Relationships were a fleeting thing.
On the other hand, it was something that most aspired to have.
The relationship between the Lawrences and Edelfelts was a little strange.
For one, they don't belong to the same ideological faction—the Edelfelts were staunch supporters of the Democratic Faction, those who believed everyone deserved a chance to study Magecraft regardless of bloodline, and that their worth should depend on natural talent, not that of inherited strength.
Although it was called the Democratic Faction, the political structure was closer to that of a meritocracy.
The opposing Faction was the Aristocratic Faction, those who believed higher forms of Magecraft should only be reserved for the ancient lineages, ostracizing the commoners.
As for the Lawrence, they were of the Neutral Faction, those who didn't really care about such things and only wanted to be left alone in this conflict of ideals.
Despite this fact, the two families could be considered somewhat close. Well... not quite allies since Magi were never so sentimental, but close enough for the previous family heads to have made an important agreement.
Johan's eyes became complicated as he gazed at the noble-looking girl before him...
Why? Simple.
Johan had seen her completely naked in Dreamland, after all.
He had also seen a naked Old Neil as well as his brother, but that was different...
Now as he gazed at Luvia, who had one hand on her hip and the other holding up a handkerchief to her face, he couldn't help but visualize an odd sight.
"...W-Why are you looking at me like that..." Luvia asked, her hand suddenly trembling. "It feels invasive..."
"I'm just looking." Johan stated plainly as he redirected the question. "As for you..."
"...You didn't see anything..." Johan remarked as he pointed the ball of dirty water in her direction. "Got that?"
The subliminal message was pretty clear.
"Yes, yes... you don't have to be so barbaric." Luvia said with a harumph.
Both of them decided to forget about the previous scene.
"Good, great." He pointed the water ball in a random direction and hurled it away.
It ended up hitting a crow that had been watching since earlier, the corvid cursing wildly in its avian caws as it flew away with wet feathers.
...Sorry.
"Why are you even here, anyway? It's pretty far from your place..." Johan briskly asked as he glanced and made sharp eye contact with the amber-eyed Edelfelt.
Luvia's eyes naturally avoided his gaze as she glanced to the side, perhaps admiring the puddle that had made the Lawrence family head slip and fall.
Her family were famous practitioners of Jewel Magecraft, thus she naturally became a member of the Department of Mineralogy...
Which wasn't close to the Department of Lore in terms of actual location.
"...I'm afraid I can't say." She said plainly as she adjusted the hems of her elegant blue dress. "It's very official business."
"A confidential matter then? I suppose it can't be helped." Johan nodded, not prying any further beyond his authority.
Among the 12 Departments, Lore was definitely the most secretive. Although most of Clocktower's lower ranks believed it to merely be the Department that studies anthropology and such, only those inside the Department know what they really studied.
If she had been assigned some 'very official business' here by the higher-ups, then it was best not to ask.
Luvia's gaze seemed to linger somewhere before it eventually landed on Johan's hand.
"What is that...?" Luvia asked as her eyebrows furrowed. She reached out and grabbed hold of Johan's hand...
"Wait, don't touch it—" Her fingers quickly intertwined with his before he could finish the sentence, and thus, the surface of her skin grazed the Gobbler Ring.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happened at all.
But then...
"...A-Ah!" The girl yelped as she jumped back and immediately made some distance. "What... was that?"
Immediately, Johan took a step forward and planted his other hand, the one that didn't have a cursed ring on it, on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" He asked with concern. "...What happened? Did you get any visions? Was my naked body floating there?"
Luvia clutched her own head, as she gazed back at the concerned Johan. "...W-What...?"
...Okay, she didn't go to Dreamland. Johan was relieved, yet somewhat disapointed.
"No... ugh... I... I'm fine." She did not look fine.
"Don't just recklessly touch Mystic Codes like that!" Johan scolded as he used his other hand to touch her forehead. "...This is uncharacteristic of you..."
Hot... did she just spontaneously get a fever? The Gobbler Ring has such effects...
"Hm..." Luvia mumbled something unintelligble as she retracted away from Johan's hand. "I... I don't know what came over me..."
Strange...
"How do you feel?" Johan asked, appraising her condition. "Is it just a fever...?"
"Lethargic." Luvia answered, her eyes gazing at Johan's ring. "It feels as though I haven't slept in days and just... just came back from the North Pole."
Why did the Gobbler Ring have such an effect? Wait, could it be...
"...Did you feel your Od being drained...?" Johan asked with widened eyes.
"Yes." She nodded her head. "Half of my reserves are gone... it's definitely why I'm feeling like this..."
This...
Only now did the Ring of Gluttonous Greed's name make sense to Johan.
To him, it might only drain away a little bit of his Od since he was its 'host', but to others? It might as well be the natural predator of Magical Energy.
That being said, where is all of this Od going to? The Gobbler Ring itself doesn't even radiate any Magical Energy and feels like an ordinary object...
Just like a black hole, the Ring eats and absorbs energy, but by itself is almost invisible, as if a void.
"Hey..." Luvia called out as she gazed up at Johan. "It's because of your ring, isn't it?"
Johan shook his head. "No, it's because you recklessly touched it..."
"Ugh, I feel dizzy... at least, maybe you can carry me... or... something..." She requested as she clutched her head, seeming to be in 'great pain'.
"I was going to look for Noah." Johan stated quickly. "Did you see him whilst you were here earlier?"
Luvia was about to say something but stopped with her mouth open as she considered his statement. "Uhm..."
"Yes... he was running off to Norwich." She revealed before gazing down.
Norwich was another name for the Department of Modern Magecraft, but why was Noah going there...? Is this new girl of his in that Department...?
How dissapointing...
"Now please~ carry me! I-I feel like I'm about to collapse!"
...If you are gonna collapse, then why do you have such an eager smile!? Johan lampooned with a shake of his head.
"Forget that, let's just do a Mana Transfer." He calmly proposed. "It'd be faster."
"—E-Eh!?" For some reason, she became very visibly flustered. "But w-we've only been to 1st base, my body isn't ready for..."
"What are you talking about? I meant a blood transfusion." Johan explained with an exasperated tone.
"Oh..." She looked more dissapointed than a deflated balloon.
Johan reached inside his suit's pocket and retrieved out a small phial of his own blood, one that had a plentiful amount of Magical Energy surging inside every blood cell.
The greatest catalyst to perform Magecraft with was actually biological matter, which ranges from Magical Beast parts...
To parts of the Magi themselves.
When it comes to containing Magical Energy, bodily fluids were the most efficient.
However, it couldn't just be sweat as the Mystery on the concept of sweat was too little... instead, it was usually blood or semen.
Those two were liquids with strong Mystery, as both were the source of life in their own ways.
Thus Johan always carried around 2-3 phials of his own blood in case of emergencies.
"But I still want you to carry me..." Luvia demanded as she placed her hands upon her hips, her facial features rearranging into an annoyed expression. "For a gentleman, don't you feel any guilt?"
Johan shook his head, shoving the blood phial onto her hand. "Don't be annoying, at this point, I would have mistaken you as a punching bag had you worn more red."
"What a thing to say to a woman..." Despite her words, Luvia looked more infinitely amused than any type of mad.
Johan chuckled before gazing at her hand. "Lend me one of your gloves, I'll return it tomorrow."
"Why? Do you have a secret stash or something? Don't tell me you collect my discarded bathrobes..." Luvia remarked with a disguted look.
However, she proceeded to give Johan her glove anyway.
"It's nothing like that, I just want to hide this Ring..." Johan explained as he wore the glove over his hand, hiding the Gobbler Ring underneath.
The outline was still visible, and the glove was a little too tight for Johan's hand, but it hid the Ring nonetheless.
"Since you knew where he went, why don't you make yourself useful and lead me to him." Johan said.
In truth, he kind of felt bad about her current condition and didn't want to leave her alone after he sapped half of her life force as if nothing had happened.
Luvia was seemingly about to refuse, but then bore a unique smile.
"Only if you carry me..."