"Troublesome? What do you mean?"
"I suppose I never told you—I'm not actually part of the Aozaki family. I only lodge here. At the end of the day, I'm an outsider."
Roy answered Kasumigaoka Utaha's doubts directly, laying bare the uncomfortable truth of his position.
"The only reason Atram gave me face back at the refugee camp—why he let me take you away—wasn't because of me. It was because of the true master of this mansion. He only hoped to use me as a bridge to get close to the Aozaki sisters."
Roy wasn't the true owner of this house. He'd merely been placed here by its real master.
The magi of Fuyuki treated him politely, but only on the surface. In truth, they tolerated him out of respect for the mansion's mistress, hoping to gain favor through him.
Plenty within the Association despised him—some out of envy, others out of spite—because he enjoyed the Aozaki family's patronage.
"If I go to Atram to ask for a servant, he probably won't refuse." Roy paused before adding, "But you must understand what that would cost."
The price was, of course, favor.
Not just his own, but more importantly, the Aozaki mistress's—something she had never authorized him to spend.
Utaha hadn't expected the matter to escalate this way. It caught her off guard.
The price wasn't exactly exorbitant, but it wasn't trivial either—especially since it meant invoking the authority of someone not even present here, someone of immense standing. To spend her influence on behalf of a refugee who wasn't even their servant, but merely a friend of one…
To put it bluntly—who was she to presume so much?
"Utaha, do you actually know what your friend has gone through in Atram's household?"
Roy saw the worry creasing her brows and chose his words carefully.
"…No. He wouldn't say a word about it," Utaha admitted after thinking it over.
She had pressed Lun'ya several times. After all, if she were to help, she needed to know the situation. But every time, he clammed up, shaking with fear, begging only that she save him.
It was strange. But faced with such raw terror, she hadn't been able to push further.
"Is his life in danger?" Roy asked.
"I don't know. He just looked… utterly exhausted."
"I see…"
Roy sank into thought for a moment.
"Fuyuki does have protections for refugees. Masters are forbidden from abusing their servants without cause. But not all magi obey those rules. Still—if your friend only looked haggard, not injured, that means his life isn't in danger. At least not yet."
The law had been issued by Tohsaka Rin herself, the city's mayor. Few could claim to have done more for refugees than her.
"Here's what I'll do—I'll check on Lun'ya's condition myself. Then I'll decide what comes next. Does that sound acceptable?"
"That would be best," Utaha said quickly, her eyes brightening with relief.
"How will you do it? Are you going to his house to investigate?"
"No need for something so troublesome."
Roy smiled faintly and drew his hand through the air.
In an instant, a silver thread appeared, opening like a pocket into a void of swirling darkness. He reached in, rummaged for a moment, then withdrew a still, yellow bird.
Utaha leaned closer, only to realize it wasn't alive. It was a brass model, crafted with lifelike detail, its eyes twin lenses glinting in the light.
Roy traced several runes across its body, then infused it with mana. The bird's wings shuddered, then beat to life. With a flutter, it darted out the window.
The moment it passed outside, it vanished from sight.
"What was that?" Utaha asked, unable to keep the awe from her voice.
"A simple familiar of my own design," Roy explained. "I inscribed invisibility runes on it. Since it's made of metal, it has no life signature, and the eyes function like cameras. Perfect for infiltration and surveillance."
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers.
At once, a transparent projection materialized in the air before them—an aerial map of Fuyuki City, shifting with movement. It was the bird's perspective.
The familiar soared through the skies before finally angling toward a luxurious villa in the residential district.
"No surprise there. Trust a Middle Eastern nouveau riche to buy himself a mansion, even in Fuyuki," Roy muttered with a click of his tongue, envy flickering across his face.
"We're just barging in like this? Won't there be wards?" Utaha asked nervously. The Aozaki estate was surrounded by a powerful barrier; surely others would have defenses too.
And only now did it hit her—Roy was merely a minor-ranked magus. Atram, on the other hand, was officially recognized, a seated magus of higher standing. Wasn't Roy out of his depth here?
Could he really pull this off without being caught?
"Relax," Roy said with a casual wave, chuckling.
"The Atram family are nouveau riche. Before the Catastrophe, magic was just a hobby for them—a toy, a bit of self-defense. They only started taking it seriously after the disaster, and even then, they've studied for barely a decade. Their magecraft is third-rate at best. As for their wards? I could waltz through blindfolded."
"But… isn't Atram officially seated?"
"He bought that title."
"…What."
Utaha was at a loss.
That was even possible?
Magisters were supposed to be warriors against magical beasts, banishers of curses. The role demanded strength, mastery, and risk. Who would pay money for such a burden?
And how could the Association sell such a thing?
"The Association has long been drowning in corruption," Roy said with a shrug, steering the familiar deftly through gaps in the ward. "They're obsessed with profit yet blinded by arrogance. Rin said it herself—the Association rotted years ago."
He wasn't wrong.
Atram's wards were laughably weak. Full of holes. They didn't hold a candle to the thirteen-layered, airtight barrier atop Mount Enzo. Here, Roy really could slip inside blindfolded.
"There. The basement. The workshop. And… oh."
Guiding the brass bird into the villa, Roy easily located Atram's underground laboratory.
But as the familiar's gaze slipped into the chamber, Roy's face stiffened.
Beside him, Utaha paled instantly.