When several members of the corps moved at Jared’s intimidating voice,
“That’s enough, everyone.”
Tres Brauer, clad in a green combat uniform and accompanied by his secretary in a matching uniform, calmly silenced the scene with his voice that carried well. Though not forceful or raised, his voice reached the ears of those who were losing their composure.
“I heard the report from my secretary and rushed here. Jared, please bring your secretary to my office.”
“Understood. Let’s go, Ernesta, Ari.”
Without waiting for their replies, he grabbed their arms and started walking.
“Hey! Wait!”
“……What is it?”
“Do you think you can’t get away with insulting the Deputy Captain of the Royal Mage Corps?”
As one magician shouted this, several people in Jared’s field of vision glared at him in agreement. Jared released Ernesta and Ari’s arms, briefly instructed them to go towards Tres, and then turned his back to them, glaring back.
“Do you think *you* can get away with making an enemy of me?”
He released a surge of magic as a threat, causing a stir. Everyone present was astonished by Jared’s magic power. Many must have assumed he became a Court Mage with the help of a Ducal Family, like Redmond. However, he had clearly demonstrated that his magic power was incomparable to anyone else present.
“Listen, I’ll say this again. I don’t care about slander directed at me. I understand there will be dissatisfaction when a kid like myself becomes a Court Mage. But if any of you dare to verbally abuse or harass my secretary—I will make you regret it.”
Several pair of eyes shot him piercing glares, but no one dared to speak.
“That’s enough, Jared. Let’s head to my office. The air here is foul.”
“T-Tres-sama!”
“……Yes?”
Someone called out to Tres, their voice tinged with desperation. He narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Are you going to allow that man’s outrageous behavior?”
“—Enough.”
Tres’s quiet but irrefutable voice made the protesting magician freeze.
“I’ve heard everything from the secretary. This all started because Deputy Captain Redmond uttered heartless insults to member Ernesta. As her fellow members, aren’t you ashamed?”
“……B-but, Ernesta Kaif is the sister of a criminal.”
“Then I am the son of a criminal. The son of a fool who framed her brother and gave him reason to seek revenge. I’m allowed to continue as a Court Mage due to the goodwill from the Royal Palace and the Mage Association, but if you intend to degrade her, you should do the same to me. Isn’t that right?”
Tres looked at the man, who couldn’t respond, with a weary expression.
“If you’re willing to say such things to your comrades, why can’t you say anything to me, a Court Mage? Then your words are of exceptionally poor quality. I find it deeply pathetic that people like you are members of the Royal Mage Corps—know shame.”
Despite being showered with his harsh words, no one retorted. Even if Tres was the son of a criminal, few could directly confront a Court Mage with that fact. Court Mages were beings on a different level. If they incurred their displeasure, they had no idea what would happen.
On the other hand, while they couldn’t accept Jared, who was already decided to become a Court Mage, due to his younger age and connections to a Ducal Family, the fact that they had witnessed his overwhelmingly superior magic power would likely reduce the number of people who treated him dismissively. Furthermore, after this incident, with Jared’s threats and Tres’s public declaration of his similar position, verbal abuse towards Ernesta should decrease.
Jared, who had watched the events unfold without intervening, was impressed by Tres’s display as a Court Mage. At the very least, while it was far from the improvement in Ernesta’s treatment that he had desired, the number of people who would directly harm her should have decreased.
“I will warn you all to never repeat this. Also, Jared Murphy, while young and still a student, became a Court Mage solely on his own merit. He is stronger than I am. You would do well to treat him with respect from now on.”
With that, Tres turned on his heel and walked away, his back to the members of the Mage Corps.
“Let’s go, Jared.”
“Yes.”
As they fell into step beside him, their respective secretaries followed. Jared glanced back once, memorizing the faces of the several magicians still glaring at them, and muttered, “There won’t be a next time.”
“Thank you for saving me, Tres-sama. If that had continued, I would have had to fight all the magicians there.”
“I believe you could have defeated them, though?”
“Well, I don’t know the skill level of the Mage Corps members, so I couldn’t say without trying.”
“Um… Tres-sama.”
Ernesta hesitantly called out from behind.
“Yes, what is it?”
Tres turned back with a gentle smile, as if addressing a younger sister. Ernesta hesitated, then took a small breath and stopped, bowing her head.
“Thank you very much for helping me.”
“It’s alright. It was our fault from the beginning. You didn’t need to endure such heartless slander.”
“……Still, thank you. Jared-sama and Ari-san, thank you for protecting me as well.”
Though her face was hidden by her bow, they could clearly hear the tremor in her voice. However, no one commented on it. Everyone there hoped that Ernesta, who had endured malicious treatment from her colleagues for so long, would find even a little solace.
