For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

The old dormitory Rebecca lent us was smaller than the current one, but… this was only relatively speaking.

After all, could a place built with all the connections and wealth of the Grand Mage from the Hero’s Party be modest?

Moreover, this was a dormitory prepared for top students even back then. There was even a garden where you could take a light stroll without going far.

Unlike the building, this place wasn’t properly maintained and had turned into a jungle, but…

That’s what magic is for, right?

By burning everything down and turning over the soil to bury the debris, a decent open space was quickly created.

Come to think of it, when I became an intermediate mage, I couldn’t use my old private training room anymore, so they said they would make a new one for me.

I never dreamed I’d become a high mage before the new one was completed.

According to Iona, it was almost finished. I felt a bit guilty, but I’d have to ask the Academy to make another one.

A training room designed for up to intermediate mages wouldn’t be able to handle me now.

Iona told me to leave that part to her, so I agreed.

While waiting, I decided to use a target temporarily set up by Faye with alchemy magic, enhanced with drug treatment and Iris’s enchantment to forcibly increase magic resistance.

Over the next few days, I tested how far I could go with word magic, practiced casting smaller-scale higher spells, and internalized the enlightenment I had gained.

Once I felt it was time to practice in actual combat, I received a message from Rebecca stating that cultists across the continent had begun a full-scale offensive.

There didn’t seem to be significant damage yet, but unlike the previous terrorism, this had escalated to something close to warfare.

Some small villages on the outskirts had even fallen to the cultists.

In H&A, they exerted full strength from the start and captured a strategic point, so I was a bit puzzled by these minor skirmishes now… but then I remembered it was Solaris.

Not only was their master strike blocked by me, but Fiona’s identity was also revealed, heightening the vigilance against cultists.

During this process, many spies from the Boiling Silence were caught, making it hard for them to push aggressively with internal information.

Naturally, the explosive force shown in H&A at the beginning had to decrease.

The thought of my efforts not being in vain filled me with pride. With such thoughts, I stepped outside the dormitory to continue my training today.

“Huh?”

A single letter was stuck in the old mailbox.

In the center of the luxurious envelope was the seal of the Elf Kingdom, Alfheim.

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“Let’s see. ‘In a continent where dark clouds loom and a long rainy season has begun, we invite the fragrance of the one who first blooms. If there is a chance, it would be nice to correct the wrongly cut leaves together.’ What does this mean?” 𝐑αɴố𝖇ĘＳ

Below this, there were three more pages of incomprehensible content.

From the familiar ancient elven signature at the end and the enclosed leaf of the World Tree, I knew this was a letter from Milone, the de facto ruler of Alfheim.

However, no matter how many times I read it, I couldn’t understand the content.

I knew from the settings in H&A that when elves would send a formal letter, they used a lot of metaphors and roundabout language.

In fact, I learned at the Academy that every major family employed at least one person skilled in elven language.

It was said that due to their long lifespan, ancient cultural practices were passed down without distortion.

But receiving this in reality was quite confusing. So, what was it saying? I could vaguely sense it was friendly, though.

Frowning at the letter, I was about to get annoyed, but the pleasant smell kept me from it.

Was this the scent from the World Tree’s leaf? Just one leaf made it feel like I had walked into a forest.

It was definitely a treasure.

Nodding inwardly, I handed the letter to Elisha.

“I have no idea what this means. Can you interpret it for me?”

“…Sigh. How old do you think I am?”

“Twenty, right?”

“Among elves, twenty is practically a child. I don’t know this kind of complex language either.”

“Oh.”

Well, that made sense. This was a particularly archaic cultural practice among elves.

Even if she was a High Elf, she was born in an era where their authority was limited to religious symbolism.

Since Elisha wasn’t sure, I looked for someone else to ask…

“……”

Iris was looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

Her lips moving, her heels constantly going up and down, and that slightly smug look told me without words.

She was expecting to interpret this impressively, wasn’t she?

Hmm. Okay. I definitely won’t ask her.

Pretending not to see anything, I casually walked past Iris and handed the letter to Iona.

“Professor? You can interpret this, right?”

“Oh? Oh? You’re asking me?”

Iona tilted her head in confusion, but soon caught on to what I was thinking and playfully lifted the corners of her mouth.

“Well, I can interpret it! After all, I’m a professor!”

“Just as I thought! Wow, you’re really reliable!”

“Right, right! There’s no comparison between me, Professor Iona, and some 500-year-old baby High Elf!”

“Wow! Impressive, Professor! I love you, Professor!”

“Ahem! Ahem!”

“……”

Iris’s expression turned as pitiful as an otter caught by its tail and lifted upside down as she watched our little skit.

Although she looked cute, struggling to say something, maybe because I’d been teasing her too much since we started living together, Elisha’s gaze beside me was quite sharp.

Let’s stop here for today.

Iona seemed to think the same, as we exchanged a glance, and she handed the letter to Iris.

“But! But! Just in case I misread it, it might be better to ask Iris, who was born with the greatest blessing among High Elves and who was educated as royalty during the time when this confusing metaphor was all the rage!”

“Oh my! Then Iris can definitely interpret it in more detail! Iris is great! Iris is cute!”

With Iona and me praising her together, Iris, finally back to her usual expression, shrugged and took the letter.

“Hmph. If the Master and Iona are asking, then I must show my strength here. Wait a moment.”

After effortlessly flipping through the four pages, a soft groan escaped Iris’s lips.

“Huh…”

“What is it? What’s the content that made you react like that? Is it something bad?”

“Ah, no, don’t worry, Master. This is a kind of invitation.”

“Invitation?”

“Hmm. In simple terms, since the cultists are acting unusually, they’re asking for help from the Master who has been in conflict with them and thwarted their plans. They promise to treat you as an honored guest, so come to Yggdrasil, the capital of Alfheim, whenever you can.”

“It’s a bit sudden, but I understand. Like with the Levantin Empire, it’s about catching spies inside Alfheim or sharing counter-strategies, right? Not hard at all. Actually, it’s what I was hoping for.”

Alfheim, along with the Levantin Empire, was one of the nations that must be protected.

If Alfheim… or particularly Yggdrasil fell, it meant the World Tree and the Circulating Life dwelling within it would fall into the cultists’ hands.

This also meant losing priests of the Circulating Life who had overwhelming abilities in healing.

Since none in our party were followers of the Circulating Life, it wasn’t much of an issue for us, but it was different for others.

An army losing over half its healers would collapse instantly, and the dead would become undead under the power of Intolerant Envy.

The current favorable situation could reverse in no time.

I asked Rebecca for information on conflicts across the continent to rush to support strategic places like Alfheim under attack.

But them asking us to come first was good news for me. However, one thing bothered me.

“But why the long face? Is there more to it than that?”

“Hmm. Yes. Didn’t the Master buy me, Elisha, and Pamela’s family?”

“That’s right.”

“They’ve heard about Lady Lindelheit’s cleared name and Elisha’s treatment as a quasi-noble, suggesting that if I was wrongly accused, they would reinstate me and provide compensation.”

“…?”

Tilting my head in confusion, I asked.

“Is the spirit summoning accusation a false charge, and you’re actually innocent?”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Silence was the answer.

Iris, with nothing to say, mumbled with her small lips and awkwardly averted her gaze.

That was answer enough.

“No way. Iris will have to be my slave for life.”

“Wh-what?! Didn’t you say you’d free me once Elisha becomes a high mage?”

“I changed my mind. Unlike Elisha, who was unjustly accused, you’re not, so you’ll just be my slave forever.”

“Argh! Argh…!”

Iris stomped her feet in frustration, but the twitching at the corner of her mouth suggested she wasn’t entirely against it.

Laughing, I stretched out Iris’s cheek once more and said,

“Let’s pack. We should go. Ah, can we teleport to Yggdrasil, Professor Iona?”

“No, no. I’ve never been there, and the coordinates are confidential, so it’s impossible. Even if we knew them, teleportation isn’t possible where the World Tree’s power reaches.”

“Then we’ll have to go by land from partway…”

“That’s fine, Master. We have the leaf of the World Tree they sent with the letter. It’ll serve as both a pass and an invitation. Just show it, and all will be taken care of, so keep it safe.”

“…Can’t I steep it in hot water to make a potion?”

Iris’s gaze suddenly turned cold.

Ah, why?

I thought it was an advance payment…