The office was nothing short of peaceful.

Blackie was rolling around on the books before dozing off into a nap.

Though it was midsummer, the magic stones inside the office cooled the air enough that it wasn’t too hot.

In other words, it was the perfect time and atmosphere for lying back in a chair and enjoying a post-lunch nap.

It definitely should have been.

“…So, what did you just say?”

“I said that the head of the Lord of Lartania is going to explode, Godfather.”

If it weren’t for Rine’s words—

Alon’s pupils trembled slightly, though his expression remained blank.

Deus and Radan were the same.

As if they had just witnessed madness far beyond their own.

The two quietly took half a step back.

Alon glanced at the three of them, then cautiously placed the button down.

“…So, um—”

How in the world is this supposed to be a gift?

—He swallowed the words before saying them.

“Oh, I forgot to mention that part, Godfather.”

“What is it?”

“As soon as you press the button and move to safety, you can become the new Lord right away.”

Rine flashed a refreshing smile.

“This is the gift I prepared for you.”

A small button that fit snugly in one hand.

‘So, if I press this whenever I want, the Lord’s head will explode, and they’ll install me as the new Lord…? Is that what she’s saying?’

—Cancel that. This is not a normal gift.

“I was actually just going to take care of it cleanly and then inform you afterward, but I thought some annoying pests might start buzzing around. So, I prepared it this way. Besides, this method allows you to act whenever you see fit, Godfather.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

The words were full of consideration.

No, in fact, they truly were considerate.

It’s just that they were a bit beyond the bounds of common sense.

Rine chuckled softly as she gazed at the button.

Alon, feeling a bit of unease, discreetly pulled the button back toward him.

‘No way, right?’

Could it be that after encountering the Apostle last time, Rine had awakened in some way?

A faint anxiety crept in.

Alon covered the button with both hands and pondered seriously.

Should he express his gratitude first? Or—

‘Even if it’s uncomfortable, after what happened last time, I should check if anything has changed.’

It could be needless worry, but Alon thought it was best to at least confirm.

His ultimate goal was to help those who were once destined to become the Five Great Sins grow into ordinary people.

No matter how much she called it a gift, planting an explosive in someone’s head—even if it was just an assumption—was something that should never be done.

And yet, since Rine had gone to great effort to prepare this gift for him…

Would it be right to scold her in front of the others?

He hesitated.

Especially if the aftermath of their encounter with the Apostle still lingered.

Rine rarely showed her struggles, no matter how difficult things were.

In the end, Alon closed his eyes gently.

“…I’ll accept it.”

“Do you like it?”

“I do.”

For now, he decided to let it slide.

“I’m glad.”

“But in the future, you don’t need to prepare such extravagant gifts. Just keep it to something appropriate and not too burdensome.”

He gave a word of advice instead.

“The same goes for you two, Deus, Radan. There’s no need to go to such extremes just to give gifts.”

However—

“Understood, Brother. But I didn’t really overdo it this time.”

“I feel the same, Marquis.”

Hearing Radan and Deus object, Alon felt an involuntary twitch at the corner of his lips.

They said they didn’t overdo it?

Despite the fact that they had built an absurdly massive statue and even captured a sea god?

But—

“…Fine, whatever.”

Faced with six eyes insisting on their innocence, he swallowed down what he really wanted to say.

***

As the afternoon sun blazed down on the land—

“Hmm, now that I think about it, it’s been a while since we’ve met face-to-face like this.”

“That’s true. I saw Rine, but it feels like it’s been a while since I met you.”

“That’s right.”

While Radan, Deus, and Rine exchanged greetings—

Alon stopped by his secondary office to conduct some magic research with Penia.

“We’ll stop here for today.”

“Yes, good work.”

“So, what do you think?”

“Well— To be honest, I think it’s still a little lacking.”

They were currently researching something that Kylrus had mentioned to Alon.

To use the Shadow Dragon technique, precise control over mana was essential.

“By the way, it’s fascinating how Blackie reacts to the formation of seals.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Essentially, the seals you use—hand seals, that is—alter the structure of mana particles. And Blackie is changing along with them.”

“…That is quite interesting.”

“Hmm… Ah, now that I think about it, maybe we could utilize it in a different way?”

“How so?”

Penia enthusiastically laid out her idea.

“If your theory is correct, we might be able to use it like this as well.”

Alon crossed his arms and nodded.

Unlike Kylrus, Penia’s interpretation of the seals and their connection to Blackie was intriguing.

“Then let’s research that aspect a little further.”

“Understood. Ah, also—”

Penia pulled something out from her robe and handed it to Alon.

“…What’s this?”

“Well, I heard it’s your birthday today.

It’s a small gift I prepared.”

“Thank you.”

The gift Penia handed over was a vial.

“What’s the purpose of this potion?”

“It’s a stimulant.”

“A stimulant?”

“Yes. It’s not something to use carelessly, but if you inhale the powder, it temporarily enhances your mana. Of course, it has side effects, but it’s better than falling into mana addiction.”

Alon let out a low exclamation.

“…That’s quite a substantial gift. I’ll make good use of it.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Penia put on a practiced social smile.

‘Though, to be honest, I didn’t originally intend for it to be a gift.’

She kept that truth hidden.

The so-called gift, the stimulant, was actually something that had been created by accident during an experiment.

Most mages wouldn’t even consider using stimulants.

Side effects aside, they rarely overused magic to the point of mana addiction in the first place.

In other words, this stimulant—though effective—was essentially useless to her, neither sellable at full price nor something she needed.

But with Alon’s birthday approaching—

And given how he was often drained of mana—

It was the perfect opportunity to turn this useless item into a valuable gift.

‘Honestly, I probably would’ve given it to him even if it weren’t his birthday.’

Regardless, there was no harm in currying favor with Alon.

Therefore…

“Hmm-hmm, I put quite a bit of effort into making this.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, I used a lot of expensive ingredients, you know—”

As the saying goes, row while the tide is in your favor.

Just as Penia was about to add more exaggerations that weren’t quite exaggerations—

“This contains as many as eight different ingredients, so— Huh.”

She suddenly gulped.

“?”

Before Alon could ask what was wrong—

“There you are, My Lord.”

A familiar voice rang out from behind.

“Yutia, you’ve arrived.”

“Yes, My Lord. I just got here a moment ago.”

“It must have taken quite some time to get here. Thank you for coming.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s your birthday, of course, I had to come.”

Yutia smiled, her eyes curving like a crescent moon.

She then glanced at the potion in Alon’s hands.

“That gift, it must be from Penia Crysinne?”

Her gaze soon turned to Penia.

“Ah, no, I didn’t give that!”

Panicked, Penia was about to press her emergency escape button—

“That’s right. Penia gave it to me. She picked out something I really needed.”

“Heeh— is that so?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I must properly thank you, Miss Penia.”

She missed her chance due to Alon’s calm but direct compliment.

“Well, rather than standing around here, let’s head to the office. The others are all gathered there.”

“Alright, My Lord.”

“Penia, sorry, but I’ll be heading there first.”

“Ah, y-yes…”

Fortunately, Alon led Yutia away first.

“Whew—”

Penia let out a silent sigh of relief.

Thinking she had just barely escaped, she lifted her head—

And then she saw it.

“……Gasp.”

As Alon walked away—

For a brief moment, when he wasn’t looking—

Yutia’s face turned ice-cold, her expression utterly devoid of warmth.

And—

Creeeaaak— Thud!

As if haunted by a ghost, the door slowly creaked shut.

Penia, staring at it, felt a wave of regret crash down on her.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have lied…?’

Her face crumpled in despair.

…Should she start packing her bags and flee to the Blue Magic Tower right now?

Her short-lived musings swirled through the air like a restless spirit.

***

“So, how have things been lately?”

“Mm— nothing major. Just a few minor incidents?”

“I see.”

As they walked back to the office where the three others were gathered, Alon exchanged casual greetings.

At the same time, he thought to himself—

‘Soon, incidents will start erupting in Rosario too.’

Most of them, of course, would be related to the strange occurrences.

The truly significant events were still a little ways off.

Still, feeling concerned, he spoke to Yutia.

“If anything comes up that you need help with, let me know.”

“Hmm— I’d rather not cause you unnecessary worry, though?”

“Don’t think like that.”

Yutia fell silent for a moment.

Then, soon after—

“I feel the same way.”

Her smile widened even more than usual.

“You too?”

“Yes. If you ever need anything from me, don’t hesitate to ask. Don’t worry about burdening me.”

Seeing that smile, the corner of Alon’s lips twitched slightly upward.

As they continued their warm conversation, they arrived at the office before they knew it.

The moment they opened the door and stepped inside, another massive box came into view.

“Oh, is this Yutia’s gift?”

A box that hadn’t been there earlier.

However—

“?”

Yutia tilted her head, looking completely clueless.

Then who sent this gift…?

“Ah, that arrived earlier, so I brought it inside.”

Evan, who had been chatting with the others, explained.

“They said it was sent by Seolrang.”

“I see.”

Just as Evan seemed to notice Yutia and was about to raise his hand in greeting—

“Ta-dah~! I made it just before Yutia arrived!!”

The lid of the large gift box suddenly burst open.

And from within—

“Seolrang…?”

Wrapped head to toe in red ribbon, Seolrang.

She immediately ran up to Alon and declared—

“I am the birthday present, Master! You can have me!”

She then presented the marriage registration form that Alon had previously refused to sign.

And at that moment—

“Eh?”

Seolrang saw her.

Yutia, standing behind Alon.

“Y-Yutia?”

Her voice trembled.

“It’s been a while, Seolrang.”

In contrast, Yutia responded with a composed tone.

Up until the moment Seolrang burst out of the box, Deus and Radan had been watching in amusement—

But now, they flinched.

To others, Yutia’s voice might have sounded normal.

But they knew.

That subtly lowered tone—

It only emerged when Yutia was dealing with something—or someone—that greatly displeased her.

In this situation, the best option was to avoid getting involved.

They carefully averted their eyes.

Meanwhile, Seolrang, recalling the mistake she had made by teasing Yutia in a previous meeting, began sweating.

“Heh, heh…”

Like a guilty thief, her eyes darted around.

Then—

Thud, thud—

She swiftly crawled back inside the very box she had just torn open.

Only her hands peeked out as she tried to close the lid over herself.

But the shredded box lid wouldn’t fit properly anymore.

In the sudden, freezing tension that filled the room, Alon could do nothing but stand there in a daze.