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During the entire week after that incident, I extracted the black magic power from the servants and townsmen that were possessed, asked Reina and Hans to train Est, and received Urania’s punishment. Really, this time’s punishment was quite intense, mainly on my sanity. I nearly went out of control.

Adan was disgruntled when she learned about the attack, complaining 「Why was I so deep in sleep!」 and 「Why didn’t anyone wake me up!」 but she quickly stopped complaining. After all, she’s too excited to do so.

「Father! Listen! I can do it! I can use “Corona Burn” now!」
「What!? Seriously!? That’s amazing!」
「Ah! You don’t believe me! I really can use it, you know! Come to the training room later!」
「Haha, I know, I know. Later.」
「It’s a promise, okay!」

This adorable exchange came from Adan and her father, one of the twelve sages, Ces Blanco Leo Iglesio. Ces, no, Sir Ces, I guess? He looks considerably unreliable compared to my imagination. How should I say this, he seems ‌thin or rather, scrawny? He has a 7:3 side part cut, which is ‌unusual in this world, fluffy round ears, droopy eyes, and a friendly grin. He’s a picture of a kind-looking man, I can’t really see him as the same person touring the nation to supervise the kingdom’s magic.

「Oh hey, you’re Lily, right? And you should be Urania. Two adventurers as cute as I’ve heard.」
「It is my honor to meet you, White Peer Iglesio.」
「Haha, it’s fine. No need to be stiff like that. I’m not really that grand of a person. I’ve heard about you from old man Kent, you know? You’re not that sort of person, right?」
「Well, if you like it better that way, it’ll be a lot easier for me too.」
「Yup, sure sure. I’m also not too good with formalities‌.」

And this was our first conversation. He’s so friendly that I’m the one feeling uncomfortable. Hearing him talk is making me doubt if he really is the Sage of Leo, I reflexively shifted my gaze to old man Kent.

「Well, I can relate to your thoughts. This ‌is my son, the head of the Iglesio family, the Sage of Leo Ces. Don’t be deceived by his looks. He’s a vicious man.」
「That’s mean, pops. Don’t say it like that.」
「What are you even talking about? I’ve only said the truth.」
「Ha, haha…」

What are they even expecting me to make of this conversation?

◆◇◆◇◆

That night, the chef of the manor displayed his finesse and readied us a feast. Rather, it was pretty much a party. No outsiders were invited though and the members only consisted of six people: old man Kent, grandma Fiona, Ces, Adan, Urania, and me. Serving us were Reina and Barry, with Est following them as a part of her training.

「A toast for my son Ces’ homecoming! Cheers!!」
「「「「Cheers!」」」」

At the old man’s lead, we raised our glasses, and four voices overlapped as we cheered. Since Urania and I are pretty much of legal drinking age in this country, our glasses had fruit wine of low alcoholic content. Adan’s glass naturally only had regular juice.

「Cheers. Come on, we don’t really need to celebrate like this every time.」
「What are you talking about, father! We obviously need this, right?」
「Exactly, we do. Since you never come home enough, we have no other choice but to prepare a grand celebration every time. 」
「Like I said, why does it always end up like that……」

It seems like this celebration happens every time Ces returns home. Well, yeah, Adan is pretty hyped about it‌…… I’ve heard that even before she took her lessons with me, she would obediently listen to her lessons only when Ces was on his way home. She’d take her lessons to prepare for it.

That same Adan, right after finishing her dinner, exhausted her energy and almost immediately fell asleep.

「Ah~ah. See, that’s what happens when you’re over-excited all the time. Reina.」
「Yes. Miss Lily, please excuse us.」

Reina carried the now sleeping Adan and left the dining hall. She’s probably going to bring Adan to her room. Reina seemed ‌slender to me, but she’s surprisingly strong. I guess first-class attendants aren’t as they seem at first glance.

「She’s quite attached to you, isn’t she?」
「Then it’s all worth the troubles we’ve had so far.」
「I see. Since Adan is asleep now, I suppose we can talk about the immediate future.」

Bingo. I had three reasons for coming here. One is to take the rank up exam, another is to buy some time for my enrollment, and the last, and main reason, is to get the Iglesio household’s support.

「I hear that you’ve taken good care of Adan and she’s ‌now quite fond of you. I don’t have any issues with naming you as an associate. Still, why us?」
「To be frank, Urania and I want to stay free as adventurers as much as possible. It’s enough of a reason, don’t you think?」
「Hahaha, sure enough.」

For me, I am pretty interested in the academy, but I can’t stand how they condescendingly force people to enroll. And to add to that, I can’t stand how a place that should have been for the sake of the children’s growth and education, is used for politics. While I want to stay free myself, I don’t have any power or influence. If it’s about plain combat strength, then I’m confident that I can handle anything, but against influence and authority, I can’t do anything on my own.

With that said, I need backing, but if I ask some regular old noble for support, I’ll just end up being absorbed into their faction. In that sense, the Iglesio household, and especially the Sage of Leo, is unique from the fact that they aren’t affiliated with any factions. Naturally, it’s not that they don’t have their own faction, since they have a dominion to manage and governmental functions to engage in, they have some sort of faction.

However, their faction maintains a neutral stance on everything. The Sage of Leo is, in some sense, the kingdom’s magic police and their administrator of justice.

Because of that, there’s probably no place better for me than the Iglesio household, pledging allegiance only to the king and achieving the feat of preserved neutrality, considering how I was looking for someone to back me without having to join any factions. And it seems like Ces understands that, too.

「I have the gist of it now. Pops has guaranteed already your capabilities, so there shouldn’t be any problem.」
「Not to be boasting but I’m pretty confident with fighting, you know?」
「That’s promising. Well, I’m going to have you show me that strength sometime soon.」
「? Do you want a mock battle or something?」
「Haha, something like that. Look forward to it.」

The strongest sorcerers in the kingdom, the twelve sages. A mock battle with what’s said to be the most specialized in combat amongst the twelve, the Sage of Leo Ces. Now that’s something to look forward to.