Saikyou Mahoushi no Inton Keikaku (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 85

Eighty-Fifth Chapter

The Ill Omen Comes

To students, there was probably no other moment when they could experience this type of tension firsthand. This held true for regular schools and Magical Institutes. It was the day the latest exam results were posted.

While many students were seen looking gloomy and staring down with heavy hearts, others strode across the campus with their heads held high. It was a sight that made the losers and winners clear. However, it was but a moment, as eventually, inside the peaceful human domain, that gap would be blurred and shrouded by the veil of everyday life.

Apparently the same held true for the Second Magical Institute where novice Magicmasters spent their days learning. So it was no surprise to see the classroom filled with elites who would someday support their nation fretting over results was no different from a normal educational institution.

“This turned out just as expected,” said Tesfia.

“Yeah. There’s already cries calling it cheating,” replied Alice.

The girls whispered to each other as they listened to the various speculations of their sullen classmates. There were all kinds of opinions and attitudes, but the majority of the students were discontent and grumbling now that the results of the exams were suddenly made public.

Unlike graded regular exams, the midterm exam was rather light and featured no practical tests. So everyone had let their guards down. However, some of the students weren’t just unhappy about that.

“Still, didn’t Al say that he didn’t want to stand out? And now he’s in the top by far.”

Tesfia nodded at Alice’s question with a wry smile. “They’re just desperate, aren’t they? Well, it’s not like I can blame them for not believing it. Even if he gets a pass on his tests, he might not get credit because of a lack of attendance. He’s probably just getting back at the teachers, but he’s contradicting himself. And because of that, my rank in the year dropped.”

Incidentally, Tesfia was third and Alice was fourth, so they didn’t have anything to cry about.

“Fia, there’s a three-point difference,” said Alice.

“Y-Yeah...” Tesfia turned her face away, trying to escape Alice’s triumphant look.

The point difference between them was indeed minimal. In fact, Loki was second, and there was an almost fifty-point difference between them. So the two girls’ competition seemed a bit pointless. With so little of a difference between them, luck no doubt played a part too.

“Maybe I’ll beat you next time, Fia.”

“Why do you have to make it sound like you’ve been holding back?”

“Taking the top would be difficult with Alus there. But aren’t you forgetting something, Fia?” asked Alice.

“What?”

“I didn’t get that high of a score on the last practical exam. But next time I will have Shangdi Fides and Sirislate.”

“Ah, grr...” Tesfia grumbled.

Last time, Alice’s score on the practical had been poor because she’d relied on basic arrow spells from other attributes. But this time she had a special AWR that Alus had made as well as a new spell she’d used during the Seven Nation’s Friendship Magical Tournament.

On the practical part of their next exam, Alice would score a lot higher. With that, Tesfia would find herself overtaken if she didn’t put in more effort.

The girl sitting on the seat in front of them turned back with a dark expression. “In the end, Alus was just getting serious. Besides, they’ll only be talking about cheating for the moment.”

The girl with chestnut-colored hair giving the two a languid glance was Tesfia and Alice’s friend Ciel.

“It is now well-known that Alus is helping the military and that he’s amazing. But Fia, Alice, you’re both keeping your high ranking too. Just remember there are always people below you...like me...” said Ciel. Her normally cute eyes were clouded over, as if she’d caught some terrible disease. It was a deep-seated disease unique to students: the gloom of poor grades.

“You’re awfully down today. You got a pretty good score yourself, Ciel. You don’t have to be so bothered by it,” said Tesfia.

“Aha ha ha... Is that how it looks?” With a dry laugh and a sigh, Ciel pointed at the virtual screen projected above the podium. The results of the students were being shown in a text so small in size that they’d need to squint to see it.

The two looked for Ciel’s name in the tiny text. They started from the top, assuming that would be the fastest, but...for some reason they struggled to find it. When they neared the end of the list they finally found her.

“Huh?! You’ve dropped so much?” asked Tesfia.

“Yeah, that’s not like you, Ciel. Did you struggle to study this time around?” Alice slowly asked, partially to console her. Ciel shook her head.

This puppylike classmate of theirs was, in their eyes, an earnest honors student. She put in proper effort and greedily absorbed knowledge. Since they got along well, she’d often ask Tesfia and Alice to explain anything she couldn’t understand in class. And for them, teaching Ciel was a good way to review what they’d learned. They had a good relationship.

“No, I studied harder than usual, but my score was so low...” said Ciel.

“You must have made a mistake filling in the answers. The kind of panic when you do that is just...” Tesfia shuddered, remembering a past blunder.

“No, I’m not like you, Fia. In fact, I’m amazed you did that good.” Ciel let out a deliberate sigh, pointing at the overall points lined up next to the ranking. “Look at the people below Alice. There’s an almost one-hundred-point difference between fourth and fifth. That was just how hard the test was this time around, and even ignoring Alus and Loki, you two are far above the regular students.”

“You think so?” It didn’t quite click for Alice, who tilted her head.

During their conversation, Tesfia had been staring at the virtual screen, wearing a smirk. She was typically never up to anything good when she wore that look.

“Fia? You shouldn’t make that kind of face when looking at people’s scores,” Ciel said with a frown.

But Tesfia turned to her and pointed at the screen. “Look. Look at that. See. Lilisha is ranked seven. Ha ha ha.” Lowbrow as it was, Tesfia’s joy was from beating Lilisha.

“I imagine Lilisha had other things to worry about!” said Alice. “In fact, I’m impressed she found the time to even take a test.”

Because they’d been caught up in various incidents with Lilisha, it felt natural to compete with her, but in reality, Lilisha was in a different class from Tesfia and the others. At most, they were together during joint lessons. And lately, she’d been very busy with everything around the new Aferka.

“It wasn’t like she had a lot of time to study, so it wasn’t really a fair competition,” said Alice.

“It’s fine. Don’t sweat the small stuff. As long as I’m happy, that’s all that matters.”

Despite Alice’s point, Tesfia’s smile remained unchanged. “Are you sure you should be saying that in front of people, Fia? It’s embarrassing.”

After a pause, Tesfia asked, “Is it? Are you sure I can’t?”

“You can’t! Lilisha barely even showed up for lessons in the latter half, and she still got that score,” Alice answered.

Realizing Alice was right, Tesfia’s shoulders dropped. But when Ciel heard that, she felt even worse.

“Hang on. What am I, an ordinary person, supposed to do hearing that? It’s heartbreaking, really,” Ciel said, full of emotions and sorrow.

She frowned. “Well, Ms. Lilisha is from a good family, and even though she and Alus are close, I don’t think they have scholarly ability,” Ciel said to console herself, before letting out a heavy sigh. “How can you even keep up those scores? Well, not like I don’t already know the answer.”

They were close with Alus, who got perfect scores on all the subjects, and it was clear that he was overseeing Tesfia’s and Alice’s studying. Ciel recalled that he’d even taught her a lot during the Seven Nation’s Friendship Magical Tournament.

His teaching method aside, his guidance always led to results. It was very clear and straightforward. But when Tesfia heard Ciel’s statement, she plopped down on her desk with a sullen look.

“No, he didn’t teach us that much this time. It’s just that previous lessons proved helpful,” she said.

“Yeah. It was the same for me. Al is all about efficiency, adopting the stance that there’s no point in studying something that’s pointless. Having gotten used to that, we’ve learned to only cram in the necessary stuff,” said Alice, awkwardly scratching her cheek with a forced smile.

Of course, they had both studied hard for the tests, aware that Alus hadn’t taught them anything in particular this time around. If anything, they had applied what he’d been teaching them daily.

But being told that it was the result of daily efforts, Ciel couldn’t argue any more. The way she slumped in her seat stirred Alice’s protective instincts.

“I-I know! Why don’t we have Al teach all of us next time? How about that, Ciel?” asked Ciel.

“Alice...thank you!” Ciel said, tearing up. She unhappily puffed up her cheeks as she continued, “That aside, it seems like the teachers purposefully choose difficult questions. I heard them talking about it. Last time, the average score was unusually high compared to previous years.”

“R-Right... Uhm, sorry...” said Alice.

She understood Ciel’s anger and couldn’t help but feel apologetic, considering she was friends with someone who scored full marks on all subjects despite that—not to mention that she’d been raising the average herself.

“Well, that’s fine. But don’t nobles care a great deal about scores and ranks? Will this be okay?” Ciel asked, turning to Tesfia. Of course, she wasn’t particularly worried about her, considering her score was among the top.

“That’s a pretty biting tone, Ciel. Well, I know what you want to say. Looking at the classroom from the back like this, there’s a murderous vibe. Prideful people like that are quick to complain and form cliques,” Tesfia said like she knew it all. But when Alice and Ciel gave her an amazed look, Tesfia interrupted them with a cough. “Ahem, well, I doubt they would invite me along, but once they’ve got enough people, they’ll probably go complain to the Institute.”

Ciel looked at the rowdy crowd and agreed with her. “Even though it’s pointless. I wonder if appearances are that important.”

“Ciel, you can’t touch on that,” Alice chided her, holding a finger in front of her lips.

Tesfia wouldn’t mind, but the other noble students would. “Yes, the Fable family is one thing, but there are plenty of middle-ranking nobles that only have pride. If they lose face, their identities as nobles will fall apart, I guess. But having to rely on your family’s authority and preestablished values is a little...you know...” Tesfia stared, dismayed, at the group of nobles gathering and talking among themselves.

She abruptly stood up to change gears. “I know, Alice! The announcement of the results is the only thing we have today, so why don’t we go train after this? Besides, Al’s not here today.”

“Sure! I was going to anyways. What about you, Ciel?” asked Alice.

Ciel groaned and considered the offer. She debated reluctantly returning to the dorm and reviewing the exams, but in the end, she chose to exercise her body over her head.

“I’ll come. It’ll be a good diversion! So let’s go work up a sweat!” Ciel said. Once that was decided, she asked something that had been on her mind. “By the way, are Alus and Loki out on business or something?”

“Yeah, something like that. It’s that thing, you know...that job of his.”

Tesfia quickly gave an explanation, and she was pleased with how well she had done it. The students had been told that Alus was only helping the military a little, but as someone who knew the truth, she would sometimes get it mixed up in it.

“Oh yeah! Even the military has noticed Alus. That’s so amazing.”

Tesfia felt a tinge of guilt at Ciel’s innocent reaction.

Well, I didn’t tell any lies... Tesfia insistently told herself.

Next to her, Alice wore a charming smile. She had a keen eye and knew what was behind Ciel’s attitude. Ciel probably didn’t know everything about Alus, but she most likely knew quite a bit more than Tesfia realized. But not saying that out loud was part of Alice’s kindness.

After that, the girls returned to their rooms, changed clothes, and gathered again at the dorm’s front door. As they made their way over, they found there were several groups heading to the training grounds ahead of them. The winning students, who had overcome the exams, were training in high spirits.

Ciel was carrying her AWR and looking around the training grounds. “What are we going to do? It looks like it’s already full. And there are third-years here too,” she said.

Students from the same year were one thing, but she was hesitant to overstep her boundaries and go ahead of her seniors. “Hmm, Fia and Alice, you are pretty high ranking. You don’t want anyone to see your magic, do you?” asked Ciel.

Novice Magicmaster or not, it was an unspoken rule to keep your trump cards hidden. The sections of the training grounds were even equipped with barriers to hide what was going on within them. Tesfia and Alice glanced at each other and then nodded.

“It’s okay. I’ve already been throwing Icicle Sword so much by now that it’s not like anyone seeing it will be a problem,” said Tesfia.

“Yeah, and frankly it’s not like there’s any point in hiding it unless you’re at Al’s level,” said Alice.

Thinking about it, they realized Alus had been with them during training a lot. The concealing barriers had been necessary to hide his rank, but that was nothing to worry about now.

In the end, the three never entered a section of the training grounds but moved to the free space jointly used by the students. As if trying to avoid the gazes focused on Tesfia and Alice, Ciel walked behind them, shoulders back.

“You two really are like celebrities. It’s like being monitored from all over,” Ciel muttered.

But Tesfia and Alice were already used to the stares. Lately, with Alus gone pretty often, they would occasionally train without any barriers, so curious looks felt like a ridiculous thing to worry about.

“It’s all about getting used to it. More importantly, what are you going to do about the menu? Alice and I have tasks given to us, so we’re going to focus on those,” said Tesfia.

Ciel looked bewildered as the focus was suddenly turned to her. It wasn’t uncommon for normal first-year students not to have any clear or distinct goals. Even an honors student like Ciel. To them, training was just repeating what they’d learned in class.

In comparison, Tesfia and Alice were being trained by Alus. They didn’t just repeat what they were taught; they had to think about all kinds of things with the aim of elevating themselves beyond what they currently were.

“Ah, what should I do? There is something that I’ve been working on for a while now,” Ciel said with an embarrassed blush and looked away.

“Really? My, aren’t you growing up so fast, Ciel,” said Tesfia.

“I want to see it,” said Alice.

“Then...I’ll show you if you show me what you two are doing.”

Deciding that a simple overview was no problem, Tesfia and Alice nodded. Of course, that was just a pretext. They just didn’t want to be reserved around their petite and gentle friend.

The three headed for a corner of the free space and formed a circle. Tesfia and Alice only needed a little bit of space to train.

“We’re actually in the process of learning new spells. By the way, I’m working on spatial designation and control. Although it’s not going very well,” Tesfia explained.

Alice followed after her. “Yeah, and as for me...” Alice removed the rings from her golden spear, Shangdi Fides and made one of them float. From the wrinkle on her forehead, she was using a lot of focus just for this demonstration.

Eventually, Alice gasped for breath, and the ring slowly floated to the ground.

This was just the beginning for handling Shangdi Fides. In the end, Alice would need to precisely understand and designate all of the coordinates rather than an approximate designation. It essentially demanded delicate control of all of the space around her.

Ciel couldn’t imagine how long and painful the road would be, but she could instinctively tell how deep it was and gave honest applause. Alice gave her a quick bow in response. Her conduct seemed to mimic a polite, courteous illusionist.

It was a peaceful atmosphere, and Ciel decided to watch Tesfia train for a while.

“Just so you know, it’s much more plain than Alice’s,” Tesfia emphasized, but Ciel smiled as if to say that it wasn’t a problem. “Okay then...say, Alice. Why don’t we try out that thing?”

“Oh, you mean what we were talking about yesterday?” asked Alice.

“That’s the one. If we can train together, it’ll be like killing two birds with one stone,” Tesfia said, sitting down on the floor, putting her drawn katana, Kikuri, on top of her knees. “All right, preparations are all good.”

“Okay! Then here I go, Fia!”

Alice raised her hands, dexterously moving her fingers and skillfully manipulating the rings. One began to float up, and then another. She decided to start with two.

Alice moved the circles, tilting them side to side three meters in front of her and Tesfia, and stopped them. She gave Tesfia the signal with her eyes and began. Alice moved the two circles like they were gliding targets, and Tesfia used ice attribute magic to chase after them.

Specifically, Tesfia was imagining a three-dimensional space and freezing it, while Alice was moving the rings around to avoid them getting caught by freezing space. Alice had to read the signs of magic manifesting and move the rings, while Tesfia had to anticipate their trajectory and capture them.

It was a plain cat-and-mouse game, but it was one they could both play. And after three minutes, their mana control had dulled, and beads of sweat were rolling down their foreheads.

Ultimately, Alice was the first to throw in the towel. “I can’t take it anymore!” She lowered her hands, and the rings fell in response, rolling across the ground until they crashed into the wall and stopped.

“Really? I could keep going,” Tesfia boasted, wiping her face with a towel.

“Aren’t you two getting too good?” Ciel asked with an awkward smile.

“You think so? I’m still far away from the ideal, though,” Alice said, and she wasn’t even being modest. It was clear that she wasn’t on the level Alus wanted from her. She’d managed to link the movements of the rings to the movements of her fingers, but she still had further to go. After fully mastering free movement in all directions, she needed to learn to control the speed and even how to move them in curves.

“But Alus is teaching you the basics, isn’t he?” asked Ciel.

“Y-Yeah,” said Alice.

“How lucky, I wish he could teach me more too. Well, I’d only cause him problems. But you know, training has been more fun since then,” said Ciel. She was no doubt referring to the basics Alus had taught her during the Seven Nations Friendship Magical Tournament.

Nobody had expected much out of Ciel, but she had almost fully cornered her opponent before losing.

“Then why not ask Al directly? It’s not like he doesn’t know you, so I’m sure he’ll teach you...probably.” Tesfia’s tone was a little muddled, but she was confident that Alus wouldn’t ignore Ciel.

After that, they took a break to watch over Ciel’s training.

“Go on, don’t pay any attention to us; just go all out. We might be able to give you some advice,” said Tesfia.

“Okay, then take a look.” Ciel nodded at Tesfia and began her incantation. She had a long chant with several verses, and she was refining her mana as if resonating with her AWR, creating some kind of construct. Ciel used a staff AWR, and unusually, she’d inherited it from her parents. The AWR had signs of being well used, as well as a luster that showed it was being cared for.

Eventually, Ciel finished her incantation and struck the floor with the end of her staff, creating two pools of mana. From there, rocks in the shape of an arm appeared from each of them. It was similar to the novice-level Earth spell Mud Hand, but at a closer look, it was different.

“‹‹Golem Hand››” 

The stone hand was large enough to grab hold of an entire person. But as it grew up to the height of Ciel’s waist, the rock suddenly turned to sand and collapsed into a pile.

“Ahh...not again,” said Ciel. Her spell had collapsed and dispersed.

“You were so close! Actually Ciel, when did you even learn a spell like that?” asked Tesfia.

“Well, I’ve been picking it up little by little. But it’s still not complete.” Ciel shook her head, embarrassed. Like she said, she was still ways off from mastering the spell, and she was currently at a loss for how to proceed.

It had been like this for over a month. She’d taken the advice she got from teachers to lengthen her incantation, but it had only increased the amount of time before the rock turned into sand by a few seconds.

Tesfia looked at Ciel pensively. No matter how much she thought about it, it was unlikely that she’d be able to give Ciel any good advice. However, Alice seemed to be caught up on something and spoke up.

“Ciel, you’ve only ever used spells that change the shape of earth, right? So isn’t it strange to create a rock from that?”

“What do you mean? It’s the earth attribute, so isn’t that natural?” Tesfia asked, but Alice couldn’t give her a good answer and looked a little hesitant. If Alus were here, he’d surely be able to give a perfect answer that went deep into detail.

“Uhm... So this is just repeating what Al taught me, but people’s aptitude for magic is only really gathered under one attribute for the sake of convenience, but in reality there are actually different ways to manifest spells of the same attribute, and which way is best depends on the person. For example, Fia’s ice attribute could have people that are skilled at using small flakes of ice like a blizzard and those who use large lumps of ice.”

“I see. I’m confident at sculpting ice for my Icicle Sword, but not everyone who can use the ice attribute is good at that,” said Tesfia, clarifying what Alice had said.

“Yeah. And Ciel is probably used to imagining earth to manifest spells like Mud Hand. But now she’s suddenly creating rocks,” said Alice.

Tesfia seemed to understand. “True. It does look pretty brittle.”

“H-Huh? What does that mean? I can use other earth spells like Thorn Pierce,” said Ciel.

“But when manifesting, that’s not a rock itself, is it?” asked Alice.

“Hmm?” Ciel tilted her head in confusion. “When you put it like that, I guess not. I imagined packing earth together when casting Thorn Pierce. I see. So just increasing the hardness of earth doesn’t necessarily make it a rock. They look similar, but maybe it’s a different approach. I see,” said Ciel as her understanding dawned.

The misunderstanding had been solved, but it didn’t fix the fundamental issue. The three girls sat down and put their heads together to think of a solution.

Eventually, Alice came up with a suggestion. “Ciel, what is it that you want to do in the end? From what I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be any problem with the magic formula. I think the only bit left is shaping a better image of the spell when manifesting it. I also think that there’s that problem with the qualities of your mana. If you like, I could ask Al about it next time.”

“You would?!” asked Ciel. “Personally I’d love to learn magic the same way you two do. The method Alus taught me last time was something I never would have thought of, and it wasn’t the kind of idea the Institute would teach.”

“I know. Even if we asked the teachers about the approach we’re taking, we couldn’t hope for any proper advice...except maybe from the principal.”

Tesfia’s opinion was right on the mark. As far as Alus knew, the prevailing sense of modern magic relied too heavily on the image used to manifest a spell. That was the consequence of the development of assistance from AWRs and abbreviations of chants. But Alus had always objected to that method, believing that such shortcuts would end up being a detour. Therefore, he was beating his very own learning methods into these two. If not for Alus, they also would have long since hit a wall in learning their new spells.

“But this is a pretty vexing problem for users of the earth attribute.”

Ciel nodded at Tesfia’s words. Compared to the other attributes, the earth attribute had a wide variety of shapes and applications. It could be used for simple attacks or creating obstacles or capturing. Creating projectiles, walls. footholds in high places, and the like. The earth attribute seemed to consist of several attributes in one.

“I’ve been doing my best, researching and learning, but it seems like other earth attribute users are struggling too,” said Ciel.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t just Ciel. Most of the students had different strengths and weaknesses in terms of their learning speed and proficiency. Contrary to its plain appearance, her attribute had some of the biggest highs and lows.

Alice suddenly thought of something she had noticed while watching Loki train a few days back.

She then whispered her suggestion to the other two. “I have a feeling that the normal methods of the Institute won’t work.”

“What?!” That left both Tesfia and Ciel astonished.

Sensing stares turning towards them because of their loud exclamation, Tesfia and Ciel looked around with startled expressions. They weren’t the only ones using the free space for training. There were plenty of first-years and even some second-years. And because Tesfia and Alice had done rather well in the Friendship Magical Tournament, they received quite a bit of attention from everyone at the Institute at all times.

Not only had they been doing some strange training, now they were talking in secret, so it was only natural that they’d stir everyone’s curiosity.

Seeing the situation for what it was, Ciel got back on track and looked at Alice. “Then can I try consulting with Alus?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said. Why would you confirm it again?” Alice asked Ciel, who stuck out her tongue.

“I just felt like I should get your approval first.”

Ciel was genuinely trying to be considerate. She’d jumped to the conclusion that one of the two girls wanted to keep Alus to themselves. After giving her a vacant look, Alice finally realized Ciel’s intentions and gave her an awkward smile. “Ah, yes, it’s okay, so feel free to ask him. Also, the trick is to keep at it even if he looks fed up.”

“Y-Yeah, okay then!” Ciel said with relief, but Alice followed up with a question.

“That’s fine, but is that how we look? Like Al is one of our bodyguards, or...you know...our b-boyfriend? That’s pretty embarrassing.”

“Well, I’ve never seen Alus speak more than a few words to anyone other than you two. Oh, and Loki too.”

Ciel certainly made a good point. The way Alus built relationships was a little twisted for a student; it was only natural that he’d be labeled a loner. But Alus himself didn’t mind, so Tesfia and Alice weren’t sure what to think.

Alus’s ranking needed to be kept secret, but the two of them at least wanted him to enjoy his life as a student. Tesfia stopped to think, and her face turned sullen. Looking across from her, she saw Alice with the same expression, and the two smiled wryly at each other.

The problem, in short, was that Alus didn’t particularly want that kind of normal relationship. To him, the most comfortable student life was staying cooped up in the laboratory and devoting himself to his research. In fact, he only attended classes and writing tests because he had no choice.

He was fundamentally different from students who were there to learn.

Tesfia shook her head in resignation. “Well, maybe things are fine the way they are. It’s not like he doesn’t look happy doing that.”

“That’s true, and he’s steadily making new friends. Including a new one just the other day,” said Alice.

Tesfia questioned Alice’s dubious analysis. “You’re not talking about Lilisha, are you?”

“You got it!” said Alice.

Tesfia frowned and let out a heavy sigh. “That aside, we might look like a couple from a bystander’s point of view, huh?”

Student life was a way to enjoy one’s youth. Normally, that was the kind of topic that would get lively, but Tesfia expressed herself without emotion. If they vehemently denied the relationship, then they would push Alus further away from the student life he wanted, not to mention that Tesfia and Alice were also comfortable in the present, which let Tesfia to say:

“Just let them say whatever they want.”

Of course, her answer might have changed if she overheard her class whispering about it. That was when she suddenly caught sight of a certain person in the audience seating area off the training grounds. The figure stood out even among the people who had come to watch the students train.

That’s unusual. I wonder if she’s here for some kind of tour or inspection or something, thought Tesfia.

It wasn’t a student; it was an adult woman. She wore a coat over her body, and beneath it was a boldly opened V-neck shirt, revealing her bosom. The warmer outfit made sense for the season, but it didn’t quite fit in with the Institute.

At her side was a female staff member serving as a guide, seemingly explaining the Institute’s facilities to her. They made wide gestures while seeming to talk about this or that.

“What’s going on?” Alice asked, following Tesfia’s gaze.

When she did, the woman seemed to notice, because she smiled and waved at them. “Is she someone’s mother?” asked Alice.

“She doesn’t really look that old to me. Maybe she’s Ciel’s...” Tesfia said, turning the spotlight on Ciel.

“No way. She’s too beautiful.” Ciel denied it while giving the woman a bow. After that, the woman turned around and left the training grounds. While staring at her back, Ciel gave her honest impression.

“She was pretty erotic,” Ciel said after a pause.

“Ciel?! What are you going to do if she hears you?!” Tesfia rebuked Ciel although she had more or less agreed with the girl’s impression. But it was probably fine. There was no way she could have heard it from that distance.

Like the principal, it seemed all the sexy women seen in the Institute were showing off all their adult charms. Personally Tesfia would love nothing more than to deny that the reason was their ample breasts, but Ciel refused to read the room.

“Wow, that must be what they call a dynamite body,” said Ciel.

“Well, that aside, that woman was wearing a guest card around her neck, so maybe she was here for a tour after all.” Tesfia pondered.

“Who could say,” said Alice.

It wasn’t like worrying about it would do anything. While the paperwork was a pain, it wasn’t like the Institute was closed to outsiders, so parents or siblings and the like would visit from time to time.

“But that’s enough of a break,” Tesfia said and stood up. Alice followed suit.

“Yeah. I better get back to training and master this stage, so I can move on to the next stage,” said Alice, but as she stood, her heavy chest swayed a little.

Seeing that, Ciel let out a “But you’re pretty erotic too,” earning her cold stares from both Tesfia and Alice.

“Sorry, it just came out.” She excused herself with a sorrowful expression. Tesfia and Alice both frowned (but for different reasons) and ignored Ciel to get back to their training.

◇◇◇

At about the same time the results were posted, an unfamiliar visitor with a female staff member accompanying her was moving around the campus.

The Second Magical Institute had a near perfect manual for handling visitors, and because of its thoroughness, not just teachers but even administrators with free time could handle visitors.

That was, of course, because the Institute was funded by the government. This meant that it wasn’t just the students’ guardians who could visit the Institute. Anyone from Alpha could tour the campus as long as they went through all of the proper procedures. But that was just on the surface, as for security reasons not just anyone could walk around as they pleased.

Although information on the management, the number of pupils, and other aspects of the Institute were publicly available, outsiders were explicitly restricted from visiting without permission. As an educational organization with a responsibility to its students, they were particularly thorough in that aspect. The female visitor was no doubt one of the few exceptions.

“Next, please have a look at this building, Lady Cornelia,” the female staff member said, explaining the campus facilities one after another in a familiar manner. “This building consists of classrooms and the staff room, and it is where the majority of the lectures are held. Many among the teaching staff are also researchers; they carry out their research over in that building you can see over there.”

Just taking a look around the vast campus ground took a considerable amount of time. Because of that, the staff member kept the tour itself to the second floor of the main building and quickly moved on to explaining the next facility. The classrooms mostly had the same design, with the same furnishing, so there was no need to take a look at all of them.

The visitor, Cornelia, had appeared with a letter of introduction from a noble. When it came to important military or national figures, they were usually met by someone of appropriate stature. But in Cornelia’s case, the atmosphere wasn’t that heavy, and the contents of her letter of introduction had been very simple. All it had in it was a simple explanation of her status and a request to guide her around the campus.

Since the letter had come from Womruina, one of the three great noble families, it couldn’t be brushed away. And the female staff member assigned to give her a tour couldn’t lose her focus.

Additionally, Cornelia claimed that she belonged to the Crisis Management Committee, which meant she must have been a member of a state organization. Officially she was not here for any business but out of pure interest, but the Institute’s staff weren’t naive enough to take her for her word. They took after the Institute’s principal in that regard.

“Do you have any questions?” the staff member asked Cornelia after going through her explanation.

“I believe it’s fine... Ah, I do happen to have one question. Would all the teachers happen to be in the staff room right now?” Cornelia asked in a somewhat strange accent.

The female staff member answered right away. “That is not the case. Part-time lecturers use the staff room, but our regular teachers have individual rooms, so many of them return to their own rooms when they don’t have any lectures or need to prepare materials. Incidentally, there is an assembly hall for faculty members as well, but it is practically a faculty building now.”

“Is that so? Thank you,” Cornelia quickly said, although her tone made it sound like she had no interest in the answer despite being the one who had asked.

The female staff member took the lead, hearing the sharp sound of Cornelia’s heels striking the floor as they walked. She made sure the rude visitor could not see her cheeks twitch in response to Cornelia’s behavior.

She also tried to hide her expression in response to the excessive amounts of perfume the visitor wore, which she could smell even from a short distance. No matter how good it might smell, when something was this intense, it would numb the sense of smell. It also seemed to contain some unique ingredients. The staff member could tell it was something expensive, but she still found it a little vulgar. It seemed designed to stir the men who smelled it to get certain urges.

On that note, the visitor’s shirt beneath her coat was open wide at her chest, her cleavage on full display. She felt that this visitor could use a little more understanding of where she was; this was a place of learning. But as a staff member, she didn’t have the right to point that out. Besides, some of the students’ guardians showed the same lack of morals, so there was no end to warning them.

The guided tour continued through the archives and library.

“Next is the training grounds; these are pretty much a must for Magic Institutes. In addition to the required practical lessons, it is open to the students for independent training after class,” explained the staff member. Considering the organization the visitor was from, she also made sure to add some information about the security. “This Institute has increased its number of guards and strengthened the patrols that watch over the Institute twenty-four hours a day. On top of that, there are surveillance cameras, a mana detection system, and strict security systems in place.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, it has been pretty dangerous lately...” mused Cornelia.

“Ah, yes, as you say.” The staff member was taken off guard by Cornelia’s weak response to her explanation and briefly looked puzzled. As Cornelia was part of the Crisis Management Committee, she had expected the security to be vital to her.

Maybe she really had come only out of personal curiosity? With that doubt in mind, the staff member opened the door leading to the audience seats of the training room and guided Cornelia inside.

“With the students’ safety as our priority, we have a large-scale mana substitution system in place that is also used by the military. The only thing on the schedule today was the results being posted, so it is particularly busy here today. Our students are very passionate about training and learning spells.” The female staff member took a look at Cornelia, and at the same time, she looked at the students working hard to better themselves with a warm smile.

“What is that?” Cornelia pointed to the dark partitions lined up.

“Those are barriers set up for privacy. Anyone can use them, but they see particularly large use by the third-year students looking to join the military, as well as the children of nobles.”

“Hmm, look at them wriggling...” muttered Cornelia.

“Excuse me?”

The female staff member tilted her head at Cornelia’s mumbling, but all she got in response was a vague smile. The next moment, Cornelia furrowed her brows and her sharp eyes stared on a single point: three female students talked among themselves.

Suddenly one of them looked over. Cornelia answered with a smile, and the female staff member spoke up with pride.

“All of those students are hard workers. They spend every day training to become better Magicmasters. They all had good results at the last Seven Nations Friendship Magical Tournament. In fact, their hard work and effort are even an inspiration to the faculty and staff. And despite only being first-years, two among them are model students that have top class results.”

“Is that so? That’s enough of this place.” Cornelia’s coarse remark as she got up from the spectator’s seat betrayed the staff member’s expectations. She opened the door and walked out, unhappily frowning. “Ridiculous. It’s like a nest of brats...”

“I-Is something the matter?” asked the female staff member, rushing to Cornelia’s side with a laudable attitude.

But Cornelia answered in a cold tone. “Oh, it’s nothing...” But then as if having noticed something, she asked, “Oh, it’s about time. By the way, where would the AWR vault be?”

Cornelia—Mir Ostayka, currently in disguise—casually gave the female staff member who had no idea about the truth a venomous smile with plenty of malice behind it.

◇◇◇

Surely nobody had expected it.

Surely, they had all forgotten...

...that true peace didn’t exist and that they should prepare for evil all the while turning their eyes away from it.

So it wasn’t until they heard the footsteps of a nightmare that they finally remembered. It was then that they confronted evil and reaffirmed its existence.

Ah, to think evil was this close.

Tesfia, Alice, and Ciel were at the training grounds, each working on their own tasks. Students were normally discouraged from using the training grounds for long periods of time, but using a corner of it wasn’t too big of a problem.

They were able to spend their time training so intensely that they didn’t mind the stares. The damage substituting system was always in effect, even outside the partitions, but the three didn’t have any mock battles today. They got a few invitations from people they knew, but they turned them all down to focus on what they needed to do.

But no matter how much of a sweat they worked up and how much they exhausted themselves, Tesfia and Alice weren’t satisfied. It wasn’t like they weren’t putting their all into it, but something felt off. They didn’t even feel like they’d exceeded the levels of the other students. That was probably because they’d seen Loki’s training up close, and that was an example of how someone who’d fought on the front lines trained.

They couldn’t find the right way to describe it, but they were well aware that there was a decisive gap between them. It wasn’t a matter of difference in how earnest, passionate, zealous, or serious they were, but there was a real gap between them.

Tesfia stopped what she was doing and exhaled. She wiped away a bead of sweat with her sleeve and pondered, “I wonder what’s different...”

That difficult-to-scale wall didn’t just exist between her and Loki but with Alus as well. Perhaps it was the difference between those who knew the world and those who didn’t. She had only been out in the real world once on an extracurricular lesson. She’d learned a lot, but that was only a small part of it.

Tesfia remembered seeing Alus that one time. It wasn’t long after he had enrolled... He had probably been on his way out for a mission. She recalled his expression beneath the moonlight as she had happened to see him. His eyes read cold yet enlightened and were filled with a strong will, giving him a presence that was hard to approach.

Strict training or not, is it the difference between them and those of us who have grown up in the safety of this world? Or because I don’t know how cruel the world can truly be? The question floated up into Tesfia’s mind, but no matter how far she pursued it, she couldn’t find an answer.

“It doesn’t help to think about it, Fia. Loki dear is something else,” Alice, covered in more sweat than Tesfia, said. She had actually been thinking about the same thing just now.

Because they had seen how Loki trained, they’d been made aware of how poor their own training was. But regardless of how vexed they were, they knew that nothing would come from it. In the end, they would need to do what they could, which was to steadily build up themselves.

Even so, they felt impatient.

“I know, but...Alice, what do you think? Is it just a fundamental difference in resolution when training?”

Alice shook the end of her hair, which was soaked in sweat, and closed her eyes for a moment. Quietly exhaling, she spun her golden spear and lowered the tip with beautiful flowing movements before releasing her posture. “See, this is the limit of what I can do. It still hasn’t left the realm of martial arts, like it’s not enough to break through.”

The movements were beautiful, but they lacked impact. She felt like it was just a technique following a set form and nothing more. Those who had fought with their lives on the line and allowed their talents to blossom to their full potential had an indisputable persuasiveness and depth to their movements.

Meaning that she and Tesfia were just lacking the greatness that would come naturally to them.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Well, it’s not like I don’t understand. But does that mean that we’ll never reach that realm?” asked Tesfia.

Alice put her finger beneath her lip to think. “Hmm, how would I put this? I’m sure that people can’t ever really know.”

It was a rather vague phrasing, but Tesfia’s eyes opened wide as if she’d become convinced. She then closed her eyes, and with a cool expression, she quietly murmured a small truth to herself. “I see... Yeah, even Loki is a far way away.”

Tesfia looked a little happy, and Alice nodded and smiled. Interested, Ciel stopped her own training to call out to them. “What are you two talking about? You looked like you were talking about something really difficult and now you suddenly look so satisfied.”

“Well, simply put, it was about the difference in experience. Ahh, I wish I could go out into the Outer World more,” said Tesfia.

This time it was Ciel’s turn to open her eyes wide. She seemed to have been thinking about something herself as now her brow furrowed with an anxious look. “That’s true. It’s only an armchair theory, but it doesn’t really feel like just learning at the Institute will serve us in the future. Like what is this power for? Wait, did I sound like a brooding hero for a moment there?”

“You can be pretty sharp sometimes, Ciel,” Alice said, putting her hand on Ciel’s head and patting her fluffy hair with a bright smile. Ciel’s cheeks relaxed in response, and even Tesfia relaxed.

She looked down at her hands, slowly opening and closing her hands. “That’s true. What is this power for...? That’s what we need to know.”

They needed to accumulate experience, but that probably wasn’t something they should be in such a rush to get their hands on. Besides, if it was necessary, Alus would have definitely said something—it might have been disparaging words said mercilessly and without reservation, but it would’ve been advice to guide them to the peak he stood on.

Tesfia suddenly realized how much trust she had for him, and as she realized that, the sight of his cynical face appeared in her mind. Funnily enough, it was as easy for her to imagine as a lovestruck maiden thinking of the man she fancied. Feeling her cheeks unconsciously heat up, Tesfia firmly closed her mouth again.

“What’s with that face, Fia? I can’t tell if you’re twitching or smiling... It’s actually a little scary,” said Ciel.

Ciel’s dubious stare made Tesfia focus even more on keeping her facial muscles in check. “Y-You fink sho? It’s nhot a prohlem.”

“Fia, you know, you have a pretty rich imagination. You seem like the type that can see images in your head.”

Ciel had a sharp analytical ability, and Alice gave her an affirming nod.

Alice then wore a proud smile as if she knew everything. “Fia tends to make up things that are convenient for her in her mind. And it quickly shows on her face if she’s not careful.”

“N-No!” Tesfia denied it on pure reflex, and she blushed even harder as she tried to cover it up.

One would not expect to see such a relaxed moment during a training session, but because of the peaceful atmosphere around them, nobody around would blame them. Even that black-haired boy would have hesitated, were he here.

However...something happened that completely changed the atmosphere on the training grounds.

A huge impact radiated beneath their feet like an undulating wave. It was a massive tremor, as if the earth itself had split. Before long it had spread throughout the entire building, and a thunderous roar assaulted the students.

For a few seconds, everyone stopped as if they were frozen, then chaos began to unfold. People shouted, and the senior students were busy confirming that nobody was hurt.

Tesfia and the others were relieved the building hadn’t collapsed.

“Th-That was scary. What was that?” Ciel asked with relief, feigning calmness.

But Tesfia’s and Alice’s faces were completely pale and frozen. Then there was another explosive sound, and a moment later, the training ground’s roof was blown away as if torn off by a giant, invisible hand.

“Ciel!!!” Tesfia suddenly pushed Ciel away, and they both rolled across the ground.

Rubble rained from above, smashing to the ground. Fortunately, they had been in a corner, so nothing had happened to them. And because the senior students had been quick to evacuate, nobody appeared to have been buried beneath the rubble.

Even so, not everyone was unharmed. There were grunts of pain and cries for help.

“Th-Thank you, Fia...” said Ciel.

“Y-Yeah. But there’s something going on here,” said Tesfia, who was holding down Ciel’s petite body protectively, vigilantly only moving her head around.

Looking at the audience seats, Tesfia understood the cause of the incident and felt her heart begin to beat wildly. In the middle of the seating opposite them was a huge oval-shaped rock. It had blown away the seats, transforming the area around it.

Just looking at it left her speechless. Who could have expected a meteor to fall from the sky?

The next moment, a high-pitched scream echoed from somewhere outside the training grounds. It carried an unbelievable sense of urgency, giving Tesfia goose bumps from the tragedy she envisioned. One after another, the screams increased, all of them coming from the main building.

Scenes from when the mad scientist, Godma Barhong, and the dolls that served him had attacked the Institute came to mind. Since it had heavily concerned her best friend, Alice, it was still fresh in her mind. Fortunately, it had ended without incident thanks to the principal.

Tesfia looked over to Alice and found her staring at where the rock had crashed, expression grim. At that moment...

“Ms. Tesfia, Ms. Alice, everyone, please hurry up and evacuate,” a senior student said with an impatient look on her face. She was acquainted with the two.

“Senniat...” Alice recognized her. She was a second-year who had been working as a supervisor during the extracurricular lesson.

Ciel hurriedly stood up and began walking towards the aisle entrance on the opposite side of the grounds, but Alice looked as if she was against the evacuation. Tesfia’s expression was the same, and instead of following the instructions, she asked a question with a stern look.

“Senniat, have you heard anything about what’s going on outside?”

“No, I don’t know anything. Even so, it’s dangerous to stay here. So we need to begin by evacuating everyone, and then we can leave it up to security and the teachers,” Senniat said sternly, feeling responsibility as a second-year.

She was practically saying that now wasn’t the time for arguing. That said, Senniat understood that this was no mere accident. A massive rock crashing into the audience seat was nothing short of a joke.

“Then the people who can move should confirm the situation!” Tesfia shouted.

She felt her duty as a noble, but the abnormal presence coming from outside was what bothered her the most. It was like the mana was caressing her skin, and she couldn’t shake the chills she was feeling.

Alice nodded along with Tesfia, her golden spear in hand. The tremors and thunderous roars continued the entire time. Something abnormal was no doubt happening, and security was likely trying to deal with it outside. At the very least, magic was clearly being used. But if such powerful magic was being used on the campus, Tesfia could only imagine the worst possible scenario.

“I-I understand. But I can’t let you two go on your own.”

As Senniat said that, some seniors wielding their AWRs made their way over, having resolved themselves. They were all third-year students with offers from the military waiting for them. Student naivete was completely gone from their faces, and the leader among them was dauntless.

“Ms. Fable, this is indeed an emergency situation. I’ve been gathering a party to investigate what happened. We’re planning on helping the teachers if need be,” the male student said politely, yet concisely.

From what Tesfia could tell, he was a child from a noble family. And his polite words were likely due to him being conscious of her lineage.

Tesfia responded to the calm senior student in kind. “Yes, we were just talking about doing the same.”

The sweat she’d worked up during training had already gone cold and was starting to dry. The pride to uphold one’s duty as a noble was necessary at a time like this. While she felt the need to lead by example, Tesfia felt uneasy as she looked at the group. Alice was the same. The other students had a dangerous glint in their eyes.

They might be acting resolute, but their mana tells a different story, thought Tesfia.

Having reached a certain level of mana control, she and Alice could sense the wavering in the mana the third-years were emitting. Their senses, sharpened by Alus’s training, allowed them to sense the other students’ anxiety all the more clearly.

However, the leader ignored his own doubts and nodded firmly to himself as he looked between Senniat and Alice. “Second-year student, Senniat Fokmil, I take it you will come with us?” asked the third-year student.

“Yes, after escorting Ms. Ciel to safety. I am worried about Ms. Tesfia, after all.”

“All right. Then what about you?” he asked, looking at Alice.

“I’m going with Fia,” she answered with resolve.

And while the other reacted with hesitation, the leader slightly nodded to her. “Well, you are Ms. Fable’s friend, and there doesn’t seem to be any need to worry about your abilities.”

Giving her a glance, he seemed to be leaving the decision of Alice accompanying her up to Tesfia. The senior was acting out of respect for the prestige of the Fable family rather than his own pride. Although it was admirable, it was also a little unreliable. But to Tesfia at that moment it was a godsend.

“I understand.” She nodded, and he began explaining.

“Bringing the junior students to safety is our duty as seniors, but Fable and Tilake abilities are beyond all doubt.” He got right to work giving orders. “First, we’ll split into two groups. The third-years and I will head towards the main building, where we can hear the sounds of battle. Fable, I want your group to move behind the main building, and I want this person to accompany you.”

A third-year student stepped forward, but Tesfia’s and Alice’s faces showed bitterness. The student didn’t look particularly reliable to them thanks to his anxious expression. But since they were splitting into groups, it was only natural that they would get another student in their group.

“I want you to secure an evacuation route. Follow the teachers’ orders and avoid getting into any combat as much as you can,” said the third-year.

The explosive sounds had stopped for now, but there had definitely been fierce combat near the main building. If something had happened, it was there.

Tesfia steeled herself and raised her voice. “This is an abnormal situation, so there is only so much we students can do. So I think we should try to help any injured. The sounds of battle are probably from an act of terrorism or intruders, so it might be better to head for the main building in a smaller group.”

She spoke with the pride of a noble. But most of all, she was exploiting the third-year students’ excessive sense of justice. If they were standing up as nobles, then as a high-ranking noble, Tesfia wanted to take the initiative to take the lead. Besides, with their level of mana control, they might not be able to handle what they found. On top of that, they had been training up until now and were likely more exhausted than Tesfia and Alice.

The leader digested Tesfia’s suggestion and thought for a while before reaching a decision.

“Then can I ask you to go to the main building and confirm the situation?” Splitting up into two groups was the best way to gather as much information as possible, but he still looked worried. “If you feel you’re in danger, make sure to run away.”

“Yes, Alice and I will go confirm the situation.”

But just as relief washed over Tesfia, the third-year leader said, “No, we can’t leave it to the two of you. Senniat Fokmil should do it.”

As he said it, he sent Senniat a timid look. He wanted her to make the decision and take responsibility if the time came. Senniat was the only one who could do it instead of Tesfia, who stood for the Fable name.

“I understand. Ms. Tesfia, Ms. Alice, I trust you don’t mind. If you can’t accept this, you can forget about this entire thing,” said Senniat.

Tesfia and Alice both nodded. The leader picked two more from the group and assigned them to lead the evacuations. And so they ultimately split into three groups: the evacuation group, the third-year group, and the Tesfia group.

The evacuation group headed for the exit with Ciel.

“Don’t be reckless, you two. And, Alice, don’t take your eyes off Fia,” said Ciel.

“Why are you singling out me?!” Ciel worriedly looked over at a somewhat furious Tesfia.

“Don’t worry. I will watch over the two of them.” Senniat smiled at Ciel, which finally put her at ease. Then she spoke with resolution, “Then let us go, Ms. Tesfia, Ms. Alice.”

The three moved through the side entrance and left the training grounds. Once outside, they could see thick, black smoke rising up from several places. There were signs of destruction here and there, and they unintentionally gulped at the sight.

“N-No way.” Alice’s eyes opened wide in shock.

The research building that had Alus’s laboratory had been seriously damaged. There were crescent-shaped scars, like giant claws had cut it, and half of the building had collapsed. Tesfia stared like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Alus’s laboratory that they visited every day was now bare and exposed to the elements.

Seeing the two standing still, Senniat called out to them. “You two! With this much damage, this is without a doubt an emergency. Let’s move along the shadows of the buildings and—Tesfia! Alice!” Calling out to them a second time, the two finally returned to their senses and looked at Senniat. “I know you’re in shock. But it’s too dangerous to space out right now!”

“I-I’m fine. R-Regardless of what happened or who did it, we need to find a safe evacuation route,” Tesfia said, as if to convince herself.

The three of them moved, taking advantage of the blind spots in the building. The familiar Institute had completely changed. Confusion and unrest took hold, and the sight made it feel like their uniforms were out of place.

They held their breath and suppressed their mana as they moved. Not long after they began, they came close to the entrance to the main building. The distance normally only took a few minutes, but it had taken them more than ten this time.

Tesfia stuck part of her face out from the side of the wall to take a peek. The shocking scene made her bite down on her lip to keep herself from screaming. In her panic, she quickly returned to the shadow of the building, and without paying any attention to Alice or Senniat, she leaned against the wall and slid down. She sobbed and tears welled up in her eyes.

When they saw Tesfia holding her hands over her mouth, they took a peek as well.

And what they saw there was a one-sided massacre. That was why the sounds of battle had stopped. The plaza in front of the entrance was littered with bodies. Blood gathered in the gaps between the cobblestone, ran like a river where it overflowed.

The horrid sight was enough for anyone to look away. Some had their limbs broken; others were cut in half... The majority were security, but some teachers seemed to have fallen as well.

It was like a scene from hell. The only saving grace was that the hundred or so students in the main building, as well as the teachers, who had given up on resisting seemed to be okay. They were on their knees with their hands on the backs of their heads. They were pale from the shock, and the sudden slaughter had left them in despair.

“Wha... What the hell?!” Senniat spat out after returning to the shadow of the building. With a pale face, she gripped her bangs. She somehow managed to pull herself together and remember her duty. “W-We’re turning back right now! I won’t accept any objections.”

“But...” Alice slightly raised her eyebrows and looked over to her side at Tesfia, who had a difficult-to-describe expression.

Was she shocked or trembling with anger? Or perhaps it was neither. She had squeezed her hands into fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms and spilled blood.

But her appearance was enough for Senniat’s sense of danger to start warning her. “S-Stop! From the looks of everyone in there, there must be multiple attackers, and the survivors are being forced to follow their orders. And if they’re a group, then there is definitely a mastermind in charge! We have to confirm that first. From what I can see there are ten of them. Not even the teachers or security could stand a chance against them. We need to gather information and bring it back to everyone.”

Tesfia looked at her with despair and anger. She wanted to charge in immediately, but that compromise was the best that Senniat could offer.

Was it her personality or her pride as a noble that made her so dangerous? While faced with those emotions, Senniat resolved herself to protect Tesfia and Alice no matter what.

She peeked out from the shadow of the building again. “Still, not all of the attackers have hidden their faces, and looking at their numbers, there are five...nine...twelve of them. They probably all have AWRs.”

“No, there should have been one who didn’t have it. He is probably the leader. I got a good look you know!” Tesfia said, having calmed down a little.

“What?!” asked Senniat.

Tesfia appeared to have been completely swallowed by her emotions, but it was to be expected of a brilliant novice Magicmaster and the daughter of the Fable family.

Senniat hurriedly took another look and found a man in an overcoat boldly standing in the middle of the plaza as if overwhelming his surroundings. He didn’t have anything that looked like an AWR on him, but the smile on his lips made it look like he was enjoying the situation.

At some point, one of the attackers had dragged over a security guard who was still drawing breath. The guard was breathing raggedly, groaning from pain at the wound to his abdomen. The man in the overcoat and his ally coldly looked down at the poor victim.

“S-Stop it!” the man’s voice rang out.

“What are you after?! Y-You don’t have to hurt anyone else!” A male teacher stood up from the group of hostages. His voice was trembling a little as he bravely questioned the attackers.

Unable to just listen, Tesfia lined up next to Senniat to peek around the building. One of the attackers twisted the male teacher’s arm behind his back and then stabbed a knife into his thigh.

“Aaaagghhh!!!” the man cried as the attacker threw him to the ground.

“You’re not the one who gets to decide that,” the attacker said with a grin.

Next, the man who’d dragged the security guard over made a suggestion to the man in the overcoat. “I know. Why don’t we use him, Dante?”

“Hmm, you’ve already lost your patience? Well, fine. Do whatever you want,” the assumed leader, Dante, said briefly. His tone was flat, as if he’d just given permission to a subordinate to play around a little and kill time. But his choice of words made it apparent that he didn’t care for the life of people.

The attacker happily nodded and told the other attacker to drag the teacher he’d stabbed over to him, knife and all. He then grabbed the injured guard and teacher by the collars and dragged them in front of the pile of corpses.

Letting go of the teacher’s collar, he looked at the guard and spoke. “Teach, we have one knife here. If you use this to kill this guy, we won’t kill you. As a bonus, we’ll release about half the students.”

When told that, the teacher’s eyes opened wide and his body froze. Sweat beads ran down his forehead as all of the students attentively listened to him. All of the attackers looked on like it was a spectacle. The teacher looked up at the man who had made such a cruel declaration with desperation in his eyes.

“Whatcha looking at me for? You’ve already got a knife in your leg. Use that. This guy’s going to die either way. You might have a severed aorta too. That’s a lot of blood, so you better hurry, Teach,” taunted the attacker.

Would he choose to die from blood loss, or hurry up the death of a security guard who would die one way or another? It was clear that all of the students, forced to look down, were focusing on the teacher’s answer.

“D-Don’t be stupid,” the male teacher said with clattering teeth, looking up at the attacker who’d made the insane suggestion. However, the other side didn’t seem to be in a particularly bad mood, as expected. Instead he acted as if he’d anticipated that reaction and gave him an eerie smile.

“What a model answer,” he said, reaching for the teacher’s thigh and violently pulling out the knife. The male teacher groaned, and the attacker coldly stared as blood poured out. “Well, you’ll die either way,” he said and wiped the knife clean on the teacher’s clothes.

Tesfia instinctively leaned forward at the violent scene, but Senniat desperately grabbed her clothes and stopped her. She could easily imagine what Tesfia was thinking based purely on her expression. Tesfia was on the verge of blowing her top, and her shaking fist was the biggest sign of that.

“Stop it! You need to calm down. Nothing will come from us going out there!” Senniat’s reprimanding voice trembled.

Like Tesfia, she’d witnessed that scene, which was like cruelty given form. And that was all the more reason for her to stop Tesfia or Alice from going. Her calm was bolstered by her fear, and it overwrote any anger she felt. She knew it was weak, but Senniat believed she had to evacuate the two no matter what, even if it was by force.

“Let’s retreat.”

Tesfia looked back as if to object, and Senniat couldn’t look her directly in the eyes.

“So are you just going to leave them to die?! I can’t do that!” said Tesfia.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” said Senniat. “But what can we even do if we go out there? There will only be more victims.” Senniat gritted her teeth in helplessness.

Tesfia bit her lip, then said, “If only Al was here... He would definitely manage something!”

It sounded like leaving it to someone else, but she understood that Senniat was right, and she believed in that boy’s strength. Even without Alus here, she couldn’t help but think that way.

It wasn’t like she was underestimating the attackers. If anything, she was prepared for the risk of death as foolhardiness born of youth and righteous indignation welled up within her.

She felt that was the point of being a noble. Because of the blood that ran through her veins, she needed to be nobler and braver than anyone else. If not, she wouldn’t have come to the Magical Institute to begin with. Having started to walk her path, Tesfia couldn’t follow Senniat’s instructions.

Eventually, the attacker moved behind the male teacher and swung the knife down with an underhand grip. When she saw that, Tesfia’s body moved on its own. She put her hand on her sword, leaned forward, and took a step forward.

But as she did, a strange, continuous sound echoed around the surroundings. At the edge of their vision, they could see pillars shooting up from the ground. It appeared to be some kind of mechanism burrowed beneath the Institute.

Tesfia looked back at Senniat.

The mechanism had appeared once before when Sisty had repelled a taboo spell assaulting the Institute. They were magic towers that had supported the former Single Digit Magicmaster, which meant that she was making her move.

“The principal is coming! We just have to buy enough time until then!” Tesfia said to Senniat as if it were an absolute truth. The attackers seemed taken aback by the appearing towers. So if they moved now...

“Yeah! If all we have to do is rescue that teacher and retreat, then we can do it!” Alice agreed with Tesfia and looked to Senniat.

“Senniat, keep them in check and make preparations for escaping. Does that work for you, Fia?” asked Alice.

“Yeah!” said Tesfia.

Despite how nervous she was, Alice’s face glowed with the pride of doing the right thing. With that, their plan was in place.

But the next moment, a large, sharp branch ran across the wall and attacked Tesfia’s slightly exposed body. The branch moved like it had a will of its own, surging from one of the attacker’s feet.

“They’ve found us!” Tesfia swiftly dodged the branch and started running. Alice ran after her.

The branch they dodged destroyed a wall and then stopped rather than going after Senniat. It seemed he hadn’t noticed Senniat’s presence with Tesfia and Alice. That meant she could launch an ambush... With that, the girls began their plan to save the male teacher.

The principal will come soon! And if everyone rises up to resist with this, we might even be able to capture the attackers! thought Tesfia.

Of course, it also meant killing the opponent. As that thought ran through Tesfia’s mind, she gripped her katana harder.

Meanwhile, the attacker didn’t show much concern for Tesfia and Alice, doing nothing more than looking at them. He was drenched in blood that had splattered on him, but the way he appeared completely unfazed was abnormal.

The man who’d launched a giant branch at them now stood in Tesfia and Alice’s path instead. He appeared to be a tired and balding middle-aged man with a twig in his mouth. He clicked his tongue in annoyance at the fact that they’d avoided his attack, frowning at the bother.

They needed to take out the two attackers in their way. Tesfia resolved herself for it. They needed to be neutralized swiftly and without fail.

“Tsk...you’re pretty quick for some rats!” the bald man said eerily as he lightly tossed the twig. When he did, it started growing explosively fast and stretched out towards the two.

Tesfia and Alice split up at the last moment and barely dodged the attack. They heard the sound of cobblestone ground being smashed behind them by the sharp branches.

“Fia!” yelled Alice.

Tesfia nodded at Alice, and Alice left a gap between her and Tesfia to focus her attack on the man with the branches. She pulled back her arms, gripping her golden spear, and a pale magical light instantly enveloped the blade.

“‹‹Sirislate››!” 

As Alice thrust the spear, light shot towards the man. He responded by creating a wooden shield with twisted tree rings and a mirrorlike luster of mana. But the thrust of light easily pierced the shield and grazed his abdomen, burning his clothes. His exposed skin began to ooze blood.

However, Alice’s real target hadn’t been him but the man with the knife. In order to create an opening to save the male teacher, she’d moved to line up the bald man and knife-wielding man.

Before Alice could speak, the man with the knife took a single step to dodge Alice’s spell. Despite showing no concern, he had been surprisingly alert. But there was still a slight gap between the attacker and the male teacher.

Having slightly lost his balance, the man with the knife looked at Alice. His thin smile disappeared and he stared at Alice, his eyes sharp like a predator. Then a horizontal swing assaulted him, but he blocked it with his knife, and there was a metallic sound as he retreated a little to ward off the power.

“Are you okay?! Someone, help him...!” Tesfia shouted, but none of the students moved. Or rather, some steeled themselves and tried to stand up, but a powerful wave of mana forced them back down.

It came from the leader of the attackers, who remained unmoving with his arms crossed—they called him Dante.

It wasn’t the amount of mana but rather his presence that gave off so much pressure. They were forced to acknowledge that he was in a dimension of his own. It was probably Tesfia’s intuition as a Magicmaster that made her realize that, and she recognized it as the source of the chill she’d felt in the training grounds.

Tesfia couldn’t even look directly at the unmoving man. This was the first time she’d felt so much fear from intimidation through mana. It was like her heart was being squeezed, and sweat poured down from her forehead.

“Dante, you don’t mind if I kill her, do ya?”

With a snap of his wrist, the man with the knife began walking towards her with a grin. Tesfia swung her katana sideways again, also using Ice Blade to cover the blade in ice. But the man just swung the knife two, then three times, and the ice fell off.

Dante didn’t so much as look over at the skirmish as he answered the man. “Yeah, if she resists, just kill her.”

That alone was enough to completely remove any fighting spirit from the other students.

His eyes, his voice, and his mana were enough to crush any will to resist. Tesfia was no exception to his influence, and if she lost her willpower even once, she would struggle to even remain standing. So she controlled her mana as well as she could and took a deep breath.

Her goal wasn’t the attackers’ leader, Dante. Right now she only needed to deal with the man in front of her.

“So there you have it! You have bigger problems on your hands than some dying teacher,” said the man with the knife as he crouched down and abruptly put his weight on one of his legs. The next moment, he seemed to have disappeared, only to have moved right in front of Tesfia.

The oncoming sense of death made her stop breathing. Only her training allowed her to move her body. She swung her katana down, but he swung his knife towards her throat faster.

Images of her death ran through Tesfia’s mind. Quickly, she twisted her neck and turned her upper body to escape the deadly blade. The cold knife grazed her neck, and the fear of blood spurting out made her cower.

She brought her hand to her neck, as if to make sure that her head was still connected to her body. When she saw a red line of blood on her hand, she gulped by reflex. That was more than enough for her to realize the difference in their experience fighting, or rather in killing.

Seeing Tesfia like that, the man sneered at her. “Take a look at your feet—the ground’s red with your teacher’s blood. As for this guy...ah, he’s already started going cold,” the man said, his face the very definition of repulsive, contorted as it was in amusement over the pooling blood.

As Tesfia ground her teeth, the man continued to speak without end. “Finally, some reckless idiot showed up. I was getting tired of the lack of resistance. So do your best to put up a fight; it’ll be more fun for me too.”

Tesfia glared but said nothing to the man, who was in high spirits that the kind of person he’d waited for had finally shown up. The attackers were completely outnumbered but completely composed.

Seeing as the guards and teachers had been taken out without standing a chance, each attacker was no doubt skilled. Even so, there were far too few of them to control the entirety of the vast campus, and the Institute had an adequate number of security guards and teachers for the campus.

So what were they after? What were they hoping to accomplish by taking the students hostage? From the look of it, they were just madmen who took pleasure in killing.

The students who’d wanted to respond to Tesfia’s call would eventually join the military as Magicmasters. They might still be amateurs, but they were still a force to be reckoned with. And maybe the attackers were fully aware of that...and were waiting around here for something.

As proof of that, the leader, Dante, had said to kill the students if they resisted. In other words, they would not be killed as long as they didn’t resist.

They seemed to have some goal in mind. And Dante’s words had proven very effective. Whether it was on purpose or not, his declaration had deprived the hostages of their will to resist.

One’s state of mind was particularly fragile when faced with an extraordinary situation. There was no guarantee the attackers would ever hold their word, but when given a low-risk option that avoided the worst possible scenario, people tended to cling to it.

At the moment, the attackers had absolute power over whether the hostages lived or died. In that sense, the situation was far more serious than Tesfia had expected, but that was all the more reason she couldn’t accept it. She would never accept the way they so casually played with lives and spilled blood for no reason.

“It will be fun? Do you people not feel a thing?!” Tesfia practically burst, burning with anger. Having been born and raised as a noble of a great house, perhaps it was impossible for her to ever understand how criminals thought. That said, she was well aware there was more to the world than just beauty.

Due to weakness, sometimes from poverty, sometimes from anger, people would at times disturb order, lose reason, and kill innocent people like wild beasts. That might have been a daily occurrence in parts of the world she never saw.

However, the people in front of Tesfia right now most definitely had their wits about them. In fact, they were enjoying the harm they caused, like people’s lives were nothing but toys to them. It was an act that exceeded what a normal person would be capable of, as if they were demons wearing human skin.

“Huh? Now ain’t this hilarious. Are students nowadays all this stupid?”

Tesfia rushed forward in anger at the man who laughed at the cries of her heart. A burning indignation welled up from the depths of her soul. She felt ridiculous for even talking to such a brute. He was evil in the shape of a person; words wouldn’t work on him.

She unleashed her mana and unconsciously controlled it. It converged in her body and froze the blade of her katana, Kikuri. She didn’t underestimate her opponent, who only had a knife, but she wasn’t going to wait and see what he did.

Behind Tesfia, a sword of ice formed.

“‹‹Zepel››” 

She incanted the spell in her head as she approached the man, and a massive ice sword froze the air. But in the next moment, her eyes opened wide. She had been unable to process his move. He neither dodged nor blocked, just closed in on her instead.

With Tesfia’s ice sword, she had the advantage in reach, but he had closed in so fast that she had no choice but to block his attack with Kikuri. On top of that, his knife was clad in mana, turning red from the extreme heat.

It slid off the edge of Kikuri’s blade and into Tesfia’s left shoulder, cutting her flesh. A foul burning smell from either blood or flesh reached her nose. Tesfia couldn’t comprehend what had happened. As blood splattered, Zepel collapsed with a cracking sound.

Tesfia held her breath to endure the pain and dropped her left hand. She carried out the swing of her katana with just her right hand. The man let go of his knife at that moment. He made a pinching gesture with his thumb and index finger and twisted it into Tesfia’s collarbone.

“Ack!!!”

The sound of her collarbone breaking reverberated through Tesfia’s whole body. Somehow, she managed to keep her grip on her katana, but the numbness in her right hand greatly reduced her grip strength.

Their way of fighting was too distinct. She relied fully on magic, and this man’s tactics were fundamentally different.

The pain turned her head into a jumbled mess, and her thoughts were incoherent. Next, fear and irritation set in. She had thought that her sense of justice, her sword, and her power would work against the cruel reality of the world.

When she had once faced a Fiend, she hadn’t succumbed to fear. She had protected her best friend, Alice, before the threat of its poisonous fangs. But the foundation of pride and confidence she had gained from that was starting to crumble.

The fear from the unimaginable malice and the threat of death from these polished killers was worse than what she had once overcome. Her soul felt bound and her legs paralyzed.

But even then...! she thought. Recovering her will, she instantly constructed an Icicle Sword above her. It was of course nothing but a rough-hewn lump of ice, but it was still the best choice in this situation.

She wanted to crack the thin smile of the enemy who stood before her convinced of his victory. While it didn’t fly the way she aimed, the Icicle Sword crashed down right in front of her nose and successfully divided the two of them.

Tesfia believed she had managed to stop the deadly follow-up, but she saw something moving in the depths of the deep blue of the ice sword. In the next moment, she felt an impact from the side.

Splattered specks of blood fell on the Icicle Sword’s surface and dripped down. She realized that blood was coming out of her mouth.

“Ugh, aaaahhhh!!!”

A pain unlike anything she’d ever felt before assaulted her left flank. When she looked down, she saw the man’s right hand firmly grasping her flesh. The movement she had seen through the sword had been his thrusting hand.

Intense heat came from the man’s hand, and parts of Tesfia’s clothes burned. Tesfia thrust her hand at the man, but he didn’t so much as budge. Instead, he put more power into his hand as if to tear the flesh to pieces.

Tesfia’s vision blurred, and she saw the man’s dark grin as he watched as her flesh burn. A trickle of blood ran down his forehead from a glancing blow from Icicle Sword, but the man paid it no heed.

Tesfia let out a low groan. The taste of blood filled her mouth, and it was difficult to even breathe. Even so, she forced herself on despite the pain, looking to cut off his wrist by swinging her katana back. That man had no choice but to pull back when he saw the slash. When he did, Tesfia dropped to her knees on the spot.

Dark blood poured out of the open hole in her flank, and there was a burning stench. The sight was almost enough to paralyze her mind with pain and mental shock. It showed how powerless she really was.

Again, she hadn’t had enough power...

Tesfia vacantly stared down at the ground as a trickle of blood ran down her mouth.

◇◇◇

Alice was fighting against the bald earth magic user, and she had no leeway to look at how Tesfia was doing.

She was quite confident in her spearmanship, and she felt her skills had improved during her mock battles against Alus, yet she couldn’t do anything but focus.

Even now, her rapidly thrust spear was casually brushed aside by the long weapon the man had created through earth magic. The weapon he was using looked very much like thin sticks twisted and intertwined together.

But when their weapons clashed, it sounded like metal against metal. The man was hardening his weapon through mana. Even with her golden spear, Shangdi Fides, there were many clashes where it was outmatched.

The man’s skilled spear handling was slowly forcing Alice back.

The man leaned forward, wasting no time and delivering stabs, forcefully closing the distance to pressure the retreating Alice. If she didn’t focus her very being, even the current balance she barely maintained would collapse.

Where the man was looking, how his muscles moved, the angle of his elbows, the position of his feet, even while analyzing all the information she could get, she was still at a disadvantage. Alice couldn’t think of anyone this formidable aside from Alus. At this rate, she would eventually be cornered and find herself on the receiving end of a fatal blow.

Alice could sense that was gradually inching towards defeat, like she was being pushed towards a cliff’s edge, and the anxiety showed on her face.

“It’s almost a waste. You’re pretty good. But, well, a brat never should have expected to beat an adult,” he said. Despite the rapid thrusts, the man wasn’t struggling for breath in the slightest.

“J-Just because you’re an adult...” Alice desperately tried to retort but eventually fell silent.

Her breathing was thrown off rhythm because she’d forced herself to speak. She had been taking small breaths, but the slight lapse in focus had been all it took for her to struggle to breathe. As Alice hurriedly tried to take a deep breath, the man exploited the opening to rain down a violent string of thrusts.

Alice gasped and moved her golden spear to block them, but the man just smiled. “Whoever could’ve taught you, young lady? I never had a teacher like that. Oh how jealous I am.”

“Shut... Ugh!” As Alice tried to retort, the man’s spear grazed her. Blood splattered and soon started running down her cheek. In response. Alice focused on suppressing her emotions.

She brought her spear to the ground and blocked the next heavy attack. The man whistled, impressed, and then mercilessly followed up with multiple attacks. Alice was unable to read all of them. The best she could do was avoid any fatal hits.

“Miss, you’re looking to become a Magicmaster, aren’t ya? Then a serious injury to your arm will create problems in the future, won’t it? Your arm, your arm, your arm.”

The man’s spear thrusts became even sharper and faster. Alice held her golden spear in both hands to block the attacks, but then the tip of the opponent’s spear caught the skin between Alice’s fingers and tore it to shreds.

“Looks like it got your left hand instead,” he taunted.

Alice jumped far back and couldn’t help but let her left hand slump down. The area between her fingers had a deep tear, and blood ran down her fingers, dripping to the ground.

The man grinned and spun his spear, lazily letting it rest on his shoulder. His slumped posture made the spear look heavier than it was.

“Now then, you can’t use your left hand anymore. If you don’t get it checked out, you might never use those fingers again. I bet you’ll struggle as a Magicmaster like that too,” the man said to provoke her. It was unclear if that was for tactical reasons or not, but in reality, Alice’s defense had dulled and she was giving him an opening.

“Adults are scary, aren’t they? If you survive, you might get it treated, but if you die, it will be for nothing. In fact, why not just try running away?” Beneath his grinning face lurked sadism and cruelty.

Alice’s instincts told her not to turn her back on this man, no matter what. With her trembling right hand, Alice held the spear halfway up, trying to use it with a single hand. Doing so made her shudder when she exhaled.

I can’t use Sirislate. He’ll easily avoid my attacks unless I do something unexpected, she thought.

With the golden spear in hand, Alice used her arm to cover it as she secretly removed the rings from it and made them float.

Suddenly, the man turned a little wary of Alice, having perhaps sensed the fluctuation of her mana. However, that was only for a moment. After some time, the man seemed to think it was nothing, and the crude smile returned to his face.

“Is that some pointless trick you’re planning? Ya just don’t get it, kid. Oh, sorry about that. I haven’t talked with anyone for a long time, so my mouth’s got a little lonely.”

“Hehe, are you sure you should be so casual about this?” Alice forced a smile as she continued moving the rings.

“Casual? You got that wrong. Well, since you’re a student, let me teach you. Here, look at this...” The man pointed at a scar on his stomach. It was the remains of the first bit of damage he had taken from Alice when she’d pierced his wooden shield.

She didn’t know what he was going to say, but cautiously watching the man, Alice intended to use this time to catch her breath.

“You won’t kill an opponent through their stomach. A real adult aims here, get it?” the man said, pointing to his head with an ugly, mocking smile. “Fighting a spear user who sticks to the textbook is so easy and boring. Do you still think this is some sort of mock battle with rules?”

He started laughing.

He was right on that point. If she had been using her spearmanship to kill and neutralize the enemy in a single attack, she should have aimed for a vital spot. Having the enemy point out her naivete made Alice bite her lip. She felt that was the primary reason she had no chance of winning this fight.

Alice looked down at her golden spear.

A Magicmaster’s greatest enemy was the Fiends. They didn’t polish their skills to turn them on people. So when faced against someone who trained to kill people, they found themselves lacking in resolve and technique.

The power to protect sounded more like lip service right now. Faced with an enemy who coldly aimed for her life, her resolve was dulled in comparison.

In the past, Alus had said his martial arts were self-taught. He made constant adjustments, striving to improve his efficiency, and Alus didn’t just have experience against Fiends but also against fighting people. As a result, the techniques he’d studied and refined for all possible angles had become truly unique to him.

Meanwhile, Alice was just polishing her spearmanship that fit the standard mold. She hadn’t added her own tricks to it, and there was no resolve in it. In the end, she was only capable of fighting nice-looking mock battles. Fighting a real battle against a villain that was used to killing was out of the question.

“Ya get it? If you can’t be ruthless against your enemy, don’t get involved.” With that, the man lowered his posture and readied his wooden spear, ready to end this battle.

As the man was about to step in, quiet screams came from the students who had been secretly watching the fighting. When Alice looked over, she saw a figure being thrown through the air from a heavy impact. Red hair fluttered and blood scattered... The body landed in front of the entrance to the main building and remained still.

When she saw that beat-up figure, Alice turned pale.

It was Tesfia, of all people. And the way she didn’t even brace herself made it look like she was dead.

As Alice was left speechless, Tesfia’s body suddenly shuddered and she groaned. Alice was relieved her friend was still alive, but only for a moment. Her face turned pale when she noticed a large pool of blood on the ground.

Tesfia’s convulsive movements continued, and it was clear that she was seriously injured and on the verge of death.

“Fia!!!”

The cost of Alice taking her attention away from her enemy for a moment was high. The bald man stepped rapidly in and thrust his spear at a range too close to dodge.

“Reflec—”

Seeing the sharp thrust of the tree spear, Alice quickly tried to deploy magic while holding her golden spear. As the blade glowed, she tried to bring up her defense in time...but the spear pierced the base of her shoulder before she could manage.

“Ugh...!” An intense pain of flesh and bone being pierced assailed her, and she let a groan slip.

The man attempted to thrust the spear deeper, and she responded by wielding her spear in a single hand. However, it was not much more than an amateur wielding a branch and putting up a clumsy opposition.

Alice let out a magically enhanced thrust, which the man easily dodged. He kicked her chest—hard. The sound of her ribs breaking rang out, and her body was blown back. She crashed into the wall of a nearby building.

A shock of intense pain rippled through her back, and she felt the bones in her body creaking. She could feel blood run down from the back of her head to her neck. She tried to focus on the slowly approaching enemy through her blurry vision, but her consciousness was drifting away.

“Hmm? Did ya die? Well, no hard feelings, but just in case, I’ll finish you off,” the man said as he approached. His footsteps were the very sound of death coming for her.

But suddenly, his gait was disturbed. He began to wobble and stagger as if he were drunk.

“Oh?” When the bald man looked down at his legs, he was surprised. “Hmm...so you sneakily aimed for my legs. But going for them just shows that you’re still just a kid.”

There was a deep wound in the man’s shin. Blood poured out, but he didn’t seem particularly concerned. If anything, he was a little exasperated that despite Alice’s desperate attack, she hadn’t aimed for the head.

Behind the shrugging man, a ring fell to the ground. The spear and rings of Shangdi Fides were made from the same material. And Alus had made it so that the rings could function as separate AWRs.

In exchange for getting kicked, Alice had cast Sirislate from the ring she’d slipped behind the man. While the attack from his blind spot had only manifested at a fifth of the ring’s usual power, it had accurately hit the man.

Despite his limping leg, the man continued hobbling towards her to finish the job, spinning his spear in his right hand before pointing the tip at Alice.

“With how big I am, it’s hard to miss. Yet why would you not aim to kill?” the man asked, looking down at Alice and holding his spear aloft.

After the man thrust it, the tip of the spear made from intertwining branches split and spread in three directions. But before Alice could see what effect that had, the wooden spear was cut to pieces.

The man stiffened. Wind had suddenly been created in front of him. “The hell is this?!” The bald attacker was taken aback by surprise, but a beat later, blood spurted out from all over his body. His body had been cut all over, and none of them were shallow.

Even his face was covered in blood. In preparation for the next attack, the man retreated behind a series of arching trunks he created as a shield. Even a follow-up attack shouldn’t have been able to break through that wooden shield.

But in the next moment, the cannonball of wind ripped up the wooden shield and sent the man’s body flying. The most he could do was use his arms to cover his face before he slammed into the nearby laboratory wall where he was cruelly crushed. It was like a red flower had bloomed on the wall.

“So I was late. This is horrible...!” a figure muttered in lamentation, slowly landing next to Alice with a gust of wind.

Sisty’s expression was filled with regret. Her face and clothes were splattered with blood. She had arrived at the scene after dealing with other intruders, but the carnage had already begun.

After glancing at Tesfia and Alice, Sisty glared at the attackers, who were readying themselves at the appearance of the former Single. Dante alone stood out from the crowd as unconcerned, but Sisty just raised her staff and readied for battle.

“Principal, I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect the two...” Senniat said with tears in her eyes.

“No, you held up well. Ms. Senniat, please take care of Ms. Alice. I will handle the rest,” she gently urged, sensing Senniat’s concern. 

“Y-Yes, ma’am! I won’t fail this time.” Senniat firmly nodded, then ran over to Alice.

Alice’s shoulder injury was grave, and she would need to be checked by a healing Magicmaster quickly.

Sisty calmly looked around to get a grasp of the situation. The male teacher was still alive, but the guard next to him was dead. Moreover...

Ms. Tesfia is in a bad state. She needs to be taken to a healing Magicmaster as soon as possible, she thought. However, the attackers likely wouldn’t just look on as she walked all that distance.

“The injured and medical personnel have evacuated to the dorms, so take her there,” Sisty said.

Then she looked at Dante and the attackers again. She was trembling with anger. She forced her expression to stay calm, and she glared at the villains before her.

In the next moment, wind started blowing as vast amounts of mana flared up from within her body. The magic towers around then began to glow and shake. The mana within them had been used up a little after the Godma incident, but there was still a massive amount left, and it was now gathering around her body.

“How dare you harm this Institute and the people in it...! Don’t think you will get out of this alive!” she yelled.

The raging mana became a storm that surrounded Sisty. Her staff-type AWR glowed, waiting for the mana within her to be unleashed.

She exuded such overwhelming pressure that for each step she took forwards, the attackers slowly retreated. Yet some fearless attackers still approached her. One jumped at her with a battle cry and wielding a great hammer.

Their mana gathered in the hammer before turning into minerals surrounding the hammer, more than doubling its size. As the massive hammer approached from above, another two attackers attacked from behind. Completely concealing their presence, they had closed in on Sisty in an instant, and their daggers flashed.

Making the first move with the intent to kill would create a fatal opening and be very efficient against people who hadn’t fully resolved themselves, like Tesfia and Alice. But with her expression unchanged, Sisty slammed her staff into the ground.

Saplings broke through the cobblestone pavement, and branches immediately stretched out and tied up the two attackers. Mana flowed into the branches, making them grow rapidly, which in turn made them clamp tight around the men and crush them. Their anguished screams rang out as the approaching hammer above Sisty cast a big shadow on the ground.

The hammer, which had grown to the size of a small hut, was swung down at Sisty and the other two attackers at a frightening speed. But just before it landed, the ultra-hard great hammer was cut into pieces and the metal fragments crumbled down.

Sisty could see the man’s astonished expression. And without any change in her expression at all, Sisty swung her arm in front of her. That was enough to easily blow away the metal fragments and the man. He sped through the air and out of the Institute before slamming into the ground and losing consciousness.

Having easily taken care of three attackers, Sisty began slowly walking forward again. Meanwhile, the two attackers who had had their bones crushed were slowly dragged into a hole in the ground by the branches, cleaning up after her.

The overwhelming difference in strength seemed to make the attackers shudder. However, instead of trying to kill Sisty, they turned their madness to the hostages. One of them reached out for a nearby female student.

But just before he could grab her, blood spurted from where his fingertips had been scraped off. A barrier of golden wind formed around the hostages, protecting them against the evil.

“It will be impossible for the likes of you to break through that barrier,” Sisty said.

The suffering man strongly held his other hand. She had successfully managed to isolate the hostages from the attackers. All that was left was to eliminate the rest of the villains.

“So, what are you after?” she quietly asked Dante after a moment, but that question contained her unabated anger.

“I see the title of Witch is not just for show. But you’re underestimating us a little too much,” Dante responded.

A sidelong glance from Dante’s maniacal eyes gave Sisty a momentary sense of dread. He slowly held out his hand and flicked his wrist.

Sisty was speechless. Sisty looked over to her barrier and found an impossible scene playing out before her. The barrier of wind, Ligra Litas, could automatically repair itself from the mana Sisty had stored as its source to infinitely create a wall of wind without any input needed from her.

Yet, she could hear the students scream. Ligra Litas began to slow down like the wind had mass. The golden wind had lost its momentum, and its edge had dulled to the point that she could vaguely see the students beyond it.

“What did you do?!” she unintentionally blurted out. It was a phenomenon that was difficult for even a former Single like her to understand.

“The hostages remain hostages. Either you remove the wall of wind, or I do it by force. But I can’t really hold back, so don’t complain if everyone inside gets killed in the process,” Dante said.

Sisty glared at Dante, but there was only one thing she could do. As she dispelled the barrier and the golden wind dispersed, the students collapsed to the ground, moaning in agony.

“A wise decision. We already had an insurance policy, just in case you showed up,” Dante declared with a fearless smile and pointed at a corner of the collapsed main building.

A few figures walked into view from the rubble on the third and fourth floors of the exposed main building.

“You have more hostages?!”

Sisty’s gaze sharpened, and Dante spoke with ease. “That’s right. So don’t put up any pointless resistance. Well, you could just get everyone caught and fill the student registry with the names of the dead if you want. Now then, for your next educational decision... Who will die and who will live. Pick who’s going to drop out.”

Sisty raised her eyebrows as two students and a staff member with their hands restrained and ropes around their necks were pushed forward. They were made to stand at the edge of the building, high off the ground.

Behind them were a woman and two subordinates. With one order from Dante, they would push the hostages off and hang them.

“Principal Sisty...” the female staff member said, voice trembling. It was the guide who had given a disguised Mir a tour around the campus.

Considering her pale face, Sisty felt she was most likely just calling out her name instead of asking for help.

“As you can see, our preparations are perfect. Oh and you asked about what I was after? Of course, who would do something like this without a reason? But, if you’re gonna ask people something, you should put your weapon away first, don’t you think?” Dante asked.

Mana poured out of his body as he showed her a hideous grin. His mana was about the same amount as Sisty’s. No, if not for the magic towers, his exceeded hers.

He’s on the level of an active-duty Single. But what was that spell before...?

Sisty analyzed her enemy’s capabilities. If they fought, the entire Institute would no doubt be caught up. Not to mention, there was a fathomless part of him. Considering the bloodlust and techniques of his subordinates, this man was probably very skilled at fighting people too. Sisty’s area of expertise was defense and fighting Fiends. Former Single or not, she was anxious about fighting in anything other than a pure magical battle.

And then there were the hostages.

Sisty realized it in an instant. If she was going to keep casualties to a minimum, there was next to nothing she could do. And as the principal of the Institute, she could never put the lives of the students second.

But most of all, she had a time limit. Tesfia was seriously injured, and if left as she was for much longer, she could die. So any further resistance was...

Sisty reluctantly lowered her staff and pulled back the mana covering her body, showing that she had no intention to fight.

Seeing that, Dante grinned. “Good girl. Now then, I am after Minerva. So hand it over.”

While her eyes opened wide, Sisty gnashed her teeth.

Minerva was the world’s greatest AWR, which had been unveiled to the public during the last Friendship Magical Tournament. It was the strongest AWR—mankind’s treasure. Since keeping it in one place for too long was considered dangerous, it was randomly rotated among the seven nations.

Incidentally, after the tournament, the Second Magical Institute had been chosen to store it. However, that information was top secret, with only the very tops of the nations knowing about it.

So how could this attacker know?

Sisty had no choice but to feign ignorance and responded after a pause. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dante raised his arm in response, and Mir put her foot on the back of the female staff member, who just barely managed to keep herself from falling. Pieces of rubble fell down to the ground below.

“Well, we have three of them. Feel free to keep quiet while two of them hang,” said Dante.

“Fine. In exchange, I want you to guarantee the lives of those students and staff members. That’s my condition,” countered Sisty.

“Do you understand your position? No deal. For now we can release the wounded. And once you’ve thrown away that dangerous AWR, you’ll guide us to where it’s kept hidden.”

Sisty reluctantly nodded and threw away her staff.

“A good decision,” said Dante. “Then let’s go...but don’t be too slow, or the guys staying behind might get bored and kill some of the students for fun.”

“Before that, promise me that nobody else will be hurt after you get your hands on Minerva! I won’t move from this place until the hostages are released,” the principal insisted.

“Well, fine. The wounded will be released ahead of time, but that’s as far as I will go,” said Dante. “You might give the teachers some orders to make a move on us after all. Some of the upperclassmen will carry out the injured. But those three over there will stay until I have Minerva.”

The attackers were more concerned about the teachers who could potentially be a threat. Having no other choice, Sisty obeyed Dante and ordered some students to carry out the injured. They were instructed to go to the dorms that had become a designated evacuation area.

Despite her efforts to free as many as possible, there were still over fifty students and staff members being held hostage. She could see the students watching as the injured supported each other and evacuated.

Senniat rushed over to Tesfia and bit her lip. When she saw Dante looking her way, his intimidating presence caused her to look down at the ground. He wordlessly walked towards her.

For a moment, tension ran sky high. Senniat had positioned herself between him and Tesfia. However, she was like a stone by the side of the road; he didn’t pay her any attention whatsoever. His sole focus was the main building.

But as he walked past Tesfia, her bloodstained hand grabbed his pant leg, her fingers weakly gripping it. She seemed to have done so unconsciously.

This caused Dante to stop and look down at the redheaded girl who lay on the ground with her unfocused eyes open. She was in a pool of her own blood and practically unconscious...but it seemed like she was trying to stop an attacker from infiltrating the Institute even now. Or perhaps she had been trying to prevent him from reaching Senniat.

Sisty felt her heart squeeze at the sight of the seriously injured redheaded girl still trying to resist.

Tesfia was gasping for breath. Her resistance was feeble, and she lacked the strength to even raise her head. All she could do was grab Dante’s clothes as he passed by, which wasn’t enough to stop him.

But in the next moment, cold air flowed from Tesfia’s hand and froze Dante’s pant leg.

The bizarre freezing effect instantly made the fearless man cautious and he forced himself forward. Dante ruled the attackers like a king. Sisty’s Ligra Litas hadn’t fazed him. Yet he felt the need to shake free from the blood-soaked hand of this severely injured girl, feeling an indescribable pressure from her unfathomable power.

Ice magic wasn’t enough to make Dante’s blood run cold. Simple magic...especially that from a student, should have been insignificant to him. Yet he moved to eliminate her before he could even think. With movements far faster than the speed of the freezing, he raised a mana-clad fist.

It was a brief clash between the freezing of life and the harvesting of life.

Before Dante’s merciless fist could reach Tesfia’s skull, he stopped mid-swing. Behind him, he sensed Sisty’s mana about to burst, getting ready to fight him. If he killed this girl, the Witch would probably lose herself with rage. And their deal would break down completely.

It would be a fierce battle, with the winner determined by which side still had somebody left alive.

That wasn’t what Dante wanted at the moment. He might be a tyrannical king, but he wasn’t foolish. Besides, if they got into a major fight, and the military were to catch notice, they wouldn’t be able to get Minerva out of the Institute even if they found it.

With a snort, Dante lowered his fist and coldly looked down at the tattered girl, who was still gasping for breath. The hand he’d shaken off was lying unmoving on the ground. The cloth itself fell off as Tesfia’s final freezing magic disappeared.

Dante turned around and sighed.

“Don’t worry. If I lost it this easily, I wouldn’t have done something like this,” Dante said without expression and began walking again. Behind him, Mir, who had entrusted the three hostages to her subordinates, followed, having jumped down the building.

Senniat, with beads of sweat on her forehead picked up Tesfia, the last of the injured. With some help from others, the injured were successfully evacuated.

“I’ve held up my end of the deal. Now it’s your turn,” said Dante.

There were still hostages. Only the bare minimum, the wounded, had been released. But the situation was still highly unpredictable.

Sisty wordlessly nodded and walked towards where Minerva was being stored, as he wanted. The only saving grace to this situation was that she was taking the most dangerous man away from this location. No matter how furious she was about the situation, the lives at stake were invaluable to her.

◇◇◇

With Sisty at the front and Dante and Mir behind her, the three entered the main building.

“Say, Dante. This woman killed quite a few of the others,” said Mir.

“So it seems. I picked some guys that were pretty useful, but I guess it was inevitable against the Witch. Well, at least they served the purpose of luring out our guide,” said Dante.

“Ah, I see.” Sensing what Dante meant, Mir shook her head once in exasperation.

The prisoners that had escaped together glared at the witch for what she’d done to their allies, but Dante was unperturbed. To him, they were nothing more than scattered bait. He’d had them run rampant all over the Institute to enrage Sisty Nexophia because she knew where Minerva was.

“To think you’d use your allies as sacrificial pawns. How scary,” said Mir. “Also, aren’t you being a little rough with how you use people? You even made me infiltrate the Institute under a fake name for a preliminary investigation. And in the end, I didn’t find out anything useful anyways.”

“Well, I’m sure it helped you understand the layout a little. Not to mention, you were able to secure some new hostages, so it wasn’t all that bad.”

“I suppose so.” Mir shrugged at Dante.

While they talked, Sisty walked with heavy steps. She’d never imagined she’d be guiding intruders to Minerva. She had entertained the idea that she might be able to turn the tables on Dante alone...but his composure made her imagine there was a clear gap between them. Even without her AWR, he was still cautious of her, which became a psychological barrier for her.

This villain, who exceeded a former Single like herself, was nothing short of a nightmare to Sisty. And the situation was even worse with the suspicious woman who reeked of perfume tagging along with him.

She’d have loved to buy some time, but that likely wouldn’t be successful. Even if reinforcements from the military arrived, they didn’t know how many attackers were in the Institute, and they might even have more hostages somewhere. Once a battle began, students would get caught up.

But if Alus were to appear...

Despite imagining that, Sisty’s outlook remained cloudy. She felt there would still be casualties even if Alus showed up. The leader of the attackers behind her was tremendously skilled. While it had been quite some time since she’d left the front, she couldn’t see the depths of his abilities. She didn’t even know who would win if he fought Alus.

“Mir, you said you heard from the agent sent by that noble that the current rank 1 was in the Institute, didn’t you?” Dante asked. Sisty was startled by him so casually mentioning top secret information.

She couldn’t believe how large their information network was. It seemed that Dante was entirely fearless, not even fearing the greatest Magicmaster a little.

“Yes, but I didn’t like the informant’s attitude, so I killed them. I did try to take care of the rank 1 ahead of time, but unfortunately it seems the ones I sent after him were wiped out,” said Mir.

“That was pointless. They wouldn’t stand a chance no matter how skilled they were. Fortunately it seemed Suzar managed to pull him away. Hey, Witch, how good is the rank 1?” asked Dante.

“Who knows exactly? But you’re only alive because he’s not here,” Sisty bluntly said as she continued walking. She felt a little anxious because she had enemies right behind her, but then she heard the woman behind her stifle a laugh.

“Heh, I wonder how good the rank 1 is on the surface. Playing around with magic against Fiends and thinking he’s king of the hill is nothing short of comical,” said Mir.

“Oh, he’s exceptional against people too. From what I hear, those you sent after him haven’t returned,” responded Sisty.

“So it seems. Do you feel refreshed now? I hear that you get less attached to your life as you age,” Mir replied. Her tone was cheerful, but the atmosphere between the two women suddenly became a lot fiercer.

“Mir, the rank 1 here doesn’t just work on the surface; he also works in the shadows. He’s already taken out Nox. It seems he’s being given a lot of behind-the-scenes jobs involving politics of the seven nations. I bet he’s fed up with it too,” said Dante.

“Nox?!” Mir muttered the name and ground her teeth before calming down somewhat. “Hmm, that’s interesting. Speaking of Singles, I’d love to get a look at Rusalca’s scion. We’re going to kill him eventually right?”

“Who knows? If he shows up, you probably won’t enjoy it. But there aren’t many who could stand up to us when it comes to killing,” said Dante.

“And one of those is the rank 1. Heh heh.”

While enduring Mir’s laugh, Sisty detoured through the main building to the staff side entrance. They continued walking until they reached the courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard was a giant slate commemorating the founding of the Institute, and it was positioned in a way that blocked the view of the area from any of the surrounding windows.

“What are you doing? Don’t stop,” demanded Dante.

“Don’t be in such a rush. Just wait a moment.”

Sisty slowly walked up to the slate and poured mana into it. The mana glowed red and ran through the grooves in the slate like blood, making the whole thing glow faintly. In the next moment, the slate sank into the ground and revealed a staircase leading down.

“Oh...! I see I wasn’t going to find it so easily even by infiltrating the Institute.” Mir whistled, impressed.

“It’s this way,” Sisty said and walked down the stairs, Dante and Mir following behind her. As they walked down the long staircase, the lights automatically turned on. Eventually they reached the equivalent of a fifth basement floor.

A wide space opened up before them. While it wasn’t as large as the training grounds, it was over half the size of it and surrounded by stone walls with several pillars that looked like the magic towers. Each of them was made of a special magic material and had a circumference of around four meters.

The magnificent view made Mir reevaluate the value of the treasure that awaited them. Dante stared intently at the pillars.

“Hmm, there’s magical formulas on each of these pillars. Even if you don’t understand the true value of the treasure, you at least get it to some degree. That said, you’ve just stored it away and carefully poke and prod it with incomplete knowledge. The treasure ahead is still in perfectly working order, but you have to use it instead of treating it like some valuable gem,” he said.

“Minerva is the oldest AWR in human history! Do you know something more about it...? No, that can’t be possible!” Sisty lashed out in a furious tone.

If stolen, Minerva was certainly a valuable treasure. After all, in the history of study of the ancient magical civilization, it was said to be the oldest of its kind. As for its functions, there were still a lot of mysteries around it.

Incidentally, the knowledge gained from studying Minerva and applied in general-purpose armaments resulted in the first prototype for AWRs. In other words, Minerva was the mother of all AWRs, and no doubt one of humanity’s greatest treasures.

That was why Sisty had been under the impression that this tyrannical man couldn’t know anything about Minerva aside from its value.

Dante twisted his lips into a grin. “Yeah, it’s impossible, isn’t it? How could some thug know something when all of the bigwig scholars can’t figure anything out after putting their heads together...heh heh.”

Despite all of their efforts to study it, the scholars hadn’t understood much about it. Even the prototypes of AWRs had been the result of just barely understanding one side of it.

Dante’s phrasing boggled Sisty’s mind. She fell silent after that and pushed on ahead. After leaving the open space, they walked through a narrow hallway for thirty meters before reaching a large double door.

Once opened, the world’s oldest AWR would lay in front of this dangerous man.

It would have been better if it was just a powerful AWR. Then it would just be a piece of equipment for Magicmasters.

And if Dante was just a thief looking to sell it off for money, the situation would be even simpler. But based on what he’d said, it was very likely that he knew something about the seven nations’ ancient treasure.

The man was still unfathomable, and further unknown power might come into his grasp. Understanding that this might be the worst possible situation, Sisty couldn’t surrender it to him. And if possible, she didn’t want to even let him touch it.

I guess it was wishful thinking to hope this situation would sort itself out if Alus came. I will have to find an opening...! thought Sisty.

A few seconds after Sisty resolved herself, they came to stand before a two-and-a-half-meter-large door. The steel door had a magic formula engraved in it just like the slate above.

“Get on with it already. Or do you want more bodies to pile up?” Dante asked, not even giving her a chance to hesitate.

Sisty put her hand on the door and poured her mana into it, which served as a password, and shortly thereafter they heard mechanical sounds and the door began to open.

As Dante was about to step in, he paused, then turned around and said, “Mir, you go get rid of the rat tailing us.”

“Okay, you don’t mind if I kill them, do you? I’ve waited forever for your sign and I’ve been so bored the entire time.”

Dante just waved as if to tell her to get going already before entering the tightly locked room with Sisty. As the heavy door closed, Mir slowly turned around. “To think you could tail us this perfectly. Are we in the same line of business perhaps?” Mir asked cheerfully, staring at a single point in the dark hallway.

In response, the space behind one of the pillars supporting the hallway wavered. Eventually, a figure appeared like a shadow peeling itself free from the pillar.

When she saw the figure, Mir looked surprised. “You’re awfully young. A student perhaps? Who are you? Still, you won’t make for a good playmate. I’m not the kind that can be satisfied with hide-and-seek, you know?”

“Ha ha, and you are first-class criminal, Mir Ostayka. I won’t give my name to a crude woman, but I’ll have you know that I’m pretty good at hide-and-seek myself. Maybe I’ll run away now,” Felinella Socalent said with a fearless smile.

She was also a bit relieved. She hadn’t been entirely convinced when Exceles Lilyusem had told her that the Institute was under attack; she’d suspected it was an excuse for them to shake her off, but she couldn’t ignore the detailed evidence Exceles had presented.

Ultimately, her coming all this way hadn’t been a waste of time. Her only blunder had been getting noticed. When facing this killer, she couldn’t help but be aware of their difference in skill, whether she liked it or not.

As expected of the group from the fourth layer of the Trojan Prison. She’s not someone I can escape from easily, thought Felinella. She felt a chill run down her spine just from facing this woman.

She immediately drew the AWR at her waist and readied herself for battle. She hadn’t been overconfident in her covert abilities, but the underground space might have made her miss her chance to quit.

“Oh, now how would you know my name, young lady? Not to mention your hiding skills and familiarity with your AWR. It seems you’re quite the honors student.” Mir’s heels clacked against the ground as she elegantly closed the distance. She had the composed smile of an adult playing with a child.

But Felinella replied with a soft smile of her own. “Oh, there is no need for a vulgar old woman making a mess of someone else’s home to pay me any respect. So I bid you to go home to where you belong—Trojan Prison.”

Mir’s shoulders trembled, and she ground her teeth. Felinella quickly picked up on the change and gave her even more kind advice, covering her nose while she spoke. “Also, this is hard to say, but that perfume you have on stinks. I hear that the elderly eventually, you know, smell, so I guess it’s inevitable. Frankly, because it’s so overpowering, it was really easy to follow you.”

“You’re just too young to understand, you brat,” Mir spat out. “Sheesh, it seems kids these days are well developed, but their brains don’t get any nutrients!”

Mana began to flow from Mir, and while Felinella feigned composure, she felt like her heart was being squeezed. According to the information she had, Mir Ostayka had been confined in the fourth layer of the Trojan Prison.

Supposedly, the deeper the layer, the more heinous the criminals. So Felinella wondered how deep the fourth layer was. It hadn’t been hard to imagine that this woman had been able to kill many people with her abilities. But now that she was face-to-face with her, Felinella found that Mir far exceeded her imagination. The mana reaching her was so dense, she felt like she was going to be swallowed up.

That amount of mana puts her on the level of a Double Digit Magicmaster...and in the upper ranks, at that! The problem is... 

Felinella breathed shallowly and gulped, sending moisture and air into her drying throat. After one bigger gulp, Felinella faced her opponent with the intent of using every last bit of the mana she had.

If it was a Double Digit Magicmaster that she was dealing with, she might have managed something. But the person in front of her was a magical criminal who specialized in killing, which was the biggest problem. She was a different breed from Magicmasters who specialized in fighting Fiends, so a Magicmaster’s rank was unreliable here.

On the surface, Mir was a beautiful woman, but who knew what kind of poisonous fang she was hiding. In a sense, Exceles’s information had ended with Felinella drawing the short straw.

She slowly slid her feet, measuring the range. However, Mir paid no heed to such things, and she calmly walked closer, one step at a time. The moment her toes passed a certain line, Felinella’s lips curled up into a smile.

Felinella’s AWR was a stabbing weapon that was exceptional when it came to taking the initiative against the enemy. On top of that, her initial attack was boosted, causing it to rapidly accelerate. Only somebody very skilled would be able to handle such an attack without falling behind.

Her attack had enough speed and power to punch through Mir’s chest, but Mir evaded it with a dance-like movement. The tip of Felinella’s rapier merely grazed her side, and their eyes met for an instant in the heat of the moment.

Mir’s well-manicured nails thrust towards Felinella’s neck. However, Felinella’s bent left arm appeared from the shadow of her right arm, in a blind spot for Mir, the light of wind magic glowing in her palm.

Neither changed their expression.

In an instant, the advanced wind attribute Rond Ragd formed in Felinella’s palm and the mana gathered there was condensed. A narrow tornado extended from her palm towards Mir to directly hit her.

However...with a slight feeling that something was wrong, Felinella vigilantly observed her opponent.

Rond Ragd, which had attacked Mir with a roar that shook the hallway, suddenly lost its momentum and turned into a soft breeze. Behind it stood Mir, an arm up in the air. She held a rather large folding fan-shaped AWR with thin, special metal blades between its spines. But the most astounding thing was that a single wave of the fan had erased an advanced-level spell.

Felinella furrowed her brow, and Mir spoke up. “Using close combat as a distraction to fire magic? Is the rat trying to bite the cat? What a dirty trick! This is why I hate narrow-minded brats’ fighting style!”

“I’ll show you who the rat really is.”

Despite a cold sweat, Felinella put on a brave front. Even as her spell had failed, she hadn’t forgotten to prepare her next move. Her instincts were telling her to never stop no matter what happened.

Wind spinning like drills was suddenly created in all four directions above Mir, angled diagonally towards her and ready to thrust like spears.

“‹‹Femme de Rossa››!”

Felinella spread her hands and swung them down. The winds violently whirled to close in on Mir, but Mir leaped back and took cover behind one of the pillars. The four winds followed, and dazzling sparks flew as the wind scraped against metal.

Of course, the pillars were made out of special metal that wouldn’t collapse easily, and though the surface was chipped away, there was no sign of it collapsing at all.

A few seconds later, sharp winds came from the shadow of the pillar and blew against her, causing Felinella to cover her face with an arm. Mir stepped out from behind the pillar.

“That pillar sure was dusty,” she said, coughing. “I hate wind magic; it always messed up my hair...huh?” Mir covered her mouth with her fan and looked down at her thigh, noticing a red line across it. “Ah...how dare you scratch my skin. I won’t let you off after just torturing you a little now. Besides, just the fact that you’re young pisses me off.”

Felinella braced herself as she was bombarded with Mir’s bloodlust. If she had just been a normal student who wasn’t used to this kind of violence, her knees would have given away in an instant. However, Felinella’s Femme de Rossa was an advanced-level spell that constructed multiples of the intermediate-level spell Femme Rihal, and it had been fired from a blind spot too...

Not even that works?! And on top of that, Mir Ostayka uses wind magic like me... This is bad, thought Felinella.

Even when fighting someone with the same attribute, there were usually many branches to choose from. But when it came to wind magic, there was very little variation in its offensive spells. That meant that both sides could easily read the other’s moves, making it difficult to get off a surprise attack to overcome the difference in skill.

Felinella had thought her surprise attack was successful, so she was secretly panicking. Meanwhile, Mir’s glossy lips parted as she spoke without a hint of frustration. “Hmm, I thought I had a pretty comprehensive understanding of wind magic, but it seems there’ve been quite a few new developments. Well, it’s not much more than a student’s tricks... More importantly, did you know?” Mir asked, her perfume reaching Felinella. “When the skin is cut open, it’s difficult to heal. In particular, when there are several long cuts over a small area, you need a pretty good healing Magicmaster to get it back to normal. Which means that there are cuts all over that pretty face of yours, there’s going to be some real scarring! When you get a good look in the hospital, you might be surprised to find yourself transformed into an old hag with wrinkles all over your face!”

With a thin smile on her face, Mir brought her fan down. Felinella tried to dodge by reflex, but her cheek was cut, and the blood created a red curtain going down her white skin.

It was an invisible attack created by magic, and it was clear as day that it was skillfully concealed and as sharp as a blade, even though the low use of mana meant that it was unlikely to cause a fatal blow with a single attack.

“Ha ha, the prejudice of an old woman is unsightly. I suppose it’s envy from the fact that you won’t be able to hide those crow’s feet any longer.”

Felinella’s taunt earned her a glare from Mir, who launched another invisible attack against her. Felinella crossed her arms in front of her face and stepped out of the way as fast as she could while activating the spell she’d secretly prepared. She rode the wind to move across the space between them.

Felinella kicked off walls and pillars to accelerate, her body lightened by the magic, and closed in on Mir. It was a measure to prevent her opponent from accurately targeting her, and fortunately, this place wasn’t lacking in objects to use.

“Shitty brat...that’s enough.”

Mir shook her fan and forcibly changed the air current. That threw off Felinella’s wind riding and slowed down her movements for a moment. Mir grinned and shut her fan.

Looking down at her feet, Felinella spotted a translucent rope made of wind wrapped around her. With a tug, her legs were pulled out from under her and she was slammed into the ground. She hit the hard floor and bounced off it like a rubber ball. The air was forced out of her lungs and intense pain assaulted her.

Looking at her feet again, she saw that the wind rope reached all the way to Mir’s fan. It was less a rope and more of a whip. Despite the pain in her back, Felinella reached down and ripped off the wind, struggling to breathe.

Yet she felt her legs pulled again, and her body floated in the air as she was pulled up. Her head was sent back and forth like a leaf in the wind.

Unable to control the directions her body flew in, she was helplessly swung into walls and pillars. She tried to protect her vitals with her arms, but unable to fully do so, blood ran down her injured forehead and wet her black hair. Eventually...the blood-soaked hair began to draw a red line across the ground like a brush.

As a finishing blow, Felinella was slammed into the ground hard—she stopped moving. Her consciousness began to fade, and even the AWR she’d kept a firm grasp on slipped from her hand.

“Hah, is that all you’ve got after all that lip you gave me? This is why I hate brats...you just stop on your own without even entertaining me,” Mir spat out. She undid the whip of wind, and approached the prone Felinella.

The moment her footsteps stopped, Felinella’s fingers moved, grabbing a hold of her AWR. She kicked as she stood up. Her collapse had been a deception to create a single opening that would be her only chance of victory. Despite the serious damage, she’d staked it all on this moment.

Mir quickly crossed her arms in front of herself to block the kick. Not even giving that a glance, Felinella thrust her AWR at her enemy’s chest with all of her might.

However...Mir just barely dodged the attack as it scraped past her chest.

But now that I’m this close...! thought Felinella. At some point, Felinella had switched her AWR to her nondominant hand. Her center of gravity was much further forward than usual, and while Mir had dodged the attack, she was now next to Felinella.

Felinella followed up by thrusting her dominant hand by her hip. The wind in her palm began spinning around.

‹‹Tempest!›› She shouted the spell name in her mind, and it should have had enough power to neutralize the enemy before her. Yet, despite only slight resistance, the destructive winds turned into a gentle wind that drifted between her fingers.

Felinella’s eyes opened wide...and she saw Mir with her own hand thrust out, mirroring her. She’d even replicated her desperate twist of the wrist. The spells had canceled each other out.

Mir had used the same amount of mana to create the same power and given it the same amount of rotation. She’d even perfectly matched the timing. And that wasn’t all.

“‹‹Tempest!››” 

Of all things, Mir’s other hand was touching Felinella’s solar plexus when it unleashed a second spell. The impact shook Felinella’s body. Her bones creaked and her lungs nearly collapsed. She was sent flying and slammed against the floor repeatedly as she rolled. Finally, she slammed into one of the pillars and stopped.

Her vision was bloodied, and she wasn’t even sure if she was breathing properly. Before she could consider the concept of defeat, she instinctively realized she could no longer move.

“Ah ha ha ha... You really are weak. If you had been a little more considerate with your choice of words, I would have killed you a bit more skillfully.” Mir looked across at the girl with a sigh. Then her face went blank again, like her expression had been shaved off.

The conclusion had come sooner than expected, and Mir seemed a little dissatisfied. She had plenty of ways of killing her prey, but in the end, she hadn’t been able to choose one of them.

She purposefully chose not to rob Felinella of her consciousness or life, thinking that it’d be more fun torturing the impudent girl while she waited for Dante, playing a game where she kept Felinella on the verge of death.

But when the skirmish came to an end, that plan went up in smoke, and the only thing that remained was the slight pain from the injury on her thigh.

“I’d just get dirty if I tore you apart, and there’s no point in cutting your body into small pieces and hiding them. But now that you’re dead, I have nothing to do,” Mir said with a sigh to Felinella’s prone form. But then she saw Felinella’s legs slide weakly across the floor. “Oh, you’re still alive? This is no good. Normally, that would have finished you off...but perhaps my skills have really dulled,” she muttered.

She watched with disgust as Felinella desperately tried to stand up. “I hate brats. They’re just as hard to kill as cockroaches.”

Pulling out her fan-shaped AWR, Mir walked up to Felinella, grabbed her hair, and pulled her up so she could look into her eyes. “Die, you shitty brat.”

Felinella’s vacant eyes met Mir’s...and suddenly the air around Felinella rustled and a slight change occurred to her clothes. Her bloodstained dress was clad in wind and particles of light that weren’t too different from magical light burst forth.

A clear outline of something appeared in the air, and Mir was knocked away by the gust of wind. She backed off further in surprise. She looked down at her hand and found several shallow cuts that she hadn’t noticed before.

Tsk, what is she doing now...? The woman thought, staring in irritation at Felinella. At some point, the wind around Felinella had taken on a pearl-gray color. What is going on?! That does it. I’m going to tear her limb from limb so she can’t ever do anything again! 

With a cruel light in her eyes, Mir was about to attack Felinella again, when suddenly a chill gave her goose bumps. The nature of the wind around Felinella’s body had clearly changed. The air itself tingled with tension.

“What the hell are you?!” Mir’s eyes stopped on Felinella’s face. “Th-Those eyes and this nature of mana! Could it be? Your name! Tell me your name!”

Felinella’s lips moved ever so slightly, and she quietly spoke. “...Soca...lent... It’s Felinella Socalent.”

“Wha—?!” Mir was visibly taken aback by what she heard. Her expression twisted, and she brought her fingers to her face as if to confirm the shape of her mouth. “I see, I see now... You’re his daughter! But what is that?! What is it?!” Mir looked like she’d lost her will to fight and couldn’t help but shout at Felinella.

Before she knew it, Felinella’s appearance had completely changed. The pure wind cloaked her body, making her look like a heavenly maiden, her fluttering hems a brilliant white. The clothes she’d been wearing flapped in the wind, and a thin veil the color of innocence was draped above them.

Faced with an impossible sight, Mir cursed the girl with trembling lips. “Hah, what the hell is that! This is why I hate kids. What are you trying to be, some sort of bride on a bloodstained battlefield! So that’s just some kind of illusion you’ve created as the last spell you’ll cast in your life!”

Despite her words, Mir felt that the very air had turned pure, like it was blessing Felinella. It was like it was blowing away the malice Mir was clad in. When the dress was finally complete, it revealed a flawless and pure wedding dress.

The outfit ultimately was just the embodiment of the desire in the depths of Felinella’s consciousness. So while it was made of her own mana, it was in no way the optimal shape for combat.

And beneath it, she was still bleeding. However, it didn’t stain the dress, so it could still be considered a combat uniform. The elegant dress, fluttering in the wind, retained its unique shape with edges that flowed as if melting in the air, as if to confirm that it was indeed composed of the last of her mana and created at the risk of death.

Then, with somewhat unsteady but powerful steps Felinella walked forward. The winds blew and Mir naturally took a few steps back.

“I don’t have...much time. So I will at least...finish you off,” said Felinella.

“You brat, don’t get full of yourself!” Mir shouted and swung her fan up.

Immediately, countless blades of wind assailed Felinella; however, Felinella responded by swinging her arm in front of her. That was all it took for the blades to slide off of her like she was wearing armor. In the end, all they accomplished was scratching up the pillars.

“Tsk! You’re nothing but trash! How dare you oppose meeee!” An enormous amount of mana leaked out of Mir’s body as her eyes opened wide, Felinella’s magic dress still sounding an alarm in Mir’s head.

Felinella let out a long, drawn-out breath as she held out her right hand. A globe with wind magic contained within was created in her palm. It wasn’t swirling violently—instead, it was like a calm breeze, slowly flowing through the globe—but with each passing moment, powerful tornadoes extended from all parts of the sphere.

It absorbed all kinds of mana in the room and began to dance in a frenzy. Anyone who could use the wind attribute could tell from a glance that it was like a manifestation of a raging storm itself.

“Hey, what is that magic? I don’t know it... I have never seen it...! A-Are you going to kill me? Is that your plan? I-I know it might be a little late, but...maybe I can just apologize?” Mir muttered in a low voice. She no longer had any expression on her face.

“—I will kill you.”

Hearing that, Mir poured all the mana she could into her fan as a last stand. She pulled her arm back, pulling wind back with her, and gathered it all around. She shouted, “You’re the one who’s going to die! ‹‹Uanea››!”

The pillars shook; the ceiling and walls creaked. A violent wind pressure filled the room and dominated the surrounding area. Despite facing such dangerous winds, Felinella didn’t budge. She just gently looked at the winds whirling within the palm of her hand.

Before long, the wind was colored with the light of mana, and the density of compressed energy rose to an immeasurable level. In the center of the sphere, where wind and mana converged, a pale blue light was created, and it gave birth to a new wind.

Felinella thrust out her palm, releasing the sphere, which then absorbed the mana of Mir’s spell to further boost its own power. Wind currents became visible before Mir, creating patterns in the air.

In the next moment, Mir’s tense face suddenly relaxed. That was because the sphere creating nonstop currents seemed to have vanished without a trace. It was a moment of reprieve for the loser.

And so, Felinella’s lips sternly announced, “Take her away. ‹‹First Material››”

A point in the space popped like a balloon, and multiple air currents assaulted Mir. By the time Mir was lifted into the air, she’d been swallowed up by a huge vortex. Even breathing was impossible. The endless impacts broke her bones, and she was scattered against the wall next to the door.

Despite Mir being crushed against the wall, the winds didn’t stop until the raging storm caused the sturdy walls to collapse. Mir’s body was in such a bad state that there was no need to confirm if she was dead or alive, and a large red flower on the wall said enough.

Once she saw that, Felinella fell to her knees as if her strength had finally left her. The dress of wind returned to where it belonged, and the pure-white magic was broken.

Her consciousness was cloudy, and she didn’t even have the strength to stand. The period of dizziness was already over, and the pain running through her entire body passed in an instant. At some point, even her own existence felt foreign.

Even so, she did her best to struggle against the sensation of her life running out. I have to hurry back. I have to get out of here, she thought.

Suddenly, a heavy sound roared. Perhaps due to the spell she’d used, large cracks ran through the pillars and some of them collapsed. The destruction spread to the ceiling, and debris fell down like rain.

I guess I overdid it... I have...to get...out... Felinella thought to herself, unable to even speak. When she once more tried to stand up, she finally ran out of strength.

However, she never collapsed to the ground. Instead, a person’s arm reached out to support her. With her blurry vision, she could only feel the warm presence of a person. The thought that Alus had come entered her mind, but the blonde hair betrayed her faint hopes.

Even so...she thanked the person as best she could in her mind and closed her eyes.

◇◇◇

Just before Mir and Felinella’s battle reached its climax, Sisty and Dante entered a room void of any decorations. The temperature in the room was noticeably colder than outside. Sisty poured mana into a depression in the wall; it ran across the channels in the wall and lit up the room.

In the center of the room was a pedestal with Minerva placed respectfully on it.

As soon as he saw the majestic appearance, Dante started talking to himself. “I thought so. Heh heh, now it all adds up. Then that crazy professor was...ha ha ha—this is great. I don’t know what research he was doing, but it was definitely connected to this. That means that Nox is probably alive too...”

Sisty looked quizzically at Dante, whose face showed heartfelt enjoyment. The name Nox brought fresh memories of the unprecedented Vivid Bloodletting Incident to Sisty’s mind. Dante’s words suggested that the horrible criminal might still be alive, something she could not overlook.

“What was that?! Nox is still alive...?!” she asked.

“Right, you were there too... Like Nox, I am from the Trojan Prison. Ha ha, humans must have it rough. No matter how smart you might be, if you don’t know anything, you’re no different from a clueless fool,” said Dante.

“The Trojan Prison?! Y-You mean you’re from that secret prison...?!” asked Sisty, her face going pale as she realized Dante’s background.

Dante gave Sisty a look of disdain and walked up to Minerva.

“That’s the one,” he said. “Things are going to get interesting from here on. Ha ha, I almost feel bad for the future of humanity when everyone in the seven nations is so brain-dead. In the coming era, only those who are in the know will be able to gain strength. And you lot are going to get culled.”

“Wh-What are you saying...?!” demanded Sisty.

“Are you stupid?” asked Dante. “It’s a war. People killing people. And only those who come closer to the truth will be able to survive.”

“A war? You mean between the criminal organization Kurama and the nations looking to destroy it? Are you a member of Kurama?” asked Sisty.

“No, not me, but they’ve already taken their seat. Not that I know what their ultimate goal is...” Dante’s lips twisted into a grin as if he’d just had a good idea. “But I’ll let you in on a little secret. That’ll make the war more intense too. I know what I said earlier, but it’d be a shame for you to die ignorant.”

There was no doubt that Dante was hoping that it would lead to more chaos and disaster. But the more information Sisty could get, the better, so she stayed quiet, waiting for Dante to continue.

“It all began from a simple question,” he continued. “The existence of Fiends, special abilities, and even magic... Have you ever questioned it? No, you couldn’t have. This shitty human domain exists by accepting it as natural... The wind, the seasons, the sky, even the sun and moon are fake. This depraved paradise is created by lies and illusions.”

Researchers had already exhaustively examined Dante’s question, and they could only come up with a hypothesis supported by further hypotheses. In the end, it was only natural to shift to focusing on something more relevant. They couldn’t sit in front of a research table while Fiends were advancing on them.

Even if Sisty had questions about everything’s origins, there was no end to that line of thought. And adults have jobs and responsibilities. That’s why there was no way to find the answer to all of the innocent questions that children asked.

“Why can Fiends use magic, and what exactly is different between the magic humans and Fiends use? Even before Fiends appeared, humans used everyday magic like it was nothing. Why? Nobody can give a satisfying answer. Just take a look at the seven nations. The people who don’t even have a clue are the ones leading things. They let extremist groups like Kurama gather and only confront them when there is no choice. If the nation continues to be unable to control the individual groups that become too strong, the system will collapse and create chaos. And in the end, criminals like us, who have fallen out of the system, will rise to power. They are just naive to no end,” Dante spat out before continuing. “But let me give those idiots a hint. The answers to all of the questions I posed can be found in the Four Books of Fegel. It’s an old text written by an old man who reached the pinnacle of knowledge in the past. As far as I’m concerned, that was the beginning of everything.”

When Dante brought up the Four Books of Fegel, Sisty was convinced he’d cause more conflict and chaos. Those books were practically forbidden because they were incredibly close to what humanity considered taboo. They were rare, ancient, and sometimes prophetic books. Even among the few researchers who knew they existed, there was no clear description of the books. In fact, copies were a rare sight.

Sisty replied in a quiet tone, “Are you saying that the originals of the Four Books of Fegel exist?”

“That’s the level even the person called Witch is at, huh?” Dante taunted. “Or are you just playing stupid? I would have thought that it would be common knowledge for the heavy hitters in Alpha.”

Dante put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small glass marble. After showing it to Sisty, he crushed it between his fingers. Immediately, a special wave of mana emanated from the remains, spreading through the walls of the hallway and room, covering a vast area.

Sensing it, Sisty put herself on guard. She raised her eyebrows when Dante continued with a nonchalant look. “That’s right, there’s only a limited number of people who can take a seat at the table to decide the world’s fate. That said, you need a qualification to even take a seat. From what I can tell, you don’t have that yet, so you should just stay quiet.”

Based on what Dante had said so far, the seven nations, his group, Kurama, and the Fiends were all at the table. And there was no guarantee that a new player wouldn’t show up.

Many things weren’t making sense to Sisty, but she couldn’t doubt that Dante was holding a giant secret. She just couldn’t tell if it was a blessing that would bring a new path for humanity or a curse that would bring them to ruin. But either way, it was a dangerous secret that could destroy the order of the seven nations.

This man needed to be stopped. Even if she couldn’t do it, his rampage at least needed to be brought under control. He needed to be chained back up and sealed in the depths of the earth along with the dangerous knowledge he possessed.

Convinced that now was that time, Sisty released her mana and got ready to fight. Even though she didn’t have her staff-type AWR with her, at least she could fight him one-on-one here. And she had secretly released the temporary seal on Minerva.

Minerva was the prototype for all AWRs. By breaking the lock and linking with it, as a top class Magicmaster, Sisty could control a portion of its power to assist with her spells.

But Dante was unfazed, remaining calm and collected. “I was going to ensure that you didn’t do anything unnecessary, but oh well. Let me tell you what I just crushed. The wave of mana from that was a little special, you see. It was the signal to remove the film around swallowed Ambrosia pills.”

“Oh, a new type of the magic-enhancing drug? That’s a pretty dull move to use,” Sisty said cynically.

Dante’s lips twisted into a grin. “Quit your howling. This Ambrosia is apparently different from mana doping. Don’t worry; it would be boring if this was a dud. This supposedly transforms humans to higher beings, bringing them as close as possible to Fiends.”

“That’s not possible. Do you think I’d fall for such a silly bluff?” asked Sisty.

“Then don’t. But I’m a cautious man, you see, so I gave these to my men to try out. Why don’t you check it out later? By now, the Ambrosia should have started taking effect on my men up above. Once they’ve turned into fake Fiends, I bet they’ll attack humans right away. Those brats filled with fresh mana must look like great snacks. Your precious little Institute will be drenched in a sea of blood,” said Dante.

Sisty’s expression changed just a little. At that moment, the room and hallway shook, debris falling from the ceiling.

“Mir’s going all out I see. What are you going to do? Want to get buried together?” asked Dante.

The giant door to the hallway was crushed, and a cloud of dust erupted from the gaps. The vibrations of the collapsing pillars shook the underground space. A few beats later, the giant door was completely blown away.

“If you don’t hurry, your cute little students are all going to get eaten.”

“Tsk!” Unable to dispel her ominous feeling, Sisty clicked her tongue, turned around, and ran off.

She fired a single attack behind her, hoping to destroy the ceiling and bring the whole thing down. Massive chunks rained down, which should have buried both Dante and Minerva.

Hearing Dante’s annoyed voice behind her, Sisty entered the hallway, which was flooded with mana residue, a clear sign of how intense the battle had been. Sisty’s gaze brushed past Mir, who seemed to have breathed her last, and wandered around the hallway. Debris lined the path between the storage room and the stairs, and the entire path would probably be sealed off within a minute.

But she saw no sign of the person who had defeated Mir. Just who had done it? For now, that question would have to wait.

Sensing an even stronger tremor from the surface, Sisty looked back for a moment. Escape seemed impossible, but between the gaps in the fallen debris, Sisty caught a glimpse of Dante approaching Minerva.

Rather than looking resolved to die, he looked as if he were slowly nestling up to a sweetheart... The scene made Sisty anxious, but she suppressed it and looked forward, running up the only available path of retreat.