...... Yeah, I have one question for you. Is there anyone you guys know who can use the [Magic Tool Making] skill?

　After being asked that question by me, Melissa pretended to be a bit troubled, and then answered the question with an embarrassed smile for some reason.

''I'm sorry, I actually don't have anyone I can call a wizard, let alone someone who can use [Magical Tool Making], but I don't even know anyone I can call a wizard: ......''
''Eh ...... If you were able to learn so many attribute magic, then you must have believed in a wizard-related god. If that's the case, if you know someone in that field, you can go to .......
'Oh, by the way, did I ever tell you who I am?　You seem to know a lot about Nagi. It's going to take a long time to tell you from the beginning, but do you have time?

　I thought about it for a bit, then shook my head.

　I've certainly heard a lot about Nagi in relation to Sakura.

　He's from the same region of the Eastern Continent, he's from a clan that tends to be at odds with the Sakura clan in some way, and he's acquired skills and techniques as a special agent called a ninja - all of this is information via Sakura.

　But when it came to Melissa, she knew nothing more than a jealous attribute wizard who had feelings for Nagi.

'My full name is actually Melissa Akabane.
'You have a family name?　You're from a good place.
No, no, it's just a remnant of the old days.

　Me and Melissa leaned against the outer wall of the archives and started talking to each other.

　There was a constant stream of building work going on around us, but the noise was not reaching us, let alone inside the archives.

　Thanks to the soundproof ward Noir has put in place, we are able to conduct our research without being bothered by the sounds of the outside world.

''It was a long time ago ...... roughly a hundred years ago. The powerful lords of the Eastern Continent's imperial kingdom sent emissaries to a certain country on the Western Continent on their own accord. One of them decided not to return home but to settle down ...... and that was the beginning of the Akabane family.

　I thought it was a family name that sounded Eastern, but I didn't think it really was.

　Then, does that mean that Melissa has Eastern blood in her veins?

　The answer to the question that popped up in my mind was explained by Melissa without even bothering to ask.

''However, my family lineage is quite distant branch family lineage. Unlike my original family, I'm not at all concerned about my bloodline, and in my generation, I'm more than 90% western.
'I see. ...... If you didn't dare to obsess about it, you would.
Well, the original one seems to be less than a quarter of the way down at its thickest point.

　Even if one's ancestors were Eastern, the proportion of Eastern elements in the bloodline would only go down unless one took steps such as repeated marriages between relatives.

　It was no surprise that Melissa's appearance didn't give such an impression at all.

　Rather, if one calculated from prehistoric times, it must be that every Western person had an Eastern bloodline mixed in, and conversely, every Eastern person had a Western bloodline mixed in.

The main family translated the family name into the western language of the West and established the Akabane Knights, but our family was just an ordinary, ordinary family.
...... It's a terrifically interesting story, but what does it have to do with the fact that you don't know any wizards?
Oh, excuse me. Well, to the point.

　Melissa returned to the main topic of the conversation, which was getting grandly sidetracked.

My family has an old tradition, or charity, of helping the Easterners who come across the sea on rare occasions. Per family, it may be once every few years or so. ......

　Somewhere along the line, Melissa's expression had become that of a nostalgic memory.

'The traveler my parents let stay at home was a wizard named Onmyouji. He could read the stars and combined the five great attributes of the Eastern School with the ten attributes of light and darkness!　It was so cool and I admired it. ......
'He didn't know which god to pray to in the west.
That's right. But I couldn't give up, and I couldn't give up, so I kept praying to all the gods in town, and I don't know which god gave me the [Attribute Magic].

　Melissa smiles in an embarrassed manner.

　I had never heard of this kind of background to be able to use magic, but as long as it was actually happening, I can only agree that it could happen.

　Besides, it was definitely a history that could only convince me as to why I didn't know any wizards.

'Thanks, I understand very well. But still, I'm surprised you were able to train that much on your own. Is that why you became an ...... adventurer after all?
......!　As expected of a veteran, you know that much?

　Melissa looked up at me with a renewed sense of admiration, rolling her eyes.

'If you were an adventurer who could only use one attribute magic, there were a few adventurers out there. It's like becoming an adventurer and taking care of those people and training them one by one to get to where we are now. Well, it was hard work.

　Now it made sense that Melissa didn't do research like a wizard, and was purely an adventurer.

　This is because she was different from an ordinary wizard from the starting line and did not even aspire to be a professional wizard.

　-- A completely unrelated question suddenly passed through my mind.

　At what point did Melissa meet Nagi?

　It could be that they met while carrying out the family tradition of supporting Eastern travelers, or they could have met in the course of their activities after they both became adventurers.

　But such a question was indeed impolite, so I'll keep it in the back of my mind and ask another question.

...... By the way, let's change the subject. It's a good idea to be able to have a look at a few of the things you're going to be able to do.　There's a family tradition of helping Eastern people, and yet you've been removed from any work involving the East?

　My question, which I uttered casually, was answered by Melissa with a casualness that made me say, 'What's that all about?

''Our main family is just the main founding members, and almost all of the Knights are not related to the East. And it's not good to get close to them, is it?
'Yeah, ......, that's for sure.

　Although the main family of the Akabane clan was in a position to leave the name of Red Feather in the name of the Knights, the entire Knights were not governed by their personal intentions.

　And the duties of the Purple Jade Order include even military vigilance against the Eastern Continent.

　It's not surprising that a family with Eastern bloodline and a tradition of helping travelers from the East would not be able to be entrusted with the job - no, it's a natural role for the Akabane family to refuse.

I'm sorry to hold you back. I'm sorry to stop you, but it was a great help to me to learn various things. Then I'll see you later.

　At any rate, I got more information from Melissa than I had hoped to get out of her.

　I was just about to leave, wondering if I'd kept Garnett waiting too long, when Melissa popped her hands together and spoke up, looking as if she remembered something.

'Yes!　I forgot something very important!
What's wrong with ......?
'Here's a message from Nagi. I was promised before, Sakura ......'s godsend, was it?　Anyway, the means of stopping it from spiraling out of control, maybe the idea is about to solidify, so I told Luke to tell him that.