IWMHWD 29

November 29, 2023

“A dog-shaped demon beast? That’s extremely rare. You must have paid a hefty price for it. I’ll offer you three times what you paid, my lady.”

“Loti is not for sale.”

“How about five times the price?”

“No matter how much you offer, it won’t work. So could you please leave? My companions are nearby.”

“Hmph.”

The man glanced regretfully at Loti behind Cordelia, then gave a shallow bow and left the spot.

After confirming that he had taken a seat in a corner of the inn’s dining hall, Cordelia quickly took Loti outside.

Just then, Baron was loading their luggage onto the carriage. Leonard saw Cordelia rushing out of the inn and snapped at her.

“What were you dawdling for? Get in, we’re about to leave.”

“Master! How did you know Loti was a demon beast?”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Just now, some man instantly recognized Loti as a demon beast and tried to buy her from me.”

“Who was he?”

“I don’t know. He was wearing a cloak that completely covered him.”

Leonard, who had looked disinterested until then, suddenly changed his expression. Baron, who overheard, also looked alarmed.

“For someone to recognize a demon beast like Loti, who looks completely ordinary, he must be a high-level mage. Even I didn’t notice at first.”

“A high-level mage? That’s pretty advanced, right?”

“That would mean someone at elder-level, or at least just below that.”

“But his voice sounded really young. And his jaw too.”

“Young, you say?”

Leonard and Baron exchanged a meaningful glance. They then discussed something in hushed tones, using words Cordelia couldn’t understand.

Beluche absentmindedly stroked his sword while sharply scanning their surroundings.

“Just in case, we should leave this village quickly.”

“Agreed. That’s probably for the best.”

Whatever was going on, it didn’t seem pleasant. Cordelia loaded her luggage onto the carriage and turned to say a final farewell to Loti.

“Loti, go back to the estate. This time, really…”

“Bring the dog.”

“Huh? Really?”

“It’s better to keep her with us than risk being tracked because of her.”

Before he even finished speaking, Cordelia beamed and flung open the carriage door.

“Got it! Loti, hop in!”

Loti leapt up as if she had been waiting for the cue. Leonard let out a small, dry laugh at the sight.

“You didn’t make that whole story up just so you could keep the dog, did you?”

“Master! What do you take me for? Of course not! Loti, say something! You saw that man too, right?!”

Cordelia protested dramatically. Leonard just clicked his tongue and got into the carriage.

“Fine, fine. Just get in already. Let’s go, Baron.”

The tedious journey dragged on for more than ten days.

Abrams territory was in the northeast, while Diloana was at the far southern end. So the carriage continued southward nonstop.

“It’s so hot…”

With each passing day, the clothes they wore grew lighter. For Cordelia, who was from the north, it was unbelievable to experience such warm spring weather.

Her days were repetitive. During the day, she studied magic under what she called Leonard’s “intensive tutoring”—which mostly consisted of criticism. At night, she collapsed the moment her head hit the pillow.

The only upside was that with nothing else to do except learn magic from Leonard, her skills improved faster than expected.

“You already know how to draw triple magic circles?”

“Hmph. This is nothing.”

Baron looked genuinely surprised as he examined the paper Cordelia was scribbling on. Feeling proud, she straightened her shoulders and showed him more sheets.

“These ones too. I finished them all.”

“You really do learn fast, Lady Cordelia. Any other mage from Ropal would be shocked. Achieving this in less than a month is incredible.”

The campfire cast a warm glow on their surroundings.

Tonight, they hadn’t reached a village, so they were camping outdoors.

Beluche had wandered off to hunt rabbits, Leonard had gone off for other business, and only Baron, Cordelia, and a dozing Loti remained around the fire.

“It’s all thanks to my master.”

Cordelia smiled modestly, though she was clearly pleased.

In truth, her rapid progress with magic circles came from her innate ability to see magic.

Ordinary mages had to pour their entire focus and mental energy into drawing circles, but Cordelia could literally see the magic structure. She just had to copy what she saw.

“You seem much brighter these days, too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When we first met, you seemed like you were barely breathing, like something was pressing down on you.”

Cordelia thought back on the past two months. As Baron said, she was almost a different person now compared to before meeting Leonard.

The more she learned magic, the more confident and lively she became. Even she could feel it—so of course others would notice.

“Don’t get cocky just because of that.”

Leonard sat down beside her without warning, scanning the magic circles she had drawn. Since he didn’t say anything critical, they must not have been wrong.

Baron smiled gently, coming to her defense.

“You can’t deny Lady Cordelia’s talent. Triple magic circles, already?”

“Anyone with a brain could do that.”

“Tch. You always say that. A little praise would do your disciple some good.”

“Her ego’s already too big. Needs a little deflating.”

“Master.”

A low voice called out. Beluche appeared out of the darkness, reeking of blood. Loti jumped to her feet. Cordelia nearly screamed at the sight of him.

“I thought you were going to catch rabbits!”

“What happened, Beluche?”

He was covered in blood from head to toe. Yet neither of the two men reacted much. Only Cordelia was visibly horrified, clutching her chest.

“Found something more interesting than rabbits.”

“What did you find?”

“Better to show you. I left him alive.”

He turned around and dragged something toward them. Cordelia almost vomited this time.

What he dragged looked human, but it was so beaten and bloody it was barely recognizable. It now made sense why Beluche was soaked in blood.

The closer it got, the more nauseating the stench became. Cordelia gagged, holding onto a nearby tree.

“Can it talk?”

That was all Baron asked. Beluche shrugged and kicked the half-dead man without emotion.

“Guh!”

“You can talk, right? I didn’t touch your tongue.”

“Why did you bring him?”

Baron asked.

“I was hunting nearby when I saw this guy writing something. I recognized the symbol and couldn’t let it go.”

He held out a small note. Faintly drawn on the corner was a symbol: a snake coiled around a lily.

“What’s this?”

Cordelia leaned over and asked. Baron answered kindly.

“It’s Maximilian’s crest.”

“Oh, I see. Wait—Maximilian?! That Maximilian?!”

Her eyes widened. One of Maximilian’s subordinates, captured so close to their campsite? What a bizarre coincidence.

“There’s something even more interesting.”

Beluche sneered and raised the man’s hand. On the back was a clear mark: a wolf. Even Cordelia recognized it.

“Embley? Why is the Red Wolf here?”

“Hmph. Maximilian and Embley. Not a surprising alliance.”

The Red Wolf, the Embley family, was one of the eight sacred noble houses, just like the Basquez and Atillei families.

If someone from Embley carried Maximilian’s message, then some connection between the two was certain.

“Thinking about how he got caught, this forest must be near the Embley estate’s border.”

Baron assessed the situation.

“Master, what does it say?”

The note was written in code, so Cordelia couldn’t understand it. It was similar—but not identical—to the encrypted letter she’d once delivered for Leonard.

The more Leonard read, the darker his expression became.

“We need to change our destination.”

“What? What does it say?”

“Maximilian plans to permanently shut down my laboratory.”

“What?!”

Baron leapt up in outrage. Leonard crumpled the paper and tossed it into the campfire. It burned to ash in seconds.

“That bastard is my only legal family, so he technically can do it.”

“There are so many valuable things in that lab! Maximilian must be completely serious about this.”

“We need to head to the Ropal Mage Association.”

“But even with Beluche and me, your body can’t enter there, my lord—ah.”

Baron stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at Cordelia.

She immediately felt uneasy under his sparkling gaze. It was the same kind of look Leonard had given her just before they departed for Diloana.

Leonard, too, was staring at her.

“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”

“She’s the answer. If a legitimate heir appears, the lab can’t be closed.”

“But won’t that reveal who Lady Cordelia’s master is? Are you okay with that?”

“It’s something that would come out eventually. Stopping the closure is more important.”

The two men continued their cryptic exchange. Baron looked at Cordelia blankly, then shook his head.

“My god. Ropal is going to be completely flipped upside down.”

“Can someone please explain what you’re talking about?”

“I’m saying I’ll officially acknowledge you as my disciple.”

“But I’m already your disciple.”

“Yes, but no one else knows that.”

“Do you really have to tell people?”

From Cordelia’s perspective, it felt unnecessary. She had only intended to learn a bit of magic and then leave. The thought of going to the Mage Association and making it public felt burdensome.