The Sorcerer's Handbook

Iger paced the room while biting his nails absentmindedly. ”Slash Me Miracle... the Slash Me Miracle...”

He couldn’t hold back any longer and asked, ”Are you really confident you can perform a Miracle without any mana?”

Ashe answered honestly. ”No. And I definitely can’t do it right now. I’m still missing a key spirit to complete the Slash Me Miracle.”

”Then how—”

Ashe cut in calmly, ”As I’ve said before, I have a secret channel for acquiring spirits. I don’t know when I’ll obtain that missing spirit, but it’s only a matter of time until I do.”

Iger looked as though he wanted to say something. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then closed it again.

Ashe said nothing.

Naturally, Iger had no way of knowing what this so-called secret channel was. Yet he had not the slightest doubt about what Ashe said, and that certainty came down to one thing—the Libra spirit.

If Ashe had possessed Libra a few days earlier, Iger’s Contract spirit would never have restrained him so completely during their Death Match.

Sure, Ashe might have been playing dumb. But Iger had been the one who initiated the provocation. There was no way Ashe could have predicted it in advance, much less laid a trap specifically for him.

Between believing in a conspiracy that existed only in theory and trusting the potential he had witnessed firsthand, Iger chose the latter.

It wasn’t that Iger was naive or overly optimistic, but that Ashe had proven himself through repeated miracles.

Against Iger, he had transformed from a clumsy novice who barely knew how to fight into a competent combatant in just minutes. Against Varkas, he had gone from never having held a sword to wielding one like a seasoned swordsman, again, in minutes. During the Blood Moon Tribunal, he had faced the Purging Flame of Atonement without flinching, despite supposedly being the most sinful of all the condemned.

Now, with the sudden appearance of the Libra spirit, Iger saw no reason left to doubt him. Even if Ashe’s secret channel sounded like a fairy tale under the prison’s constant surveillance, this was a world of sorcery where miracles were hardly rare. Not to mention, Ashe Heath was the leader of the Four Pillars Cult.

For a moment, Iger looked conflicted. Then he clenched his teeth and stamped his foot. ”Fine. Let’s do it. But breaking out of prison won’t be possible with just the two of us. We’ll need more people.”

”Of course,” Ashe said with a smile. ”That’s why I came to you first. You must know about the other condemned inmates’ records. I’m unfamiliar with this world and need a cunning ’local’ to assemble the team.”

Iger returned the smile and gave an elegant bow. ”I’ll take that as a compliment. As a fraudster, information is my sharpest weapon.”

Ashe said, ”So, who do we need?”

Iger replied, ”I’ve already come up with a rough plan. Once you can use the Slash Me Miracle to bypass the chip restrictions, we’ll need three types of people—a fighter to take point and strike hard, a damage dealer to keep the pressure on, and a support to move fast and patch everyone up.”

”They sound highly specialized,” Ashe said. ”Can we even find people like that?”

Iger burst out laughing. ”Are you serious?”

He spread his hands wide. ”Villains, murderers, and black-market smugglers. Aren’t people like that everywhere in Shattered Lake Prison?”

***

In Cailleach of the Starry Kingdom.

Angelica curiously observed the villa district from inside the car. Adele ran her fingers over the leather interior with excitement, while Louisa, embarrassed, quickly withdrew her hand and tried to make small talk. ”Thank you for inviting us to your tea party, Felix.”

”No need to thank me,” Felix replied, his face dark and tone blunt. ”It was Sonya who insisted on bringing her roommates, so I invited you... Thank her if you want.”

His foul mood was palpable, and he barely bothered with the basic courtesies expected of a noble. Intimidated, Adele hesitated to touch anything further. Meanwhile, Louisa, careful not to push her luck, quietly studied Sonya in the passenger seat and tried to gauge the nature of their relationship.

Earlier today, Sonya had appeared suddenly and announced that Felix wanted to invite them to a tea party at his villa.

Tea parties were common among students. They were typically small gatherings in scenic spots where students sipped tea, nibbled snacks, and spread gossip that often turned into rumors. Louisa had attended many herself and had even hosted her own to talk badly about Sonya. After all, a tea party wasn’t worth attending if there wasn’t a little slander involved.

So it struck Louisa as odd that Sonya wanted her there. By nature, tea parties were intimate circles for gossip, and Louisa didn’t consider herself close enough to Sonya to merit an invitation. If Sonya wanted company, Angelica had already been keeping her company. Surely that should have sufficed. Why involve her and Adele?

On top of that, the host was Felix. Scandalous rumors about the playboy, like him being a noble heir with a basement, committing abuse, and even engaging in slavery, were everywhere. These stories made Louisa instinctively suspicious of Sonya’s motives.

Before Louisa could even refuse, Sonya suggested they inform their parents that they would attend Felix’s tea party. If anything went wrong, they could claim it was the doing of the second son of Duke Vlozrada.

The thoughtful gesture left Louisa puzzled. Angelica, meanwhile, noticed something deeper and asked if Sonya merely wanted them as witnesses. Sonya didn’t answer directly but promised that attending the tea party would benefit them in ways connected to sorcery. At the same time, she couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that Felix had ill intentions, which was why she advised them to notify their parents.

The more Louisa thought about it, the more it seemed like a trap designed to lure naïve girls. Most would have refused outright. But considering the people involved, Felix and Sonya, the warning to inform their parents, and her desire to buy the Torrent spirit, she found it hard to do so.

Most importantly, Angelica had already agreed. In her words, ”In the world of sorcery, adventure equals progress, while caution equals retreat. If you can’t take this risk, you might as well go home and get married.”

Perhaps it was a girl’s longing for adventure, hints from her parents about matchmaking on her last visit home, or simply not wanting to appear weak in front of people she disliked, Louisa ultimately agreed to the tea party. As her companion, Adele followed without hesitation.

Once in the car, Louisa relaxed. Many students had seen them get into Felix’s silver car, and they were clearly headed for the villa district of Cailleach, a central, heavily monitored area where crime was virtually nonexistent.

The silver car pulled up in front of a lavish villa. Adele stepped out first and looked around. ”Where are the servants?”

”There aren’t any,” Felix replied flatly. ”I only hire housekeeping staff when I’m away. Otherwise, no one else comes here.”

Still clueless, Adele asked, ”No servants? Then how is the tea party supposed to work? Do we make the tea and snacks ourselves?”

Embarrassed, Louisa quickly pulled her aside and explained the situation in a low voice.

Felix led them into the villa’s main hall. Amid the others’ averted gazes, he summoned a One-Winged female spirit dressed in a deliberately provocative manner. Almost as if triggered by her appearance, the fireplace split open, revealing a deep, spiraling passage that led underground.

Sonya frowned. ”Does it really have to be this creepy? Do you also have hobbies like kidnapping girls, murder, autopsies, or skinning people?”

Felix answered irritably, ”Secrets should always be associated with fear, darkness, and death. Not because they have to be, but because secrets are too weak to protect themselves without intimidation. Do you want me to move it to the school cafeteria instead?”

Sonya muttered, ”If it’s the school cafeteria at midnight, it might still suit your style.”

She followed Felix into the spiral passage. Angelica drew her wooden sword from its sheath and stayed close behind. Louisa and Adele exchanged nervous glances, then clung to each other and followed from the rear.

Louisa was already regretting her choice to come to the villa. It wasn’t fear for her safety. If anything, she believed there would be benefits. But every gift carried a price. She could already sense that she would be tied to Sonya and Felix and bound into a shared-interest alliance.

Her merchant father’s words suddenly came to mind. ”Interest is the most stable bond, secrets are the strongest restraint, and accomplices are the truest friends.”

After about thirty seconds, they reached an underground training hall.

To their astonishment, the lighting didn’t come from ordinary gas lamps but from a spirit-powered device known as a Day Star. It illuminated the entire basement as bright as day. The hall’s extravagance rivaled the training hall at Sword and Roses University, which also relied on a single Day Star at night.

Once here, Felix seemed freed from his burden and façade. He opened a corner freezer, grabbed a bottle of wine, and downed it in one gulp. He then said in an annoyed tone, ”I’ve kept my promise and met your demands. What happens next is up to you.”

Angelica stopped at the stairs and held the other two back. ”Sonya, you can explain now, right?”

Sonya smiled. ”No problem. In short, Felix has a treasure, and he wants to split it with me fifty-fifty. When something this good comes up, how could I forget my beloved roommates? So I brought you along to share it.”