CH-200 **”Maintenance (2)”**
—
Philip entered the mansion with Ayla.
Morning routines seemed to have begun already, as children bustled about in the wide lobby.
“All the basic chores in the mansion are divided by shifts. Cleaning, laundry, meal prep, grocery shopping, and so on.”
“They’re all moving around so quickly.”
“Well… probably because they’ve all been living here for a long time?”
Philip, sensing the energetic air that filled the mansion, asked,
“You said there were 26 people in total, right?”
“No, 24.”
“Did I hear wrong?”
“No, originally it was 26. Two of them were kicked out.”
Apparently, two top disciples had been expelled through a vote.
They were close aides of the deceased Binjin, and it was a decision made to reduce risks in the mansion’s future operations.
“If they were top disciples, that means they were the strongest ones in the mansion. I doubt they just left quietly.”
“Nope, the strongest person in the mansion is someone else.”
Philip tilted his head.
“Who?”
“Me.”
“You?”
“Yeah. I’m the strongest. So when they refused to leave, I drove them out with magic.”
Philip stared into Ayla’s unwavering eyes, surprised.
According to what he had heard from Ray, she was supposed to be indecisive and lacking in confidence.
‘Maybe she changed after meeting Ray.’
Philip didn’t dwell on it and asked another question casually.
“Any difficulties running the mansion?”
“Hmm, money management is a bit overwhelming. We have the funds Ray gave us to use as a budget, and we also have our own collective savings. But no one here has ever managed such large sums of money before.”
“Show me the ledger later. I’ve got a sharp eye for money.”
You do…?
Just as Ayla gave him a doubtful look, a boy appeared from the corridor on the right.
The boy approached a display shelf in the corner of the lobby, bowed deeply, and said,
“Good morning, sir.”
The greeting wasn’t directed at a person, but at an object—a thick book.
Seeing the red cover and gold lettering, Philip was visibly flustered.
“Why is that there…?”
Unless his eyes were deceiving him, that was clearly the **Cromwell Dictionary**—the one Ray used to smack kids around on the street.
The boy pulled out a brush.
Still addressing the book politely, he dusted it and applied a preservation polish to the cover.
“Sir, is this brushing pressure acceptable?”
“Your skin seems to have suffered quite a bit overnight.”
“I’m also training every day to be strong like you, sir.”
Watching the scene, Philip made a circular motion with his finger beside his head and asked Ayla,
“Is he a little… off? He keeps talking to the book.”
“He’s my brother.”
“I meant, he’s probably exceptionally sharp.”
Ayla blinked blankly for a moment, then let out a small chuckle.
“It’s okay. Everyone in the mansion knows my brother’s eccentric.”
“R-Right? That’s a relief.”
“But saying he’s ‘off’ is a bit harsh.”
“No! That’s not what I meant!”
As Ayla laughed again, she began explaining the mansion’s afternoon schedule.
“After we finish our morning chores, we have magic classes in the afternoon. I teach theory, and my brother teaches practical application. Since we’re the most skilled in the mansion, no one had any objections. It’s only until Ray returns, though.”
Philip shook his head internally.
From what he could tell, they’d be in charge even after Ray came back.
But he didn’t say that out loud and asked another question.
“Wouldn’t it be tough for just the two of you to teach all 22 kids? How are the classes divided?”
“There aren’t any divisions based on skill level.”
“Huh?”
“We did divide them into Class A and Class B for convenience, but it’s not based on skill. Both classes have a mix of kids with and without mana circles.”
“Uh… why go through all that? Wouldn’t that make teaching a lot harder?”
“If we divide by skill, it could lead to resentment. Who’s better, who’s worse—everyone starts comparing. I don’t like that.”
Ayla’s stance was firm.
Philip thought it was a terribly inefficient policy.
“……”
But in the end, he decided not to argue.
Ray had delegated full authority over the children’s education to Ayla.
‘Just like he gave me control over the finances.’
So regardless of his own thoughts, it was important to respect Ayla’s educational approach.
“Come on, I’ll show you around the mansion.”
Philip followed Ayla, who was smiling as she walked.
—
**One day, two days, a week, ten days.**
Time rushed forward, arriving at the final page of the calendar.
The wind of December was piercing and sharp, but the children in the mansion didn’t feel the cold as keenly as they had the previous year.
Maybe it was thanks to the warmth they shared with each other.
After chores and classes, they would burst with energy and run around the snowy front yard.
“Die!”
Splat! *Thwack!*
Thud!
Philip collapsed dramatically in the snow after being hit by a snowball thrown by Ain.
“Hahaha!”
Even with a bruise forming and a stinging ache, Philip laughed heartily while staring at the sky.
Snow was falling.
Dark, ashen-colored flakes.
Clearly destined to have some negative effect, like black rain—but the fluttering flakes had a strange magic that made the children’s hearts tingle with excitement.
“Die, you wicked sorcerers!”
“You’re the wicked one! You Binjin-like punk!”
“Woof! Woof!”
The front yard was filled with chaos.
Of course, not all the children participated in the snowball fight.
Some were more introverted, or concerned about their health—Ayla being the most typical example.
“Guys, that’s enough! It’s been three hours already. If you stay out in the cold too long, you’ll catch a—”
*Splat!*
That was, until she took a snowball square in the face.
As snow chunks fell from her hair, Ayla’s cold expression surfaced.
*Whooooosh—!*
A snowstorm raged around her.
Hundreds of snowballs formed in the air and fired in all directions like a machine gun.
“R-Run!”
“Ayla’s gone berserk!”
“Ain! Stop your sister!”
“If I fight her, I’ll lose!”
The days were peaceful but lively.
The children adapted quickly to life without Binjin.
And Philip’s work identifying the businesses and deciding where to intervene was going smoothly.
But everyone felt a sense of emptiness.
The absence of one person only highlighted their presence more strongly.
—
On the third-floor terrace of the mansion—
Ain, Philip, and Ayla watched the drifting snowflakes as they talked.
“Secretary, when is Ray coming back?”
“It’s about time.”
“Yeah. Philip’s right. Ray said he’d be back within two weeks at the latest.”
No one voiced the thought that something might have happened to Ray.
Not out of anxiety, but because they simply couldn’t picture Ray being blocked or delayed by anything.
Still—
“I miss him.”
“Me too.”
“……”
The growing hole in their hearts was undeniable.
All the children who had escaped Binjin’s clutches and begun living a new life thanks to Ray felt the same.
And then, a few more days later—
“He’s back!”
A child in the middle of class shouted from the window.
A bus was entering the gates.
“Ayla, maybe pause class and go—”
But Ayla was already gone through the wide-open door.
The kids all followed her in a stampede.
*Rumble, screeeech—*
The bus stopped in front of the mansion.
The windows were tinted, so the interior wasn’t visible.
No one stepped out for a while—perhaps gathering their belongings.
The children’s anticipation built.
And finally—
*Pshhhh—*
The door opened, and someone stepped out.
“Huh…?”
“…What?”
The children were stunned by the rough-looking man with a bushy beard who emerged.
The man, too, looked surprised to see the crowd.
Ayla mumbled in confusion.
“If I remember right, only Ray, Veronica, and the coachman took the bus…”
He didn’t look like the coachman, no matter how she squinted.
Adjusting his glasses with a confident tone, Philip declared,
“Ray returned as a real man. That ruin must’ve been something.”
Ayla gave him a look of disbelief.
“That’s Ray?”
“Yeah. Women may not know, but adversity that doesn’t break a man only makes him grow. I started growing a beard after tripping on a rock and not crying.”
Just then, a green-haired woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat stepped off.
Philip nodded.
“Veronica’s matured a lot too. Must’ve been stressful enough to change her hair color.”
“This is ridiculous!”
“Sis…! What on earth happened…!”
While the Ayla siblings and the kids flailed in confusion—
*Tap.*
A boy and a girl stepped out behind the man and woman.
Silence fell instantly.
All eyes focused.
Ray scanned the children and finally spoke.
“I’m back.”
Softly, almost like a whisper.
—
**In the mansion’s reception room.**
Ray told Ayla, Ain, and Philip what had happened in the wilderness.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
A dry but sufficient acknowledgment.
Philip, unable to contain his excitement, asked,
“How about you? Did you find anything?”
“I found something big.”
Ray summoned a yellow gem and placed it on the table.
Philip, seeing the complete gem, gasped.
“You found the match…!”
“Yeah. Luckily, I was able to find the other half and combine them.”
Ayla, unable to contain her curiosity, interrupted.
“Is this the ‘Rainbow’ you mentioned before? The one you were looking for?”
A brilliant glow.
An unbelievable purity of mana swirling within.
Ayla and Ain, both mages, instinctively recognized that it was no ordinary mana crystal.
Ray replied,
“Most likely. To be precise, it’s one of the seven fragments of the Rainbow.”
Ray briefly explained how he had come to merge the yellow gem—
From the events at the ruin, to what had happened in Rael Row.
When Vicious was mentioned, Philip’s face stiffened.
“If a Murcred executive visited the ruins before us, that means the Doctor likely knows our location and movement patterns.”
Ray nodded and pulled out Walter’s ring, fiddling with it.
“Yeah. The binding spell that shows the locations of enemy executives is malfunctioning too. But I don’t think the Doctor will show up immediately.”
“What makes you think that?”
“For some reason, the Doctor is wary of me. It’s not confirmed, but based on what the enemy said, I believe it. I want to discuss our next steps once Curiosa arrives.”
Philip and Veronica agreed.
“Sounds good. I think that’s the right move too.”
“Curie will probably have a lot to share. She’s been watching the Doctor for a long time.”
At that moment, one of the arrows on the ring spun around and
—came to a halt.
It was clearly pointing in the direction of the manor’s gates.
