Chapter 43
Chapter 5 – The London Triangle Operation (5)
December 30, 1920 – 14:00
After a brief rest, we went to the Magic Magic Association’s assembly hall with our invitation letters in hand.
Needless to say, both Lijedahl and I had headaches just thinking about it.
Given the current situation, the chance of open conflict breaking out was very high.
If things continued like this, the War Faction would definitely use it as leverage to push their Magic Association agenda again.
…Sigh. Maybe I should talk to Lijedahl about finding Frisse and then getting out of this era entirely.
It might be selfish, but all of this was wearing us down—mentally and physically.
Forget it. No point overthinking.
At a glance, the assembly hall was empty and cold, eerily quiet—almost desolate. If not for the well-maintained walls and floors, it would look like some ancient ruin pulled from a novel.
“No one’s here?”
Lijedahl tilted her head, puzzled.
“A miscalculation.”
Then she waved her hand slightly.
“No, I’m still here.”
A calm, deep voice came from behind us. President Wolf had somehow appeared at our side without us noticing.
“President Wolf, good afternoon.”
I greeted him politely.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Will.”
He nodded, then turned to Lijedahl.
“What happened?”
…
We gave him a brief rundown of the situation—but deliberately left out everything about the Coven of Witches.
“I see. Things are becoming increasingly troublesome.”
We followed him into his office. After hearing our account, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Miss Lijedahl, the Strike Team already sent word earlier, but I didn’t realize the situation was this severe… Combining what you’ve told me, it’s clear the Academy of Sciences not only knew about the mages who left the Magic Association, but also their exact addresses—and even had leverage to threaten them. On top of that, there’s an advanced mage capable of constructing a large-scale air magic circle.”
Though his expression remained calm, I noticed the veins bulging slightly on the hand gripping his chair.
“President Wolf, is there a spy in the Magic Association?”
“…And how would you have me answer that, Miss Lijedahl? I never thought we’d see a high-level mage defect to the Academy of Sciences.”
Her question was sharp, but Wolf’s reply was level—his hand still pressed against his forehead.
“This must be reported to Mr. Helles and Mr. Igell. We—”
“No need.”
A familiar voice came from outside the office door, followed by it swinging open.
“Pardon the intrusion, Mr. Wolf.”
Mr. Ken entered, his expression grim.
“You came just in time, Igell.”
Wolf stood immediately, face tense—so much so that he even forgot to add the usual “Mr.” before Igell’s name.
We stood as well while Mr. Ken strode briskly toward us, a rolled-up map in his hand.
“Let’s skip the pleasantries. Mr. Helles has already been briefed through reports from the Strike Team and the Coven of Witches. I received his message earlier. I’ve finished organizing my unit, and we need to act at once.”
He spread the map across Wolf’s desk as he spoke.
“This is the map Mr. Helles sent me. Most of the mages have been evacuated already. The issue lies with the Academy of Sciences’s next move.”
The map showed not only the mage locations we’d seen before, but also the air magic circle that Lijedahl had mentioned—and notes marking where the mages had been relocated.
“As far as we know, the mages around the Thames are now being questioned. The site is under control. No signs of the Academy of Sciences’ activity yet. The air magic circle was neutralized by Miss Lijedahl, so it’s inactive. The injured have been taken for treatment.”
Mr. Ken delivered his report rapidly before continuing:
“The Academy of Sciences must already know about this. They’ll likely send forces soon. I recommend we immediately withdraw our mages and recall our main forces.”
“What if our location at the Savoy Hotel is compromised?”
Lijedahl voiced the concern that had been weighing on my mind.
“That won’t be an issue. Our conflict is covert—any disturbance here would damage the Academy of Sciences’ public image.”
President Wolf reassured her.
“Given the urgency, are Mr. Helles and the other members of the Table of Truth informed?”
Wolf turned to Mr. Ken.
“I’ve tasked Mr. Helles with notifying them. Only you and Miss Lijedahl remained.”
“Understood. But we must leave some personnel behind to scout.”
“I’ll inform Mr. Helles.”
“We agree.”
“Good.”
Mr. Ken’s stern face relaxed slightly as he exhaled.
“Sigh… haha. How many years has it been since I’ve been this busy with Magic Association affairs?”
He chuckled quietly, almost to himself.
“It’s been a long time, Igell. Back then, you didn’t even call me ‘sir.’ Time changes everything.”
Wolf’s tone carried a touch of nostalgia as he teased him.
“Then I’ll return to finalize the troop assignments. I’ll come back if there’s more news.”
“No need. I’ll go to Mr. Helles directly.”
“All right.”
Mr. Ken nodded, rolled up the map, sighed tiredly, and left—closing the door behind him.
Then Lijedahl asked:
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
“There are too many uncertainties—like the air magic circle, and how the Academy of Sciences knew the mages’ movements. These are major doubts. Let’s head to Mr. Helles and discuss it together.”
“Understood.”
Lijedahl agreed readily.
I’d been silent the entire time, listening. We were being dragged along by events—whether in sudden crises or in high-level strategy sessions like this one.
And honestly, we had no other options.
I sighed, as weary as Mr. Ken had been.
When we arrived at Mr. Helles’ operations command center, the scene before us was overwhelming.
The conference room was packed—filled with members of the Round Table. Everyone was quiet, deadly serious. The only sounds were from mages using perception magic to relay messages. The walls were covered with diagrams—complex magic circles and sprawling maps dense with markings.
We followed President Wolf quietly toward Mr. Helles, who was listening to a subordinate’s report.
“Mr. Helles, how are the mages doing?” Wolf asked in a low voice.
The subordinate saluted, finished his report, and left quickly.
Mr. Helles thought for a moment before speaking.
“Mr. Wolf, according to my team’s reports, the mages were discovered by the Academy of Sciences for unknown reasons—threatened and driven out. Some who couldn’t stay near the Thames were forced elsewhere.”
“So apart from that, they don’t know much?”
“Correct. I specifically asked what the Academy of Sciences’ agents looked like—they said they were in plain clothes.”
“…The Academy of Sciences, working discreetly?”
Wolf’s gaze sharpened.
“I’ve dealt with the Academy of Sciences for over twenty years. Their actions are always loud, always political—they arrest our mages on fabricated charges to justify themselves. If they truly knew about these mages, they would’ve acted as they always do. So why this secrecy? Why use magic?”
Mr. Helles pondered for a moment, then pointed at the Tower of London on the map.
“This is only a suspicion, but since the Tower is under their control—and they’ve recruited a high-level air mage—they may already know about the Tower’s magical energy source. They might be using this as an opportunity to crush the Magic Association completely.”
He then looked to us.
“Miss Lijedahl, Mr. Will—your thoughts?”
The question caught me off guard, but it was sound reasoning. Still, there was one glaring point everyone was ignoring.
“Mr. Helles, President Wolf—there’s something I’ve wanted to ask. Within our Magic Association, who’s capable of creating an air magic circle on that scale?”
“Mr. Will, that’s… a difficult question.”
To my surprise, Wolf answered immediately.
“Several high-level mages in the Magic Association could do it. We can’t even be sure whether the circle was superior or inferior grade. If it’s a superior one, then mages like Mr. Igell, Miss Melina, and another five or six senior mages could manage it. Among those who left the Magic Association, about ten could as well. If it’s inferior, then nearly any advanced mage not incompatible with air magic could replicate it with time. So we have no clear starting point.”
“President Wolf, it’s a superior magic circle.”
Lijedahl spoke decisively.
“When I was breaking it, the caster activated the circle. Will and I barely managed to resist and dismantle it. I can confirm—it was a superior-grade circle. And I could feel the opponent’s mana—it was deep, powerful. Based on that alone, we can narrow the suspects to a small number.”
After she finished, silence fell.
Wolf tightened his grip on his cane, muttering something under his breath.
I couldn’t hear it clearly, but after a long pause, he seemed to reach a decision.
“Miss Lijedahl, investigating this now would disrupt our operations. Let’s prioritize the evacuation first. We’ll revisit this afterward.”
“Understood.”
Anyone could see he had other reasons for delaying the matter, and Lijedahl and I both knew it.
We exchanged a glance—her eyes a steely gray. I understood.
We both had the same person in mind. But there was no motive, no evidence—nothing we could act on.
So even if we were being led by the nose, there was nothing we could do.
“Miss Lijedahl, if possible, could you stay to conduct another battlefield observation?”
Mr. Helles turned to her.
“Of course. What should I focus on?”
At that point, I realized there wasn’t much I could contribute here.
“I’ll step out for a bit—restroom,” I said.
“Oh, sure.”
I turned and quietly left the room.
Once the door closed, silence returned—the hotel’s soundproofing was excellent. I couldn’t hear a word from inside.
But I already knew there was one thing I could start investigating right now…