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chapter 48
Mae Escliff’s textbook was spotless—except for the answer sheets.
Yes.
“Except for the answer sheets.”
In other words, she hadn’t written down any of the steps for deriving complex formulas—she had only written the final answers.
“Didn’t just guess… right?”
Since Luna had been working on the same page until just now, she could tell for sure whether the answers were correct.
“Did she just copy mine?”
While Luna was pondering, Mae pulled an eraser from her pencil case and vigorously erased her answers.
The answer boxes, which had only a few numbers written in them, soon returned to pristine white as if nothing had been there.
“What? Why are you erasing it?”
“Just… because.”
“You copied me, didn’t you?”
Mae hesitated for a moment at Luna’s blunt question. Luna lowered her hand from her chin and quietly studied Mae.
Her blue eyes flickered with a hint of emotion, then settled into calm as if nothing had happened. A voice devoid of feeling answered.
“Yes. But my conscience bothers me, so I’ll redo it.”
“…Really? You’re a healer, so even if you did it sloppily, you wouldn’t fail.”
“No, I can’t forgive stupidity.”
It didn’t seem like she was angry at Luna personally, yet her words carried a sharp edge.
After a brief silence, Luna asked,
“Do you want me to help? I can go through it step by step—”
“Thanks, but no need.”
Mae cut her off sharply and stood. Her textbook, now completely clean again, was tossed carelessly into her bag.
Luna furrowed her brows.
“What? Where are you going?”
“Where, you ask?”
Completely ignoring the question, Mae calmly pointed at the library wall clock.
“It’s time to eat.”
The Crocus Empire had two offices for reporting dark magic.
The first was the Central Dark Magic Administration, located inside the palace along with other departments.
The second was a small office tucked into the public service center in the city center.
Unlike other departments, there were two offices for dark magic reports for a simple reason:
Commoners couldn’t just enter the palace freely, and even if they could, the procedures were complicated and drew unnecessary attention.
“Considering Nana and Aiden’s status, the palace office would be ideal…”
But that would only attract the Empress’s attention. Most palace departments fell under her jurisdiction, so extreme caution was necessary.
Of course, even if they reported to the public service office, the Empress would eventually hear about it.
However, delaying that moment as long as possible was worthwhile.
Thus, Aiden had entered the public service center in broad daylight wearing a suspicious dark robe.
“Hey… don’t you think this looks even more suspicious?”
“Being exposed would cause more trouble.”
“Hmm…”
Suddenly made the lead in the dark robe, I groaned inwardly. Even without that, the stares around us were piercing.
“Are they nobles? Their clothing seems unusual.”
“No way. Why would someone so high-ranking come here?”
“And that man… seems dangerous. Is it okay for him to wander around like this?”
“Call the guards!”
Whispers reached us clearly. Aiden flinched every time someone pointed.
In contrast, I, showing my face openly, received surprisingly little attention.
Although no one in the empire didn’t know the Escliff name, in a world without television or photography, recognizing a famous person by face alone was nearly impossible.
“See? I told you no one would notice you.”
“No way.”
“Are you sure?”
Annoyed, I flicked my hand slightly.
[Gale (D)]
“…!”
A gust of wind swept through the room, making people stir.
“What? Wind inside?!”
“Oh no, my hat!”
Shouts erupted as belongings flew around.
And it wasn’t just people’s items.
“Es… wait, you…!”
Aiden’s face was fully revealed as his robe was whipped aside.
His black hair, silky as silk, clung to his sweat-dotted forehead. It was natural—late summer heat, plus wearing a heavy robe.
But his beauty was anything but natural.
“Oh my.”
“My goodness, such a handsome man in the city…”
“His face… it’s glowing.”
“I wish I could live with that face even once.”
People, having calmed slightly, peeked at him and whispered to each other. Their voices were low, but my ears, sharpened by awakening as an S-rank mage, caught every word.
Aiden’s ears likely caught them too.
“See? Told you no one would recognize you.”
I tapped his back, and he muttered with a reluctant expression:
“How could someone not recognize me?”
“…Stop whining, just show the way.”
Such a narcissist.
Kicking his heel, he groaned.
“Probably over there.”
The interior of the public service center was extremely convoluted.
Following Aiden, I was sweating nervously inside.
“If I were alone, I’d be lost for sure.”
I get lost even on my usual subway trips. I’m the type who can’t navigate alone.
“Have you been here a lot? You know your way well.”
“Huh?”
Aiden looked puzzled at my remark.
“No way. This is my first time here.”
“What? Then how do you know the way…”
“Don’t know.”
His tone was so firm it almost made me think I misheard.
“Just wander a bit; we’ll get there somehow.”
“Hey!”
In the end, we wandered inside the center for quite some time.
“Damn, this public service center is huge.”
It spanned both indoors and outdoors, making it even harder to find.
[Cooling (B)]
Without the cooling magic in my clothes, I’d be drenched in sweat.
Aiden, though… well, that was his own fault. I let him be.
[Dark Magic Administration]
Seeing the shabby sign, Aiden breathed a sigh of relief.
“…Here it is.”
“I have eyes, you know.”
“Don’t make trouble for me, Princess.”
“Who told you to walk around not knowing the way?”
“We’re both the same!”
Just as the tension was about to escalate, a bespectacled woman peeked her head out the door, probably noticing the commotion.
“Um, what brings you here…?”
The woman had brown hair braided into two plaits and a face full of freckles.
Her glasses were so thick that her face looked slightly distorted—a stereotypical “mage” look.
“This is not a place for ordinary people to enter… For self-defense magic lessons, you must apply at the general magic office…”
Her tone was exhausted. Judging by her panda-like dark circles, the work must be tough.
“We discovered traces of dark magic. We came to report it.”
“Excuse me… Who are you, speaking rudely to me on first meeting… uh?”
I gently pushed Aiden forward and stepped in front of her.
“We collected the corpses of monsters caused by a dark mage. Let’s go inside first.”
“Oh, yes! Just a moment!”
She snapped to attention and darted inside, so fast that Aiden’s robe whipped around in the wind.
“Ah, refreshing.”
“Is this the time to say that?”
Within a minute, the door swung open again. Aiden had stepped back in time, avoiding a collision.
…Was that lucky? A collision would’ve been funny, though.
“Please come inside quickly!”
With no time to think, I followed her into the Dark Magic Administration office.
“Oh.”
The interior looked gloomy and poorly maintained, but surprisingly, the state had invested in it.
I muttered to myself in admiration, and Aiden muttered as well.
“Indeed, it’s cleaner than I expected inside.”
…Better not think about that.
Even if something monstrous appeared, with my skills, it would probably be Aiden in trouble, not me.
“Are these the traces of dark magic?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
As we waited, an older man’s voice approached.
His footsteps echoed on the floor. Hands clasped behind him, his face showed irritation.
“Hah, I thought someone was playing a prank, but it’s just you kids?”
“…What?”
He scanned us up and down and snorted.
“Hey, young lady. Report pranks somewhere else. Even nobles will get their heads cut off if they prank here.”
