October 22, 2025

Raindrops were mercilessly hitting the windows of the Council Hall. Despite the name, which would usually be attributed to spacious premises, it was actually a small dark room with a table in the center. It was stuffy there as old-fashioned heavy curtains didn’t let any light in, and the faces of numerous Omnious and PRISM leaders were overlooking the scene from their carved frames, captured both in modern photographs and hand-made portraits. This soulless brotherhood created the feeling that the room was packed with people, yet in reality there were only five at the table. To a stranger, it might have looked like the visitors were preparing to play a couple of poker games rather than conduct important public affairs.

“If things keep on going like that, Miss Omnious, then it’s not long before the magicless will see us as an uncontrollable threat again. The Community Management department has analyzed social media posts over the past month…” A short man with receding hair showed a graph on a three-dimensional projection and continued. “Anti-magic tendencies are growing day by day. The situation is getting out of hand.”

“I understand, Master Harrington.”

The current CEO of PRISM and Aoi’s direct manager, Joshua Harrington, was a non-fading Azure mage who rarely lost his temper, but it was obvious his patience was about to run out. A gifted theurgist from a decent family (Omnious relatives in the fourth generation), he’d come to power thanks to his tenacious business acumen, though his desire to please everyone had stigmatized him as an opportunist. Harrington’s high rank within PRISM was emphasized by his full-dress uniform, making him look too formal and aloof, with its dazzling whiteness and an abundance of small decorations.

“The feeble will never understand that there is no chance for them to join our kin.” Harold Omnious the Third mumbled something like that each time the Children of the Evolution were mentioned. “Their miserable attempts generate dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction leads to despair. Despair leads to sins. Losing all of our agreements because of a group of unbridled fanatics would bring a great misfortune to us all. This cannot be allowed.”

“How is the investigation going, Miss Omnious? Several months have passed, and the Children of the Evolution are still causing us a lot of inconvenience. In addition, they are clearly developing their own business, so to speak. Their converts are becoming more and more like real Violets. From your reports, I get the impression that you’ve achieved very little progress with the task.”

“So far... we have a reason to believe that the Children of the Evolution are reponsible for the murder of Shell as well as the theft of one of the legendary artifacts, the box of transformation…”

The “reason to believe” was not a correct reflection of the current situation, but she was too ashamed to admit that she’d received this information from the head of the assassins. She took a brief look at Fiber Hunt, who was also attending the meeting at the request of the Council. The leader of M.A.G.E. was not in a hurry to join a conversation, so Aoi tried to ask him a direct question.

“Mister Hunt, do you have any idea about this box and how it happened to be in Shell’s possession? Our official list of relics states that you are its current owner.”

Hunt winced, but answered, “I would never have thought that this little thing, tamatebako, is considered a legendary artifact. I gave it to my subordinate for her eighteenth birthday. Then she... she lost it to Shell in a card game.”

“And you did not bother to inform the Institution about this?”

“According to our agreements, I have my right not to do this if I consider it not significant enough.”

Aoi sighed and finished with her report. “In summation, the Children of Evolution are interested in people and objects that, at least in theory, might help them improve the technique of implanting arcane threads. Knowing their priorities, we are developing a new plan to lure them out.”

The archmage Harrington glanced critically at Aoi through the blurry glass of his round-shaped glasses. The Celestial got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Is that all you can share with us, Miss Ominous?”

“I wonder if the mayor has something to share,” Hunt intervened. “With all due respect, I just can’t wait to find out what we owe to the presence of such a VIP.”

Aoi was also wary that the mayor of the city, Mister Spencer, was sitting at the meeting. This man whose round body shape resembled a spoiled domestic cat, had never been invited to the Magical Council before, as wizards preferred to solve problems within their own exclusive circle. If necessary, the mayor of New Tokyo could always meet in person with the head of PRISM, but not everyone else. For the past half an hour of the gathering he had made no sound apart from a greeting.

“Some complications have appeared in this case,” said Harrington for the mayor. “I would like everyone who is present here to acknowledge how important it is not to disclose the information which will follow.”

“Are you sure M.A.G.E. needs to hear it, then?” Aoi asked without even trying to hide the aggression in her voice.

“Miss Omnious, if I were not sure, I would not have invited Mister Hunt here. We need to mobilize all the resources available to us, because the situation—as we have already mentioned—is becoming critical. However, I would insist that Mister Hunt mustn’t share the information with his subordinates due to the… unreliability of some of them.”

The white-haired mage grunted with satisfaction, as if he had been waiting for this sentence to come up. He nodded briefly in a sign that Harrington could finally get down to business.

Suddenly, the mayor explained it himself. “My youngest daughter, Emilia, went missing last night. She did not return from her classes.”

Harrington projected the profile on the screen. Aoi carefully examined a dark-haired high schooler with two thick braids. The girl was wearing the uniform of a prestigious private academy—a black blouse and a checkered maroon jacket with a tie, pinned with a bird-shaped brooch.

“She has always wanted to become a mage... from the very moment she found out that her favorite drama actor was an Elementalist. She hung his posters all over the walls and studied your history and culture. My wife and I tried to explain to her that her dream could not be fulfilled, but... she’s so stubborn, my Emily. She was searching for a way to make her wish come true. And in the end she stumbled upon this ‘Evolution’ scum on the Internet. They’ve taken her away!”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Aoi said. “We will do our best to find your daughter as soon as possible.”

“You have no choice, Miss Omnious,” the PRISM leader replied sourly. “If you do not succeed with this task, it will lead to a disaster. Not only does this threaten to worsen our relations with people who do not have magical abilities, but this also concerns you personally. In case of failure, you can be sure that your post will be taken by another, more capable sorcerer.”

“Understood. I would like to dispatch my people to search for magic traces immediately. I need the coordinates of the places Miss Spencer could have gone to.”

“I am glad that you are enthusiastic, Miss Omnious, but I am not glad that only such deplorable events could make you work for real. Please proceed.”

Aoi left the Council Hall, and shame was stinging her for the first time in her ten-year career.