“Yes…?”

At Cronine Gress’s words, Ottbo felt as if the blood drained from his body in an instant.

After that, cold sweat ran down his forehead like that of a child who had just done something wrong, and anxiety took over.

Seeing him like that, Cronine Gress stroked his chin.

“Hmph… It’s not likely you released the restriction by yourself…”

Conviction quickly filled his eyes.

“Was it that sly woman, Srettle Magus?”

“……”

It was actually Herote who released his restriction, but Ottbo chose not to mention it.

‘If I say it, I’ll have to talk about her relationship with Luca… and those people will try to use Luca for their own ends.’

Ottbo gently bit his lip.

‘I can’t let Luca be used.’

Fortunately, Cronine Gress seemed to have no doubts about his own reasoning.

“Hmph! That woman, what did she say before? Armored soldier? She wanted to create something like that? I suppose she coveted our family’s drive magic for her project. Did she set you free from the restriction and ask you to teach her the drive magic?”

“……”

When Ottbo remained silent, Cronine Gress’s eyes grew cold.

“Answer me.”

“…… That never happened.”

Ottbo forced himself to answer Cronine Gress’s question.

But Cronine Gress still wore a face of disbelief.

“Hmph! Even if she didn’t say it with words, just putting you into a strange project must be part of her scheme to steal our technology. And removing the restriction on you was part of that plan, no doubt.”

After drawing his own conclusions, Cronine Gress seemed to remember something, and he raised his brows.

“I’m curious about one thing. If your restriction was released, does that mean getting first place in the Magic Department was your true ability?”

“… I never used the family’s armored soldiers during the academy exams.”

“Ha! As expected, you are outstanding, having inherited my blood.”

Whether that was praise for Ottbo or Cronine Gress talking about himself, it was hard to tell.

Ottbo also couldn’t decide whether he should be happy or not.

“But if you are truly talented, that’s a problem. The next head of the family is already decided to be the eldest son, Ferka. But if the retainers learn you have that kind of talent, factions could be formed.”

“…….”

The Gress family is large.

Thus, there is a lot to do, and the head cannot handle everything alone.

That is why there are quite a lot of retainers.

If there is only one heir, it is hard for the retainers to entertain other thoughts.

But if there is another viable successor, things change.

With the enormous wealth and power of the Gress family on the line, the retainers might support the other candidate and install a puppet head just to seize control.

“Putting on a restriction isn’t easy, but there’s no other choice. We’ll just have to do it again.”

“!”

Cronine Gress declared that he’d place the restriction again.

At this, Ottbo’s eyes grew wide, and next to him, Suironea Gress spoke with concern.

“But darling, if you put the restriction on again now, he might lose all his memories.”

“He’s only going to be doing research in the family lab once Ferka becomes the head anyway. His memories up to now aren’t important.”

“!”

Showing total indifference to such problems, Cronine Gress’s words made Ottbo speak out on impulse.

“I don’t want it.”

“?”

“!”

Everyone in the dining room stared wide-eyed at Ottbo’s words.

Cronine Gress held absolute power in the Gress family.

No one could say ‘no’ to him.

‘But I don’t want this! Forgetting what happened at the academy… Forgetting Luca and my friends…!’

Despite all that, Ottbo couldn’t accept it.

It was only after coming to the academy that he finally found happiness.

The happiest moments in his life had been with Luca at the academy—he could not bear the thought of losing those memories.

“… Since Ottbo is so against it, shouldn’t we reconsider placing the restriction?”

“?!”

It was then that a young man, who had been so quiet Ottbo hadn’t even realized he was there, spoke up.

With the same hair color as Ottbo but cut to his shoulders, glasses that gave him a scholarly look and an air of calm, this young man was Ferka Gress, the eldest son of the Gress family.

Surprisingly, he took Ottbo’s side.

“It’s already decided that I’ll be the next head anyway. Ottbo seems to have a bit more talent than we thought, but you know I’m not going to be shaken by something like that. Isn’t it better to let Ottbo do as he pleases?”

When Ferka spoke calmly, Cronine Gress, who had been wide-eyed, also calmed down.

He nodded slowly.

“You’re right. I was short-sighted.”

“!”

Seeing that reaction, Ottbo felt a momentary sense of hope.

But he soon tensed up at the next thing that came from Cronine Gress’s mouth.

“I should’ve raised you in the family instead of letting you go off to places like the academy, so you wouldn’t even dream of this kind of rebellion. Kids these days, growing a bit and daring to talk back to their father.”

“!”

“Lock Ottbo in his room! Prepare to apply a new restriction immediately! Ferka, you could use some time to discipline him as well.”

Click! Click! Click!

With those words, armored soldiers appeared from somewhere.

They grabbed Ottbo and Ferka and led them away.

As they were being escorted, Ottbo looked at Ferka.

“… It’s a terrible family, don’t you think?”

Ferka gave Ottbo a wry smile.

Ottbo wanted to say more, but since the armored soldiers took them to separate places, he couldn’t finish his thought.

Thump!

Bang!

“Ugh!”

The armored soldiers threw Ottbo into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Rubbing his backside, Ottbo was lost in thought.

‘What do I do? If I stay here, I’ll have the restriction put on me again and lose my memories. I have to escape…!’

The moment he decided to flee, he looked toward the window.

‘I can use flight magic, so maybe somehow…’

But his mind quickly cooled.

‘Even if I escape, they’ll just catch up right away.’

He was confident he could outrun anyone with the auto-carriage, but even if he ran now, he had no idea where to go.

If he wandered, he’d just be tracked down quickly.

‘What I have on me… the auto-carriage, Rivik, and the student handbook, I suppose.’

Most of his possessions were in his bag, but he always kept the bracelet containing the auto-carriage, the armored controller, and the student handbook with him.

‘Someplace I could go after leaving the family…’

Ottbo licked his lips.

If he excluded the family, he had only one place left.

‘Starry.’

Starry, the organization he and Luca had created.

“…”

Ottbo looked down at his student handbook.

He squeezed his eyes shut and sent a message.

Ottbo: Luca

Ottbo: Help me

“… Hoo.”

Just sending that message seemed to drain all his energy, and Ottbo sighed deeply.

At that moment, his student handbook vibrated.

Luca: Got it.

* * *

Luca was having dinner with his family.

Merrian, who had been surprised by how much he ate at lunch, had prepared even more food this time.

“Mmm… mmm…”

“Malox, I didn’t know Luca had such an appetite.”

“Indeed.”

Merrian and Malox watched him in awe, wearing slightly bitter expressions.

“We really need to visit the territory more often.”

“Yes. The children have grown so well in our absence—I’m proud of them.”

“Hehe, that’s true.”

Seeing them like that, Luca thought to himself with a blank face—

‘I’m going to get indigestion.’

He appreciated their sentiment, but wished they would stop.

Bzzz—

“?

At that moment, his pocket vibrated.

Luca searched his pocket with a puzzled look.

It wasn’t his phone but the student handbook that buzzed.

Ottbo: Luca

Ottbo: Help me

“?

As soon as he read the message, a notification popped up.

[Relationship MAX mission: Ottbo Gress has appeared.]

“……”

Luca, instinctively about to pull out his phone, hesitated and first operated his student handbook.

Luca: Got it.

After replying, Luca put the student handbook away and resumed eating with a calm face.

“How long are we staying in the territory?”

“This time, we can’t stay long. With travel time, we’ll have to leave in two days.”

“Sorry, Luca. Next time we’ll make it a longer visit!”

Malox and Merrian spoke apologetically.

Luca answered dully.

“Understood.”

After dinner, Luca said he would rest and returned to his room.

He immediately checked his phone.

[Ottbo Gress – Relationship MAX mission]

– Ottbo Gress, the second son of the Gress family and a drive magic prodigy, cherishes you as his dearest friend.

– Though born with extraordinary talent, he is being oppressed by the dogmatic head of his reclusive mage family and is at risk of being subjected to the restriction and losing his memories again.

– However, even if he falls under the restriction again, nothing changes in the future.

– And there is no reason to rush to save him.

– Prioritize your time with your family…

“Tsk.”

Reading the mission, Luca clicked his tongue and pressed the screen lock button.

His reflection in the darkened screen was deeply twisted.

“Don’t add useless comments, god of Stories. Even if this wasn’t a mission, I was going to save my best friend. Right now, in fact.”

With those words, Luca showed no intention of reading more, put his phone in his pocket, and glanced to the side.

At some point, Bella was standing by the door, beaming.

“…”

“…”

Awkward silence filled the room.

Luca stared at her for a moment, then spoke blandly.

“Did you hear?”

“‘Don’t add useless comments, god of Stories’? Or, ‘Even if this wasn’t a mission, I was going to save my best friend’? Or…”

“Don’t tease me.”

Luca spoke curtly, lips jutting out.

Bella giggled softly.

“The God you always talk about seems able to talk to you even outside of dreams now, master.”

“Tsk.”

“And since you said ‘best friend,’ I assume this is about Ottbo, right?”

With subtle intuition, Bella probed.

Luca turned his head away.

“Don’t tease me.”

“Fufufu. I don’t know the details, but it sounds like something’s happened to Ottbo. Should I prepare the auto-carriage?”

“……”

At her words, Luca fell silent, then took out the student handbook.

“Wait a moment.”

Soon after.

Ottbo: R-really?

Ottbo: But…

Ottbo: Ugh…

Luca: Stop rambling and just tell me where you are.

Ottbo: Right now?

Ottbo: At my family’s mansion…

Luca: Got it.

With Ottbo’s reply, Luca turned to Bella.

“How long does it take to get to the Gress family from here?”

Bella gave it some thought, then replied.

“If we go by auto-carriage, it’ll take at least three to four days. Even if we change at the closest train station, it’d be more than two days.”

“Then it’s out. We need to get there as fast as possible, down to the second.”

Luca spoke, then opened the window.

Bella tilted her head.

“And how do you plan to go, master?”

Luca grinned as he stepped onto the window sill, turning to face her.

“There’s only one way.”

“Master?”

Bella watched, puzzled, as Luca toppled backwards out the window.

“Master?!”

Fwsh!

“!”

Behind Luca, who was falling, wings the color of the sky unfolded.

Immediately, he soared through the air, floating outside the window.

With his celestial wings spread wide under the moonlight, Luca flashed a mischievous grin.

“I’m flying.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep