Ariel turned his head slightly and answered as if talking about a completely ordinary, everyday matter.

“Ah, that’s right. Actually, I kept him at the magic tower for research.”

“…What?”

Wait. Does that mean they’re researching magical beasts at the magic tower?

So much for expectations. Merrien’s mouth corners dropped.

But Ariel, who didn’t have an ounce of tact, grabbed her hand and pulled her along. His excited voice remained unchanged.

“There are other top-tier magical beasts, too. I’ll show you around.”

“Huh? Come to think of it, I don’t think I need to see them. Just a moment… Aah!”

She tried to pull her foot back, but her body had already crossed through the portal.

“Aaaah!”

Merrien screamed, covering her face with her free hand.

This was because she had come face to face with Christopher’s huge mouth, which was wide open in a yawn as she was just entering the portal.

“Merri.”

“…?”

But even after coming through the portal, she didn’t feel any sensation.

Hearing only Ariel’s voice asking what she was doing, Merrien opened her eyes slightly.

Ariel was watching her with a tilted head, and behind him were dozens of gazes fixed on her.

They were magicians wearing black robes, immersed in something.

She never expected to receive the kind of attention here that she had only received at imperial banquets.

Flustered, Merrien looked around.

“No, Christopher something was definitely right in front of me… Oh, there he is.”

After pointing right in front of her and then spotting Christopher yawning far away, her confidently raised hand lost its purpose.

Embarrassed, she brought her hand to the back of her head and pretended to scratch it.

But a man who had been busily writing something right in front of Christopher was startled and came running over.

“…Tower Master!”

“Hey there.”

“Don’t ‘hey there’ me! What on earth is this…?”

It was Seren, the Tower Master’s assistant.

He had sent over ten letters to Ariel asking him to visit the magic tower.

Now he suddenly shows up without any prior notice, which wasn’t welcome at all.

And on top of that, there was a woman who appeared while screaming strangely!

When Seren glanced at Merrien, Ariel squinted one eye and covered Merrien with his hand to prevent Seren from seeing her.

“Don’t look.”

“Ah, yes.”

“And greet her properly. Where on earth did you learn to just look someone up and down, Seren?”

Ah, as I thought. So it is her. Seren recognized her immediately.

The pink-haired Saint he had glimpsed through the slightly open door on the day Ariel had made a fuss about taking Christopher to his mansion a few months ago.

Her extraordinary appearance had stayed in his memory.

The rare replies from Ariel were always filled with praise of a woman named “Merrien.”

Seren bowed his head deeply.

“I’m truly pleased to meet you, um… Saint? I am ‘Seren,’ the Tower Master’s assistant.”

Wait, wasn’t being the Tower Master supposed to be a secret…?

I thought he was keeping it a secret because she was a Saint he had abducted from the temple and cherished.

After finishing his proper greeting, Seren belatedly gave Ariel a suspicious look.

Merrien greeted him while her view was still blocked.

“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m ‘Merrien.'”

“You don’t need to tell him your name, Merri.”

“Just move your hand.”

“…Okay.”

Okay? Did the Tower Master just say “okay”? Seren’s eyes and mouth widened as much as they could.

His face had become completely dejected despite it being an act. Unlike his sharp response to Seren, he lowered his hand like a tamed magical beast as soon as the Saint spoke.

Then Seren clapped his hand over his mouth abruptly. He had thought something was strange—the Tower Master wasn’t even wearing his mask.

“T-Tower Master. Your mask…”

“Ah, it’s fine. Merri likes my bare face.”

“Good grief.”

It was one surprise after another. The Tower Master being abnormal was a daily occurrence, but to have someone who could respond to this nonchalantly was something else.

The more he listened to their conversation, the more dizzying it became, and Seren’s hand that had been covering his mouth was now heading inside his mouth. He soon began biting his nails with a clicking sound.

Ariel didn’t even care about his reaction. Perhaps not even Merrien’s sighing response.

He simply grabbed Merrien’s hand, pulled her into his arms, and continued speaking boldly.

“I revealed that I’m the Tower Master. Merri forgave me.”

Right? Seeing him confirm once more in a gentle voice while looking at Merrien, Seren’s heart raced even more than the person involved.

Even Seren, a third party, was holding his breath and watching cautiously, but she either gave up or found it bothersome and just nodded roughly.

Perhaps that’s why Seren blurted out his true feelings.

“Wow, you’re really amazing. If it were me, I would have already slapped him three or four times and kicked him away.”

Perhaps he felt an internal connection with the person who always put up with the Tower Master’s insane temperament.

Seren answered with a voice full of sincerity, but belatedly came to his senses.

Ariel’s blue eyes, staring at him stiffly without blinking, had become deeper than the deep sea.

“…I’m sorry.”

Seren bowed his upper body respectfully. Then he hurriedly handed the documents he had been carrying under his arm to Merrien.

The best way to overcome this moment was to stick to the Saint and gain her favor.

“The Tower Master has already heard this, but since you don’t know, Saint, I’ll explain it to you.”

Even as he spoke, sweat was pouring down his back due to the gaze he felt from beside him.

But Seren began explaining earnestly without showing it, even pointing at the document.

“If you look here… This magical beast is a top-tier magical beast commonly called ‘A’.”

“Its name is A?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Wow, that’s really uninspired. Merrien felt somewhat sorry for the magical beast that looked like a giant cobra.

With fangs that anyone would recognize as venomous and a huge tail that seemed capable of killing instantly upon coiling around someone.

It made Christopher’s ridiculous name seem like it had been given with considerable thought.

As Merrien focused, alternately looking at the top-tier magical beast and the document, Seren wore a triumphant smile.

“Top-tier magical beasts tend to have high intelligence. Ah, according to what I heard from Agnes, there seems to be a higher level of magical beasts than this.”

“Agnes?”

Why is Agnes being mentioned here?

Merrien turned her head at the familiar name. The Agnes she knew was definitely just a small, precious child.

She looked at Ariel with suspicion.

“The Agnes I know?”

“Ah, yes. That Agnes.”

Ariel, who hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, answered while grinding his teeth. That dragon was never helpful in any way.

His face even showed a slightly embarrassed expression, but Merrien didn’t notice this.

She just propped her chin and tilted her head in wonder.

“Such a small child handles Christopher? The child who was nearly dying?”

She had heard that the child would regain original strength after “that month” passed, but how strong could he be? At best, he was a small child who barely came up to her waist.

“Small… ahem, yes. That’s right.”

The tactless Seren tried to interject but quickly closed his mouth after receiving a sharp look from Ariel. It meant he shouldn’t say anything.

‘Well, I guess even if he’s small, being a dragon, he would be stronger than a top-tier magical beast.’

Merrien understood on her own.

She had forgotten that Agnes was a dragon because she had been treating him too much like a young child.

Seren watched the two of them cautiously and then led them toward Christopher.

“There is a hierarchy even among top-tier magical beasts. Magical beasts use a language that only they can understand, and A follows Christopher’s will because Christopher’s rank is higher.”

He pointed at Christopher while explaining. Christopher was sitting upright and majestically.

‘Wow, he still looks really scary.’

The three heads revealed chilling eyes and enormous fangs.

Merrien subtly moved her body backward.

But then.

“…Woof? Woof! Woof woof!”

Christopher, who had sensed their presence and looked in their direction, came running over with thundering steps.

“Huh? This has never happened before?”

Of course, the magicians could control it sufficiently, but this kind of spontaneous behavior was a first. Merrien and Seren reflexively covered their bodies.