Several days had passed since the chaos in the Imperial Capital.
The city had suffered considerable damage in the disaster.
Cracked pavement and collapsed walls were everywhere along the streets. Many houses had lost their roofs, their doors and windows shattered, with rubble piled along the roadside.
A faint scorched smell still lingered in the air, a trace of the fires.
With so much work to be done, students from the various academies had also taken on rebuilding duties.
The young mages were run off their feet, using magic to move rubble, repair walls, and clear blocked sewers.
As a result, the scheduled Final Defense had been postponed until the last day of the Exchange Meeting, while the Research Results Presentation had been canceled outright. At a time like this, no one had the energy to set up display booths or prepare speeches.
Despite the heavy workload, however, most of the students were in fairly good spirits.
Perhaps helping others had given them a sense of purpose.
As for Greg...
"Um... Alice, could you come out for a moment?"
After briefly escaping the mountain of rebuilding work, Greg finally found time to return to the Magic Tower.
Pushing open the unlocked door, Greg looked at the petite figure slumped over the desk inside, took a deep breath, and called out to her.
He had already rehearsed how to explain the Magic Device several times in his head. It was time to settle this; he couldn't put it off any longer.
"!"
Alice stiffened at the sound of his voice.
She dawdled for several seconds before standing up and slowly walking over with her head lowered. She looked just like a guilty schoolchild, too ashamed to even glance at Greg.
Seeing her like this only made Greg more nervous.
He opened