Vektor flies straight to the last unexplored location on Netern Island: Wind Hills, a peaceful and beautiful place, completely covered in grass. After landing on a hill within the average size of the place, he searches for a house, intending to find the last Etykiran apprentice.

After walking for a few minutes, Vektor finds a simple house on top of a hill not far from where he was. Arriving there after a short walk, he politely knocks on the door, expecting to be greeted by some member of the Noogard family.

However, the person who answers the door is a small green-haired boy, with the appearance of a 14-year-old teenager, managing the feat of being even shorter than Vektor, who recognizes this:

"(I- Is this the apprentice Noogard...? If it's him, then I must be in trouble... Would a kid like this be able to handle his powers well enough to help me...? No, I shouldn't think like that, I'm the one who's behind everyone here. Besides, there's nothing confirmed yet. There's still the possibility that he's the apprentice's little brother or something. Yeah, let's be optimistic!)"

"Hm? Will you say something, or...?"

"H- Hello... Could it be that you live in this house?"

"Yes, want something?"

"J- Just to confirm, this is Noogard family's house, isn't it?"

"It is, why? Want a robot or something like that? I can make you one as long as you have the money."

"N- No, I just want to ask you something..."

"Oh right, ask me then."

"You're not... the apprentice Noogard, are you?"

"No. I am the Master Noogard."

"...Wha?

(M- Master?! Did he say master?!)

Don't make fun of me, kid! How can someone so young be an Etykiran master?! That doesn't make any sense! Shouldn't Master Noogard be an adult?! Stop joking around and talk to me seriously!"

"Hahahahahahaha!!"

"W- Why are you laughing?!"

"Hahahaha, cough cough, hahah, hah... Ah... Man... I haven't laughed this much since I read that comedy manga last month, it even gave me a stomachache, ugh..."

"Spoiled brat..."

"Hey come on, don't look at me like that. I knew you were coming, so I just wanted to prank you to see your reaction to my size, hoping to see something funny... And I was more than right, that was hilarious."

"Okay... Time to explain."

"Ah, for you see... I already knew you would come because it's quite easy to follow your aerial journey from here, the scenery here is quite open, as you may have noticed..."

"I'm not talking about that! Give me a decent explanation as to why Master Noogard is a kid younger and shorter than me. Let me see if you can convince me."

"Well, long story short, my appearance is just the result of one of your mother's actions."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Huh?! What does my mom have to do with this?"

"I was a guinea pig for her experimental magic, then one day she forced me to take a rejuvenation potion she created... but the potion was too powerful, and I ended up with my body like this. You can believe my story or not, but whatever you decide will not change the facts already determined, Vektor Drenn."

"Meh, I won't doubt that my mom would do... Wait, hold up, you know my name as well?"

"I just told you, I know who you are. Still not convinced I am Master Noogard?"

"...Guess if I deny it now, I'd just be lying to myself. As bizarre as your explanations are, all the information you gave kinda matches the facts... I guess you could say you won the argument."

"Finally surrendered..."

"But then? Do you have any idea what I'm doing?"

"Well, the lad named Katsuo warned me a while ago about you being cursed, but I only saw you flying around the island. It seems like you've been having fun around the island, hasn't it?"

"I- I don't think 'fun' would be the correct term..."

"I know, you're looking for the apprentices, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Look, if you came here looking for my son, know that he's not really the type to spend time at home. Although I think you've probably met him at least twice."

"R- Really?! And how did I not notice it?"

"Well, guess I need to give you a little more context. My son's name is Hayato Noogard. He loves playing with his robots while he does roleplaying as a hobby."

"RP?"

"Yeah, he seems to really enjoy playing his character. You could say he poses as a kind of supervillain."

"(Supervillain RP...? H- Hold up...)"

"He likes to fly over Etykiran City in a giant airship. He calls himself..."

"(No, no... Please, not him...! Anyone but him!)"

"...Villain of Evil."

"Why always that guy?!!"

"W- Woah, chill! Did he do something to you?"

Without hiding his discontent, Vektor lets out a long sigh before replying:

"You have no idea... of how much energy I had to spend on that guy... Well, I guess I still have a duty to say..."

Vektor slowly lowers his head as he closes his eyes and says:

"I- I'm sorry! For my reasons, I had to destroy your son's robots twice!"

Faced with this apology, Master Noogard gets nervous and timidly says:

"D- Don't worry, it's not your fault! He just goes a little overboard sometimes..."

"Sorry, but 'a little' is kind of an euphemism."

"He doesn't mean any harm, it's just a hobby he picked up to pass the time. If you want to blame someone, you can blame me."

"No need to take the blame for your son's actions."

"He only started this roleplay thing because he wanted a way to have fun on his own, since I was kind of neglectful when he was a kid. I mean, I don't even know how to properly reprimand him when he crosses the line like that, so..."

"Forgive me, but I don't think that's a good enough justification for what he did against the safety of others. He almost hurt people for real!"

"There's also that, huh? Sorry, haha! Well, I have no right to judge him... When I was younger... I also did... a lot of stupid things..."

"Hm?"

Still with his head lowered, Vektor slowly raises his head and notices that Master Noogard's bright and lively gaze had suddenly become empty and sad, as if he had lost touch with reality... Upon realizing this, Vektor says with worry in his voice:

"Master...?"

"A- Ah, sorry! My mind got distracted for a moment! Sorry about that, I have this habit of getting distracted easily..."

"F- Fine..."

"B- But anyway, what I'm trying to say with all this is for you not to take things the wrong way. Hayato isn't a bad person. Far from it, he's actually quite kind. He just does his Villain of Evil stuff to have fun in his own way, nothing besides that."

"Does he really have fun embarrassing himself like that?"

"Do you think that's embarrassing?"

"You kidding? I could feel the second-hand embarrassment from kilometers away!"

"Really? I honestly quite like that attitude of his, I think that's cool."

"Our definitions of 'cool' are quite conflicting."

"Well, each one with their tastes."

"Well then, let's leave that aside and think about the important part... From what I've heard, now I need to find Hayato inside his airship... Am I right?"

"Look, I honestly wouldn't recommend doing this today."

"Huh, why?"

"I don't think it'll work if you just show up there and explain yourself to him, especially since you destroyed his robots."

"You're right."

"I advise you to spend the rest of the day here, so we can think of a strategy."

"The problem is that I have a certain time limit..."

"How long?"

"Tomorrow is my last day."

"So we need a way to get all 5 apprentices together in one day... I think we can still think of a way. Anyway, you've been out there too long. Come in, and please don't mind the mess."

"Excuse me."