Chương 63: The Witch Was Losing to Paperwork

Ronan opened the reinforced door without knocking again, apparently deciding that the guild master had already acknowledged their presence. Sieghart followed him into the office while keeping his hood raised. His hand remained close to the opening of his cape in case the meeting became dangerous. After everything Ronan said about Seraphina Arclight, Sieghart expected her descendant to resemble an elderly witch from a fairy tale.

He imagined white hair, glowing eyes, shelves filled with suspicious ingredients, and perhaps a cauldron containing a slowly prepared hex for an unfortunate enemy. The guild master would probably be studying an ancient spellbook while a black bird watched visitors from somewhere near the ceiling. What Sieghart found was a tired woman in her late twenties drowning beneath paperwork. Stacks of documents covered most of the large wooden desk.

Additional papers occupied nearby chairs, several shelves, and part of the floor. A cold cup of tea sat between two piles of contracts. An overturned bottle had left a dark ink stain near the corner of the desk. The woman sat behind the chaos with one hand supporting her forehead. Her other hand moved across a report with impressive speed. She possessed shoulder-length black hair tied into a loose tail with what appeared to be an ordinary writing pen. Several strands had escaped and hung across her face.

Her pale-violet eyes were sharp despite the exhaustion beneath them. Ink covered the tips of her fingers, and a faint dark circle rested beneath each eye. She wore a practical dark-blue shirt beneath a sleeveless black coat. A silver crescent pin represented the only obvious symbol of her position. No pointed hat rested nearby. Sieghart saw no cauldron, glowing skull, suspicious book, or animal companion capable of delivering curses. The only thing dying inside the office appeared to be the guild master's patience.

She finished writing a sentence before looking toward the door. Her eyes moved from Ronan to the small cloaked figure beside him. One eyebrow twitched. The guild master studied Sieghart for several seconds. His dusty cape, bandaged feet, torn clothing, and constant scowl probably created several immediate questions. Her gaze returned to Ronan. She said nothing. Ronan also remained silent.

The woman's expression made it clear that she expected an explanation and that every passing second reduced the likelihood of Ronan surviving without additional work.

"I can explain."

"You always say that before making my day worse."

"That isn't entirely fair."

"You were supposed to observe one farm, submit a report, and return alone." Ronan glanced toward Sieghart.

"The farm is gone." The guild master's expression changed. Her irritation did not disappear, but it became sharper and more focused.

"Close the door." Ronan obeyed immediately. The noise from the main hall weakened once the heavy door shut. A faint blue light appeared across several runes carved into the frame. Sieghart recognized the purpose without receiving an explanation. The enchantment probably prevented conversations inside the office from being overheard. The guild master pushed several stacks of paperwork aside and pointed toward the two chairs facing her desk.

"Sit." One chair already supported enough documents to bury Sieghart beneath administrative problems. Ronan gathered the papers and placed them carefully on the floor. Sieghart remained standing. The guild master looked at him.

"You can sit too."

"I'm fine."

"You walked for three days." Sieghart glanced toward Ronan. The man raised both hands.

"I didn't tell her."

"I can see your feet." Sieghart looked down at the worn cloth wrappings. Remaining upright suddenly seemed less important than avoiding an unnecessary argument. He climbed into the chair. His feet did not reach the floor, which made maintaining a threatening presence considerably more difficult. The guild master turned toward Ronan.

"Report." Ronan removed the folded notes from his pack. He arranged them chronologically before beginning with his arrival near the farm one month earlier. He described Sieghart's training, including Water Cannon, Wind Blade, Earth Bullet, levitation, multiple elemental control, and the small cloud created above the field. Sieghart listened without interrupting. Hearing someone else list his abilities confirmed how much Ronan had observed without being noticed.

The guild master's attention occasionally shifted toward Sieghart. Her expression remained neutral, although the description of endless repeated casting made her fingers stop moving. Ronan continued with the night of the attack. He explained the silence surrounding the farm, the first explosion above Sieghart's room, and the sequence of additional blasts that destroyed the farmhouse. The guild master asked precise questions about timing, direction, magical residue, and the pattern of destruction.

Ronan answered whenever possible. He admitted that he had been sleeping in the grove when the attack began and sensed nothing until the first explosion woke him. His Aura detected the disappearance of Edric and Elara's presences before he reached the farmhouse. He arrived in time to pull Sieghart away from the following blasts. Ronan briefly described Sieghart's response. Earth Bullets, Wind Blade, repeated Water Cannons, and enough sand to extinguish the remaining fire appeared in the report.

He did not complain about his damaged legs or exaggerate Sieghart's attempts to kill him. That restraint improved Sieghart's opinion of him slightly. When Ronan reached the discovery of the bodies, the guild master stopped asking questions. She looked toward Sieghart. He stared at the edge of her desk while keeping his hands hidden beneath the cape. His fists had tightened without him noticing. Ronan explained that Sieghart gathered, restored, and buried his grandparents before leaving the farm.

He described the graves but omitted most details concerning the recovered remains. The guild master finally understood why Sieghart looked like someone who wanted to fight the entire world and punish it for surviving. Whatever she saw in his expression made her remaining irritation disappear. She pushed the cold tea aside and closed every report within reach.

"I see." Ronan placed his notes on the desk.

"Whoever attacked knew the layout of the house. I found no tracks approaching the property and sensed no unfamiliar presence before the explosions."

"You believe the attacker used concealment?"

"Either concealment or remote placement. The charges may have been installed earlier." Sieghart raised his head.

"Someone entered the house before that night?"

"It is possible," the guild master answered.

"A skilled infiltrator could place enchanted charges and activate them later from a safe distance."

"You know what kind of weapon did it?"

"Not yet." The answer was honest and completely unsatisfying. Sieghart's hands tightened again. Heat began gathering beneath the cape until the guild master's pale-violet eyes narrowed. Several lines of blue light appeared across the desk. The runes absorbed the heat before any papers could catch fire.

"Please don't burn my reports." Sieghart forced his mana to settle. Ronan leaned back in his chair, apparently relieved that someone else had finally said it. The guild master studied Sieghart for several seconds before resting both hands on the desk.

"It appears some people still fear my ancestor's name." Sieghart looked directly at her. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"What does Seraphina have to do with my grandparents?"

"Perhaps nothing."

"That isn't what you implied." The woman did not react to his tone. She had probably confronted angrier and more dangerous people across the same desk.

"My name is Mira Arclight," she said.

"I am the current guild master of Lunar Arc and a direct descendant of Seraphina Arclight." Sieghart waited. Mira continued after realizing that he had no interest in formal introductions.

"Seraphina nearly created an age of magic within the human lands. She taught people to develop spells deliberately rather than relying on inherited Aura." That information caught Sieghart's attention. Creating spells remained his most reliable method of progression, yet no book on the farm mentioned formal training for doing so.

"She established schools, developed rechargeable tools, and designed much of this city," Mira explained.

"Her students proved that magic could become more than household convenience."

"Why did that stop?"

"Because success attracted politics." Mira leaned back while looking toward the narrow window behind her desk. Part of the river remained visible between neighboring buildings.

"Combat Aura users controlled armies, noble houses, land, and government positions. Seraphina demonstrated that trained mages could challenge that power." Sieghart understood the problem immediately. Magic threatened the social hierarchy even if Seraphina never intended to replace it. A farmer with weak Water Magic remained harmless. A trained mage capable of casting hundreds of offensive spells without exhaustion could change the result of a war.

"Some people wanted to use her against the Aura families," Mira continued.

"They saw Seraphina as proof that the entire order could be overthrown."

"Did she agree?"

"No." Mira answered without hesitation.

"My ancestor believed magic and Aura should exist together. Aura strengthened people and allowed them to perform things most spells could not reproduce."

"Magic could cover everything else."

"Exactly. She wanted cooperation." Sieghart thought about his grandparents. Their magic produced food, maintained fields, and reduced labor without requiring powerful bodies. His father's Aura defended the border and allowed him to defeat monsters capable of destroying settlements. The two forms of power could complement one another. Human beings apparently found that conclusion too reasonable.

"Several of Seraphina's students disagreed," Mira said.

"They believed Aura users would never share power willingly."

"Were they wrong?"

"No." The blunt answer surprised Sieghart.

"They were correct about the resistance," Mira continued.

"They were wrong about the solution." Some students left the human lands after Seraphina refused to lead a rebellion. They joined foreign groups and radical movements that already opposed Aura-dominated kingdoms. Those factions did not seek equality. They planned to destroy the existing Aura families, seize their territories, and replace one ruling class with another.

"They wanted to exterminate Aura users?" Sieghart asked.

"Some wanted to remove only the noble houses. Others believed every combat Aura would eventually become a threat."

"That sounds practical until someone decides farming Auras are dangerous too." Mira nodded.

"Powerful movements always expand the definition of enemy." Seraphina rejected both extremes. She refused to become a weapon for Aura nobles and refused to lead mages in destroying them. Her decision earned enemies on every side. Aura families feared she could change her mind and create an army of mages. Radical students considered her a traitor who abandoned the revolution she made possible. Foreign rulers wanted her knowledge but distrusted her refusal to swear loyalty.

Even some of her allies became frightened by how much power rested in one person.

"She stepped away," Mira said.

"Seraphina closed most of her schools and limited the knowledge she distributed."

"So everyone won by destroying progress."

"Nobody considered it a victory at the time."

"It sounds like one for the people who wanted magic to disappear." Mira did not argue. Magic survived within Seraphina because her city had already become too useful to dismantle. Her remaining students preserved enough knowledge to maintain tools, infrastructure, and limited training. Lunar Arc grew from the people Seraphina continued protecting. The guild inherited pieces of her research along with enemies who refused to forget the past. Sieghart processed the story while anger gathered beneath his exhaustion.

His grandparents might have died because people were still fighting over decisions made generations earlier. They had no connection to Seraphina beyond a possibility Sieghart shared her talent.

"Why would anyone think I'm like her?"

"Reports from the eastern war described a child who cast large-scale magic repeatedly without visible exhaustion."

"My head almost split apart."

"Witnesses could not see that." Sieghart remained silent.

"They saw you charge weapons, attack Firians with several elements, survive their commander's flames, kill him with fire, and heal severe injuries afterward." Mira spoke without praise or excitement. She listed the events as reasons someone might choose murder.

"You are also the ignored son of the Crimson Sword King. If you grew powerful and reconciled with your father, House Emberhart could control both an unmatched Aura user and an extraordinary mage."

"I don't plan to reconcile with him."

"Your enemies do not know that." The unfairness of the situation made Sieghart's teeth ache as he clenched them. His parents rejected him, yet their reputation still attracted danger.

"Someone tried to kill me before I could become like a figure I didn't know, and it wasn't even certain..."

"That is one possibility."

"An Aura user?" Mira considered the question.

"Perhaps." Her uncertainty made the heat return. The runes across her desk glowed again without her touching them. Mira ignored the reaction.

"A conservative Aura family might want to prevent another age of magic. A rival house could fear what your existence means for the Emberharts."

"Or someone outside the human lands."

"Yes." Mira folded her hands.

"Some descendants of Seraphina's radical students may believe you could become the symbol they wanted from her."

"Then why kill me?"

"Because Seraphina refused them. If they expect you to make the same choice, allowing you to grow would create another powerful enemy." Sieghart looked down at the desk. His grandparents died because someone feared a decision he had never been offered. The assassin murdered them based on what Sieghart might believe years in the future. The explanation sounded insane. Unfortunately, human history consisted largely of people killing one another over predictions, bloodlines, rumors, and old grudges.

"Which group ordered the attack?"

"I don't know." The answer ended whatever patience Sieghart possessed. The office grew warmer. Papers shifted as the air began vibrating around him, while faint darkness gathered near his hands. Mira watched without flinching.

"You have no clue?"

"I have several possibilities and no proof. Choosing the one you dislike most would make the investigation easier and the truth less likely."

"My grandparents are dead."

"I know." Mira's expression remained calm, but her voice lost its earlier distance.

"I cannot give you certainty because you deserve it. If I provide a name without evidence, you will kill the wrong people and warn the ones responsible." Sieghart wanted to argue. He wanted Mira to produce a target, location, and explanation simple enough to burn away. She refused because no such answer existed yet. His anger had nowhere to go. It remained inside him, heating the office while his grandparents stayed beneath the old tree. Ronan cleared his throat.

"Could he join Lunar Arc?" Mira looked toward him.

"No." Ronan blinked.

"That was quick."

"We already have enough unruly children." Sieghart raised his eyes.

"I didn't ask to join."

"That supports my decision." Ronan leaned forward.

"He needs somewhere safe. The assassin may try again, and the Emberhart estate isn't an option."

"Why not?"

"He threatened me with enough fire to turn the farm into glass when I suggested it."

"I dispersed the fireballs."

"Eventually." Mira looked at Sieghart again. She examined his clenched fists, exhausted eyes, burned clothing, and expression sharpened by grief.

"He is particularly unruly."

"I thought we liked unruly children to show them the right way," Ronan said.

"You brought him here after he tried to cut your head open."

"He had a difficult night." Mira sighed.

"The problem is not his temper." Sieghart waited for the real answer.

"He is interested only in revenge." Mira's words struck with uncomfortable precision.

"He cannot see anything beyond finding and killing the people responsible. If Lunar Arc accepts him now, every lesson, friendship, and mission will become another tool for that purpose."

"I don't need friendships."

"That is exactly my point." Mira leaned forward.

"We have children here who already struggle with fear, anger, and abilities they cannot control. Bringing someone consumed by revenge among them would spread that obsession." Sieghart did not respond. Her judgment was accurate. He had no intention of joining Lunar Arc, helping its members, or building another peaceful life. He wanted information, training, and whatever resources allowed him to find the people responsible for the attack. Everything else looked like an obstacle.

If Mira gave him access to Seraphina's records, Sieghart would study them. If Lunar Arc offered combat lessons, he would learn. He would cooperate with the guild and ignore every distraction until he became strong enough to pursue the assassin. That willingness did not represent loyalty. It was merely another route toward vengeance. Mira saw that before he said anything. Ronan rubbed the back of his neck.

"So we send him outside?"

"No." Both Ronan and Sieghart looked toward her. Mira gathered several papers and placed them into a neat stack, although the effort barely reduced the chaos covering her desk.

"I said he cannot join Lunar Arc." Her pale-violet eyes settled on Sieghart.

"I did not say we would refuse to help him."