If he were to learn the truth of this world, would the mage realize that talk of souls and such was all pointless?

Meanwhile, Adel had finished her meal. With a full stomach, it was time to go check on her subordinate.

She had also picked up a suitable wooden staff in front of the house. She planned to give it to Vincent for training purposes. Now that she'd created a physical training routine, it was time to build up calluses on his hands.

As Adel rose from her chair, the mage also stood up.

Adel gave him a strange look and headed for the door. The mage followed her just the same.

Adel's eyebrow twitched. As soon as she stepped outside, she put force into her feet and kicked off the ground.

As she darted through the alley at high speed, Adel glanced back. The mage was following her using magic.

"Are you a stalker?"

"I thought I'd observe you properly from now on."

Adel made a disgusted face and ran even faster.

Thanks to the two of them, an unexpected gust of wind swept through the alley from early morning.

Despite seeming mentally unstable, the mage was certainly skilled. In her life, there weren't many who could keep up with her speed. If she had to name one, perhaps Vincent in his prime.

Adel smiled, thinking it had been a while since she'd run so freely.

On the other hand, the mage's expression was peculiar. His face was full of questions about the running ability of a mere six-year-old.

"What on earth are you?"

He said that, then trembled and collapsed to the ground. He had exhausted too much magical energy since morning. At the spot where he fell, there was someone's foot.

"Who's this?"

It was Vincent's foot.

Adel looked at the mage lying on the ground catching his breath, sighed, and said.

"A strange per—"

Still, the man was currently providing her with shelter and meals, so calling him a pervert might be too harsh. He hadn't done anything bad yet.

Adel quickly corrected herself.

"...A pervert-esque, not-a-pervert, pervert-like cohabitant."

"What's that?"

Was that supposed to mean pervert? Vincent's expression soured. He seemed to be pondering exactly what Adel meant.

When Vincent didn't catch on quickly, Adel added.

"You have people at your house who cook and clean for you too, right?"

"Ah, servants."

"Something like that. Probably."

While the children chatted, the mage, having recovered his strength, staggered to his feet.

In the war, he'd used a lot of magic without running out of power, but it seemed he was still in training now. There's no way he'd collapse just from running fast.

Vincent also looked at him with pity and said.

"This servant is completely useless."

Adel, who strongly agreed, nodded. However, at his next words, she shook her head.

"Hey, you there, servant. We're going to train now, so bring us some water. And grab some snacks in case we get hungry."

Where did this child go wrong?

Before practicing physical enhancement for mental health, etiquette lessons seemed far more urgent.

Adel raised her finger and poked Vincent's arm and neck in succession.

"Ack!"

Vincent's arms naturally lowered toward his navel, his hands coming together neatly. His head also bowed slightly.

"When asking something of an adult, be polite."

"P-polite? To a servant?"

The Philonia Kingdom was a country where the class system was deeply ingrained. Vincent looked at Adel with an expression of incomprehension. She couldn't possibly explain the subtle and complex relationship between social status and age to a child like that.

Adel herself only knew that one should be polite to adults.

In the end, she chose to gloss over it again.

"...Since I'm the one commanding you as the leader, show some respect."

"Leader?"

This time, it was the mage who asked.

"I've decided to raise this kid. Vincent, from now on, you call me 'Leader' properly."

The mage, barely suppressing the twitching corners of his mouth, thought: ...What a control freak.

Why on earth did this little brat have the aura of an adult with old-fashioned thinking?

He suddenly realized that there was nothing childlike in Adel's eyes.

Even Vincent, who had been ordering people around with the authority of a noble, still had the innocence unique to children on his face.

But she was different. The traces of long years—as if she'd weathered every storm in the world—were clearly etched on her face.

The mage first averted his gaze from the enigmatic Adel and focused on Vincent again. Vincent, who had been scolded by Adel, was now glaring at her sideways without her noticing.

Whether he did or not, the mage examined Vincent's face from all angles, as if reading his physiognomy.

After staring intently for a long while, a hint of tension crept into Vincent's expression. He really did look like a pervert, just as Adel had said. A very serious one.

Unaware of Vincent's inner thoughts, the mage smiled at him.

With his outstanding good looks, his gently upturned lips made him look like a perfect statue.

But to Vincent, whose aesthetic sense hadn't fully developed yet, it looked like the smile of a dangerous pervert.

"It seems we're fated to be deeply intertwined."

Even his words sounded perverted.

Vincent furrowed his brows deeply and made a disgusted face, like when he was forced to eat vegetables he hated.

"I don't want to be intertwined with you."

"That's not something you can decide."

Vincent, displeased by the remark that it wasn't up to him, kept complaining and arguing with the mage.

Adel, who had been listening to all their conversation, tilted her head.

How did he know that?

Adel looked at the mage with curious eyes. How the two of them met historically was a mystery. Moreover, the enemy kingdom's history had been burned away by Adel's hands, so there was no way to know properly.

The King seemed to want to erase all traces of Vincent, not even leaving the enemy kingdom's name in history.

What was certain was that in the distant future, Vincent, having gone to the enemy kingdom, would invade the kingdom together with that young mage—that future was predetermined.

No matter what their relationship was now, it was certain that fate had bound them tightly together.

The beginning of the war. This was the earliest point Adel personally remembered.

'Can this mage also see the future?'

Adel stared intently at the mage with suspicious eyes.

'Is he perhaps acquainted with the person who created this story?'

If so, should she threaten the mage with physical force to find out what on earth was going on with this world?

As strength gathered in Adel's fist, the mage felt a chilling aura and looked around frantically. But at the end of that chill was only an adorable little girl with pigtails, her fist clenched fiercely.

He forcibly ignored the goosebumps rising on his arms and looked at Vincent again.

"Do you have no intention of leaving the kingdom in the future? Your physiognomy doesn't seem suited to stay here."

Again, a strange chill was felt. Adel's suspicious gaze remained fixed. Naturally, the strength in her clenched fist was still there.

Vincent, displeased by the mage's question, shouted.

"What kind of nonsense is that!"

At that shout, Adel's fist, which had been clenched all along, instantly relaxed.

She wondered if she was being overly sensitive, shook her head, then chuckled at Vincent's following words.

"I am the only son of the Rogato family, a prestigious house of the Philonia Kingdom! There's no way I'd ever leave the kingdom!"

You will leave, though.

"And I have no reason to leave the kingdom. No matter what temptation comes, I will stand firm."

And that's because of a woman.

"No matter what danger comes to the kingdom, I, Vincent Rogato, the future Duke, will protect it!"

You are the source of that danger.

Adel barely suppressed the urge to interject.

Having declared that so proudly, Vincent turned to Adel with a satisfied expression, only to be startled by her indifferent look. He seemed to be expecting praise. Adel opened her mouth.

"I hope you keep that word."

Vincent put on the most resolute expression he could muster, as if begging her to believe him.

The mage, seeing that, suddenly muttered darkly about fate having changed or something.

Adel ignored him and raised her head toward the sun.

A lot of time had been wasted.

It was about time to start training.

If it weren't for the mage's interference, Vincent would have already finished a few laps by now.

She also stretched her body and said.

"Alright, enough of the useless chatter. Per— I mean, you there, stop interfering and leave now."

"Useless, you say."

The mage looked at Adel with a sulky face.

Seeing a fragile human making such a pitiful puppy-dog expression made him seem even more pathetic.

"What are you looking at?"

But there was no way that would work on Adel.

Vincent, who had forgotten his original purpose due to the mage's interference, nodded repeatedly. Now he finally remembered why he had come here.