"Alright, let me sort things out. First, there was no attack in the castle. The big spider earlier is not some war machine. And this person here is not an intruder, but a magitech engineer from the Royal Magitech Academy who came to check on the princess's condition, right?" Aya furrowed her brows and pressed her temple, then looked at Justice for a moment before shifting her gaze to the girl in the red wizard hat and robe, who had a cold and indifferent expression.

In terms of appearance alone, the girl was not stunning, at least not compared to Tiran. She exuded an aura that kept people at a distance and was not likeable at all. Her fair hair fell in a few strands in front of her forehead, while her eyes revealed indifference towards the situation.

"That's correct," Justice nodded.

"So, this is just a misunderstanding... Then why did that Tiran guy call me back to save him!" Aya protested, slamming a piece of soap she had somehow found onto the ground.

However, her outburst was ignored. Justice bowed again to the girl in red, saying, "I apologize sincerely, Mr. Laiseth. She is the princess's personal maid and acted impolitely due to a lack of understanding. I hope you can forgive her."

"Personal maid? When did that happen? What about the Fire Demon? Wait, she's the dragon?"

Recalling the details of Aya's battle earlier, the girl's eyes immediately brightened, and her gaze towards Aya transformed from indifference to burning intensity, making Aya feel uncomfortable all over.

Well... it was like a chef encountering good ingredients, that kind of enthusiasm.

"Are you really a Dragon?" The girl approached Aya in three quick steps, but before Aya could respond, she lifted herself onto her tiptoes and held Aya's cheeks with both hands, observing her carefully.

"Well, there is that kind of presence, but why are your pupils red? Aren't Dragons supposed to have golden eyes?"

Aya squirmed uncomfortably. The girl's actions and gaze reminded her of that guy Hermes, who had spoken in a similar tone when she found out she was a Golden Dragon.

"Don't mention albinism! It's not fair!" Aya snapped, pushing the girl's hands away and stepping back slightly.

"Albinism? Well, that's quite rare. Even our teachers haven't seen a dragon with albinism... Hmm, then I definitely can't let this opportunity slip by... Looks like this trip wasn't in vain," the girl murmured to herself.

"Don't talk to yourself! I can hear you, you know! Please consider the feelings of the person involved!"

...

Anyway, with Aya causing a commotion, the girl in the red robe's initial plan was completely disrupted, and the mechanical spider, which played a significant role, was blown to bits by Aya's attack, so they could only postpone it for now.

After confirming it was safe, the princess, who had been hiding in the castle, finally appeared.

In the castle's reception hall, Tiran completely ignored Aya's annoyed expression and greeted her with a bright smile. "Hey, good afternoon. Did you have fun this morning?"

"You better explain this clearly to me!" Aya crossed her arms, still with a dark expression. After worrying and rushing back so urgently, if you don't give me an explanation, I'll...

I'll get angry, yeah, the kind that can't be pacified.

"Well, see that one over there? That's Leia Kallas Laiseth, a senior researcher from the Magitech Academy. She came this time to check on my health and incidentally find out what's up with Chirp," he said, pointing towards the girl.

Tiran pointed to the red-robed girl sitting across from them.

“That's not the point. I just want to know why you suddenly called me back? Is she that terrifying?” Aya was curious. Joking aside, since being captured and brought back, she had never seen Tiran being afraid in front of anyone.

"Let me put it this way, if I had to choose to stay with Xiao Li or Bariyalif for a month, I wouldn't hesitate to choose that **," Tiran sighed.

"Is she really that ferocious?" Aya looked at the red-robed girl with awe in her eyes, remembering the red-haired ** who had tried to drug Tiran. "Could she be a hidden and powerful expert?"

It was highly possible, as evidenced by the round of Magic arrows earlier. Aya had never seen Magic that could ignore the aura of elemental destruction. Only the power of the Space Rule, equivalent to the cheat-like Holy Rank, could achieve that.

"Not really, Xiao Li is just a Level 8 Grand Magician. She only received the title of 'Magitechist' due to her achievements in Magic research. If she were Holy Rank, would my father still need her to check my body? He could just kick her out," Tiran shrugged.

"But the Magic just now..."

"Because Xiao Li didn't use ordinary Magic. Have you heard of Arcane Magic?"

"Arcane... are there people who actually practice that kind of weird stuff?"

Aya actually knew about it, but it was such a niche field that she never really thought about it.

According to the conventional classification of the Magic system, it consisted of attributes such as earth, water, wind, fire, darkness, light, and so on. Different types of Magic had their own characteristics... but there were always a few weird outliers outside of the system.

And Arcane Magic was one of them.

The Magic magician who invented Arcane Magic was also a once-in-a-lifetime genius, but unfortunately, he had some screws loose in his brain. During his youthful arrogance, he had a fight with a well-known and seasoned Magitechist. He was completely crushed by the Magitechist's elemental destruction aura, unable to cast a single Magic.

He wasn't happy about it. He vowed to one day beat the Magitechist to a pulp. But the senior Magitechist, confident in the absolute power of his elemental destruction aura, didn't take his threat seriously.

The result was a classic scene of showing off turning into embarrassment. The senior Magitechist was truly beaten to a pulp by Arcane Magic- um, well, during the duel, the senior Magitechist's teeth were already fake.

The principle of most Magic was that magicians used their own magic power, or rather, their spiritual power, to guide the Magic elements in the air and form concrete spells. The elemental destruction aura targeted the spiritual power used to weave the spells, returning the elements back to nature and thus dispelling the spells.

But Arcane Magic was different. Whether it was for attack, defense, or support, Arcane Magic had no connection whatsoever with the elements in the air. It was purely energy, and no matter how powerful the elemental destruction aura was, who cares? I don't even need the elements, what can you do to me?

Pure Magic energy, in terms of power, was not weaker than ordinary Magic. It just lacked special effects like burning and freezing. But because it didn't have any characteristics that could be overcome, it even had advantages when facing ordinary Magic.

But even so, this branch of Magic quickly declined.

The reason is simple, because the requirements for cultivation are too high. Most magic users have a higher affinity for one or two elemental attributes, but to practice arcane magic, one must have affinity for all elements.

As for how rare such individuals are... It's probably as rare as killing half of humanity and still not being able to find someone of this caliber.

"Well, they are powerful," Tiran shrugged, "It's not about strength, it's mainly because that person is too stubborn. Once she has a goal, she must complete it, and she will do whatever it takes to achieve the highest efficiency."

"?" Aya looked at Tiran with a puzzled expression.

Taking notice of Aya's perplexed expression, Tiran chuckled, "Let me give you an example. Do you remember the mechanical spider that you just blew up?"

"Yes, what was it used for? It didn't seem very powerful."

"Of course, it wasn't meant to be powerful. It was a new generation device she developed herself, integrated with state-of-the-art medical technology. It even had advanced healing spells engraved inside the Magic array. It was specifically designed as a pure support device for high-ranking knights and similar elite fighters. Only ghosts could withstand the kind of attacks it could endure."

"So, what's the problem with that thing? It sounds like a great tool to have. Why is she hiding?"

Aya wiped the cold sweat off her forehead and asked awkwardly.

Suddenly, the princess sighed deeply, her cheeks mysteriously turning slightly red.

"I mentioned earlier that Xiao Li's standard is the highest efficiency, right?"

"Um, yes."

"Therefore, her device has more than twenty sets of controls installed in order to detect and treat as quickly as possible."

"And...?"

Aya seemed to suddenly realize something, her expression becoming unnatural.

"Well, theoretically, that thing is designed to fill up any holes on a person's body during check-ups and treatment. It even has lubricants and such... Can you imagine how that would feel?" Tiran sighed softly.

"Oh... my god."

Now Aya finally understood why the princess had slipped away. Even if she usually had no sense of shame, she was still a girl! How could she possibly accept such an intimate examination that was comparable to tentacle play? Tiran had never even thought of trying it himself.

"You've been through a lot," Aya sympathetically patted Tiran's shoulder.

"Well, you could say that..." Tiran leaned back in his chair, looking dejected. But he quickly recovered and said, "But thanks to you this time, Aya. After blowing up that thing, at least we don't have to worry about any tentacle play."

"Speaking of which, I have a question about that thing. Since it was ready to be used, it must have gone through testing, right? So, who were the test subjects...?"

"Huh? I haven't really considered that," Tiran pondered, scratching his head, "Not many people would volunteer for something like that, unless they bought slaves from the black market... No, wait, the slave trade in Milanía has been banned for many years now..."

Both of them exchanged a glance and simultaneously came to a realization. Then they looked at the girl in the red robe sitting opposite them in the reception room.

Li Ai had noticed their expressions, but she didn't understand the meaning behind them. Shock, admiration, sympathy? It seemed like she received a bit of everything. The girl in the red robe was puzzled, wondering what she had done to prompt such looks. And why did their gazes keep going... she looked down at the gathered waist of her robe and the loose hem of her skirt. Was there something wrong with her clothes?