After resolving the incident, Rudger and Casey returned to the Selmore mansion.

Although they couldn't capture the black magicians who directly orchestrated this incident, it wasn't without gain as they caught criminals with former military connections who had ties to them.

"What's this? If there was a room available, you should have given it earlier."

Casey, who was waiting with Rudger, clicked her tongue when she heard Frederick would assign them new rooms.

"I knew this would happen. I bet they did it on purpose."

"Still, isn't it fortunate that we'll have separate rooms now?"

"Yeah, that's true. It's really fortunate. I almost got helplessly caught by a wolf-like man."

"That's rich coming from someone who's more fox-like than anyone in the world. And I should tell you, you owe me twice now."

"Oh, is that so? Even without you, I would have reacted anyway."

This wasn't just bravado, it was real.

Despite appearances, Casey constantly scattered tiny water particles around her.

That itself was her domain, and she could eerily sense anything that entered it.

"You owe me once."

"But I saved you too. Surely you're not valuing yourself that low? That's twice."

"Being a troublemaker practically disowned by her family, it doesn't matter. Once."

"Without me, you wouldn't have gotten a new room assigned using this incident as leverage. Twice."

Their push and pull continued without either side giving an inch.

Since it seemed this would never end, the two dramatically decided to compromise.

"Fine. I'll be generous and say one and a half times."

"Wait. Since when can debts be one and a half times? We should settle this cleanly."

"Then let's round it up to two."

"I'll be generous and say one and a half times then."

Trying to assert pride over who was being generous here was quite typical of Casey.

Rudger shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"Why not? Since I'm the one keeping track of the debt, I can let it slide with generous consideration."

"How annoying."

"You'd better clear your debt with me quickly. You never know what I might demand otherwise."

"Ha! Such bluffing. Think I'll be scared by that?"

"......"

"......It is bluffing, right?"

Casey gulped after seeing Rudger's eyes.

For a moment, she actually wished someone would snipe Rudger right now.

‘Then I could save him right away, right? And then say: since I saved you, let's call it even with the debt.’

But reality was cruel.

The bullet that had already flown once didn't fly again.

To begin with, where the two were staying now was a place where such dangers couldn't reach anyway.

Just as Casey was starting to feel anxious, the door opened and Marias entered.

"Are you both alright?"

Since they understood the intent behind that question, Casey and Rudger nodded.

"Good. Where should I start? To cut to the chase, I need both of your help."

"So suddenly?"

"Seeing that you're requesting help, does this mean it's at a level difficult to resolve with your power alone?"

Marias didn't bother denying that fact and Casey asked with puzzlement.

"You mean it's hard even with sis and your subordinates?"

"Given my position, I can't take action myself. Conversely, while our people are optimized for gathering information, they're far from being suited for criminal suppression."

"Still, it's not like they can't do it. After all, Magic Intelligence agents aren't people who get disrespected anywhere."

"It's not that we can't do it if we try but you know that to execute such operations, we need time, manpower, and approval from superiors."

Casey snorted.

"What approval when you're the one who stamps the documents? You can even make the documents you want yourself."

"Just because I can stamp them doesn't mean I should do it recklessly if I want to keep my position. Position comes with responsibility."

"So, you're asking for our help because you can't move right away?"

"That's part of it, but I also obtained some interesting information."

Considering who the source of this information was, it was quite remarkable.

To extract necessary information in less than 30 minutes from someone hardened in the world of violence in such a short time it was synonymous with unbearable pain being inflicted on the subject.

"Sis. That could be a lie too, you know."

"Hmm. Could it really be a lie?"

Seeing Marias smile and ask back, Casey closed her lips.

That reaction showed she was confident the subject wouldn't have lied even in that situation.

What exactly did she do?

Casey sighed as if disgusted.

"Sigh. So what's this interesting information?"

"That there are black magicians behind these people."

"We already knew that from what we heard."

"That these black magicians flowed in here after being pushed out in a power struggle, and they're brazenly trying to put down roots in our kingdom."

"Pushed out in a power struggle?"

Casey clicked her tongue.

"So they targeted you because you're in the way, sis."

"Actually, they targeted you."

"They couldn't target me directly, so they aimed for my family to draw me in. That means they have a way to deal with me. Which means......"

"There's a very capable black magician behind this."

Casey nodded at Marias' agreement.

"To deal with sis, they'd need at least a 6th circle black magician."

"Oh my. Are you evaluating me that highly? How kind of you."

"What are you saying? I'm saying this because you received the title of [Colour]. They must know that too, yet they still targeted you. While being aware that you're that much of an obstacle to building their power, they still thought it was worth fighting."

Casey couldn't understand that part.

"Isn't it strange that they'd even think of picking a fight with a Colour magician? They were pushed out of a power struggle, right? They were basically demoted and driven out from where they were living before, yet they have that kind of military power?"

"The story changes when you know where they were driven from."

"Where is it?"

"A place you should know."

Casey's eyes grew as big as a startled rabbit's.

"Don't tell me they're from Isla Machina?"

Marias nodded.

Isla Machina was the name of an island, and also where the New Magic Tower existed.

An island where white steam never ceased due to developed magical engineering.

You might ask what black magicians have to do with the headquarters of the New Magic Tower, but the reality was different.

While it was the base of the New Magic Tower, it was also a place created by all sorts of magicians gathering together.

If the Night of Mystery was like a traditional market where magicians regularly gathered then Isla Machina was the new city of modern magicians.

Naturally, all kinds of magicians were drawn to that island, and black magicians were no exception.

Among the black magicians with international warrants, those whose whereabouts remained unknown usually fell into one of two categories.

Either they died somewhere or they were hiding somewhere in Isla Machina.

"A 6th circle black magician being driven out of such a place. What exactly is happening inside that island? What is the New Magic Tower doing?"

"The New Magic Tower doesn't touch those aspects. Just like how the existence of police doesn't make gangs and back alley vagrants disappear."

In Isla Machina, there was rather a mutually beneficial relationship because business items that only black magicians could use brought enormous money to the island.

Magic research requires massive funding.

As long as there are magicians who use funds even if their source is dirty, black magicians won't disappear.

Only then did Rudger understand the reason for this aggressive process.

"Since guys who were active there flowed all the way here, they must be full of resentment."

They're not just any criminal organization, but black magicians.

If an entire school had come in intact, it seemed sufficient to cause turmoil in the Kingdom of Seville.

They must have chosen this medium-sized kingdom thinking their level would be enough to succeed.

If there was one concerning thing, it was that the Kingdom of Seville had what was called MI-6 (Magical Intelligence section 6).

The current head of the Selmore family and Casey's sister, Marias Selmore, held an unprecedented position that wasn't just the director of that organization.

'Even so, if a black magician group of this scale was driven out, something must have happened inside Isla Machina too.'

As someone with connections to Isla Machina, Rudger felt uneasy about something happening there.

Should I visit once?

While Rudger was thinking this, Marias got to the main point.

"I'd like you two to help eliminate those black magicians."

So this was the purpose of why she told this story.

"Wait. I understand me, but why this man?"

"Because he's also an extremely talented magician."

"Even if he's talented, we're dealing with vicious black magicians who tried to scheme against you, sis. What if he gets hurt?"

"Can't you protect him well?"

"What do you mean......?"

Casey rolled her eyes trying to come up with something to say but it was Rudger who stopped her.

'Why?'

Casey glanced at Rudger with a look asking why he stopped her.

Rudger lightly shook his head at Casey, then looked straight at Marias and spoke.

"Then what compensation will you provide for this matter?"

"I like how straightforward you are. Of course, I didn't ask for help empty-handed. Naturally, I should provide corresponding compensation. This is preventing an incident that could potentially become a national-level problem, it would be disappointing without compensation, right?"

Marias added:

"I'm not asking you to completely root them out. I'm the main force here. I just want you to cut off the branches so things don't expand in other directions."

"I'll accept it at that level."

"Are you really okay with this?"

"Even if I refuse, Casey would do it."

Thinking of Casey's personality, she would surely step up to help her sister.

Not because she deeply cherishes her sister but because she can't leave dangerous criminals running loose in her homeland and kingdom.

After all, what moves Casey is her innate sense of justice, actions stemming from goodwill to make the world a better place to live.

That was Casey's strength, but conversely, it was also the shackle that bound her, at least in cases like this.

"It wouldn't be right to send my fiancée alone, so I'll help too."

Marias had already noticed that this side wasn't an ordinary magician.

If Rudger stepped back here and pushed the work onto Casey, that would become a problem for his reputation.

Rather, boldly stepping forward here was much better.

Actually, considering Marias' personality, she probably brought this up expecting this answer so Rudger planned to play along with it.

'Since I'm also stepping up out of necessity, I don't plan to blame anyone.'

He was already curious about those black magician bastards anyway.

Add to that Marias's promise of compensation, and it was rather a profitable deal for Rudger.

However, there was still one uncertain part.

Would Marias Selmore have any clues about the scenery he had seen?

He agreed to help aiming for that, but couldn't exclude the possibility that Marias might not know so he needed to confirm here.

"There's one thing I'd like to ask."

"Hmm. Suddenly having something to ask at this time."

Marias narrowed her eyes slightly.

She noticed that what Rudger wanted to ask now was quite important.

Marias lightly snapped her fingers as a white frost barrier formed around Rudger and Marias.

Though it was a very thin, translucent frost wall, Casey's shouts from outside couldn't be heard inside.

"Alright. What are you curious about?"

"There's a place I'm looking for."

Rudger explained the scene he had seen through the relic fragment.

A peculiar forest he had never seen before.

A place that looked like a forest yet somehow showed various ruins, and the sky was mixed with surprisingly diverse colors.

"Do you perhaps know where this is?"

Marias fell into thought for a moment.

What Rudger described certainly seemed like something only Marias, with her abundant magical information, would know about.

"I suppose I can ask why you're looking for it?"

"It's related to magic research."

Of course, Rudger had prepared an answer for this too.

Since Rudger actually wrote papers and conducted research on magic, Marias didn't doubt this much.

"This is quite difficult. Starting with scenery that doesn't seem real......"

Muttering like that, Marias recalled something.

"There is one similar place."

"Really?"

"Yes. But is it really that place? You didn't see wrong?"

Marias' eyes in her narrowed gaze asked seriously.

"Because that place is somewhere ordinary people can absolutely never go."