Aura had waited patiently... and patiently. The wine in her goblet had long since gone tepid, and the idle chatter of the nobles began to gnaw at her nerves like insects buzzing at her ears. She leaned back slightly, her gaze sweeping across the marble-floored banquet hall, her expression unreadable. Then, finally, unable to contain her growing irritation, she turned to the man standing before her.
"Where are the young talents you spoke of? Haven't they arrived yet?"
"They're right in front of you, miss."
Konrad stood at the front, gesturing toward a group of elegantly dressed young men and women whose mana barely flickered and was difficult to discern. If he hadn't pointed them out, Aura wouldn't have been able to detect their mana presence at all. In her eyes, even the lingering traces of mana dispersed by passing mages in Kribi's air were more prominent than these so-called talents.
So much so that in her mana vision, these humans achieved the effect of "invisibility" in front of the great demon Aura.
Aura tilted her head, unable to understand:
"These… are the ones you meant?" she asked slowly.
"Yes," Konrad replied proudly, puffing out his chest. "These are the finest heirs of noble bloodlines — the scions of greatness. Each one bears both noble lineage and innate talent. They are destined to be the future of the Continental Magic Association. One only needs a glance to see the difference between them and the rabble outside."
Aura stared at the youths a moment longer, then blinked once then twice, before turning back to Konrad.
"With this pile of rotten meats?"
"Miss Aura, I must ask that you mind your words," Konrad warned, his smile thinning, though he kept his tone polite.
Then, slowly, a smirk began to tug at the corners of Aura's lips. A single sound escaped her throat — soft, almost like a cough.
"…Ha—"
Then another. And then…
"Ha… Hahaha… Hahahahahaha—!"
Aura finally burst out laughing, unable to hold it in. She slapped the heavy three-meter hardwood table, making it groan under the force. Her laughter echoed through the banquet hall.
She had been so scared.
She had genuinely feared, for just a fleeting moment, that the human nobility had bred a new generation of transcendent magical prodigies. That perhaps they had reached some breakthrough, some new pinnacle of human potential.
But no… they were just a bunch of leeches.
A cluster of vermin.
Aura slowly scanned the room, her eyes locking onto every noble face turned toward her — faces puffed red with embarrassment and anger, fat fingers twitching around goblets and sleeves.
So this was their strength? This was their claim to power?
She had overestimated them.
All they had to show were their family names — their titles. Not magic. Not talent. Just status.
"What's so funny, miss?" Aura's laughter was too harsh and didn't sound like a laugh of praise. Even Konrad, who always considered himself to be well-mannered, couldn't hold back his expression at this moment.
"I'm laughing at you."
"And what is so laughable about us?"
The pretense was breaking down.
Konrad didn't bother to hide his hostility anymore. He gave a subtle signal to the guards behind Aura, and with a series of metallic shings, the armored soldiers drew their swords. Their cold gazes now locked onto the lone guest still laughing at the table.
"The funny thing is - I can't understand..." Aura pointed her finger across the table, sweeping it slowly to each of the nobles' fuming, embarrassed faces.
The more she looked, the harder it was to hold back. Her shoulders shook with renewed laughter. Tears welled in her eyes from the absurdity of the moment.
"I really can't understand—"
She rose from her chair, arms spreading wide like a stage performer before her final act. Her voice rang with mockery and disbelief as she brought her hands together, as if gathering the entire assembly in her grasp.
"How am I supposed to educate a bunch of insects?!"
SHNK!
The atmosphere in the banquet instantly turned cold. Only Aura's laughter remained.
THUD!
One of the guards finally lunged forward, blade raised.
"Wait! Miss Aura is just drunk!"
Sheila, sweating heavily, rushed in to shield Aura, even though she didn't particularly like the new branch head. She still couldn't bear to watch Aura be unjustly harmed.
"Stand down, Sheila," Barret barked, seated beside Graf Konrad.
"But Lord Barret, she's just a child. She doesn't understand what she's saying. Those were just foolish words—"
"I said stand down!!"
"…Understood."
Sheila dared not speak back again, but she didn't move. Mana was slowly beginning to boil around her — subtle, almost unnoticeable to most humans. But behind her, Aura saw everything.
"Calm yourself, Barret,"
Konrad stepped forward, cutting through the rising tension with a voice that tried — and failed — to carry the weight of calm authority.
"Let us not be hasty," he said, forcing a smile, though it sat uncomfortably on his lips. "There's no need to escalate this further."
But the steel gleam of drawn swords remained, unmoving.
The guards did not sheath their weapons.
Their eyes stayed locked on Aura.
Konrad's own gaze pushed past Sheila's protective stance, zeroing in on the young woman at the center of the storm. Through the narrow gap between Sheila's arms, their eyes met.
He said coldly:
"You're new here, girl. So let me clarify something before this goes any further. Magic in this province has always been under my jurisdiction. The Magic Association — your precious little organization — exists here purely in a supportive role. Your appointment as branch head is ceremonial at best. A matter of symbolic."
"This list was for your notification, not your approval."
SLAP!
Without warning, a loud crack resounded.
Aura was suddenly standing right in front of Konrad. No one had seen her move. She raised her hand, and without any visible mana fluctuations, swung her arm.
Konrad's body lit up in a kaleidoscope of magical colors — protective wards, enchanted garments, mana-infused jewelry — all triggering in a rapid chain of desperate defense. Dozens of protections erupted at once, fracturing like stained glass. One after another, they shattered in a staccato rhythm: crack—crack—crack—crash!
Shards of magical shielding and fragments of luxury artifacts rained to the polished floor.
But none of it stopped her seemingly soft, white palm.
CRACK.
Konrad's head snapped sideways, blood spraying from his lips as he crumpled to the floor in a heap of expensive fabrics and moaning pain.
He clutched at his face, fingers trembling, blood dripping from his nose and mouth.
"Huh… you're still alive?"
Aura turned around, surprised. She'd thought that slap would be enough to take his head clean off.
Must've been some human-improved defensive enchantments.
Somewhere in the shattered remains of his pride, Konrad found enough breath to shout.
"You… you don't understand what you've done!" he spat, coughing violently, blood staining his teeth.
"Can't you tell? I told you to shut up."
"How dare you?! I am a Graf — the ruler of Hohenburg! Do you know what my standing here is?! You come from Kribi — that's the only reason I've tolerated you at this table. Even a First-Class Mage from Kribi wouldn't dare humiliate me like this! Kribi must give me an explanation!"
The bloodied and beaten Konrad could no longer maintain his usual gentlemanly façade. He clutched his ruined face, howling in fury. His polished manners crumbled into nothing.
"You fool! All this—over a list of school admissions?! Over a few lowborn names?! Over staffing decisions in some insignificant provincial branch? You think any of this matters?! This land and its people belong to the Empire! You are a guest here! The Magic Association exists because we nobles allow it! You have no say in the fate of peasants!"
"I think you've misunderstood something."
COUGH—
Aura turned back around and grabbed Graf Konrad by the neck, lifting him off the floor effortlessly with one hand.
"Everything you just said — I don't care about any of that," she growled. "I don't give a damn about your so-called prodigy selections or your appointment politics."
She leaned in close, her eyes wide with a mad glint.
"I did this because I absolutely hate pompous morons like you who don't know a single thing about magic but still dare to act like you do!!!"