【Story】Charlouette the Magic Agency Series

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 0

“Lumière under the Veil – Tawil”

Standing erect in the centre of Continent Tarones, the Enochian Tower was the focal point of wars in which thousands of monsters resided. Since the monsters had taken the lives of countless climbers, citizens always kept their distance from the Tower.

But now a slender lady, Tawil, slowly approached the entrance of the Tower, holding nothing but a wand in her hand. Her ethereal face was so charming that even time could have stopped for her. 

“Roar!” The monsters near the entrance assembled and attacked Tawil mercilessly as soon as they saw her, but Tawil remained fairly calm. With the mere movement of her fingers, the elemental luster drew a sparkling rail in the air and released tremendous waves of attacks. Almost effortlessly, the monsters were all defeated.

Killing more monsters as she advanced, Tawil came to a split road eventually. She stood still and took out a bag filled with golden sand. Then, she sketched a complicated magic circle with the sand and stood in its centre with her eyes closed.

“To souls that are drenched in elements, I am summoning you with a call from the ancient times to come to the shore of the origin.”

Brilliant beams of light blossomed in the magic circle, illuminating the dark tower as if the sun was shining. As the brightness gradually receded, the remaining sparks drifted vaguely in the air, resembling the faint stars in the dark night sky.

 “Where are they… Ah, right there.” Tawil searched in the vagueness and soon found 5 specks of light which were particularly shiny.

Tawil grasped the specks in her palms. Each of 5 specks exhibited the color of an element. They were all the size of a fingernail, except the red one, which was smaller by half.

“Come, the souls that fused with the elements. Devour the power of creation, and restore your true forms.” Tawil murmured, pouring the full power into her palms.

The specks of light grew bigger, and their colors became more saturated. Eventually, they flew away from Tawil’s palms and assumed their human forms— They were the celebrated heroes of Grand Sage Molly, Dragon Rider Sean, Land Overlord Duncan, Duke Nathaniel, and Deathwhisperer Endor. 

“This is…” Endor examined her hands, which had just turned physical, in mild confusion. Then, she turned her gaze to Tawil and blinked emotionally as she came to realize what was happening, “It was you who summoned us.”

“Yes. Your souls are fused with the elements, enabling me, who controls… no, who connects with the elements, to revive you with a little power—”

“Shash!”

Tawil had hardly finished her speech when a scarlet sword thrust towards her. The sword was stopped halfway by Tawil’s elemental shield. 

t\tBut Sean was too angry to let go. He insisted on pressing the sword as he glared at Tawil and growled, “How dare you revive us!”

“Sean, calm down.” Molly held his arm and tried to stop him, who was unmoved and continued his accusation, “How could I calm down! If it wasn’t for her, we and the world wouldn’t have suffered like this!”  

“I… didn’t do anything.” Tawil said motionlessly.

“Exactly. It’s because of your inaction and nonintervention that those guys could do whatever they desired to turn the world into what it is today.”

“For me in the past, the death of all lives is equal, except for Him. All of you should’ve known that, because you’ve been fused with the elements.”

“You—” Her reply irritated Sean even more. As he pushed away Molly’s hand and was about to launch an attack, Nathaniel pressed his hands down again. Sean had no choice but to repress his anger.

“So what are you reviving us for?” Nathaniel wondered.

“I need your help. Please guide their way for me.”

“Why us?” asked Duncun.

“…Only you can bypass the existing surveillance through the elements.”

“What made you change your mind? I thought you didn’t want to interfere?” asked Molly.

Tawil remained silent, but something rippled on her expressionless face.

Molly and the others exchanged a glance. They knew each other so well that their thoughts were perfectly understood by each other before a single word was uttered. At last, Molly said on behalf of the group, “We’ll guide them. However, we’re not doing it because of your request, but because of our determination to protect this land.”

Tawil nodded and said nothing more. By the time she left the monstrous tower and headed home, the sun had already gone down. The sky had turned completely dark when she arrived; only the stars were still shining.

“Hmm… Why is there smoke?” Catching sight of the smoke which was belching out from the chimney, Tawil knew that someone must have started a fire in the house. She opened the door alertly—

“Bop!” Confetti and colored ribbons fell all over Tawil with a blast, leaving her too surprised to make any reaction.

“Happy birthday!” said the black-haired girl as she squeezed herself into Tawil’s arms and rubbed her head against her affectionately.

“Mother, happy birthday.” The black-haired boy came with a cake. A broad smile spread over his youthful face.  

“…Enoch and my little one, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the magic academy?” Tawil asked as her train of thought resumed.

“Because it’s your birthday today, of course, brother and I should come back and celebrate it for you. We’ve already learnt what the academy is now teaching, anyway.” The girl smiled cunningly, “We’ve even prepared a lot of delicious food for you!”

“I was the one who prepared them.” Enoch corrected her mockingly. The girl made a funny face at him and asked Tawil, “Mother, are you happy? Are you surprised?”

Giving her a barely detectable smile, Tawil touched their earlobes and said gently, “Yes, I’m really happy. Thank you.”

Then, they sat down at the table and enjoyed their meal in chatters. The girl was very eloquent, but Tawil listened with great patience. Perhaps the two children were too tired from all the preparation that they fell asleep soon after the meal.

Tawil wrapped them with a quilt. As exhausted as she was, she didn’t feel like sleeping at all. She stayed on the balcony and looked far into the distance. The world was silent; only the shimmering stars were talking to her.

“The time has finally come, the idle gears shall rerun. This time, I’ll be the one to save you, another me in the world… Huh? Am I crying?”

Teardrops fell from the corner of her eyes. Tawil was quite surprised as she struck her tear-streaked cheeks. Looking at Enoch and his sister, her expression was indecipherable as she muttered, “… Is it because of them… I must’ve been with them too long that I’ve forgotten the meaning of my own existence…”

“Perhaps miracles can only be created by infinite misfortunes, but I’m still hoping for it to come so fervently…”

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 1

“Versatile Shapeshifter – Dagda”

In an alley slightly away from the bustling area, there was a 3-floor house surrounded by greenery. A youth was lying on the rooftop with a leaf between his lips, reading a letter under the sun.

“My beloved big brother Dagda, is everything alright? It came to my father’s attention that the principal of “Charlouette”, the magic agency, went missing. Please don’t hesitate to come back if you need assistance. We, the Order of Druids, will definitely do as much as we can. Your humble brother Hogda…PFF!”

Dagda the youth spat the leaf out, crumpled the letter, and tossed it away irritably.

“Assistance my ass! They never want my return! I’m the abandoned eldest son of that old man, the banished son in everyone’s knowledge! I won’t go back…Oh! There he comes!”

Dagda, lying on the rooftop, gazed at the far end of the road vigilantly. When he surged his power, a pair of animal ears popped out of his head, detecting everything in his 3-km perimeter.

It was a dark-haired man who was approaching the house. He was in an earthy mage robe with a wand. All of a sudden, he tripped over a rock on the road. It took him a few staggering steps to rebalance himself from stumbling.

“So this guy is Enoch, the new principal. He looks so clumsy…He gets to inherit Charloutte without paying any effort just because he’s the son of the former principal…Humph! I ain’t gonna call a fresh graduate my boss! I’ll kick him out!”

Dagda was groundlessly pissed off by Enoch, onto whom he projected his dissatisfaction with his brother. He conjured the power to resonate with nature, shapeshifting into a wolf. With a leap off the rooftop, he growled at Enoch as a warning.

“Wait wait, wait! How come there’s a wolf in the urban area?” Startled, Enoch almost dropped his wand, and that cowardly look pissed Dagda even more, who pounced on Enoch.

However, it was a magic barrier that Dagda had bitten.

Despite the unexpected situation, Enoch managed to chant a spell with his instinctive reflex. Meanwhile, Dagda leapt backward with a grin.

“Oh, chanting a spell in just a blink of an eye. You seem wimpy, but you’ve got some skills.”

“You…You can talk…You’re not an ordinary wolf!” Enoch was shocked.

“Humph! You’re too blunt! And this isn’t how the principal of Charlouette should behave! Now go back to school and be a good student. We can take care of Charlouette on our own!”

“No.”

Seemingly provoked, Enoch pulled a long face in a cold voice.

“I ain’t going back! I’m taking over Charlouette!”

“Ha, what a bluffer. Let’s see if you can live long enough for that!”

Dagda conjured his power to shapeshift again, into a huge deer with solid and sharp antlers.

“This kind of power…belongs to Druids, but they only have one animal form. How come you…”

“That’s because I’m a genius! Take this!”

Dagda, in his deer form, charged at Enoch fiercely. In the meantime, Enoch raised his wand to defend again—

Crack! The magic barrier was shattered by Dagda.

Worst still, Dagda hit Enoch in the abdomen after breaching the barrier, pinning him to the wall of the abandoned building in the alley.

“Cough!” The intense momentum caused Enoch to cough.

“Just give up. You’ll die even if you take over Charlouette,” Dagda warned Enoch coldly.

“Die…”

Raising his head, Enoch wore an evil grin on his pale face, which crept Dagda out for a moment.

“I won’t die until I find her!”

Enoch surged his power, and his wand began to glow.

Dagda shielded himself, but the attack wasn’t aimed at him. Enoch was attacking the wall behind him instead.

The collapse of the wall had freed Enoch, who chanted another spell immediately, shooting fire arrows at Dagda’s back.

“Ahh!” Dagda returned to his human form, lying on the ground.

However, something was off as the ceiling started to crumble—the abandoned building was unable to hold its intense fight and was collapsing.

“He’s gonna be buried alive!” Enoch got up to help Dagda immediately and take him to a safe place.

Rumble! As soon as they ran out of the building, it tumbled down, sending a deafening noise and a cloud of dust.

“He…saved me…Why…We just had a fight…” Dagda then wore a smile. “Maybe…He’s not that bad…”

Suddenly, he was shrouded in a shadow, followed by a male’s voice. “Dagda, what happened?”

“Urh…a long story—” Dagda tried to shift the topic, but Mephibo had seen through his trick already. “Don’t worry. I have plenty of time,” he pinched Dagda’s ear to say.

“I’m screwed…” Dagda thought with a sigh.

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 2

“Cerulean Illusion – Mephibo”

The warm afternoon sunlight beamed into the conference room of a red brick house, where it was decorated mainly in ivory with a fine, long table and classy chairs. This place was Charlouette, one of the magic agencies under “Starmage,” the magic association. 

Two men were sitting on the chairs. The older one had a pair of friendly-looking small eyes with a gentle smile, who seemed like a nice person. He was Mephibo, a senior member of Charlouette.

“You’re all good now,” said Mephibo to Enoch after bandaging him.

“Thank you, Mephibo.” Enoch put on his clothes and looked around with nostalgia. 

“This place never changed a bit. It reminds me of my mother… Mother, where did you go?”

Tawil, Enoch’s mother, was the owner of Charlouette, but she had gone missing. To secure the agency, Enoch, who had just graduated from the magic academy, had to take over. 

“There must be a reason for mother’s departure. I trust her. I’ll secure Charlouette before she comes back!”

Bang! All of a sudden, someone banged a teacup on the table, startling Enoch.

As Enoch looked up, his gaze met that of a furious youth, who was wearing a cute laced maid dress. The image of his muscular legs under the short dress was too spooky to look at.

“MASTER! THIS IS YOUR BLACK TEA! ENJOY!” The youth Dagda roared.

“Um…Thanks…”

When Dagda was out of the room, Enoch leaned over to whisper to Mephibo, “Are you just gonna leave him be?”

“This is his punishment for assaulting the principal. He should be grateful that we didn’t kick him out,” said Mephibo, smiling, who was the one who had Dagda wear the dress.

Earlier, Dagda had attacked Enoch out of his discontentment, trying to scare him away. The battle ended in Dagda’s defeat, who was now punished by Mephibo.

“By the way, you’ve grown up, Enoch.” Mephibo scanned Enoch with a kind gaze.

“But you haven’t changed too much, Mephibo. You’re still…special.”

Sometimes Mephibo would come to Enoch’s house and report to Tawil about Charlouette, which was the reason Enoch knew Mephibo. For all these years, Enoch had been confused by Mephibo’s fashion sense. Taking today as an example, his outfit of the day was a robe with pig nose patterns. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect such a temper from Dagda. I was trying to stop him—

“No, you weren’t.”

A female voice cut in as an oriental lady spoke, accompanied by a beautiful…boy?

Enoch couldn’t tell his gender because of his overwhelming beauty, but he was more concerned about what the lady had said.

“What…What do you mean?”

“He let Dagda harass you on purpose,” the lady said, flipping her hair.

“You caught me, Qingxia.” Mephibo didn’t panic but smiled.

“Huh? Mephibo, why did you do that?” Enoch asked.

“Although you’re the son of Tawil, we can’t just let a fresh graduate take Charlouette over. So I let Dagda test your strength. Consider that as a warm greeting. I don’t think you’d be mad, are you?”

“That’s one hell of a greeting…” 

While Enoch was complaining to himself, he pointed a shivering finger at Mephibo’s behind. 

“I’m cool with it, but it seems he’s not…”

“Mephibo! You tricked me again!” Dagda was vein-poppingly angry, but Mephibo was seemingly not taking his anger seriously.

“I didn’t trick you. I just didn’t stop you. You should be happy about unlocking the achievement of attacking your new boss,” said Mephibo, smiling.

“You——”

“Xilocient.”

Just when Dagda was about to lose his temper, Mephibo called a name softly, and Xilocient, the beautiful teenager, came over to subdue Dagda.

“Let me go!” Dagda didn’t struggle fiercely as he didn’t want to hurt Xilocient.

“No.” Xilocient answered calmly as if he had seen him through. Next second, he spoke to Mephibo, “Everything is ready.”

“Great. Let’s set off now.” Mephibo put his hand on Enoch’s shoulder.

“Huh? To where?”

“To finish a job, of course. Xilocient and I just took it from Starmage,” said the oriental lady. She gave a look of remembering something and continued with a smile, “Right. I almost forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Qingxia. The one who’s grabbing Dagda is Xilocient. We’re both mages of Charlouette. Nice to meet you, boss.”

“Wait a second.” Completely confused by everything that had happened so far, Enoch raised his arm and reorganized his mind.

“So you’re asking a rookie who just took over the agency to lead you folks in a Starmage job.”

“Exactly! You’re smart, Enoch.” Mephibo gave Enoch a thumbs-up and a bright smile.

“…Don’t you think it’s a bit too harsh for me?” Enoch was hopeless.

At this moment, Mephibo leaned close to Enoch with the same smile, but the whole thing became much more stressful.

“You need to know that Charlouette was forced to shut down for three months because of Tawil’s absence. If this goes on, we won’t be able to pay the rent. So boss, please come with us.”

Mephibo had Enoch compromised by taking out a stack of overdue bills.

“Alright…”

And that was the beginning of Enoch’s first job…

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 3

“Sobering Chimes – Qingxia”

The business of Charlouette, the magic agency, was at stake because of the absence of Tawil, the former Principal. Luckily, Enoch, the son of Tawil, took over the agency and continued running it.

To recover their loss after the 3-month closedown, the mages of Charlouette took Enoch to a job on his first day at work. The group of five was riding a carriage, heading to where their client was.

“This job is to find the child abductor and rescue all the missing children. Our client is the duke of the city, and everyone says he’s a generous man. If we do a great job, we should be able to get well paid. So everyone please stay sharp…” said Mephibo stoutly.

Qingxia asked Enoch as she saw a frown on his face, “Enoch, what’s wrong? Do you have a question?”

“Um…Is that okay for you two to sit like this?”

“Of course it’s okay, right? My dearest Xilocent.”

Qingxia, hugging Xilocient sitting on her lap, kept rubbing her cheeks against Xilocient’s face.

Xilocient remained a poker face, who had seemingly gotten used to Qingxia’s behaviors.

“Just tell me if you don’t feel good about it,” said Enoch, who didn’t want to see any bullying in Charlouette.

“…I’m okay with it,” Xilocient muttered, “I don’t hate it. Plus, I’ll get rewarded.”

“Reward?”

“Hehehe, I’ve prepared the badge that Xilocient likes!”

As soon as Qingxia took out a kitty badge, a delight glowed on Xilocient’s gender-confusing yet beautiful face.

“I wonder if Xilocient is a he or a she…But it seems rude to ask now…” Enoch was struggling inside.

“Hey! We’ve arrived,” Dagda said loudly, reaching his body out of the window.

Their carriage was parked on the square outside the castle, which had drawn the attention of the civilians. When Enoch got off, a couple came over and begged.

“You’re the mages sent by Starmage! Please save our son!”

More and more couples joined the crowd to surround and plead with Enoch.

“Please don’t worry. We’ll find the culprit and save all the children!” The high-spirited Enoch clenched his fists, but soon his spirit was turned off.

“We’ve got the abductor,” said the duke with a bright grin, who was sitting in the power position inside the luxurious conference lounge.

“Huh?” Enoch was surprised. “How about the children? Are they alright?”

“About that…” The duke put the grin away with a swifty gaze. “I’m sorry that we’re still searching. But don’t worry. We’ll try our best and get their whereabouts out of that elf’s mouth.”

“Elf?” Xilocient popped his head out of Enoch’s back with a frown on his face. “…I wanna meet that elf.”

However, the duke remained silent in a trance, staring at Xilocient.

“Sir?” Enoch couldn’t help but call the duke.

“…Oh, my apologies.” The duke made a slight cough and said, “That elf is violent. I’m afraid that he might hurt you. How about taking a rest first? I’ve had a feast prepared for you—”

“No need. We’re the mages from Starmage. We have prepared for the danger we might encounter in the quest. Please don’t worry,” said Enoch, standing straight.

“…Alright. Please follow my lead.”

Led by the duke, the crew came to a sealed dungeon and stopped at the furthest jail cell. Inside, there was a male elf suspended on the wall, with shackles around his neck and limbs.

“This is too cruel…” Despite the fact that the elf was an abductor, Enoch pitied the elf when he saw how broken he was.

“Sir, I don’t think the hardcore interrogation will work. We should try the other way,” said Mephibo.

“Are you suggesting an intervention?” The duke giggled as if he had heard a joke. “He hates us to the core now. I don’t think he’ll do as you said.”

“Right. He might not talk to me or you, but not Xilocient,” said Mephibo, gazing at Xilocient.

“I’m an Arcus. Please let me talk to him,” Xilocient kept his voice down.

The duke said nothing; Just when Enoch was expecting a “no,” the duke smiled and said, “Alright. I’ll leave him to you, but he might be alerted if too many people go inside…Can the others go search for the children?”

“Why does the duke suddenly become so proactive…Nevermind. The children are more important.” Enoch didn’t dig too deep into the thought in spite of the perplexity as he was more concerned about the missing children.

“The duke is right. We can’t spend all the human resources here. I’ll go search for the children together with my fellows before anything happens to them…”

After pondering for a moment, Enoch looked at one of his fellows.

“Dagda, can you track their scent?”

“Of course! This is too easy for a genius like me!”

Led by the wolf Dagda, Enoch, Mephibo, and Qingxia tracked down the scent of the children all the way to the forest outside the city.

“Found a lead! Kid’s footprint here!”

“Enoch, wait!”

Enoch ignored Qingxia’s warning as he was worried about the children. The moment he stepped on the footprint, a huge swirl popped up and sucked everyone into it.

“Mmm…Ouch…Huh? Where are we?” Enoch found himself in a mysterious place filled with thick mist.

“Hmm, this should be an illusion the elf has set beforehand,” said Mephibo.

“Humph! I ain’t scared by this. Watch me!” The hot-headed Dagda ran away, disappearing into the mist. Soon, he came back from behind.

“Why am I here again?” Dagda mumbled in a low voice.

“I’ve told you. This is an illusion. It’s useless no matter how long you run,” said Qingxia, shaking her head in disapproval. Then she took out a handbell and cracked a confident smile.

“Let me show you the strength of a senior.”

When Qingxia rang the bell, a dazzling golden light was emitted, shrouding the whole space.

Clack! The crackles sounded as if an egg was cracking, which became more and more frequent. The illusion eventually shattered, revealing the scenery of the forest.

“Impressive, Qingxia. No illusions or encirclement can trick you.” Mephibo praised.

“The scent is coming from this way. Let’s head over.” The impatient Dagda dragged Mephibo away before Qingxia could respond.

“Boss, let’s go…What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry about— Ouch!”

Qingxia flicked Enoch’s forehead and said, “Yes, you’re reckless. That’s why you need us.”

“…Thank you.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

With a nod, Enoch moved on to catch up with Dagda and Mephibo together with Qingxia. The four of them tracked the scent all the way to a gigantic tree, which was as wide as a house. The tree was hollow with a big hole in the trunk, with a dozen children sleeping inside.

Enoch rushed over to check on them.

“Phew, great. They’re just sleeping.”

Relieved, Enoch cracked his signature evil grin, and it was witnessed by the children who had just woken up. All of them were scared to tears.

“Please don’t cry. We’re not bad guys. We’re here to get you back to the city…”

The moment Enoch said it, the children cried even louder, putting him into confusion. “What’s…going on here?”

“Your face must have terrified them. As the old saying goes, clothes make the man. Once you put this on, you’ll become a superstar. Here you go.”

Mephibo then took out a black pointy hat. When Enoch saw the logo on it, a deep frown appeared.

“Well, Mephibo…Why does the logo…look so much like…a piece of poop…”

“What are you talking about? This is the helix of the universe, meaning the endless cycle of all creatures. It’s profoundly meaningful!”

“But it still looks like…”

“Unbelievable. I spent so much effort on designing it to be the uniform of Charlouette, and I’ve got everyone a tailor-made logo. Here you go, Dagda. This one is yours, with an ancient dog skull logo on it—”

“I ain’t wearing it—”

“Hahaha!”

Just when Dagda was going to take the hat off, he stopped for the children’s laughter, who were no longer fearful anymore.

Seizing the chance, Mephibo put on a kind smile and asked, “Alright. Can you tell me why you don’t want to go back?”

“That’s because…the duke will kill us!”

“Yes. The elf saved us.”

“The duke likes cute kids. He kidnapped us and asked us to play with him!”

“What!?”

Stunned at first, Enoch was furious, punching the tree trunk next to him.

“No wonder he acted like he was keeping us away. He’s afraid that Starmage would kick him out when they find out.” Enoch gritted his teeth.

“If he doesn’t want to be exposed, why did he file a quest to Starmage?” Dagda was perplexed.

“Must be the voice of the people,” Qingxia guessed. With a hesitating gaze at Enoch, she asked, “What should we do now?”

“Seriously? Exposing the duke, of course! Save that elf!”

“But…” Mephibo gave a rare look of hesitation and said, “The duke has some powerful connections inside Starmage, and he’s been sponsoring the association. If we make a scene, we might get ourselves in trouble and finish Charlouette for good.”

“Why are you—”

“Shut up, Dagda! Boss makes the final call for everything in Charlouette, not us.” Mephibo widened his eyes with a distinctive warning, making Dagda shut up.

Enoch pondered with his eyes closed.

“The creed of Starmage is to maintain the world’s peace and order with magic and elements… the moment we step down for the duke’s power, Charlouette is gone!”

Opening his eyes, Enoch threw a sharp gaze at Qingxia and Mephibo and declared loudly, “I, the principal of Charlouette, declare that we must expose the duke and save the innocent elf!”

The conversation entered a silence.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Qingxia and Mephibo burst into laughter.

“What…are you laughing at?”

Qingxia wiped her tears and said, “Congrats, Enoch. You’ve passed the test.”

“You can’t be the principal of Charlouette without integrity and diligence,” said Mephibo.

“I know you’re faking it. I’ve been feeling weird when you changed your attitude towards power and privilege,” Dagda figured the whole thing out.

“Wheeze. Alright. After all the time we spent, let’s escort the children and save our real client,” said Qingxia.

“Our real client?” Perplexed at first, Enoch was wide awake. “Is it…”

“Yes. Our real client is the elf captured by the duke.” Just when Mephibo was going further, he frowned as he saw a petty elf coming over in a panic.

“Something bad happened. Xilocient is in danger!”

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 4

“Blossoming Apothecary – Xilocient”

The business of Charlouette, the magic agency, was at stake because of the absence of Tawil, the former principal. Luckily, Enoch, the son of Tawil, took over the agency and continued running it.

To recover their loss after the 3-month closedown, the mages of Charlouette took Enoch to a missing children quest on his first day of work.

However, the client, the duke of the city, claimed that the culprit had been arrested while the children remained missing. For that, Xilocient the elf volunteered for the intervention as they were both elves. Meanwhile, the other mages of Charlouette headed outside to search for the missing children.

Xilocient entered the jail cell alone and came to the wrecked male elf who was suspended on the wall.

“I’m Xilocient, the mage from Charlouette. I’m here for your quest,” Xilocient whispered to the elf.

“Cough…Please…protect the children…Cough…”

“Don’t worry. My fellows are on the way to rescue them. Let’s get you out of here.”

It took Xilocient some time to set the male elf free, as the shackles were tighter than expected.

“Alright. Let’s go—”

“Oh look. I didn’t expect a mage from Charlouette would take part in a jailbreak,” said the duke, who seemed to have already known Xilocient’s plan, with a bunch of troops at the exit.

“The abductor…is you!” Xilocient’s lucid eyes were filled with rage as she surged her power. Next second, green halos with different luminance were emitted, transforming into vines to attack the duke and the soldiers.

Painful moans sounded one after another. Very soon, the soldiers were all eliminated, while Xilocient seized this chance to flee with the wounded elf. However, a spooky tune made Xilocient stop.

“This is…How is this possible…This tune…”

Affected by the song, the element cycle inside Xilocient’s body became interrupted, whose consciousness began to fade. Looking up in the blurry sight, Xilocient saw a female elf walking down the staircase with a harp, which was the reason why Xilocient was paralyzed.

“She’s a Mussong elf…Damn…”

Xilocient was eventually defeated by the song and passed out. When she regained her consciousness, she found herself chained to a bed; her male apparel had been changed to a scarlet dress. The skinny cutting had completely revealed her feminine body curve.

“I need to escape.” With this thought, Xilocient struggled fiercely, but her attempt failed. The tinkle it made drew the duke’s attention, who came to the bedside. He tilted her chin to admire her facial profile.

“Hmm, how gorgeous. Why dress like a boy while you’re such a beautiful girl? What a waste, but don’t worry. I’ll make a thorough tasting later.” Smiling cunningly, the duke trailed his hand along Xilocient’s body.

“My fellows will hunt you down if you assault me.”

Xilocient was scared, but it was masked by the ego of a mage, which made her look into the duke’s eyes.

“First, your fellows must make their way back alive, for I’ve sent my men to prevent that. Second, I won’t touch you, for I’ll make you beg for my touch.”

As the duke was done speaking, he summoned the female elf Xilocient saw before she had passed out.

“Play the harp.”

“Yes, sir.”

The elf conjured her power and plucked the strings. Unlike the spooky song earlier, she was playing an erotic tune. The resonance of the elements and music began to affect Xilocient on the bed, who felt heated and gasped with boiling blood and a racing heart.

“It’s the rut…Her song is inducing my rut period…I won’t lose! Not again!”

“Oh, you’re rutting now. Alright, my baby. If you don’t wanna be tortured, beg me.” The duke moved his hand all over Xilocient’s body.

“I…I won’t beg…unless I die.” Xilocient mumbled with a hard bite on her lip, suppressing the urge to moan to stare him back.

“Humph. You ask for this!”

Just when the duke was about to assault Xilocient, BOOM! The bedroom door was blasted away, followed by the intrusion of Enoch and the others.

“XILOCIENT!”

Enoch had never been this furious as he saw the way Xilocient was now. His angrily twisted face was definitely that of a devil.

“Boss, it’s her! It’s the song that the elf’s playing that paralyzed Xilocient!” Qingxia, the oriental lady, pointed at the Mussong elf who was plucking the strings.

“How dare you harass my fellow! I’ll make you suffer!”

Rage erupted, Enoch’s power surged, taking down the Mussong elf with a slight wave of his wand. The music stopped immediately.

“Huff…How dare you touch me…I’ll teach you some manners!”

As the music had stopped, Xilocient regained a bit of her sanity. Driven by rage and shame, she cracked the shackles with a power surge.

This was no ending but the beginning. Xilocient lifted up the water bed and approached the duke on the ground step by step. The shadow of the bed gradually shrouded him.

“P-Please…show me mercy…I-It’s my fault.” The duke was scared as he realized that he had messed with the wrong one.

“Unforgivable!”

Xilocient threw the water bed at the duke, smacking him unconscious. However, she seemed out of strength after the hit as she was about to fall down.

“Xilocient!”

When Enoch rushed over to carry her, something unexpected happened— Xilocient put her arms around Enoch’s neck and pressed her lips on his. The moment when she leaned close to him, the question that had been in his head was answered.

“So she’s a girl… No, no, no! It’s not the time to think about this!”

Enoch pushed Xilocient away, who was blushing and turned on.

“Mephibo! Feed her!”

Qingxia took Xilocient over from Enoch. Meanwhile, Mephibo stuffed a pill into Xilocient’s mouth. With the medication, the blush on her cheek faded, and the panting stopped.

“Mmm…I…Ah!” Xilocient seemed shy as she recalled what had happened. Very soon, she looked at Enoch as if she had figured something out.

“Boss, don’t worry. I’ll take the responsibility,” said Xilocient with a determined and sincere tone.

“Wait, what!!?? How did it all happen?!”

Enoch didn’t know what else to say.

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 5

“Youthful Arms – Madam Heidi”

Charlouette, the magic agency, was thrown into turmoil by the disappearance of its former Principal Tawil. Luckily, her son inherited the business and saved the day.

To compensate for what they had lost during the three-month shutdown, mages at Charlouette took Enoch on a commission to investigate the abduction of a group of children.

Despite the twists and turns in the journey, Enoch and his partners eventually solved the case. Dragging their tired bodies, they returned to the agency.

“It was so exhausting! I need to freshen up and have a big meal right now!” exclaimed Dagda, sprinting into the house. When he caught a whiff of a peculiar smell in the air, it was all too late.

“There you are, my doggie!” Madam Heidi had grown impatient with the waiting and took Dagda in her strong arms.

With her white hair, the old face of Madam Heidi looked as if she had been through a lot. However, the muscles in her arms were even firmer than most young men’s. Her forceful embrace locked Dagda in her chest, against which Dagda couldn’t help struggling as he was stifled.

“Uh, Madam Heidi, you’re back,” said squint-eyed Mephibo, who was usually a composed man. But now, he sweated in uneasiness and approached her cautiously, “Didn’t you go on a voyage to the Orient?”

Madam Heidi eventually let go of Dagda, who nearly suffocated, “How could I carry on with the voyage when I heard Tawil had disappeared? So I made my way back immediately. Sigh, how did it happen…Never mind, let’s talk about this later.”

She stretched her arms again, grabbing Mephibo this time, “It’s been a while, Mephibo. You look pretty well, but since when has your fashion sense grown worse?”

Mephibo had no time to debate with Madam Heidi as the immense strength of her arms had sent him coughing. After releasing him, Madam Heidi turned to Qingxia and Xilocient.

“My lovely girls, come over!”

“Madam Heidi! We missed you!”

“Cough!” Dagda finally regained his strength, “Madam Heidi, I’m glad that you’re back. But how about a gentle greeting next time? You almost cracked my bones.”

“What do you mean? I know you’re rough on the outside, but deep down, you must have been yearning for some motherly love more than anyone else. That’s why I gave you a hug as tender as a breeze in the spring. How dare you dislike it so much!”

“I don’t need motherly love!” protested Dagda, “And that was by no means ‘a breeze in the spring’, more like a devastating tornado!”

Madam Heidi frowned, popping the joints of her fingers.

“So you’re dissatisfied, huh? Let me show you what a real tornado is!”

“No, don’t!” Dagda held his head and fled.

Mephibo intervened and tried to save him.

“Madam Heidi, I think Dagda has now learned your beautiful intentions. Please forgive him once. Oh, right, let me introduce you to Enoch, Tawil’s son, and the new Principal of Charlouette. He just completed his first commission and has done a very good job.”

Meeting the intense gaze of Madam Heidi, Enoch nervously cracked his signature evil grin, which could make children cry. “Nice…Nice to meet you.”

Madam Heidi’s smile vanished as she surveyed Enoch up and down. Just when Enoch thought he was going to be killed, a benevolent smile reappeared on Madam Heidi’s face. She put out her big hands and rubbed Enoch’s head lightly.

“Nice to meet you, too, little principal. I look forward to seeing you.” Madam Heidi said with warm affection, “Alright, it’s my treat today. Let’s dine somewhere nice!”

Everyone cheered. Dagda walked along Enoch and put his arms around Enoch’s shoulders. From a distance, Madam Heidi stared at the innocent face of Enoch with a somber expression as she sank into deep thoughts.

“Tawil, your son is far too young to take the challenge that you’ve left him…”

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 6

“All-round Butler – Montague”

Dawn broke with birds’ chiming. When the people in the town were still asleep, there was a man watering flowers outside a house on the hillside.

Montague dressed formally and took care of every detail of his complex butler outfit, making people wonder how early he had to wake up for the preparation.

“The flowers are all good, and the house chores are done. It’s time to make breakfast. Master is getting up early today.”

Montague returned to the house, put on an apron, and started cooking. All the egg whipping and chopping were like a piece of cake to him. Very soon, the house was filled with the scent of food.

“Oops, I almost forgot about the hot chocolate, master’s favorite. It ought to be filled in that cup.” Montague grabbed a cup with a black cat on it, which was given by a mysterious admirer of Enoch. The person sent birthday gifts to Enoch every year. The cup was from the second year, and this year’s gift was a brand new cape.

Enoch treasured these gifts, so Montague had to be extra careful when he held the cup.

His master was nowhere to be seen when Montague had finished setting the table. He then came to a bedroom and knocked on the door. As the knock was not responded, he opened the door and went inside, where there was a blanket pile on the bed.

“Master, it’s time to get up, or you’ll be late,” Montague urged. He frowned when the blanket pile remained still.

“Guess I have no choice but that now.”

With that thought, Montague went to another room, where the furniture was as clean as brand new. Still, the still air implied that the room had been vacated for a long while.

Putting on a coat gotten from the wardrobe, Montague returned to his master’s room and spoke again, but with a soft, indifferent female voice.

“Enoch, get up. Don’t be lazy.”

“Hmm…Mother!”

A youth crawled out of the blanket and hugged Montague happily.

“You’re back, finally! Great…You’re much bigger than before… No… You’re not my mother!”

Enoch let go and stepped back, looking into the eyes of the smiling Montague.

“Good morning, master.”

“Montague…Why are you dressing like her?”

“It’s because you’ll be late if you don’t wake up, so I dressed like Mistress, and it worked just as I had expected. You got up right away. Let’s not waste any more time and get dressed, master.”

Montague reached to touch Enoch, who smacked his hand with a long face.

“…Out.”

“Pardon, master?”

“I said GET OUT!”

Enoch pushed Montague out of his room and slammed the door.

“He’s angry. Master loses control when it comes to mistress…” Montague heaved a sigh. “Mistress Tawil, how could you leave your children?”

Later on, Enoch left his room dressed, striding all the way to the house gate silently. At this moment, Montague called his name to stop him.

“Master, aren’t you going to eat breakfast?”

“…No.” Apparently, Enoch was still mad at Montague.

Montague said worriedly as he saw the dark circles around Enoch’s eyes, “Master, I know you’re working hard to save Charlouette, but you ought to take care of your body. You’ve hardly had any rest this week, and you still have three jobs today. You’ll overload—”

“It’s none of your business! Leave me alone!” Enoch stormed out of the house, leaving the worried Montague behind.

“Hmm…What’s with the noise?” A girl with messy hair came over and asked Montague with a yawn.

“Miss…It’s my fault. I did something that the master didn’t like.”

“He must be acting tough again. Just leave him be and eat breakfast.” The girl grabbed a seat and started eating Enoch’s breakfast.

“But something might happen to master…” Montague clenched his fist. “I need to follow him.”

Returning to his room, Montague took a notebook out of the drawer with “Master’s Schedule” on it.

“Hmm. Today’s jobs are escorting the magic books, purifying the contaminated lake, and banishing the beast from the farm…Master, don’t worry. I’ll try my best to serve you!”

Montague then went out of the field. His first stop was to secure the escort route by capturing suspicious passerbys; next stop, he gathered the water-purifying materials and put them at the doorstep of the village chief; At the last stop, he banished the beast before Enoch arrived. When Enoch arrived, he was greeted by the villagers as if he were a hero.

“Thank you for banishing the beasts!” A man held Enoch’s hand, who was clueless.

“Huh? But I haven’t—”

“Now my father’s farmland is safe…Boohoo…” The man shed his tears, freaking Enoch out.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“I had a big fight with my father, and he passed away before I had the chance to say sorry. This farmland is all he left…I’d hate myself forever if I can’t even secure it. So thank you.”

Unable to tell him the truth, Enoch accepted the man’s gratitude as he didn’t want to ruin his mood.

As all the jobs were finished, Enoch came home early. He picked up the scent of food as soon as he opened the door. Meanwhile, Montague left the kitchen to greet Enoch.

“Welcome back, master. Dinner is almost ready.”

When Enoch was looking at Montague, he thought of what the man had said earlier that day. He finally spoke after a moment of hesitation, “I was acting out of line this morning… I’m sorry.”

“Everything’s alright, master. You’ve been in a bad mood because of mistress Tawil, and it’s my fault that I couldn’t share your problems,” said Montague, shaking his head with a caring smile.

“Thank you, Montague.” Enoch was touched.

“Yes. To protect you all…To protect master Enoch, I’ll do anything and everything at all costs.”

At this moment, Montague looked at his steel arms determinedly.

“For this is the reason why I was made, right? Mistress Tawil.”

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 7

“Crimson Runedragon – Hong Ai”

On the mountain peak surrounded by thick white mist, there was a dragon backbone sticking vertically, as if it were the connection between the sky and the soil. Outside the bone was a magnificent lake, and this was the habitat of the Runedragons.

 Right now, a dozen Runedragons were standing side by side in front of the bone. All of them were in pairs except the red dragon on the far right.

“Is everyone here?”

The voice belonged to a green dragon, who descended from the top of the bone. Upon landing, the dragon conjured the power and shapeshifted into a human form—a handsome man with long azure hair. He was Qing Gui, the leader of the Runedragons.

“It’s time to test your skills on shapeshifting you’ve acquired earlier. Now change your shape,” said Qing Gui, pacing back and forth.

The Runedragons followed Qing Gui’s instructions and circulated their power, oozing a massive amount of mist. When the mist faded, there was no more dragon but a group of good-looking humans and a little girl.

As this was their first shapeshifting, all the Runedragons went to the lakeside to see their reflections. A moment later, someone screamed.

“Oh no…Not again…” Qing Gui pressed his aching forehead.

“AHH— Why do I look like an idiot! No way! NO WAY! Qing Gui, help me!”

Hong Ai the Runedragon flung her arms in front of Qing Gui like a cute girl throwing a tantrum. 

“Hong Ai, I can’t help you—”

“No way no way no way no way—!”

Hong Ai was crying loudly while pulling Qing Gui’s clothes.

 ‘Sigh…Most of us, the Runedragons, are calm and peaceful except her…’

“Enough!” Getting impatient, Qing Gui yelled at Hong Ai, who stopped the action but not her tears. 

The messy sobbing face of Hong Ai had softened Qing Gui. With a sigh, he crouched down, grabbed her small hands, and said, “Don’t cry, Hong Ai. Although you look a bit too young, it’s cute to be in this form. Plus, when you have better control of your power, you might be able to have a better human form.”

“…It’s all because I don’t have a Souliade. Without a Souliade, I’m unable to contain my power. This is why I look like this, and it’s exactly why I fail at everything…”

Hong Ai bit her lip as she had made up her mind.

“Qing Gui, I need to go outside and find my Souliade!”

“No.” Qing Gui banned her proposal immediately. “You’re too young and have yet to master your power. Plus, the outer world is chaotic with all the wars. It’s very dangerous for you.”

“I can protect myself—”

“It means no when I say no. And there’s no way you can find your Souliade in the outer world. Stop talking about it.” Qing Gui stood up and continued, “Just keep practicing.”

Hong Ai shut her mouth with a pout as she knew that nothing could change Qing Gui’s mind. 

“Humph! I’m going outside to seek my Souliade anyway!”

When nightfall came, Hong Ai, in her human form, carried her backpack all the way to the hillside without alerting the other Runedragons. To avoid attention, she took a detour before she shifted to the dragon form and flew to the west.

“Qing Gui said he didn’t see any Runedragons when he went to find Xuan Huang in the east. Then I should search the west.”

The over-thrilled Hong Ai didn’t notice an approaching tornado. When she did, she was already caught by it.

“WHOA——” 

The turbulence gave Hong Ai motion sickness, but the stubborn dragon conjured her power to wrestle with the wind.

Boom! The energy clash made a huge noise. Meanwhile, Hong Ai was ejected from the tornado. Unfortunately, the projectile made her hit a rock. She fell into the bushes because of the head injury.

“Everything is spinning…Mmm…Someone’s coming…”

“Whoa! I-It’s a dragon!” A male voice spoke.

“He’s a human…I must have scared him away…They’re too afraid to help because I’m a dragon…”

“Oh no. This dragon is hurt. Gotta help with its injury.”

“Wait…He didn’t go…I feel familiar with this man…So intimate…” Barely opening her eyes, Hong Ai saw a blurry image of a young mage, who was healing her with magic.

“Oh…I figured. It’s…the aura of my Souliade.” This was the last thing on Hong Ai’s mind before she passed out. Later on, she was awakened by the loud rain. 

“My Souliade!”

Hong Ai raised her dragon head and looked around anxiously. At this moment, she was inside a cave while it was raining cats and dogs outside. A youth was sitting opposite her with a bonfire between them.

“It’s good to see you’re awake.” The youth Enoch continued, “But don’t move around. Although I’ve treated your wound with magic, it’s just— Whoa!”

Enoch was interrupted by Hong Ai, who shapeshifted to pounce on him with a blush of excitement on her cute face.

 “I found you! You’re my Souliade! I’ll never let go!”

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 8

“Panther the Ingenious Feline”

Somewhere on the continent, there was a valley where sunlight couldn’t reach the bottom. The humidity allowed no shrubs and trees but fungus to grow, nurturing a unique fungi forest.

Meanwhile, a girl travelled through the rugged path to the fungi forest, who was trembling in fear with a tight grasp on her wand.

“This place is scary…I wanna go home…No no no! I must get myself a Kerales. They’re the best among all companions!”

Yet her courage was soon shattered by the shade that landed from the air, which was an enormous tuxedo felidae with three tails. At this moment, he was growling at her aggressively.

“Ahh! D-Don’t eat me—!” The girl fled in a panic, tripping herself into a mouthful of soil. 

The embarrassed look of the girl amused the felidae. Laughing too hard, he was unable to sustain his true form and shrank into the size of an ordinary cat.

“HAHAHA! Look how dumb she is!” Panther from the Kerales clan burst into laughter, showing his white tummy with wiggling tails.

“Panther, there you are, pulling pranks again. All thanks to you, now there’s a rumor about a murderous monster in this forest,” said a calico cat, looking at Panther in disapproval.

“Dannie…Humph! Cowards like her are not worthy to be our masters.” Panther sat straight to lick his paw, acting like he didn’t care.

“Sigh, listen to what you’ve said. Most of the Kerales at your age have already been working as the companions of witches for years, and you’re the only picky one. Think about all these years you’ve wasted…Just find yourself a master for your own sake.”

“No meow! I’m the genius of Kerales, the best of the best! If I have to call a loser master, I’d rather adventure on my own! I’m strong enough to take down the enemies by myself!”

“Panther, you’re still alone no matter how strong you are.” Dannie continued her lecture, “That’s all I have to say. Think about it yourself.”

Dannie returned to the forest, leaving Panther in a bad mood.

“Ugh. Everyone is lecturing me. This is annoying!”

Irritated, Panther yelled at nothing then lay on the grass field with his eyes closed.

“Hmm…I smell something good…I-It’s boiled chicken fillet!” Panther sprang up with glitter in his gaze, putting the bad mood behind.

Panther soon found a campfire as he tracked down the scent. The flame had gone out already, a pot was hanging above the burnt woods by an iron rod. In the pot, there were some delicious boiled chicken fillets.

“Let’s not wait any longer! Mmm…Hot, but yummy!” While Panther was all about eating, someone sneaked up from behind.

“How dare you, thief, eat my lunch?”

A girl with a pointy hat crossed her arms and stared at Panther, who was stunned by her beauty for a moment.

“N-Nonsense meow! Do…Do you have any proof?”

Instead of answering, the girl mumbled an unknown language. The next second, the bottom of the pot began to shine.

“I’m Ingrid, a Kremier witch. That shiny part is our emblem. Is that enough?”

“Yes, I ate your lunch. So what?”

At this moment, Ingrid cracked a victorious grin and reached out to Panther.

“Be my companion as a compensation then, Panther from the Kerales clan.”

“You—” Panther squinted as he had figured everything out. “You set me up…You’re not getting what you want!”

Circulating his power, Panther shifted to his true form of the enormous felidae and ran away.

“Hey! Wait! That’s the lair of the venoworms…Oh, he left.” Ingrid took a deep breath and mumbled, “I can’t sit back. Looks like I must follow.”

In the meantime, Panther the felidae ran at full speed in order to run away from the girl. When he stopped, he found himself in a strange swamp, but not the fungi forest.

“Whoa! What the meow is this! Ew!” 

Panther saw a noxious worm as he sensed something crawling on his leg. When he got rid of the worm, another crawled up.

“Meow…Why am I feeling numb…Ah! Those worms…are poisonous!”

When Panther was alerted, his limbs were already numbed. Meanwhile, more and more worms were crawling out of the swamp. Just when they were about to eat him alive, a shadow shrouded him.

“Ha!” A feminine shout sounded together with a magic attack, blasting the worms away from Panther. Next second, Ingrid threw a bottle of cure at him.

“That’s the cure. Drink it!” Ingrid shouted while dealing with the incoming swarm of worms.

After a moment of hesitation, Panther eventually drank it, regaining mobility very soon.

“Darn it! These worms are too many to be dealt with!” A drop of sweat rolled down Ingrid’s face as the continuous magic consumption began to exhaust her.

“Even though I was mean to her, she still came to rescue me…” Moved by her kindness, Panther made up his mind and came to Ingrid.

“Bond with me.”

“Huh? Didn’t you just—”

“There’s no time to hesitate!” Panther looked at the stacking worms, which had their strategy changed as they couldn’t take Ingrid down—merging into a giant venoworm.

Ingrid had no choice but to bite her fingertip to bleed and drew a mark on Panther’s forehead.

“The ruler of the dreamland, I, Ingrid the witch, enter into a contract with Panther the companion, who shall feast on my magic and fight for me!”

Light was radiated from the mark, which transformed into feathers to cover Panther. After the bonding was formed, he felt an unprecedentedly abundant magic flowing inside him.

“This is awesome…Is this the result of bonding with a witch…”

“Watch out!” 

Ingrid’s shout brought Panther back to reality. Looking at the hostile worm, he raised his right paw with a smirk.

Slash! The giant venoworm was shattered by Panther’s razor-sharp claws, turning back to countless little worms. They returned to the swamp as their survival instinct warned them not to mess with Panther.

“I’ll maul you all if you mess around again.” Panther returned to the size of a normal cat. Before he could clean himself up, he was hugged against a woman’s chest.

“Panther, you’re ass-kickingly strong! No wonder you’re the best of Kerales!” Ingrid hugged Panther tight in her arms.

“O-Of course meow. I’m the best of the best. I’ll be your protector from now on.” While Panther was talking, he buried his head into Ingrid’s breasts, enjoying the pleasant softness…

Charlouette the Magic Agency Series Ch. 9

“Guardian of Reverie – Ingrid”

It was at noon when the sun was hanging in the beautiful, clear sky. In an alley away from the bustling area, there was a three-storey red brick house surrounded by a garden.

The garden was full of colours and floral aroma with abundant fruits on the trees. At the corner, there were some weirdly colorful fungi. No one would expect that this wasn’t the home of a happy family, but the center of Charlouette, a magic agency under Starmage, the magic association.

At a hidden corner nearby, there was a girl peeping at the entrance of the house.

“Ingrid, what are you doing meow? Aren’t you a straightforward person? Look at the way you spy on that house. You’re like a perv peeping at your crush.” Panther the three-tailed tuxedo cat, babbled while standing on Ingrid’s shoulder.

“…I AM trying to see my crush…” Ingrid muttered.

“Meow? Did you just say—”

BAM! The noise was from the house. A youth in a mage robe stormed out of the house, who had his sleeve grabbed by an older man.

“Enoch, calm down—”

“How can I calm down after they accuse my mother…She would never do such a thing. I need an explanation!”

Enoch broke free from the grasp and ran away.

“Let’s follow!” Worried, Ingrid carried her companion Panther to follow Enoch.

They soon arrived at the perimeter of a magnificent building, where the black iron gate was closed; The marble pillars were decorated with the sculptures of sacred creatures. This was the headquarters of Starmage, the association that regulated all magic agencies.

Enoch barged into the building, while Ingrid waited outside for a while before going in. The moment she stepped into the headquarters, she heard Enoch yelling at a male mage.

“I NEED TO TALK TO THE HIGH PRIEST!”

“Humph. The High Priest will not meet someone casually. Please behave yourself. Your mother, Tawil, is the criminal who stole Starmage’s treasure, “Soulstone” —Mmm!”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH! MY MOTHER DIDN’T DO IT! DON’T YOU SLANDER HER NAME!” Furious, Enoch dragged the mage’s collar and yelled at him.

“We didn’t,” said an old lady, tottering. Despite wearing a plain mage robe, she had an air of extraordinary elegance.

“High Priest.” All the mages bowed to the old lady respectfully.

“Enoch, let go of him,” said the lady softly.

Affected by her calm aura, Enoch calmed down and let go of his grasp.

“High Priest, I don’t believe that my mother would do such a thing.”

“I wish I were wrong too, but evidence doesn’t tell lies. We’ve tested multiple times just to be sure, and it’s shown that the magic remnant belonged to Tawil.”

“But she has contributed a lot to Starmage…Why would she…”

“You’re right. Without Tawil’s effort, Starmage wouldn’t have been separated from Lomond Manor. She’s technically the founder of Starmage, and it’s exactly why we must handle the case properly; the reputation of Starmage would be ruined. So, it’s simply impossible to retain Tawil’s qualification as a mage.”

“Is it still necessary to disband Charlouette after disqualifying Mother as a mage?” Enoch had a feeling that as soon as Charlouette dissolved, the only connection between him and his mother would be gone.

“As for Charlouette…If you could find an S-class mage to join Charlouette and complete an S-class commission, we’ll recognize Charlouette as the magic agency and allow you to continue running your business.”

“What? Priest, this isn’t—” A mage interrupted, but was silenced by the Priest with the wave of a hand.

“An S-class mage…How’s that even possible! By this time, they must have all been employed by other magic agencies. I— Whoa!” Enoch’s speech was muffled by a three-tailed cat which pounced on his face.

“I’ll join Charlouette!” declared Ingrid, who had been hiding in the corner and waiting for the best timing to make a grand entrance. Flipping her beautiful hair, she kept her chin up and grabbed the attention of everyone in the room.

“You are…Ingrid, a Kremier witch.” The Priest recognized her almost instantly, “You are the genius who spent merely 3 years to become an S-class mage.”

“I’ve just got my qualifications, but I think I can meet the requirements to keep Charlouette running.”

“Sure,” the Priest gave a benevolent smile, “but you still have an S-class commission to go. I happen to have one here. Do you want to take it, Enoch?”

The Priest handed a scroll to Enoch.

“Is this the right thing to do? S-Class missions are extremely risky. Should I really put Mephibo and others in danger, just to maintain the little connection between mother and me? And that girl… Why did she help me?”

The rapid changes of circumstances froze Enoch’s mind. He was occupied by millions of thoughts colliding in his head.

Ingrid grabbed the scroll and declared aloud with tremendous confidence, “Of course we’re taking it. I’m wagering my reputation as a witch on this, and I’ll complete it impeccably!”

“Haha, that’s the spirit. I look forward to your performance.” Slowly, the Priest came forward to Enoch. Putting her hand on Enoch’s shoulder, she said earnestly, “Enoch, Tawil really loves you two; you must have faith in her.”

“…Mmm.” Enoch replied in a low voice, and the Priest departed with a smile. Realizing there was nothing else to see, everyone started to leave the room except Enoch, Ingrid, and her companion, Panther.

“Uh…” After a moment of hesitation, Enoch finally summoned up the courage to hold Ingrid’s hands. Lowering his head, he said in all sincerity, “Thank you for helping out!” 

Had Enoch raised his head, he would’ve seen that Ingrid’s beautiful face was blushing all over. 

Ingrid shook him off nervously and turned around, crossing her arms and trying to restore her calmness, “Humph, it’s no biggie. I… I just wanted to build my reputation…Yes, reviving Charlouette will definitely make me famous. That’s it.”

“Even so, you did help me…No, you saved me.”

“…Flattery doesn’t make me more merciful.” Ingrid turned towards Enoch again. Though her ears were still red, she pointed at Enoch as if she were fearless, “To make sure that we can complete the commission impeccably, I’ll give all of you a special training. We’re gonna impress them!”

Enoch chuckled, and a rare, innocent smile spread all over his face, “Alright, bring it on.”