At the age of nine, he had reduced the entire House of Marcus to ashes, including his grandfather, who had noticed his true nature.
In the process, he had been rescued by a mage from the Magic Tower. Later, when it was discovered that he had slaughtered his entire family with his own hands, he had personally eliminated even his own teacher.
On top of that, he was also the mastermind behind a major incident in the future, one that involved even more insane acts.
‘Was it said that an unidentified Archmage was involved in the recent attempt to assassinate the emperor?’
Honestly, she hadn’t mentioned it because she had no evidence.
But according to her <Records>, Sein Marcus had also been involved in the attempt to assassinate the emperor of Olsher in her previous life.
Of course, since circumstances had changed, it was possible that an Archmage from another country had been involved in this life.
“…….”
But how likely was that, really?
Rachel vaguely suspected that Sein Marcus had been involved this time as well. And yet, that man had come to her residence after receiving a request from the Magic Tower.
Of course, he wore the mask of a diligent mage when acting as an Archmage of the Magic Tower.
‘……Would an Archmage really come all this way just to install a new barrier for a baron’s residence?’
Besides, he was petty and held grudges for a long time. What if he had approached her because he resented her for stopping the assassination attempt against the emperor?
“My lady?”
“……Let’s go now.”
Rachel straightened her clothes and headed to the reception room. Bram, the butler who had been entertaining the guest, greeted his mistress.
“You’re here, Baroness.”
Rachel nodded lightly and instructed him to open the door. As the butler opened it, he announced,
“The Baroness has arrived.”
“…….”
Rachel walked forward with tense steps. The figure standing by the window instead of sitting on the sofa looked exactly as she had read about him in her <Records> when she returned to the past.
Navy-blue hair that swayed around the nape of his neck.
Rare green eyes.
“Hello. I’m Sein Marcus, the Magic Tower’s third Archmage.”
“…….”
His handsome face wore a gentle smile, making him look like a kind scholar at first glance. But she absolutely must not be fooled by his appearance.
Rachel smiled like a painting and greeted him politely.
“Hello. I’m Rachel Ingrave. I only made a simple request, so I never expected an Archmage to come in person.”
Since barriers required multiple spells to be cast across an entire residence without interfering with one another, they were usually a task for high-ranking mages of the fifth or sixth tier.
Rachel, who planned to cut ties with the Ingrave family, had submitted a request to the Magic Tower, just like other nobles below the middle rank who didn’t have high-ranking mages in their service.
……If she had known this would happen, she would have canceled the request.
She had been busy putting both families in order and hadn’t felt the need to cancel it. Now, however, that decision had led to a meeting with a mad Archmage.
Sein Marcus approached her with an innocent smile.
“I had some business in the capital, so I decided to take care of your request while I was here. Oh, Lady Acting Marchioness, do you happen to know Aisha, the young lady of House Labelyn?”
“I know her well enough to recognize her. I suppose you came to see her.”
“Yes. I was curious about how she was doing. Even if she doesn’t look like it, she’s my first student.”
“…….”
At least, he didn’t seem about to do anything right away.
Somewhat relieved, Rachel reached out to Becky.
“I see. Then I’ll entrust the barrier for my residence to you, Mr. Marcus. Here is the list I prepared. Would you take a look?”
“Of course. Let’s see.”
He put his glasses on the bridge of his nose and accepted the list. There were twelve spells in total, including an alarm spell for the walls and various protective spells against attacks.
“There’s not much here. I can get started right away.”
Sein Marcus immediately stood up and went outside. When Rachel followed him, she found him standing at the center of the estate grounds.
He murmured something briefly, then snapped his fingers.
Fwoosh—
In an instant, a huge green magic circle appeared in the sky.
It covered the entire residence. Even in her long life as a noblewoman, this was the first time she had ever seen such a large magic circle.
Wow—
Gasps of admiration came from the servants following behind them. The vast amount of magic covered everything around them, and the Archmage controlled it as if it were nothing.
“…….”
It was certainly an impressive sight.
But realizing just how powerful an Archmage was made Rachel even more uneasy. Of all people, that madman had to be this skilled, too.
Sein Marcus layered as many magic circles over the first one as the number of spells Rachel had requested. Then he snapped his fingers once more.
Vroooom—
The magic circle that had filled the surroundings with green light slowly spread over the residence and disappeared, sinking into the ground as if it were being absorbed.
The barrier was complete.
His innocent face curved into a faint smile.
“It’s finished.”
“That’s amazing.”
Rachel praised Sein Marcus with a look of genuine admiration, as if she had been painted that way. The servants and knights around her were also impressed, so her reaction seemed perfectly natural.
“I never expected it to be finished so quickly, even by an Archmage. I heard that high-ranking mages usually need several days.”
“If it took several days just to set up a barrier, I’d have to give up my title as an Archmage.”
“I see. But you layered twelve magic circles over the first one. Was the first magic circle meant to control the spells I requested?”
“That’s right. You have a keen eye.”
Rachel asked him various questions while stamping the document he presented. It was a confirmation that the requested barrier had been properly installed and the payment had been made.
When she took a pouch of gold coins from Becky and handed it to him, Sein snapped his fingers. The pouch disappeared in an instant. Sein smiled.
“Then I’ll be going now. I plan to stay at the Labelyn residence for a while, so contact me there if you notice anything unusual. Though I doubt that will happen.”
“Yes. Have a safe journey.”
Rachel followed him to the main gate and saw him off. She stood there until his shadow disappeared, then returned to the residence and instructed Becky,
“Becky. Contact the Ingrave family and ask three high-ranking mages to come here immediately. Tell them we need to inspect the barrier, and they should bring anything they might need.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Rachel’s expression naturally stiffened. A barrier installed by someone who had secretly worked behind the scenes in all kinds of incidents?
Of course, he had visited her in his capacity as an Archmage of the Magic Tower, but one could never be too careful. She had to check it no matter what.
Still, barriers were usually completed using fourth- or fifth-tier magic, so the high-ranking mages employed by the Ingrave family should be able to inspect it properly.
Soon, three high-ranking mages from the Ingrave family arrived at the Easton residence after being summoned. Illya was with them, dressed as if he had just returned from a court meeting.
“Sister, what’s going on? Why did you suddenly call high-ranking mages…?”
His blue eyes held confusion and caution as he looked around, as if searching for some kind of danger.
Rachel shook her head.
“It’s nothing serious. An Archmage from the Magic Tower just came and installed a barrier around the residence, but I thought we should have it checked.”
“Checked?”
“Yes.”
Rachel had expected him to ask more questions.
Instead, Illya immediately gave the mages their orders.
“You all heard my sister, right? Inspect it immediately and report back.”
“Yes, Marquis.”
The three high-ranking mages began inspecting the newly installed barrier, looking as though they wondered whether all this was really necessary.
First, the twelve magic circles layered over the enormous one matched the spells on the list Rachel had requested.
Finally, as the mages examined the central structure that controlled all twelve magic circles, they tilted their heads in confusion. Rachel promptly asked,
“Is there a problem?”
“Hmm, no, not exactly. But the barrier is a little strange. The level of the spells is quite high for a simple barrier. Since I can’t properly identify it, I suspect the magic circle is of the seventh tier or higher.”
“What?”
The highest-ranking mage among those summoned was currently a sixth-tier mage.
Generally, first-tier mages were apprentices, those from the second to fourth tiers were classified as low-ranking mages, and those from the fifth to sixth tiers were considered high-ranking mages.
Seventh- and eighth-tier mages were the highest-ranking mages.
And ninth-tier mages were Archmages, known as the very peak of the magical world.
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