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Catherine knew it was rude, but she hurriedly left her seat first. She couldn’t hold it in any longer.

No, it was actually closer to what Elizabeth had sent her.

For women, someone else’s romantic troubles are like a dessert made with an abundance of sugar, butter, and fresh cream.

Catherine kept her mouth shut about that topic.

However, it was enough for Elizabeth, who reigned at the peak of Iceland’s social scene, to gauge the situation.

Moreover, Catherine somewhat suspected this fact as well.

Thanks to that, she only managed to calm down just before reaching the Mage Tower after exiting the reception room.

“…Wait.”

Before she opened the Mage Tower’s door, Catherine briefly touched her face. Her cheeks felt warm.

If she entered like this, the subordinates passing by would be momentarily interested. They would forget it quickly, of course.

But even that moment didn’t seem appropriate right now.

Catherine briefly used her magic to cool the heat rising on her face. She regained her composure.

Clank- Creak- Bang-

“-The magic tool appraisals are here, ah. Welcome, Chief Magic Consultant. Have your reports finished?”

“Yeah. Was there anything unusual?”

“There haven’t been significant issues while you were away.”

“I see. Let’s get to work.”

Catherine ignored the adventurers, nobles, or their representatives trying to engage her in conversation as she climbed the stairs.

Such guests were not her concern.

No, even considering that, she had more important matters to attend to.

The biggest yield from Bendleig.

The fresh tail of the Red Dragon Lord, Bendleig Wales.

Basically, materials deteriorate over time unless treated in some way. Especially the materials from living creatures.

The materials from dragons, after all, are ultimately from a living being.

Though they last longer than ordinary monsters or ferocious beasts, they still decay, rot, and their magic dwindles over time.

In that sense, Catherine felt her heart race just a bit with each step she ascended.

“Ah, Sir Atanitas. Hello.”

“Yes. However…”

Then, on one of the floors, Catherine encountered Narque Escarna, perhaps the subordinate she favored the most in the Mage Tower.

Besides her, who was out of this world, and the two curious about when they would die, Narque was the most exceptional wizard.

The third-ranked wizard of the Winterhome Mage Tower, Narque Escarna.

Possibly Iceland’s only necromancer, the elf nodded as her tattered robe fluttered.

Behind her, a few unusually large and sturdy skeletons were moving enormous blocks of cheese that hadn’t even been cut.

…Cheese?

“You’re not really planning to eat all that, are you?”

“Ah, no, it’s not that. I remember Karem saying decay and fermentation are just a piece of parchment apart. It’s for an experiment.”

“Hmm. Well, do as you please.”

Usually, she would have offered some advice to a subordinate who lost confidence and was all crumpled up.

However, Catherine left Narque behind and continued up the stairs.

Decay and fermentation, the relationship with necromancy.

The subject was somewhat interesting if not just intriguing.

All corpses are bound to rot, and fermentation, dressed up in fanciful words, is essentially the same as decaying.

“Later.”

Yet the dragon’s tail seemed more interesting at the moment.

After all, the quality of a creature’s materials is generally best when it’s alive, and from the moment it’s processed, it starts to decline in quality, albeit slightly.

There was no need to mention the condition of the dragon’s tail that Karem obtained as a wish.

A tail cut freshly from a living dragon.

Since it was transported in the space-expanding pocket, its quality likely hadn’t deteriorated.

Processing?Though she hated to admit it, Catherine recognized Olivier’s skills and knowledge.

That old man wouldn’t be clueless about processing methods.

At that moment, a myriad of hardships she faced as Olivier’s apprentice flashed through Catherine’s mind.

The very reason she fled to Iceland was that her employer, a grand noble, absconded with the money, leading to a chimera running amok so dramatically that it forced a sage-level grand wizard to flee.

Fortunately, no incidents had occurred in Coldon yet.

After all, one wouldn’t cause trouble in the last refuge for fugitives, a corner of the Europa countryside.

Catherine reached for the doorknob of a room where the dragon’s tail might already be processed, or perhaps it was over.

‘…No, I can’t let my guard down.’

A wizard can, once fixated on something and going off-course, yield results beyond imagination.

Olivier himself had proven that premise by his actions.

And the materials from the dragon would provide more than enough to turn the grand wizard’s eye, previously calmed, upside down.

So, holding her staff, she opened the door.

“Karem, think carefully. You can’t just use all that dragon meat for cooking! What about the bones? Broth?”

“So I’m leaving half for you!”

“Are you saying you’re going to use the dragon bones, which were also used in the Felwinter Family’s treasured sword, for mere broth for cooking!?”

“Come on! That dragon itself said so! It might only be once, but it offers magical and physical enhancements, and it’s immune to ordinary poisons—”

“That could be handled with a potion! Do you think I’ve never eaten any of such fantasy creatures!? More than anything, this is a dragon! Because of a piece of meat or a bone, what happened back in Europa—”

As they each tried to persuade the other, their thoughts diverged so greatly that the conversation had gone off the rails, raising their voices as their arguments grew increasingly incomprehensible.

Watching this silently, Mary bowed her head when she saw Catherine approaching.

“Contractor. Have you seen everything?”

“Yeah. So, what’s the current situation?”

“As you can see. Olivier has become irrational for a perfectly normal reason, given what Karem said.”

But really, which wizard wouldn’t oppose eating dragon materials?

That’s only natural unless that wizard was from the Kingdom of Seophone.

However, ultimately, the disposal of the tail was up to Karem. But the situation couldn’t just be left as it was.

Catherine’s lightly cast ice arrow shattered into powder at Olivier’s gesture.

“What the hell is this nonsense!?”

“I heard your reason for fighting loud and clear. It’s utterly ridiculous.”

“Unworthy disciple! At your youthful age as a grand wizard, have you truly lost your senses?”

“A third party is being noisy. Karem, so how do you intend to dispose of the materials?”

Karem spoke firmly.

“As I initially stated, you may freely use all of the materials except all the meat and half the bones.”

“Hmm. Got it.”

“No! No…!”

Olivier held the nape of his neck as if it was a reflex.

*

*

*

Despite the enormity of the dragon’s tail, both Chief Magic Consultant Catherine and Assistant Magic Consultant Olivier had their own work to attend to.

Besides, Olivier was even tasked with creating a magic tool that could communicate with Alfred as far as Kingsland, making him even busier.

A magic crystal ball that reflects the user’s image for communication.

Creating a communication crystal ball is quite challenging, but a capable wizard could manage it with enough time and materials.

And time and materials were the problems.

These were issues that had nothing to do with Olivier.

Thanks to Alfred’s financial and influential power, he was collecting money from the Kingdom of Adobice, and materials were plentiful.

Of course, since Alfred’s order took precedence, all previous schedules would be postponed. Just informing them later that it might take time due to the Duke’s order would suffice.

“But why has it been such a fuss for more than half a day?”

Catherine glared at Olivier, who was sitting on the guest sofa leisurely. Her hands were quickly dealing with the overdue tasks.

“You’re not even addressing your master properly, and now you’re saying that?”

“Cut it out, just get to the point.”

“Kitty. Think carefully. It’s dragon bones and meat we’re dealing with. You’re intending to cook the meat and bones as they are when you could use the entire tail?”

“Yeah. So what’s the issue?”

“What’s the issue? Cooking dragon meat and bones itself is the problem! Their value! Their usability!”

“Old man. Just say you’re upset over it.”

“Yeah, I’m upset! Fresh dragon meat and the finest dragon bones!”

“From the Dragon Lord.”

“Right! Dragon… Lord? Oh, my head!”

As a synergy of his relentless headache and the pulling tightness in the back of his neck and chronic back pain flared, Olivier held his back and neck.

“You say it’s pointless to nurture your disciples!”

“Do you actually think I would relate to an old man and your kind?”

“You’ve fallen for love, Kitty!”

“Who has!?”

Olivier yelled as he deflected the compressed wind blade Catherine hurled at him.

“My disciple is getting after me!”

“Yeah, well then, be captured!”

The dragon tail meat was already being cooked by Karem’s hand for dinner in the secret room, so Olivier had no way of not knowing that.

In other words, the fuss that Olivier had created barging into Catherine’s office was just a complaint mixed with whining.

Wasn’t he too uptight about the precious dragon materials they had handled during the day? Was this right as a wizard? He was merely continuing on with his thoughts about the magic tools and potions they could create with it.

“The dragon’s skin has poison; can you even eat that? That’s…… bizarre.”

Catherine furrowed her brow as if to show him that.

And indeed, Olivier realized.

Normally, would he drink the byproducts of the Alraune, which are already deadly poisons? Or how about vanilla extracted from a beaver’s reproductive glands?

The famous reputation of the genius little chef had begun with using the Fire Witch Finger, a herb that was poisonous, as a spice and making it widely known.

No, hold on. Focus, Olivier. The dragon’s materials are at stake. Focus!

“You see, old man. The tail was first obtained as payment for freeing the Dragon Lord from its seal.”

“Dragon Lord, wait a second. Bendleig, the Red Dragon Lord… Wales?”

“Correct. I can’t do anything about it.”

Catherine watched Olivier with amusement on her face.

She used to feel uncomfortable being in the same room as him, but the sight of him now, pulling at his beard and frothing at the mouth, was quite entertaining.

“Your prized disciple gives favor to a young lover he barely knows! You say raising disciples is pointless!”

“Who said I was a prized disciple?”

“Then who should I be talking about!?”

Olivier, imagining Karem cooking dragon meat while Catherine stubbornly refused to side with him, let out a long sigh.

Yeah, Olivier decided to admit.

This was all absurd.

The thought of trying to maneuver through this was shattered by the words that the Dragon Lord was freed from his seal and that one could wish for anything.

Yet, even thinking it over, the fact of wanting to use bones for broth was abnormal.

Yeah, it was outrageous.

If the finest blacksmiths in Eisenvault had heard of it, they would come rushing with lava spewing from their mouths.

Knock knock knock—

“Come in.”

“Contractor. Olivier. Dinner is ready.”

Olivier glanced at Mary, who opened the door, then let out a deep breath as if the ground had just fallen away beneath him and stood up.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“Where has the old man, who was just complaining about it being a waste, gone to?”

“It never happened. Let’s go. Yes. Let’s go.”

Now that this had happened, they would eat.

First, they would eat and see if it… wouldn’t taste bad, right?

What on earth does one do to eat dragon tail meat?

 

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