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Lying by the lakeside, lost in thought, the Imperial Army suddenly appeared on the scene.

A mobile unit dispatched from the central headquarters defending Petrogard began to take control of the area. They quickly ushered pedestrians outside and blocked entrances, but alas, the scene had already seen too many pass by.

With the help of an officer who had come with a translator, I moved to another location. He suggested I go to the military hospital for a quick check-up, but I declined the offer.

“Trouble again, huh?”

It was during this commotion that the Duke of the North showed up.

Emerging from the air with blue flames, she immediately scolded Camila, who was resting in the ambulance.

“I told you to be careful. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No….”

Camila answered, her voice barely alive.

Confirming our conditions, Alexandra Petrovna handed over two vials of potion. They were potions to help stabilize the mind and body.

“Thank you….”

Delighted, Camila gulped down the potion, while the Duke began to speak with a look of confusion.

“Why on earth did you fall into the lake?”

“Well….”

I, stealing the potion from the corners of my mouth, answered in Camila’s stead.

After listening silently, the Duke finally spoke a while after I finished.

“Where did you put the cube? It should have operated without issue, no matter how low the altitude. Didn’t I tell you to use it if you found yourself in a situation where you couldn’t use magic and to contact the Magic Department for rescue?”

“…….”

That was the first time I heard that.

So, blinking in surprise, I turned to Camila, who quickly averted her gaze.

Her shoulders trembled like a aspen, and her eyes wandered, lost. The poor blanket was being fidgeted with by her fingers.

Seeing her demeanor made me let out a sigh.

Ah, she forgot how to use it.

“……”

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence enveloped the ambulance, and a low sigh escaped the Duke’s lips.

—

**Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree**

—

Two foreigners, who violated five magical aviation safety laws, ended up crashing into Petrogard’s lakeside tourist attraction, but everything went unmentioned.

It was said that the Ministry of Land, overseeing aviation law, the Ministry of Defense responsible for the capital’s air defense, the police under the Ministry of the Interior, and even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs all turned a blind eye. The suspect was none other than the Duke of the North’s own disciple.

However, there was no stopping the foreign correspondents hungry for a story. The reporters stationed in Petrogard treated the shy accident caused by Camila as an exclusive scoop.

Naturally, even Abas’s reporters were no exception.

Thus,

– “I chose the wrong time for a vacation and ended up causing a disaster.”

I was promptly summoned to the embassy and received a stern reprimanding over the secure line.

– “What on earth were you doing?”

Clevenz gripped the phone in his office, firing questions at me. This time, he wanted to know what kind of nonsense I pulled to end up splashed across newspapers.

“Actually, I was helping Miss Camila with her magic practice….”

– “You mean you broke the lake while practicing magic?”

“Well….”

It took me just over a minute to explain the whole story.

A deep sigh came through the receiver, and Clevenz spoke in an exasperated tone.

– “Not only did you tear apart the imperial airspace like it was your backyard, but you also caused an accident that wrecked Petrogard’s lake. This is beyond ridiculous….”

“I think so too.”

– “Shut up, you fool.”

Fortunately, there were no penalties.

The Abas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the ambassador, stated, “We regret that material damages occurred due to this incident, but Abas is not involved,” drawing a line.

The Kien Ministry of Foreign Affairs also clarified that no human casualties occurred and that this incident was merely a mishap caused by Camila’s failure to control magic, making Abas a third party without ties to the situation.

—

The sudden incident was handled smoothly afterward.

As the Foreign Ministry clarified their stance, the Ministry of Defense also hurried to soothe the situation.

Although the commander responsible for guarding the capital was alarmed by reports of unauthorized teleportation magic manifesting in Petrogard’s airspace, thinking, “The Abas folks have finally begun a war! Why just sit here any longer!” and mobilized troops, he was soon instructed by the Ministry of Defense to return the troops after confirming nothing had occurred, returning home in a gloomy mood to sip vodka.

Thus, the peace of the empire was upheld once more today.

“Camila!”

“Yikes?!”

“Come here right now!”

…Maybe.

—

“Who do we have here? The first person to breach Petrogard’s airspace!”

“Enough already.”

“And without a parachute too…!”

“Stop it.”

The blonde-haired rascal and the stubby nymph was rolling on the ground, clutching their bellies, as if performing for me.

Jake, who had been laughing heartily, began to pout. Then, with a mischievous expression, he mumbled.

“Huuhz Mrlg.”

“Brat….”

“Cut it out, Jake.”

As I was about to roast him while shaking, Pippin appeared with a binder and stifled a chuckle, stopping the two.

Pippin slapped Jake’s thigh and gave a warning glance to Charnoy, indicating not to mess with the officer.

However, Charnoy showed no signs of stopping her antics.

“O Charnoy of the ditch water nymph… I’ve never seen anyone jump from such heights without a parachute in my life….”

“……”

“How can a person do that, I wonder? Even the stupid beastmen wouldn’t do such foolish things…!”

I let out a deep sigh.

Ever since the incident became news in the empire, I kept hearing such remarks. “Is that the guy who broke through the imperial air defense for the first time in military history?” people whispered, both familiar faces and strangers alike.

It became unnecessary to inquire just how far the rumors had spread.

Even now, as I sat blankly on a chair, staring into space, I could hear Jake’s voice. He poked Charnoy in the side, speaking without a shred of remorse.

“Charnoy—”

“Stop it already!”

“Is the sweetness gone…?”

“…I told you not to.”

Of course, telling them to stop wouldn’t make any difference to those guys.

As I watched Jake and Charnoy circling around the desk teasingly, I wore a despondent expression, thinking, this is outright disrespect to a superior, you brats…

“Sigh. Jake, how old are you that you’re still acting like this?”

Pippin, unable to watch any longer, stepped in to scold them. It wouldn’t be long before Pippin’s temper flared, so Jake and Charnoy reluctantly returned to their spots.

After the commotion of diving into the lake from high above, I found myself back at headquarters in less than three days. My vacation was nearly over, and with an incident having occurred, Leonie issued the return order thinking, ‘Seems like they’ve had enough rest since they’re getting into trouble.’

At the embassy, there were staff members whispering as they recognized me, and as soon as I passed through customs, Mrs. Grace Nostrim rushed over, having seen her son’s news, which had made headlines on the 9 o’clock report, complaints of her son’s mischief fresh on her mind.

News quickly spread in the embassy, and after receiving a scolding at the entry point, I found myself the target of my subordinates’ mockery—truly a pitiable situation.

Although, I had only myself to blame.

“Ugh…”

As I grimaced at the thought, Pippin set down the binder she had tucked under her arm. She pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the desk.

It was a formal report.

“This is a report from the Magic Tower branch. It says that the Hero and Francesca have met.”

“Are they safe?”

“Yes. They don’t seem to be seriously injured. The Duke is still in the Empire. For now, it looks like only the two of them are at the Magic Tower.”

Following the incident, Camila had moved to the Magic Tower. The excuse was that she would be contacting Francesca to prepare for the next dispatch.

Camila’s arrival at the Magic Tower had caused quite a stir, as she had been a guest at the Duke’s mansion for several months and was the sole apprentice of the Archmage, so it was only natural.

Some were speculating that the Duke might return to the Magic Tower, igniting their imaginations. However, Alexandra Petrovna remained untouched within the Empire.

The Duke had left Camila in the care of an acquaintance at the Magic Tower. He still hadn’t finished dealing with the aftermath of the northern conflict, hence his temporary delegation of Camila.

From the content of the report, it seemed that Camila was doing well there. Practicing magic with Francesca and scouring through various magical tools indicated that she too might be preparing for an upcoming mission.

“Well, it’s good to hear they’re safe. How about the Lateran branch?”

“Saint Lucia had a meeting with the Bishop of the Lushan Federal Kingdom. As you know, the Mauritania Continent is within Al-Yabd’s sphere of influence, so the Cult doesn’t really have a grip there. However, they do seem to be making contact with Lushan, which has a somewhat similar culture and exerts indirect influence on Mauritania.”

“Hmm.”

It seems Lucia is preparing in her own way.

Seeing her traveling abroad alone without Veronica’s assistance gives me mixed feelings. I figured she was strong-willed enough not to worry too much, but I did wonder about her adapting to life overseas. Thankfully, it seems my worries were unfounded.

The only problem might be Veronica? It’s not a big issue. Lately, I’ve been receiving calls from her lamenting that Lucia doesn’t come to play with her during evenings.

Of course, I was busy preparing for the mission myself, so I had no time to listen to the saint’s whines.

I cleared the report and started flipping through the binder. As the papers rustled past the first page, Pippin’s voice followed.

“Oh, Manager, about this business trip…”

“Yeah.”

“In our team, only you and Jake have experience in Mauritania. Is that okay?”

I looked up from the papers.

“You guys have had training too. We got the urgent information, so we can figure out the finer details once we arrive at the site.”

“That’s a relief. And one more thing. What are your thoughts on the Royal Intelligence Department’s operations team?”

I lifted my gaze off the papers to regard Pippin. She pointed at the document inserted in the binder.

“The project you were in charge of has been taken over by them. Orders from above came in saying you should handle the follow-up yourself.”

“Then I’ll have to do it.”

I said as I closed the binder.

“Contact the lead analyst.”

*

In the Mauritania Continent, an unnamed desert.

Wind swept across the barren sands where sparse scrub trees stood. A man with a traditional hat tightly secured on his head spoke through a scarf wrapped around his neck.

“…Have you received the contact? They say they’ll arrive soon?”

In his hand was a large radio.

Behind him, a parked van housed communication equipment with wires sticking out all over. A nearby information officer crouched down, typing away as he checked the communication status.

“There aren’t any suspicious signals at the moment. The Reconnaissance Command is quiet too. The wire side only has sporadic skirmishes; there aren’t any significant battles occurring.”

A rifle barrel protruded from beneath the coat the wind was tugging at. The weapon, adorned with various accessories, once belonged to the Kien Empire military, but no longer.

“Got it. Be careful coming in. Since it’s an official dispatch, remember to enter without your official status. See you at the base.”

After finishing the communication, the man handed the radio to his teammate. The team members, having packed their gear from the desert, got ready to depart for the next location.

As the man walked across the soft sand, he lifted his head. Flipping the scarf behind him and lifting his hat slightly, he called out to his teammate.

“Kair!”

The person standing on the dune turned their head.

The team leader shouted.

“Come down now!”

The ears topping the traditional hat perked up and began to move. A Beastman, armed with an automatic rifle, scuttled down the sandy terrain on all fours.

The moment he reached the front of his prepared teammates, he straightened up, and a peculiar cry echoed across the desert.

 

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