I successfully received the banquet invitation. Instead of a wax seal with a crest, a dried purple flower was attached to the pristine white paper. Carefully bringing it to my nose, I detected a faint but sharp fragrance.

It was a Dehid flower. When was the last time I heard that name?

Back in Bivrint Forest, the magical creature poachers who brutally killed the Sainur tribe had hidden a scent pouch. A Dehid flower was discovered inside, and later I learned it had been used to lure Sainurs.

I thought the Dehid pouch would be a crucial clue to catch the culprit. However, when lion embroidery representing the Sio Dynasty appeared on the pouch, the case slipped beyond my reach.

I never dreamed I would encounter a Dehid flower again like this. Moreover, that it would come from Baron Klaus, who had plotted through Iris. There were too many suspicious connections to dismiss as mere coincidence.

After Asrein finished his brief medical examination, we prepared to leave Pergamon Manor.

“Thank you so much for today. Please visit this manor again when everything is resolved.”

Leaving Bezef’s kind farewell behind, I followed Asrein into the carriage. As soon as it departed, I asked him:

“How was the Count?”

“Nothing serious. He’s simply fallen ill from exhaustion, exactly as they said.”

“That’s a relief.”

Somehow my heart felt heavier than before we arrived at Pergamon Manor. I bit my dry lips, and the perceptive Asrein asked:

“Why that expression?”

“…Well…”

After hesitating, I carefully took out the invitation from my chest and handed it to him.

“I saw a Dehid flower by the window. Since it’s not a common flower, I asked Lord Bezef about its origin. He kindly told me they received it as a gift along with a banquet invitation from Baron Klaus.”

Asrein’s expression hardened dramatically when he saw the dried flower decorating the letter. Opening the envelope, we found a small card the size of a palm. It was an ordinary invitation with Klaus’s signature.

“It says they’re gathering lords who have suffered from magical creatures to devise countermeasures… This looks highly suspicious.”

The purpose of the banquet was far from ordinary. Asrein seemed to share my thoughts as his neat brows narrowed.

“We must proceed cautiously.”

“What about attending the banquet? They surely never expected us to have this invitation.”

“…I’ll consider it. Good work.”

Asrein placed the invitation in his jacket’s inner pocket, refraining from unnecessary comments. The pungent fragrance of the Dehid flower filled the carriage. It was an unforgettable scent—once smelled, never forgotten.

Just as I had seen from Pergamon Manor, dark clouds rolled in from the distance, suddenly darkening our surroundings. By the time our carriage entered the city, raindrops began to fall, quickly intensifying into heavy rain. This was the beginning of the storm that Deneb in the tank had warned about.

“With rain this heavy, we’ll have to stop the field study.”

“Yes. Let’s return to the sanctuary for now.”

We arrived at the sanctuary, cutting through the diagonal rainfall outside the window.

As soon as we stepped out of the carriage, I saw students milling around in front of the lodging building. Why are they all out here? Pushing aside my bad premonition, I asked a student who was anxiously biting her nails:

“What’s happening?”

“Well…”

When she hesitated, another student nearby answered instead:

“Leo… one of the students who came with us has disappeared.”

“What?! Where?”

“While passing through Nymph Forest. Raindrops suddenly started falling, so we cut the field study short and everyone rushed to find shelter. But when we got out of the forest and checked… someone was missing.”

“…Have people been sent to search?”

“The professors and some students have gone back to Nymph Forest to look.”

Without needing to discuss it, Asrein and I immediately boarded the carriage again. However, the increasingly heavy rain prevented the carriage from entering Nymph Forest. We had no choice but to get out and enter the forest on foot.

“The ground is slippery, so be careful.”

“Yes. Do you think they’ll be alright…?”

“For now, all we can do is hope they’re safe.”

The fierce rainfall—whoosh—drowned out even his voice right in front of me. To make matters worse, the sea wind was so strong I could barely keep my eyes open. I made a small visor with my hand and was barely managing to follow Asrein when it happened.

“Whoa…!”

Something caught my ankle and I lurched forward. If I hadn’t grabbed a nearby tree at that moment, I would have planted my face right in the mud. Calming my startled heart, I checked what had snagged my ankle. I naturally assumed it was a discarded branch or root on the ground.

But what gripped my ankle was a hand protruding from a puddle of water.

I drew in a sharp breath and tried to shake off the hand, but felt an even stronger grip. The transparent hand began to slither up from my ankle to my calf. I immediately turned to call Asrein.

“Professor! Over here…”

But he was nowhere to be seen. A thick fog had risen, preventing me from seeing even a step ahead. My eyes wandered desperately, searching the surroundings. Asrein had vanished without a trace. At the same time, the mysterious hand gripping my ankle disappeared back into the puddle. I didn’t panic and immediately channeled magical power into my earring, but there was no response.

“Asrein? …Agnus?”

I quietly called the two names, just in case. But what came back was the song that had been haunting me every dawn. As soon as I heard the faint melody from the distance, I instinctively turned around. If Ophelia was helping me, if she was showing me the way to meet Oceanos…

“I’ll trust you. So please guide me.”

I closed my eyes and slowly walked in the direction of Ophelia’s voice. As the singing grew closer, the sound of rough waves grew louder too. She was guiding me to the sea. To the sea where I needed to return.

Just as I was concentrating on Ophelia’s song, almost forgetting the heavy rain:

“…Tae-oh!!”

Someone called my name, making me open my eyes wide. The moment I saw the soaking wet purple hair, I ran over in one breath, delighted.

“Iris!”

“Where on earth have you been?”

“I had something to do with Professor Asrein… No, more importantly, why are you here?”

“I came here looking for the missing student. But I can’t find them anywhere.”

My relief at finding Iris was short-lived when I realized we were on top of a rocky cliff. Angry waves crashed against the cliff with the storm, making splashing sounds. With Asrein gone, getting back to the sanctuary safely took priority over finding the student.

Just as I was about to take Iris away, I heard a strange sound buried under the gusting wind.

“Do you hear something?”

“Don’t start with weird stuff.”

“No, really…”

It wasn’t my imagination. I definitely heard painful groaning from the cliff. I lowered my body to avoid slipping and looked down from the edge of the cliff. I saw a student barely hanging on, clutching a protruding rock.

“Iris!! Over here…!”

Iris rushed over at my urgent call and immediately reached out her hand after assessing the situation. We quickly helped pull the student up onto the cliff. If we’d been even a little later, it could have been disastrous. Suppressing my wildly beating heart, I approached the student.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh…”

They were conscious but unable to communicate. Moreover, they seemed to have severely sprained their foot—a swollen red ankle was visible below their pant leg.

“We need to move them.”

“I’ll carry them on my back. Help me.”

Just as I was about to help place the injured student on Iris’s back:

[There’s a familiar smell.]

[An unpleasant smell that threatens us…]

I sensed something strange beyond the cliff. Multiple voices flowed into my mind, like pushing through a crowded audience. The voices pushed away even my thoughts of needing to leave the forest immediately. As I stood blankly staring at the cliff, Iris, who had the student on her back, asked:

“Hey! What’s wrong with you now?”

The waves crashing—splash—against the cliff grew increasingly violent. That’s when it happened. A bizarre sight unfolded behind Iris’s back. Suddenly, a massive water column rose from below the cliff. Before I could even be surprised, the water column split into multiple streams and came rushing toward us.

“Look out!”

Without thinking, I lunged forward and pulled Iris’s arm. Thanks to that, Iris and the student avoided the water stream, but I couldn’t overcome the recoil. My center of gravity tilted, I staggered, and ended up touching the water stream.

“Tae-oh!!!”

Looking at Iris’s distorted face, I fell straight off the cliff.

***

The sea mist was so thick that visibility was near zero. But Asrein searched the forest thoroughly without hesitation. The reason was simple—his student, Tae-oh, had disappeared. Asrein anxiously clenched and unclenched his fist while muttering:

“Agnus.”

There was no response to the familiar name. Either magical power was blocked, or Tae-oh, his master, had lost consciousness. It had to be one of the two. After wandering through Nymph Forest for a while, he heard a desperate voice:

“…Tae-oh!!!”

Asrein immediately ran toward the voice. There he found Iris gripping the steep cliff and looking down, and Leo, the student who had collapsed weakly. Asrein first checked Leo’s condition. There were signs of mild dehydration and an ankle injury, but no major wounds.

The problem was that the most important person was nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?”

“T-Tae-oh…”

Her lips, turned bluish, trembled like aspen leaves.

“He fell from the cliff.”

“…What?”

Asrein’s face instantly contorted. Shock and despair combined to create an expression beyond words. But his feelings toward Iris were clear.

“It’s you again?”

“…Pardon?”

Sensing the sharp anger, Iris closed her mouth in confusion.

“I know what you did to Tae-oh in the library.”

Asrein grabbed Iris by the collar quite irritably.

“Tell me the truth.”

Pulled right up to his face, Iris trembled under the intimidating presence before her.

“N-no. It wasn’t me.”

The fierce golden eyes were still full of distrust. This pressure was incomparable to when Baron Klaus had struck her. One wrong move and she might die. Thinking this, Iris shook her head slightly.

“Just this once… it wasn’t me. Suddenly, fierce waves rose and a water column appeared. I almost got swept away, but Tae-oh saved me. But… Tae-oh…”

Seeing her gasping for breath, Asrein’s lips curled up bitterly.

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true!”

Just then, the sound of footsteps rushing from the distance was heard. It was a professor and Winter from the sanctuary, coming to search for the student.

“What’s going on here?!”

“Professor Asrein. Why… why are you doing this?”

With more eyes on them, Asrein reluctantly released Iris’s collar. While Iris explained the situation to them, Asrein couldn’t take his eyes off the bottom of the cliff. But even after dozens of waves crashed, nothing surfaced.

After hearing the details, another professor approached Asrein and said:

“Surely Iris wouldn’t have pushed Tae-oh. This isn’t like you, Professor Asrein.”

But Asrein didn’t budge. The professor, who had always seen Asrein make rational judgments, couldn’t help but be bewildered. When the professor sent a pleading glance for help, Winter promptly spoke up:

“We’ll send a search party after the storm subsides. If we recklessly launch boats now, we might cause more casualties.”

Asrein’s sharp eyebrows rose slightly. That was all. Still gazing at the undulating water surface, he instructed Winter:

“Make sure no one enters this area.”

“Of course.”

Winter nodded and took the students back to the sanctuary. The professor, about to follow them, casually addressed Asrein, who stood at the edge of the cliff:

“Let’s go too…”

“I’ll leave all the students to you.”

“…Pardon? Aren’t you coming with us?”

“I have something to do.”

Through the heavy rain—whoosh—his golden eyes shone distinctly. The professor couldn’t add anything more and simply turned to leave the forest. As soon as the surroundings quieted, Asrein removed his wet gloves and stood at the cliff’s edge. Though the raging wind pushed against him with all its might, Asrein remained unmoved.

“I still can’t get used to this body.”

Murmuring softly, Asrein swept back his wet hair with elegant fingers. Following his touch, all the moisture clinging to his long hair evaporated completely. Afterward, raindrops vaporized before even touching his body, as if meeting something scorching hot.

His eyes, filled with quiet fury, gazed at the sea.

“It’s been a while, Oceanos.”

In response, the dark blue sea roared with crashing waves.