Yisha knew that Elvire, influenced by her sister, was always rigorous when it came to Mysticism. But she didn’t plan on explaining it to Elvire—mainly because she couldn’t explain it herself. How Belief Magic worked, its underlying principles... only Sean himself knew the answers to those questions.

"If you don’t believe me, you can go ask him yourself," Yisha said.

Elvire: "..."

Normally, she wouldn’t have needed Yisha’s prompting. She would have already gone back to her room, changed her clothes, and prepared to go find Sean.

But she couldn’t now.

That guy had made her angry last time, and he still hadn’t come to make it up to her.

’It’s been almost a week, and he hasn’t even sent me a single text. What’s that supposed to mean?’

"I’m not going to look for him," Elvire huffed.

’So what if Sean knows Belief Magic? What does that have to do with me?’

Elvire had to admit, Sean’s Talent had once again exceeded her expectations. He was even more incredible than she’d thought. But no matter how incredible he was, could he be more incredible than her philandering brother-in-law?

Blake was the man who had guided Mysticism to greatness. His Power was beyond what many Wizards could even fathom. But even so, didn’t she still dislike her brother-in-law?

She had never been one to be attracted to Power.

Yisha blinked and asked tentatively, "But it’s been so long. Don’t you miss him, Miss Flame Crow?"

Elvire: "?"

"Wait, why would I miss him?"

Yisha answered honestly, "Elise taught me. She said humans are creatures who can’t hide their feelings. If you like someone, you’ll think about them every moment of every day. A day apart feels like three autumns. By my count... you two have been apart for over ten autumns."

Elvire: "?"

"Who told you I like him?"

"Huh?" Yisha asked, confused. "Am I wrong?"

"Of course not," Elvire said, firmly denying such a baseless accusation.

"Then what are these?" Yisha’s gaze fell on the paper Elvire had been using for calligraphy practice on the table. Many names were written on it. She started counting: "One Sean, two Seans, three Seans, four Se... Hey, Miss Flame Crow, what are you doing?"

She had just started counting when Elvire, snapping to her senses, snatched the paper, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the pond to feed the fish. She then warned Yisha irritably, "Don’t look at what you’re not supposed to!"

The wad of paper landed in the pond, sending ripples across the surface. The clear water reflected the upper half of the girl’s figure. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, seemingly from anger.

Yisha stifled a laugh and asked one last time, "Are you really not going to see him, Miss Flame Crow?"

"I’m not," Elvire said, true to her word.

’That business from last time isn’t over. I’ve never met someone who treats their own body with such little regard.’

’Sean might not care, but has he ever considered how the people who care about him feel?’

’I’m not going to see Sean.’

’If anyone’s going to do any visiting, it’ll be Sean coming to see me. Hmph.’

"Alright then," Yisha said, putting down her cup. "If you won’t go, fine. I will."

Elvire: "?"

Her gaze instantly turned wary. "What are you planning, Little Yisha?"

"To learn math from him, of course!" Yisha said.

She had rushed over to complete the task assigned by her superior—to visit Sean and inform him of the recent developments outside. Now that her work was done and she had reported what she needed to, it was time for some relaxing and enjoyable personal time!

Yisha had already decided what she wanted to learn.

If Sean was really willing to teach her, she would choose math.

Belief Magic was a bit too complicated for her. The key was being eloquent and debating ideas with enemies, but she’d always been poor with words. Even if she learned it, she probably wouldn’t be able to use it effectively. It was like the Fireball Technique—every Wizard knew it, but not everyone could actually hit someone with it.

In comparison, math was simpler.

After all, she had a foundation in it.

The form it took was also more interesting.

’Once I learn how to create questions using Magic Power, I’ll definitely make a magic problem book. In the future, if anyone dares to provoke me, I’ll just smack them on the head with the problem book and show them the true meaning of "knowledge is power"!’

"I’m off! If there are any more missions later, Miss Flame Crow, just send me a text."

Yisha put down her teacup and trotted out of the garden.

As Elvire watched the little girl’s cheerful, retreating back, she felt a moment of indecision.

’Maybe... I should go hang out at the hospital, too?’

’I won’t go to his room, just take a walk near the hospital. Maybe Sean will see me from a window and come find me himself.’

But soon, Elvire shook her head again, casting the thought aside.

’No, I said I wouldn’t go.’

’I can’t go soft this time!’

In reality, she couldn’t go even if she wanted to.

As a core member of the Dawn Council, she didn’t have much personal time.

Just as Elvire walked to the edge of the pond and fished out the wad of paper, Elise called.

"Two things."

Elise kept it brief. "First, there’s a meeting in three days." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

A meeting during the Day of Abstinence would definitely have the Day of Abstinence as its theme.

The meeting was called by Adelf. Although the old man hadn’t told her the agenda, Elise had a good idea. Every year around this time, there was a Dawn Conference. The theme was always more or less the same: organizing activities in Alola Town suitable for the festival’s atmosphere. The only difference was what those activities were.

The year before last, it was a "Chef Competition"—that was the public name for the event. In reality, all the participants were Alchemists. They had to incorporate Alchemy into their dishes, which not only had to have the effects of a Magic Potion but also taste delicious. Otherwise, the consequences would be severe.

Elise remembered one Alchemist who had made a dish of Nine-Turn Large Intestine. The Lie Breaker had taken one bite and his face turned green. The contestant was disqualified on the spot.

Last year, it was a "Fishing Competition."

A Wizard and an Alchemist would form a team. The former was responsible for fishing, the latter for concocting the bait. Only straight hooks were allowed. Appropriate Magic could be used, but it had to be within limits. Blast fishing and interfering with others were forbidden.

The fish they were trying to catch weren’t ordinary, either. They were brought back from the mysterious, lightless deep sea. Influenced by the underwater pressure and the natural Magic Power contained in the water, they had mutated and were not easy to deal with. Countless self-proclaimed master anglers before the competition ended up catching nothing at all.

These two competitions seemed a bit nonsensical and strange, perhaps even old-fashioned. In reality...

...they were indeed very "old-fashioned."

They were all activities from the magical sports meets held for students by the Hall of Truth during the Era of Polymath.

The Dawn Conference did this to commemorate the Hall of Truth.

Besides that, the other topic of the meeting would probably be Carl Black.

The statue hadn’t shown any signs of movement for a long time. Adelf had asked Kate several times, and Kate always said the statue hadn’t moved again. This led the Wizards who had been at that meeting to wonder if they had fallen into some kind of collective illusion. Was it because they missed Blake and the Era of Polymath so much that they had seen Blake’s statue wink at them?

No one could say for sure.

Adelf had a theory: perhaps Blake’s soul had fallen into a deep slumber. They had disturbed him last time, causing him to awaken, but Lord Blake himself hadn’t rested enough, so he glanced at them and went back to sleep.

So Adelf wanted to use this opportunity to see if they could "wake" Lord Blake up again.

This was actually very important.

Once could be a trick of the eye or an illusion. Twice would basically confirm that Lord Blake wasn’t truly dead.

"And the other thing?" Elvire asked.

She was still reluctant to talk much about Blake.

"The other thing... we might have to tell Sean about it," Elise said.

’Sean again.’

’Why is it always about him?’

Elvire looked at the wad of paper in her hand, threw it back into the pond with disgust, and asked Elise, "What does it have to do with him?"

"It has everything to do with him," Elise said. "He’s coming for Sean."

Elvire frowned. "Who?"

"Sopea."

Elise said, "He has broken through to Tier Six."

...