After finishing his meditation for thirty minutes, Ciel opened his eyes. He began trying to sense the magic circle around his heart. It felt exactly the same. There was no change whatsoever. The dense mana still coiled around his heart like chains. Although Ciel felt calmer, more energized, and more relaxed, it still did not cause the magic circle around his heart to fade any further.
Knowing this, he could only let out a long sigh and stand up. The room was still dark. Outside, half of the city's gas lamps had been extinguished to reduce gas consumption, leaving behind a dim atmosphere.
He reached into the pocket of his shirt and took out his old pocket watch. Its mechanical structure was beautiful and elegant. Opening the watch, Ciel saw that it was already ten o'clock at night. He closed it, then casually walked toward the bedroom.
When he opened the door to his room, he could see Arianna still working on her studies. She looked extremely focused and impossible to disturb. Curious, Ciel looked at what his sister was working on. Various notes and papers were scattered across the study desk. Numbers and geometric patterns were drawn across those sheets of paper.
It appeared to be mathematics.
Although Ciel was not particularly skilled at mathematics, he at least understood a few things that were easy to remember. Whether mathematics in this world was the same as in his own world, he did not know. Even in his previous life, he had chosen a language major and had no interest in mathematics. That was why Ciel was able to memorize and learn the Jotun language and several other languages so quickly.
"Yawn... Shouldn't you be going to sleep?" Ciel asked while raising his hand to cover his yawn.
Arianna's eyes remained fixed on her paper without shifting away. The hand holding her quill moved quickly and systematically. She remained silent, but answered Ciel's question irritably. "Please be quiet for a moment! This might be the most important test of my life. If I get the highest score, I'll earn a scholarship to Goumn Star University."
Seeing his sister speak like that, Ciel could only smile and keep her company.
The long night continued on. The yellowish gas lamp cast its glow throughout the room. With every stroke upon the paper amidst the silence, even the smallest sound could be heard. Suddenly, the sound of droplets slowly falling echoed.
Pluck!
Dark red drops fell one after another. The paper was stained by fresh blood. Ciel, who had been watching Arianna, immediately approached her. Meanwhile, Arianna only cared about the essay paper she had just completed and moved it away from the falling blood dripping from her nose, while her left hand held her nose.
"Hey, what's happening?!" Ciel asked in panic.
Arianna only smiled broadly. "I... I finally fini..."
Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes dimmed as though a thin layer of fog had covered them. Slowly, she fell backward. With agility and speed enhanced by the Ninth Circle, Ciel immediately caught her.
Ciel held Arianna's limp body and placed his hand on her neck to check her pulse. As he waited through those tense moments, he felt relieved when he discovered that Arianna had merely fainted. Ciel lifted Arianna and laid her on the upper bed, Arianna's bed.
As he laid the girl down, he remained silent for a moment. He was thinking about how to save his sister. He had promised to protect Arianna. Yet now she was lying unconscious from exhaustion.
Slowly, he retrieved his magic wand from inside the sleeve of the blazer hanging nearby.
The morning sunlight once again illuminated the entirety of Goumn. The sunlight filtering through the window woke Ciel precisely at seven o'clock in the morning. With eyes still closed from drowsiness, he slowly left his room and headed straight for the public bathroom. Fortunately for Ciel, the public bathroom was very quiet at that time, and he spent only thirteen minutes bathing before quickly changing into a black shirt and black trousers.
He immediately walked toward the kitchen after changing clothes. He paused for a moment. His left hand held his chin while his right arm was folded inward. In the end, he decided to prepare a simple meal.
He took a loaf of hard bread and cut it into several wide slices. He planned to make sandwiches for breakfast. This dish was popular in the Republic of Shina because it was practical and quick. He simply fried sunny-side-up eggs and grilled several thin slices of beef before assembling a triple-layer sandwich. The top layer contained a sunny-side-up egg, the second layer was filled with vegetables, while the third layer contained thinly sliced beef. Ciel even deliberately made them so Arianna could bring them to school.
After everything was finished, Ciel sat quietly at the dining table. Six pieces of sandwich rested upon the table. Seeing that Arianna had not yet awakened, Ciel decided to read the morning newspaper he had bought earlier after taking his bath.
The front page immediately displayed news about the suspended export-import competition between the Kingdom of Noir and the Republic of Shina, with several people speculating that both sides were waiting for the right opportunity to act. Perhaps the threat of war had disappeared for now, but this was even more frightening if war could break out at any moment without warning.
The next article concerned a series of murders occurring around the city of Traf. Traf City was directly adjacent to Goumn, causing many people to feel afraid. Especially women and children. Out of the eleven cases, the victims were women and children, perhaps under one month old. The victims had their reproductive organs removed, while the infants were mutilated, their body parts arranged in such a way that they formed the word "Hi!"
"Jack?" Ciel blurted out in shock. After all, the murders resembled those of Jack the Ripper, who had terrorized London. Although some details were the same, others were different.
"Arianna needs to be careful. If I remember correctly, her school is near the Church of the Lord of Sky, so she should be safe. At the very least, she can use the church as a place to hide if something goes wrong."
All this time, Arianna had attended a public school jointly funded by three churches. Therefore, she greatly wished to move further ahead through her love of mathematics.
The next article was merely an announcement regarding the Poh Festival. It was a festival in which participants were forbidden from wearing formal clothing and required everyone attending the ceremony to wear traditional Falheim attire.
Traditional Falheim clothing itself was an outfit that had existed during the era of the Sauron Empire before it changed its name after losing a war. The attire consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt. Over it was layered a modified armor-like garment. The wearer also donned a rusted crown and a sash. This traditional clothing sought to remind the people of Falheim that their ancestors had once loved war and were incredibly strong. Although, once again, no one truly wished for such a past.
Feeling that he had absorbed too much information, he lowered the newspaper from his face. As he set the newspaper down, Arianna had already awakened and was preparing to bathe in the public bathroom.
"It seems that spell worked..." he thought.
Because Ciel had panicked, he had quickly cast the Self-care spell. However, because it was a spell intended for oneself, he had to search for a spell similar to Self-care that could be used on others. In his panic, he found the Recover spell and managed to master it within thirty minutes. It was an extraordinary achievement. Fortunately, the spell had worked, and Arianna was healthy once more.
After breakfast and chatting with Arianna as usual, Ciel left for work at half past eight in the morning, at the same time, Arianna departed.
He spent seven Skotl on a hired horse carriage to Houndog Street. The streets looked exactly as they had the day before. Upon arriving, Ciel immediately headed toward Room 007. He knocked on the door and heard Jonathan telling him to come in.
Jonathan sat behind his desk as Ciel opened the door and entered the room. Various documents and papers were piled upon the desk.
"Good morning, Mr. Jonathan. It seems we haven't received any work for today?" Ciel asked casually as he sat on the sofa.
"Good morning to you too, Ciel. Well, we don't get work every day. That's one of the disadvantages of being a private detective. I'm currently writing the report for yesterday's commission and organizing the finances," Jonathan replied casually.
"Ah, before I forget, we're going to have a visitor. You could say he's your senior. So, try to get along with him."
Before he could finish speaking, the door swung open. A man around thirty years old entered. He had a tall and athletic build. In his right hand, he carried a silver suitcase, while in his left hand, he held a cigar.
"Ah, long time no see, Nichole."