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Brought along by Cortina, we headed towards Maxwell’s residence. Unfortunately, Michelle’s parents were not able to join us because they will be unloading and arranging their luggage. So right now, there’s only Cortina, Finia, Michelle-chan, and me.

Although he was supposedly of the royal bloodline, he abandoned all of that along with his title of nobility when he started out as an adventurer.
But even with that, it still didn’t change the fact that he was still a bigshot of this country. Especially after finishing the extermination of the evil dragon, he was offered to return to his position when he finally came back to his country.

However, even with all of his present achievements, especially the subjugation of the evil dragon, there would still be various legal problems in bringing back nobility who once abandoned their position.
That’s why he was given authority but was not posted in public office. And with his indistinct position, he was then appointed as the director of the Magic Academy.

He was a former royalty and a hero who subjugated Evil Dragon Colchis. Not to mention being a renowned magician.
It would be impossible for Maxwell to reside in a plain-looking house, that’s why his residence is now a splendid mansion. Cortina simply walked straight past the mansion gate without being questioned by the guards.
In my previous life, I have visited places like this so it didn’t bother me much and took a more relaxed bearing. Although I didn’t live in such an extravagant mansion before, I got accustomed to the fact since I would usually do business in such places.

「Maxwell, I have brought them! Come on, let us enter!」

Unlike us who stopped in front of the door, Cortina knocked it forcefully without any hesitation. On the side though, I could see Finia’s face starting to turn pale.
Michelle-chan also had a surprised look, when the 『Friendly Older Sister』 took on a crude and aggressive attitude.

「Seriously, you are as noisy as always. Just wait for a second…… I also want to take my time leisurely from time to time, you know」

An old man opened the door at his own pace without even being bothered by how noisy Cortina was.
He still has the same figure that remained the same as 17 years ago and the trademark pointy ears of an elf.

Now that I think about it, Cortina’s short cut hair also didn’t show any form of decline since that time too. Although it’s not as long as the elves, cat beastmen also have a considerably long lifespan. Her current age should be over 30 years old, but if based on the lifespan of her tribe, then she could still be considered as a young one.

「You finally came out. Why don’t you take advantage of that short life you have left and do things a little faster?」
「I don’t really care about that stuff. I will leave it to my successor to do things if I really need to」
「Don’t, it would be annoying」

After doing their strange arguments and completely rejecting Maxwell’s claim, Cortina suddenly held me up.

「Never mind that, look here. It’s Maria’s daughter, Nicole-chan! Isn’t she cute?」

After holding me up, she then held me close and hugged me from behind. She then without restraint rubbed her cheeks on me to the point that I felt like my cheeks would be deformed and was a bit painful.
Noticing my situation, Finia attempted to move her hands, but stopped and was not able to do anything. After all, the one in front of her is Lyell’s colleague. She can’t just move on her own following strictly based on her own opinion.

「Hohou, so her eyes have unmatched colors. People with such eyes usually have a lot of potential in magic and their foundations are strong」
「Um, I have a gift on Interference Magic」
「I did hear about that, but I didn’t know that you have such eyes. This is something I would look forward to! For now, come in. Do not act so reserved and have some tea」

Maxwell invited us into his mansion and guided us around. As we walked through the corridor of the mansion, I couldn’t help letting my thoughts slip. It was dirty. Dust accumulated all over the place, and some garbage or documents were piling up.

「Th- this is……」
「I haven’t been here in quite a while. You could have at least hired a servant」
「Well, there are a lot of confidential documents lying around. So hiring a servant would be kind of troublesome if it’s not from a reliable place」
「If it’s just that, then clean it up yourself」
「It’s a bother. Would you like to do it instead?」
「And why do you think I would……」

Finia watched their back and forth became even paler and confused, not knowing what to do with the current situation. Seeing the two of them argue like this gives me a sense of nostalgia.
The Magician and the Master Tactician, the two of them would also quarrel a lot in the old days. I was thinking at first that Cortina might have settled down after all those years because of how she conducted herself when we met her, but well you can’t easily change a person’s character even after a long time has passed.

After guiding us to what seems to be a living room, Maxwell attempted to leave the room again.

「Stay here for the time being. I’ll go and prepare some tea for everyone――」
「That’s not it! Didn’t you remember what we came here for, Old Man!」
「Nn? Ah, that’s right. It was for Magic Power Analysis. Then I’ll go fetch the measuring tools」

And just as easygoing as he usually is, Maxwell went out of the room. In the meantime, we cleaned a sofa for everyone to settle down.

「Were you surprised? Especially at how different our interaction was」
「No, from the way he reacted, I could understand that maybe he is just an easygoing person……?」
「You are somehow acting like you have actually seen that person before. Thanks to that, I guess I can just act naturally around him」
「Just like from the past」

I involuntarily said that and immediately covered my mouth. There should have been no way for me to know the Cortina from before. But Cortina didn’t miss my grumbling.

「Nnー? Why do you know about how I was from the past…… Ah, I see. Maria told you about me, right? Seriously, did she want to betray our women’s bond?」
「Eh, umm…… I- I guess so?」

Right now, Maria is closing to her 40’s. But her appearance is still very youthful, enough that she would even pass if she says that she was still in her 20’s.
On the other hand, Lyell is aging normally as he age…… soon enough, he would probably look like a grumpy old demon. Also, it would be horrible to compare humans to other races like the Elf Finia and the Cat Beastman Cortina.

「I have kept you waiting. I took a bit of time because I was brewing some good tea leaves」

After a while, Maxwell finally came back holding a tray with a tea set placed on it. He arranged it on the table near where we seated without even showing any form of elegance that you would expect from a Hero. But despite that, I know very well just how masterful he is in the commandment of spells that pitted him head-to-head against the evil dragon.

It was the same as usual with Cortina, even if she shows annoyance to him, she doesn’t really dislike his ways. He quickly arranges everything on the table and offers us tea.

「You know, I don’t mind the tea, but where is the tool for measuring magic which you should have prepared first! What happened to the measuring board?」
「It’s fine, I didn’t forget about it. I brought it along. See, it’s here」

After saying that, he turns over the tray that he was using and showed it to us. No, that’s not it, that was not a tray but a magic tool, and it was the magic measuring tool itself.

「You…… don’t just use an expensive tool like that as a tray to carry the tea set!」

Cortina couldn’t help but make a remark on how he treats expensive magic tools.
Maxwell…… Sorry, but I also completely agree with Cortina.