"If they really do that... there's nothing we can do.
For now, we can only resolve the matter with Soreno as quickly as possible."
Roland said.
"Never mind. I'll head out first. I'll leave things here to you."
Antonia shook his head slightly and decided to stop worrying about everything else for now and get his own tasks done first.
Over the days that followed, Antonia left Nevis City, while Roland remained to oversee affairs.
With Roland's current prestige and strength, he could certainly keep the situation stable. But the repercussions of Soreno's actions would not simply vanish. Throughout the Magic Network, the various schools were quietly brewing storms of their own.
Before long, a new rumor spread across the Magic Network.
"The Committee has secretly withheld the arcane secret for awakening divinity. They intend to plunder the souls of High Mages to sustain themselves!
If they succeed, everyone who advances afterward will become their food!"
"Have you heard? That rumor on the Magic Network..."
"That's a bit too far-fetched, isn't it? It goes against all our longstanding traditions."
"Complete nonsense..."
The mages were no fools. Such an obvious attempt to sow discord was clearly something cooked up by enemy spies.
But...
It did seem that it wasn't entirely impossible!
The danger of such things lay in how, even when you knew they were false, knew they were nonsense, you still couldn't help wondering whether there might be some possibility of it happening.
And the more you thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
"Have you found out who started that rumor? Anyone with such malicious intentions must be severely punished, whether they're an enemy spy or not!"
In the office on the top floor of the Mage Tower, Roland personally oversaw the investigation with a grim expression.