Chapter 262

Her appearance, walking down the stairs made of ice she had created, with her thin coat fluttering, was so overwhelming that even Lennok momentarily lost his words.

On the casually draped coat over her shoulders hung a shoulder strap with three overlapping golden circles.

This was an object symbolizing the leadership of the Sinclair Magic Tower, given only to the ten decision-makers of the tower, including the tower master.

After returning to the Sinclair Magic Tower, Aris had legitimately found the right to completely sever the tower's interference.

However, what caught Lennok's eye first was the exceedingly stable mana emanating from her entire body, a stark contrast to her previously wavering demeanor due to her concerns over the engraving of magical symbols. There was only one answer. Lennok also smiled as he looked at her.

"It doesn't always go as planned, does it? Should I congratulate you first?"

"That can wait." Aris said with a smile, pressing her finger on Lennok's lips to silence him. She smiled at such a close distance that Lennok inadvertently closed his mouth.

"Dealing with this monster first is our priority, right?"

"..."

"It's extremely displeasing that no action was taken by the other professors or the administration until things got to this point."

Although Aris was smiling, her tone was chillingly cold.

Knowing that she had a strong character despite her appearance, Lennok shrugged his shoulders.

"What are you two talking about?" Mila, who had been watching them, muttered, and Aris's shoulders twitched. She turned around with a calm smile and offered a handshake to Mila without hesitation.

"Apologies for the late introduction. I am Aris Richellen, the chair professor of the Elemental Studies Department at Rabatenon."

"Professor..."

Only then did Mila realize who she was dealing with, and she bowed deeply.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please take good care of my younger sibling."

"Are you Priscilla's sister?"

"Yes. How did you..."

"I remember the outstanding students well. You seem as intelligent as Priscilla, so I recognized you right away."

"Professor...!!"

Lennok watched with a baffled look as Aris swiftly won Mila over to her side. Davi, watching everything from behind Lennok, muttered.

[A scary person.]

"...Thinking about it, she was always like this."

A person without a single flaw in attitude or skill from the first meeting. The reason she had maintained a balance between the Magic Tower and the university was due to her exceptional talent and flexible handling. Now, having negotiated with the Magic Tower on equal footing, what more is there to say?

"It's fortunate that things worked out well, even if it wasn't intended... She's undoubtedly the best person to handle this situation." Muttering to himself, Lennok looked up at the massive pillar of ice Aris had erected. A corpse made by a bishop-level priest of the Gido sect, using magic. Before heading to Eightfold Fortress, it was necessary to examine its contents.

* * *

With the return of Aris Richellen, the chair professor of the Elemental Studies Department, to her teaching duties, the situation was swiftly resolved.

The other professors, appearing a step late, immediately bowed their heads upon seeing her face, and the administrative staff who had been pretending not to know about Lennok's dealings hurriedly moved as well.

The return of Aris, who had been summoned by the Sinclair Magic Tower, bearing the symbol of the tower's leadership, signified something profound.

Without her notable achievements and skills, she could not have returned to her teaching position in the Magic Tower, which values its traditions and history. Everyone understood this, even without Aris explicitly stating it.

"So, are you saying that no measures were taken to prevent our students from being exposed to such danger?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"I understand that one of the students from the Necromancy Department committed a wrongful act. However, it's hard to accept that there was a lack of follow-up measures, even if preventing such a situation was not possible."

"..."

"It would have been normal to intervene immediately once the incident spread beyond the Necromancy Department's research building. Not doing so, does that mean there was an intentional plan to place the blame on my associate professor who showed a willingness to solve the case?"

The administrative head bowed deeply at Aris's sharp words.

"You're misunderstanding..."

"Well, it's just my speculation and unfounded words."

"..."

"But if the school's response continues to be like this in the future, I might have to have a frank discussion with the members of the city council."

The administrative head couldn't say anything to Aris's smiling face. Even during her time at the Magic Tower, there wasn't much the school could do for her.

The reason she still maintains her professorship at this school is purely due to her own active will. It was as if there was no way for Rabatenon's administration to control her, who could leave her teaching position at any time without it being strange. The significant authority Rabatenon Magic University has despite its short history is largely due to the volunteer work of renowned wizards, including her.

Aris was well aware of this, hence she directly named the head to use the administrative staff as a shield. Finally, having secured the budget needed to repair and restore the damaged buildings of the Elemental and Necromancy Departments, she sighed in her empty office. Lennok, who had been watching the whole process, silently offered her a cup of coffee. Aris naturally accepted it and chuckled.

"I always missed this place when I was at the Magic Tower, but now that I'm back, it's filled with annoying tasks."

"You've had a hard time."

"Although I chose this teaching position myself, this school has too many calculative people."

"..."

"Given it's directly under the city government and a project led by the city council, it might be expected, but sometimes it seems even worse than the elders at the Magic Tower."

Lennok had no words to offer and just shrugged his shoulders. Among wizards, she might be considered an anomaly. Possessing the talent to reach the realm of saints within barely 20 years of encountering magic, yet as interested in nurturing successors as in her own achievements, is rare. At least, the wizards Lennok had seen preferred to be individual wizards rather than someone's mentor or disciple.

The tower master of Blaiver Magic Tower, who deceived Geonis Verbane and turned him into a watchdog, also prioritized protecting the tower over the mentor-disciple relationship.

Lennok hadn't seen many wizards, but it was needless to say that Aris Richellen was special among them. Perhaps, it was her innate goodness that allowed her to maintain her natural talent.

"Let's stop the gloomy talk and tell me about your side."

A mischievous smile appeared on her face as she drank her coffee.

"When I attend the lecture later, I'll check how well you've taught in my absence."

"Do you think I could do as well as Aris?" Lennok asked with a chuckle.

"I'm not really cut out for teaching. I'm barely managing to learn myself, so I'm not even sure if the students are following properly."

"Really? But it seems like Priscilla follows you quite well," Aris commented, her blue eyes shining quietly.

"It seems you're also well acquainted with her sister."

"...We just happened to get to know each other while chasing a member of the Gido sect. Actually, that was the first time we met."

Although it was a bit of a roundabout explanation, Aris's keen insight was unmistakable. She had noticed that Lennok was relatively comfortable with Mila, even without him saying so explicitly. Maybe it was because Lennok, given his and Evan's statuses, had always maintained a certain distance from others, so his friendly demeanor towards Mila stood out.

As Lennok subtly tried to steer the conversation away, Aris's smile deepened.

"Hmm..."

"..."

"Well, it's fine. The important thing is that the situation was resolved."

With that, Aris naturally raised her mana. A warm breeze that swirled from her fingertips gently swept through the office, carrying the slight dust out the window.

Lennok was closely observing the flow of Aris's mana.

Noticing Lennok's overt gaze, Aris smiled and asked, "How is it? Do you notice anything different?"

"...Even if I looked, I'm not sure I would feel anything."

Lennok tried to deflect with his response, but he had noticed a slight change in her manipulation of mana. Her magical pattern, once intricately woven, had become much more complex and stable, and the flow of mana was incredibly smooth.

Most notably, each time she used magic, the core of its flow was supported by two solid and clear wicks. So robust and clear that even Lennok would find it difficult to interfere with the solid backing of her mana flow.

'If one completes their hierarchy, does it change to this extent... Fascinating.'

Lennok had observed countless sorcerers and saint-level wizards, but it was his first time witnessing the transformation of a wizard before and after completing their hierarchy.

Aris was the first wizard he had seen who had completed her ideal image in the realm of saints, showing precisely how a wizard grows and transforms.

Therefore, even though he tried to act nonchalant, Lennok couldn't take his eyes off the flow of mana Aris was using.

It would have been great to witness the moment she ascended to that realm directly... But there was no use dwelling on what had passed.

As if reading Lennok's thoughts, Aris said, "I'm sorry I couldn't show it to you directly."

"Huh?"

"Honestly, I wanted to complete my ideal image in front of Lennok. In a way, Lennok deserves credit for helping me find the answer to the problem I was pondering."

Aris continued as she swirled her coffee cup.

"But sitting in the tower's attic, reflecting on my time in this city... I became certain about what I truly wanted."

"..."

"People are quite ironic. Only after something slips through our fingers, and we face the risk of truly losing it, do we realize its value."

Aris smiled bitterly.

"I'm embarrassed to say, but that was the case with my time in this city for me."

Lennok smiled awkwardly in response.

He spoke vaguely, but Lennok was not unaware of the exact moments she was referring to. Why she would share her feelings upon completing her hierarchy with Lennok, of all people, was something he could guess. It wasn't hard to imagine what scenery held a place in her heart. However, it was a difficult question for both Lennok and Van to answer. Both Aris and Lennok were painfully aware of this fact.

"If the opportunity arises... I hope to witness that achievement."

"Hmm, I won't show it easily."

She grinned and crossed her arms.

"So, once Lennok completes his hierarchy, we should show it to each other."

"...What?"

"The true essence of a person's Self-Domain is an ideal image close to their origin. It would be somewhat embarrassing to show it off by myself."

"But how could I possibly achieve something like Aris..."

"Don't worry about that."

It didn't take long for Aris's laughter to deepen.

"The research we will be conducting will be of great help to Lennok's achievement, after all."

Even after becoming a great saint-level wizard revered by the entire city, her desires remained unchanged. Because she clearly understood what she wanted and had engraved the desired scenery in her heart, she could see the end of her own transformation. Lennok somewhat understood her feelings and chose to laugh lightly instead of probing further.

"Would it be alright for you to teach me so much?"

It was not an empty question.

The high-level manipulation of water currents that Aris used was a testament to her mastery, especially since her expertise included water and ice among various elements.

Inevitably, studying the domain together with Aris would mean meticulously dissecting and analyzing her magic.

"What do you take me for?"

But Aris laughed confidently even after hearing Lennok's words.

"I haven't trained so shallowly that my depth would be exposed in just a few years."

* * *

A week after Aris's appearance had settled the turmoil in Rabatenon.

"Is it over now?"

Lennok looked around the cluttered house, lost in thought. Contrary to her confident words, Aris didn't immediately push work onto Lennok. Instead, she had given him a long-paid leave, acknowledging the hard work he had done in her absence. Thus, Lennok could quickly decide what needed to be done without much deliberation.

Gido sect's bishop and missionary, Walter Martinez.

If he didn't search Eightfold Fortress, where the man's true body was located, soon, it would become difficult to follow the trail. If the Sect really knew something about time magic, Lennok didn't want to miss this opportunity.

"Eightfold Fortress..."

The ticket to the Eightfold Fortress sky auction, received as compensation for helping Blaiver Magic Tower. Wouldn't this serve as a sufficient reason to step into that closed society? The prospect of visiting a place rumored to slow down time, tracking Walter, and attending the auction offered more than enough tasks to undertake.

However, there was one person he needed to contact first before using the ticket.

"I didn't expect to be making this call first."

After much deliberation, Lennok finally picked up his phone. The name Evelyn Marcia appeared above the number on the green-lit screen.

(To be Continued)