In the Execution Office of the Department of Law and Politics, warm morning sunlight filtered through the gauzy curtains. Li Xiang lay on the bed, eyes closed, a faint smile on his lips, breathing steadily.
Kaya Ruri turned the key and opened the door.
Li Xiang remained unresponsive.
She turned slightly and respectfully addressed the woman standing behind her. "Lord, he won't be waking up anytime soon."
The woman looked even younger than Kaya Ruri, dressed in a white tailcoat, red knee-high boots, and metallic silver gloves, with a ribbon tie at her chest. Her eyes were clear and bright, her face dignified and noble.
She sat in a chair, gazing at the sleeping Li Xiang. "Begin."
"Yes, Lord."
Kaya Ruri stepped forward, her expression serious, her tone solemn. "By thy form, the serpent's will, the confusion of the eye, magic as the guide, I speak the words."
Li Xiang abruptly sat up, but his eyes remained closed.
"Name."
"Li Xiang."
"Who gave you your acceptance letter?"
"I don't know."
The woman raised an eyebrow and looked at Kaya Ruri. "Is his memory intact?"
"It is," Kaya Ruri replied with some confusion. "If his memory had been erased, there would be traces left in his soul, no matter what. Also, memory erasure is strictly within the jurisdiction of the Department of Law and Politics; other departments have no authority to perform it. The Department of Law and Politics is the most advanced in the study of memory erasure. It's practically impossible for there to be an error. Unless..."
She glanced at the woman, hesitating. "Unless it was done by a Grand Magus. Since the Department of Law and Politics has never encountered a Grand Magus personally erasing memories, we have no data on whether they can do it without leaving any traces."
"They can't because I can't," the woman replied, her expression flat.
Kaya Ruri understood and continued questioning Li Xiang. "Do you know Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg?"
"No."
"Do you know Kay?"
"Kay?" Li Xiang's tone faltered for a moment. "I know... no, I've heard of him."
"Tell me what you know."
"Kay is the third seat of the Knights of the Round Table, the foster brother of King Arthur Pendragon. He was a sharp-tongued, unruly knight. Merlin entrusted the five-year-old Arthur to Kay's father, Sir Ector. Kay grew up alongside Arthur, trained with him, and served as the steward of Camelot, eventually dying before the Battle of Camlann."
"That's not true!" The woman suddenly stood up. "You're lying to me."
"I am not," Li Xiang remained in his dazed state.
Kaya Ruri felt the air thicken with pressure and said solemnly, "Lord, given his abilities, there's no way he could resist enchantment magecraft."
The woman was silent for a long time before sitting back down.
"Do you have any more questions?"
Kaya Ruri looked to the woman, awaiting further instructions.
"That's enough. There's no need."
The woman tapped the armrest of her chair. "Did you find out who cursed him during the day?"
"It was just a rogue magus, hired by someone else. He was dead by the time we found him, so we couldn't interrogate him. However, since it was an unnatural death, his soul should linger a bit longer. I've asked Lawrence Shirley from the Department of Invocation to help."
"What about Marisbury Animusphere, the Lord of the Department of Astromancy?"
"He's still researching the possibilities of Spiritron Transfer and time travel. For the past two years, he's been heavily experimenting with test-tube babies to find Spiritron Transfer adaptors."
"Pointless."
The woman scoffed, clearly unimpressed by the experiments. "Has he taken any action regarding Li Xiang, who holds an acceptance letter from the Department of Astromancy?"
"Yes. He had Wenze Clairladdin conduct an entrance exam for him, but the results were disappointing. Lord Marisbury's daughter, Olga Marie, refused Li Xiang's entry into the Department of Astromancy due to his mediocre magical aptitude. However, Li Xiang chose the Department of Modern Magecraft on his own and became a disciple of Lord El-Melloi II."
The woman walked over to Li Xiang and, with an impassive expression, rolled up his sleeve to reveal his right arm. She pressed her hand against it, and his Magic Circuits lit up, as if responding to a natural enemy. Magic flowed out automatically.
"A temple..."
The woman stared at the lightning-shaped spear cage in a trance. After a moment, she lowered his arm and turned to Kaya Ruri, speaking in a low voice, "Though he's unaware, those events will inevitably catch up with him. He's now under Waver's tutelage, aligning him with the aristocratic faction. Let him continue his studies at the Clock Tower."
"Yes, Lord Barthomeloi."
When Li Xiang awoke, it was already broad daylight.
He yawned and looked around the quiet room.
"Irigal, doesn't something feel off?"
Irigal didn't respond.
Useless system! Always sleeping.
Li Xiang shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! Wake up! As a system, you wake up later than I do. Aren't you embarrassed?"
[System booting... Self-protection mode deactivated.]
The cold machine voice quickly shifted to a pleasant girl's voice. [What's up, Master? I don't think anything's wrong.]
"That woman brought me here and then disappeared. I've been in this room for hours, and no one from the Department of Law and Politics has shown up."
[Maybe they're just really busy.]
"..."
That's a pretty dumb explanation.
"And something felt off with me yesterday, too."
[No way! I thought you were super cool yesterday, Master!]
"Cool, sure," Li Xiang recalled his state of mind from the previous day. "But I was way too calm. From killing to disposing of the body, I acted like I'd done it a hundred times. I was just a high school student before, not particularly timid, but definitely not the kind of person who could kill without batting an eye."
"...Uh."
Irigal paused for a moment. [It's because of your elemental attribute. The four elements correspond to different traits, and earth-element magi tend to be more composed.]
"No, that doesn't sound right," Li Xiang shook his head. "That explanation doesn't hold up. By that logic, dual- or multi-element magi would all be mentally unstable."
[Then I don't know...]
"..."
Li Xiang felt like the system was hiding something.
Too bad he couldn't just take the system apart.
"By the way, what about my quest reward? Why do you take so long to hand them out? Other systems give rewards as soon as the task is completed, but you always need me to remind you."
[It's my first time being a system!] Irigal whined, then raised her voice cheerfully. [Congratulations, Master, on your promotion to Apprentice Magus! You've earned the Yin Qi Bomb.]
A wealth of information about the Yin Qi Bomb flooded Li Xiang's mind.
At the same time, the trickle of magic in his Magic Circuits expanded into a small stream.
Apprentice Magus rank achieved.