"When are you going to stop being depressed?"
Ysabelle looked at Amy and sighed.
"Jess, can't you do anything about her?"
"It's been more than a month since he left and she still acts like this from time to time when she remembers him, what do you think we're able to do? Unlike Sana, we aren't able to cheer her up so easily."
"Then what will happen to our girls-only afternoon date?!"
"I know, I know…"
Jessica poked her cheeks for a bit as she began pondering.
"Ah, Amy, if you stop being so gloomy, I'll tell you about stories that Willow had told me about Sebastian."
Amy twitched. She slowly rotated her head and peeked at Jessica. Half of her face was still submerged into the pillow she was hugging.
"Really?"
"This woman is hopeless…"
Ysabelle sighed. She had been trying to coax Amy for a while before Jessica arrived but with one word about Sebastian, Jessica managed to snag her attention immediately.
"Yes, like this time where they fought each other behind the dorm—"
"Sebastian's already told me about that…"
"...What about the time when they ate at a restaurant and—"
"Sebastian suddenly ordered a pile of food?"
"..."
"..."
Jessica awkwardly stared at Amy for a few seconds before the latter buried her face inside the pillow once again.
"I miss him so much!"
Amy flapped her legs up and down as she yelled out. Although her voice was muffled, the two could hear what she was saying clearly.
After around a minute of throwing a tantrum, Amy sat up.
"Are you finished?"
"Yes…"
"Good. Go get ready, the two of us will be waiting in the carriage."
Ysabelle and Jessica left the room after making sure Amy would prepare herself properly.
"That girl has an unhealthy obsession…"
Ysabelle shook her head. "Makes you wonder what would happen if he left her for some other girl, huh?"
"I'll kill him if that happens."
"I would help even if it cost me my life."
"...I suppose we have unhealthy obsessions of our own."
"I guess so."
Jessica laughed.
The two chatted for a bit more as Amy arrived and entered the carriage while being chided for having to delay their planned date for so long.
...
"Ahh, I'm exhausted…"
Amy buried her face in her pillow once again. She made sure to wipe off her sweat before burying herself in the comfy sheets of her bed.
Since Markus had left, Amy had been doing all of his work and her own. It was taking a lot of her stamina to be doing it all alone but it wasn't to the point that she'd collapse.
Though, a break was something she wanted to have.
After resting for around ten minutes, Amy got up from the bed and tied her hair into a ponytail using a cloth band that she had in one of her drawers.
After picking up her sword from the bedside, she headed for her private training room.
"Five thousand swings for today."
Amy took a deep breath and exhaled. She took a stance and began swinging. She didn't just swing mindlessly, she never lost her stance.
For the past month and a half, she fully devoted herself to training and managing the household. Each week, she increased the number of swings that she would do with the limit time she had in a day.
Other than visiting Sana and hanging out with her friends which didn't take much out of her schedule, she devoted herself to training.
'People call me a genius and a talent that comes once a millennium, but if only they knew how much I trained to get to this point.'
She definitely did progress faster than her peers because of her natural talent, but it was all of the work that she had done that made it bear fruit.
Sebastian had difficult training, but Amy did too. In some cases, her training was even more brutal than what he did. Even then, he would only close the gap between them more.
'He can't get stronger than me. If he does…'
If Sebastian does get stronger than her, then he would put himself into more danger to protect her. Amy didn't want that.
If Sebastian wanted to, Amy would even support him doing nothing but stay at home all day. Just his presence alone was enough to satisfy her.
'Even so… What is this weird feeling?'
It was a feeling that she hadn't felt before. Her heart was constantly in a state of unrest. It was even before Sebastian left, around the time that he had told her that he was going to be gone for nearly five months.
Of course, she felt sad that he wouldn't be by her side for that long but, other than that, there was a foreboding sense of danger that she felt.
That drove her to increase her training even more.
As Amy was lost in her thoughts, a knock came from the door. It opened and a maid walked in.
"Young miss, there is an Adept causing trouble in town and the knights have requested for our help."
"We are the nearest ones?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, we only have a few Apprentices currently in the estate."
"Alright."
Amy swung her sword one last time.
"Five thousand."
After catching her breath, Amy followed the maid out. She arrived at the place that the maid had pointed out in just a few minutes.
"Die!"
She could see someone lifting objects and throwing them everywhere. It would be harmless if he only picked up small objects that wouldn't pose much of a threat, but he was throwing around knives and crates.
"Tsk. Causing trouble in our territory, does he have a death wish?"
Amy stepped forward. The Adept immediately noticed her and pointed several knives in her direction.
"Don't move or I'll make these knives skewer you!"
"I'm giving you one chance." Amy unsheathed her sword from its scabbard and pointed it at the Adept, "surrender, or be forced into submission."
"Don't screw with me!"
The knives moved.
Amy deflected each knife and arrived right in front of the Adept.
"Ha!"
The Adept seemed to have expected Amy's speed as he tried to thrust a knife into her at close range, however, before the knife could make contact, Amy disappeared.
A distance away, Amy walked leisurely. She slowly sheathed her sword.
"I warned you."
Blood sprayed out of the cut made on the Adept's body like a fountain. Though it wasn't enough to kill him immediately, it would if left untreated for too long.
"Thank you, Miss Luna."
A knight bowed his head slightly.
"It's nothing. This area is under our jurisdiction after all. That aside, who is this?"
Amy pointed at the unconscious Adept who was currently receiving medical attention.
"His energy was that of an Adept, sure, however, he was far too weak."
The knight awkwardly answered, "uhh… That's our problem as well. He suddenly appeared and attacked civilians without a specific goal in mind. He also isn't a registered Inheritor."
"He isn't registered?"
Amy looked at the Adept and frowned. It was rarer to find an Inheritor that wasn't registered than one who was. Registration came along with their birth, it was how they were ranked.
"This isn't the first time this has happened. Last time, we were able to overpower an Adept with just our knights but we sustained a few injuries."
"...I'd like a report of everything related to this submitted to me. It's my duty to find out as the overseer of this territory."
"As you will."
The knight bowed and left. Amy watched the knights carry the Adept away before she returned to the estate.
Amy frowned as she looked at the reports given to her.
"Three cases of unregistered Adepts and seven cases of unregistered Apprentices attacking civilians in the past month. Unconfirmed number of unregistered Adepts and Apprentices causing trouble in nearby villages…"
Each report made her forehead crease even more.
"This isn't a coincidence."
Amy decided to put her training on hold, this matter took precedence. If someone was trying to cause trouble on purpose, then she would have to respond in kind.
...
"You look shocked."
Markus commented as he glanced at Sebastian's face briefly before focusing on his book again.
"U-uncle Bryan, he…"
"He's a Caster. A particularly strong one at that. Unfortunately, he doesn't many chances to reveal his strength due to the nature of his job."
After Markus spoke, a few roars that were loud enough to shake the carriage was heard.
"My ears are ringing."
Markus nonchalantly commented as he gestured for Sebastian to go and take care of the threats.
"Yes…"
Sebastian leaped out of the carriage and equipped his Soul Armor. He immediately headed for the beasts.
"Promising, isn't he?"
Markus suddenly spoke. There didn't seem to be anyone in the carriage, but he continued nonetheless.
"An Apprentice is capable of this much power, I wonder what would happen when he reaches the same level as I?"
"It'd be terrifying."
"Right? I can understand father's reason for siding with him."
The voice that came out of nowhere didn't surprise Markus at all.
Suddenly, a man faded into existence. He sat by Markus' side but there was still some space between them.
"What do you have to report?"
"The House of Leon has entered the path as scheduled. The Walt House hadn't made any suspicious movements. The House of Sol has settled down and all of their participants are accounted for."
"Hmm… Could the Sage really not be planning to do anything during this trip?"
"I doubt it, sir. The summit is the opportune moment to strike. If the King of the Underworld were to not take advantage of this opportunity, then he's going senile."
"Certainly."
The man hesitated for a bit before talking again.
"Sir, it appears that there are three Sages participating in this year's summit."
"...? Three?"
Markus frowned. The summit rarely had one Sage, now there were three? He couldn't chalk this up as a coincidence that they all wanted to participate on a whim.
"Nearly half of the Sages are participating this time, do you know who they are?"
"I received word that the Thousand Summoner and Mad Dog are participating, as for the third one… his identity is unknown."
"..."
Markus' frown deepened.
Last he heard, the Thousand Summoner and Mad Dog were working with the King of the Underworld. It all depended on the final participant.
'If it's someone like Heaven's Right Hand then it would be fine but…'
Markus' worries increased as they neared the summit.