We ran into Vertus de Gradias at the entrance to the Magic Department. I wondered if he had come personally as a member of the imperial family to investigate this incident which had occurred within the imperial palace. 0

Fortunately, Harriet and I were allowed to enter the sealed-off Magic Department building with Vertus without much need for explanation.0

“You want to help in the investigation?” he asked.0

“Yeah. I want to do whatever I can,” I replied.0

Vertus tilted his head, seemingly unsure why I wanted to involve myself in this matter. However, when he turned his gaze to Harriet, who was standing beside me, he nodded as if he’d realized something.0

“Oh, Saint-Ouen is doing some research or something in the Magic Department, right? Could it be…?”0

“Yeah… The perpetrator was the supervisor of the archive room I used to visit,” Harriet said.0

“Really?” Vertus nodded absentmindedly, as if he hadn’t known that fact. He furrowed his brow and sighed. “Wow, it must have been quite a shock. Were you close or anything?”0

“Not really… We just had a bit of a conversation yesterday… and something felt off yesterday… I’ve already told the Imperial Magic Department people about it…”0

“Well, that’s good. I can hear about it from them then.”0

Vertus crossed his arms and glanced around the Magic Department.0

“Having two more brains to examine this situation isn’t a bad thing. For now, let’s head inside together,” he...0