Seeing Harris Raymons's dismissive expression, Raichel's face darkened, and he was just about to flare up when his teacher's voice rang out.
"Everyone, quiet. The meeting is now in session."
The tall Cappadocia stood before the seat on the right, his voice booming like a bell.
He glanced at the empty seats of the first and second council elders, then continued, "I will be presiding over this meeting."
Harris Raymons let out a sigh. His teacher's condition was getting worse and worse. He could not even attend an important internal meeting like this anymore.
As for the first council elder... in Harris Raymons's memory, he had only seen that person a handful of times, and even then the elder had always been hidden beneath a black robe, his face impossible to make out.
The first council elder's student, on the other hand, had left a much deeper impression on him. It was the first time he had ever seen such a perfect girl, though she was a little too cold.
While Harris Raymons was wandering off in thought below, Cappadocia had already started explaining the main subject of the meeting.
"The Muggle organization under our control has been exposed. Although we moved quickly and cleaned up all traces, avoiding the worst-case outcome of evidence being found, our losses this time are enormous. That laboratory represented countless years of effort on our part..."
Cappadocia spoke with great passion on the stage, but the moment Harris Raymons heard the word laboratory, he lost interest.
That laboratory was the concern of the third council elder's branch of wizards. What did it have to do with them, the people who studied ancient magic?
For something this small, why could they not just hold a private meeting among themselves? Why did they have to drag everyone else into it?
Harris Raymons yawned. Just as he was wondering whether he should catch up on some sleep, he suddenly heard Cappadocia say, "We found traces of ancient magic at the scene."
What?
Harris Raymons nearly choked on his own saliva. His sleepiness vanished instantly. He looked up at Cappadocia and met the man's gaze head-on.
As the student of the second council elder, in his teacher's absence, he represented the entire branch of Raven that belonged to the second council elder.
Clearly, Cappadocia was questioning him.
"Are you sure?" Harris Raymons frowned. "You're saying traces of ancient magic?"
"Of course." Cappadocia's gaze was sharp, and combined with his massive half-giant frame, he looked extremely imposing. "My crow died to ancient magic. There is no way I could mistake that specific sensation."
"Now I need an explanation, Raymons. Where did the ancient magic that attacked my crow come from?"
Harris Raymons frowned and turned to look at the colleagues who belonged to the same branch of the second council elder as he did.
They all looked equally confused. As researchers, they rarely went outside, and it was even less likely that they would have anything to do with the third council elder's laboratory.
They looked down on the whole business of mixing wizards and magical creatures anyway, and as a group of shut-in researchers, they had no time to meddle in other people's affairs.
More importantly, using ancient magic came with serious aftereffects. The most obvious sign was that the skin became eroded by its power and developed silver-white markings. None of the wizards present showed any trace of that.
But if it was not one of their own people...
Harris Raymons frowned.
That would mean the one who used ancient magic was an outsider, and as of now, the only known inheritor of ancient magic was Leonard William.
Could it have been him?
If it really was him... Harris Raymons's mouth twitched. If so, then he was likely about to be in trouble.
"Harris Raymons!"
Sure enough, the thought had barely gone around in his head once before Cappadocia called his name.
Harris Raymons let out a sigh and stood up.
"Third Council Elder."
He bowed.
"Last year, your branch made a new discovery concerning the inheritor of ancient magic, correct?" Cappadocia said.
"That's correct," Harris Raymons answered truthfully.
"But you blocked that information from being shared with us. Now I am demanding that you disclose the identity of that inheritor of ancient magic," Cappadocia said.
Harris Raymons was silent for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry, but I refuse."
"Refuse? Do you think I'm negotiating with you? I'm giving you an order!" Cappadocia roared.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot comply. That is a secret of our branch. It has nothing to do with you, just as we have never known how many bloodline wizards you have captured or what exactly you have done to them."
Harris Raymons met Cappadocia's gaze directly and refused to yield even a step.
"Hmph. You people really are good at twisting words. Everything we've done has been for Raven, and none of it has harmed Raven. But what you've concealed has already caused Raven very serious losses. You won't deny that, will you?"
Cappadocia let out a cold laugh.
"Our laboratory was forced to be destroyed because of that inheritor of ancient magic. That loss must be charged to his account. Reveal his identity. Otherwise, you are sheltering him and harming Raven."
A bead of cold sweat slid down Harris Raymons's forehead. Behind him, the wizards of the second council elder's branch began whispering among themselves.
The pressure on him grew so great that Leonard's name nearly slipped from his mouth.
"Speaking of losses, you've caused quite a few yourselves, haven't you? That laboratory was illegal from the start. It violated the International Statute of Secrecy, yet you turned a blind eye to that and then had the nerve to claim that only we are harming Raven?"
At that moment, another voice rang out.
Then, an aged figure suddenly appeared in the second council elder's seat.
Harris Raymons's teacher stood within the beam of light, glancing at Cappadocia.
His body was stooped, but no one dared underestimate him. He was one of the founders of Raven, and his prestige far exceeded that of the later-arriving Cappadocia.
"Cappadocia, are you twisting right and wrong like this because you think you can bully my student?" he said slowly.
That damned old fossil.
Cappadocia's eyes flared with anger as he glared furiously at the old man who had appeared so suddenly.
The old man acted as though he could not even see the anger in Cappadocia's eyes and said calmly, "Raven was founded to restore lost history and seek out the powers hidden in the past. That was the purpose. It was never meant to let you use the things recovered from history to disrupt the balance of the world."
"Hah!" Cappadocia sneered. "So according to you, we're just supposed to let the destruction of the laboratory go?"