Chapter 365: Magician
The morning sun rose once more. Sunlight streamed through the crystal windows on the top floor of the Magic Association tower, illuminating the room with exceptional brightness.
Inside the room, Kurtz stood before a small experimental table, examining several magic circles while conducting simple magical research.
Nearby, Serie sat on a sofa with several documents spread across the small, round table before her. However, she was not reading them. Instead, she rested her chin against one hand and gazed absentmindedly out the window, her eyes unfocused as though lost in thought.
She wore a loose white robe, her golden hair draped casually over her shoulders. Her bare feet rested against the carpet, her toes unconsciously curling and stretching from time to time.
The only sound in the room was the faint magical hum produced by Kurtz's research.
Then, a knock at the door broke the silence.
"Come in," Kurtz said without looking up.
The door opened as Flamme walked inside.
Today, she wore a neat everyday outfit, and her red hair was tied carefully behind her head. Her expression remained as capable as ever, though faint traces of fatigue were visible, making it clear she had been extremely busy recently.
"Teacher Kurtz. Master Serie."
She bowed politely to the two of them before her gaze swept quickly across the room. The moment she noticed Serie staring blankly out the window, surprise briefly flashed across her face.
"Morning, Master Seire."
Serie snapped back to reality and straightened slightly. "Coming so early... is there more trouble?"
She knew that when Flamme came to find her this early in the morning, it usually meant something important had happened. Otherwise, Flamme would normally organize the reports in advance and wait until Serie came downstairs rather than entering her and Kurtz's room directly.
"Sort of, but it isn't too troublesome." Flamme walked over to Serie and took out several reports.
"It's a summary of the follow-up to yesterday's First-Class Mage assessment, along with some unusual developments that the two of you should know about."
Hearing this, Kurtz turned away from the experimental table and walked over as well, taking the chair opposite Serie.
"Unusual developments?"
"Yes." Flamme handed over the reports. "Among the three people who passed the assessment yesterday, one chose the Rune of Immortality Magic as their reward."
According to intelligence gathered afterward, less than three hours after the assessment ended, that person contacted a magical organization operating in the Imperial Capital's underground black market.
"It is a clandestine organization known for researching forbidden magic and Mythological Era artifacts. Their reputation is extremely poor."
Serie took the report and scanned through it quickly, her brows gradually furrowing.
"They wanted to buy the magic runes directly? Quite an appetite. What was the outcome of the contact?"
"The exact asking price is still unknown, but the newly promoted First-Class Mage refused."
"The price wasn't high enough?" Serie asked curiously.
She was not particularly surprised that a newly promoted First-Class Mage would attempt to sell the Immortality Magic rune.
After all, this possibility had long been within both her and Kurtz's expectations. In fact, the surprising part was that something like this had only happened now.
"That remains unclear. Should we intervene?" Flamme asked.
"There's no need," Kurtz answered calmly.
"Continue monitoring them. As long as they don't cross the line. Well..."
In his opinion, even if the First-Class Mage truly sold the runes, it would not matter much. After all, aside from him, nobody could properly decipher them anyway.
"Understood. I've already intensified covert surveillance on that Magician and have begun tracking the members of the organization they contacted."
After finishing the first report, Flamme set it aside and produced another. "Additionally, regarding the Southern Delegation, they submitted a formal letter of departure this morning through official channels. They intend to leave the Imperial Capital tomorrow afternoon."
"Their letter expressed gratitude for the hospitality and stated that they hoped to maintain future exchanges in magical research."
"Finally! These eyesores are leaving." Serie gave a small snort. "At least they were smart enough to provide a considerable amount of useful magical knowledge. Otherwise, they wouldn't have left so easily."
Although Hess, leader of the Southern Magicians' United Group, had departed in frustration, fortunately, the other Southern Magicians were far from mediocre.
They possessed unique insights into magical theory, particularly defensive magic, which could almost be considered among the highest levels on the continent.
That was also one of the main reasons Serie was willing to continue arranging magical exchanges with them.
Although she herself could teach the Association's Magicians—and the knowledge she possessed far surpassed theirs—she was not some selfless saint with endless free time. Allowing other Magicians to conduct collaborative research and discussion with the Association's members was already the most practical solution.
"Flamme, handle the remaining wrap-up work however you see fit," Kurtz instructed.
"Understood." Flamme nodded and made a note of it. Then, a trace of hesitation appeared on her face as she looked toward Kurtz.
"Teacher... there's one more matter. It's about Frieren."
"What's wrong with her this time?" Serie asked immediately.
She remembered that Frieren had recently begun researching ancient demonic Space Teleportation Magic. Had something gone wrong again?
"Her recent research into ancient demonic teleportation magic has encountered some problems. Flamme paused briefly before continuing.
"The issue is rather troublesome, Teacher. You know I haven't studied Space Magic extensively, so I can't offer much help. She's locked herself inside the research laboratory and hasn't even eaten dinner yet. I'm ... worried for her."
Serie frowned. "Didn't we agree that all of this research had to be conducted under supervision? Why did she increase the intensity of the experiments without authorization again?"
"I didn't expect the experiment to trigger a chain reaction of spatial collapses." Even Flamme looked somewhat helpless. "That was my oversight. I underestimated how unstable demon magic could be."
Kurtz fell silent for a moment in thought. "In that case, I'll go take a look later and help her solve the problem."
"Thank you, Teacher." Relief immediately appeared on Flamme's face.
She knew that as long as Kurtz personally intervened, whatever problems Frieren encountered would likely be resolved without difficulty.
The reports were finally concluded.
Flamme closed the folder and prepared to excuse herself, but then she noticed the figure quietly standing behind her.
Solis.
She still wore the same simple dress, and her black hair draped smoothly down her back. Her expression remained calm and emotionless as she silently observed the three people inside the room.
Her presence was so faint that, unless someone consciously looked for her, she could easily be overlooked entirely.
Ever since Kurtz had relaxed the restrictions placed upon Solis, she had been quietly following Flamme around, observing and learning.
At first, Flamme had been highly wary of her. After all, Solis was still a demon.
If not for the fact that her teacher wished to study her, Flamme would likely have killed her long ago rather than allowing her to accompany her freely.
Fortunately, Solis had behaved relatively normally during this period. She obediently followed behind Flamme and had not done anything particularly out of line.
Serie also noticed Solis and frowned slightly. Although the demon had already stayed within the Association for some time, Serie still felt somewhat uncomfortable whenever she saw her.
"What are you standing there for?"
[End of Chapter]