—"Sincerely, The King of White Town", will this grand idiot remember that I am his one and only brother...—Dorian cursed with a disgusted expression on his face, hidden beneath his long beard—Goodness gracious, every time I read one of his letters, I lose a year of my life! How can anyone be so stubborn in this world?...

Dorian tried to calm his anger and reread the letter again, recalling the unusual bronze ring on Apollo's hand. With his vast experience, the mage immediately assumed a couple of possible scenarios about how the bronze ring ended up in Apollo's hands. He got up from his chair and walked quickly to a shelf filled with books, trying not to lose his thoughts.

After a few seconds of searching, the mage pulled out a thick old book, its color obscured by the thick layer of dust it had gathered, clearly showing how rarely consulted this book had been. Yet, one could just make out the title of the book despite the dust, which read:

> "Historical Compilation of Ceremonies for Grand and Minor Magical Achievements in the Empire"

Determined not to dust up his desk, Dorian opened the book standing up, only to be dismayed that the inside was even worse off than the outside. Some pages appeared to have been nibbled by insects, and the amount of dust was no less than on the exterior. To add to his troubles, as the mage turned the pages in search of the one he sought, he noticed that many small bugs were using the book as a nesting ground. So, he turned those pages quickly, preventing the insects from escaping the book and falling into his long beard.

Finally, the mage's eyes lit up once more: the sought-after page had been found! Dusting it off with the sleeve of his black robe, the mage began to read its contents slowly, seeking answers to his questions.

> "The mage Helena from a Small Village, under the sponsorship of the great Emperor Patricio and her master, the great mage Nemo from the Flat Plains, managed to astound all members of the Mage Council by completing the creation of a magical object capable of charming everyone present. This creation was called the Greed Ring and earned Helena from the Small Village the honorary title of the Greed Mage, making her the fourth mage in the empire to receive this honor.

>

> During the rule of the great Emperor Patricio, the mage Helena from the Small Village managed to surprise the Council for a second and final time when she successfully carried out a mind transfusion following the method of the Archmage Minos from White Town with one of her acolytes. Such genius deserved the honorary title of Archmage; however, much to everyone's dismay, the transfusion ended in failure, resulting in the merging of Helena's and her acolyte's minds. This incident is known as Minos's Curse."

>

> Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

—Emperor Patricio... This seems to have happened about three decades ago...—Dorian murmured, rereading the text reflectively—Guess Helena ended up losing her head... I'm happy for her acolyte, at least she got some revenge.

Dorian closed the book and began pacing in circles around his desk, ignoring the persistent knocking coming from some unfortunate soul on the other side of the door. Until finally, Dorian's eyes began to sparkle again, looking at the documents on his desk with joy: he had found the answers!

—So, either Helena or her acolyte ended up in the Black Forest, where they met Apollo and tried to attack him. Given Helena's origins, she couldn't possibly know that a mage would never kill a colossus in the middle of a forest, even if back then Apollo was a brat who couldn't go to the bathroom on his own. So, it was Helena or her acolyte who ended up dying. However, the mage made sure to curse the boy who killed her using her ring. And now the big question: How do we fix this?

It was then, with the last big question posed, that Dorian's smile began to fade, and his eyes ceased to sparkle.

—There were only four measly Greed Mages in the entire empire. How am I supposed to solve this?— Dorian complained, realizing the magnitude of the problem: at most, there were four moderately serious investigations that attempted to explain the relationship between human greed and magic. Trying to solve the problem was almost like asking him to become the empire's fifth Greed Mage.

—Well, if we consider that all the Greed Mages ended up mysteriously killed...—Dorian murmured, trying to find an excuse not to worry about not having a single solution in his head—Guess the best way to accomplish my mission is precisely by doing nothing. Yes, that's it! If I do nothing, the boy won't be killed and he'll become a mage of ducks, a mage of ducks with a ring that makes him a little cuckoo. But seriously, who in their right mind wants to become a mage...

With a smile on his face for having arrived at a ludicrous solution that saved him years of research in a little-explored field, Dorian continued to ignore the now weary knocking on the door and proceeded to his desk. Taking out a regular quill, a new inkwell, and a blank parchment, the mage wrote with a rather odd smile:

> "Dear King of White Town:

>

> The problem with the young colossus has been resolved, and it turns out it was just a simple magic ring. Just as we thought, only those barbarians could get into so much trouble over such a cheap trinket.

>

> As for the other matter, I am pleased to inform you that young Apollo has become a mage normally and seems very interested in researching the empire's ducks.

>

> Yours, your beloved B-R-O-T-H-E-R."