chapter 246: Intertwining Intentions 7

​Liliana headed to the Ministry of Magic with the letter she had received from Ben Draco. In the letter she had received a few days ago, it was written only that he wanted her to come to the Ministry of Magic. No details were mentioned.

​She wondered what was going on, but if Ben hadn't written the circumstances in the letter, it must be something that shouldn't be leaked to others even by chance—or something so complicated it couldn't be conveyed in writing.

​Having judged so, Liliana didn't ask questions and only decided on a schedule.

​"I wonder if something happened."

​While being swayed by the carriage, Liliana murmured softly. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. Even when she pulled the contents of the otome game from her past life's memories, she didn't think there were any corresponding events. Of course, in the otome game, events unrelated to the protagonist Emilia were either briefly mentioned or not depicted at all, so there was a possibility she just wasn't aware of it.

​"In this period—there were no events related to Belasta Draco, were there?"

​Since Ben Draco didn't appear in the game, when it came to events related to the Ministry of Magic, she only recognized those involving Belasta. And the events related to Belasta happened a bit later—specifically, after the heroine chose the Belasta route and the common route branched into the individual routes.

​Considering that, she felt like the reason Liliana was called to the Ministry of Magic this time might not be an important one that would determine Liliana’s future.

​The carriage carrying Liliana arrived at the Ministry of Magic. When Gild showed the transit pass sent by Ben in advance to the gatekeeper, they were able to enter the grounds without difficulty.

​If she thought about it, when Liliana had visited the Ministry of Magic, she had usually erased her form, presence, and magic power through Petra’s magic. This was the first time she had visited through the front gate openly. Even though she hadn't stepped into the Ministry of Magic that many times, Liliana let out an internal sigh, thinking Petra had done something quite reckless.

​"—It couldn't be helped, could it? Even if I say I recovered my knowledge and memories, I only knew how to use them at a level appropriate for my age."

​No matter how vast the amount of knowledge, it was meaningless if one didn't know how to use it. Originally, Liliana wasn't bad at thinking logically. That was why even when her knowledge suddenly increased, she didn't panic and was able to utilize it in combination with the knowledge of the world she was currently living in. Besides, she had remembered some of the "ways of thinking" from her past life's memories to some extent. It was certain she was quite at an advantage compared to her peers, but even so, Liliana, who was only six years old at the time, hadn't really questioned anything.

​"Even though quite a lot of magic arrays are set up."

​If one looked closely, magic arrays were set up everywhere in the Ministry of Magic facilities. Ones to sense the presence of intruders, ones to intercept, ones to restrict the use of magic—the list was endless. Moreover, every single one of them was a high-level array. It was truly the Ministry of Magic.

​But the more she looked at those arrays, the more she was impressed that Liliana’s presence hadn't been sensed. Maybe Ben had been deceiving them, but either way, it meant Petra’s ability had been outstanding even back then.

​When they stopped the carriage and got off, Liliana entered the Ministry of Magic accompanied by Gild. There was a reception desk where they opened the door. Resting on the reception desk was an eagle with a sharp face.

​'ST-STATE YOUR NA-NAME.'

​"—I am Liliana Alexandra Clark."

​Not expecting it to start speaking, Liliana’s eyes widened. But she immediately regained her composure and identified herself. It seemed the eagle before her was a magic tool. It seemed they had applied a technique to a stuffed eagle and were using it as a receptionist.

​'LILIANA ALE-ALEXANDRA CLARK. REGIS-TERED. WILL GUIDE TO DI-DIRECTOR’S OFFICE.'

​The eagle spoke in a staccato voice and flapped its wings. Then, it flew down the corridor as if leading Liliana. Liliana, her eyes widening slightly, followed the eagle. When she took a quick look at the reception desk, an eagle of a different color was sitting there. It seemed that once one eagle started guiding, it would switch with another eagle.

​(How convenient.)

​She murmured admiringly to herself. The eagle continued to fly at Liliana’s pace.

​They passed several sorcerers along the way, but most seemed to be convinced by seeing the eagle and immediately looked away from Liliana as if they had lost interest.

​After walking for a while, the number of people gradually decreased. By the time they reached the corridor facing the garden, there was no one around. The quiet space felt more tense than the places where many sorcerers were coming and going. That place was a stage that appeared in the otome game from her past life. And she had walked there before when she was taken to the Ministry of Magic with Petra.

​If they turned right ahead, they would find the Director’s office; if they went left, they would find the Vice-Director’s office. Last time she had business in the Vice-Director’s office, but this time it was the Director’s office.

​After turning several corners and proceeding, they eventually reached the Director’s office. The eagle that had been leading Liliana and her group was perched on the door handle. When Liliana approached the door, the eagle took to the air again and returned the way it had come. As Liliana, who had seen its retreating back, was about to knock on the door, the door was opened from inside the room. Liliana froze at the suddenness. On the other side of the door stood a slightly tired-looking Ben Draco.

​"I’ve been waiting. Was everything alright?"

​"No problems occurred. Even so, I never thought I would be guided by an eagle."

​"Ah, that eagle."

​While exchanging simple greetings, Liliana entered the room after Ben. Petra was also in the room. Petra gave a smile when she saw Liliana.

​At his invitation, Liliana sat on the sofa and received tea from Petra. While she was drinking a sip and letting out a breath, Ben asked with amusement, "What did you think of that eagle?" Liliana thought for a moment and gave her honest impression.

​"I thought it was a rare technique. It didn't seem to be a puppetry technique to me."

​"Exactly. As expected. That wasn't so much a puppetry technique as it was specifying all the instructions in detail with separate techniques. We started practical use today, including testing, and I'm relieved to see it’s moving well."

​It was quite a task, Ben sighed. Hearing that the guiding eagle was made by Ben, Liliana blinked.

​"Did you go out of your way to make it?"

​"Yeah. With the personnel reorganization the other day, we’ve become short-handed. I thought we could manage at least a guide with magic tools."

​Since they had only just put it into practical use, they were going to make fine adjustments to bring it closer to completion. Magic tools couldn't handle fine and high-level processing. However, no matter how fine the content was, as long as it was a fixed task, it wasn't impossible. It was just that the technique was difficult, and no one should have tried to actually put it into practical use.

​"Specifically, what can it do?"

​"Basically, guest management. Guests who show their transit pass to the gatekeeper are immediately registered. Then, all the sorcerers working at the Ministry of Magic are registered too. Also, the entire inside of the Ministry of Magic is registered. This time, as a trial, I pre-registered the visitor (you) and the destination (the Director’s office)."

​Liliana’s face reflexively went blank. The more detailed the instructions became, the more magic formulas had to be written into the magic tool. Since the guiding eagle was about the size of a normal eagle, she could probably write in a certain amount of fine formulas. However, to execute what Ben stated, the eagle was too small.

​"That is a fairly complex technique."

​"Well, yeah. That's why I'm pruning the formulas quite a bit. One of the current considerations is whether that will cause any glitches. Also, it’s not completed with just that eagle. I have another magic tool prepared with the formulas written in."

​"A composite type magic tool."

​"Right."

​Composite type—meaning, multiple magic tools combined to produce a single effect. Composite type magic tools also weren't as common as one might think. That was because the difficulty was far higher than carving a technique into a single magic tool. On top of that, the magic power required was enormous.

​Ben’s explanation made sense, but the very thought of putting it into practical use was not normal. Liliana had a blank face. Petra, who was sitting opposite Liliana, also spoke with an exhausted look.

​"I'm short on sleep thanks to that."

​It seemed that Ben was a matter of course, but Petra had also been worked like a dog. However, compared to when Nicolas Bergson was Director, she seemed to have less fatigue. When Liliana pointed that out honestly, Petra shrugged.

​"Well, yeah. Last time, it was just work that ground down my physical strength, spirit, and magic power. It’s better now because I'm just using my head. I can even save magic power depending on how I do it."

​When Petra stated that nonchalantly, Ben also nodded. However, what he spoke was something that completely ignored Petra’s statement.

​"Muirulainen is quick to grasp, understand, and work, so I feel like entrusting her with various things."

​"Increasing my work is fine, but why don't you increase my authority instead? Things are stalling because of all the people we lost."

​At Petra’s current rank, even if she wanted to start something, she apparently had to get permission from a high-ranking sorcerer. Therefore, even for the work she was entrusted with, it took quite a long time at the stage of getting permission from a high-ranking sorcerer. When Petra raised an eyebrow and voiced her complaint, Ben spoke up as if he had remembered.

​"Ah, right. I'm thinking of raising your rank at the next performance review, so please take care of the exam preparation."

​"Huh?"

​At Ben’s words, Petra’s eyes went wide.

​"What was that?"

​"Exactly what I said."

​Petra was at a loss for words before Ben, who nonchalantly shrugged, but she eventually let out a deep sigh and shook her head slightly.

​"That's not something you should be saying now, is it?"

​"You think so?"

​"Yeah. Liliana took the time to come here, after all."

​At her tone, which was as if to ask if he wanted to waste her precious time, Ben nodded slightly, saying "I guess you're right." However, it was also a regular occurrence for the conversation between the two to stray from the main point. Liliana, thinking it was about time, asked the two with a small wry smile.

​"So, could you tell me the reason you called for me this time?"

​Suddenly, Ben and Petra wore bitter expressions. Liliana tilted her head. For the two, who usually stated their business directly, they were being uncharacteristically indecisive. After watching the two in silence for a while, Ben eventually opened his heavy mouth.

​"There’s something I want to ask of you. On your way to the Director’s office, didn't you pass the corridor facing the garden?"

​"Yes, I did."

​Wondering if it was that place where people suddenly decreased, Liliana nodded as she pictured it in her mind. It was likely the same place that appeared in the otome game she had enjoyed in her past life.

​"An unidentified sorcery array appeared there. Apparently, the condition for seeing it is the amount of magic power, but it seems Muirulainen and I are just barely short. However, that sorcery array seems to have become unstable, and it’s sometimes visible. The problem is that because it’s so difficult to even see the array, we can't dispel it."

​Liliana maintained her usual expression, but she caught her breath. Watching her, Ben and Petra nodded with serious expressions.

​"I think it’s probably what you noticed, but even I wasn't aware of the existence of that array. In the Ministry of Magic, we use magic arrays, but we don't use jujutsu arrays. Whether what was originally applied came to the surface for some reason, or someone applied it with some scheme in mind, I think it’s one of the two."

​"—In either case, unless we know what kind of purpose the array serves, we cannot even decide on a response."

​"That’s how it is."

​Ben Draco let out a tired smile, saying she was quick to understand. Petra also didn't drop her bitter expression, adding with a sigh.

​"We don't know what kind of danger there is. To be honest, I wanted to avoid borrowing the lady’s hand."

​"Thank you for your concern. However, if there is something I can do, I shall be glad to help."

​Liliana replied brightly. Petra and Ben looked at each other and gave a wry smile.

​"I thought the lady would say that, after all. But don't let your guard down. We'll be coming along, of course. Also, if you think it's dangerous, run away immediately."

​"Yes."

​Of course I will, Liliana nodded honestly.

​"Well then, let's go."

​With a word, Ben Draco stood up. Liliana and Petra also rose from the sofa and left the Director’s office with Ben.

​Petra and Ben had tense expressions. They were likely concerned that their lives would be in danger by dispelling the sorcery array. However, Liliana was composed.

​If the sorcery array Ben and Petra were talking about was the same as the one Liliana knew, analyzing the array wouldn't result in any danger. The problem was the very fact that the sorcery array had started to become visible.

​(Why—in this period?)

​It wasn't that she was tense because she felt danger. Only impatience and questions were floating in Liliana’s heart.

​(If it's the same array as the one in the otome game—that event shouldn't happen until next year.)

​She knew that because Liliana had acted, some differences were appearing compared to the otome game. However, that change wasn't necessarily a good one. The news that a sorcery array had appeared was, if anything, in the bad category.

​(Nothing is ready yet.)

​Even if she analyzed that sorcery array, there was no way yet to suppress the danger that array would cause. At a stage where Emilia and the love interests had only just met, the items and information to collect them weren't gathered. Liliana knew the existence and whereabouts of the items, but it was naturally impossible to collect them alone.

​(I wonder if there's another way. Besides, even though I haven't done anything—why did it appear?)

​But in any case, she wouldn't be able to judge unless she saw that sorcery array once. If that array was as Liliana remembered, reality was out of sync with the otome game’s timeline. If that was the case, Liliana would have to reconsider her thoughts as well.

​"Here it is."

​Ben stopped his feet and pointed to the corridor wall. At a glance, there was nothing on that wall. However, Liliana, without any hesitation, touched the wall with her hand and started slowly flowing magic power from her palm.

—-

Toc

Chapter 247