Late at night, the darkness grows darker and the lush light of the moon pours in. Once the moon is hidden by the clouds, the world is immediately enveloped in darkness.

　In a room in the Linfold house, the only light comes from a flickering candle. The owner of one room stops to gaze at the moon, which has been hidden by the clouds as the flame burns discreetly.

　He moved away from the window and sat down on the couch in an elegant manner. The Lord exhales slowly and brings his gaze to the door of the room. More precisely, he turns to his attendant who is standing there quietly.

'Report,'

　The squire nodded reverently at the request briefly conveyed by the Lord.

''I was in the forest today with two S-class adventurers, receiving a request from the Adventurers Guild.
'S-class adventurer...?　So, did you learn anything?
'It seems they were just hunting slime, and not particularly.

　The Lord clicks his tongue evasively at the poor report delivered in a flat voice.

'What's your move?'
'He seemed to be close to two S-class adventurers, and one of them had a knot in his throat that he was aware of my presence. I'm sure they'll be wary of you, and it will be difficult.

　Targeted and calm analysis.

　But it didn't seem to be to the Lord's liking, and he was busily shifting one foot around. The tapping and rhythmic sound of shoes echoed in the quiet room.

'Seth's guy came back with an unconcerned look on his face and... oh, it's irritating.

　Stroking his gray hair roughly, the Lord let out a deep breath. He turned his cloudy eyes to his squire in a high-pressure manner.

'Anyway, keep watching. It doesn't matter if you're a little reckless, if there's an opening, it's your call.
I understand.

　The squire thanked him and left the room.

　After the sound of the door closing, the master of the room - Alda sniffed, exuding a bad mood.



　* * * *.



　The day after the Wraiths tried out their wands.
　In addition to Seth, who had been promised in advance, Raffy and Sylvia were at Wraith's house.

　However, Raffy and the others had only come to receive the completed sword.

''Yes, this...!

　Wraith heavily held out a sword in a sheath composed of black and silver. It was made according to Raffy's request, so even Wraith, who has muscles there, can only support it with both hands.

　Raffy receives the sword that Wraith struggled to lift without changing her expression.

''Can I give it a light shake?''
Yeah, make sure it doesn't feel different.

　The Wraiths distance themselves from Raffy.

　After confirming this, Raffy pulled the sword from its scabbard with one hand.
　The sword's blade is all silver, and the hilt is red, like Raffy's hair color. It was simple to look at, yet strangely intimidating.

　Raffy looked at the sword with a divine expression and then took a stance.

''Huh!''

　He let out a thin breath and a flash.
　The sword swung out with unnoticeable speed, generating a bit of wind.

　Raffy tucked the sword into its scabbard as the Wraiths looked on and smiled with satisfaction.

'Nice sword. Thanks.'
It's cool to have a real job after all. I'm glad you like it.

　The Wraith, the creator, is now relieved.
　Raffy happily puts her sword on her hip.

''Well then, we'll go ahead and take the request.
Yeah, have a good day, okay?

　We see Raffy and Sylvia off and it's only Wraith and Seth in their place. By the way, Lurimes is in bed with a hangover. She went to the tavern by herself yesterday and drank too much.

''Well, shall we continue our request as well?
Yes.

　Wraith takes the light silver out of his bag that he has finally obtained. We have to think of a way to save the crystal dragon from here.

''For now, let's check the melting and freezing points.

　I take my magic tools out of my bag and get ready to experiment.
　Now, when it's time to get down to business, the light in the room suddenly goes out.

　Suddenly, the lights in the room go out.
　However, it's still daylight, so it's not completely dark. The only light that shines through the window illuminates the room.

'Why the lights...'

　Everything in Wraith's house is basically a magic tool. Its power is magic power sent from the magic stone, and as long as the magic power doesn't run out, it will continue to run. The rest can be operated freely by turning the switch on and off, but no one is doing that right now.

　I thought for a moment that it was a malfunction on the magic stone side, but then I realized that the magic tools other than the lights were working. In other words, it's not a problem on the magic stone side.

　When Wraith unintentionally stared at the ceiling light with a quizzical expression.

''Wraith!''

　Suddenly, Seth pushed him away and Wraith fell on his ass as hard as he could. When he looked up, his eyebrows furrowed at the sudden action, he saw that the hammock right behind the Wraith had been sliced in half.

　If Seth hadn't pushed him away, it was Wraith who would have been like that.

　I shudder at the thought.

'There's someone else out there besides us!　And it's attacking me with magic, too!
Who's there? Where are you?

　I'm now in a room in the workshop that is both an experiment and a living space. I look around the room, which is a decent size, and I don't see anyone in the room.

''Probably magically hiding himself!　You're quite a mage!
You have that kind of magic?

　At the same time as Wraith lets out a startled cry, a faint sound of huffing and puffing and wind cutting occurs. As I hurriedly take evasive action, the walls and floor are scratched one after another.

''Can't you do something about it!
I got it!

　Immediately after Seth avoided the wind blade, he released a ball of compressed water into the empty space. Then there was a dull thud and a dull sound, and a person appeared in the space that should have been empty.

　A black robe and a pure white mask on his face. He is in a low position, holding his abdomen with one hand. No matter how you look at it, Wraith and Seth prepared themselves for the full extent of the suspicious person's outfit.

　The masked figure stood up waveringly and quickly closed the distance as it was. In one hand, a black-painted knife was held in one hand before they knew it.

''It's not just magic...!

　Seth hurriedly tried to release his magic, but before he could, the masked figure's right leg reached out sharply and stabbed into Seth's abdomen. Unable to resist, Seth was blown away and rolled on the floor in anguish.

''Seth!''

　Wraith quickly intervened between the masked figure and Seth. However, the masked figure did not chase after Seth, but changed direction. Beyond that.

''Is the aim light silver...!

　He realized his aim, but he couldn't stop it in time. Unintentionally, Wraith's expression twisted in anguish--

Yes, don't move.

　When the interrupted voice reached Wraith's ears, the movement of the masked figure's hands came to a halt. If you look closely, you can see that the masked figure's body is shaking as if it is trying to endure something.

　A hand stretched out from the side took up a knife with a whim.

''........Thank you, Master.''
No.

　The person who prevented the masked figure from acting was Lurimes. Now, the masked figure is unable to move an inch from the spot due to gravity magic.

'Are you okay, Seth?'
Yeah, I'm fine...

　Seth is in pain, but not particularly hurt. He stands up with the help of Wraith.

So, what's this all about?
Look, we don't know what happened. Suddenly the lights went out, and then we were attacked by magic.
Hmm. Let's see what he looks like anyway.

　Rulimes approached the motionless masked figure and picked up the mask that covered his face.
　Underneath the mask is a man. His age is probably in his early thirties. There was a noticeable large scar on his cheek.

　Seth's eyes widened when he saw the man.

''You're ... of the ... house, I believe.''

　He looked familiar.
　He was one of the servants of House Linfold. The scar on his cheek was so impressive that it remained in Seth's memory.

''Why did you call us...!

　Seth couldn't help but close in on the man, but the man refuses to open his mouth. He glances at Seth with a glancing glance and immediately closes his eyes as if he's lost interest.

'You're from Seth's house?'
One of my House Squires. ....maybe he's the difference between them and Alda.

　That was the only factor that came to mind in Seth's mind. Or rather, there would be no other reason for it to exist.

'What do we do now?'
''Well for now, let's go ahead with the experiment. If Alda finds out about the failed interference, she might try something else.
All right. Master, help me with this.

　Rulimes had a disgusted look on his face, but he didn't have the right to veto it.