The day after we received the letter of introduction, the four of us left the royal capital, Mulia, in a dragon carriage to meet with the Golden Mark magician, Colonchudo Resta.

　She told us that her house was located 10,000 meters (10 km) away from the capital, in the middle of nowhere.

(What on earth is she like?)

　The most powerful wizard.
　And no way, Mr. Elf!

　Coupled with the expectation of being able to communicate with the spirits, I asked Kirt-san, another Gold Seal adventurer, about her, with my heart racing.

''--That was a freak,''

　What came back was a terrible word.

　I was stunned, and Mr. Kilt tells me.

　Mr. Coloncude is not, in fact, an elf.

It's a high elven tribe.
High Elf!

　He's a higher being than the elves, closer to the fairies and gods, and he's a fairy person with a lifespan of over 10,000 years.

　Mr. Colontude is also over a thousand years old.
　No, it's too awesome to understand.

(In my previous life, I guess it's like a 1000 year old sacred tree or something like that.)

　Such a Colonchudo-san, in fact, has been reigning in the Kingdom of Shumuria as a Golden Mark adventurer since before Kirt-san was born. No, he has been a Gold Seal since more than 100 years before every human being alive today was born.
　All of the older people currently holding important positions in the King's Capital had been under her care in the past.

　The adventurer's guild that is enrolled in is the longest-established 'Grassland Singing Ears' in the kingdom.
　But they are not active in the guild and are only in name now.

　Mr. Colontude is a 'Demonologist'.

　Living since the era of the ancient Thanatos magic dynasty, she was a researcher who made the study of magic her sole reason for living. She lives away from King's Landing to devote herself to her research, away from the troublesome world. He even refused to attend the 50th anniversary of the king's birth for this reason. His research is funded, incidentally, by generous donations from past benefactors.

　This brings me back to Kirto's first words.

'Colon is not interested in anything but research. ....I've met him a few times, but he's not like a conversationalist with a straw man. To be honest, I don't know what's going on in that thing's head.
..........
Even that philandering Elle didn't make a move on me.

　...........

(I'm starting to get worried.)

　But Solstice, the wizard-girl riding with him, retorts with a twinkle in her eye.

'What are you talking about, Master Colontude, you're a genius!
..........

　Oh my God, with a 'sama',

　Solstice spoke passionately.

　"Columbus Lesta is a great contributor to the wizarding world, having discovered a staggering 17 different types of lost Thanatos magic in the last 100 years.

(Seventeen species, that's amazing.)

　That's 17 different species, using a seemingly infinite number of combinations as the denominator.
　I don't need to tell you how much of a feat that is, since a single person discovers the odds of winning the first prize in the lottery every few years, more difficult than the odds of winning the first prize in the lottery. Especially from the point of view of Solstice, who is also a magical researcher, she must have felt the awesomeness of it many times more than we did.

''I read her paper at the Royal Library once. It was a shock~
..........

　

　...........
　The eccentric and genius High Elf-san.

(I'm starting to get more and more confused about the character.)

　As I listen to the girl's voice, I struggle with a difficult face.

　And then a white hand gently strokes my head.

You'll know it when you see it.

　Mr. Illtimina laughed.

(I see. Yeah, you're right.)

　Squinting at the comfort of having my hair combed, I leaned deeper into the seat of the dragonwheel.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find the best way to get your hands on it.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　In the middle of the street, we got off the dragon car.
　In front of us was a forest.

　It was written in the introduction letter that the residence of the Golden Mark magician, Colontude Resta, was at the end of this forest.

(How many times have I been in the forest since my reincarnation?)

　With that in mind, we entered a paradise of plants.

　A tunnel of trees.
　A bridge of old fallen moss-covered trees over a clear river.

　I'm used to walking through a world of trees littered with sunshine through the trees.

(Still, it was tiring, though.)

　Why does Mr. Columcude live so deep in the woods, where it's not convenient for traffic?　I wondered.
　Then Mr. Kilt said that he must have made the place inaccessible to the public in order to immerse himself in his research. Come to think of it, I remembered that Mr. Kilt's title of "The Golden Seal" caused people to rush in and give up their homes every day. There was so much realization in his voice.

　Isn't it because Solstice's research experiments in magic can be so damaging when they fail?　I said. She said it was more convenient to be in a remote place like this to avoid involving others when something goes wrong. Incidentally, she said that she once caused a blubbering mess at home because of a failed experiment. Iltimina-san said that she was extremely angry with her - so when her sister revealed it to her, Solstice said, "Why do you say that?! And he was in tears. Haha.........

　As we were walking along talking like that, the landscape changed.

　Cracked stones in the soil under my feet begin to show their faces.

(.........Is this a cobblestone?)

　As we followed the cobblestone path, both sides of the ground rose and were flanked by cliffs. The path widened, and on either side of it, there was a line of broken stone pillar-like objects. Inscribed on them were Thanatos magic letters.

'This is from the Thanatos era.

　Solstice was amazed.

　Soon, the area in front of him opened wide and a large square with a magic circle painted on it appeared.

　The square is surrounded by a row of stone pillars.
　There are two broken stone pillars.
　Four unbroken stone pillars were decorated with a stone statue that looked like a falcon, about two meters long.

　And at the end of the square is a very huge tree.
　The height of the tree is about 20 meters.
　But the circumference of the trunk seemed to be much longer than that. The overhead branches and leaves jutted out to the side.

　And there was a wooden door between the undulating roots that supported it, like a huge snake.
　There were also several windows in the trunk.

(Could that big tree be a house?)

　It's a fantasy home, really.

There it is.
Yes.
I'm afraid so.

　We nodded.

Let's go!

　Solstice rushed out, as if she couldn't wait. His feet stepped on the magic circle in the square.

　The magic circle flashed.

'Huh?'

　The light streamed into the stone pillars

　Gigi.........

　A stone statue of a falcon, atop four pillars, spilled gravel and spread its wings wide.

　Bowan.

　And then the figure was enveloped in scorching heat.

　The four 'flaming eagles' soared into the sky, and once they flew in a circular motion, they swooped down at us.

(Eek!)

　Hurry and avoid.

　Hugos.

　The 'Flaming Eagles' who passed by with lightning-like speed, soared up into the sky again, leaving behind a residue of flames.
　Just passing by their side, it was a tremendous heat.

''Hm?　Is this Colon's creation, the Keeper of Magic?

　Mr. Kilt muttered.

'Wait ... we'll be back!　

　Solstice, who triggered the trap, let out an impatient voice.
　I, too, was trying to pull out the 'fairy sword' in a hurry

It's okay, Merle.

　Holding her hand, Illtimina stepped forward.

　Kashan.

　A white spear wing decoration unfolds, revealing a red magic stone and a beautiful blade.
　Holding it up.

"--Hagenshi, the White Dance

　At the same time as the voice, countless feathers of light erupted from the glowing magic stone, and they converged into three 'women of light', much like Illtimina-san.

　They flew into the sky.

　The Spear of Light in her hand is swung out at the descending Flame Eagle, and Illtimina herself throws the White-winged Spear.

　Gagaaan Dopan.

　With a roar, the "Flaming Eagles" scattered in the sky.

　Fragments of stone wrapped in flames fall to the ground in pieces. Wow, that's dangerous. Even after falling to the ground, the fragments of the scattered stone statues continued to be wrapped in flames. Apparently, it's not an ordinary fire, but a magical fire.

''Huh.''

　After putting away the 'Flame Eagle' in an instant, Illtimina-san exhaled.

　Kash.

　When the wing decorations close, the three 'women of light' also disintegrate into feathers of light and disappear.

(As expected of you, Illtimina!)

　I looked up at the beautiful 'Silver Seal Demon Hunter'.

''Thank you, Miss Illtimina.''
No. Are you hurt anywhere, Merle?
Yes.

　We laughed gently at each other.

　Just then, there is a small sound, and the door at the base of the tree opens.

　We turn around to see a man in a robe.

　The one who appeared from there was a blonde beauty in a robe.

　Her golden hair, unkempt and full of sleeping habits, was longer than she was tall, spreading to the ground. From her hair sprouted beautifully shaped long ears, with several magic-stone ornaments swinging from them.
　His face was white and neat.
　His jade eyes, which were like emerald gems, but unfortunately, the top half of them were closed by his eyelids, and he looked somewhat very sleepy.

　Her robe, which would have been beautiful to begin with, was also very, very tired, as if she hadn't changed clothes in a long time.

　She is very beautiful.
　And yet, partly because she is hunched over, she looked shabby for some reason.

　All eyes were on the unfortunate beauty.

　She slowly looks at us in turn, and then at the pieces of the magical stone statues lying on the ground.

　Xixi.

　A white hand hides the sleepy blonde's hair.

"....sorry, ...avoidance, trap ... disarm, forget ...

　...........

(What's this deflated feeling?)

　An empty wind passed between the four of us.

　Apparently, this unfortunate beauty who came out of Daiki's house seemed to be the legendary Golden Seal magician Colontuado Resta who was introduced to us.......