The garden of the Clavenna mansion was no longer as dangerous as before.
The original thorns were gone, replaced by colorful flowers blooming under the sunlight.
The flowers swayed gently with the breeze, giving off a fragrant scent.
It was as if the terrifying thorn jungle that once existed had never appeared in this peaceful place.
Maybe because Cocotte had left, this garden had lost the nourishment of natural power.
Although it was no longer as flourishing as before, the colorful scenery still made people feel relaxed and happy.
Among the swaying flowers, a white cloud floated above the branches.
The center of the cloud was slightly sunken, and a small white puppy perfectly blended into it as it curled up there.
It slept soundly, a bubble in front of its nose expanding and shrinking with each breath.
But right after that, a sharp voice rang out through the garden, "Give my cloud back already!"
But the little white puppy seemed to hear nothing at all.
It merely turned over, sticking up its white butt, twitching slightly.
As if it could not hear the hystErikal shouting at all.
But the cloud beneath the puppy reacted as if it had seen someone familiar. It trembled excitedly, wanting to move closer.
Yet the puppy on top of it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, making it impossible for the cloud to move toward the other side.
Seeing the puppy completely ignore her, the elf finally could not hold back anymore.
She grabbed the cloud with both hands and shook it fiercely, trying to wake the puppy sleeping inside it.
Feeling the violent shaking, Puck frowned, and the bubble in front of its nose burst.
It slowly opened its blurry eyes, opened its mouth, and let out a huge yawn.
Then it saw Cocotte clutching the cloud.
It blinked.
"Hm?"
'Got it, probably still not fully awake.'
'Forget it, sleep a little more.'
It simply leaned back into the cloud and closed its eyes again.
"Give my cloud back!"
Along with Cocotte's shouting, countless flowers twisted and stretched out their stems, swaying as they surged toward the puppy on the cloud.
They tried to wrap around Puck's limbs and lift it into the air.
But the moment the vines and stems touched Puck, the little puppy opened its eyes completely and woke up.
It frowned and widened its eyes.
Maybe because of being woken up, its eyes turned slightly red.
The anger of the Sloth Demon after being disturbed was revealed.
If it went berserk after being woken up, even Puck itself would not be able to control itself.
Although it had been drawn here by the elf in front of it, the other party had woken it so recklessly.
It did not mind letting her experience the ferocity of a demon as wel...
The next second, its slightly red eyes swept toward another dog behind Cocotte.
Its whole body was red, and it was much larger than Puck, with the strong build of a hunting dog.
But its appearance was completely different from ordinary dogs.
Because it had three heads.
At this moment, all three dog heads had their tongues hanging out, panting heavily while smelling the fragrant scent in the garden.
The moment Puck saw the three-headed hound, its pupils rapidly shrank, and its eyes instantly became clear again.
It placed its two front paws in front of itself, wagged its short tail, and stuck out its tongue, looking exactly like a well-behaved little dog.
Even the violent aura from being forcibly awakened vanished without a trace in that instant.
Seeing Puck's attitude change so dramatically, confusion flashed in Cocotte's eyes.
However, after realizing it was awake, she immediately focused on the cloud beneath it and urgently said, "Alright, our deal is over."
"Now return my cloud immediately!"
The cloud nodded wildly, agreeing with Cocotte's words.
Puck sized Cocotte up from head to toe while lazily yawning and dragging out its sleepy voice, "Mmm... why did you wake up?"
Strange. Logically speaking, with this elf's laziness, once she fell asleep, she should never wake up again.
That way, it could keep occupying this cloud forever.
But she woke up, and in less than half a month.
Also, behind Cocotte was that bright red three-headed hound.
'Is it just a coincidence?'
It somehow felt an especially terrifying bloodline suppression.
Not because the three-headed hound looked like a fiercer and larger dog while it looked like an ordinary little puppy.
Rather, whenever Puck saw it, it felt like this three-headed hound was some kind of higher-level creation with a status above its own.
But Cocotte naturally had no time to care about any of that.
Listening to Puck's words, she quickly understood what it meant.
'Good, good, this dead dog actually tried to claim the cloud for itself!'
The more Cocotte thought about it, the angrier she became. She stomped her foot furiously, then grabbed the cloud tightly and propped herself up as she glared at Puck and questioned,
"You did this on purpose!?"
"Wasn't this exactly what you wanted too?", Puck lowered its head and spoke lazily.
It truly had not expected Cocotte to wake up so quickly.
Looks like the human who could call its name really was not someone simple.
Although it did not know why the one called Henny kept telling it to communicate more with this elf.
When it thought about the contents of their deal, Puck yawned sleepily again.
At the same time, the elf's voice rang out once more, "I'm awake now, so give the cloud back."
Puck glanced at Cocotte and said, "When you're awake, I can return it to you."
"But after you fall asleep, according to our deal, this cloud still belongs to me."
That was the content of their agreement. It could not be changed.
Cocotte was furious. She widened her eyes and glared at the puppy as she said, "You really insist on doing this?"
Puck opened its mouth and smacked its lips twice. The meaning was very obvious.
Seeing Puck's clear attitude, Cocotte directly turned toward the red three-headed hound behind her and gave an order, "Go, bite it!"
Cerberus immediately kicked off with its legs and pounced toward Puck on the cloud, "Woof!"
———
At the center of the royal capital, the magic academy shining under the sunlight looked especially magnificent.
Inside one of the academy's classrooms, students nearly filled every seat.
Henny wore a pair of square glasses, holding lesson materials in one hand and a slender teaching pointer in the other.
Standing on the podium, she confidently explained the structure of magic to the students.
"The flow of magic power in high-level magic is not like contract magic. Between every pattern and rune, the user must carefully inject magic power in order to connect them..."
Below the podium, countless students were busily taking notes, the sound of pages turning never stopping.
The students analyzing carefully all frowned while studying their own magic.
Erika sat in the very front row.
Her long golden hair shone under the sunlight as if covered in flowing gold, giving off a gentle and dazzling glow.
Her eyes were fixed on Henny, while the tip of her pen danced across the paper, recording every key point word by word.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
A crisp and pleasant class bell echoed through the classroom, breaking the quiet atmosphere of study.
The bell rang clearly, and Henny raised her head to look toward the constantly shaking bell.
Henny paused her lecture, closed the book, and smiled slightly at the students.
"Students, it's break time now. Please don't forget today's lesson."
"And remember to practice often after you go back."
The moment she finished speaking, Henny had already packed up all the lesson materials.
With crisp footsteps, she left the classroom.
The students all stared blankly at the place where Henny had just stood, their faces red.
Regardless of gender, every single one of them covered their faces, feeling the heat on their cheeks.
Only long after Henny left did chatter finally begin inside the classroom.
"Professor Henny is seriously amazing. She's beautiful, and her teaching is both deep and vivid."
"Professor Henny's magic theory is the best I've ever seen. It's ridiculous, it feels like you can learn it so easily."
"She has a style kind of like Professor Viktor's classes, except Professor Viktor hasn't been seen at the academy for a long time."
"Yeah, I've already been waiting over a month for his class..."
Erika sat in her seat, listening to the voices around her.
She reached one hand behind her head and brushed up her golden hair, feeling somewhat emotional.
Who would have thought that half a year ago, Henny had only been an unknown teaching assistant.
Now she had become one of the most popular professors.
Henny's classes were always completely full. Ever since the semester started, students had rushed to reserve seats, and many people still could not get into a single class.
Her reputation had even surpassed the shadows of her past.
Back then, she had only been a magic apprentice.
Not a single professor was willing to have anything to do with Henny.
But now, Henny was already a genuine third-rank mage.
Because of that, nobody would believe that half a year ago, Henny had only been a magic apprentice with no talent at all.
People only believed what they saw with their own eyes.
And when Erika heard the other students mention Viktor, she turned her gaze out the classroom window and became gloomy.
As the duke's daughter, she received information faster than the other students.
The diplomatic delegation had returned, and the imperial princess had also returned to the Empire.
Everything that happened in the Kingdom of Kante had already been discussed countless times.
And Professor Viktor had naturally returned as well.
It was just that even after returning to the royal capital, he still had not come back to the academy.
And also... when she thought of what her father had told her.
After the diplomatic delegation returned, Duke Levi had immediately gone to visit them.
But whether it was Viktor or Lia, it was as if they had suddenly vanished without a trace.
Only after asking the servants at Viktor's house did they learn that they had happened to return to their hometown these past few days.
So Duke Levi had no choice but to ask Erika to pass on the message.
"If you see Viktor at the academy, tell him what I said."
Erika let out a sigh.
Professor Viktor still had not returned. It seemed the task her father gave her would probably not be completed.
At that moment, a student's excited voice suddenly came from outside the door, "Professor Viktor, Professor Viktor is back!"
The moment those words rang out, the entire classroom suddenly fell silent.
Before anyone inside the room could react, Erika, who had been sitting in her seat, suddenly disappeared.
In her place remained a glowing blue teleportation magic circle, which turned into strands of blue magic power and scattered into the air.
The next second, she had already appeared in front of the student shouting excitedly.
Erika stared closely at the student and seriously asked, "Who did you say came back?"
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