite looked at his child reluctantly.

"But if Ai Neng lives happier here..."

"……Yeah."

Liliana didn't ask any more questions, she looked at the man who took off the wedding ring on her little finger and clutched it in front of her chest, and blinked.

Then, the witch turned her head slightly and glanced at the balcony of the tower.

"—Roughly, that's it."

Alice calmly recounted the conversation between Liliana and Tite to Tina.

"It's different from what I imagined..."

Looking at the ground covered by sharp ice clusters, Tingna rubbed her temples in distress, feeling some stomachache.

Maybe he should be happy, because this negates Ai's impression of his father.

But it was precisely because of this that it caused even more headaches.

——What should I do next?

As the father, he almost gave in completely.

——Tell Ai about this?

Although Tina thinks that this is something that can be understood after a little conversation, Ai, who thinks that her father caused her mother's death, probably won't believe it.

The hatred is ingrained, and I want to change, probably... No, it must not be that easy.

"In this case, the crux of the problem actually lies in Ai's misunderstanding of his mother's death...Let's not say whether Ai will believe it, even if he does, if he knows that he caused his mother's death..."

"The person who has been hated all this time is not the person who should be hated. Maybe, such a proud girl may be devastated."

Salamanda and Sylph also shook their heads, but rather than making suggestions, the two elves seemed to be speculating on possible consequences.

"What should I do—"

"No matter what Miss Tina does now, it's not good. Like Alice said, this is Ai and her father's problem. It's not appropriate for us to intervene in any way."

Sylph, who was holding the tail of Salamanda and fanning the flames, blinked her blue eyes curiously.

"Why does Miss Tingna care so much about the relationship between Miss Ai and her father?"

"..."

The wind elf's casual words made the agitated Tinna raise her head from her distress.

why?

That is, a corner of memory.

In the dusk of just entering autumn, the scorching heat of summer is still pouring down from the clear blue sky of Yansha City.

When I returned home after taking the alchemy cram school, my father was reading the newspaper with a pipe in his mouth in the living room, but there was no smell of smoke in the room.

At that time, he was still in the midst of the Cold War, and he walked into the room with his notes without even saying hello.

Just as the door was closing, Tina saw it.

On his desktop, a new and expensive alchemy textbook was placed there.

"...just treat it as me, mind your own business."

Ting Na rubbed her eyes and muttered softly.

There is a saying in Dongguo that "the person who untied the bell must tie the bell", maybe the relationship between Ai and her father... After all, it must be resolved by themselves.

Thinking of this, the girl sat down on the deck chair on the balcony a little tiredly, looking down at the ground covered with ice flowers.

Maybe it was the repeated successes that made the girl in a better state. After a short rest, Ai cleaned up the nearby ice clusters, and began to draw the next magic circle she was about to use with her wand.

A few minutes later, a rain of dark blades fell from the sky.

The sixth great magic, Dark System·【Dark Rain】.

The witnesses and secret magic guards invited by Tite seemed to have become numb to the scene in front of them. They discussed in low voices whether they could be included in the records of the city of a thousand towers, and began to euphemistically introduce their family members to Liliana. Excellent junior.

After using this great magic, Ai put down his wand.

"Please let me rest for a longer period of time, will you?"

"...until the moment of change, it's fine."

"Ah, Ai—"

"Thank you, Miss Liliana."

Tite stood up propped on the table, but Ai ignored his father's call and walked straight into the tower.

Not long after, Tina heard footsteps on the stairs.

She turned her head, just as Ai took off her shoes staggeringly, stepped across the hot spring waterway, and slammed herself heavily on Liliana's bed.

Then there was silence.

Tina and Alice looked at each other, and were taken aback by the scene. Before they could react, Salamanda and Sylph rushed to the girl's side

"Thank you for your hard work~~~~~~"

"It's been hard work—"

Saying so, he then imitated Ai's appearance and lay his body on the big bed.

The mischievous Wind Elf even poked Ai's little head with his hand, in exchange for a muffled muffled response.

"...Well, Miss Ai... are you okay?"

"Although there is a break, using so many great spells continuously is still too much for a child's mental strength. Let her take a good rest."

Floating in front of Ai, the little silver puppet reached out and stroked the girl's jet-black hair.

"Sylph, go to the pharmacy lab to get some sober potions."

"Miss Alice, no need, I've already drank 3 tubes of high-strength sobriety potion of the standard specification today, which is already the limit of my weight. If I drink any more, I will be poisoned before my mental strength slowly recovers... "

Ai slowly lifted her face from the velvet bedding.

"The medicinal power of the potion has not been fully utilized, I want to soak in the hot spring, I want to sleep for a while..."

The somewhat distracted eyes looked straight at Tina—or, to be more precise, at Tina's chest.

"..."

Tina took a step back, crossing her chest.

Those wine-red eyes dimmed slightly.

"Even if you're so sleepy...can't you fall asleep?"

"I don't want to bother Miss Tina, but... I won't be able to sleep well, if Miss Salamanda and Miss Sylph..."

"There is still a clear difference in the touch between the elemental elves and human skin."

"Then, Miss Alice..."

"Size."

The little puppet pointed to Yimapingchuan in the silver dress, before Alice said the second sentence with a dark face.

"...Help me undress..."

"Okay, okay... It's not that I don't want to, it's not that I hate you..."

Tingna sighed, turned Ai who was so tired that he didn't seem to have the energy to raise his hands, and unbuttoned the clothes one by one.

"...Unbuttoning a girl, this is the first time..."

Halfway through, the girl muttered with a strange expression, but soon, she took off her clothes as if giving up, and soaked Ai in the hot spring waterway with her in her arms.

"When will I wake you up?"

It was like snuggling a cat on her chest, and she adjusted her posture so that Tingna, who could let Ai Neng lie on her body as relaxed as possible, put her arms around the girl's slender waist.

By the way, I prayed in a low voice in my heart, this time I won't suffer from pain because of being pillowed for too long.

"...can't sleep."

"……What?"

"Although I'm sleepy and want to sleep, but I can't sleep..."

"Don't talk while... Ah really, can't you sleep?"

Burying her face on Tina's flat and soft chest, Ai nodded slightly, and the girl curled up into a ball, hugging Tina tightly.

"Maybe it's because I'm afraid."

Her voice was weak.

"Fear?"

The spirit of wind and fire squatted beside the waterway, holding his chin curiously.

"I... I have a dream, and I came here to realize this dream, but this dream may not be realized..."

"Why?"

"The compatibility between me and the magic of the light system is very poor. The reason is unknown. My affinity for the light element is not low, but I can rarely successfully cast the magic of this system. It seems that the light repels me...or the other way around..."

"Yeah?"

Alice, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, glanced at the girl.

"Yes, it is."

"Even so, you still proposed to master the great magic of the seven element systems, including the light system, within a week as a condition for Lily to give you a chance?"

"It's not that it's completely unusable, it's just that the failure rate is exceptionally high, but if you can't even overcome this obstacle, you don't have the qualifications to be by Liliana's mentor's side... Looking at it now, maybe it's a bit overpowering. "

Weak words came out of the girl's mouth one after another.

Tina wondered if she had heard it wrong.

This young lion-like girl, who is as delicate as a rose with thorns, can actually say such weak words——

But immediately, Tina realized that she had made a mistake.

"I left the magic of the light system at the end, hoping that the success of the other six great magics would bring me confidence, but no... I can't expect good results, and probably, I can't realize it, my insignificant dream Bar."

Ai is not weak.

"I'm terrified, terrified... If I had known, I wouldn't have said that in a fit of anger yesterday... I really regret it."

This girl in my arms, Ai, she is.

--fear.

"...Don't give up on yourself, Miss Ai, those people brought by Mr. Tite all praised you as a genius. Originally, Mr. Tite probably planned to fail Ai, but when Miss Liliana wanted to protect you, he joined them to deal with it. Miss Liliana, but now, even if it fails, maybe those people will help Miss Ai instead."

"That's right, that's right, Wright said it, Miss Ai is a person who pursues the light, and it's just bad luck all this time, use your momentum to blow away that bad luck!"

"Salamanda is right, Miss Ai, cheer up!"

Sylph clenched her small fists to cheer up Ai, and the flame elf also learned this action, but because of this, she lost the support of her upper body, and Salamanda's chin slammed into the carpet laid beside the hot spring waterway.

Even so, the salamander girl was still trying to cheer up Ai, but unfortunately, Ai did not see this scene.

"I've made up my mind... It's not bad to be in Miss Tingna's arms at the end here."

"……Eh?"

The girl's voice gradually became lower, and then became tired breathing.

Maybe Ai couldn't even hear their words from halfway through.

"...you can fall asleep without sucking..."

He reached out and stroked the girl's soft skin that was wet with water vapor.

Tina couldn't help but sighed softly.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Tina opened her eyes.

The short hand of the clock has slowly crossed the two large scales, and the west side of the sky is tinged with lavender.

Beside the waterway, the girl is taking the dress handed by Sylph and getting dressed.

Obviously, she failed to play a good role in reminding the time-but Tina felt that she could not blame herself for this.

It's not an easy task to stay awake while the cute girl in your arms is sleeping extra soundly. The hot spring was warm and comfortable, and of course, more importantly, the sense of reliability that Alice was by her side made the girl fall asleep not long after the girl fell asleep.

"...I hope you don't misunderstand what I said before I passed out."

Now, when I opened my eyes, I saw wine red eyes.

"That, Miss Ai...?"

Probably because of soaking in the hot spring for a long time, Ai's skin was still glowing a lovely pink. After seeing herself waking up, the girl looked away as if feeling shy.

"It's not that I like you or anything... No, I can't say that I hate you, but... Anyway, that's not what it means! It's just because you don't have any plans for me and treat me gently makes me feel at ease... Just That's all!"

After buttoning up the dress, the incoherent girl finally gave Ting Na a hard look, turned around and walked towards the balcony.

"Ah, Miss Ai!"

As if not wanting to waste any more time, Ai leaped over the railing and jumped down. Feng Jing, who was kicking water by the side of the waterway, waved his hands at once, and the wind rolled up the moist water vapor of the hot spring. When Tingna also hurried out of the bath, After grabbing the bath towel that Alice handed over, wrapping her body and rushing to the balcony, and then being blown back to the room by the cold wind, the girl had landed steadily in front of the tower.

12:46 p.m.

After experiencing the active peak at noon, the time gradually moves towards night and the elements gradually become quiet [Moment of Tranquility]. At this time of winter, the sunset has begun to appear faintly on the sea of ​​clouds in the west.

At the long table of the banquet, everyone's eyes were focused on the girl who jumped down from the tower and began to draw the magic circle again.

In the meantime, people have discussed what a hit this would be if it hit the headlines in the magazines of the city of a thousand towers, and they cite names Tina doesn't know, Osivia Alans, Chalipe Kurt Hinds, Alex Phil Dole... put Ai on a par with them, waiting for her to achieve the deed of mastering seven great magics within a week and spread it as a witness.

Liliana looked up from among the nobles, but the witch didn't say anything.

"Hey, Miss Alice, Miss Ai... there will be no problem."

Ting Na, who hastily put on her suit, looked worriedly at Ai who was meticulously drawing a magic circle on the ground, but she could only worry.

After waking up, Ai seemed to be in much better spirits. Besides, she was completely unable to make more judgments as a layman in magic.

And Alice.

"There is a hypothesis about the cause of vampirism."

After being silent for a long time, he picked up the document brought by Sylph and spoke slowly.

“[Conflict of Laws]. That is to say, there is a conflict between the [law and reason] belonging to the sick patient and the [law and reason] of light, and the contact of different [law and reason] creations has a high probability of causing a conflict of laws And lead to fatal consequences. Although there is no direct evidence to prove this statement, everything in the world is a creation of [law and reason]. In theory, this is the most suitable explanation. Tite's medicine is also developed based on this principle Yes, using medicine to promote physical changes, to a certain extent rewrites Ai’s laws and principles.”

"Can this be done?"

"Yes~~~~Dragon blood is the most famous one. By integrating the world's original [law and reason] in exchange for a body flowing with dragon blood, you can gain the power of a great race, but what~~~~~ Hope Elf remembers Princess Lily said that such a change is impossible to be complete?"

"That's right, a human being is a human being. No matter how much dragon blood you bathe in, you won't become a dragon. The blood race that was first embraced is different from the blood race conceived by the secret method of origin blood in terms of habits and strength... completely changed into other [laws and principles] ] is impossible, even Lily still retains her fragile body as a human. Perhaps the only exception is the undead, but there have been no undead who were born undead on the mainland, so this is just a hypothesis, but no matter How, if vampirism is really the cause of this—”

Alice quietly looked down at the girl who put down her wand and closed the book.

"The possibility of failure is extremely high."

Ai sprinkled the ingredients needed for magic from between his fingers, and began to chant.

“[Let the holy light gather, if the gathered evil will push the world into the abyss, then the kind and righteous people should also let the light gather, and the great flow that drives the world will also shine brilliantly because of the light!] "

Light gathers.

The runes on the magic circle flickered one by one, changing from a depicted pattern to a light pattern, floating, weaving a ring of light around the girl.

The girl who was confused by the long explanation, her eyes widened because of Alice's tone without emotion.

Just at this time.

Interpretation, sing broken.

But what came out of the girl's mouth was not a magical announcement, just as the light covering the girl became bright and holy due to the flickering of the magic circle.

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Ai hugged his face violently, screaming in pain.

"Miss Ai!"

The distance between the tower and the bottom of the tower made Tina unable to see clearly what happened. She only saw the girl staggering and falling while clutching her face. It was like an invisible flame was burning on her body.

The nobles who were about to applaud and celebrate fell into a dead silence. Until Ai's screams sounded, they seemed to have not reacted from the sudden accident. Even the witch was still at the long table and did not react immediately.

Except for the elemental elves.

And Teeter Oswald.

Almost at the same moment when Ai let out a cry of pain, the girl's father disappeared from Liliana's side, and he rushed to her side faster than Wright and Knight, driving the deep dark field away instantly. shine.

The darkness enveloped even Wright, but it didn't affect Tingna. Seeing him, Tingna immediately picked up Ai and poured a test tube of medicine into her daughter's mouth.

The potion might be particularly bitter. The sudden intake of liquid and the loss of light seemed to have caused Ai to panic. Even so, Tite still forcefully poured the potion into Ai, and it was quick.

Ai coughed violently, and the screams of pain disappeared.

Aqua, who rushed into the [Darkness] range a step slower than Knight, was surging with the power of water.

"Akuya, Akuya, what's wrong, what's wrong with Ms. Ai!"

Although the modern branch of the marine system has little healing magic, in the ancient past, water was a symbol of healing.

"Slight burns, no damage to the dermis, and a small area, but it's like..."

While healing the girl's injuries, the water spirit was also reporting the situation.

"It's almost like the skin is melting."

Sylph worriedly flew around holding Salamanda's tail, Aqua and Knight's voices came to mind in the room, Tina was taken aback, and immediately thought of the man who said yesterday with endless sadness and regret past.

【Just leaving the mother's womb, the light in the delivery room almost took away the life that couldn't even cry. 】

"Vampire disease..."

"It seems so."

"Re-relapse? At this time?!"

"...Not necessarily, if there is a relapse, what Ms. Ai needs now is comprehensive first aid. I have seen severe vampirism patients attack a long time ago. It was in the era of witch hunting. A little girl was nailed to the After being exposed to the sun on the cross, her skin festered in just a few tens of seconds, and by the time the bishop finished singing the second line of the prayer, the tiny skeleton fell off the cross."

"That's right, this should be a reaction caused by the failure of casting the spell, and the direct intrusion of the light element into the body. It is a slight rebound of the symptoms, but—"

"But Ai hasn't relapsed for a long time. Didn't he fail once when practicing this magic?"

"...When Ms. Ai practiced the magic of the light system, I was watching. In order to prevent backlash, let Ms. Ai have more practice in the world. Every time I fail to cast a spell, I will immediately gather all the light elements around Ms. Ai. My side, including those who are about to invade Miss Ai's body."

Wright stood outside the hemispherical darkness, frowning on his indifferent face.

"Miss Liliana." Just as Akua was treating Ai, Wright was calmly analyzing and explaining to Tina.

In the darkness, Tina saw Tite hugging Ai and stood up.

Perhaps it was because of the horror of the pain he suffered after this failure, or perhaps because of his instinctive reliance on his family members after encountering unexplained events, Ai was hugged in his arms and hugged his father's neck tightly. I don't know her expression, but.

Tina thought she must be wondering.

"Miss Ai seems to be in chaos."

Knight's voice also confirmed the girl's conjecture, but let's put these aside for now.

"Miss Liliana, I think the assessment can be over."

The man was serious, and spoke indifferently to the witch who had just stood up lately.

The sound was like the roar of a lion.

"...Are you going to take her back?"

Liliana replied calmly.

The Mystic Guard and the other nobles were silent.

From the very beginning, they were more or less aware of the conflict between the father and daughter, but they didn't understand the whole situation, nor did they know what happened in the darkness.

At this moment, they were also silent.

"Ai failed. You have already seen it. Although it was caused by the failure of spellcasting, it is enough to show that the cure is not complete. This time it is under my nose and in front of you, but if the next time it is between you and me What about places I can’t even see? I dare not take risks, Ai is my most important daughter, and I will never let this damned fate take her away again!”

Everything went downhill.

Tite's expression was cold and serious.

"...So, will you take her back, spend more time observing, and then marry her into the royal family?"

"Maybe it's me being bossy and arrogant, but as a parent, I never want to put my daughter in danger again."

There was no hesitation in his words.

"Whether you disagree or feel arrogant, I want to protect my daughter, and I want her to live a safe and happy life. This is also..."

In the last half sentence, the man lowered his head and looked at his most important daughter in the world in his arms.

"Your mother's wish."

"【...May your eyes be able to see the world beyond the sky.】"

Suddenly, Sylph chanted the interpretation of magic in a low voice.

It was as if an invisible telescope appeared in front of her eyes. In the darkness, Tingna clearly saw the unbelievable expression on Ai's face. Her wide mouth could almost stuff a goose egg into it, but such a funny expression made Tingna's chest With a sharp twitch.

Ai was obviously the person he hated the most, but Ai didn't resist the embrace.

In the wine-red pupils, the flickering flames were extinguished.

——Is it because the failure of magic completely crushed his confidence?

——Or did you suddenly believe what your father said?

The flickering fire was indeed extinguished, and she looked around blankly like a huddled girl in Tite's arms, but she couldn't see anything in the deep darkness.

He couldn't see Aqua who was treating her right at hand, couldn't see Knight who was bandaging her, and of course couldn't see Liliana.

She could only curl up in the arms of the person she once hated the most, and looked around timidly.

Finally, she raised her head.

Biting his lips tightly, looking at the sky——

"...It is Ai herself who decides whether to leave with you. If she is willing to be taken away by you, then stop here. If she is not willing, then there will be no assessment until the end of the moment of change or Ai's spell slots are exhausted." Finish."

"Even if I, as the guardian, don't agree?"

"...As a guardian, you have the right not to approve Ai as my apprentice, but you have no right to expel your daughter from an exam."

--wrong.

When he realized it, his palms were already firmly grasping the railing of the balcony, and his joints were aching from too much force.

Tina didn't know why she had such a crazy idea, but it should be right, Ai, this girl.

——What you are looking at is yourself.

——If you think about it carefully, the only person who can determine the location seems to be yourself, but.

Tina didn't understand why she was so shaken by Ai's gaze.

——Even if you look at me, it doesn't make sense, does it?

——Mr. Teeter obviously guessed Miss Liliana's true identity, even so, he has no intention of giving in at all——No, he has already let go before, but now he gave up because of this accident, how can I convince him? ?

——I can't influence Liliana-san's thoughts either. It's better to say that in this matter, I am just an outsider, and.

——Why are you looking at me? Doesn't this girl realize it by now?

——I am, I don’t want you to stay. What good will it do me for you to stay here?

——It will only take away Liliana and Alice, drive me out of Liliana's bedroom, and give me no chance to play magic cards with Miss Liliana, it will only make me jealous. what?

——Besides, it's really dangerous, what if you suddenly relapse when Liliana, Alice, and the fairies are away? I'm not your father, I can't keep an eye on you all the time, I can't even do magic at that time, I can't do anything, even if your father gave me the formula of the potion, I'm just a half-baked alchemist. Perfume body lotion is okay, but this kind of life-threatening potion can't be made!

—Is there anything more important than your own life? For your own safety, the most important thing you should do is follow your father home to become a princess or even a queen, and live a life surrounded by people even going to the bathroom!

"...The so-called enlightenment..."

...Obviously, it should be like this.

"...Miss Tina?"

But what are you talking about?

Tina's throat quivered as she looked into those dark eyes.

Now, those eyes somewhat resemble Liliana.

Such tranquility, such deepness, like a precious orb whose radiance has been restrained after a long time.

But the reason is not the wisdom brought by the long time, what makes the girl's eyes lose that aggressive brilliance is just——

[I've already made up my mind...the last one here is in Miss Tina's arms, it feels...not bad]

A meaningless realization.

What kind of awareness was that Tina didn't know.

"The so-called enlightenment... Hey, Ai, the so-called enlightenment!!"

I don't know, although I don't know why, I just yelled loudly.

"The so-called enlightenment is not to face failure calmly, it is not to anticipate failure before doing it and deceive yourself, then it is no big deal! You don't read novels and comics, so you don't know, but let me tell you about this genius. I remember!!"

He leaned his body out of the balcony desperately, as if he wanted to use the power of the earth to hit Ai's face with a heavier and heavier sound to cause sparks, squeezing out all the air in his lungs.

"The so-called enlightenment is to open up the path that should be followed in the dark wilderness!!!"

Can it be conveyed?

Or in other words, the words written in entertainment books only have the weight commensurate with entertainment books?

Tina didn't know.

The empty echoes aroused in the valley weakened to the point where they could no longer be heard. The girl's shout attracted everyone's attention and eyes. They focused their attention on the balcony at the top of the tower while Tina just stared at the girl's gaze.

In the arms of the man who raised his head.

"...What is that?"

Ai's murmurs fluttered in the wind.

"No argument, no proof, no premise, an empty argument that sounds like a child's big talk for attention."

She opened her mouth blankly, then lowered her head.

The arms around Father's neck loosened.

Tite wanted to hug the girl tightly, but Ai pushed him hard, letting himself fall from the embrace and onto the mud.

"Ai!"

"But...it's really interesting. Why does this sentence have the power to make people want to believe?"

Standing up unsteadily, haha, the girl chuckled lightly, and ignored her father's persuasion.

"I have a dream, maybe it's a ridiculous dream."

She looked up.

"But I want to make it happen... no..."

The deep darkness dissipated.

But in the girl's eyes, from the embers of wine.

The pitch-black flame danced proudly.

"I want, make it happen."

—Speaking of which, why is it a black flame?

Out of nowhere, Tina thought of this.

Generally speaking, the impression of flames is bright and warm, but why did I think when I saw Ai for the first time, the girl standing among the black pines was like a cluster of dark flames burning? ?

I don't know where I got the knowledge, the higher the temperature of the flame, the more blue and white the flame color will be.

And it is said that when the deep elves who have disappeared on the mainland forge their last work, they will use a black flame fueled by the embers of souls and stars. As a result, he fell into a deep sleep that lasted for thousands of years and never woke up again.

That means going nowhere in pursuit of the ultimate.

That's right.

Ting Na stared blankly at the girl who came out from the range of the shadow technique.

regardless of costs.

"—————————,——————."

Ai started to chant.

Singing long poems that Tina couldn't understand.

"This is the part of the original book of magic that is really used to form magic. It is usually a relatively thick book in the original book, or takes up one-third of the book. It is not written in a common language. Compared with a rigorous treatise, Most of the genres are also more like poetry or prose. In the original text of magic, the remaining parts are all commentary on this part using theory and experiment."

The light did not erode the girl's body.

Then the light gathers again.

"Compared to the [interpretation] that you understand and summarize by yourself, chanting the original scriptures is a safer method, but this is really too long. It takes more than ten minutes to chant magic, and it is basically of no practical value."

Alice floated onto Tingna's shoulder, and said lightly.

"is this okay?"

"What's good, it's just that I was delayed for half a year because of my family, and because of the same reason, I couldn't get to Miss Liliana's side in the end. If Ai repeats the same mistakes, I may not have a chance."

"Yeah?"

"Besides, even if you use it once, it may not be successful."

The girl rubbed her red eyes, picked up her shadow, and kneaded it like a decompression toy.

Wright and Knight stopped Tite. On the long table of ice and snow, there were already guests asking Noam or Liliana about the whole story of the incident without a trace. Miss Witch cleverly avoided the topic and only used her black eyes to His eyes stared at the top of the tower.

That look seemed to be asking why.

"How can every human behavior explain why..."

Ting Na muttered softly, and sat on the chair on the balcony. She closed her eyes, and just quietly listened to the song woven by words she didn't know.

The magic of light.

Belongs to Bright Miracle.

at last.

Under the sky dyed akane.

Woven into, belongs to the girl's dream.

Three cross-shaped blades of light rose from the magic circle under the girl's feet, and the circle formed by the connection of bright radiance formed a radiant protective wall from the bottom up.

Light System·【Glowing Sheath Wall】

A big magic that integrates offense and defense.

After the light flickered, Ai looked at his hands.

As if to confirm something, he pinched his cheek and patted the place where the bandage was still wrapped.

"...It worked."

The girl reached out to touch the glorious cross, as if to confirm whether it was just a misty dream.

Of course not.

The circular wall built by three glowing crosses has no sense of reality, but when Ai pointed his finger to the side, the meteor-like brilliance poured down like rain, turning over the ground, blasting the rocks into rubble, and flying fragments Hitting on the light curtain as thin as a gauze, it is like a stone falling into the water, splashing soft ripples in circles.

"I, succeeded..."

Then, the muttering to himself gradually turned into a trembling cry, and then slowly turned into laughter.

"I succeeded, I succeeded!!"

Rejoice, and smile proudly.

The girl finally made a move commensurate with her age, she smiled heartily, shouted, walked past her father, and threw herself into Liliana's arms.

"Miss Liliana, I have succeeded! Now I can become—" The witch who just stood up from the long table was a little caught off guard, and subconsciously hugged her.

The girl who hugged Liliana was like a pair of sisters excitedly and anxiously in front of the witch, looking at her with those big wine red eyes.

"...as long as you convince your father."

Liliana, on the other hand, just stared at the man approaching step by step supported by the old housekeeper with calm eyes.

at this time.

"Mr Teeter, though I don't know what the hell is going on."

Beside the long table, a nobleman put down the ice glass in his hand, looked at the man who was a little lost, and couldn't help but speak.

"However, if Ling Ai likes this place and can get a good education under the guidance of Miss Liliana, I don't think you need to worry too much, do you?"

"That's right, even the best teacher in Dragon Academy might not be able to compete with Miss Liliana."

"Being able to use seven great spells at such a young age may really set a record for the City of Thousand Towers."

Even the nobles who were supposed to be his helpers turned their backs one after another... No, it can't be said.

It is nothing more than the love and cherishment of geniuses. The meaning of the existence of the City of Thousand Towers is to cultivate the best magicians in the mainland. It is of course welcome to have one more genius who studies under an excellent mentor.

Surrounded by the persuasion of the nobles, the man just walked to Ai's side in silence, and he stretched out his hand to press, so his voice gradually became quieter.

From the back and above, Tina couldn't see his expression, but through the wind, the girl heard a long sigh.

"Ai, you said you had a dream."

The man's voice seemed a little tired.

"what is that?"

"nothing dealing with you."

"No, it does matter, this will determine whether I will stamp my consent."

"you this--"

Ai looked at her father with a sinister expression immediately, but she quickly realized the meaning of this sentence, and her eyes seemed to open wide in disbelief.

"...Tch, how could I tell you!"

The girl stared at her father coldly, and hugged Liliana tightly, for fear that if she let go, the man she hated in front of her would snatch her away from Miss Witch's embrace.

"The time that has been lost cannot be made up, but after that, there will be even more time."

"So you're trying to please me by supporting my dreams?"

"You are my daughter, and no matter how much you hate me, I am also your father. The blood keeps you and me together. This is something that even the truth of magic cannot deny."

And Teeter was unrelenting.

After several minutes of staring at each other, as if she finally couldn't bear it anymore, the girl looked away.

"...my dream..."

For some reason, Ai's face turned red.

After making such an announcement, he looked at Liliana timidly, his eyes flickering.

"...I feel a little strange..."

Tina suddenly had a bad premonition, her intuition as a woman was sounding the alarm crazily.

And the moment she said the ending of the word "strange".

The girl with red ears protruding from the black hair took a deep breath.

"My dream is to become Liliana's mentor's companion."

Not loud.

But it was enough for everyone to hear clearly - including of course Tina on the tower, and Tite beside Ai.

Just like that was the interpretation of [Wide-Area Silence Technique], the valley that was unusually silent because of what she wanted to declare could be heard at this moment.

"As long as I can remember, my mother has been telling me the story of a beautiful and powerful witch who is on a long journey across the continent. No one knows what she is for, nor what she will eventually become Where is she going, she is just cruising on the mainland year after year, from the forests of France to the snowfields of the sky, from the mysterious mountains and rivers of the East to the vast desert of the West, leaving behind many, many stories. "

"I like these stories the most. Whenever my mother tells me these stories, I feel as if I am traveling with the witch, to see the sky that I have never seen, to see the sky that I have never imagined. The peaks and seas of the world, break the conspiracy of the nobles, defeat the terrible demons, walk with the famous heroes, and save the entire kingdom!"

The girl's face was blushing, and one wondered if she just stared at her for a while, and she would not be able to bear the shame of telling these confessions in front of many people, and used the great magic just used to chisel out another He hid in the burrow and never appeared again.

But she didn't. She stared at the witch's peaceful face, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Maybe Miss Liliana will find it strange how she can fall in love with someone just because of some stories, but, but she just fell in love. For me, Miss Liliana is my vision for the whole world. I know Liliana Miss, maybe I understand as well as Miss Liliana herself, so, that... I... Today, today is my birthday, my mother told me that because of the potion, my inside is much more mature than my appearance, and my menarche has already come Well, I'm already an adult, so, that..."

"……ha?"

Ting Na, who woke up from the strong mental shock, turned her head in a daze.

"You heard me right, Miss Tina."

Even the frozen expression of Baiyin's puppet became loose.

But Ai kept talking.

But, ah, sure enough, it's too embarrassing, isn't it?

Or is it because Liliana's expressionless face really swayed the confessor?

The girl began to speak incoherently, her eyes wandering.

"My mother grew up listening to Miss Liliana's stories, and so did I. My mother once told me that the most regrettable thing was not being able to see Miss Liliana. So after my mother passed away, the first thing I thought of I just came to Miss Liliana and became Miss Liliana's apprentice. For this reason, I studied the book that records Miss Liliana's deeds. It took me many years. During this process, I, I became more fond of Liliana Miss, no, love, this kind of feeling is love, but the relationship between the Einhardt family and Miss Liliana is not good, so—”

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!!!!!!"

For the second time today, Tina cried out.

what happened? Why did it suddenly become like this?

What's the matter with this deep affection that can be sweet to the bottom of your heart even if you cover your ears?

Isn't it talking about Ed's belonging and her conflict with her father? Why did it suddenly jump from the conflict climax of the family ethics novel to the end of the romantic novel!

Tina jumped up from the chair, desperately grabbing the railing and wanted to jump down, but Alice silently grabbed her clothes and pushed her back on the chair.

"It's too ugly, Miss Tina."

"But, but!"

"Although Sylph understands Miss Tina's mood, but at this time, let's show the bearing of an adult."

"Running down at this time and saying 'Obviously I did it first', but it's going to spoil the atmosphere, huh?"

Both Sylph and Salamanda's eyes lit up. These elves seemed to be particularly interested in such things. They looked forward to the scene under the tower. Sylph flapped her wings, showing in the air the scene.

Ai was already so shy that he buried his face in Liliana's chest, and his imposing voice became smaller and smaller under the eyes of the people around him, but this still made Tingna, Liliana and everyone listen To the girl's most affectionate confession.

"Please let me be your partner."

Probably no one thought that this is the girl's dream.

In the long silence, there were only a few young ladies covering their mouths with their furs, talking excitedly, and with their voices, awkward coughs and whispers also flowed among the nobles and the guards of the Arcane Guard.

"...so you know, I'm here."

Rubbing the girl's hair, Liliana spoke calmly.

"...So you know what happened when I enrolled in Glory City. So you know how to get my attention. So you concealed your surname and used your mother's family's ancestral research method to win yourself a chance .”

The witch raised her head slightly, her black eyes stared straight at the girl who was restrained by Alice and the two elves.

"...Ai Einhardt, you are a descendant of Charlemagne the Lionheart. He spent his whole life collecting my information and deeds in order to defeat me, but in the end he failed to get what he wanted. With his passing away, the huge The empire was divided into three, and the Olympian inherited by his direct blood continued to weaken and became a small kingdom. Even the royal power was replaced by another blood. Everything you know about me is inherited from here Yes."

What Liliana was talking about was the past that Tina didn't know about.

She looked at the stunned Tite and the nobles who were shocked by the majesty unconsciously revealed in her words, and gently moved Ai away from her.

"...You worked hard, Ai."

Then, he lifted the girl's chin.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!!!"

Tingna's cry couldn't be conveyed at all.

The distance held up by the high heels is filled by the bow of the witch.

In Ai's wine-red pupils, the radiance of happiness spread like a fountain.

At this moment, Tina seemed to feel a tearing pain, but before she had time to realize what it was.

"Alice hopes Miss Tina, don't take this as Lily's rejection."

The little doll floated in front of her.

The unprecedented gentle tone made Tingna look away from Ai's face full of happiness in a daze.

"Take this time to explain Lily's view of feelings to Miss Tina. Lily's view of feelings is like that of fairies. From the point of view of fairies, love is a good relationship that can make people who admire each other feel happy. It is a friend, a relative. , teacher-student relationship, etc., so in their view, love is good, and the more good things, the better. Simply put, most goblins will not limit the object of love, no matter the object Or quantity, love for one does not usually affect love for another."

Alice tapped Tina on the forehead.

"Alice knows that Ms. Tina may not be able to accept it, but it's not a matter of whether Miss Tina accepts it. It's the same for Lily. Therefore, although due to the difference in life scale, Lily will be very cautious when admiring short-lived species. But if it's a cute girl who launched such an enthusiastic offensive, and Lily also likes it..."

Lip points.

Miss Witch hugged the girl whose soul seemed to fly to the horizon of nowhere, and then.

He raised his head and looked at Ting Na calmly.

"—Lily doesn't refuse anyone."

"..."

This is no consolation at all.

Rather, it was another stab at the girl's almost collapsed mood.

Tina didn't know how to describe her current mood.

But maybe, now, I can find a little resonance with the mood of the father who witnessed his daughter confessing to a stranger and receiving hugs from each other.

When Ai woke up from happiness, facing him

Before casting a vicious gaze, Tite stood there stiffly as if he had witnessed Medusa's smiling face.

"this is my dream."

It wasn't until Ai turned his head in Liliana's arms and said this to him with vengeful pleasure that he shook a few times and let out a long, long sigh.

"Miss Liliana, please prepare the contract. Strauron, get my seal, and book an airship for me to Olympion, I will... I want Visit Prince Fah in person and break off the engagement."

In his words, overflowing tiredness and bitterness were revealed.

"……Eh?"

Ai's expression froze.

"Wait a minute! What do you mean!"

She widened her eyes, looking in disbelief at the man who had taken the seal from the old butler, and so easily stamped the seal on the parchment scroll handed over by the witch.

That was the apprentice's contract, which meant that he recognized Ai as Liliana's apprentice.

The girl's little head seemed to have not expected such a situation at all. She stared blankly at the man in front of her, feeling a little flustered for a while.

"I am a relatively old-fashioned nobleman, and I don't agree with the relationship between ladies and ladies, but if this is your happiness..."

Passing the roll of parchment to the nearby nobles as a notarization, the man said lightly.

"You have proved your will and strength, Ai, and I am your father. I want to make up for the harm you have suffered in the past. This is not a lie, but if leaving me is the happiness you expect... ...the money needed to live will be sent every month, but I will not appear in front of you again."

He turned around and walked towards the carriage with the support of the old housekeeper.

"After all, how can any parent ever win over their children?"

Only the girl who stared blankly at the parchment roll handed to him by the noble who had completed the notarization was left.

The back figure that seemed to have become weak in the short two days slowly faded away.

"...In the stories you've seen, probably there is no mention of this matter."

The witch suddenly let go of her embrace.

"...I didn't get to see my parents for the last time."

Then, give it a light push.

"...I don't want my apprentice to repeat the same mistakes."

The girl who was pushed a few steps away looked blankly at the expressionless Liliana, and then at her father who was walking further and further away with the support of the old housekeeper. Her expression switched between confusion and bewilderment, and finally her eyes again.

Looking to the top of the tower.

"Miss Tina? Do you want to say anything more?"

"...No, I should have known that I shouldn't even have said that sentence before."

The girl leaned on the back of the chair, pressed the back of her hand to her eyes, sighed deeply and regretted deeply.

She is so busy cursing her own stupidity now that she has no mood to give life counseling to the awkward and stubborn little lion.

and.

"Besides, I have already told her what I should say. Whether she listens or not is her own business."

"It seems so."

"..."

From between her fingers, the girl looked at the shadow screen that Sylph brought with the wind.

"Wait for me!"

The girl who didn't get her own response yelled discouragedly like a broken can, walked quickly to Tite's side, and then.

The girl took her father's hand.