It's been two days since I woke up.
　A lot of people came to see me yesterday when they heard I was awake.
　I would have gone to them, but Sherry, Leena, and Belle did their best to stop me, so I just stayed in bed all day.

　So, back to the point, we had a lot of people over yesterday.
　Not to mention Frank and Hermann. Frank and Hermann, and of course, Frank and Hermann, my brother Ivan and Eunice, and my uncle were there. And then the emperor and Cliff, who came all the way down, which was pretty amazing.
　They thanked us for protecting Shelly and the many noblemen's children.
　Of course I said, "No, you didn't do much.
　But he said, "No, if you hadn't built the wall, many more people would have died: ......" and he was very clear about his reasoning.
　It seems that none of the people who were behind me on the side of the wall ...... are dead.
　I was told that the reason for that is because the ring I was wearing disabled instant death.

　I should explain what the uncle did to me before I could explain.
　He said he figured out who did it.
　So he told me the culprit and it was a shocker.

　It was the master's son.
　His name was Gerd Fermat.
　He was 31 years old, the same age as my uncle.
　He'd attended a magic school, but he didn't go to nobleman's school, so my uncle didn't know him.

　I heard he was a skilled magician who used supplementary magic, but he was very difficult.
　He had a lot of troubles with the school because of money, so he quit the school last year.
　After that, he used the vast wealth of the Philibert family to conduct research, and invented many unusual magic tools one after another.
　It seems that he added instant death to the bomb with an obscure spell called Add-on Magic.
　I was able to get this much information from the people at the wizarding academy and the surviving Philibert family members.
　But no one seemed to have detailed information about Gert's ability.

　So I decided to go to the master who would know the most about it.
　With Sherry, Leena, and Belle.
　But he's worried about you, so he wants to spend some time with you.
　Well, I've caused them a lot of trouble, so I'm going with them.


Master!　They're here!
　As usual, I metastasized inside the shop and called out to Master and immediately heard his reply .

''Oh!　That's your voice, Leo!　Listen to me!　What's up with the magic tool you asked for soon, ......, with all the pretty girls?　Perhaps you're here to introduce me to your rumored marriage partner?
　Master, who didn't know anything, was happy to see Shelly and the others with me .
　Huh, I'm going to have to explain to them about Master's son, and I'm going to want to leave: .......
　But I'm going to have to explain it to you .

''That's right . This is the princess, Shelia . This is the saint's grandson, Rihanna. And this is my maid, Belle.

Nice to meet you.

'Oh, oh ....... Nice to meet you. Ho, Leo really was a nobleman: ......
　Apparently, Master was overwhelmed by the way Shelly and the others were dressed and my unusual attire.

'Well, yeah . Anyway, I have something important to talk to you about, is that okay?
　With the three of us introduced, I decided to get down to business.
　You can't keep putting off the things you don't like, you know.

Hey. It's okay. It's just a workroom. You okay?

Yes. I'm fine.

So, what's the big deal?　Maybe you're getting married or something?　Isn't it a bit early for you to get your rocks off?
　Sorry, Master . I appreciate you seeing my hard expression and trying to soften it, but it's not something I can laugh about today .

'No, it's not. Did you know there was an explosion at school the other day?

Yeah, I heard some chatter about it. But I've been working on some new stuff lately, so I don't know all the details.
　Of course. That's what I thought.

'Oh, right: ....... So let me explain in a nutshell. A bomb was set off at my school the other day. A lot of noble children died.

The explosion was that big. 　Do you know who did it?

Yes. The murderers were the Philibert family.

The House of Philibert is a duke. They were behind the Fermor family. Why would a family like that do such a thing?
　When Master heard the name of the Philibert family, he looked surprised .


　Well, the average person doesn't know how bad it is over there: .......

'It's to sell the empire to the kingdom . . that place was in bad shape and they needed the money, so they sold the kingdom.

I see. ....... So, how did you come to me?
　Now, let's get down to business: .......
　I was ready and began to explain.

'Actually, sir, ....... My master's son, Gerd Fermat, was the one who made the bomb.

What?　Did Gert make a bomb?　So you're saying that my son was complicit in a mass murder?
　Master looked at me in disbelief and asked me back.
　Well, you don't want to believe that your son is a criminal .

''Yes, sir. Definitely.

　At my answer, Master thought about it for thirty seconds, and then he spoke up again.
"So, did they catch Gert?

No, he killed more heads of House Philibert to destroy the evidence, and then fled to the kingdom.

'Right. ....... That guy must have committed one hell of a crime.
　Master took in the situation and said in a low, muttered voice .

''......,''
　How to start asking questions to a grieving mentor: .......
　So I thought, I couldn't quite start asking Master a question.

'So, what am I going to tell him?　I'll tell you anything I can talk about.
　I was quiet for a while and then I heard from Master as he cleared his mind.
　I think he understood what I had come for.

I'll leave it at ...... first to find out what kind of person you are, Mr. Gert.

"What Gert is like: ....... I'm sorry. I can't go into detail.

'What?　What do you mean?
　What do you mean?　You just said you'd tell me anything you could talk about.

'No, I'm not trying to hide it. It's really embarrassing, but I was so wrapped up in my wizards that I couldn't do anything fatherly for that guy as a kid.
　Oh, so that's what I'm talking about: .......
　You can imagine what it's like. ...... Even now, I didn't know about the huge explosion of schools that you'd hear about if you were in the imperial city and didn't want to, so I guess I wasn't more interested in my surroundings then. .......

'Really, I was a bad parent. ....... The only thing I could have done was teach him magic tools and send him to witchcraft school . He hardly ever talked to me. I was confined to the workroom.
　Lack of communication between father and son.
　I'm starting to have a feeling there's something wrong with Master.

"Come to think of it, we had a real fight one time. Yes, when my wife died. When Gert came home in a hurry after hearing the news of his mother's death, he punched me after he found out his wife was dead. And it's your fault she's dead!　He turned to me and said. She said that all you did was make magic tools, and that's why your mother was forced to die so early.
　I see: ....... Mr. Gert was very close to your mother, wasn't he?
　Well, he seems like a kind person, even if I remember what my master said about his wife before .

I was an idiot at the time, and I snapped at her and hit her back. At the time, I didn't realize how great she was. And it wasn't until I started doing everything myself that I realized it. Really, it's too late for that: ......
　Wow. ....... My son is not going to like that.

'I see. What happened to Mr. Gert after his master hit him?

"I walked out without saying a word. Really, I can't tell you how many times I've apologized to Gert.
　Yeah, I wish you'd realized that sooner.
　Maybe Mr. Gert wouldn't have had to go down the wrong path. .......

'I see. ....... Well then, next question . Could you tell me about Gert-san's additional magic?

'Additional magic?　Yeah, I think it's ...... the ability to use a lot of magic to add some abilities to things. But it seems like they could only do things like make rocks glow and that's about it. That's about all I know.
　Yeah, I'm a really bad parent.
　If he wasn't my teacher, I'd be cursing him out.
　I wish you'd been more interested in your children.

Yeah. ...... All right. All right, that's all the questions.

I'm sorry I didn't know everything. I'm sorry I was such a bad teacher.



''No, I will continue to respect my master in the future. However, ...... I think you should look back on your life so far at least for a little while from now on.
　I'd like to say more, but Master knows that, so I'll keep it to this .

''Yeah, you're right: ...... I will. Also, I can't make amends, but I'll still think of ways to make amends as best I can.

I understand. I'll make it up to you, too.
　For the sake of the people I didn't protect in this case, I'm gonna make sure we get Gert.

No, that's not a problem. You're the victim.

No, they didn't do much damage to me. You see? I'm fine.
　As soon as I said that, I thought I had failed.
　Now you know you're cheating, don't you?

Yeah, I think I got it. You were hurt badly by Gert's bomb, weren't you?
　I knew it was going to happen.

It's ......
　I don't know. Shall I tell you?

Yes. I did. She was hurt so badly that she almost died. Both arms were gone, and she was covered in wounds and burns all over.
　As I was struggling, Leena, who was sitting next to me, answered for me.
　I mean, I didn't hear that you lost both arms!
　Me, maybe I'm missing an arm: .......
　I don't know how it works.

"Well, I didn't know it was that bad. ......

By the way, since Leo-kun left out an important explanation, I'll say it for you, the real purpose of using this bomb was to kill him. Mr. Gert understood that and made a very powerful bomb that could kill Leo-kun with additional magic.
　Wait!　You're going to say that?

I'm really sorry about that ....... I can't even ask you to forgive me. You don't have to forgive me, just let me do whatever I need to do.
　After hearing Leena's story, Master looked surprised and immediately apologized with a serious expression on his face .

''No, it's fine . No, yeah ...... I'm going to leave here today . We'll talk again at leisure .
　Look, this is a tough time to talk.
　We'll talk to each other when we're both a little more relaxed.

Yeah, all right. I'm really sorry.

All right. I'll see you later.


Haha. ......
　As I transitioned into the room, I sighed loudly.
　I was more tired than I'd expected.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?
　I said, 'Why did you tell your master that I was the target?' I was about to say to Leena, but she asked the question faster than I did.

'It's ......'
　Why didn't I tell you?
　Because it was hard to tell?

''If you have respect for Master, you shouldn't lie to him. That lie isn't good for you. It's a lie that can be easily exposed anyway.
　Come to think of it, that's true. Colt would have known right away that I was badly injured, and it was only a matter of time before Master heard about it.
　Haha, I should have told you.

''You're right . ....... Thanks for telling me instead.

No, I thought it would be hard for Leo to tell you directly, so I had to say it instead.

Yeah, that's really helpful.
　I probably should have said it, but it was really hard to say.
　So, honestly, Leena helped me.

But in the end, we didn't find out all the details of Gert's abilities, did we?

Well, it's all right. But from what I heard, it sounded like my magic. Instead of using a lot of magic, it's a magic that can do special things ...... similar to creation and destruction magic, so I'm sure it's a great ability.
　I think the key word would be 'use a lot of magic' as my master said .

''Right . ....... From now on, you'll have to fight someone with the same level of ability as Leo and Lou: ......
　That's definitely scary to think about.

I guess so. You'll have to get stronger from now on. First, we have to build up our domain strength.
　We must keep building up our strength if we are to protect what is important to us.
　From now on, we'll drop the naivety of this time and use every ounce of our strength.
　I will always give it my all. If I don't, we'll really die and we won't be able to protect what's important to us.



Yeah. I'm going to try my best to be a better magician.
I'll do my best to heal any injuries I may have.
I'm ...... going to be a more competent maid.

No, it's good enough to have you three by my side. No, let's all work toward our goals.
　Normally I would have said, 'It's enough just to be by my side,' but this time we all decided to do our best .
　Because I realized that there are people I can't win by myself anymore.
　And there will probably be more and more of them. When that time comes...there will be a time when I need to rely on others.
　And when that happens, it's always better to have a little help from everyone.

""Yes."
　Hearing the three of you give strong responses, I'm going to go for it!　I felt like .
　Be sure to protect what's important to you: .......