"This is the teaching building, that's the dormitory building, and the largest area is the magic practice field. Our academy places the greatest emphasis on practical application.

"By the way, there's also a place in the academy that helps take care of horses. Since the academy is so large, many nobles choose to ride horses within the grounds...

"If you feel tired, you could also ride a horse..."

After coming outside, Paqina continued introducing the academy's facilities to Loren. This place was indeed huge, almost comparable to a small city.

"Alright, that's enough for now. I'll head back today."

Loren actually already knew the academy's layout, so what Paqina was explaining now wasn't particularly useful to him.

Loren planned to leave now and come back to investigate at night. Surely the library wouldn't be this crowded in the evening.

"When will you come to teach at the academy? I absolutely must attend your class."

"I'll come when I'm in the mood."

Even if Loren didn't come, no one would dare pressure him. The fact that Loren was willing to have his name associated with the place was something they'd be grateful for.

After saying goodbye to Paqina, Loren went straight home. It was right at his own doorstep that Loren encountered an acquaintance. William was waiting at Loren's entrance with several subordinates, and they had brought a carriage with them.

One of the men spotted Loren and immediately informed William, who promptly put on a wide smile and approached Loren.

"Master Mentor, you've finally returned. We've been waiting here for quite some time..."

"Get to the point."

Facing William, Loren still had little patience.

"It's like this—we heard you like birds, so we specially came to present you with a gift..."

His assumption wasn't wrong. Loren was basically inseparable from Starnight and often had many crows following him, making it easy to deduce his preferences.

And his guess was correct—Loren did indeed like birds. Otherwise, he wouldn't have worked in wildlife conservation before.

But even if he guessed right, it was useless. Loren had always accepted gifts without necessarily doing favors in return, and besides, he might not even like William's gift.

William gave a meaningful look to the subordinate behind him, who understood and lifted a large, cloth-covered object from the carriage.

"So, we prepared a gift for you..."

Then, William personally pulled off the cloth, revealing a massive cage beneath.

Inside the cage was a large silver-white bird. Sunlight reflected off its silver feathers, making them shine brilliantly.

"A Silverfeather Gyrfalcon... a very rare magical beast, nearly extinct..."

The Silverfeather Gyrfalcon was a powerful avian magical beast. With its noble appearance, it was beloved by many nobles, but its numbers were truly scarce. Obtaining one was difficult enough, let alone taming it.

Therefore, being able to keep a Silverfeather Gyrfalcon indicated that the noble was among the elite even within noble circles.

Throughout the entire Nofica Theocracy, there were only a handful.

"You certainly know your stuff. This Silverfeather Gyrfalcon is perfect for you...

"To make it easier for you to tame, this one is still a juvenile. We went through great effort to capture it. They have strong family bonds—we had to kill two adult birds to catch this one..."

"Indeed. Silverfeather Gyrfalcons nest on remote cliffs far from human habitation, and adult individuals possess considerable combat strength. Capturing one is truly no easy task..."

Loren was well aware of the rarity of Silverfeather Gyrfalcons. Even for William to obtain one would require significant effort.

And it couldn't have been done this quickly, which meant he had prepared this gift for Loren well in advance—showing considerable sincerity.

Although Loren's words sounded like praise for William, William didn't see any smile on Loren's face.

Loren didn't continue speaking. Instead, he drew Requiem from his waist and walked over to the cage.

The Silverfeather Gyrfalcon opened its eyes. It looked calmly at Loren, seemingly having already accepted its fate.

Loren swung his blade once, cutting through the iron cage, then swung again, severing the chains restraining the Silverfeather Gyrfalcon.

"You're free. Go back. Don't seek revenge—you're no match for them. And don't take your anger out on other humans."

The Silverfeather Gyrfalcon stood up, its eyes fixed on Loren as if memorizing his face, then took to the sky.

Its feathers reflected the sunlight, becoming nearly invisible once it soared high into the air—a characteristic that had caused William considerable trouble during its capture.

Loren's attitude toward wildlife was clear: you could hunt them for survival, but you shouldn't harm them for mere personal desire.

If you're hungry and can't find more convenient food, hunting a wild animal or even an endangered species to eat is understandable. But you shouldn't take pleasure in hunting when you lack for nothing in food, clothing, shelter, or transportation, and face no threats.

This distinction in attitude separates normal people from cat-worshipping fanatics.

Moreover, the vast majority of such sins are committed by the wealthy, yet the consequences are shared by all. Ordinary people have never even seen a Silverfeather Gyrfalcon.

By the time wild sharks went extinct, Loren had never even seen shark fin.

Loren used to be an ordinary person. Apart from sharing in the collective sin, he could do nothing. This time, he had the ability to act. He didn't seek to accomplish great things, only to prevent the Child of Nature from descending.

For some reason, even though Loren had no specific memories of the Child of Nature, he was particularly wary of it, as if it were a threat that made him more uneasy than even the Orthodox Gods.

"You..."

William watched the Silverfeather Gyrfalcon fly away, feeling as if his heart were bleeding.

He had considered that Loren might not accept the gift, but at the time, he'd thought he could simply sell it to another noble. Silverfeather Gyrfalcons were priceless commodities, and he could make a huge profit.

What William never imagined, even in death, was that Loren would simply set it free.

"Well, it wasn't mine to begin with. So what if I let it go?"

Loren knew that reasoning with him would be pointless, so he started by provoking him a little.

"Silverfeather Gyrfalcons live in places completely separate from humans and have no record of attacking people. You shouldn't go harming them—they're nearly extinct.

"You'd be better off using that time to clear out the magical beasts that actually attack humans."

After throwing out these words, Loren returned home, leaving William standing there dumbfounded.

"What should we do now?"

A subordinate beside him asked William, who clenched his fist, taking a long time before answering.

"Continue finding ways to please the Master Mentor. We overplayed our hand this time.

"We're not aiming to gain massive favor, but at the very least, we need the Master Mentor to forgive us for this presumptuous act.

"The Master Mentor's great love isn't confined to humanity alone. He loves all things in this world, though he loves humanity most."

William sighed, having already adjusted his mindset.

"You..."

The subordinate was shocked by William's words. Suppressing all the chaotic thoughts, he could only offer one compliment.

"As expected of you. To have such vision... the future position of family head will undoubtedly be yours."