Allen stared intently at the silver-haired figure approaching from afar.

If that person is here, then things will be quite different.

Giving up on getting up, he just grumbled, resting his chin on his hands.

"Let's just leave him alone. Who wants to deal with something like that?"

“Right?”

Eruca nodded with a half-smile, apparently having noticed too.

Charlotte, the only one who didn't understand the situation, was pale and flustered.

“I–Is that really okay? Someone could get hurt…”

“They’ll be fine. It’ll be suppressed right away.”

“Huh?”

Charlotte blinked in confusion.

Meanwhile, the argument was heating up. Amidst the tense atmosphere, so tense that it felt like violence was about to break out at any moment, no one in the room noticed a man approaching until the last moment.

“Excuse me a moment, you two.”

"Huh? What――!?"

The man tapped both quarrelers lightly on the shoulder.

At that instant, freezing cold surged across the area. A murmur ran through the onlookers.

After the cold eventually subsided,

There were numerous towering icicles. One for each of the people who had been fighting earlier. Each of them was trapped inside the ice, unmoving, with looks of shock on their faces.

A wide-area spell, cast without even chanting. The execution was flawless.

“To think I’d come all this way just to see this… honestly, you children are hopeless.”

The man gave a weary smile.

The man with long silver hair let out a wry smile. He looked to be about Allen's age. His tall, slender body was clad in fine formal attire and a black cloak embroidered with gold. He truly possessed the attire of a high-class wizard.

With a gentle smile on his face, the word gentleman suited him strangely well.

Turning toward the ice pillars, he began lecturing them. Discover more novels at NoveI~Fire.net

“Listen carefully, this is a place not just for Academy students, but also for visitors. As members of our Academy, you should show more restraint and… oh, right. You can’t hear me right now. I’ll have to summon you later.”

Looking around the icicles, the man shrugged. There was no sense of accomplishment in having subdued such a large group in an instant.

By this time, the people around him had already come to terms with the situation and were greeting them with familiar remarks like, "Thank you for your hard work," "We'll clean up afterwards," and "I wonder if the punishment room is empty."

Watching the scene, Charlotte let out a cry of admiration.

“W-Wow… he’s amazing… He looks just like Allen-san."

『Indeed. That is a skilled practitioner, no doubt』

『Wait… this smell is…』

Amidst this, the man finally noticed them.

"Oh...?"

For just a moment, he widened his eyes, then immediately broke into a broad smile.

He strode toward them quickly, lifting a hand in greeting.

"It's been a while, Allen. I'm glad to see you're doing well."

“…Given the situation, I’d think you’d have something else to say first.”

Still pinned down by the two beasts, Allen gave him a deadpan look.

Eruca, on the other hand, raised her hand sharply in greeting.

“We’re back! See, I brought big brother and the others just like I promised!”

“Thank you, Eruca. You’ve been a big help,”

The man replied with a smile, then turned his attention to Charlotte.

“And you must be the famous Charlotte. A pleasure to finally meet you.”

“N-Nice to meet you… um, and you are…?”

“Ah, pardon me. I forgot to introduce myself.”

With a gentle smile, he placed a hand to his chest and bowed lightly.

“My name is Harvey Crawford. I’m Allen and Eruca’s Papa.”

“Papa-san!?”

“Surprising, right? Our Papa looks way younger than he should,”

“Still there should be a limit to everything…”

Allen sighed wearily.

Ever since the day Harvey had taken him in, his foster father hadn’t shown the slightest sign of aging. Allen couldn’t help but suspect he was using some kind of strange magic.