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He was clueless when it came to magic.
That meant he had no choice but to call someone who did.
He was deeply reluctant, genuinely hesitant… and yet—it was undeniable that Raximon harbored a certain interest and affection for Shupetty.
Just look at the bank incident.
A man who lived buried in the far edge of the Empire had reached out to the Pashayen branch—all because of Shupetty.
The full details remained unclear, but given the circumstances, it was obvious his daughter was involved somehow.
When Diegon first heard about it from Violet, he had instinctively made the sign of the cross, as if seeking help from a god he’d never even believed in.
Praying that this man wouldn’t start poking around someone as precious as Shupetty.
His daughter, far down the line, in a very distant future, after a long, long time—that was when she was supposed to meet the right partner and be happy.
There was no need for attention from a man who wasn’t even a proper candidate for her.
…At least, that’s what he thought until just a few hours ago.
‘Who would’ve thought I’d end up needing that guy right now?’
Could all this be the scheme of that young, reckless man?
Honestly, Diegon was very suspicious—but there was no actual proof.
And it wasn’t like the man was careless or foolish enough to turn someone into a dolphin on a whim…
Either way, Lacifer Raximon was still the acting head of a noble family.
“Pashayen knows nothing about curses or magic… So I have no choice. No choice but to call him.”
While Diegon repeated those words to himself, Mikard tossed over a grilled sardine, which dolphin-transformed Shupetty leapt to catch with a swift, agile motion.
Ilyad clapped in awe at the sight, mouth agape, and the recently arrived Elzen quickly changed into a light shirt and jumped into the water too.
Shupetty, now full, flipped over, exposing her belly, and mimicked clapping by pressing her fins together.
As a father, it was enough to drive him insane—with both affection and exasperation.
***
The Dawn’s Raximon.
A household famed across the globe as a traditional magical noble family.
They had not only pioneered magical engineering but also built a massive business empire from it—so much so that they nurtured magicians from within the family itself.
Magicians trained by Raximon were known as the ‘Sorcerers of the East,’ and among them, those bearing the Raximon name were specially titled ‘Magicians of the Dawn.’
Ancient grimoires owned by Raximon could only be studied by the Magicians of the Dawn. Even so, the sheer fact that others could learn derivative magic from them made all magically awakened individuals in Baratheum flock to the East.
“Gaaah!!”
And so it was that Ainan, who had been lured—no, recruited—into Raximon and became a 9th-rank magician under the organization, was startled by a sudden communication, dropping the orb in his hand.
“What the—?”
“What happened?”
Other weary-looking magicians sluggishly turned to glance at Ainan.
He gave a sheepish smile and picked up the orb again.
“No, it’s just… the name that popped up was too big of a deal… I must have seen it wrong. Haha!”
“Big deal? What, royalty or something?”
“Well, not exactly… but not not, either…”
Raximon’s major corporate arm, Lunon, had departments as well-defined and segmented as the Imperial Household Office.
Ainan belonged to the communications department, where all global inquiries were received, sorted, and reported.
Nicknamed: The Customer Love Department.
And in that department, where they dealt with nonstop requests all day, every employee shared one desperate prayer:
Please, please, please—oh gods above—don’t let a high-priority request fall on me!
Because everyone was already exhausted and wanted nothing more than to avoid getting tied up in something even more draining.
Truth be told, Ainan had half-dropped the communication orb on purpose.
‘Haha, maybe I just misread it because my eyes are tired…’
There was no way a message would come from the Pashayen family!
They were so uninterested in magic that Lunon only had one single branch in that entire massive territory!
But then—
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!
All the employees’ communication orbs suddenly lit up and rang.
Like crazy.
“Wait—what is this?!”
“No way!”
“A mass call?!”
Every Lunon branch across the world had a communication orb connected to the main office.
But placing a call like this cost 10 gold per line—an expensive request fee.
And now, all their orbs were going off at once, like they were about to explode?
That meant at least 1,000 gold was being spent just to place the call!
“That was definitely a mass call just now!”
BANG!
At that moment, the doors burst open, and in rushed Dylan, a Level-6 magician and department manager, his eyes gleaming nervously.
Behind him, the junior staff shrank back, while Dylan made his way to the central Grand Communication Sphere, switched it on, and stood stiffly, visibly tense.
“Greetings, dear customer. This is Lunon Communications First Division, the department truly devoted to customer love. What brings you to initiate a mass contact request today?”
The Grand Sphere projected the image of the person who made the call—this was the only device capable of two-way live communication.
And what appeared in that projection… even from a great distance, the man radiated an overwhelming, suffocating aura.
“Summon Lacifer Raximon.”
“My sincerest apologies, esteemed customer. Requesting direct contact with the acting head of house requires a prepayment of 3 billion gold per instance.”
“Do I look like I can’t afford that?”
The voice was cold. Deathly cold.
Everyone present flinched simultaneously.
Sometimes, the anger that simmers quietly is far more terrifying than rage that explodes.
“N-no, sir! I didn’t mean to imply that in any way! I was simply following the manual by providing the policy information.”
“Tell him it’s for my daughter. Immediately.”
“Y-yes, understood!”
Click.
As soon as the command ended in that low, authoritative tone, the manager bolted back out the way he came, faster than before.
The horizon of Pashayen.
For the admiral of Pashayen to personally contact Lunon and request Lacifer Raximon?
Something very serious had clearly happened.
***
The children had been sent off, leaving only the adults in the room.
Night had long since fallen, and Diegon still hadn’t moved an inch from where he sat, worried sick as he watched Shupetty, now asleep in the tank, one eye closed.
Violet, having heard the news, had wrapped up her tasks and joined them, and Nine too had rushed in, shocked at what had happened.
As for Cecilia, she was nowhere to be seen—not that anyone particularly cared.
“To think things came to this, that we needed to ask Raximon for help. It’s not a good thing, exactly… but perhaps it’s not entirely bad either.”
Violet’s calm words made Diegon feel dizzy.
This was a very bad thing.
How could turning your perfectly fine daughter into a dolphin not be considered a horrible situation?
Even as Diegon spoke, he knew Violet would not understand.
She resembled the family head, Galizard, far too much.
“Do you have business with Raximon?”
Diegon asked slowly.
Violet gave a soft smile.
“I do. With Luarel.”
Ah—
At that moment, Diegon felt like he’d been struck in the head.
Because… since Shupetty had ended up like this, he hadn’t spared even a second to think about Luarel.
He had completely forgotten she even existed.
“It’s a shame we have to rely on another house’s acting family head for our internal matters, but we could at least get expert advice, don’t you think?”
There was practically no connection between Raximon and Pashayen.
Or more precisely, Raximon didn’t have ties with any noble house.
Being the so-called ‘kings among mages,’ they stayed aloof from power struggles and politics, and generally moved independently.
That’s why their advice was considered trustworthy.
And Violet’s judgment was spot on.
Of course… whether Raximon would even accept the request was another matter entirely.
“Unfortunately, I can only take on one request right now.”
It happened then.
A golden shimmer swirled above their heads, and a youthful voice echoed from thin air.
At the same time, thousands of paper cranes appeared and whirled around them like a storm.
While there was no hostility, the flashy display was still overwhelming.
“I’ve been rather tied up lately with certain ‘restrictions,’ you see.”
That arrogant tone again.
“Even a great mage has restrictions?”
“Naturally. The more power you wield, the greater the consequences. Besides, I’ve irritated someone I really shouldn’t have lately.”
