The next day, Ryan visited Rachel’s study when it was nearly 4 o’clock.

“Did you wait long?”

Ryan carefully asked, concerned that Rachel might have been waiting due to his later-than-expected arrival.

“No. I thought you wouldn’t come early, so I haven’t been waiting that long.”

“I tried to make time, but I couldn’t free myself until now.”

Despite Rachel’s assurance that it was fine, Ryan explained his situation apologetically.

“I was the one who said anytime would be fine, so please don’t worry.”

Rachel smiled as she spoke again to reassure him. Only then did Ryan seem relieved and smiled back.

“Thank you for understanding. Shall we go then?”

Ryan extended his hand. Rachel stared at this now somewhat familiar gesture before nodding and placing her hand on his.

“Once we get there, you’ll be able to check their condition.”

Rachel followed him out of Rose Castle. They soon arrived at the prison located within the imperial palace.

“We greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince!”

As soon as the two entered the prison entrance, the staff who had been waiting greeted them.

“Good. I want to see the attackers first. Please guide us.”

“Yes. This way, please.”

At Ryan’s words, the head jailer Lorent began to guide them.

“How are they doing? Any changes since yesterday?”

Though Ryan directed his question to Lorent, his tone held no expectation.

“Regrettably, none.”

“I see.”

Ryan nodded once and turned his gaze to Rachel.

Rachel felt his gaze and looked back at him.

“I don’t mean to pressure you, but I hope you can find some clues for us, Rachel.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you.”

Ryan had wanted to ask for help from Rachel, who had become an imperial mage.

Yet he had hesitated, worried about burdening her. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he hadn’t readily asked for her assistance.

Rachel was also one of the victims of the attack, so he worried about potential psychological trauma if she met the attackers again.

Fortunately, Rachel’s demeanor remained unchanged as they went to meet the attackers.

Only then did Ryan belatedly remember that she was the one who had killed Witch Sara in the Witch’s Forest.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

When Ryan’s gaze lingered on her, Rachel asked with curiosity.

He smiled and shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

Finally, guided by Lorent, they arrived at the visitation room. To prepare for any potential incidents, there were iron bars in the center, with chairs and tables arranged on both sides facing each other.

“Would you please wait here?”

“We will.”

Ryan and Rachel took their seats.

Before long, the door on the opposite side opened and three men entered.

They looked haggard and worn.

“W-We greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

“We greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

The man in the middle nervously greeted Ryan. Then the two men on either side of him also greeted in quiet voices.

“Sit down.”

Ryan’s tone was rigid and sharp, unlike anything Rachel had heard from him before.

The three men nervously sat across from Ryan and Rachel.

“Would you take a look, Rachel?”

“Yes.”

Rachel first examined the man sitting on the far left. He had brownish-gray hair and amber eyes.

Mana gradually gathered in Rachel’s eyes as she looked at the man. Soon, the flow of mana became clearly visible to her.

Generally, mana existed in two forms: that which was evenly distributed throughout nature, and that which formed the basis of living beings.

Rachel began to focus carefully on the mana flowing through the man’s body.

Since mana naturally possessed certain characteristics and unique flow patterns, if his memories had indeed been erased by magic, there should be some kind of disruption in the mana flowing through his body.

And if she could find that flow pattern, she could identify what type of mana the mage who had interfered with them used.

After concentrating for a while, Rachel’s vision caught glimpses of rough, spark-like disruptions in the flow.

But she couldn’t be certain right away.

Instead of analyzing that flow in detail, Rachel shifted her gaze to check if the others showed the same symptoms.

Before long, she confirmed that all three men exhibited identical symptoms.

“Can you tell anything?”

Ryan, who had been watching Rachel examine each of the three men, carefully asked her.

“Yes. All three show irregular spikes in their mana flow. This is likely evidence of magical interference. I need to examine these traces more closely.”

“I see. Please keep going, Rachel.”

Ryan spoke encouragingly. Although imperial mages typically supported various imperial affairs, he felt apologetic about giving Rachel such troublesome work.

“This is my job.”

Rachel shrugged lightly and began to observe the mana flow of the three men in greater detail.

While detecting the flow of mana wasn’t particularly difficult, finding traces of another person’s mana mixed within required intense concentration.

Especially since considerable time had passed since the attack.

According to Ryan, the attackers’ memories had been erased on the day of the attack, which meant the mana of the mage who erased their memories would be gradually fading.

Rachel focused on the areas with rough disruptions.

After a considerable amount of time, she identified mana with different properties from the original.

Because so much time had passed, the remaining traces of mana were finer than a thread.

Nevertheless, Rachel captured these tiny traces and identified the properties of the mana.

Rachel tilted her head and frowned.

The mana properties she sensed from them felt strangely familiar.

“What is it?”

“I’ve identified the mana properties.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But that’s all for now. The key will be finding who this mana belongs to.”

“…I see.”

Ryan, who had briefly held hope, replied with disappointment.

“Then we might not be able to find the person who used the magic.”

“Hmm.”

Rachel made a small sound of contemplation at Ryan’s words. Then she shook her head, contradicting his statement.

“No. That won’t be the case.”

“Pardon?”

Ryan frowned at Rachel’s confident assertion.

“Are you saying you can identify them?”

“Yes.”

“How can you identify them? Isn’t it too late? If the culprit has already disappeared, it would be difficult to catch them. Besides, you’re the only one who knows the mana properties. While I’d appreciate your continued help, we can’t examine every mage in the world…”

“No. It’s not too late, and it won’t take long.”

Rachel cut off his concerns with a firm statement.

Ryan became curious about why she was so confident.

“Do you have a reason to be so certain?”

Ryan carefully questioned her.

After a brief pause, Rachel nodded affirmatively and spoke.

“It’s familiar. The mana properties. I can’t define exactly who it is yet, but it’s definitely someone I’ve met before. That narrows things down.”

“You mean it’s someone you know?”

“Perhaps.”

Rachel mentally recalled the mages she knew.

Among the closest people, Edward came to mind first. But Rachel immediately excluded Edward from her list of suspects.

Edward was her unofficial magic mentor.

Having learned magic from Edward throughout her repeated regressions, there was no way she wouldn’t recognize Edward’s mana properties.

Edward’s mana had properties that were gentle and warm, just like his personality. However, the magical properties Rachel sensed this time were drastically different.

“I want information on mages in the capital. Those affiliated with the Magic Tower.”

Rachel abruptly told Ryan.

“For that, I could ask Randolph to prepare it right away…”

“No. I’d prefer if this didn’t reach the Magic Tower Master’s ears.”

“What? You mean…”

Rachel interrupted him. Ryan’s eyes widened as he realized her meaning.

Rachel nodded, seeing no need to hide it further. Then she spoke gravely.

“I consider the Magic Tower Master a suspect in this case too.”