IHTSCPIDAJ CH 07

“What did you just say?”

Viola slightly increased the distance between herself and Samuel, who had suddenly leaned his face toward her, and calmly continued.

“There’s no way an ordinary animal would be in a place like this, and it’s strange that it specifically chose that book. If it wasn’t an ordinary animal, then there’s only one possibility left.”

Samuel fell silent for a moment after hearing her words, then quickly nodded as if he agreed.

Without hesitation, the two of them immediately headed for the Magic Department’s administration office.

“Samuel? No, what brings you here all of a sudden?”

The assistant in charge of the office was startled by their unexpected arrival. He sprang to his feet and hurriedly asked the question. Samuel calmly began explaining what had happened.

“An important magic book has disappeared from the library. Did you happen to see or hear anything unusual around the library last night or early this morning?”

There was a subtle pressure hidden beneath his gentle voice. The assistant hesitated for a moment and tilted his head.

“Well… nothing particularly unusual happened…”

After a brief silence, he suddenly scratched his head as if he had remembered something.

“Actually, one of the experimental subjects we’ve been keeping track of has been missing since yesterday evening. The students haven’t arrived yet, so we haven’t had a chance to properly search for it…”

“What exactly is this experimental subject?”

Viola suddenly cut in with a sharp question. The assistant looked flustered and hurriedly pulled out a picture from one of the desk drawers.

“It’s a special owl that the Summoning Department has been researching recently. It has the ability to absorb the magical energy around it, so the department has been carefully managing it as an important specimen. At first, it was small and docile, but recently, its accumulated magical power has increased dramatically. As a result, its behavior became violent, and it even started showing unpredictable aggression. Once it starts rampaging, it’s dangerous to restrain it with magic.”

After finishing his explanation, the assistant anxiously glanced at Samuel. It seemed he had only just realized that the owl had caused quite a serious incident.

“If it had become that dangerous, shouldn’t you have taken stricter security measures? Didn’t this happen because you carelessly relied on a single magic-suppression device instead of properly managing it?”

Samuel’s gaze sharpened, causing the assistant to shrink back even further, unsure of what to say.

“I’m sorry… I never imagined it had become that powerful… I believed the magic-suppression device was completely reliable. To be honest, none of us expected it to change like this…”

Samuel let out a quiet sigh and shook his head.

“What’s done is done, but we absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of negligence in the future.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll make sure we strengthen the security measures immediately.”

Amid the suffocating silence, Viola looked at the assistant and spoke.

“You said it would be dangerous to capture the owl with magic. What exactly is the reason?”

At her question, the assistant seemed to finally regain his composure and hurriedly explained.

“Now that the magic-suppression device has been destroyed, its magical power must be extremely unstable. If you use magic directly on it, the owl could absorb that magic as well, causing its magical power to go out of control. In the worst case, it could cause serious damage to the entire building.”

Viola lightly bit her lip as she recalled the traces they had found in the library. If the owl’s magical power was unstable, then it was entirely possible that it had stolen the book and hidden itself inside through the ventilation shaft.

“If we can’t use magic to capture the owl, then we’ll have to rely on physical force.”

Breaking the heavy silence, Viola spoke first. The assistant nodded with a worried expression and added,

“That’s right. But if you simply try to overpower it with your strength, you could injure yourself because of the magical power it has absorbed. It would be better to capture it safely without directly touching it.”

As soon as the assistant finished speaking, Viola and Samuel exchanged another glance.

“Looks like we’ve found the culprit.”

“Yeah. Now finding the owl is our top priority.”

After leaving the assistant with a final reminder, Samuel hurriedly headed out.

“We know who the culprit is.”

When the two returned to the library, they gathered the student council members who were still busily investigating the chaotic scene.

“The culprit is an owl that escaped from the Magic Department’s administration office. Judging by the circumstances, it couldn’t have gone far. It’s definitely still somewhere inside the library. But even if you find it, don’t use magic on it.”

“What? Then…”

“Exactly. We have to catch it by hand. What are you waiting for? Move.”

As soon as Samuel finished speaking, murmurs spread among the student council members. The library was quickly filled with tension.

Viola raised her head and quickly scanned the library’s high ceiling, the secluded bookshelves, and the dark corners.

It’s probably either still absorbing magical energy or has already absorbed enough and is hiding somewhere nearby.

After thinking for a moment, Viola quietly approached Samuel.

“President, you can use magic to detect magical energy, right?”

At her question, Samuel smiled lightly and nodded.

“You’re thinking the same thing I am, aren’t you? Of course.”

Samuel immediately raised his right hand.

The moment a white magic circle appeared in the air, the entire library was enveloped in a soft, gentle glow.

“I found it. The upper part of the third bookshelf in the right corner.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Viola quickly moved toward the bookshelf he had pointed out. She spotted a small shadow faintly moving above the bookshelf. Without hesitation, she began climbing up.

The shadow suddenly moved sharply, and a large owl flapped its wings violently and took flight. A powerful surge of magical energy spread through the area, causing books to come crashing down.

“Viola, be careful!”

Samuel immediately reached out and used magic to stop the falling books in midair. At the same time, he spread a thin barrier of light to protect Viola.

His response was quick and precise, but the owl refused to give up. It continued flapping its wings and flew toward the bookshelves on the opposite side.

Viola kept her balance on top of the bookshelf and quickly tracked the owl’s path with her eyes.

“Can you drive it this way?”

She shouted loudly, and Samuel immediately understood. He nodded and reached out his hand once more.

Each time he moved his fingertips, transparent walls created by magic appeared, gradually driving the owl toward one direction.

The owl screeched sharply and tried to break through the magical walls, but it was unable to overcome Samuel’s precise control.

Thanks to Samuel’s perfect control, the owl was gradually forced into a narrower space. Viola didn’t miss her chance.

She pulled out the small cloth bag she had prepared beforehand, quickly opened it, and threw it accurately over the owl.

The owl flapped its wings violently and struggled fiercely, but in the end, it became trapped inside the cloth and fell helplessly to the floor.

Viola climbed down and carefully opened the cloth to check.

The owl was still clutching the stolen magic book beneath its wing while struggling weakly as it absorbed magical energy.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll take you back somewhere safe.”

Viola gently moved the owl’s wing aside and retrieved the book.

Samuel approached her with a relieved smile.

“Thanks, Viola. Thanks to you, we were able to finish this so easily.”

“It was your magic that made things go quickly.”

At her matter-of-fact response, Samuel’s eyes lit up with amusement as he laughed.

“No. Even if I had found its location, we wouldn’t have been able to catch it this quickly without you. Working with you really is the easiest.”

At Samuel’s words, Viola slightly averted her gaze and sighed.

“I find working with the president rather exhausting, though.”

Samuel laughed lightly at her teasing remark.

Gradually, peace began to return to the library.

Viola smiled faintly as she thought about the gold coins she would be receiving. Samuel glanced quietly at her expression, seemingly relieved.

“You take responsibility for returning the owl, President.”

Viola handed the owl she had been holding over to Samuel. He smiled lightly and accepted it from her.

The moment the owl was transferred into Samuel’s arms, it curled itself into a ball and comfortably folded its wings, as though that had always been its rightful place.

“I guess it likes you quite a lot. It doesn’t seem like the type to take to just anyone.”

At her words, Samuel casually shrugged and stroked the owl.

“Well, maybe it doesn’t like me. Maybe it was just scared of you. It was struggling pretty hard when you caught it earlier, wasn’t it?”

Samuel’s playful gaze turned toward Viola.

Viola deliberately avoided his eyes and began picking up the books scattered messily across the top of the bookshelf, organizing them one by one with an expressionless face.

“Doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the matter has been resolved.”