After a few days of living the happy, leisurely life of a "salted fish" in the castle, Kyle's restless heart for mischief began to stir once more.
He decided to create.
Deep within his "Mount Akina Villa," he secretly began the process of manufacturing the Six Paths of Pain.
Unlike the cultivation of Snape's severed arm, growing an entire body from a few cells—especially an adult body—required more than ten times the duration of growing a single limb.
This meant that Kyle's Six Paths of Pain wouldn't be ready to cause trouble until the next school year at the earliest, likely during the summer break before he started his fourth year.
For the time being, he wouldn't be able to make the wizarding world "feel pain."
After spending several days getting the embryos into shape, a bored Kyle had no choice but to wander outside.
That night, inside a noisy bar, two figures sat at the counter.
Konan furrowed her willow-like brows in dissatisfaction, glaring at Kyle, who had altered his appearance using a Transformation Jutsu. "So, your idea of 'recreation' is sneaking out to drink?"
Kyle raised his glass, smiling at her with total nonchalance. "You won't report me to Father Gellert, right?"
"I can't guarantee that I'll be able to keep your secret in front of a Master Legilimens like Lord Grindelwald."
"Who are you trying to fool?" Kyle rolled his eyes at her.
"Even a wizard who uses Legilimency as naturally as breathing wouldn't be able to extract fragments of me sneaking off to a bar from your mind—unless they were actively looking for it."
Kyle turned his body halfway, staring at Konan blankly.
"As long as you don't bring it up yourself, how could Father Gellert possibly catch me?"
Konan didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed about having the holes in her argument pointed out. She gave a cunning smile. "Fine. I definitely won't report you to Lord Grindelwald."
"But whether I'll report you to Albus Dumbledore... well, that's hard to say."
Kyle felt like something was off, but after thinking it over, he couldn't find a problem with her logic.
He tilted his head back, draining the amber liquid in his glass in one gulp. He then tucked a five-hundred-franc note under the glass and stood up to leave.
Konan didn't really enjoy drinking, and without the other "Father's Woes" members there to play drinking games or shake dice with him, the alcohol felt tasteless.
Stepping onto the banks of the Seine, Kyle felt the night breeze blowing off the water and rubbed his face. His appearance shifted from a man in his twenties back to that of a teenage boy.
Paris at night was beautiful; the golden lights on both sides of the Seine were heart-stoppingly gorgeous.
A city this beautiful would probably be really satisfying to tear down with a Super Almighty Push.
Kyle's thoughts began to drift uncontrollably.
In his mind, he had already demolished Paris twenty or thirty times.
His methods included, but were not limited to: being flattened by a "Steel Torrent" built by the Weasley twins, being leveled by the Deva Path's Super Almighty Push, or being vaporized by a Ten-Tails Tailed Beast Bomb teleported in through space-time...
Just as Kyle's imagination was running wild, a voice filled with pleasant surprise rang out from behind him, snapping him out of it.
"Kyle?"
Looking toward the source of the voice, Kyle stared blankly at the "Little Beaver" who had suddenly appeared. He was confused as to why she was in France.
At that moment, a faint sense of malice locked onto him, and he suddenly felt a chill down his neck.
Turning his head, Kyle saw Konan watching him and the bushy-haired girl with a meaningful, searching gaze.
Oh no. I can smell the atmosphere of a Shura Field.
"Hermione?" Kyle noticed Mr. and Mrs. Granger not far behind her. "Are you... on vacation in France?"
Meeting a friend in a foreign land is one of life's great joys. Hermione nodded excitedly.
"Yes! The French wizarding world has so much fascinating magic! I'm planning to rewrite my History of Magic essay to include some of the things I've discovered here!"
The moment learning was mentioned, Hermione became energized, rattling off a long string of words.
Kyle maintained a smile that was awkward yet polite. Steeling himself, he introduced Konan:
"Catherine, this is Hermione Granger, a very good friend of mine from Hogwarts."
"Hermione, this is Catherine August, she is..."
When it came to introducing Konan, Kyle suddenly stalled, momentarily unsure how to explain her to Hermione.
Konan took the initiative and reached out her hand to Hermione. "I am Young Master Kyle's personal assistant. I am usually responsible for handling all of his personal affairs."
She placed a special emphasis on the word "all."
Kyle: ???
Aren't you the second-generation 'Housekeeper Hero' of the Grindelwald family? When did you become my personal assistant? And why did you make it sound so... uh... suggestive?
Hearing Konan's words, the way Hermione looked at Kyle changed instantly.
Only then did she notice that the belt around Kyle's waist was the exact same style as the one Catherine was wearing.
Kyle's expression was stiff. That... could you listen to my explanation?
Konan bought all of his clothes. As for the matching "couple's style" items—he really hadn't asked for them!
Noticing the change in Hermione's expression, a victor's smile appeared on Konan's face.
Glimpsing Hermione's now expressionless face, Kyle felt a slight shiver in his heart. It's over; it looks like she's angry.
Rubbing his forehead with a headache, Kyle suddenly realized something—wait, why did he care so much about Hermione's mood?
That shouldn't be the case.
He must have just been intimidated by her "angry face."
Kyle's gaze moved past the sulking Hermione to the Grangers, who had now approached.
"Hello, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger."
Mr. Granger smiled. "Hello, Kyle. I haven't had the chance to properly thank you for saving my life back in Diagon Alley."
Mrs. Granger keenly noticed her daughter's expression, then looked at the radiant Catherine standing beside Kyle. She understood the situation instantly.
It seems my daughter has reached the age where her heart is beginning to awaken.
After brief pleasantries and introductions, Kyle extended an invitation to the Granger family.
In a way, he was a major "local kingpin" in France—and Europe as a whole—so he had to fulfill his duties as a host. He couldn't very well let the Grangers host him.
In Paris alone, the number of Acolytes who had answered the call was at least thirty to fifty.
If you counted the Acolytes across various European countries who were still unaware of Grindelwald's escape and hadn't been summoned yet, the total number would easily surpass a thousand.
Whether it reached two thousand was hard to say.
However, that was still a terrifying number.
One must remember that during Grindelwald's peak, every Acolyte was considered an elite of the wizarding world—both in terms of social status and magical prowess.
Now, decades after Grindelwald's fall, this surviving group of Acolytes had been tempered by time. While their social status might not be what it once was, their mastery of magic was even greater than before.
Forget all of them; even if only half—or even a third or a fourth—of the Acolytes possessed the strength of an Elite Auror, it would be a terrifying thing.
The British wizarding world had a total population of several tens of thousands, yet the number of official Aurors did not exceed fifty, and those who could be called "Elite Aurors" wouldn't exceed ten. (This was, of course, measured by the Auror selection standards from the Wizarding War ten years ago.)
In other words, even forty years after his fall, Grindelwald still possessed the power to easily overthrow a country.
Thus, Kyle's self-assessment as the biggest "local kingpin" in France was not an exaggeration in the slightest.
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