Convincing Seridan to leave wasn't particularly difficult.

"I heard there's an abundance of high-quality explosive materials in the southern mining area. Once you go with Pantos and handle the work properly, you can take as much as you want."

"I'll go!"

Seridan was already in a starved state these days because there was nothing to explode.

Sulfuric acid and nitric acid are essential ingredients for making explosives.

Among them, the southern mountain region was famous for producing a lot of high-quality sulfur.

Sulfur is an essential core material in the chemical industry.

Sulfuric acid and nitric acid were always in short supply for Seridan, who makes explosives.

There's a place where she can get as much as he wants?

The stored quantity alone must be enormous.

For Seridan, there were more than enough reasons to go looking even if told not to and so Seridan left for the southern region to find Pantos.

"Now all that's left is to keep watching the situation with Isla Machina."

There were quite a few things to keep an eye on.

Rudger left the hideout and headed to Theon.

Theon, now on break, was unusually quiet compared to usual.

Except for some students living in dormitories instead of going home, all that could be seen were graduate students walking around like zombies.

That was such a common sight that it didn't evoke any particular feelings.

First, what needs to be found is information about Dreamland.

The most certain way would be visiting the Dream School, but unfortunately, Rudger didn't have a pipeline to contact them directly.

If he suddenly asked to see their materials, they would likely be reluctant.

'Thinking about that, searching Theon's library first makes sense.'

Theon's library has so many books it rivals the National Library since Theon is a place responsible for magician education.

At the same time, being the largest magic academy in the continent, the number of books stored in the library is beyond imagination.

Perhaps if looking at pure size alone, it would be much larger than the study in the mansion from the Night of Mystery.

'It might be a bit troublesome to find, but it can't hurt to try.'

Rudger headed to the library.

The library, which took up an entire building, was filled with countless books, bookshelves, and desks.

The ceiling was quite high, and looking up, books could be seen floating and moving here and there, as if following invisible rails.

It was automation magic that made objects be placed in designated positions.

They introduced it because there were so many books that librarians alone couldn't manage organizing them.

'If I divide the area of magic I'm looking for, would it be in the special category?'

Rudger walked through the library following the guide signs.

Perhaps because it was such a quiet place, his footsteps could be heard even though he was walking as carefully as possible.

Occasionally, some students immersed in studying at desks gave surprised looks at seeing Rudger but they didn't speak to him or whisper among themselves.

Since there was no one to disturb him, Rudger arrived at the special category section without any particular problems.

"Why here......"

There, Rudger encountered an unexpected person.

Snow-white hair flowing down like water over the school uniform.

An appearance and expression that seemed unusually mature compared to peers of the same age.

"Julia Plumhart."

The girl who never revealed her inner self was looking at him with round eyes, as if surprised to encounter him in this place.

That expression quickly returned to her usual composed mask, but she still seemed curious about why Rudger was here.

"It's break time, aren't you going home?"

"There's nothing particular to do even if I go. It's also boring. Rather, it's better to stay here and focus on magic training."

"Magic, huh. Come to think of it, you were a Dreamwalker belonging to the Dream School."

"What brings you here, Professor?"

If it were the usual Julia, she would have just bowed slightly and left at this point.

The fact that she didn't was because she felt this was her only chance to resolve her curiosity.

Besides her curiosity about encountering Rudger in an unexpected place, what came first was the matter of Sedina Roschen.

She hadn't been seen since the break began.

Julia didn't think she would return to the Roschen family, given how much she disliked home.

Moreover, as a teaching assistant, she couldn't be away from her position for long since she had to help with professor's auxiliary work even during breaks.

It was definitely strange that Sedina hadn't shown her face at all since the break started.

She could only think of one person who might know her whereabouts and from what she knew, that person was Rudger Chelici.

In fact, Rudger was the only one.

"Do you have something you're curious about?"

Rudger also read Julia's unusual demeanor.

Just as he had something he was curious about, Julia must have something she was curious about regarding him.

However, if asked which side was more urgent, it was clearly Julia who seemed desperate.

"......"

"If you have nothing to say, I'll pass by. I have books to find."

"What kind?"

"Is there any reason I should tell you?"

"I might be able to help you."

Rudger let out a slight laugh.

Not wanting to hurt her pride by asking directly about what she was curious about, she was saying she would help in her own way.

She seemed to want the relationship to be an equal exchange rather than becoming subordinate to the other party.

It was quite bold, but Julia was still naive in showing it outwardly at this point.

Given her young age, it couldn't be helped though.

"Finding a few books isn't that difficult."

"You're looking for special category books, aren't you?"

"That's why I came here."

"The special category has more types of books than you might think. Among them, more than 80 percent are just chaff. It will take quite some time to find the information you really want."

"Oh? So that's why you're boldly offering to help me, but what are you curious about?"

Julia inwardly shouted 'got it' at his attitude.

Not knowing if this was what Rudger was aiming for, Julia forcefully suppressed her excitement that had risen slightly.

"Just, I haven't seen the teaching assistant you usually have with you."

"You mean Sedina Roschen. She's been away from her position for quite a while."

"......Where did she go?"

Julia felt needlessly anxious at the mention of her being away but Rudger shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"It's a break due to the assistant's personal circumstances. That's all it is."

"If it's a break, she's not at Theon."

"Since it's a break, there's no reason for her to stay here."

"But Sedina has nowhere to......"

Nothing came to mind except the Roschen mansion but that's why the Roschen mansion was even more unlikely.

Then where?

Julia's eyes shook greatly for a moment.

For now, there was no way for her to know where Sedina had gone.

"Where did...Sedina go?"

"Even though Sedina is my assistant, I have an obligation to protect her personal life."

"That only applies when it's a complete stranger. I'm Sedina's friend."

Julia regretted it right after saying that.

Friend? When only she thought that way, she wondered if she should have blurted it out so carelessly.

But since the water was already spilled, Julia decided to push forward with this.

"Friend, huh. That's quite sentimental coming from the top student's mouth."

"......What's wrong with that? Anyway, I just asked because I was curious where my friend went."

"Even if she doesn't consider you a friend?"

Julia bit her lip slightly at those words that struck the core.

Since Sedina was an assistant, she thought Rudger would vaguely know about this matter but she didn't expect to hear it so directly like this.

"......Is that a problem? That I consider her a friend?"

"Sedina has been pushing you away since before."

"She did. But I know her well. Even though she acts that way on the outside, it shows in her expression."

"In her expression?"

"If she really disliked me, she wouldn't look apologetic every time she saw me."

Julia thought it was rather fortunate.

Now that she had said this much, there was no need to measure anything more.

"Sedina was always immersed in depression but she changed at some point. That was after she became Professor Rudger's assistant."

"Did you figure all that out because of your magic's characteristics?"

"Dreamwalkers can naturally sense the remnants of someone's dreams. Not everyone can see them, but in cases like Sedina who suffered from nightmares for a long time, it's impossible not to know. I can see it."

"So that's how you noticed the change in Assistant Sedina."

"That's part of it, but Professor Rudger is also a special case."

Rudger asked as the arrow suddenly turned towards him.

"You mean me?"

"You don't have dreams. While ordinary people all have dreams without exception, you don't have any of those remnants at all. It's an extremely special case."

"A special case, huh."

Julia's boldness in speaking unreservedly to the person in question was somewhat admirable.

And this was a student speaking to a teacher no less.

"So, what are you curious about? Do you want to know where Sedina went?"

"Yes."

"What do you plan to do when you go? She'll push you away as always anyway."

"Maybe she will. But Sedina is changing. I think someday, she'll return to her former self."

There was a certain conviction in Julia's voice as she said that.

It was such a different side that it made one wonder if this was really the same child who usually put up walls against others.

Rudger was newly reminded that what appears on the surface isn't all there is to a person.

"This is a rare friendship these days."

"......Are you being sarcastic?"

"No. I meant it sincerely. Right. You asked where Assistant Sedina went."

Julia swallowed hard as she waited for Rudger's next words.

"She went to the Forest of Life."

"The Forest of Life? That's where the elven kingdom is......"

"Yes. You know too, don't you? That half of Sedina's blood is elven."

"......Even so, how could she go to a place where she has no connections?"

"Professor Vierano helped. Since they're both elves, she took her to their homeland. Seems like she'll stay there for quite a while."

Julia's shoulders slumped.

She had planned to go find Sedina wherever she went, but the elven kingdom was completely different.

Watching Julia like that, Rudger added:

"However, Assistant Sedina said something to me before she left."

"......What was it?"

"She said she was sorry until now, and if you meet again, she wants to apologize properly."

"Really?"

Nodding as if understanding that suspicious response.

"As you know, Sedina experienced something unpleasant in the past. That became a lifelong wound, and she became unable to trust others. But people eventually overcome their wounds. The same goes for Sedina."

"That means......"

"Sedina has come to terms with her past. Her heading to the elven forest now can be seen as part of that."

Julia's lips trembled as if she had heard something unbelievable.

"If you can't believe it, I won't force you to. When you meet her, you'll know whether this was a lie or the truth."

"I believe it."

"I didn't expect you to be so credulous in this aspect."

"At least the Professor I see isn't someone who would lie to tease a student about something like this."

Moreover, Rudger was the person who led Sedina to positive change so Julia had no reason not to believe.

Julia's lips twitched slightly.

Sedina had felt sorry and said she would apologize when they meet.

Just hearing that news made a smile try to form on her lips.

The only reason she could barely suppress it was that she didn't want to show weakness to Rudger, who had a competitive spirit.

"Was that a sufficient answer?"

"Ahem. I'll thank you first. It had been bothering me lately, but thanks to you, Professor, it's resolved. Thank you."

"That's good then."

"Since it feels awkward to just receive help, I'll help you find the book you're looking for."

"Aren't you busy?"

"It's break time. Besides, even though I may not look it, I frequently visit the library, so I roughly know where which books are."

Having no friends, Julia always quietly read books or contemplated in the library.

Especially this special category section was the area she looked at most frequently due to her talent.

Whatever the case, it wouldn't hurt to have help.

"Then, do you perhaps know the location of books about Dreamland?"

"Dreamland?"

Julia's eyes were clouded with doubt at the familiar word.

"Well, I do know that."

It's her area of expertise.

For Julia, it was an easy book to find even with her eyes closed.

"But why......"

"Because I'm curious."

"There are more books related to Dreamland than you might think. Research into the dream world is the aspiration of many wizards. We need more specific content."

"Among them, books about the depths of Dreamland?"

Julia's expression hardened at the word 'depths'.

"......Are you serious?"

"Is there a problem?"

"To begin with, the depths of Dreamland aren't well known, and even among us Dreamwalkers, it's almost taboo."

"So they do exist."

"......"

Julia, caught in the loophole, finally raised the white flag.

"However, they're not here."

"Where are they?"

"Where else? The place that knows the most about Dreamland. With our old folks at the Dream School."

"Hmm. So they're not at Theon. That's a bit troublesome."

Towards Rudger who seemed slightly troubled, Julia carefully asked.

"If you really need it, I could help you."