At last, they overflowed. She burst into a flood of tears like a child. She flushed and hurriedly got up as she took out a handkerchief. “I’m sorry. How embarrassing… E, excuse me for a moment.”
“It’s alright. I understand. Please go ahead,” Azriel said.
The Duchess covered her face and left the room, sobbing. There were only Sophinea, Azriel, and bewitched Pendelok left in the room. The old man was staring at her piercingly, but it seemed his mind was somewhere else.
“Director of Magic,” Azriel called.
“…”
“Sir Pendelok Palaios?” she called again.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Pendelok blinked. He grabbed his beard, groaning. “It’s just unbelievable.”
“You don’t have to believe it.”
“No. I can’t help but believe it. It’s just too shocking. The Horizon… the Horizon… I never thought I’d see a legend in my old age… It’s worth living for a long time. Yes. Of course. Man has to live for a long time—”
Azriel interrupted the old man’s continuing gibberish. “Uh, why was Sophinea… Umm, Lady Rudimna at the society, not at the Duke’s mansion? I know for a fact that the society doesn’t take minors as members.”
“Sophinea? Oh, right. Sophie. Goodness. Do you know how artistic your movement was at the moment she spoke? It was like you didn’t want to allow an inch of gap. Yet, you were not violent. What can I say? Elegant? Yes! Elegant!”
“What?”
“I never thought I’d feel such mana in my entire life! Interfering with other’s mana! It’s something that’s enough to throw out all of the already existing papers. It’s historic and also legendary! The academia will be turned upside down!” Pendelok Palaios, who made a speech so passionate that Azriel was afraid that he might faint, had an enraptured look on his face.
“Sir Palaios? Well…,” Azriel spoke.
“There’s no way someone like you is not the pupil of the Horizon, of course. I can’t believe it even though I said it! I can’t! The wizard that the Wizard of the Horizon taught! The legend is before me! The Legend, gasp!” Pendelok, who got too excited, grabbed his chest and wavered.
“Grandpa!” shocked, Azriel got up and ran to him, forgetting about Sophinea. She narrowly caught the old man who was about to fall backward.
“Whew, whea…,” Pendelok breathed heavily.
“Please calm down. I’m not going anywhere,” Azriel said.
“I, I’m sorry. I became too excited,” Pendelok cleared his throat and straightened his body with a reddened face. Then, he smiled suddenly. “But grandpa? It reminds me of the time when you communicated with me.”
“I’m sorry. I was in such a rush that I acted rudely…”
“No, no. It’s fine. I don’t mind you calling me that. I just remember how surprised I was back then,” the old man waved his hand as he spoke. Even though Azriel stood up, Sophinea did not wake up. It seemed that she had been exhausted. Azriel asked as she went back to Sophinea’s side and sat down. “What were you surprised about? Was it because of the news about the Crown Prince?”
“Further from the message itself, how can I not be surprised when a voice of a child communicated with me? I thought maybe it was just the voice that sounded young, but the way of calling me a ‘grandpa’ was indeed a child. How old were you then?”
“I was ten. But receiving communication that surprising? Any wizard can do it.”
“Just because any wizard can do it, it doesn’t mean it’s common for a ten-year-old to spread the signal in a wide range from such a long distance. Of course, not. The communication condition was very clean, too.”
“…That’s something unbelievable?”
“You don’t know well about ordinary wizards, do you?” Pendelok asked with an interested look on his face. To this day, Azriel had only learned recent wizards’ news from books. Even so, she only paid attention to theories or academic ideas and was indifferent about wizards or their cultures. The only wizard she knew except for Rhema was Tarbo Tameion. She had not even been familiar with Pendelok Palaios’s name, who was the best wizard of Aucandor. There were many things that she could not learn only through texts. She could not deny it. Azriel agreed, feeling embarrassed. “Yes, I usually spend my time learning magic from Rhem… my master. I’m not so familiar with other wizards…”
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