"Marco-san... truly is a powerful and elegant mage."
Beside Karen, a handsome man with brown hair and black eyes sighed in admiration.
Though he hadn't joined the crowd either, he still held deep respect for Marco.
"Hibiki!"
But the man's words provoked Karen.
The green-haired girl angrily snapped at him.
"Huh?"
Hibiki Retis widened his eyes in confusion, completely unaware of what was wrong with what he'd just said.
"I don't like him." Karen said bluntly, her face dark.
"Huh?!"
This time, Hibiki's eyes grew even wider.
His head was full of question marks—Karen had never mentioned this before.
"What? Got a problem?" Karen frowned at Hibiki.
The two were in a relationship, having started dating not long ago.
Her "conflict" with Marco had happened much earlier, before she and Hibiki got together, so he had no idea about it.
"No problem, but... why?" Hibiki answered first, then couldn't help but ask.
"..."
Karen stayed silent.
She didn't want to bring it up again.
Glancing at her boyfriend, she now found his incessant questioning annoying.
The fact that he admired that man so much was infuriating—and the fact that he'd never even noticed she disliked Marco?
Completely unacceptable!
"Let's break up." Karen declared flatly, then turned and walked away without even looking at Hibiki, who was left utterly stunned.
"WHAAAT?!" Hibiki was dumbfounded.
He never saw this coming—everything had been fine just moments ago, so why had they suddenly fast-forwarded to a breakup?!
Just because he asked why?!
Wait, what exactly happened between Karen and Marco?! Was it really so bad that he couldn't even ask about it?! This was insane!
"Hibiki, is master Bob here?"
Just as Hibiki was about to chase after Karen for answers, Marco broke free from the crowd and happened to stop right in front of him.
Marco knew Hibiki Lates—his magic was quite fascinating.
It was an ancient spell called "Archive," something akin to a magical internet, connected to a vast database of knowledge.
Its form was a screen and keyboard inscribed with magical runes.
The first time Marco saw it, he had been completely baffled, so Hibiki had left a strong impression on him.
"Huh? Yeah, the master's here."
Caught off guard by Marco, Hibiki blinked before hurriedly answering.
Though he had many doubts in his heart about Karen and Marco, he wouldn't directly confront Marco about it.
He was completely in the dark about the situation and certainly wouldn't form negative opinions of Marco just because of Karen's behavior—he wasn't that foolish.
"Could you take me to meet him?"
Looking at the dazed Hibiki, Marco's expression turned odd.
Was this guy really so socially inept?
Shouldn't he have taken the initiative to lead the way?
Why was he just standing there spacing out?
Seeing that Marco wanted him to take them to meet Bob, Hibiki grew a bit flustered.
Fortunately, a figure appeared just then—someone who could rescue him from this awkward situation.
"Ichiya-sensei! Please take Marco-san to see the master! I have other matters to attend to!"
Hibiki called out to Ichiya, then gave Marco an apologetic smile.
This time, he didn't hesitate and immediately dashed outside.
"..."
Marco opened his mouth slightly.
If he had urgent business, he could have just said so—Marco wouldn't have insisted.
Watching Hibiki leave, Marco shook his head.
By then, Ichiya had already approached him, his face also filled with confusion.
"What's wrong with that kid Hibiki?" Ichiya asked Marco.
In his impression, Hibiki had never been so rude before—he had always been very respectful.
Why had he just shouted and then disappeared this time?
"I'm not sure either. It seems like something urgent came up. Should we go check on him?" Marco shrugged like a bear.
He really hadn't noticed what had just happened here, too busy dealing with the enthusiastic Mages.
"It should be fine, Marco-kun. Did you come to see our master?"
Ichiya hesitated for a moment but decided to attend to Marco first.
After all, Hibiki had taken the time to specifically ask him to handle this matter.
"My business isn't urgent, Ichiya-san. If you're worried, you should go check on him quickly."
Seeing the concern on Ichiya's face, Marco said understandingly.
His matter really wasn't pressing—there was still plenty of time before the assessment.
It had to be said, the atmosphere in the Blue Pegasus guild was quite good.
Ichiya, too, was a great senior who cared deeply for the younger members of the guild.
"Then I'll go after him first?"
Since Marco had said so, Ichiya was reassured that his business wasn't urgent.
He was genuinely worried about Hibiki, who was clearly acting out of character, so he didn't stand on ceremony with Marco any longer.
"Let's go. I'll come with you." Marco smiled and offered.
Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well tag along for the fun.
He had to embrace the spirit of "since we're already here."
Ichiya didn't refuse.
He led the way, chasing after Hibiki, who had run off.
Ichiya was clearly very familiar with the city, well-acquainted with the local merchants and pedestrians, all of whom were friendly toward him.
Before long, they caught up with Hibiki by asking around.
However, the two of them didn't approach directly, because Hibiki was chasing after a girl, talking incessantly.
"Uh..."
Seeing this, Ichiya's expression turned awkward.
He had thought Hibiki was acting out of character because of some serious matter, but it turned out the kid was just caught up in romance...
"..."
Marco kept a straight face, feeling somewhat speechless.
Of course, he recognized the girl—it was Karen, the one who treated Celestial Spirits as tools.
He never expected these two to be in a romantic relationship.
Thinking about Karen's personality, Marco couldn't help but feel sympathy for Hibiki.
But when it came to matters of love, no one could say for sure—perhaps the two got along well, though Marco found that possibility rather unlikely.
His impression of Karen was decidedly poor.
"Ahem, pardon the awkwardness. Let's head back now."
Ichiya cleared his throat twice, preparing to take Marco back to meet Bob.
Today's incident had truly left him feeling rather embarrassed.