That was when the Clock Tower held the Counsellor Magician deliberation.
The sealed Old Heart would be opened.
*
Inside the Old Heart.
The Lords from the Clock Tower sat around the round table in the center, beginning the conferment of a rank that one might not even encounter once in a lifetime.
Starlike light scattered across the domed ceiling. Aozaki Touko sat gracefully in her chair with an elegant smile, while Beo stood beside her with a solemn expression. For once, she had him perform the vigilance duty befitting a familiar.
"Since everyone is already here."
The head of the Bartholomello family, a noble woman whose bearing stood at the pinnacle of magecraft, swept her gaze across everyone present and spoke in a calm voice:
"Let us begin this conferment of rank, which holds no suspense."
This was neither a lie nor praise. She was simply stating a fact.
Aozaki Touko's achievements were obvious to all, and she wielded tremendous influence across all twelve departments of the Clock Tower. If she were rejected for the rank, the fairness of the Clock Tower's governing body would be called into question.
Furthermore, Aozaki Touko possessed exceptional political capital within the Clock Tower. First of all, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Animsphere family of the Celestial Mechanics Department would unquestionably support her becoming a Counsellor Magician.
After all... Aozaki Touko had seized their dreams by the throat with money. For the sake of their family's long-cherished ambition, they would support her without the slightest hesitation.
Next was the Acherlot family of the Department of Botany. Since they had sent Mel-Lydele Archleot, who had an excellent relationship with Aozaki Touko, to act as their representative at the conferment, that essentially represented the Acherlot family's stance.
As for the remaining departments, although they had