When Olga Marie's hand brushed through a patch of air, she sensed a familiar pulse of Mana. At the same moment, the Mage Crest across her body lit up beyond her control.
"What is this?!"
Startled, Olga Marie hurriedly reached toward the source of the Mana pulse. A tiny black crack appeared out of thin air.
"A locked Imaginary Space. Its Mana can resonate with my family's inherited Mage Crest. This must have been left behind by Theresa!"
Olga Marie stared at the crack excitedly and hurriedly deployed a magic circle, intending to break the password on the Imaginary Space.
Think, Marie. What kind of password would Theresa set?
"That's it!" Inspiration struck Olga Marie. She instinctively straightened her back and said sternly, "Straighten your back, you idiot, Marie!"
The crack in the Imaginary Space opened up, revealing the scene within. Olga Marie had guessed the password correctly!
The truth was right before her. Olga Marie eagerly turned her gaze toward the Imaginary Space, wanting to see what clue Theresa had left behind.
"Ah—"
The next moment, Olga Marie let out a terrified scream, the joy on her face instantly vanishing.
Inside the Imaginary Space was not some clue, but Theresa's head.
"W-Why? Why did Theresa hide her head?"
"Oh my! I really underestimated you, little girl of the Animusphere Family. I thought you wouldn't find it."
Just as Olga Marie was consumed by confusion, a figure appeared at the doorway of the room at some unknown point.
"Adashino Riri!!"
Olga Marie spoke the name in terror.
As the daughter of the Lord of Celestial Mechanics, there were few people in the Clock Tower whom Olga Marie feared. Yet Adashino Riri, who came from the Department of Law and Politics, was exactly the person she least wanted to encounter.
"Shh—you're