Kairos, the sorcerer who saw Adele, could not hide his astonishment.

He behaved as though he were seeing a ghost rather than a person. And understandably so, since the little one who had gone missing was now right before his eyes after fourteen years. Such a reaction was only natural.

The chubby cheeks he remembered were nowhere to be found, replaced by a slender face. On top of that, she had grown considerably taller, as though that small and soft child had been dried out and stretched.

Even through all of this, her bold desire to enter the swordsmanship department seemed to have been maintained throughout, as her build was firm like someone who trained regularly.

Before, he had wondered how such force could come from such small fists, but looking at her now, it was believable.

Her body had changed, but the blazing red hair was the same as ever. Only the long wavy style, rather than the two curly pigtails from before, felt somewhat out of place.

Also, those yellow-green eyes that seemed full of grievances with the world were exactly the same as in her childhood. The mature and clouded eyes of someone who had come to know the darkness of the world.

But regardless of all that, the woman before him was Adele.

Kairos circled around Adele for a long while observing her, then turned sharply to Vincent and said.

“Good heavens. This is really that Adele? You did not just bring someone who looks similar?”

“It is Adele.”

“It is the boss.”

Kairos felt a sense of familiarity at hearing the word ‘boss’ for the first time in fourteen years. The only person who would say such a thing to Vincent was the bold and peculiar little one, Adele.

The fact that the woman was somewhat grubby was also one piece of evidence that this was Adele. The little one who had wandered around without parents had been equally grubby.

But a sorcerer who pursued truth should not judge by appearances alone.

In the past, young Adele’s energy had been unlike anything else. A peculiar and otherworldly feeling, as though she did not belong to this world.

He remembered it clearly even after all this time.

‘What about this woman?’

After examining the red-haired woman he still found himself doubting was Adele, Kairos was startled a moment later.

Having confirmed her energy as well, he asked Adele with an expression of disbelief.

“Wh, what have you been doing all this time? How have you been living?”

“Why?”

Asking why, when she has energy like this.

Kairos forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth from rising. She was a research subject who had returned.

‘This woman is definitely Adele!’

People naturally change as they grow. Except for their essence.

It may sound like an exaggeration, but a proper sorcerer could feel the storms of life and the joys and sorrows a person had experienced.

Fortune tellers who deduced a person’s past and predicted their future from their face or the lines of their palm were operating on a similar principle.

But what was the energy visible in Adele?

It was the same pure blank slate he had seen in her childhood. A child could be like that, but this woman was a fully grown adult.

And yet she had no life to speak of? As though she were a creature that had been suddenly created from nothing?

“What is it? Why are you smiling in that unsettling way?”

Startled by the sorcerer’s face looking at her with a skin-crawling expression, Adele clenched her fist tightly.

Standing in the middle of the professor’s office feeling like a zoo monkey was not a pleasant experience.

Sensing the threat in an instant, Kairos wrapped himself in a strong protective spell.

Fortunately, adult Adele seemed to have more patience than her younger self. Her fist only trembled without being swung.

In truth, Adele was holding back out of concern that problems might arise with purchasing her title. She could not kill the sorcerer before her new identity was created.

Not knowing any of that, Kairos asked brightly.

“So you came to find me because you want to buy a title for academy enrollment?”

Was she finally getting to the point after this long ordeal? Adele nodded. Kairos burst out laughing.

“Bwahahahaha! To think you still have that dream! Miss Adele and young Master Vincent have truly not changed one bit!”

It felt like she might actually hit him for real this time without holding back. Adele’s patience was beginning to run thin.

This time genuinely sensing killing intent, Kairos wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and tried to calm things down.

“Ahahaha! All right, all right. Miss Adele, hold back.”

At Kairos’s reaction, Vincent let out a sigh with a fed-up expression. Now he understood why he had seemed so reluctant earlier.

The sorcerer had a great talent for teasing people. There was no way of knowing whether he had always been like this before the regression, so one could only assume this was his true nature.

Once all the remaining laughter was exhausted, Kairos caught his breath. He thought that laughing any more here could genuinely be dangerous.

“Right then, do not worry about the title. The young master here will have all the money prepared.”

In this world, there was nothing that could not be done with money.

When he had heard it fourteen years ago, he had thought what a plan that was, but in the end the six-year-old child had been right.

Was it not because there was money that he was able to play the role of professor here in the Kingdom of Pilonia like this?

The problem was persuading the swordsmanship department professors for Adele’s desired enrollment. It was absolutely necessary for enrollment, but that was a little awkward.

It was because he had no desire to get close to those sweaty fellows.

With Charles around, enrollment could easily be arranged, but did he really need to involve himself?

As it was, he was already in the middle of avoiding Charles, who still kept clinging to him with talk of friendship and the like, using one excuse or another.

“Sir Theodore would be better for handling the enrollment after all. You remember him, right?”

Adele nodded with a satisfied expression at how quickly things were moving.

“As expected, this world. It truly is a world where nothing is impossible if you have money and connections.”

Kairos listened to Adele’s worldview, tinged with the grime of worldly affairs, and shook his head, thinking she was exactly the same as she had been as a child.

Thinking that it would be hard to find such a jaded young person anywhere.

“Sir Theodore will be surprised to see you too.”

Almost no memory remained of when Adele had been taken by that unknown force. As though someone had forcibly cut away rotting flesh.

Just what was that child? And just who was the one going to such lengths?

The sorcerer had gone ahead and purchased a new identity as ‘Kairos Hartman’ and entered the academy.

The reason Kairos had become a full-time professor was simple. This kingdom was where Adele had been, and it was here that he intended to conduct research into the unknown force that had taken Adele from him.

Honestly, the displeasure had also been considerable. Someone forcibly tampering with his memories? It was something no sorcerer would dare even attempt.

For this reason, he had abandoned even his homeland and continued to devote himself to research.

Just as he was beginning to grow accustomed to life here, the peculiar child had returned.

The enrollment application period had already passed, but what did that matter? Just as Adele had once enlightened him about the world, he now knew how the world worked.

Even though Kairos had said he absolutely never wanted to become an ordinary person.

She would absolutely never enter the magic department where he was, and she had no talent for magic whatsoever in any case.

To conduct research from nearby, he had to get her into the swordsmanship department without fail. It would be quite a problem if she suddenly vanished somewhere again.

“Well then, here is some perfume for you. The smell around you will become more fragrant.”

“Why is this?”

Kairos answered with a meaningful smile.

“You will understand when you get there. And if anyone asks after me, do not answer.”