“The year 2102 marked the beginning of operations for the first commercial nuclear fusion power plant. Roughly 1.5 million years after first wielding the fire brought by lightning, humanity had finally secured a practically limitless source of energy.”

  — The Jupiter Archives, Footsteps of Human Civilization

  Baron, an employee of the Magic Accident Investigation and Prevention Department, was staring blankly at his monitor as usual, lost in thought. On the screen, twelve graphs flowed peacefully. His only thought was to get off work as quickly as possible and soak his tired body at the bathhouse near his home. At least, that was his only thought until a sharp beep sounded and one of the graphs turned a glaring red.

  “W-what is this... A Class 10?”

  He cast a quick glance through the glass door behind him. His boss, Count Minuk, the head of the Magic Investigation Department, was ravenously devouring a donut. Reluctantly, Baron approached the office and knocked carefully.

  “Come in.” Count Minuk’s broad face scrunched up as he spoke. “What is it?”

  No matter how many times Baron saw it, it was never easy to avoid frowning at the cookie crumbs scattered across the Count’s bulging belly. Given the situation, however, he pretended not to notice.

  “A large-scale spell has been detected in Sector 12. It’s a Class 10.”

  “What? Sector 12? A Class 10 in that backwater?”

  The Count’s eyes went wide. He quickly wiped his greasy fingers on his clothes and hastily tapped at his own monitor.

  “Gasp, it’s real. Alright, good work. You’re dismissed.”

  The Count waved him away. Turning around, Baron couldn't stop a scowl from forming. However, he completely missed the sharp, calculating look Count Minuk shot at him in response. Once Baron left the room, the Count picked up his telephone and made a call.

  “Ah, yes, Lord Chamberlain. I’m calling regarding an urgent matter. A Class 10 spell has occurred in Sector 12. Ah, yes, I haven’t confirmed that part yet. Ah, yes, yes, of course, understood.”

  Hanging up the phone, Count Minuk stared at the receiver and muttered quietly to himself.

  “What was that about...? What’s going on that he just brushes off a Class 10 report?”

  His hand soon found its way back to his donut.

  To Kane, it sounded a lot like the time lightning had struck the big tree just outside the village. Or maybe even louder. In the very instant Carol and Sion instinctively pulled Kane into their arms, a powerful gale swept over them.

  KABOOM—

  “Aaaagh!”

  With their hands clapped over their ears, the crowd stared at Baron Panain, who was looking around just as dumbfounded. Everyone was huddled tight, blinking in shock. A silence so profound fell over the square that even the crickets seemed to hold their breath.

  “Waaah!” Jessie, who had been quiet for a moment, suddenly cried out. “My bracelet!”

  Kane quickly poked his head out and turned to look. The bracelet that had been on Jessie’s wrist was snapped and lying on the ground. Granny Mason patted her granddaughter’s back, trying to soothe her, but Jessie simply plopped down in the dirt and began to cry. Kane wanted to go over to her, but a sudden, overwhelming exhaustion hit him. His feet felt rooted to the ground; he couldn't move.

  “Wow~ The Baron’s still got it! Go a little easier on us, Baron, our ears are gonna fall off!” Sion shouted. Scattered laughter broke out here and there.

  Baron Panain scratched his head, repeatedly looking down at his book and then up at the sky.

  “Ho ho, my apologies... It seems I made a bit of a... mistake. Ho ho...”

  Despite his words, he fell into deep thought, then whipped his head around to look at Sion, Carol, and Kane in turn. As if by coincidence, the exact moment his gaze landed on Kane, the boy collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.

  “Kane!!!”

  Carol stumbled badly but managed to catch him just in time. Sion quickly pressed a hand to Kane’s forehead.

  “His face is freezing...”

  “Go get the Baron!”

  Sion hurried over to Baron Panain, who was already pushing his way through the murmuring crowd toward them.

  “Baron! Our Kane just suddenly collapsed, and his whole body is as cold as ice!” Carol pleaded urgently, noticing the Baron staring intently at Kane.

  The Baron seemed to think for a moment before pulling a stethoscope from his robes and pressing it to Kane’s bare chest.

  “Grandma, is that magic too?”

  “Shh—Jessie, be quiet.”

  “How is he?” Carol asked desperately, holding Kane tight.

  Rewinding the stethoscope’s tubes with an unreadable expression, the Baron tucked it back into his robes.

  “Hmm, it’s nothing serious. I accidentally summoned too large a fire, and it seems the little one was simply very startled.”

  Sion opened his mouth to say something, but the Baron raised a hand to stop him.

  “Still, let’s take him to my home. I’ll prepare a restorative potion for him.”

  Without waiting for Carol or Sion to reply, Baron Panain turned and shouted to the crowd.

  “Ahem, ahem. Well then, everyone. Shall we call it a night?”

  “Aw, come on~~”

  “Already??”

  “That’s a shame~~”

  “Oh, my. This old man just showed you all something big right at the end. Besides, I’ve used up all my energy and can’t do any more tonight. And while it’s nothing serious, the little boy here is feeling a bit unwell, so let’s end it here for today.”

  When Baron Panain put on a weary expression and patted his own back, the villagers reluctantly dusted themselves off and began to disperse.

  “Let’s go, hurry.”

  Baron Panain took the lead, and Sion, carrying Kane on his back, followed closely behind with Carol. Jessie whined that she wanted to go with Kane, but a firm tug from her grandmother’s hand put an end to that.

  “Lay Kane down here.” As soon as they entered the house, the Baron went into the room on the left and pointed to a bed.

  While Sion obediently set the boy down, the Baron turned to a scrawny, balding man who had followed them inside. “Fowler, from this moment on, no one is allowed to enter this room. Do you understand what I mean?”

  Carol noticed Fowler’s eyes flick briefly toward Kane.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Yes, understood.”

  As Fowler closed the door behind him, Sion asked the Baron with a puzzled look, “Baron, what is going on?”

  Pretending not to hear, the Baron walked behind his desk, rummaged through a drawer, and turned back with something in his hand. He began to approach Kane.

  “No!”

  Carol suddenly lunged forward, blocking the path to the unconscious Kane.

  “Hmm?”

  “That! The thing in your hand! No!”

  “Do you know what this is?”

  Baron Panain held out a crystal orb that seemed to contain a swirling white mist. Suspended in the center was a flat plate, half green and half black. Sion looked back and forth between the orb and Carol, then crossed his arms and stood beside his wife, guarding their son.

  “So, you do know what this is,” the Baron muttered, almost to himself. “Ah, then things make a bit more sense...”

  “Before my imagination runs wild, would you two mind explaining yourselves first?”

  “...”

  Carol stood perfectly still, glaring at the Baron.

  “Hmm, I suppose it can’t be helped. Shall I take a guess? The daughter of a prestigious Patronian noble family and her escort knight...” Baron Panain winked at Sion. “...fell in love and eloped to a quiet, secluded place far from the Sky Isle. How’s that for a guess?”

  “This was your intention from the start, Baron.” Carol spat the words through gritted teeth.

  One person glaring, one biting their lip, and one perfectly calm. Of the three people in the room, the calm one spoke first.

  “Sion, my boy, if you truly are a former escort knight, would you mind holding off on your plan to strike this old man down in one blow? It won’t hurt to hear me out first.”

  “...”

  Sion stood in front of his wife without a word. Baron Panain slowly walked back around his desk, sat in his chair, and rested his elbows on the surface, clasping his hands together.

  “As your wife guessed, I brought Kane here to test whether he is a Patronian. I say ‘test,’ but I am already almost certain. Am I right?”

  They flinched.

  “Ah, but contrary to your worries, I have no intention of reporting you to the Sky Isle.”

  “...Why not? You know the penalty for hiding eloped Patronians is immediate execution.” Carol didn’t take her eyes off the Baron’s face as she spoke. She was flushed, but her expression was fiercely resolute.

  “...Not only that, but for some reason, about ten years ago, they started offering massive rewards for reporting Patronians who relocate without permission. So, yes, for me, reporting you would be the logical choice.” Baron Panain continued in a tranquil tone. “But I won’t do that. Because this is who I am.”

  He rolled up his sleeve and bared his forearm. It seemed empty at first, but soon, letters and a crest began to materialize. The crest depicted a torch burning atop an open book.

  “Veritas...! Then you’re... Siana?!”

  This time, it was Sion who stepped forward. His voice trembled slightly.

  The Baron raised both eyebrows. “How do you know that...? Well, regardless, you’re right. I belong to the Siana Society.”

  “If you’re Siana, then you’re against the Emperor... His Majesty...”

  “To be precise, we aren’t against the Emperor. We simply pursue knowledge, and the Emperor just happens to despise that.”

  “What does that have to do with not reporting us?”

  Baron Panain nodded and raised an index finger. “Because, in exchange for not reporting you, there is one thing I want from you.”

  “What is it?”

  “You. More accurately, all of you will join our Society.”

  “What did you say?”

  “That’s absurd. I’ve heard the Siana are untouchable fanatics who carry out terrorist attacks, conduct horrific magical biological experiments, and throw society into chaos.” Sion’s face flushed red as his voice rose in agitation. “Just as you guessed, I used to be a Patronian escort knight, so I was deployed a few times to mop up Siana remnants. I know very well. I saw the sites of those gruesome biological experiments myself.”

  “Phew...” Baron Panain let out a long sigh, his brow furrowing slightly. “Everything you know has been distorted. First of all, sit down. I have a feeling this is going to be a long conversation.”

  Baron Panain pulled out a couple of chairs from under his desk. However, the couple remained motionless, standing guard in front of their son.

  “Oh, and by the way, your son is likely perfectly fine. He simply exhausted his reserves by casting too massive a spell so suddenly. A good day’s rest and he should be back to normal. So please, sit down and hear me out. You don’t want to make a bigger mess of this, do you?”

  Only then did the two of them slowly sit, though they never lowered their guard.

  “First of all, the biological experiments part is a bit unfair. We weren’t experimenting on live subjects, but on ‘corpses.’ Our friend had died of a disease, and we needed to know how they died in order to find a cure. We were simply pursuing knowledge.”

  “Then the terrorist attack on the Imperial Library, the kidnapping of the Resource Maintenance Department staff, and all the rest—was that all for the sake of pursuing knowledge too?”

  “Ultimately, yes.” Baron Panain said without hesitation. “Of course, since the Emperor suppresses us so brutally, I can’t say we’ve never retaliated, but fundamentally, we only seek the truth.”

  “And,” the Baron cut off whatever Sion was about to say, “it’s not like you two have a choice, do you? You can either be reported and dragged off to the Sky Isle, or you can join us. Those are your only options.”

  “If we get taken in,” Carol snapped fiercely, “and we report you as Siana, things won’t go well for you either.”

  “Well... that would mean we all go down together...” Baron Panain calmly stroked his bushy beard. “But from where I’m sitting, you don’t strike me as someone who would sacrifice your husband and child just to take me down. Yourself, maybe. But them?”

  Carol tried to retort, but Sion beat her to it.

  “Why on earth are you going to such lengths to recruit us? Our family wants nothing to do with your bizarre ideological games. Can’t you just leave us alone to live a normal, quiet life?” Sion pleaded, tearing at his own hair.

  But his desperation did not seem to reach the Baron. Without a single change in his expression, he spoke.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. Your son’s—Kane’s—potential is far too extraordinary to ignore.” His gaze shifted to the unconscious boy. “Hardly anyone knows I belong to Siana. Yet the reason I risked revealing it is because I believe Kane might be the one to unearth all the truths and knowledge of this world.”

  “Him?” Carol scoffed in disbelief. “He’s just a ten-year-old kid.”

  “That spark, no, that fireball,” the Baron cut her off quickly. A faint glimmer of some intense yearning had appeared in his eyes. “That might just be the most powerful Fireball spell I’ve ever seen.”

  “What?”

  “During the festival earlier. I have never manifested a flame of that caliber, nor do I have the ability to do so. Even the fireworks in Sector 1 looked like child’s play compared to what Kane conjured.”

  He took a step toward Carol. Instinctively, Sion moved to block him, but the Baron didn’t care in the slightest.

  “Every spell leaves a trace. Though my magic rank isn’t particularly high, I am capable of tracing something on that scale. And the trace led straight to Kane.”

  “That... um...” The couple looked at each other, then almost simultaneously turned back to their sleeping son. Even to them, that explosion of fire had been beyond massive; it had been excessive.

  “...Right. It was somewhat impressive. But any decent mage...”

  “...could achieve that level if given enough time. If a decent mage had the time.” The Baron emphasized the words ‘decent’ and ‘time’. “Even the commanders of the Emperor’s Callisto Knights or the Ganymede Templars would need a considerable amount of time meditating and visualizing to manifest a spell of that magnitude.” He was speaking so fast he barely seemed to breathe. “But Kane! He instantly manifested his visualization. That level of speed and scale isn't something you can achieve just by trying hard.”

  The yearning that had started in the Baron’s eyes now seemed to ripple through his entire body. Unable to bear watching him pace around in his own little world, Carol cried out.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. The idea that Kane might be a remarkably talented mage,” Carol swallowed hard, glancing at her husband. “Yes, he probably is. But what does that have to do with the pursuit of truth...”

  “Universally, exceptional mages possess exceptional minds. This is a fact the Siana Society discovered after a long period of study. However, among all the mages who have ever joined the Siana Society, none have shown this level of talent. Perhaps, if Kane grows up well with us, he might be able to find the answers to the truths that pierce this world—our long-held questions like, ‘Why do apples always fall to the ground?’ or ‘What lies beyond the Misty Mountains?’ or ‘What are the stars mentioned in ancient texts?’”

  He stood there with his eyes closed and his arms spread wide, as if he were trying to embrace the ceiling. The couple exchanged another glance. Neither said a word out loud, but they were both thoroughly convinced the Baron was insane.

  “Baron, that... forgive me, but that sounds like madness. Is there really a need to risk your life for such trivial things?”

  “Aren’t you curious? If they are just ‘trivial things,’ as you say, then what is the Emperor’s intention in brutally suppressing them and taking lives over something so minor?” The Baron spoke with clear frustration. Looking back and forth at Carol and Sion, who still wore expressions of profound disbelief, he let out a heavy sigh and plopped back into his chair.

  “I won’t expect you to understand. But you do understand that you have no choice in the matter, right? Or should I just report you right now?” His hand drifted beneath the desk.

  “Alright, fine! We’ll join. We’ll join the Siana Society.” Sion blurted out urgently.

  “What? Why are you agreeing to this?” Carol cried out in shock.

  “We don’t have a choice, honey,” Sion whispered, looking back at her. “It’s dangerous to provoke crazy people...”

  “An excellent decision!” The Baron clapped his hands together. His beaming smile was the exact opposite of Carol’s near-tears expression.

  “So what do we do now?”

  “Hmm... to be honest, I hadn’t thought much past Kane. Let’s see.” The Baron rested his chin in his hand, lost in thought. “One of you, Sion or Carol, must be the Patronian, but which one? Given the son’s talent, at least one of the parents must come from quite a formidable lineage. It would be wonderful if you contributed that talent to our Society.”

  “I was the Patronian,” Carol said quickly. “But now I’ve lost all my magic. If you doubt me...”

  Carol stepped forward and grasped the crystal orb the Baron had intended to use on Kane earlier. The orb showed no change whatsoever. One of the Baron’s eyebrows ticked upward.

  “Ho, how did that happen?”

  “That is a personal matter, so don’t ask.” Carol replied coldly. The Baron didn’t seem particularly offended.

  “Very well. Then you will simply join as Kane’s guardian... And what about you, Sion? Is it true you were an escort knight?”

  Sion glanced briefly at Carol and nodded. “Something like that.”

  “Excellent. Then you can take on the role of protecting our Society.”

  The Baron’s gaze fell on Kane’s sleeping face. It somehow looked like he was staring at a delicious cookie he had saved for last.

  “And, from now on, send Kane to my house every morning.”

  “Excuse me?” Carol’s eyes widened.

  “To pursue the truth, talent alone is not enough. It is crucial to understand the truths that others have already built up. I intend to teach Kane myself.” He raised a hand and pointed to one side of the room. Following his gaze, the couple saw a massive pile of books stacked in the corner. Carol let out a sigh.

  “Well, at least Kane will be happy.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Kane is crazy about books.” Carol stroked her son’s forehead. A massive, beaming smile spread across the Baron’s face.

  The couple left Baron Panain’s house in silence. It felt as though they could hear the very sound of their desperate wish to live a normal, happy life cracking apart. Carol’s heart was heavy; she already felt endlessly apologetic and grateful to Sion for throwing away a life of luxury to live in the countryside because of her, and now it seemed she had dragged him into yet another bizarre mess. Sion felt a heavy weight on his shoulders as he thought of having to protect his family in this new, shifting environment. Of course, with Kane asleep on his back, it was literally quite heavy, too.