"The Human"

Mr. Marshall ultimately didn't make it through the autumn. Withered leaves drifted from the branches outside his hospital room and fell to the ground as the doctors announced his death.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye could tell he was already dead by the time he was brought to the hospital. Even so, the hospital mobilized all its medical resources. All the top doctors gathered, pooling their knowledge and racking their brains, trying to snatch this lost life back from the hands of the Death God.

The Imperial Union Bank had issued them a strict order—the only hospital in Brookwood Town was naturally built with funding from the Lofik Consortium.

Although their efforts ultimately ended in failure, they hadn't been entirely fruitless.

At least Mr. Marshall's neck, which had been twisted at a right angle, was straight again. Unfortunately, he could only lie flat on his back. Otherwise, if his position changed, his head—with no cervical vertebrae to support it—would loll at an eerie angle.

The medical staff crowded Ethan out, and he didn't even get to see Marshall one last time.

He stayed in the hospital corridor until evening. Only when the doctors announced the death did his anxious heart finally settle.

Whenever Imperial Union Bank employees passed him, they would gently pat him on the shoulder.

"My condolences."

Everyone said the same thing to him.

In their eyes, Ethan was so overcome with grief that he couldn't speak.

He was so young, yet he had to watch his dear friend die a gruesome death right before his eyes. And he was an investigator with the Containment Bureau, too. They could easily imagine the profound helplessness he must have felt.

Ethan's eyes were indeed filled with sorrow.

The main reason was that he'd had nothing to do in the corridor, so he'd quietly studied ice magic, and had been affected by the Elemental Spirit's emotions.

Mr. Anonymous had mentioned in Fireball Ice Arrow Magic Mechanics that ice corresponded to humanity's lowest emotions. After what had happened today, Ethan had gained a deeper understanding of the book's descriptions of "humanity." He was also gradually beginning to see why the author thought Ice Arrow was better suited to settling disputes between people.

Compared with fire, water and ice were more subdued and discreet.

The fact that Mr. Anonymous had written those words in the Parchment Book meant he must have used ice magic to settle many disputes between people.

Still, Ice Arrow wasn't omnipotent. It couldn't sever the countless chains of cause and effect spun out by that single ledger. Ethan knew that at that very moment, somewhere beyond his sight, another Mr. Roxanne was walking into the Imperial Union Bank, a knot of anxiety in his stomach, to take out a huge loan beneath the employees' kindly smiles.

All he could do was eliminate a specific person standing right in front of him.

Dark Creatures and Evil God Cultists weren't the only ones who could harm people. He must never neglect his training. He had to catch up with Mr. Anonymous as quickly as possible.

Ethan made up his mind.

Of course, to the Imperial Union Bank employees and the medical staff, the resolve in Ethan's eyes meant something else entirely: after witnessing his friend's gruesome death, the young Containment Bureau investigator had decided to throw himself even more fervently into his work, vowing to uncover the truth behind his friend's death.

The good news was that Ethan had unexpectedly found a more suitable place to practice Ice Arrow.

With his good leader Ivy's guidance, Fireplace Bay finally had a boat he could take. The Black Sea stretched endlessly beyond the docks, and no one there cared about anyone else's identity. Naturally, no one would stop him from firing Ice Arrows into the sea.

Practicing Ice Arrow by the Black Sea had three benefits: there was little risk of accidentally hurting anyone, he didn't have to worry about revealing his identity, and he could keep an eye on the shop at the same time.

Meanwhile...

He wanted to learn Teleportation Magic more and more.

Sneaking out of his apartment under cover of darkness every night always made him feel like a guilty thief. And since his hours as an investigator were irregular, what if Ivy came looking for him about work in the middle of the night and discovered he wasn't home? Wouldn't that cause trouble? He could make excuses about working at Fireplace Bay to earn money, but that wasn't a long-term solution.

He'd only found the most basic introductory spells in the occult bookstore. Advanced magic involving space, like Teleportation Magic, naturally wouldn't be recorded there.

Besides, even if someone were selling such high-level magic, there was no way he could afford it with his savings of just over twenty Gold Lions.

From what he'd observed of the merchants in Fireplace Bay, haggling with lines like "I'm an apprentice, give me a discount" or "Twenty Gold Lions—let's be friends" probably wouldn't work.

In the end, he still had to save money, and he needed to get his custom-order business up and running as soon as possible.

But before that...

Ethan took Miss Chloe outside the town.

It seemed no one had been here in quite some time. The mound was especially desolate. He carried a hard roll, while Miss Chloe wore a wreath on her head. They walked past one gravestone after another for a long while, eventually stopping in front of the grave marked "Roxanne."

Only three characters were simply carved into the gravestone. No epitaph or other information had been left behind.

Ethan bent down, brushed the dust and dirt from the gravestone, and placed the hard roll on the empty altar. Miss Chloe lowered her head in confusion and offered up the wreath as well.

He gazed at the gravestone for a long time.

"Goodbye, Roxanne."

When they returned to the apartment, Ivy saw that Ethan looked troubled and told him to get some good sleep. She would stay in the apartment and send the summary she'd prepared for the Roxanne case to the Containment Bureau in Gear City by falcon.

Ethan couldn't help reflecting once again on what a good leader he'd ended up with. If he were back in his previous life, the order would probably have been, "Write up the case summary as soon as possible and send it to me before seven."

He started preparing dinner for Miss Chloe, cooking a pot of tomato and potato soup with some pork belly. Watching Miss Chloe tuck in with such gusto that she nearly buried her whole head in the bowl lifted his spirits considerably.

He thought that Mr. Marshall's family must be preparing his funeral now, too. His body would be sent back to Gear City, where it would be surrounded by flowers and a pastor's eulogy.

Although Mr. Marshall had been like a dead, fat pig and had only provided one point of Ice Arrow proficiency, he'd at least made some contribution, deepening Ethan's understanding of the transformation between ice and water.

Ethan poured the pork and potato soup into a clay pot and knocked on the door of the neighboring apartment.

Ivy looked exhausted. The Golden Hair atop her head drooped listlessly, and a sleepless night had left her with deep circles under her eyes.

"I made some meat soup. I used to make it for the hunters at the guild all the time, so it should taste all right."

"Oh, just put it on the table."

Ethan thought Ivy seemed to be floating as she walked. She'd apparently just sent off the case summary; the Feather Pen and letter paper were still on the table.

Ivy leaned back in an oak chair. The aroma of the soup spread through the room, easing the tension that had kept her nerves taut. She gazed at the soup, lost in thought. Her vision gradually blurred, and the food before her doubled.

Just as her eyes were about to close, the Golden Hair atop her head smacked her forehead. Ivy jolted, her entire body stiffening reflexively. She looked as flustered as a student caught dozing in class by the teacher.

"The answer to this question is C."

After this disjointed remark, an awkward silence settled over the living room.

Ivy didn't explain. Instead, she simply picked up the clay pot and held it, nearly burying her face in it just like Miss Chloe.

"Mm, it tastes pretty good."

A moment later, she gave her verdict.

"Good. I was worried it might not be to your taste."

Ethan said this because he'd used the cheapest ingredients. "It's getting late. You've had a long day, so you should get some rest, too."

"Ethan."

He hadn't gone more than a few steps when Ivy suddenly called out to him.

"Yeah?"

"Nobles aren't all like that."

By the end, even Ivy herself seemed unsure. Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "At least... I'm not."