The Wise Leader

"The one who initiated the research."

Louise bit her lip and gently shook her head. She did not fully understand what Amosta truly meant by those words.

Amosta had no intention of explaining. He merely asked, "What happened after that? You must have seen Fraser again, right?"

That went without saying. Otherwise, Louise could not possibly have obtained the phone number of Fraser's residence.

"It was around Halloween the year before last. I received a letter from Fraser. In all those years, it was the only letter I ever received from him. It did not appear in my mailbox, nor was it delivered by a postman. It simply appeared suddenly on the balcony of the room I was renting. There was no stamp on the envelope, no sender's address, and no recipient's address. I knew it was from Fraser from the handwriting and the contents of the letter—"

Confusion filled Louise's eyes, as though she still could not figure out how that letter had reached her.

"—In the letter, Fraser told me that he had gone to a new country to continue their great research. He said it had been arranged by the research organization he belonged to."

Louise pressed her lips together, her lovely face filled with gloom.

"Before that, I had always thought it was merely a student interest group in Bologna. I never imagined that organization was anything so simple, that it had bases in other countries as well. Then, in the letter, he told me that he was doing well and told me to take care of myself and our parents."

Amosta's eyelids twitched slightly. That was highly unusual. A Muggle who had nearly gone mad in pursuit of magical power had begun to care about his family. There was clearly something behind it.

"Did you