Lesley’s death.

The second First Order to die after Esmeralda.

The problem was that Ludger happened to be in the Kasarr Basin when Lesley died.

And then certain rumors began to spread.

That Ludger Cherish had contributed to stabilizing the Kasarr Basin—and that he had killed Lesley.

From the Black Dawn Society’s point of view, it could only be seen as betrayal.

“How’s the reaction inside?”

“It’s split exactly down the middle.”

Sedina relayed the information she’d brought.

“They’re divided between those who suspect you and those who defend you.”

“What’s the gist of each side’s argument?”

“The ones who suspect you claim you joined hands with someone to betray the Black Dawn Society. They’re saying there’s no way the name Ludger Cherish would have been elevated at the very moment First Order Lesley died unless you were involved.”

“Interesting. And the other side?”

“This side has a better grasp of the circumstances. They believe you didn’t know about the events in the Kasarr Basin.”

It was, in its own way, an amusing story.

Ludger gestured for her to go on.

“They think you were operating undercover, but then an incident broke out in the very place you’d gone to. And if you didn’t respond, you would have died. They believe fighting for your life is grounds for leniency. That’s the crux of their argument.”

More than anything, the fact that the Black Dawn Society was a fiercely competitive organization played a role.

While subordinates serving the same First Order might share ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) some camaraderie, it was far from perfect.

Look at what happened during the Philosopher’s Stone incident.

Second Orders had coveted the position of First Order and took it upon themselves to stir up trouble.

A place of strict hierarchy—and even greater, writhing ambition.

It wasn’t at all strange for First Orders to kill one another.

The fact that Zero Order turned a blind eye to such things was the clearest proof.

“I naturally believe we should view it from the latter perspective, but... there’s an oddly large number of people questioning your loyalty.”

“Someone’s stoking that from behind the scenes.”

“Yes. And I think it’s probably...”

“Nicolai.”

Ludger reached the answer immediately.

From the start, the only people who could wield that kind of influence over the entire Black Dawn Society were Zero Order and the First Orders.

Zero Order wouldn’t bother with something like that. He was a thorough non-interventionist, unconcerned no matter how many of his subordinates died.

That left the First Orders.

And among them, Nicolai was the one who had always looked at Ludger with disdain.

Nicolai was especially skilled in information warfare.

Leaking rumors into the organization would be child’s play for him.

“What will you do? I think you’ll have to prove your innocence if you want to calm this atmosphere a little...”

“Ignore it.”

“P–pardon? But—”

At his order to ignore it, Sedina stammered.

It was understandable—those ignorant fools were daring to suspect Professor Ludger.

Truthfully, if you broke it down, it was true that Ludger had been the one who brought about Lesley’s death.

But publicly, Lesley’s death was attributed to the emergence of the Lord of the Earth Elementals.

At least, that was what Sedina knew.

But Nicolai, crafty as ever, was framing it as though Ludger had orchestrated Lesley’s death.

Twisting the truth and spreading baseless rumors was something Sedina found intolerable.

That was why she’d brought the news to Ludger—but he, in turn, reacted with casual indifference.

“No matter what I say, those who don’t believe me will keep on doubting me. They might even be hoping I’ll step up and refute them.”

“All the more reason to speak the truth, isn’t it?”

“I can’t claim Lesley’s death had nothing to do with me. Even if it was to survive, it’s still a fact that I fought him. Nicolai will latch onto that point and never let go.”

That would only lead to a drawn-out, muddy brawl.

And the opponent was deliberately trying to draw him into that.

In that case, the cleanest response was to ignore it entirely.

Even if they stood there beckoning him into the mud, he would stand above it with hands clasped behind his back, pretending not to hear.

“Let him say whatever he wants. All he can do is spread rumors—he can’t actually expel me from the organization. That authority lies solely with Zero Order.”

“But still...”

“Sedina. I understand why it frustrates you. But you have to look at the bigger picture. If Zero Order doesn’t say anything, Nicolai’s claims will eventually lose strength and disappear. Time will take care of it.”

And as far as Ludger knew, Zero Order wouldn’t hold him accountable in this matter.

“What if Zero Order does hold you accountable?”

Sedina’s face was filled with worry, unable to dismiss the possibility.

“I have a way to deal with that, too.”

“A... way?”

Instead of answering, Ludger chose to show her.

Mana stirred within him, gathering in the palm of his right hand before taking on an elemental form—

Solid and heavy, yet smooth and refined—steel.

Sedina’s eyes went wide at the sight of the steel cube floating in midair.

“T–that’s...”

“Lesley’s original metal magic. The Steel Cube. Lesley combined various metal spells using these.”

Sedina’s mouth fell open.

She’d never seen it herself, but she’d heard of it.

First Order Lesley was known as a master of metal magic.

His magic differed from the crude metal spells others used.

It was more structured, refined—and graceful.

It was the magic that had earned him the title of master.

These steel cubes were his unique, original creation.

And now Ludger was showing her the exact same thing.

“How did you do that?”

“I fought him, clashed with him, watched, and analyzed.”

“...What?”

For a moment, Sedina couldn’t process what she’d just heard.

“Is... is that even possible?”

What was magic, after all?

Even if mana was the raw material, it was a discipline that required highly complex, multi-faceted approaches.

It wasn’t as if you could copy someone’s fire spell just by watching them make it.

Behind that seemingly simple process were the mana flow, the structure of the spell formula, the sequence of its components, and subtle control of force—

A complex blend of factors all working together.

You couldn’t replicate it just by seeing it.

No more than you could know what was inside a gift box just by looking at it.

And even clashing with it directly didn’t guarantee you’d grasp it.

If that were possible, the world would be overflowing with mages constantly pointing their staves at each other, eager to steal spells.

Sensing her bewilderment, Ludger spoke in a calm tone.

“I didn’t copy it perfectly.”

As he said that, he spun the cube in his hand.

Up close, the cube—about the size of an adult’s fist—was actually made up of smaller cubes.

“It’s impossible to reproduce someone else’s magic in its entirety. What I did was merely... imitation.”

“Imitation?”

“That’s right. I took what I saw, heard, and felt, reinterpreted it in my own way, and used it. This steel cube falls far short of Lesley’s original.”

Ludger recalled Lesley—Velkat Benmark—and his steel cubes.

Lesley had even used metal and electrical currents to perform magnetic magic, orchestrating and freely manipulating vast amounts of metal.

Granted, he’d burned his own life force to achieve greater power than usual, but—

Even without that, Velkat’s magic left no room for underestimation.

It had inspired Ludger, and he had reproduced it in his own way.

That was how all the magic he used came to be.

All of it had simply been reconstructed in his own way from inspirations, memories, knowledge, and information he had picked up somewhere.

“Isn’t that still amazing?”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

Ludger knew of someone who could replicate magic exactly just by seeing it.

Though in truth, that being was not human, but a transcendent existence spoken of only in legend.

Having grown up under such a teacher, Ludger never had much self-awareness that his own abilities were exceptional.

“Either way, if I casually show this magic, the suspicious stares will vanish on their own.”

Ludger using Lesley’s signature magic?

There was no way Lesley, who was deeply loyal to Zero Order, would have taught his magic to a traitor.

Naturally, most would think Ludger had collaborated with Lesley in some way.

“Not everyone will believe it.”

“I’m not hoping for everyone. But I can at least swing this evenly split flow to one side. That’s enough. There’s no need to waste more attention on it.”

With Ludger putting it like that, Sedina didn’t press further.

Instead, she found herself once again struck by what he’d just shown her.

‘As expected, Professor is incredible!’

To display something others would be dying to boast about with such indifference—

Perhaps that was why it seemed even more impressive.

“Any other news?”

“Ah, yes. Something concerning the Old Mage Tower.”

“Go ahead.”

“After the incident at Mystic Night, the Old Mage Tower’s standing has taken a serious blow.”

That was rather good news.

Of course, Ludger had already foreseen it.

“And?”

“They’ve expelled Gregoryum, the one in charge during Mystic Night, from the Mage Tower.”

Gregoryum’s expulsion.

Ludger recalled the face of that greed-filled old man.

He also remembered the threat-laden words Gregoryum had muttered before leaving, telling him to just wait and see.

But in the end, after returning to the Tower, he had been unable to make good on them.

In an attempt to somehow restore their tarnished image, the Old Mage Tower had dumped all the blame on Gregoryum and cast him out.

“Unexpected. So they really cut off the tail.”

“It seems the Old Mage Tower is enduring quite a bit of bleeding from this.”

“Normally, they’d defend their own no matter what. Did they change their minds?”

Ludger crossed his arms, amused.

The Old Mage Tower had made a huge decision in ousting Gregoryum.

He wasn’t an Elder, but he was close enough in standing.

It was completely at odds with their usual shameless habit of sheltering their own unless the matter was truly grave.

Were they that desperate? Or was this the result of another internal power struggle?

It might not be a bad idea to watch and see.

* * *

“Damn it!”

Gregoryum’s beard quivered as he spat out his fury.

His personal laboratory and office were already in shambles from his rage.

Even after smashing everything to pieces, his anger wouldn’t subside.

“They throw me out just like that—me, who devoted everything for the Mage Tower? Do they have any idea how much I’ve done?”

After the incident at Mystic Night, the Elders of the Tower had expelled him on the grounds that he’d tarnished the Old Mage Tower’s reputation.

It wasn’t a simple suspension or reassignment.

He had been dropped from the Old Mage Tower entirely, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

An unprecedented extreme measure.

To Gregoryum, it was absurd.

He had served for decades, made great contributions, maintained close friendships with many in the Tower.

Exaggerating only slightly, he could have committed a series of murders and still been told by the Tower to just not do it again.

And yet they had cast him out so brazenly?

‘If they expelled someone of my stature, it means the Elder Council decided it. Which means a majority voted in favor.’

While he had enemies among the Elders, it was still hard to believe that more than half had agreed to remove him.

At this point, he couldn’t help suspecting there was some deeper scheme.

And in truth, there was something that seemed off.

When his expulsion had been decided, Gregoryum had contacted one of the Elders he was close to on a private line.

He had let his emotions take over, demanding to know how they could throw him away so easily.

But the man, normally warm toward him, seemed extremely reluctant to answer.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Whatever it was, Gregoryum was no longer a mage of the Old Mage Tower.

The disgraceful events at Mystic Night had been laid squarely at his feet.

“Filthy bastards. Fine—let’s see how well you do without me.”

Gregoryum left his office.

Mages of the Old Tower walking the halls passed by without so much as looking at him.

Normally, they’d freeze up and bow their heads, but now they did the exact opposite.

Grinding his teeth quietly at the reaction, Gregoryum stepped outside.

He turned back and saw the Old Mage Tower rising high enough to pierce the heavens.

When he’d first seen that sight as a young man, his heart had pounded with excitement. Now it only looked cold.

With a conflicted expression, he gazed up at the pinnacle of the Old Mage Tower, then trudged away.

“To the station.”

He climbed into the prepared carriage and gave the driver a short order.

The carriage set off. In the new city of Rederbelk, they said the carriages were pulled by horse-shaped golems, but here at the Old Mage Tower’s base, there was no such thing.

Believing magitech was not true magic, the Old Mage Tower still had carriages pulled by living horses.

It was ironic, considering the lofty talk that the Mage Tower led the world’s progress.

As he was thinking that, Gregoryum frowned at the view outside.

The road the carriage was taking clearly wasn’t leading to the station.

“Hey. Where exactly are we—”

Just as he was about to demand an answer from the driver, Gregoryum realized someone was sitting in the seat opposite him.

When had they—?

He stared in disbelief.

A moment ago there had been no one, but when he came to his senses, the man was there.

Was this a dream? A hallucination?

“Pleasure to meet you.”

A young man with striking black hair spoke.

He seemed almost like a mirage.

“Wh–who are you?”

“No need to know my name.”

The young man smiled gently.

“Just call me Zero Order.”