To Be a Power in the Shadows! (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 5.6

Part 6

“It’s this way.”

Claire traces the faint threads of magic and advances through the schoolhouse. Every so often, she clutches the bandages on her hand as if worried about something.

“What’s the deal with her hand?” Isaac asks.

“She’s got some sort of special power. She’s more sensitive to magic than most people,” Alexia replies. She decides to leave out the weird bits about Claire being possessed by a spirit called Aurora.

“I imagine that’s how she won the Bushin Festival, then.”

“That would make sense.”

“The fog is thick up here,” Christina notes. “There’s no telling where someone might launch an ambush.”

“True.”

“But don’t worry, Princess Alexia. I’ll be sure to protect you, no matter the—”

Before Christina can finish her sentence, Alexia abruptly lashes out with her sword, lopping the arm off the spirit that was reaching for their ankles. After casting a sidelong glance at the specter as it crumbles and fades, she stows her blade. “I’m sorry, were you saying something?”

“N-no, ma’am.”

For the next little while, the six of them walk in silence.

Later on, Nina stops in her tracks. “You guys hear that?”

“What are you talking about…? Wait, were those screams?!”

The rest of the group has to strain their ears, but those are definitely screams.

Claire’s standing at their vanguard, and she turns around. “There might be students who didn’t make it out in time. What should we do?”

“Need I remind you what razor-thin margins we’re working with?”

Isaac has a point. In the time since they left the auditorium, they’ve already burned through nearly a fifth of their magic.

After hesitating for a moment, Alexia makes the call. “Let’s go help them.”

The group races down the hall only to be greeted by a throng of spirits.

“More spirits… Looks like they’ve got the classroom surrounded.”

“There are students inside!” Claire shouts.

“Outside too.”

Nina’s found a couple of brutally mangled corpses—along with a girl who’s about to get run through.

“Eeek… H-help!!”

They won’t make it in time. Everyone is sure of it.

At the last minute, however, a bloodred tendril shoots out, rescuing the girl by shredding through the spirits surrounding her.

“Now!”

On Claire’s signal, the six of them charge the spirits’ line.

While Claire uses her tendrils to punch big holes in the spirits’ formation, Alexia efficiently slices through one spirit after another. Isaac uses big, magic-loaded slashes to send their foes flying.

The three of them represent the bulk of the group’s combat strength.

Meanwhile, Nina, Christina, and Suzuki fight more reservedly a couple of steps behind the vanguard. Nina dispatches the spirits that escape Claire’s onslaught, and Christina fights while keeping one eye on Suzuki the whole time.

And as for Suzuki…he just stands there. He doesn’t even draw his sword.

Instead, he merely leans on the wall and watches the battle transpire. He sticks out like a sore thumb.

The other five make swift work of the spirits.

Once the fighting is over, Christina is the first to speak. “If you’re not going to pull your weight, then why are you even here?” she demands from Suzuki.

“I don’t have much magic left, so I’m avoiding fighting when I don’t have to, that’s all. You all looked like you were doing just fine without me. What, did you need help?”

“Of course not. You can just keep quivering in the back, for all I care.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Their exchange lacks any sort of passion or emotion. They might be classmates as well as relatives, but you certainly wouldn’t know it from listening to them.

Claire goes and checks on the girl they just saved. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

The girl winces. “M-my arm…”

“Looks like it’s broken. You need to rest up…” Claire sneaks a peek at the girl’s timer. It’s already sub-one hundred. “It’s not safe out here. Let’s get you into that classroom.”

Alexia reaches over to open the door.

“N-no, you can’t!” the girl cries, her expression frantic. “You have to help me. If I go back in there—”

Behind her, the door swings open.

“Goodness me, if it isn’t Princess Alexia. Please, do come in and make yourselves at home.”

“I know you… You’re the vice president.”

The girl standing there has a bewitching sort of beauty. It’s Eliza, vice president of the student council.