— Days later.

With Clara managing the business, everything I wanted is set in motion. The venture and the frontier will secure me a place to go, along with a substantial amount of funds.

Ai stands up, gazes out the window, and stretches her arms.

"Ah... at last!" Now I can start with what I've been putting off for so long.

Handling the shadows of the fief to avoid attacks from the viscount, producing sugar, managing the frontier, and the business—there hasn't been enough time for me to focus on myself.

Ai raises her hand, palm up, and conjures what appears to be a three-dimensional square without a base. It starts to rotate, containing something resembling a gigantic atom within it.

I'd like to learn more about my limitations and improve the efficiency of my mana manipulation... So far, I've only generated simple shapes or created molecular structures of existing particles.

The reason I don't create structures like wood is that it consumes a vast amount of mana, and halfway through, it starts to give me a headache... However, if I can refine the object's structure by using microchannels that have little impact on its strength or physical characteristics beyond weight, I'll be able to do it with much less mana.

Soon, the square in Ai's palm vanishes. She then takes a deep breath, focusing. A structure begins to form above her palm, attempting to shape a small rectangular iron bar.

"Ugh..."

Midway through formation, the bar disintegrates, falling into Ai's hands as dust.

"I figured it wouldn't be so easy..." She says, turning her face towards the window.

Suddenly, someone knocks on the door, interrupting Ai's attempts.

"Come in!" She says while dropping the dust into her tea cup.

"Permission to enter, young miss... Your father has returned."

"I understand! I'll be there in a moment." She gets up from her chair and starts to dress.

After a few minutes, Ai goes out to greet her father as they bring down his luggage and take it into the mansion.

"Daddy!"

"Oh, Ai. How has everything been during my absence?" He strokes her head.

"Good!"

"I'm glad... Is the food ready?"

"Yes, sir." A servant replies.

"Let's go eat, daughter. I'm very hungry."

"Yes!"

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Ai and Kirei enter the mansion. Minutes later, they proceed to have lunch. The typical mansion lunch is visible—egg, meat, and bread.

"I'll miss the food from the capital..." She says, eating without much enthusiasm.

"How was it, daddy?"

"Daddy spoke with a lot of important people, my dear."

"People like Duke Roderick and the First Princess, Eleanor Elandoria, attended. It was truly entertaining."

"Really!?" It's strange to invite a baron to a meeting and not have him attacked... What could be their objective in inviting Father?

"As you know, daddy is a mage, and I was highly praised for repelling the beast invasion from the frontier ten years ago..." He says, smiling.

"Daddy is the best!" That's strange...

"Is that so? And it seems I'll have the opportunity to support the army's vanguard on the front lines against the beings from beyond."

Ai chokes on her food.

"Daughter!? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, daddy!" She proceeds to wipe her mouth with a napkin.

What!? They've been buttering him up to use him as a cannonball... But more importantly, a war?

"Is daddy going to war?"

"Of course not, hahaha... It's normal that you don't understand, my dear Aichi." He reaches out to ruffle her head again. Ai seems to be confused.

"The empire has decreed to capture all the beings from beyond within the empire, as they believe they have caused a lot of harm to the empire and the population in general."

Hmm... That makes no sense... Beings from beyond rarely show themselves in public, and they're usually the ones who receive harm from humans... But it's clear that if they've talked about 'capturing' them, it's because they want to use them under their power or experiment on them in some way... Or at least that's how it would go in a novel.

"Now, we'll focus on forming a capture army, and in a year, we'll begin with the captures..." He leans in closer to Ai's ear.

"Although very few people know about this, so don't even tell the servants, okay?"

"Okay." Still, you've already said everything out loud.

"But don't worry, daughter."

He takes another bite.

"Daddy will keep Envy a secret if he returns. Is that alright with you?"

"Thank you, daddy!"

Ai finishes eating and returns to her room, where she spends several hours practicing magic. After hundreds of attempts, her head can't take it anymore, so she sits in front of the window, sipping tea and watching the sunset.

A capture of beasts, eh...

"Dorothea, are you there?"

"What happened, mistress? Since last time, I've made sure to keep a part of the network near the mansion."

"Ah, that time... As I was saying, have you heard the rumors that the empire is seeking to capture beings?"

"Yes... As far as I know, it was a measure they took about a week ago in the capital. Although it doesn't seem like they're going to wait until next year to act, and the first movements have already been seen near the empire's university."

"I see... Do you know the reason?"

"I still don't know... But judging by the location, I'm sure they're experimenting with the beings for some reason."

Knowing how magic works, I can't imagine there's any device that can retain magical power or something, since technically it doesn't exist. Still, I can't think of anything—Wait...

"Can they make the beings work?"

"Mhmm... It might be an option, but most beings tend to behave negligently, so they're usually used as playthings rather than labor."

"And if they're forced?"

"Certainly, if they choose not to obey orders, they can be beaten, but even so, the idea of buying slaves from beings from beyond for that purpose isn't very accepted. And truly forcing them can only be possible through a pact like ours. Something that no one could achieve without genuine consent from the souls."

"What if that consent is forced?"

"T-That's impossible..." Although if it were possible, they could use the magic of beings from beyond to their liking, and it would be a good reason to capture them.

"I see..."

"Let me investigate this, mistress. I'll bring news."

"Understood."

Dorothea transforms back into a bat and leaves the room.

Miyamoto has been building up bloodlust these days... So tonight, I'll have to go out and find him some rivals. I guess the issue of enslaved beings is a good reason to fight... It will also serve to gauge his attack power, in case I have to face someone in the future.

Since I don't want to be recognized, I'll think of an alias...

Ai takes a sip of tea and spits it out.

"What is this metallic taste?"