“Is that… a human?”
“A human in a place like this…? How is that even possible?”
“Keep an eye on her. Who knows what kind of trouble she might cause.”
Murmurs of suspicion filled the air as demon witches and mages whispered among themselves, their gazes filled with wariness.
But Mari.
Mari didn’t hear any of it.
Right now, she was simply… happy.
It had been a long time since she had felt this way.
And it wasn’t just because she was indulging in her love for magic research.
The true reason was.
For the first time in ages, she had found someone who could engage her in a serious, equal discussion.
“The instability of black mana certainly makes it difficult to control. However, if one can decipher its underlying patterns, it can yield results far beyond what is possible with ordinary mana.”
“I see… Finding order within chaos… I’ve dabbled in similar research before, but perhaps my approach was flawed. I was too focused on forming hypotheses and analyzing phenomena, when instead, I should have observed the phenomena itself and derived conclusions from them.”
“Precisely. And once you uncover your own set of rules, having the conviction to trust them and push forward is fundamental to black magic research.”
“Wise words… Believing in oneself, huh? There’s a similar saying among human mages: ‘Mastery is ultimately the ability to trust in oneself.’”
“Is that so? It seems we have more in common than I expected. Unfortunately, as a guest, you are currently prohibited from using magic within these halls. However, I would love the opportunity to exchange magic with you in the future.”
“Fufu… I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Mari chuckled softly at those words.
She momentarily pulled her gaze away from the books and turned toward the woman beside her.
Teriya.
A demon witch.
Despite her youthful appearance, her depth of knowledge was astonishing—even Mari found herself impressed.
‘Or… maybe she only looks young. She could very well be older than me.’
Demon lifespans were naturally longer than those of humans.
And as practitioners of magic, both Mari and Teriya could potentially be using spells to either preserve or disguise their age.
It was considered improper etiquette among witches to pry into such matters.
But regardless, there was a strong chance that Teriya’s actual age and her appearance were quite different.
More than anything.
Even with Mari’s experienced eyes, she couldn’t quite gauge the extent of Teriya’s power.
She must have been concealing an immense amount of mana within her body while skillfully suppressing its presence.
Regardless, the simple act of indulging her natural witch’s instinct—the deep desire to explore knowledge—alongside someone who could match her level of discussion was an immense joy for Mari.
“This is nice. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had an academic conversation like this.”
“I feel the same. I didn’t expect to be able to converse this well with a human. Young people these days don’t seem too keen on this kind of in-depth discussion…”
“Young people, huh… I had my suspicions, but I take it that means you’re also a teacher?”
“Well… something like that. Though in my case, ‘guiding’ might be a more accurate term than ‘teaching.’”
“I see.”
Teriya gave a small, bitter smile.
Mari listened to her words without overthinking them, simply accepting them as they were.
In times of war, witches and mages often found themselves on the battlefield, leading troops much like generals.
And in a way, guiding disciples was just another form of leadership.
Much like Mari herself had done in the past.
The more they spoke, the more Mari felt a strange sense of kinship with the woman before her.
In a quiet voice, she mused aloud,
“This is surprising. Up until now, most demons I’ve met have been hostile toward me. I never expected to meet someone I could converse with so easily right from the start.”
“I admit, I had my own concerns before coming here… I never thought I’d be able to talk so freely with a human.”
“Well, true scholarship transcends even the boundaries of race.”
“Fufu…”
Teriya responded with a soft, amused chuckle.
Her smile, Mari thought, was quite beautiful.
Unconsciously, Mari found herself smiling back.
“Well then, let me show you something more in-depth. This is a research paper written last year by the demon grand mage Herpen—”
Just as Teriya reached for the document she had prepared—
—BOOM!!!
“!?“
“W-What the—?!”
A thunderous explosion erupted from above.
The entire tower shook violently, throwing Mari and Teriya off balance for a brief moment.
And then.
A massive fireball came crashing down toward them.
Whether it was the result of a failed magical experiment or something else entirely was unclear.
But the searing blue flames crackling within it carried an ominous, unstable surge of mana.
“Tch…!”
Mari immediately reached for the staff at her waist.
In an instant, an explosive surge of mana burst forth from her body.
“.”
From the tip of her staff, crimson flames erupted.
Compared to the massive inferno descending upon them, her fire was far smaller in scale.
And yet.
WHOOOSH!!!
Like a serpent swallowing an egg whole, Mari’s flames engulfed the blue fire entirely.
True to its name, the Flames of Devouring hungrily consumed the magic before them, as though starving for its power.
Fwoosh.
And just like that.
The massive fireball was gone, reduced to nothing by a mere flick of Mari’s hand.
With the immediate danger dealt with, Mari turned to the person she had instinctively pulled into her arms.
Teriya.
Her voice was calm but laced with concern.
“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ah… Y-Yes… I’m… I’m fine…”
“That’s a relief. That could’ve been dangerous.”
Mari let out a small smile of reassurance.
Teriya, however, simply stared at her in a daze.
Then.
“! M-Mari! Behind you!”
At Teriya’s sudden shout, Mari turned around—
Only to see countless books plummeting from the shelves above, shaken loose by the explosion.
Ancient tomes containing centuries of research on black magic.
Priceless knowledge more valuable than life itself to those who walked the path of the arcane.
Mari instinctively raised her staff, ready to act.
But for a split second, she hesitated.
These books contained invaluable knowledge.
Could she really bring herself to destroy them?
And then.
—Thud!
“Huh?”
Something suddenly pulled her backward.
At the same time, countless books came crashing down onto the exact spot she had just been standing.
Mari, caught off guard by the overwhelming force yet strangely calm presence, barely had time to process what had happened.
And then, she looked up.
“…That was close.”
“! L-Lord Kesar?! W-What are you doing here…?”
The man who had effortlessly pulled her to safety.
Kesar.
Having saved her from danger, he gently set her down.
Mari blinked in surprise.
And then.
She felt her face suddenly grow warm.
A quick glance at Teriya showed that she, too, was staring at Kesar… her expression looking strangely similar to Mari’s own.
“Nothing?”
“Yes… No matter how much we searched, we couldn’t find any trace of the culprit.”
After rescuing Mari, I immediately took action as a Demon Lord and launched an investigation.
I had already sensed something suspicious before leaving the inn.
Realizing that Mari was being followed, I covertly pursued alongside Flantsu, keeping watch.
And just as expected, an “accident” had occurred.
Fortunately, I had managed to intervene in time to protect Mari.
But the real problem came afterward.
The ones responsible for this incident had vanished without a trace.
The presence I had been tracking was gone.
There were no lingering traces of anyone at the explosion site.
It was as if… no one had ever been there to begin with.
‘There aren’t many people capable of covering their tracks this perfectly. In that sense, the list of suspects actually narrows down…’
But the real issue.
Was the whispers now spreading about this incident.
The suspicion in the air was undeniable.
From the Magic Tower officials to the investigators, everyone was pointing their fingers at Mari.
“I told you! Mari had nothing to do with this! She was nearly caught in the explosion herself—what the hell are you accusing her of?!”
“Warrior, hold your tongue.”
“This matter concerns the Magic Tower. It is not for you to interfere with.”
“Or have you forgotten that a mere visitor using magic inside the tower is already a crime in itself?”
“Tch…!”
Poltuga clenched her jaw, unable to argue further.
Surrounded by the tower’s mages, the situation had turned hostile fast.
And then, the one leading the investigation stepped forward.
The Grand Mage of Olymph, Goebil.
His voice was calm but firm as he addressed me directly.
“My apologies, Lord Kesar. However, under the current circumstances, we must consider this human as a suspect.”
“Of course, there is no solid proof against her, and she could be viewed as a victim—but the fact remains, a human witch was inside our tower when this incident occurred. Therefore, it is only natural that we detain her for questioning.”
A polite tone, on the surface.
But I could hear the underlying meaning clearly.
I responded in a voice just as cold.
“…So this is the narrative you’re pushing?”
“I fail to see what you mean,” Goebil replied smoothly.
“Regardless, this is the stance of our Magic Tower. I ask that you comply with our decision.”
There was pressure behind his words. A clear expectation that I would fall in line.
But I had already decided on my answer.
“No.”