After the tour by Inez, our next stop was a series of three towers near the center of

the academy.

The other towers were built apart from each other, but these towers were built so
that their foundations were attached, and the upper floors were connected by a
walkway.

It seems to be a place used as a dormitory.

“It will be tomorrow afternoon when you’ll meet the Special Battle Class. So, I’d like
you to come to the Instructor’s office at that time, is that okay?”

“Nn. Okay”

“Oh, right. I’ve also been asked to take you to your dormitory and another facility, so
I’ll just show you around”

Did they prepare a dormitory for her? However―.

“Dormitory? But I’m currently staying at an inn”

It was as she said. Moreover, Fran liked the Green Ancient Tree Pavilion where she
was staying now.

“It’s cheaper if you stay in the dorm… And Fran-dono doesn’t have any problems
with it, right?”

But, what Fran was interested in was the matter of the spirit. The gaze that Fran felt
last night seemed to be the gaze of a spirit. So that inn was suitable for her to train
spirit magic.

However, there were even more spirits in the Academy of Magic. So, would it be even
better for her to stay here then?
“Inez, are there a lot of spirits in there?”

“Eh? The spirits, huh…? Hmm…? I know there’s some in there, but I’ve never seen
one”

“Not even once?”

“Unless a spirit magic user is willing to visualize them, the figures of lower or
middle-ranked spirits are invisible. However, if it’s a powerful being like the Great
Spirit, even someone like me can see them”

“Is that so?”

“Well, I’ve heard it once from someone before”

Surely, the Great Spirit, that Klimut was said to have calmed down, was said to have
had its appearance witnessed by many people back then.

“Well, I think the spirits in this academy are quite hidden, so it’s harder for people
who can’t use spirit magic to see them, right?”

If that was the case, it wouldn’t be that good of a training method for spirit users,
wouldn’t it? No, was it the better training instead? I’m sure they were there, and if
she try to sense them. It might be good training for her.

“Hmmm”

“Staying at the dorm is also convenient because it is only a short walk from our
workplace. They also serve meals to us too”

“They serve meals?”

“Woof?”

That was what interested you, huh? Well, that kind of thing has always made Fran
and Urushi interested.

“Eh? Yes, you’ll also get a different meal every day”

Inez was puzzled by her unexpected reaction. Up to now, she’d been indifferent to
anything she said, but her eyes suddenly lit up and she quickly started questioning
her back. Just like that, with Fran and Urushi staring at her she told us about the
menu for the past few days.

“They usually serve the same breakfast, but lunch and dinner are different every day.
And the amount is quite large too”

“Is it tasty?”

“Woof?”

“Its taste? I-I’m sorry but I haven’t paid attention to that matter… But at least, it
doesn’t taste bad, I guess?”

So at least it wasn’t something super tasty, huh? However, Fran and Urushi were
curious about the food they served in the dining hall.

“I want to try it. I’ll decide after I eat there”

“You’ll decide based on the food?”

“Of course”

“Woof”

“Th-that’s fine then… I think we can still have lunch now, so let’s go to the cafeteria”

“Nn”

She told us that the dining hall for the students was so large that it could
accommodate up to a thousand people, but the dining hall for the teachers was more
comfortable. It seemed that they also served the same meals for the students and the
teachers.

“This room is quite small though?”

“Well, the one for the students is ten times larger than this”

The teachers’ cafeteria was large enough to accommodate a hundred people. It was
reasonably clean and the atmosphere was not bad.
“Please wait a moment”

“Nn”

Inez then rushed to the counter. There she talked to an aunt in her apron.

She then somehow pointed at us, so I guess she was talking about Fran and Urushi.

“Today’s menu is bean and ground meat soup, salad, potatoes with cheese, fish pie,
and fruits. Is there anything you don’t like?”

“No”

“Very well then, please wait”

“Want a large portion”

“Understood. They also said that they’ll serve a meal for Urushi too. Do they need to
serve it on a wide plate?”

“Nn”

“Woof”

Then Inez brought us our meal. The menu was just as we had been told. The soup
and potatoes were almost twice as much as Inez’s could eat, probably because she
asked for a large serving.

“Just ask for a refill if you want more”

It doesn’t look bad. However, when Fran and Urushi smelled the meal, their
expressions were subtle.

The meal was not well-prepared, and they probably did not use that many
seasonings. The portions were large, and the vegetables were plentiful and
nutritious, but the taste may be mediocre.

“Thanks for the meal”

“Woof”
“Mogu mogu…”

“Momu momu…”

[How is it?]

I could imagine what it would taste like by the looks on their faces, but I asked them
about it.

(It tastes normal…)

(Woof…)

It was not bad, but it was not really tasty either. The serving was large, but they
didn’t seem to want to eat a lot of it. That was how it seemed to be.

After all, the most important thing for an Academy meal was to be nutritious and
fulfilling. They were serving meals for thousands of people after all, so I couldn’t
blame them.

“How is it?”

“Nn. I’m not going to stay in the dorm”

“Woof!”

“So you choose to commute from the inn?”

Inez was puzzled by Fran and Urushi’s decision to choose the inn.

In her mind, she was probably thinking “Just because of the meal?”. But for Fran, that
was the most important thing.

“I-I understand. I’ll ask them to give you an entry pass then”

“Please do”

“Woof”
“What are you going to do after this?”

After picking up the student and faculty handbooks at some sort of general affairs
office and getting everything she needed for her classes, Inez asked her where she
wanted to go next.

She told us that we already had visited all the places we needed to go to today, and if
there was anywhere we wanted to go, she would take us there.

So, we decided to take a look around with Inez’s guidance at the places we were
interested in.

Our first destination was a snowy hill, which was unique among the various facilities
in the academy.

“Whoaah”

“Woof woof!”

There was white snow all over the place, and it got steeper and steeper as it went
straight to the center. It looked like a snowy mountain or a ski slope, wasn’t it?

“This place is used to train hikers on a snowy mountain and basic combat training in
snow”

“Can I go up?”

“I think it’s okay for now”

“Urushi, let’s go”

“Woof!”
Immediately after Inez gave her permission, Fran and Urushi ran into the snowfield.
It wasn’t the first time that Fran and Urushi had experienced snow. It had even fallen
in the Plains of the Demon Wolf after all.

I guess she was just excited by the strange sight of the snowy area while everything
around it was normal.

The snow was as soft as if it had just fallen because it even got Fran’s legs buried up
to her knees.

I thought they were collecting the snow that had fallen during the winter and cooling
it down to prevent it from melting, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

If I’m not mistaken, the snow in this area should be harder than that. Especially in
the hill part, it should’ve been compressed like a block of ice. Just like the snow that
had been collected in one place during snow removal and would then stay there for a
long time, it should’ve been hardened.

Fran and Urushi then returned to Inez, probably satisfied after running around until
they were covered in snow. Then Fran asked her somewhat excitedly.

“How do you make this?”

“They used ice and snow magic and other techniques to maintain it”

“I see”

It seems that every day, they created new snow with magic. So, when the snow
hardens, they’ll melt it back into water, which was then turned into snow again.

“But it’s only possible during this time of the year”

As expected, it would be difficult to maintain it in the summer. So, it was possible to

make it only in this season when the outside temperature was not so high.

In the summer, they use it as a small mountain with deep bushes to train hikers.

After that, we looked around at the rocky hill, lakes, marshes, and other training
grounds that were mainly used for practice. Many of the places were apparently
maintained by magicians and spirits.
“I’ve shown you most of the training grounds we have in this academy. But do you
have any place you still want to go to? The sun is about to set after all”

“Nn… Where’s Zelos Reed?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been told to not guide you to his place today. However, once things
have settled down, you can meet him with the condition that he’s with the Director”

“…Okay”

Well, of course, there’s no way they would let her see him the day after she almost
killed him. Fran seemed to understand that she had asked the impossible, so she
didn’t seem to be so depressed.

“Then, how about Romio?”

“It would be quite difficult to let you go there too. As he was asleep right now”

With that said, I thought he was getting sick because of the evil spirit. But that
doesn’t seem to be the only reason why Romio was asleep

“I can’t meet him?”

“Yeah…”

Huh? Why did Inez sound strangely lackluster?

“I’m sorry. It’s a lie that the boy named Romio is asleep. He was already awake by the
time Fran came to the staff room”

“?? Why would you lie about that?”

“I’ve been told to not let Fran-dono meet the boy named Romio”

“What do you mean?”

“The truth is, he’s scared of you, Fran-dono…”

The incident where Fran attacked Zelos Reed was still fresh. It was not only Zelos
Reed who had his head almost cut open and the unlucky students who were hit by
Fran’s killing intent that was affected.

There was one more person who had been severely injured. That was Romio, who
was connected to Zelos Reed by a special ability.

Weena Rhyn had also told us before that Zelos Reed and Romio were in a quite
troublesome situation where if one of them gets hurt, the other would too.

And if Fran hurt Zelos Reed then…

Fran looked a little shocked and opened her mouth.

“Did Romio get hurt too?”

“Yes… However, he didn’t suffer the same injury as Zelos Reed, but only a tenth of it.
However, he is just a three-year-old child”

Even a slight scratch would be a serious injury for a child that young.

“Is Romio okay?”

“His injury was treated immediately. However, he seemed to understand who had
caused the injuries”

So that was why he was so scared of Fran. Apparently, she thought that Fran would
be upset if she found out that she had indirectly almost killed Romio as well, so she
was trying to hide that fact.

However, since she had said that she wanted to see Romio, she must have told the
truth. If she misrepresented it properly, she would have said, “You’ll be allowed to
see him at a later date”.

“…I’m leaving for today”

“Understood”

When Fran muttered this with her shoulders slumped, Inez walked her to the main
gate with a worried look on her face. With a face like this, she must look like her
appropriate age.
“I’ve heard about your situation. But I don’t know what will happen to Romio, so it is
best for you to not worry too much about it”

“Thank you”

Even as she replied, Fran’s face did not clear up. The fact that she had almost killed a
three-year-old was making her feel depressed.

[Well, it’s a good thing that we didn’t kill him. So, let’s be happy with that for now]

“Nn…”

“Woof”

“Thank you, Urushi”

Fran’s face regained its light slightly as Urushi licked her hand flippantly. However,
this made her revenge against Zelos Reed more distant, or rather, more difficult.

She couldn’t even hurt him anymore unless Weena Rhyn dispelled the contract
between him and Romio. All it would take was for Fran to become enraged again and
hurt him, and Romio could be killed.

It’s just like what Weena Rhyn had told us before that it was quite a troublesome
situation.
“Mogu mogu…”

“Momu… Momu momu”

(*munching SFX)

Fran still looked in low spirits when we returned to the inn at night.

She wasn’t visibly depressed, but she didn’t look like her usual self. Her smile was
somewhat weak, even though she was eating.

The menu consisted of stew with lots of meat and potatoes with red bean paste. With
the addition of three kinds of bread which were, black bread, rye bread, and butter
rolls. A salad with fish in oil, homemade pickled vegetables, and cheese pasta.
Considering what they had the other day, the meal tasted perfect.

However, Fran’s eating speed did not increase much. It was about the same speed as
when she was at the cafeteria of the academy. This was quite unusual for her to be
like this. If it were the usual Fran, she would forget most of her worries if she ate a
good meal.

Urushi, who was eating next to her, was not as energetic as usual because he was
worried about Fran. He was eating his meal while glancing sideways at Fran from
time to time.

[Fran, are you still worried about Romio?]

“Nn…”

Yikes. As soon as she heard Romio’s name, Fran’s expression became visibly clouded
over. It seemed that she was still worried about hurting Romio. I think that no matter
how much I said that it was unavoidable, she didn’t seem to be able to get over it.
Her spoon had stopped, but then an old lady, the innkeeper spoke out to Fran.

“Did something happen today, young miss?”

“Nn…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask for the details, but… Is that something you need to worry
about this late?”

“That is…”

“There is this Elven saying…”New shoots come from the ashes of the deep forest”“

“??”

An Elven saying?

“Even if the forest you live in burns down, one day the trees will grow back and a
new forest will be born. In other words, anything can happen as long as you’re alive,
but it’s what happens after that that counts. Some things are irreversible. You may
not be able to get back what you have lost. But we have to live with them as our
strength”

Maybe it was an Elf-like outlook considering their long lifespan. They lived much
longer than humans, and I’m sure their lives would be filled with many incidents and
events. If they were to worry about all of them and regret them, their heart would
probably be overwhelmed.

“…Hmm?”

Fran seemed to be trying to understand the words. However, she immediately

crossed her arms and tilted her head. I can grasp the meaning of the words, but to be
honest, I’m not sure if I understand them.

So that might be a little difficult for Fran, who has only lived for thirteen years, to
understand.

“Hmm… You don’t get it, do you, young miss? Well, it’s a phrase that has finally sunk
in for us old Elves at this age”
“…I’m sorry”

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to pester you. But can I tell you something?”

“Nn”

“A good meal tastes even better when you put your mind to it, right?”

“!! Certainly!”

The old lady had said many words to try to comfort her, but in the end, the last one
seemed to impress her the most.

And it seemed that the two of them were on the same page. They then stared at each
other for a moment and then nodded at each other.

“Eating while thinking about other things is disrespectful to the meal”

“Yup, you’re right”

“Nn”

Then Fran began to shovel in her meal steadily.

She was not fully cheered up, but she was getting back in shape. And I could see a
slight smile on her face. I hope this can help her regain her usual self…

However, when I thought so, Fran’s hand stopped again.

Did she just pretend that she was fine? I thought so, but the old lady had stopped
moving too. And both of their eyes were locked in the same place.

“Hohou? Why have you shown up?”

“…A spirit?”

Apparently, the spirit of the ancient tree had come out near the entrance of the
dining room, and both of them were looking in its direction.

When the old lady noticed that Fran was looking at the same place as her, she asked
Fran in surprise.

“Can you perhaps can see it?”

“Is there, something?”

She couldn’t see it, but when Fran replied so, the old lady’s eyes widened for a
moment, and then she immediately started laughing.

“Hohoho. You must have been very well-liked by Spirit-sama then”

“What do you mean?”

“Even if you have the talent, you won’t be able to feel it if the spirits don’t like you.
Hmm, spirit-sama is watching you and it seems to be worried about you”

“!”

“If it doesn’t like you, it’ll just kick you out… It’s been decades since Spirit-sama has
been so attentive to someone other than an Elf”

“Spirit-sama allowed me to be here?”

The old lady’s words made Fran’s eyes widened this time. But I wonder why the
spirit cared for Fran so much.

It had only been one night, right? Or maybe, the spirit was attracted by Fran’s
cuteness. So, even a spirit was charmed by Fran, huh? Yeah, that must be the case.

“But, I didn’t do anything special”

“Spirit-sama likes a pure and gentle person after all”

Well, it wasn’t her cuteness but Fran’s pureness that the spirit was attracted to. Well,
she can’t see it though.

Fran also tried to activate her detection skills to detect the spirit even more.
However, her face soon looked pensive.

[What’s wrong?]
(Even after I used the skill, I still can’t detect it)

Apparently, she still couldn’t detect it. The old lady who saw this then gave her some
advice.

“You won’t be able to detect it with the usual way”

“Is that so?”

“In order to see spirits that are not visible, you need to have Spirit Magic skills or
spirit eyes. It is said that those who have either of these qualities can sense them
slightly”

What was next was to get some kind of trigger and let her skills blossom. The fact
that she could feel it was a sign that she was on the verge of sensing it. However, the
old lady couldn’t give her more advice as Elves could see spirits before they could
even remember.

“…Spirit-sama?”

“…”

Fran called out to the place where the spirit was supposed to be. But as expected, she
got no response. Fran didn’t know what was going on, but the old lady was smiling
while narrowing her eyes.

“Hmm, Spirit-sama was glad”

“What did Spirit-sama do?”

“It looks so happy. It has gone back to the tree though. It’s a whimsical fellow after
all”

“I see”

“Well, if it looks like that, I’m sure it’ll come out again”

“I’m looking forward to it”

But at this rate, she might actually learn Spirit Magic while we stay at this inn.
It was the day after she had decided to transfer to the school as a student while
working as an instructor at the Academy of Magic.

Fran and Urushi were walking towards the Academy of Magic.

[You didn’t feel any sign of the spirit after that, huh?]

“Nn”

Perhaps the contact in the dining room had satisfied the spirits. And Fran was able to
sleep soundly last night without waking up at all.

[Is it easy for you to move around with that uniform?]

“No problem”

[But even so, its impact was so dangerously destructive… Fran, do you like the
uniform?]

“Nn? Its defense power is low, but it’s quite easy to move in. But I don’t think its
destructive power is better”

[Aah―, I didn’t mean it like that. What I mean is about its cuteness or something like
that]

“?”

It was no good trying to explain it to her, huh? Well, I can’t imagine Fran wearing
girly clothes and being happy that she was called cute though.

Right now, Fran was wearing the uniform of the Academy of Magic. Aside from
combat training, she was required to wear the uniform during classroom lessons.
This was to show the student’s classes and grades clearly. In such a large academy,
with a huge number of students, it would be more convenient to be able to tell by
sight.

As a mammoth academy (Note: giant academy), the academy store had uniforms of
all sizes available for purchase on the spot. Oh, and in Fran’s case, she got it for free.

The uniform of the Special Battle Class was a navy-blue blazer with the emblem of
the Academy of Magic sewn on the shoulders and chest, a tie with white lines on a
red background and a navy blue and white checked skirt.

She chose a white shirt, a gray vest sweater, navy blue socks, and black loafers
because she was allowed to choose whatever she wanted for the rest of the outfit.

Eh? What do you mean? It’s to my liking too though. Some cloaks and robes could be
worn over the head to make her look more fantasy-like… But I purposely asked her
to wear a school-like uniform, because, with that, Fran’s prettiness would stand out
even more!

[Now all you need is a high twin tail and you’ll be perfect…]

But there was a big problem with that.

Her cat ears would get in the way if she tried to make twin tails. I just realized that
the supreme cat ears would clash with the supreme hairstyle!

So, she had no choice but to tie her hair into a low knot twin tail. Well, it looks great
too.

“Master”

[Hmm? What’s wrong, Fran?]

“Why has Master become small?”

[Well, it would be weird if you were carrying me on your back in this outfit, wouldn’t
it?]

“??”
She was wearing a blazer, but it would be ruined if she was carrying a large sword so
I transformed into the size of a dagger and hid on the inside of her blazer.

For now, I could maintain this state for a long time if it was just a resize. At the very
least, I could maintain it on our time when we’re at the academy

It would be perfect if we had a school bag, but I guess it can’t be helped. As long as
we have the Dimensional Storage, that would only be a hindrance. However, her
looks would be complete with that! Should I have Fran bring it with her? No,
however―

“Master… You’ve become strange again”

She gave me the same deadpan look she had given me yesterday when I was picking
her uniform at the store. Were my thoughts leaking out?

[A-ahaha. It isn’t weird, is it? What was the weird part about it?]

“I knew it, it was weird after all”

[Ugh… W-well. More importantly, the main entrance is already in sight]

“…Nn”

Phew, did I manage to cover it up? No, let’s just say that I managed to cover it up.

[You must show them your ID card, okay?]

“Okay”

We were supposed to be able to get in by showing the guard her teacher’s ID card,
but…

“Hold on a second, young miss!”

“Nn?”

“Woof?”

A guard uncle stopped Fran when she tried to go straight through the main gate after
presenting her teacher’s ID card.

He looked like a former adventurer with a stern appearance not like the calm and
collected uncle at the back entrance. And there was a hint of confusion on his face.

“Aah, young miss, you’re a student, right?”

“Nn”

“But what you presented to us was a teacher’s ID card, you know?”

“Nn”

“Eeh?”

“Nn?”

They were wondering why Fran, who was dressed as a student, had presented them
with a teacher’s ID card.

“However, the spirit is not responding to her… Aah, could it be! The one with cat ears
and brought a wolf with her is… Umm, can you tell me your name?”

“Fran”

“I see. I’m sorry for stopping you. I’ve heard the story about you, but I just wanted to
confirm it myself”

“Nn”

“Woof”

We were told that we could get in as long as she presented her teacher’s or student’s
ID card. But as expected, she should have shown her ID card a little more clearly for
the first time. Or rather, she should have used the student’s ID card instead.

“I know you just got hired yesterday, but do you know the academy’s layout?”

“No problem”
She had already confirmed the location of the classroom she was going to today.

Fran then said goodbye to the guard and continued to walk again.

However, she immediately tilted her head in confusion.

“??”

[Fran, what’s wrong?]

“I felt like I was being watched”

As Fran muttered so, the eyes of the surrounding students were focused on her. I
wondered if perhaps they were the victim of yesterday’s incident, but there was no
fear or fright in their gazes.

They looked at her not without ill-feeling, but also jealousy and irritation which
seemed to be the main ones.

“Who is that pretty girl?”

“Sh-she’s cute…!”

“Hey wait, where do you think you’re lookin’ at!”

It seems that she had attracted attention as a mysterious pretty girl. Well, it couldn’t
be helped that our cute little Fran had acquired a different kind of cuteness with her
uniform.

She was probably going to have to become accustomed to the hostility and contempt
from the adventurers by now, but this kind of attention was rare, so it has even
bothered her.

[Let’s ignore it for now. It might stay like this for as long as we’re in this academy,
and once you get used to it, it won’t bother you anymore]

“Understood”

You guys with a delirious face just now, I’ve memorized your faces, so be prepared!
“Good morning”

“Good morning, Fran-dono. Ooh, so you’re here in your uniform today?”

“Nn”

When Fran arrived at the academy, she visited the preparation room for the mock
battle instructors that she had been shown yesterday.

In a room much smaller than the staff room, there were about ten adults here. All of
them were mock battle instructors, just like adventurers, they were dressed in
leather armor. It could also be said that their current appearance, which was ready
for battle, was their formal attire.

The scene of muscular former adventurers crowding this small room made the room
look hot and humid. I didn’t have a nose, but I wonder why I think I could smell the
sweat. Well, think of this as a gym, and you’ll get the idea.

Inez greeted her while standing upright. The other instructors had already been
introduced to us yesterday, so they too were standing upright with serious faces. It
made me feel nervous though.

“Let me show you to the Special Battle Class”

“Okay”

“Then, please follow me”

She was then led to one of the classrooms on the second floor of the tower.

The room looked just like any other ordinary classroom.

The presence that could be felt from inside was no different from any other
classroom. There was a somewhat tense presence of about twenty people in there.

I guess they were nervous because they knew that Fran was coming. If there was
someone who had a quick ear, they must have heard that a pretty girl who was both
an instructor and a student would join them.

When we reached the class, nothing had changed except the tension.

There was no tremendous sense of intimidation emanating from the front of the
classroom, nor was there any magic spreading around that would startle us. It was
just the presence of ordinary boys and girls.

Since they were from the Special Battle Class, I was wondering how amazing they
were, but…

Well, when I thought about it, it was not that surprising. They were still students
after all, and that meant that Fran was by far the stronger of the two.

In addition, the fact that Inez was able to take on multiple students was a good
indication of their ability. They probably just had high fighting prowess among the
students. It seems that I was expecting a little too much.

“This afternoon’s class is scheduled to be a mock battle, but before that, I’ve set aside
some time to introduce Fran-dono. They may have some questions, but if you can’t
answer them, please just ignore them”

“Okay”

“Let’s get in then”

“Nn”

They must have seen our figure through the blurry glass of the door and knew that
Inez had arrived. The voices of the students then quickly quieted down at once.

Inez then slowly opened the door to the classroom of the Special Battle Class. All
eyes turned first to Inez, and then to Fran, who followed her into the classroom.

There was no contempt on the faces of the students. There was just a great sense of
confusion.

“She really was a kid…”

“Sh-she’s so pretty!”

“So, what Charon said was true!”

I wondered if she had told them that she had met with Fran before, but it seems that
was not all.

“I-it’s really you!”

Amid the noisy classroom, a student suddenly stood up with a surprised look on her
face. But we were just as surprised as she was. After all, we had met her before.

“Charon?”

“Y-yes! I’m glad that you remembered my name”

“Nn”

Yes, it was Charon, the blonde drill girl. So, she was a member of the Special Battle
Class, huh?

Apparently, Charon had already told her classmates about Fran beforehand.

Maybe she heard about the story about an instructor that was also a student from
another class, then Charon who heard that information, tells her classmates about
Fran. I guess that’s how the flow went. However, her classmates were also skeptical.

After all, for a girl from the Black Cat kin, who was actually a super talented
adventurer and was talking to the Guildmaster so casually. That was too wild to be
true, so I don’t blame her.

But unless the other classes, Charon and Inez, were in cahoots to fool them, they
were certain that the girl in front of them was the new Special Mock Battle
Instructor. Knowing that they finally believed that Fran was a strong girl.

“Fran-dono, do you know her?”

“Nn. We talked a little in the Adventurer’s Guild”

“So that’s why. Oi! Stay quiet!”

“ “ “…” “ “

As usual, they were under her control. The students immediately closed their
mouths in unison.

“Let me introduce her. This person is Fran-dono. She has just been appointed as the
Special Mock Battle Instructor! Fran-dono’s adventurer rank is B, but her combat
prowess is on par with an A ranker! She also has the Director’s approval. Besides,
she also has an alias. I’m sure you’ve heard the name of Black Lightning Princess,
right?”

Most of the students in the class were shaking their heads. But it seems that they
know about Fran’s alias.

“It looks like you’ve been collecting information very well. If there was anyone who
said they didn’t know, I would have had to give them an hour-long lecture on the
importance of gathering information”

It seemed to be a part of their education but seeing as how Charon didn’t notice Fran
at first, I’m not sure if she was being kept active or not.

She seems to know her name, race, and alias. However, she lacked the ability or
insight to see through the identity of the other party.

Even Inez must have that ability. She felt the need to teach her the importance of
such information from now on.

“The next lesson will be a mock battle, but before that, does anyone have any
questions for Fran-dono?”

If this were a school on Earth, I’m sure there would be all sorts of questions being
asked to the mysterious and pretty transfer student. Whether or not she had a
boyfriend, where she was from, what type of boy she liked, there would be no end to
the questions that would be asked.

However, the students then become quiet. After all, she was an instructor and a high-
ranking adventurer. They must be afraid of upsetting her by asking inappropriate
questions, so they don’t know what to ask. However, they also knew that it would be
rude for no one to ask any questions.

The students looked at each other and a strange sense of tension enveloped the
classroom. It was the blonde drill-san who then broke the atmosphere.

“…Me!”

“Charon, huh? Go ahead”

“You mentioned that she will be both an instructor and a student, what kind of
responsibilities will she have?”

“I’ll answer that. Basically, she’ll be a student in the Special Battle Class. However,
since she’ll also act as an instructor for the Special Battle Class, the Advanced Class,
and several other classes, she will be excused during that time”

“I understand, thank you very much”

That was also explained to us beforehand. Except for her work as a Special Mock
Battle Instructor, she was a student of the Special Battle Class.

Well, Fran doesn’t have to earn credits, so it didn’t matter if she missed some classes.

They also explained the content of the classes beforehand, but she didn’t need to
take half of them. Apparently, there were many classes to learn skills for working as
an adventurer, such as trap disarming and goblin dissection classes.

After that, most of the questions were about the weapons she used and the magic
she was good at. It seems that they wanted to gather information about her before
the mock battle.

Well, I don’t know if any of that is of any use though.

“Well then, it’s about time. Move to the 5th mock battle site! Make sure everything is
ready by the time Fran-dono and I arrive!”

“ “ “Yes!” “ “
“Fran-dono, please come with me. For now, please use the instructor’s changing
room. But from tomorrow onwards, you can use whichever you like, whether it’s the
one for students or instructors”

“Okay”
She changed into her usual gear in the instructor’s changing room and headed for
the mock battle site. Unfortunately, her hair was the same as usual. After all, she felt
uncomfortable because she wasn’t used to tying it up. So, she decided to make it in
short twin-tails.

We then went to a large field, a little far from the triple towers.

It was a huge, empty field of dirt. It’s probably the size of the Tokyo Dome.

On that mock battle site, the members of the special battle class were waiting after
they changed their clothes. It was similar to what Charon wore the other day at the
Adventurer’s Guild. On top of her leather and metal armor, she wore a cloak and robe
with the emblem of the academy on it.

The students had also formed a neat formation, which showed the high level of their
training. Inez nodded in satisfaction at the sight of the students standing upright and
waiting without being told to do so.

“Well then, Fran-dono will now show you some of her power!”

Apparently, it was customary for those who were assigned as instructors to first
perform a kind of demonstration to show their abilities.

She was told that she could choose one of the instructors to fight with, or she could
unleash her magic on this large field. But most of the new instructors choose to use
martial arts and magic against the target doll.

We were told that Inez could use Earth Magic and could create dolls, but we decided
to go a little flashier.

The first time is the most important, so we can’t afford to be underestimated here.

“Fran-dono, please go ahead”

“ “ “We’re looking forward to it!” “ “

“Okay”

With the eyes of the students on her, Fran strode out onto the field. We were going to
give them a good scare.

[First, let’s start with that one]

“Nn!”

The first thing we did was to make a target. Fran put her hands on the ground and
activated her magic.

Immediately after she had done so there were shrieks from the students.

It couldn’t be helped though, as the ground in front of us suddenly rose, creating a

15-meter-high spire.

“Th-that’s. No matter how you look at it, that was High-level Earth Magic, right?”

“I-isn’t the Black Lightning Princess a Thunder Magic-user?”

“Or maybe, she’s a magician? Not a swordsman?”

They probably thought that Fran was a swordsman who could also use Thunder
Magic. But after they saw her using Earth Magic, they realized that she was also a
very skilled magician.

But this was just the beginning.

“Awakening! Brilliant Lightning Rush!”

“Th-this is the first time I’ve seen a bolt of black lightning!”

“Hiii!”

“Fo-for such a kid… To use this much magic is…!”

Many of the students paled as they felt the magic power that Fran, who was clad in
black lightning, was giving off. The reason they become talkative is probably to calm
themselves down.

I felt like It was already enough to show her abilities, but the real thing was just
about to start.

(Master, together!)

[Ou!]

“Haaa!”

[We’re going to be as flashy as hell!]

The first shot was a Thunderbolt of Lightning Magic. Fran fired two, I fired four. And
a total of six Thunderbolts struck the earth spire, creating a huge hole with a
thunderous roar.

However, that was not powerful enough to collapse the spire. Since it was just for the
opening I focused on the impact of sound and appearance.

“Next!”

[Ou!]

Now for the real deal… Both Fran and I used Thor’s Hammer at the same time. My
two shots overlapped with Fran’s, creating a spectacular flash of light.

The extremely thick thunderbolts that rained down from the magic circle drawn in
the sky above then swallowed the earth spire as a whole.

The students now couldn’t even keep their eyes open anymore. They were
screaming, struggling to stay on their feet as the blast, roar, and the flashing lights
made them wince.

A few seconds later what the students saw when they opened their eyes was a
ruined spire.

“…Ah-ahaha”
“I-in one-shot…?”

“B-but that wasn’t Extreme Magic, right?”

The spire, which was now less than half its original length, was smoking as its
surface melted into lava. The upper half part of it must have been vaporized.

It must have been an incredible level of magic to the students. They must have felt as
if their blood had gone out of their veins so they could only laugh.

But Fran hadn’t stopped yet.

The students, who had noticed that Fran was nowhere to be seen, looked around to
find her.

Immediately after, a tremendous amount of magic emitted from the sky, and at the
same time, it seemed that they had finally found Fran. All at once, their faces turned
up to the sky.

“Let’s finish up with this”

[Ou. Let’s show it to them]

“Nn!”

The first thing that Fran did was to perform the Sheaths of Wind with all her might.
Magic and swordplay. That was what was important to show off about Fran’s
abilities.

In front of the students’ eyes, the lower half of the remaining spire was slashed
diagonally. A moment later, the students watched in dismay as the spire slid away
from the cut at its center.

The fact that they didn’t even understand what had happened showed how awesome
it was. That must have been what it felt like.

“Fuh”

[Good job]
“Nn”

That was it. That was what we had planned, but someone then complained.

“Woof woof!”

“Nn? You want to go too, Urushi?”

“Woof!”

It was the first time in a long time that Urushi wanted to relieve himself. When he
saw the destruction that Fran had left behind, Urushi’s tail was hanging.

“Let’s do that one then?”

“Woof!”

In response to Urushi’s begging, Fran jumped up into the air again. Once she gained
some height in her aerial jump, she activated two magic spells.

She used earth magic to create a plate about five meters in diameter and activated
light magic to create a light source on top of it. As a result, a dark shadow was
created on the ground.

“Wooo~f!”

In response to Urushi’s roar, a jet-black circle about ten meters in diameter was
drawn inside the shadow that was created by Fran.

What Urushi invoked was the Dark Magic, Bottomless Shadow. It was vicious magic
that created a field of shadow that swallowed everything on its surface.

Well, it has many shortcomings though. First of all, it couldn’t be activated without a
shadow. Furthermore, the speed at which it swallowed was slow, so it was
surprisingly easy to get out of. And it seemed to be quite difficult to control, as
Urushi couldn’t even move while using it.

Also, while its name was Bottomless, there was a limit to the amount of mass it could
swallow at one time. What was more was that it was impossible to retrieve materials
and magic stones because it was impossible to release what it has completely
swallowed. It also consumed a large amount of magic power.

It was a technique that looked flashy but was not very useful. At least, it could never
be used during high-speed combat. Well, it might be useful to momentarily hinder
our opponent’s movement though.

It may be of use against sluggish opponents or if he made a surprise attack in the

middle of the night. It was also suitable for cleaning up messes like this.

The remains of the spire on the ground slowly sank into the shadows, as if
swallowed by a bottomless swamp. And then, a minute later, it was all gone, clean
and clear. The field was back to its original empty state.

The students stared at the ground with their mouths wide open as they realized that
not only Fran but also Urushi, was out of the norm.
“F-Fran-dono! What stunning magic and swordplay! Thank you very much! I never
thought I’d see something like that!”

Inez became restless and praised Fran. She was quite excited to be able to directly
witness Fran’s abilities.

Even for Inez, who should have understood Fran’s ability to some extent beforehand,
was like this. But the students were still in a daze.

However, this wasn’t the end of today’s class.

Inez had told Fran in advance to demonstrate her abilities to make an impact on
them, and then she would have a mock battle with the students. If possible, she’d like
for her to give them a bit of a beating as well. That was what she was asked to do.

The spirits surveillance network wouldn’t be a problem for the current Fran, as she
was officially recognized as a Special Mock Battle Instructor. They told her that
fighting in class wouldn’t be a problem. As long as she didn’t kill a student with
malicious intent, she wouldn’t be blamed for it.

Of course, this didn’t apply outside of class or when she was being treated as a
student.

Will the students be able to continue the mock battles like this? Wouldn’t it better to
let them rest for a while? After all, they were surprised and exhausted and seemed to
be running out of energy.

However, as expected of the one being called a Devil Instructor, Inez.

“I’d like to conduct the mock battle as planned, are you okay with that?”

She said they should continue just like this. However, she asked Fran with a
somewhat worried expression.
“How long do you need a break?”

“A break?”

“Yes. Will you take about 30 minutes to rest? We also have stamina potions and mana
potions with us if you need some”

She seemed to think that Fran needed to take a break for a while after unleashing
such a huge spell. Well, I couldn’t blame her for thinking that, since she had
unleashed such a large amount of Advanced Magic. After all, she had used the same
amount of magic power as several ordinary magicians.

But Fran shook her head with a calm face.

“I’m perfectly fine”

“Yo-you’re perfectly fine…? Certainly, you’ve already stopped sweating now. I’m
impressed”

Inez was sincerely surprised to be told that she didn’t need a break.

“Th-then. Let’s proceed to the mock battle as it is”

“Okay”

Inez then turned to her students, who still looked dazed, and gave them a stern
command.

“You will now engage in a mock battle with Fran-dono!”

Immediately, there was a shriek. There was a strong look of fear on the faces of the
students. Well, it seemed that we had gone a little overboard earlier.

But overcoming the fright was the main purpose of the battle with the Special Mock
Battle Instructor. Inez then stared at the students with cold eyes and shouted at
them.

“All of you, prepare for battle!”

“A-All of us?”
“That’s what I said, right? Or did you not hear me?”

“No! I could clearly hear you! I’m sorry for asking something like that!”

A male student who had asked back was smacked down by Inez. Seeing this, the
students ran out to the central part of the ground without wasting any more time
after that and formed a formation on the spot.

It seemed that their fear of Fran was weakened by their fear of Inez. They still looked
pale though, but they managed to start moving.

Apparently, they were planning to form parties of five or six people and then
coordinate with each other. During this time, the students were discussing
something with each other, so they must be confirming their strategy.

“Alright. Fran-dono, please take care of them. As for the recovery, I’ve called the
school nurse, Deaden, so you don’t have to worry about it”

“Thank you for the introduction! I’m Deaden! I’ve mastered Recovery Magic, so if you
lose two or three arms, just leave it to me and I’ll regenerate it in no time!”

Three arms…? No, does he mean if it was more than one person? However, the
students scrunched up their faces when they heard that.

Perhaps they just imagined the future of their arms being cut off.

“Very well. Then, Let the mock battle begin!”

At Inez’s shout, the mock battle began quietly.

The students in the vanguard held their weapons and shields and refused to move
from their positions. I wondered if they were planning to intercept us, but it seemed
they were waiting for the Support Magic from the rear guard. They were using a spell
to raise their magic resistance and a spell to raise their defense.

It seemed that they were planning to counter Fran’s magic.

Was the reason why they raised their defense was to prevent themselves from being
defeated with a single blow? But if they’re all stuck together like that at the start of
the battle, wouldn’t a wide AOE spell wipe them out? Besides, even with their
defense up, were they going to be able to react to Fran’s movements?

Well, it was not a bad idea to increase your defenses when you’re fighting an
opponent who was far faster than you. But that would be of use only if you could
barely see your opponent’s movement.

After all, there was no point in raising their defense if they were unable to sense or
even see their opponent’s movement.

If they were like Goddarfa, they would be able to counter-attack. However, with their
level of magic, it seemed to be of little use.

No, not if we assume that this was a mock battle, right?

The powerful magic and sword techniques that we just showed to them could not be
used this time. After all, they would just simply kill them instantly if they were to hit
them. That was why she could be as serious as she wanted about evasion but she had
to adjust her attack considerably.

I guess the students have already figured that out. So, it was not surprising that they
thought they could get away by fortifying their defenses.

But was that all right? Wasn’t a mock battle supposed to be a real battle? Did they
plan a strategy based on the assumption that their opponent would go easy on them
in a mock battle?

Well, at least they managed to gather and analyze the information to form a plan,
but…

“…”

Inez looked angry.

“Fran-dono… Give them a taste of despair. You can also break their hearts if you want
to”

“Understood”

I was thinking of holding back a little but Inez requested the opposite.
Fran then pulled me out, I was back to my normal size, and we stepped onto the
ground.

However, the students still did not move. They seemed to be planning to ignore the
wide AOE magic and deal with it together.

Well, it was predictable though. Their plan would be for the vanguard to stop her
movements while the rearguard attacks.

They observed Fran who started to walk slowly. Their magic chanting had already
been completed and their arrows were ready. So whatever Fran does, they should be
able to handle her.

[Well, let’s give them a little lesson, shall we?]

“Nn!”
[Well, let’s give them a little lesson, shall we?]

“Nn!”

The students were frozen in place, unable to make a move to respond to Fran. There
was a strong sense of fear and just a tiny bit of motivation left on their faces.

We were told that the purpose of this class was to get the students used to facing an
overwhelmingly powerful opponent so that they could know how to deal with them.

I felt a little sorry for them because they were being forced to fight an opponent that
they had no hope of winning against. However, this kind of training might save their
lives one day if they can experience despair in this class and not stop thinking during
their adventures. So, I guess it was in their best interest for us to beat the crap out of
them right here and now.

It seemed that the students could also understand it too. They knew that they had no
chance of winning after being shown Fran’s power in the beginning. And what was
worse is that there was no victory condition set for their mock battle.

There was no condition such as if they can get a hit on Fran, if they managed to hold
on for 10 minutes, or if they could escape to a specific location. In other words, all
they had left was a future in which Fran would beat them to a pulp.

Even so, I was impressed that they were determined to at least get a hit on Fran
before they were defeated. Well, we were not going to make any mistakes though.

[What do you wanna do now? Do you want to scatter stun bolts over a wide area?
Burst Flame will do too]

I suggested that we should use magic to wipe them out, but Fran seemed to have a
different plan.
While keeping me down, she slowly approached the students.

(I’ll only use Master for defense)

[What are you trying to do?]

(Nn? Breakthrough the front)

And the moment we were about 30 meters away from each other, the students
started to move.

From the other side of the wall created by their vanguard, countless arrows and
various attributes of magic were released all at once.

The reason for the variation in attributes was probably because it was the
techniques they were best at.

Even though we were already so close, their aim was still poor. After all, only about
half of them were on the trajectory to hit Fran.

Or maybe it was their purpose. They scattered them far and wide so that Fran could
not escape with only a little evasion. That was quite a nice plan.

Normally, she would have jumped away from the spot or used a barrier to block it.
However, Fran took neither of those actions.

Without stopping her slow steps, she stared at the barrage of bullets raining down
on her.

The students must have thought that she would get hit if she didn’t do something.
But instead of being happy, I could see that they were rather worried.

For them, this kind of attack was probably just to probe the other party. But it would
be great if they could stall high-ranking adventurers with this. That must be the
extent of their thinking.

They looked surprised because it looked as if it would be unexpectedly effective.

Well, they were wrong though.

“Fuuh!”

Fran swung me so casually. But she managed to knock the arrows away. After that,
she continued to slash and play at their magic, and walked leisurely through the
barrage.

“Did she just cut the arrow!?”

“You fool! Even Instructor Inez could do that! But what’s more important is…!”

“She even slashed the magic!”

“Is that the ability of her magic sword!?”

“That was just her ability! You’ll just blow yourself up if you don’t have the skill to
accurately break the magic!”

The students were making a lot of noise when they realized that Fran was still
approaching. They then started to chant a spell again, and the students with the
bows began shooting more arrows.

When the distance between Fran and the students had been reduced to about 15
meters, the second volley of magic was fired. This time there was a lot of Wind Magic
and Water Magic. They must have chosen this technique as they were hard to see.

Moreover, the vanguard started moving in time with simultaneous shots.

They tried to get close and attack her while she was blocking the long-range attacks.

The long-range attacks that were more accurate than before were fired one after
another with slightly delayed timing. Were they planning to keep Fran on the
defense, so that Fran wouldn’t have a chance to counterattack the vanguard?

Immediately after slashing away the magic, the students in the vanguard attacked
Fran at once.

Four swordsmen slashed at her from all sides, and spearmen thrust their spearheads
into the gaps. At the rear of the encirclement, the second group was looking for an
opening to attack.
They were able to attack at the same time, and their aim was accurate. I guess this
was the result of their training in a party to fight a single magic beast.

However, the opponent now was not a magic beast, but a very skilled swordsman.

“Wha! How!”

“Impossible!”

“Re-reflection!?”

Fran didn’t stop walking. And yet, all their attacks were being repelled at the same
time. Well, while it looked that way to the students, Fran just had swung me at super
high speed and repelled their attacks.

It seemed that there were even students who misunderstood that their attacks had
been blocked by Reflection Magic.

The same went for the spear thrusts. The tip of the spears was being flicked upward.
Because their attacks were repelled upwards, the hand of the swordsman and the
spearman were all pointed up to the sky, leaving a huge gap in front of Fran.

“Nn. I’ll start from the four of you”

“Ghaa!”

“Ghuh!”

I wonder if the two guys in front of her who took a punch to the stomach and
collapsed on the spot were still okay. But the two in the back were hit with a kick to
the back on their head and were blown several meters away.

Moreover, her attack was just enough to keep him from losing consciousness, so he
didn’t pass out and was writhing around, spitting out stomach juices.

The reason she didn’t let him faint was to make the other students wonder whether
they could recover or not and delaying their decision even for a moment. The other
purpose was to instill fear into them by showing them the sight of their fellow
students writhing in agony. Well, there were other purposes too, but they didn’t
matter right now.
As I had expected, the students who had been waiting behind as the second group
slowed down. In that time, Fran had finished taking care of the spearmen.

What Fran used was her magic release skill. The current Fran could attack multiple
enemies at the same time by sending her magic power flying like a bullet.

For the students, in a matter of seconds, more than half of the vanguard had been
defeated. The astonishment stopped the students from thinking, exposing more
gaps.

Fran then continued to attack the rest of the vanguard with her magic release skill
and rendered them powerless. In the end, they didn’t even last ten seconds after they
launched their attacks.

“S-shoot, shoot!”

“I-If we keep up the attacks…”

“That’s all we can do right now!”

“Wait! Don’t shoot so recklessly!”

The students in the rearguard were also very confused. Some were even casting
magic recklessly. Some were wondering if they should run away. Some were trying to
rethink their strategy.

In the end, the scattered attacks did not stop Fran, and when the distance between
us was less than ten meters, about half of them started to retreat to get some
distance.

But she wouldn’t let them escape so easily.

Fran suddenly stepped up a gear and closed the distance between her and the
students at once.

The rest was a one-sided beating. Even though they were the rearguard, they also
had some experience in close combat, but they were still inferior to the students in
the vanguard. In the end, they were unable to do anything and all of them fell after
being punched in the stomach.
However, none of the students in the vanguard and the rearguard were unconscious.
However, that was what she was aiming for.

“…Hey, if you’re gonna sleep here, I’m gonna one-sidedly attack you, you know?”

“??”

“Eh?”

A puzzled look appeared on the faces of the students when they heard Fran’s words.
With anguished expressions on their faces, they were probably thinking hard about
the meaning of those words.

But they immediately understood.

“G-get up! Everybody, get up! The mock battle isn’t over yet!”

“I’ll start attacking again in ten seconds”

“Get up! Get up!”

“Shiit!”

Fran only hit them all once each. Their life force hadn’t diminished much as they
hadn’t lost consciousness.

In other words, the mock battle was not yet over.

Yeah. I felt a little sorry for them, but I think she managed to give them despair, just
like what Inez had asked her.

Later, when the students managed to get up and readied their weapons, Fran
completely destroyed them again. The relieved expressions on the faces of the
unconscious students spoke volumes about their feelings.

But I now understand why Inez was called the demon instructor.

“Thanks to you guys for finishing the mock battle so quickly, we still have a lot of
time left! Rejoice! We’re now ready for the second round!”
She said so to the students who had just regained their consciousness after being
taken care of by Deaden.

Well, neither I nor Fran would go easy on them though.

The first mock battle class had ended.

The tattered students then lined up with dejected looks on their faces. There also
seemed to be a hint of regret on their faces.

I wonder how they could still make such faces after being beaten so badly… It
seemed they had more guts than I had imagined.

“Good job, today’s mock battle class is over! Make sure to properly take care of your
equipment!”

“ “ “Yes!” “ “

“And you, Charon”

“Yes, do you need something from me?”

“Guide Fran-dono to the student changing room”

“Understood”

I’m glad that Charon was in this class. If it were any other student, they would have
been scared of her for sure.

But it seemed, even Charon was a little scared of her. After all, she had punched her
in the stomach just like the other students and had beaten her up with sword
techniques.

However, it was probably because she had had some conversations with her before
and knew that she was someone she could talk to if she was not in battle.

“Well then, let me be your guide”

“Nn. Thanks”

Fran then began to walk with Charon as her guide.

But there was no conversation between them, just silence. Well, Fran was just like
her usual self, but Charon seemed to be a little nervous.

But, it was Charon who broke the silence between them.

“Umm…”

“Nn? What is it?”

“Well, what did you think about us today?”

What a vague question to ask. Perhaps she had asked that as she couldn’t bear the
silence and said that without thinking. Fran looked confused in response to her
question.

“What do I think?”

“I know that we are not as good as Fran-sama, but―”

“Hey”

“Y-yes?”

“Doesn’t need the honorific”

“Eh?”

“Just Fran is fine”

Charon looked worried when Fran interrupted her, but she soon felt relieved. But she
was a little confused.

“B-but, Fran-sama is―”

“We’re in the same class, so we’re equals. That’s what Weena Rhyn said. Nobles and
exiles, strong and weak, it doesn’t matter if they’re in the same class”
That was what Weena Rhyn said to her when she briefly explained the academy to
us.

This academy was a very special place. Regardless of their status or honor on the
outside, the students were equal under the spirits here. There was no room for
nobles to act arrogantly with their power, or for the strong to threaten others with
violence.

On the other hand though, the weak wouldn’t be tolerated to slack off because of
their positions or weakness, or for commoners to vent their daily frustrations on the
nobility.

This also meant that Fran and Charon were now equals regardless of each other’s
strength or positions.

For Fran, it was fine for her to call her that while she was being an instructor. But
when she was just a student, they were in the same position as students. I guess that
was how she saw it.

“O-okay then, Fran?”

“Nn”

“Do you think we’re weak?”

That was quite a difficult question. From Fran’s point of view, they were quite weak.
But in the eyes of the world, I’d say that they were reasonably strong. Each of them
was as good as an E-ranked adventurer, and they were able to work together as a
party quite well.

If their opponent had been an ogre, they would have won without any problem. But
their opponent this time was too tough for them.

However, Charon didn’t seem to think so. It was just as if the confidence she had in
herself had been shattered into pieces.

“I aspire to become an adventurer, so we applied for the Special Battle class with the
goal of making a living by fighting as an adventurer”

“Nn”
“But we were completely outmatched in this mock battle. I didn’t expect us to win,
but still, we couldn’t even return a single blow in the end… Can we really become an
adventurer like this…?”

It seemed that she was no longer confident with her abilities. When Charon was
looking down anxiously, Fran then spoke to her.

“Nn. You guys are weak”

“I-is that so…? Of course, that’s true…”

“You guys took too long to activate your magic and were quite slow to make
decisions. Your level was still low too”

“Yes…”

“Even though Charon was a magician, you went too far forward”

“Yes…”

“You may be confident in your martial arts, but you can only kill a goblin with that
much strength. You need to train harder”

“I see…”

Oioi, you’re making Charon cry, you know? But it was the truth. However, Fran hadn’t
finished speaking yet.

“You won’t even be able to escape from a strong magic beast with only that much
strength”

“…Ugh. You’re right. We are… weak, aren’t we?”

“Nn”

“Just like what I thought, we are―”

“But everyone is weak at first. So, Charon and the others can get stronger from now
on”
Charon then stopped in her tracks and stared at Fran’s face.

“Nn?”

“…Even we, can be strong too?”

“Of course, you’ll get stronger if you train. It’s the same for everyone”

“You think so…?”

“Nn”

She must have understood that Fran’s words were not meant to comfort her, as I
could see a strong determined light in Charon’s eyes.

“I-I’ll do my best! I’ll train harder and harder from now on!”

“Nn. Do your best”

“Yes!”

Fran also smiled at Charon, who finally smiled, albeit a bit awkwardly.

After that, the conversation had surprisingly become livelier. I guess it meant that
they had grown closer. All they talked about was how delicate the food in the school
cafeteria was, and which cafeteria was the best though.

They were chatting happily and in no time, they arrived at the changing rooms.
There was a sign saying “Girl’s changing room”.

Yes, it must be the Girls’ changing room.

[F-Fran! Th-this is bad! You can leave me here!]

(What’s wrong)

[Aa-aah you see~…]

We-we’ve entered it! An old man has gone into the Secret Garden!
I-I’m not looking though! I don’t have eyes after all, but I’ll meditate! I’m a harmless,
gentlemanly Gentle Weapon after all!

“Oh yikes, I have a bruise on my butt”

“Hey, aren’t your breasts getting bigger again?”

“H-hey, don’t touch it~”

I-I see nothing! I swear! But, you see, I can’t do anything about the sound! I can’t
block my hearing after all!

There was a way to use magic to block it, but if I did that here, it might make me look
suspicious. So, I had no choice! Yes, I have no choice but to listen to the voices.

“I didn’t know you had a mole in such a place. It somehow looks so naughty, doesn’t
it~”

“Iyaahn! Don’t look at it!”

[…]

(Master? Why are you shaking so much?)

[Do-don’t mind me, just get dressed quickly and get out of here, okay!]

(??)

To all the boys in the country, I am so sorry.

Together with Charon, she went into the changing rooms.

It was quite spacious, just like a changing room in a large facility like a fitness club or
a swimming pool. The students from the other classes seemed to be here as well, and
over a hundred girls were changing here.

I-I’m looking at the floor, okay! And I could only feel their presence! But I couldn’t
help but notice the clothes that were scattered on the floor!

In the midst of all this, Charon made a small sound.

“Aah!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Umm, I’ve taken you to the changing room, but did you bring a change of clothes?”

Aah, Fran had changed her clothes before class in the instructor’s changing room. So
normally, she would have left a change of clothes in there as well.

“It’s fine. I bring it with me”

“You can even use Space-Time Magic too? Amazing”

In her case, she had stored it in the dimensional storage. She rolled her eyes at Fran
as she pulled her uniform out of the thin air.

She had shown a considerable amount of magic before in front of Charon. She had
already witnessed she used Fire, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Light, and Space-Time Magic.
She seemed to be surprised at her versatility. But perhaps, she’s already used to
being surprised by her, so her reaction was rather weak this time.

“Charon?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Umm, Fran, do you know how to use the locker?”

“Nn. Heard of it from Inez”

“Well, since Fran can use the Space-Time Magic, it might not be of much use for you
though”

It seemed that their next subject was the magical beast’s anatomy, a subject on the
dismantling of magic beasts. And Fran’s job as an instructor would be to deal with
the Advanced Classes after this class.

“I’ll guide you to the classroom, so let’s change our clothes first”

“Okay”

Fran and Charon then begin to change their clothes. Hmmm, the sound of the clothes
rustling was strangely pleasing to my ears. It’s like I’m listening to a sound that I
shouldn’t hear.

Charon suddenly spoke up again while I was waiting nervously for them to finish
changing.

“Hmm”

“Nn?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s just that you’re a high-ranked adventurer but you have very
smooth skin”

Aah, did she expect her to have old scars or something? Well, the more experienced
an adventurer was, the more likely they would have some scars on their body.
However, in Fran’s case, I’ve healed her with my Recovery Magic, so old wounds were
unlikely to remain.

Well, it’s not that she doesn’t have any, but she doesn’t have any noticeable scars.

“Do you take care of it in any way?”

“Taking care of it?”

“Yes. Your skin is so smooth that it’s hard to believe that it’s just because of your age”

“Nn?”

“Are you using any beauty serums or other products?”

Taking care of it, huh? That’s not the case though.

I let her use the special beauty serum given to her by Elsa (real name Bardiche), the
man-like-woman adventurer from Ulmut, on her skin as she told her to. She pays
particular care when applying it to her face and exposed limbs.

Fran was a little annoyed at first, but by making it a routine, she no longer hated it.
Well, it seemed that she skipped using it during her training in the Plains of the
Demon Wolf though, but now she won’t miss her nightly skincare.

We’ll need to go back for more when the serum we got runs out.

“I use this on my skin”

“Wow! Isn’t this…!?”

When Fran handed her the serum she had taken from the dimensional storage,
Charon raised her voice and widened her eyes. She was probably a few degrees more
surprised than when she saw the dimensional storage.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-isn’t this Elsa’s brand Beauty Serum! It is said to be a miracle product because of
its limited distribution!”

Elsa’s brand was probably referring to the picture of an axe and a woman on the
bottle.

Charon was getting very excited. Moreover, the color of the surrounding female
students’ eyes changed when they heard Charon’s voice.

All of the students from the other classes, even the students from the Special Battle
Class who were too scared to get involved with Fran before were all looking at the
bottle Fran was holding.
However, the owner, Fran herself, was not interested in the serum. She just replied
absent-mindedly.

“Hmm?”

“Wh-where do you get that…? After all, it’s not something that even nobles can easily
get in their hands, you know? The few that do appear on the market are bought up
by the wives of high-ranking nobles… I also heard a rumor that even the Queen uses
it as well”

But Fran only thought of it as a tedious work routine, so she wasn’t particularly
impressed with it.

“This was given to me by an acquaintance in Ulmut”

“Aah, I see. I’ve heard that Ulmut is the place where this serum is produced, and it’s
also the town where Fran made a great achievement. So maybe there’s a connection
between it”

She didn’t mention that she wanted it. It’s not that it was so expensive, but she just
couldn’t ask Fran for it. Especially after Fran had displayed her ability to her.

The girls around us didn’t seem to be calling out to her as well. It seemed that they
were uncomfortable with Charon. Was it because she was a noblewoman? No, maybe
it’s because she was in the Special Battle Class. Anyway, it was fine as long as they
didn’t cause us any trouble.

That was what I thought, but it was Fran herself who caused all the trouble.

“You can use it too if you want”

“Eeh?”

“Here”

To my surprise, she handed the bottle of serum to Charon.

“A-are you sure??”

“Nn. Anyone can use it too if they want”

“ “ “―!” “ “

At that moment, the changing room was in shock. Not only the students around Fran
and Charon, but even the students far away who had heard the story, dashed to
gather around them. Even the students who were scared of her had gathered around
Fran in an instant.

“E-even a single bottle of this thing usually costs tens of thousands of gold, you
know?”

“It’s a gift though”

“Aah! Come to think of it, Fran is someone with an alias…! Unlike my poor Baronial
family, that much money doesn’t seem to mean much for you, huh!”

It seemed that Charon, who was hesitant at first, couldn’t resist the temptation of the
high-quality serum and those who stared around her were like “Just use it quickly
and pass it to us”. She then took out a handful of the serum and began to apply it to
her skin.

After that, the surrounding girls started passing around the bottle of serum, and in
no time, the bottle was empty.

Even so, it was not enough for everyone. A covetous gaze then fell on Fran. Then Fran
took out a new bottle and handed it to the girls.

“You can use it”

“Kyaa! Thank you!”

At this rate, she’ll have to bring out more bottles for them…

[Oi, Fran, you have to save some for yourself, okay?]

(…)

[Fran?]

(Everyone is happy to use it)

[Aah! You, did you just give it away because you’re too lazy to use it at night!?]

(…)

I didn’t know that it was that annoying for her…

Well, they’ll resent her if she takes away what she had given to them, so it couldn’t be
helped. However, I won’t let her give them any more than this!

[Wha, Fran! Why are you taking out another bottle!?]

“You can use this too”

“Yeay! Thank you very much!”

“I feel amazingly moist!”

“Ahaha! Thank you!”

“Nn”

Everyone smiled and thanked Fran. Her classmates who were also excited began to
even shake Fran’s hand. It was just like there were no more reservations or walls
between them.

Haa~h. Let’s just say that it was an upfront investment by her to be accepted by the
female students…
[Haah… She ended up emptying three bottles of it… We’ll have to get more from Elsa
again next time]

It was actually a luxury item, so we’d have to pay for it next time.

(Muh…)

Fran didn’t look pleased with my idea at all.

[Fran?]

(…)

She turned her face away at my call! I-is this her rebellious period? What do you
think, Announcer-san?

《Carnivorous Beastmen do not have a rebellious period》

[Eh? Really?]

But it seems, the Beastmen’s rebellious period was actually quite interesting.

《Rebellious Period. It is a state of excitement characteristic of growing up, in which

stress is expressed in the form of aggression and antisocial behavior toward others.
The imbalance between physical and mental growth is considered to be the primary
cause》

[Well, I guess so]

She was at the age when they began to ignore their family members, stop listening to
their parents, and even steal someone’s bike to play with it.

《Beastmen are said to grow faster than humans and are also considered to be a
race that can get excited more easily than Humans and Elves. So, if we apply the
definition of rebellious period of the human race to the Beastmen race, especially
one that inherited the carnivore factor, then more than half of their life would be
considered a rebellious period》

[In other words?]

《Since that state is normal for the Beastmen, they don’t have a rebellious period》

Doesn’t that mean they were in a 24/7 rebellious period!? Well, the Beast King was
just like that though.

“Hmm?”

Fran, who had been calmly changing in the changing room after the excitement of the
serum did not cool down yet, moaned something.

“D-do you need something?”

“This, how do you use it”

Then she held up a long piece of cloth.

Oh! Come to think of it, Fran couldn’t tie a tie by herself! I was the one who tied it for
her this morning. And that was quite a tedious task.

I used to tie it for myself, but it was quite hard to tie it for someone else.

I’ve seen a few sweet scenes where a young wife ties a tie for her husband, but it
must take a lot of practice to do that.

This morning, I managed to tie it for her by getting to Fran’s back to make me feel
like I was tying it for myself, but…

This time she should have just loosened the tie lightly and pulled it off her neck
instead of untying it completely.

“Can you give it to me for a moment?”

“Nn”
“Fufu, I remembered that I learned to do it by doing it for the other kids when I first
entered the academy”

Charon then stood on her knees in front of Fran, and she then tied her tie skillfully.
As she did so, she also fixed the collar and hem for her. Charon seemed to be a
capable girl, doesn’t she?

“And, it’s done”

“Thanks”

Immediately after Charon tied her tie, someone came stumbling up to us and
approached Fran and Charon.

“Hey you! I heard you’re an adventurer, aren’t you!?”

“Nn?”

“That beauty serum, give it to me! It’s useless for a commoner like you to use!”

Uwaah, this was the first time I’ve seen this type of noble since we came to the
Academy of Magic.

“You want to use it too?”

“That’s not what I meant! Give all of it to me! I don’t want to be rough with you, so
just give it to me and leave!”

I thought she was just a bit of a tsundere and couldn’t bring herself to say that she
wanted to use it too, so she acted haughtily, but it seemed that she was just a regular
sh*tty nobleman.

As I was wondering how to handle the situation, Charon stepped forward with a
stern look on her face.

“Hey you, Your arrogance will not be tolerated in this academy, you know?”

“Hah!? What do you think you’re doing?”

The female student replied with a mocking attitude. Charon then looked at her with
pity in her eyes and further warned her.

“Weren’t you warned about it when you entered the academy? That no matter who
you are, your status is meaningless while at the Academy”

“Hmph! It’s indeed that this is a large academy, but how can the prestige of my
Marquis family be affected by a mere rule of the academy!? Rather, they should be
grateful that someone of such high rank as me choose to enroll here!”

So, she was a daughter of a Marquis? She must never think that there were places
where her family’s title was meaningless. But that kind of thing was really
meaningless to the spirits that protected this academy.

“That speaking manner… You’re not from this country, are you?”

“I’m a member of the Marquis Renge’s houses, the leading vassal of the glorious
Kingdom of Vassar―”

Just as she was getting to blurt it out, a female student then came at her in a fierce
dash and jumped at the daughter of Marquis Renge. She then tried to cover up her
mouth with her hand.

“Wh-what do you think you are doing!?”

“That should be my line! What do you think you’re doing here, Miss Kurda”

“Get off of me! You’re so rude! Sarltha!”

“Didn’t your father also tell you to stay quiet and obey the rules here at the academy!
Or did you forget about it!?”

“I know! That’s why I’m obeying the staff and the nobles of this country in this
academy!”

“Are you sure that’s what he asked you to do? What your father meant was that for
you not to break any of the rules of this academy and obey them all though!”

“But as the eldest daughter of a marquis family, do you expect me to care for a mere
commoner!? That’s nonsense!”
This female student, Sarltha, must be her attendant. They couldn’t bring a maid with
them, but they could enroll with them and share their room with them.

“Jeez! Anyway, this is really bad! It will even be a matter of the family’s future! Let’s
go!”

“Wha, let me go!”

Sarltha seems to be a quite skilled person. She was at least as strong as the students
in the Special Battle Class. It seemed that she also doubled as her personal attendant
and escort.

Sarltha who looked deeply troubled bowed to Fran and Charon. She seemed to
understand how bad it was to cause a scene in this academy.

“Umm, I’m really sorry. I won’t let her approach you again, so can you please just
forget what had happened?”

“Sarltha! What are yo―Ugh!”

“Just keep silent! Jeez!”

“Haah. What should we do now, Fran?”

“Nn?”

“Should we just overlook these girls?”

Fran was the first one to get tangled up, so Charon asked for Fran’s opinion. But Fran
was not interested in these girls at all.

“Just let them do as they want?”

“Thank you very much”

“Anyway, can I wear my skirt now?”

Huh, Fran? You’re not wearing your skirt yet!? But if it had been the Fran before, she
would have completely ignored them, finished changing, and tried to walk away. But
just the fact that she stopped changing and tried to listen to them properly was a
sign of a big leap in her growth.

“Eh? Yes, go ahead. You girls can go now. Well, I don’t think that we’ll meet again,
right?”

“I see… I think you might be right…”

Does that mean that they’ll be expelled? Well, it only ended as an attempt though, so
I don’t know how much punishment they’ll get.

Charon shrugged her shoulders as she watched them leave.

“You’ll get great credibility if you’re a graduate of this academy even among the
foreign nobles, so there are people like that once in a while”

“I see”

“Well, if we wait a little while, the teacher who was called by the spirit will soon
arrive here. So, we should be a little patient in such situations”

Charon advised her that she didn’t have to submit to the arrogance of the nobility,
but…

“Okay, I’ll hold back not to blow them away next time”

Charon then chuckled when she heard Fran’s words. She must have remembered
that the girl in front of her was a strong person with an alias and even the country
should be concerned about her.

“…It seems that I have more things to worry about Fran now”
When we returned to the classroom from the changing room, the other students had
already arrived in the classroom.

The boys froze when they saw Fran in her school uniform. But it seemed it was not
because of Fran’s cuteness, but because of the trauma from the mock battle.

The female students were not as distant as they had been in the changing room
earlier. Some of them were even waving at her.

However, the classroom, which had an enormous male-to-female ratio, quickly

became quiet.

“…”

“…”

“Nn?”

“Fran, come here”

Charon ushered her to a seat among the boys who were holding their breath and
staring at Fran.

Although I called it a classroom, it was shaped like a bowl, like a university lecture
hall. Apparently, there were no seating arrangements, so each person could sit
wherever they wanted.

The reason why Charon purposely sat in the last row was to alleviate everyone’s
attention on Fran.

“…”

“…”
When Fran and Charon were seated, silence still dominated the classroom. All the
boys were still holding their breath and concentrating on Fran’s presence as if they
were facing a fierce beast.

Seeing that, the female students were laughing at them.

“Oya? You guys are quite quiet today, what’s wrong?”

The silence was broken by an old man who walked into the classroom. He must be
the teacher for this subject.

“N-no, it’s nothing…”

“Really? Well, okay then, let’s start the class. Oh, right, that reminds me, we’ve got a
transfers student, right?”

“It’s me”

“So you’re the instructor and transfer student that I’ve heard so much about, huh?
And a Beastman too, quite rare in our academy”

The old teacher looked at Fran with interest as she raised her hand. He wasn’t in the
staff room when she was introduced this morning.

“They also said that you’re an adventurer, but have you done a lot of dismantling?”

“Nn”

“So what about this, would you be willing to change things up a bit today and tell us
about your experience? It would be a rare opportunity to be able to hear an actual
story from an active adventurer after all”

“I don’t mind”

“Ooh! That’s good!”

The old teacher was more excited than the students. He must be a teacher that liked
to do research.

“It’s not every day I’d get to hear about a high-ranking adventurer’s dismantling
experience!”

With eyes filled with curiosity, he shouted in joy.

“Where should we start then? Oh, that’s it… For example, what is the biggest magic
beast you’ve ever dismantled?”

“The biggest?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm…?”

“What’s wrong? Or did you haven’t had much experience in dismantling a large
magic beast?”

“I don’t know which one to choose because there are too many”

“O-ooh! So that’s why! Well, how about the biggest one in recent days?”

“‘That’ will do then, the one I defeated in the Plains of the Demon Wolf ”

“Hohou? Rumor has it that there are all kinds of magic beasts in there. So, what did
you slay there?”

The old teacher showed a big smile on his face. He was probably the most serious
person in this classroom right now.

“An Invisible Death”

“Wh-what did you say!? I-I-Invisible Death!? It’s a magic beast with a threat level of
B! And you managed to defeat it!?”

The students were completely left behind, weren’t they? Contrary to the excitement
of the old teacher, the students looked puzzled.

“Uhum. Aah, that’s right. Let me explain about the magic beast called the Invisible
Death first”

There was no textbook, so he began to explain about Invisible Death while writing on
the board. As he was a specialist in magic beasts, the old man’s explanation was very
detailed.

However, some things could only be understood through first-hand experience, and
Fran would supplement this information accordingly.

For example, its optical camouflage. He knew that it refracted light to camouflage,
but he didn’t have any concrete information about how stealthy it and how much of a
threat it was.

And so, the class went on with the conversation between Fran and the old teacher.
The students were trying their best to understand, but it seemed to be quite difficult
for them.

It was too powerful to be real, and its abilities were too diverse to be imagined. He
tried to explain them with diagrams on the blackboard, but they couldn’t seem to get
the hang of it.

“Umm, Morley-sensei”

“Charon-kun, do you need something?”

“I’m having a hard time imagining what the magic beast you’re talking about looks
like, so why don’t we use a magic beast book now? I’ll be back in 15 minutes to fetch
it”

“Hmm, you’re right”

Normally, he would bring a magic beast book from the library and show the pages to
the class.

Then, Fran pulled out something from the dimensional storage.

“This”

“C-could it be! An Invisible Death’s Scale!?”

“Nn”

“D-do you have anything else?”

“I kept all of it with me”

“A-all of it? Could it be, you have a whole Invisible Death with you!?”

“Nn? I also got two of them”

The moment Fran nodded; the old teacher let out a crazy scream.

“Uhiihoo! C-can you show that to us? Wha? No, for the sake of the young students’
studies, by all means, please let us see it!”

It was definitely for his interests, wasn’t it?

“This class is too narrow”

“Let’s move! Let’s go right away! Come on! Everybody gets ready to move! Let’s get to
the dissection room!”

They all moved to the dissection room after that. On the way, she was also
bombarded with questions from the old teacher.

The dissection room we arrived at was much larger than I had imagined, and the
ceiling was also quite high. It was made large enough to dissect even a large magic
beast.

Moreover, there were several support magic circles painted on the floor. These magic
circles help to preserve the blood of the magic beast during dissection.

In the middle of it, Fran pulled out the corpse of an Invisible Death. This one was still
untouched, the one that she had killed before her training.

The corpse of the giant beast, over 10 meters in length, clad all over with crystal as
thick as a pillar, attracted everyone’s eyes with its overwhelming presence. Both
teacher and students were speechless in front of the huge beast with the scars of the
fierce battle still fresh on it.

Even if they already knew it with knowledge, the impression of it was different when
they actually saw it in front of them.

The corpse of the Invisible Death had a foul odor as some of its bodily fluids and
internal organs flowed out. It had been stored in the dimensional storage, so it
wouldn’t rot. So, this might be the original smell of its internal organs.

I was impressed that none of the students felt sick or frowned at the smell. It seems
that this was the result of their regular dissection and dismantling activities.

“I’ve brought it out”

“O-oooh… It’s wonderful… Everyone! Make sure you observe it carefully! You may
never have the chance to see a magic beast with a threat level of B up close like this
again!”

The old teacher shouted, and took the initiative to start observing the carcasses of
the magic beasts. Seeing this, the students scattered around it and started sketching.

“Fran, can you tell me more about this magic beast?”

“C-can we join too?”

It was a group of female students, led by Charon, who approached us.

“Nn. Okay”

“Thank you very much”

“Then, let’s start with the most annoying part. The tail. There’s a hole here, from
here―”

“I see―”

“And then, there’s this―”

“What about its ability―”

While listening to Fran’s simple explanations, Charon and the others responded with
exaggerated reactions. Fran seemed to be getting into the mood with their reactions.
She then continued her explanation with great eloquence that was quite
unimaginable for someone like Fran.

The boys, watching them, gradually came closer and closer to Fran and the others.
Some of them even started to ask questions. I guess they realized that they didn’t
need to be afraid of Fran any more than they needed to be after actually interacting
with her.

They all listened to Fran’s story of her fierce battle with the Invisible Death, and the
difficulties she faced in finishing it off.

The class was a little sidetracked, but I hope this has brought her even closer to her
classmates.
[Well, today we’ll also have a mock battle in the afternoon, but we’ll have normal
classes in the morning]

“Nn!”

“Woof!”

[Oh? Feeling enthusiastic, aren’t you? Could it be, that you’re looking forward to the
class?]

But aside from Fran, why does Urushi look so enthusiastic too?

“Cooking Class today!”

Aah, now that she mentioned it…

[Hey, Fran]

“Nn?”

[Do you remember what other classes you’d need to go for today?]

“Nn…?”

At my question, Fran tilted her head with a puzzled look on her face. She looked as if
asking “What other classes?” She didn’t seem to be bothered by it―Or rather, she
didn’t seem to feel the need to remember them.

[You remember that you have a Cooking Class today, so you must have looked over
the timetable you were given, right? But are you sure you don’t remember anything
else?]

“Nn”
Well, it was Fran we were talking about…

But Cooking Class was a class where they’d cook their food, right? How could she be
satisfied with students’ cooking? Moreover, in the case of the special battle class,
they were supposed to learn how to cook quick and easy meals on the battlefield or
outdoors. So, I don’t think they’ll be able to come up with a dish that suits Fran’s
palate.

[Fran, do you know what kind of class Cooking Class is?]

“I’m sure I can eat there”

As Fran’s flat chest heaved with anticipation, I told her the truth about the Cooking
Class.

Then Fran’s expression quickly became sad. After all, it wasn’t what she had
imagined.

Urushi’s tail too hung and stopped moving. I guess he was hoping to get some
leftovers from a delicious meal. However, it was doubtful whether he would eat the
leftovers from an amateur’s cooking. He seemed to have finally understood that.

She passed the main entrance while feeling down.

“Good morning!”

“…Good morning”

We didn’t get stopped by the guard today. He greeted her with a nice smile.

She still doesn’t know many people in the academy yet, so she could hardly talk to
any of them. However, some students seemed to remember Fran’s face from
yesterday’s changing room incident, but she just nodded at their call.

“Fran, good morning”

“Good morning”

As soon as she entered the classroom, Charon immediately called out to her. Fran
then casually sat down next to her.
We had Urushi in his small dog size today. He was sitting next to the chair where
Fran sat.

Even though he was known to be a powerful magic beast, his cute appearance made
the female students’ gazes mellow.

“…Urushi is cute, isn’t he?”

“You think so?”

“Yes. No one will be afraid of him when he looks like that”

Well, Urushi still had a sliver of hope for the Cooking Class and he thought that if he
was the size of a small dog then he could be easily fed.

The first class of the morning was not a Cooking Class. It was a class to learn more
about the various species that exist in this world.

“Well, well. It’s an honor to meet the Black Lightning Princess here. So, you’ve really
evolved, haven’t you?”

The teacher for this class was a Beastman. His name was Horial, and he was a Deer
Beastman. Horial bowed his head respectfully in front of Fran and shook her hand in
a somewhat familiar manner.

However, his eyes were filled with genuine emotion, and I could tell that he was
thrilled to be able to see the evolved Black Cat Kin firsthand.

“Since Fran-dono is here, let’s talk about evolution today. Until last year, I’ve taught
you that the only Beastmen that could not evolve were the Black Cats, but that
theory turned out to be wrong. And the person who made that fact known to the
world was this Fran-dono here!”

Some of the teachings have been changed this year and they were now teaching that
the Black Cat Kin was one of the Ten Primordial Races that could evolve when they
met the requirements.

Fran smiled happily when she heard that. She was happy that the Black Cat Kin were
being reevaluated.
“I’d even say that she has made history! You guys must be really lucky to be in the
presence of such a person! Besides, there aren’t many Beastmen in this academy, and
none of them has evolved yet. Have you guys witnessed her evolved forms?”

Charon and the other students then let out a chuckle. Fran was a scary instructor for
them. So, I guess, they disagree with the word “lucky” in some aspects, as they’ve
been beaten to a pulp by Fran in her evolved form.

However, Fran seemed to be more interested in a different matter.

“There aren’t many Beastmen in this academy?”

“Yes. There’s only a few of us here”

How was it possible for an academy of this size to have almost no Beastmen? But as I
thought back, I certainly hadn’t seen any of them.

Could it be that in this country or academy, Beastmen were discriminated against?

“Why?”

“Simply put, it’s because this academy was an Academy of Magic, and Beastmen
aren’t very good at magic”

To my surprise, it wasn’t because of discrimination.

Come to think of it, I’ve heard that Beastmen weren’t very good at magic.

“Beastman who are good at magic, like the Black Lightning Princess-dono are very
rare. And just like what I said before, I’m not very good at magic either”

I see. In teachers’ case, it doesn’t matter as long as they can teach, so they don’t have
to be able to use magic, huh?

“Let me explain in detail. First of all, most Beastmen have low magic power. This is a
Racial Trait, and is more prominent than in Humans and Dwarves”

“I see”

“In addition, it also has something to do with their personality…”

“Personality?”

“Yes”

Fran tilted her head in confusion, but I somehow figured it out.

“The training of magic is very simple, and it’s also boring, and the results of the daily
training won’t be easily visible”

“Nn”

“In other words, many impatient Beastmen are unable to endure that kind of
training”

It was not that they couldn’t endure it, but they were certainly not suited for it. Not
all Beastmen were impatient and short-tempered, but I’m sure that was the general
tendency for them.

Among them, the Beastmen who could use magic simply had tremendous talent from
the start. They were probably the kind of people who, with a little training, could
learn magic in a blink of an eye and handle it with ease. I guess you could also say
that they have a keen perception.

The Beast King and Mea seemed to be that type.

“Moreover, many Beastmen aspire to become fighters; they start training when they
are about 5 or 6 years old, and many of them start working as apprentices when they
are about 10 years old. Therefore, they have little interest in the academy. It is
common for them to think that they would rather learn on the job rather than
studying”

If they plan to become adventurers or soldiers in the future, it may be indeed more
efficient for them to train from an early age.

“Then there is the geographical issue. In this country, the statuses of magicians are
great, while in the neighboring countries, the statuses of adventurers are great. As a
result, there’s no particular discrimination here, but most of the Beastmen choose to
go to the Kingdom of Kranzel”

However, if you wonder if the Beastmen were absolutely unsuited to be magicians,

I’ve heard that this was not the case. One of the major advantages was that the
aptitude for magic that each race could use was already determined to some extent.

Unlike Humans, who may have an aptitude for all kinds of magic, Beastmen often
have uneven characteristics in their respective races. Let’s use Horial for example. He
was from the Blue Deer Tribe which made it almost certain that they had an aptitude
for Water, Earth, and Tree magic.

Therefore, it was said that they could shorten their training time considerably on
that element. On the other hand, he also said that not many of them could use the
other elements.

“It’s difficult for us to make it big as magicians because of our low magic power, but
it’s easier for us to train as Magic Warriors”

However, it would still be very difficult to get the Beastmen to practice magic. Do you
think Fran and the Beast King would be able to continue their plain training for
years? That would be absolutely impossible.
Horial’s class continued further.

They had gotten a little sidetracked and ended up talking about the Beastmen’s
aptitude in magic, but he managed to bring the class back to the topic of evolution.

“Well then, Charon-kun. What is the only species in this world that does not evolve?”

“Yes. It’s us, humans”

“That’s right―”

Maybe it’s for Fran’s sake, but Horial said it was just a review of previous lessons and
briefly reviewed what they’ve learned so far.

It was quite a strange combination of natural anthropology and mythology, but it

was considered factual in this world.

To put it simply, after the Gods created this world and finished creating nature, the
Great Gods worked together to create man. Then each God created their kindred
based on human beings.

If they’re kin of the Beast and Insect Gods, they would be born as a Beastman or an
insect-kin. If they’re kin of the Forest Tree Gods, they would be born as Elves. If
they’re kin of the Earth Gods, they would be born as Dwarves or Demons. That’s how
it works.

Each of the demi-humans created by the Gods had special powers given to them by
the Gods, and that was why they could evolve.

It may seem that the humans were the only race that didn’t have any special powers,
but actually, the humans were given the power of the Ten Great Gods in a balanced
manner. That was why humans were an excellent race with lots of capabilities and
high fertility. So, it was not that they couldn’t evolve, but that they didn’t need to.
Well, it seemed that the interpretation of that also differed depending on the place.
As there’s no way for a country ruled by Human Royals would teach their people that
humans were a poor race with no good qualities.

The Beastman countries too would teach that the Beastmen were the strongest and
noblest race that didn’t rely on the puny thing known as magic.

“Well, let’s talk about evolution now. First of all, non-humanoid races can naturally
evolve if they level up and meet the requirements. There are also cases of mutation,
but please differentiate between mutation and evolution, okay?”

I learned that demons don’t evolve, but they mutate. Evolution was a big change that
came when someone reached their level cap, while mutation was a small change that
was possible to achieve regardless of their level as long as the conditions were met.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re Beastmen, an Elf, a Dwarf, or Dragonmen, they can still
evolve”

However, it was said that among the species that could evolve and mutate, there
were individuals who sometimes undergo a special kind of evolution.

The Ten Primordial Beastman races, for example, were said to have that kind of
special evolution. But there were also special evolutions in other races as well.

Ashwrath’s race, the Calamity Demon, was a legendary race whose existence was
always questioned. It may not be clearly proved yet, but it was clear that a special
evolutionary process had made him stronger than normal.

“Among these special evolutions, there is a particularly rare one. It’s the evolution
called the Gods Return or the Ancestral Return. Some researchers even refer to them
as the “Godlike beings”“

That’s quite a big name.

“As the word suggests, it is believed to be an evolution of a species that is close to the
Primordial Races that were created by Gods themselves. Well, perhaps I should call it
a “Regression” rather than an “Evolution”, but I’ll talk about it as a form of evolution
here. As far as I know, the High Elves are one of the examples of a Gods Return”

The main difference that differentiates the Gods Return from a normal evolution was
the change in races.

Take the Elves, for example. They have sub-species such as Wood Elves, Leaf Elves,
and Grass Elves, but no matter how much they evolved, they would still be Elves.

In Weena Rhyn case, however, things were a little different.

She was a High Elf but also seemed to be a Demigod herself.

(Amazing, she reached the gods)

[Really? So, that meant that Weena Rhyn was like a god herself?]

Both Fran and I were so surprised, but it seemed that was not the case. A Demigod
was not officially a God but was positioned as beings second to the Gods.

“However, there’s only a few of them in history, so this is just my opinion based on
what I’ve read and what I’ve heard from the director”

“Other than the High Elves, are there other races that have achieved the Gods
Return?”

The other students then began to actively ask questions, as if their nervousness
about Fran’s presence had completely disappeared.

“That’s a good question. As far as I know, the Elder Dwarves achieved the Dwarven
God Return and the God Demons achieved the Demon God Return”

“So, what about the unidentified races?”

“Let’s see. First, there’s the Divine Dragonmen, they’re said to be the Return of the
Dragon God, but the documents about them have been lost due to the destruction of
the Continent of Gordisia. However, their existence is still known among the
Dragonmen, so there’s a high possibility that they actually exist”

The Divine Dragonmen. I had an idea of what beings they were. In the battle in the
Royal Capital, Velmeria, who was being controlled by The Sword of Blind Devotion -
Fanatics, and went out of control, must have some kind of skill to become a Divine
Dragonman.
And I’ve witnessed how tremendous her power was when she used that skill.

So, wasn’t that the Divine Dragon?

“And for us Beastmen. I’ve once heard that there’s a saying that some of the oldest
kin among us also has a being called as the Divine Beastman”

“Divine Beastman?”

“Yes. It’s said to be a being whose power even transcends the Ten Primordial Races.
And there’s also a story of it defeating a Divine Sword with its bare hands”

“Eehh?”

“That’s, really…”

The students then made a commotion when they heard Horial’s words. There were
also classes about the Divine Sword in this academy, and that must have been told of
its tremendous power.

Maybe, they must think that Horial, who is also a Beastman himself, was
exaggerating about the Beastmen’s Gods Return.

But Fran and I have different thoughts. Because I’ve actually witnessed Velmeria
fighting evenly with Ashwrath, a Divine Sword user, and as for Weena Rhyn, we
hadn’t seen her using all of her power, but she seemed to have enough power to fight
a Divine Sword.

[And if that Divine Beastman has the power of Weena Rhyn or Velmeria class…]

“Nn. There’s a possibility of it winning against a Divine Sword”

Fran’s muttering seemed to have caught the ears of a surprising number of students.
Horial, too, asked back with great interest.

“Do you have any thought about it, Black Lightning Princess-dono?”

“Nn. I’ve fought Weena Rhyn before, so I’m pretty sure she’s strong enough to fight a
Divine Sword”
“…Have you ever seen a Divine Sword?”

“I’ve seen Ashwrath fight with his Divine Sword”

“I see. So, you’ve seen both the Divine Sword and the Gods Return, huh!?”

The noise in the classroom got even louder. Apparently, the story of her seeing a
Divine Sword in an open state was shocking. She was then bombarded with
questions from the surrounding students.

I was afraid that Horial would get angry with her for sidetracking the lesson, but he
ended up asking her a question about the Divine Sword himself.

He just liked the legends in this world, so it couldn’t be helped.

In the end, they ended up talking about Ashwrath and his Divine Sword until the
class ended.
Once Horial’s class was over, the next class was the Cooking Class.

However, for some reason, the class was held outside, not in the cooking room or the
cafeteria. The students were gathered in their uniforms on the grass field.

The ground was covered with the blue sheet that I had seen at the Adventurer’s
Guild before, and on top of it were the corpses of about ten magic beasts.

It looked like a one-meter-long raccoon. Its fur was dry and shaggy, and it was not
very clean.

And it smelled bad. It was faint, but it smelled like rotten eggs.

This magic beast was called the Skunk Raccoon. Its meat smelled so bad that even if
you cooked it properly, it wouldn’t be very edible. In fact, an ordinary adventurer
would probably only collect its magic stones and poison glands and discard the rest.

The fur and other materials are of low quality and are not worth selling too.

But, could it be, they were expected to cook this thing?

A large woman was standing in front of the blue sheet. Her name was Yafi, and she
was also a former adventurer.

“Today’s Cooking Class is designed to teach you how to process and cook the magic
beasts you’ve killed in the field!”

It seemed that they didn’t just have to cook it, but they also had to dismantle it
themselves as well.

“You have to dismantle and cook this Skunk Raccoon, remember what I’ve taught you
so far! You can make anything you want with it!”
As I’ve expected, this Skunk Raccoon was prepared for them to cook. She’d prepared
them a quite nasty prey, hadn’t she?

“Split up into groups and each group must take care of one of them! And make sure
you make enough portions for all of us!”

It seemed that this class was meant to prepare for the times when they lose their
food, as they were forced to cook and eat nasty prey.

When Urushi realized that, he quietly disappeared into Fran’s shadow.

“Umm, you must be Fran, right? I wonder what task to give to you… Have you ever
dismantled a magic beast or cooked one?”

“I’ve experienced both of it”

“Huh? Really?”

“Nn”

“As expected of a solo high-ranked adventurer. If that’s the case, where should I place
you then?”

“How about she join our group?”

It was Charon who raised her voice. Although her group’s members didn’t reject her
idea, their faces looked a little uncertain.

“But, I wonder if Fran would like to join her group”

“Okay”

“Aaah, and also, you don’t have to hold back, okay? You can use whatever spices you
have on hand”

“Is that so?”

“It’s pretty common for adventurers to have unexpected companions to join their
party. But can you really ask them to hold back just because your share would be
reduced?”
“I see”

“In fact, if you can’t draw out the abilities of those irregular companions and
cooperate with them, you shouldn’t consider yourself as a pro”

That was probably true. I’m sure there are times when multiple parties will take on a
joint request, and there are also times when a solo adventurer who knows a
particular region will be temporarily added to the party.

“Well, I’d also like to have at least some good food too”

So that was her real intention!

Nevertheless, I’m not going to do anything to help Fran this time. Aside from
dismantling, if I interfere with the cooking process, the food will usually taste better.
But I want Fran to have to gain her own experience too.

“I look forward to working with you. Fran”

“Nn. Me too”

“Also, I’d like to introduce you to my group members”

“I-I’m Rellus. It’s nice to meet you”

“I’m Marquez”

“I’m Osless. Nice to meet you”

The frail-looking guy was Rellus. He seemed to be a magician from the Demon Kin.
He was quite an unusual student of the Special Battle Class, as he was a pure
magician type.

The serious-looking macho guy was Marquez. He was the opposite of Rellus and was
probably a shield user.

The last man was a frivolous-looking gentleman. He’s Osless. And he looked to be in
his early twenties.

Well, since the Academy of Magic does not limit admission by age, so some of them
are older than others.

It seemed that these three people, including Charon, were a group in the Cooking
Class. At first, I thought they were friends who had formed a party at the
Adventurer’s Guild, but it seemed that was not the case.

“We don’t have a fixed party when we take quests at the Adventurer’s Guild”

“It’s also unlikely that we’ll be able to make a party with our classmates after
graduation”

If they were to form a party with only their classmates, they would not be able to
respond flexibly in times of need. In order to prevent this, the students of the Special
Battle Class are required to change their combinations in turns when they take
quests outside.

“I know in yesterday’s class that Fran has dismantling skills, but what about
cooking?”

“Nn… It’s so-so? I’m not as good as Master”

“Hmm? Fran’s master? What kind of person is he?”

“Master is the best, he can do anything”

“Th-that is… Well, he’s Fran’s master, so I’m sure it’s true”

Fran’s master must be even more screwed up. That must be what she thought of me.

“So, what do you want us to do? We don’t mind you giving us instructions”

“Okay”

How could you ask Fran, who still hadn’t mastered her Cooking Skills to give you
instructions…? Charon, you’re quite a gambler, aren’t you? No, did she decide to just
follow a high-ranked adventurer, which was, in a sense, a natural thing to do for an
adventurer?

Her group members don’t seem to have any objections as well. Rather, they were
nodding happily. The one who was clearly happy with it was Osless
“Uwaah, we’re saved. All the guys in this group are really bad at cooking”

“Is that so?”

“Well, yeah. It’s because everyone except me is totally useless~. Well, all three of
them are nobles, so it’s no wonder”

It seems that the three of them were children of small noble families, but still, they
had a maid or two in their houses. But after entering this academy, they’ve worked a
little harder, but they were not good at it.

Osless, on the other hand, was the son of a Chief Soldier and came from a commoner
family. Therefore, he had been helping his mother in the kitchen since he was a child,
and he seemed to have no qualms about cooking.

“I’m not really skilled at it, but I’m better than these guys. And I also have some
useful skills as well”

And so, they choose Fran to be their leader, with Osless as her assistant, and the
other three ready to take instruction.

“Are there any spices in this group’s inventory?”

“Yes. Each group has its inventory”

“Then bring them all. And bring some cooking utensils too”

“Understood”

“What should we do?”

“First, secure the prey, get the best one”

“Even if you tell us to get the best one, they’re the same magic beast, you know? And
their size is about the same too. Will that really make any differences?”

“It probably took days to prepare it. So, obviously, there’s a difference in its
freshness”

“How can we tell the difference?”

“The smell, the hair, the cloudiness of the eyes. And the color of its tongue”

“I see”

Now, I wonder what kind of food she’ll make.

Fran started by checking the seasonings and discussed what kind of dish she was
going to cook.

“Umm, Fran? Shouldn’t we split up and start dismantling?”

“The other group has already started dismantling, you know…?”

“No problem. I can dismantle such a magic beast in no time”

“As expected of Fran”

“She’s so reliable―”

I sneaked a peek at the other group’s work, and it was pretty bad. They were slow as
they didn’t understand the structure of their prey, and their overall work was poor. It
would probably take them more than half an hour just to dismantle it.

On the other hand, as long as she was careful with the Skunk Raccoon’s poison
glands and magic stones, it would only take Fran less than five minutes to dismantle
it.

Well, it was thanks to our Dismantling Skills though. Come to think of it, I’m a lot
better than I was when I first came to this world. I missed the old days when I tried
to dismantle something randomly and ended up tearing the materials apart.

“Is this all the seasoning we have?”

“Eh? Yeah…”

“Muh”

Fran made an unusually small grunt when she saw the seasonings that Charon and
the others had prepared.
Well, I knew how she felt. After all, on the table, there were only rock salt, pepper,
and two kinds of herbs. The rest was seasoned salt mixed with chopped mushrooms
and oil. That was all they had.

The seasoned salt seemed to be handmade by an amateur, and the herbs were of a
weak type with little aroma and taste.

Apparently, they only have things that could be collected in the wild. When she asked
them about it, they said that it was the seasonings that they had collected in their
previous classes.

“…Can we buy some?”

“It’s allowed, but we’re not very familiar with the seasonings…”

Until now, they had only been able to get the food to be edible by adding salt and
herbs and heating them.

But this time, the Skunk Raccoon won’t be that simple, you know? We couldn’t get rid
of its foul scent by just heating it.

But as expected, we don’t have the time to go to town and buy the seasonings now.

“Okay, I’ll do something about the seasoning then”

“Do you have some?”

“Nn. I have a lot of them”

“Aah, now that I remember, Fran can use Space-Time Magic, isn’t she?”

And so, Fran and her group decided to proceed with the dismantling first.

If Fran gave her best, it would be over quickly, but she chose to dismantle it while
giving some details to Charon and the others. This was probably because it was part
of the class. Fran must have understood that she shouldn’t do everything herself.

But before Fran and the others could start dismantling, there was a scream from the
other groups. And then, the other group started screaming too, while holding their
eyes and noses.
“Ugh―!”

“What smell is this…!”

“It stinks! Stink, stink, stink!”

“Kyaa―!”

Apparently, a group had damaged the poison gland during dismantling. The venom
of the Skunk Raccoon was only slightly poisonous, but the smell was very horrible.

People tend to think that’s what causes the smell of its meat, but it’s actually not. In
the blood of Skunk Raccoons, there was a component that helps them withstand
their own poisonous gas. The chemical-like scent of these ingredients was the true
source of its meat’s smell.

On the other hand, the poison smelled like strong sulfur. The smell also seemed to
have spread to the surrounding area all at once. All the groups were in agony with
tears in their eyes.

Charon and the others were starting to smell it too. Aside from the three men, that
must be horrible for Charon, she was a daughter of a Nobleman after all. Fran also
seemed to have smelled the gas for a moment and was frowning.

However, she immediately used her wind magic to blow the air around her and put
up a barrier to block the smell.

“I-I was saved”

“Th-thanks”

“That was really terrible”

“Uwaah, you all look awful”

The people around them were in a half panic, but Fran didn’t really care. Once they
were sure that their surroundings were no longer smelly, she went back to explain
the dismantling process.

“Then, use a knife to cut here”

“Eh? Ah, yes!”

Charon and the others quickly concentrated on Fran’s hands, remembering that they
were behind in their work.

They proceeded in this manner and finished almost all the dismantling in about 10
minutes. Of course, she didn’t make any mistakes that could damage the poison
glands and cause a foul-smelling commotion again.

“That was an amazing technique”

“I-I’m impressed”

“Anyone can do it once they get used to it. More importantly, what should we do with
this?”

“If we can harvest its magic stones, we give them to the teacher later”

It seemed that teachers would bring it to the Adventurer’s Guilds and the like to
cover some of the costs of conducting the classes.

“We got quite a lot of meat. But what should we make with it?”

“S-somehow, it smells strange…”

“The color is also bad”

“There’s quite a lot of muscle too. I wonder how it tastes?”

Charon and the others looked at each other as they didn’t think it wouldn’t taste
good before they ate it. Fran could only nod at that.

“Nn. It was very smelly and quite unappetizing. This is nothing a little roasting can
fix”

“Uwaah. Then… What should we do?”

“We don’t have any choice. Let’s use this”

What Fran took out from the dimensional storage was a variety of curry powder that
I had blended. The aroma and spiciness could be adjusted according to the
ingredients and cooking methods.

“Umm, what is this?”

“Curry powder made by Master. With this, any ingredient can taste better. The
supreme seasoning!”

“Hee, is curry the name of the dish?”

“Nn. The best food”

“That sounds awesome. But its scent was quite strange. I wonder if it’s a mixture of
spices?”

Osless was the only one who took a bite out of the curry powder. If they were not
interested in cooking, it was just a rare seasoning for them.

But soon, Charon raised her voice.

“Wait a minute. When you say curry, isn’t it a new dish that has recently started to
become popular in the Kingdom of Kranzel?”

“Master made it”

“Could it be, Fran’s Master is the rumored Curry Master? I’ve heard that he’s a very
skilled cook… But wasn’t your Master an adventurer?”

“Master can do everything. His cooking, his fighting, his magic, everything is top-
notch. He is my master of everything”

“I-is that so? Is he a famous adventurer?”

“Not an adventurer. Master is Master”

While they were talking, Osless had checked the curry powder.

“How do I use it? Do I just sprinkle it on and grill it?”

“That’s fine too, but I’ll use it differently this time”

After that, they all proceeded with the cooking, with Fran giving the directions.

It’s quite hard to believe that Fran was telling people what to do and working
together to cook… If it had been her before, she would have finished it all by herself
and ate the food alone.

I could feel Fran’s growth, and I’m about to cry. But I don’t have tear glands though.
Fran and her group had decided on the dish they were going to make and started
cooking it, but the way they cooked was very different from the other groups.

While the other groups were cooking with pans over the fire, they were using
improvised stoves made with Earth Magic.

Moreover, Fran provided them with top-grade knives and pans from her dimensional
storage. It was a very high-quality product made by a Dwarven master.

The seasoning used in the preparation and the milk used to remove the smells was
also used lavishly.

She also used a makeshift pressure cooker made with a combination of Earth, Fire,
Wind, and Water Magic to cook the meat until it was tender.

The makeshift-pressure cooker looked simple at first glance, but it was actually a
technique that required a high level of skill and was very difficult to maintain and
adjust in combination with magic.

Well, no one was aware of that though. But if a Magic Teacher were to see it, they
would be amazed at the waste of its use.

Yafi, the teacher in charge of the Cooking Class, was admiring all the dishes that Fran
and her group had laid out in front of her.

“Hee? It has no distinctive pungent smell at all. It’s almost hard to believe that you
used Skunk Raccoon meat for this”

From the white porcelain dishes, it was hard to believe that they were used for
outdoor cooking. No, it was not only Yafi but the rest of the groups seemed to think
so as well.

“What kind of cooking is this?”

“Well, I wonder…?”

“It looks delicious… Moreover, they even made four dishes in such a short time…”

It was not just the cooking that the students were impressed with.

“Did you see how fast they dismantled it? That was amazing”

“I also listened to her explanation, and it was very informative”

“As expected of a real active adventurer…”

“Or rather, I never thought that magic can be used like that”

“One day, I’m gonna be able to do the same…”

Even if she had simply cooked outdoors, they could feel the difference in their
abilities. They looked exhausted and looked at Fran with envy.

Well, the students were probably tired because they were physically and mentally
drained from the multiple foul smell disturbances that had occurred. Perhaps, half of
the groups had failed to dismantle and damaged its poison glands. If they had
smelled the fainting stench over and over again, they must have been exhausted.

“This looks delicious”

Yafi’s words probably summed up her feelings pretty well. As far as I could tell, the
food had not been good so far.

It was all about herb-crusted grilled food and salty soup. She couldn’t stop eating for
the assessment, and it was quite hard for her.

The only thing that seemed to be better was the cooking of the group that received
good reviews in this class every time. A brown-skinned, platinum-blonde, fresh-
looking man from another continent was in charge of the cooking as the leader of
that group.

He seemed to come from a desert country called the Kingdom of Azalea, which was
apparently famous for its cuisine that used a lot of spices. In this class, he was also
making Azalean soup and a tortilla-like dish with grilled meat sandwiched between
flour dough.

At first glance, I thought the soup might be a curry soup, but it seemed more like a
stew with spices.

The filling of the tortilla was a layer of thinly sliced meat that has been baked and
then sliced into thin strips, just like a kebab.

The spices and coconut milk seemed to have removed a lot of the smell from the
meat, but it was not perfect due to the lack of preparation such as draining the blood.
Yafi’s assessment of it was “It’s so-so”.

Now, how would the cooking that Fran and her group had cooked, be evaluated?

“I’ll dig in then”

“Nn”

“I wonder if this is pounded and minced Skunk Raccoon meat? Is that cheese on
top?”

“After removing as much fat as possible from the abdomen, we crushed it into small
pieces, mixed with special seasoning, rolled up and baked”

Well, to put it simply, it was a hamburger steak mixed with curry powder and baked,
with cheese on top of it.

“And how does it taste――”

Yafi then used her fork to cut up the hamburger and slowly brought it to her mouth.

“Mogu mogu…!”

(*munching SFX)

Immediately after chewing once and twice, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Delicious! What the hell is this!? It tastes like something that you’d normally need to
pay for! And it has the most complex taste I’ve ever had… It’s a little bit spicier than
Azalean food, but… What is this spiciness――”
Yafi was surprisingly accurate in her analysis of flavors. I thought she was just an
adventurer who wanted to teach outdoor cooking, but it seemed she was well versed
in food and cooking.

“Is this jerky? You did a great job making it in such a short time”

“Fresh jerky made with magic”

“Your magic is quite amazing then… Hmm… It has a unique taste from the seasoning
and spices. Aah, it made me want to have some alcohol”

“And this. I made it with meat miso. Wrap it in this flour crepe”

“Another unusual dish. Mogu mogu―― it’s also delicious. Incredible!”

Fran, whose Cooking Skill was already at its highest level, had used spices and miso
to cover up the smell and taste. She chose a dish that she could make right here from
the many dishes I’ve made in the past and recreated it.

“And last but not least, the mysterious soup… Is it soup? It looks oddly thick”

“It’s curry. The most delicious food in the world”

“Th-that’s quite a big one. Let’s find out how it tastes… Mogu mogu”

The other dish that Fran prepared was a curry with a lot of ingredients. There was
no rice though.

It was a slightly spicy red curry with meat and vegetables tenderized in a makeshift
pressure cooker. When Yafi took a bite of the curry, she looked even more surprised
than before.

“Th-this is! What a complex taste! It’s spicy, but it only makes me want to eat more of
it…!”

Yafi, who had only eaten a few bites of the other group’s dishes before, said that she
couldn’t judge well if she was full, but right now, she was gobbling up Fran and her
group’s cooking.

This would be an unquestionably high evaluation.

“W-we’ll have some of that too”

Charon and the others, who had been holding out so Yafi could assess it first,
couldn’t wait any longer.

“Nn”

“I-I can finally eat it”

“It looks delicious”

“I-ta-da-ki-ma-su!” (Note: Thanks for the food!)

“Woof woof!”

Urushi also came out and got some curry. However, his actions were quite
disgraceful. He then ate the curry while paying attention to Fran who made it, but I
could tell by the way his tail wagged how happy he was.

But Fran was not angry at him. Rather, Fran herself had a subtle expression on her
face. For Fran, who loved curry, the taste must not be satisfactory.

Even so, it was very well received by her group. Fran was comparing it to my
cooking, so it’s a harsh assessment, but I’m sure it was a lot better than most of the
cooking the other groups made.

The other classmates looked enviously as Charon and her group ate their curry while
saying how delicious it was. The rule was that they had to eat everything they made,
so all the groups were forced to eat their food.

“…H-hey. If you have any leftover, could I have a bite of that food?”

The first person who approached her was the handsome young man who made the
Azalean dish. He was good at cooking and seemed to be very interested in it.

“Sure”

“Really!? Thank you!”

“Eh! I want some too!”

“Me too! Me too!”

In the end, everyone raised their hands in the air. However, there was not enough for
everyone who wanted it.

Well, to the students who lost in rock-paper-scissors, good luck next time!
They got a high mark in Cooking Class. They made the best use of what they had and
made delicious food.

But even after such class, Fran still went to the cafeteria to eat lunch.

Charon and her group members were following her too. It was probably because the
amount of food they ate in the Cooking Class was not enough for them.

But for their classmate, they probably just want to remove the bad taste from their
mouth.

While everyone else was enjoying the food served in the cafeteria, only Fran was
eating something different. In the cafeteria, people were allowed to bring in their
food from outside. Well, it was just a school cafeteria after all.

The students, especially those who do not live in the dormitory but commute from
the town, seemed to get their meals from outside.

And of course, what Fran was eating was the curry rice.

The Skunk Raccoon curry that they made wasn’t quite satisfying for Fran. So, she
decided to eat some curry…

“Nn. This is for you”

“Woof!”

Fran then continues to shove the curry into her mouth over and over again. Urushi
too, but since he ate his curry in his puppy mode, his mouth was all messy.

Looking at Fran and Urushi eating, Charon seemed to be a little envious.

“That must be a dish made with the curry powder from the Cooking Class earlier,
isn’t it?”

“Nn? Yes, but different”

“Ummm…? It isn’t curry?”

“It’s curry. But it’s completely different from the one we had earlier. This is the real
thing. The one we made earlier was a total failure”

“The one we made earlier? It was so delicious though?”

“Nn. Have some”

“Eh? Th-thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me… Aaah”

Charon hesitantly sipped at the spoon that Fran had offered to her.

“Th-this is…! I-it’s delicious! Certainly, it can’t be compared to the one we had
earlier!”

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen that look of astonishment today.

Well, the food they made in the Cooking Class may have been delicious, but the
ingredients used were not good, and the curry powder was not mixed properly. On
the other hand, what Fran just made her eat was the best curry I made with all my
heart.

Needless to say, this one should have tasted better.

Looking at Charon who was impressed, Fran showed her smug face.

“Fufun”

“Is that the one that Fran’s Master makes?”

“Nn!”

“Is he really an adventurer? Not a cook?”

She must feel very happy for her to praise the curry. Fran then took out a bowl of
curry from the dimensional storage and placed it in front of Charon.

“I-is this for me?”

“Nn”

“Thank you very much!”

Charon thanked her with a radiant smile. She had already filled her stomach with the
lunch provided by the cafeteria, but she seemed to still be able to eat more.

“Thanks for the food”

As one would expect from a noble, the way she moved the spoon was elegant at first,
but her pace then became incredible. Her hand never stopped moving the spoon, and
the curry in the bowl was steadily decreasing.

“I-is it that good? H-hey, let us have some too…”

They came to the cafeteria after the Cooking Drill, so Osless and the other boys were
sitting together at the same table as Fran.

Seeing Charon eating the curry so deliciously, I guess they couldn’t hold back
anymore. Osless then said that he wanted to eat it too.

If it was Fran from before, she would have found it hard to share the curry. However,
I wondered if she had developed a sense of friendship after the short time they spent
together in the Cooking Class.

Fran then willingly served them some curry. She also served it with a side of sliced
vegetables pickled in soy sauce.

“It’s delicious!”

“Oh, God! This is so good”

“Gatsu gatsu!” (*munching SFX)

It was just that, you know if she serves curry to only Osless and the others here――
“…Gulp”

“…Slurp”

All their classmates around were looking at Fran’s table with a menacing look like
starving beasts.

No, even the other students, other than their classmates, were also looking at them.

“Muh”

“Woof”

Fran and Urushi, who can smile even when surrounded by a pack of magic beasts,
were being pressured by the students.

“…This, have some too”

[Ah! If you do that――]

“ “ “ “Uwoooh” “ “ “

The moment Fran took out one of the barrels from the dimensional storage, an
earth-shaking cheer suddenly rose. It already sounded like a war cry.

[Pa-panic will occur here!]

I braced myself for that, but Osless, Marquez, and Rellus voluntarily took charge of
serving the food and organizing a line.

“It seems like it’s our fault… So, let us at least do this”

“He’s right”

“I-I don’t know what will happen if we leave them alone”

The Special Battle Class seemed to be well respected, and the students from other
departments obediently followed their instruction. Thanks to that, we were able to
finish distributing the curry smoothly without any incident breaking out.
“It tastes much better than cafeteria food!”

“It’s already more than a few degrees higher”

“You’re right! This is certainly hundreds of times better!”

While Fran gazed sadly at the empty barrel, there were shouts of joy in various parts
of the cafeteria. Apparently, the curry was well accepted.

However, other people besides Fran could not simply be happy about the situation.
But it was not Charon and the others.

“Hey, you. The little Beastman there”

“Nn?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here without telling us?”

The words alone sounded as if he was part of the town’s hoodlums, but I suppose
that was to be expected.

The man who was staring at Fran with a blue mark on his forehead was an elderly
man dressed in a white cook’s uniform.

“I’m Noritz, I’m in charge of cooking here. Can I have a talk with you for a moment?”
The cook, Noritz, showed up looking a little pissed off, but after listening to him
carefully, I found out that he was actually very interested in the curry.

His tone of voice made him sound like he was angry, but the words that came out
were a request to eat the curry. A tsundere old man. Good grief, that wasn’t moe at
all!

He really wanted to try my curry himself, and he was angry at us for causing a scene,
but the smells are so delicious. He was a little offended by what the students were
saying, but he was interested in the unique dish.

It seemed that such a mixture of emotions resulted in his tsundere response.

“Ugh… This is delicious, isn’t it? This must have used a lot of spice to make it…”

Noritz analyzed various things from the curry Fran had given to him.

“As expected of the one who developed it, they are two of three steps ahead of the
recipes they sell”

“You know about the curry recipe?”

“Yeah. They sell it at Lucille’s Trading Company. I’m also interested in the fact that it
was developed by a silver-ranked cook”

Apparently, Noritz was a member of the Cooking Guild. It was not a very big
organization, but most cooks from big restaurants were members.

And when he learned that the developer of the curry was a Silver Rank member of
the Cooking Guild, he decided to buy it.

“I was shocked by it. However, if I make it by following the recipe, the cost would be
quite high…”
Noritz said that the most important thing he paid attention to when he cooked was
nutritional balance. Next is quantity. The last is taste. Of course, he does not want to
serve bad food. However, there was a limit to what he could do within his budget.

There may be many ways to make this at home, but they have to make food for
thousands of people with a small number of people. They also don’t have enough
time or labor for even a small amount of innovation.

“By the way, what is the cost to make this?”

“It was――”

When she gave him a rough idea of the cost and the ingredients used, Noritz put his
head in his hands. The soup stock was made from the bones of magic beasts, and a
variety of their meats were used. Magical plants were used lavishly too. So it was
probably not something that could be served in a school cafeteria.

It seemed that Noritz was also trying to make a good and cheap curry, but it just
didn’t seem to be working. If he reduced the number of expensive spices, it becomes
just like a soup with a few spices.

In the first place, spices were expensive in this country. Well, since Barbra was a port
town, it was particularly cheap to buy there. So if he used such spices as in the
recipe, the cost will inevitably go up.

Seeing Noritz so distressed, Fran seemed to feel sorry for him. She could tell that
deep down he wanted to make sure that the students had the best food possible.

(Master, can we do something?)

[Hmm, I actually had an idea]

Noritz’s mistake would have been to try to replicate the taste of the recipe based on
the one sold at Barbra. I guess it’s because he had an assumption that that was how a
curry should be… But with a limited budget and ingredients, it was impossible to do
so even for me.

“…I have an Idea”

“Huh? Could it be, you want to help us?”

“Nn”

“Oooh! Thank you! Then, what should we do?”

“Let me use the kitchen”

“Understood!”

Fran then cooked and prepared the dish according to my instructions. Naturally, it
was Fran and Urushi who were the first to taste it.

Seeing how well they ate, Noritz followed suit and took a bite of her cooking.

“This is… It is curry, but it’s not the curry I know. However, it’s cheap and delicious”

“It’s Curry Mapo Rice”

“Mapo? What an interesting name”

“It’s a little different from curry, but it’s delicious”

What we made was a curry Mapo with fewer spices and more sansho (Japanese
pepper). In this country, a variety of sansho could be obtained inexpensively. After
all, they grew naturally everywhere.

But Noritz and the others never thought of it as something they could use for the
curry. They never thought that the inexpensive sansho, which they usually used in
large quantities, would be a good substitute for expensive spices. The smell was
quite different too.

I took advantage of that and made a curry-like version of a dish that originally
existed in this area, a dish similar to Mapo seasoned with sansho, soy sauce, and
sugar. The spiciness of this dish was different from that of curry, but I’ve tried to
make it addictive.

In terms of cost, it’s not so different from what we’ve done in the past, but it’s a
recipe that we, with all our cooking skills, really thought about. Moreover, by using
even a small amount of spices from abroad, we were able to create something new.
I’m sure the students would love it.
“If you change the seasoning or the thickness a little, you can put it in steamed bun
or sandwich”

“I see what you mean! We can freely change the ingredients! You’ve taught me
something good!”

In addition to that, I’ll teach him how to arrange existing dishes, like curry fried rice.
With Noritz’s skills, I’m sure he can make the cafeteria’s food taste even better than it
already does.

“Thank you. With this, now I can give the students a good meal. But, about your
reward…”

“Nn? I don’t need it”

Fran refused the reward. Well, this is half as an apology for making a scene, and half
for the sake of the other students.

Besides, we’ve seen Noritz and the others making tearful efforts to keep the cost of
ingredients down. If we were to receive a reward for the recipe, it would be
meaningless for us to teach them how to make it cheaply.

When she told him that, Noritz said that he couldn’t accept it for free and that he
would pay for it out of his pocket.

And after a short discussion, we settled on asking him to write a letter of

introduction to a business association that does business with the academy. After all,
I also wanted a lot of sansho for our future use. So, it’s just right.

We finished our work at the cafeteria, but then, we had an unexpected encounter. It
was when we were heading for the exit to leave the cafeteria.

“…!”

“?”

It was a brown-haired boy who looked to be only about three or four years old. The
boy came running into the cafeteria with a smile on his face as if he was really
looking forward to eating, but he stopped moving the moment he saw Fran.
“ “…” “

Fran and the boy looked at each other. The boy’s smile had changed and he was now
glaring at Fran. There was strong anger in his eyes and a slight hint of fear. I never
thought a boy like him would look at her like that.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, the woman who was with him gently
touched the boy’s shoulder.

“Romio-kun, you’ll disturb everyone if you stop here”

“…I-I’m sorry”

“Shall we go then? Hmm?”

“Yes”

As we passed each other, the woman bowed her head apologetically――while Romio
was still staring at us. She must be a caretaker.

[So that was Romio]

“…”

[Fran, don’t overthink about it too much]

(That eye… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere)

[Eh? You mean, from Romio?]

“Nn”

I thought she was depressed because Romio was staring at her, but actually, she had
something else on her mind.

[You’ve seen it somewhere? You can’t remember?]

“Nn…”

We had never met Romio before. So I’m not sure if the hostile and frightened look in
his eyes was the same as the one we used to fight with.

“But where…?”
It was the day after our encounter with Romio.

Today, the atmosphere at the Academy of Magic was different from this morning. It
was because there was an entrance ceremony for the new students.

However, the ceremony was quite modest.

It seemed that new students entered this academy every four months, and that was
why the entrance ceremony was not such an important event.

Only the new students and a few teachers would attend it.

Fran was also told that she did not have to attend. She could attend if she wanted to,
but of course, she didn’t. Even at her entrance ceremony, she was sure to doze off,
and she would definitely fall asleep at someone else’s entrance ceremony.

So, she wouldn’t bother to tarnish the bright memories of the new students.

The bustle of the freshmen, filled with excitement and expectation, seemed to light
up the academy.

[I guess it’s the same in every world that freshmen are always excited]

(In Master’s world too?)

[Yeah, they are similar. Well, it’s rare to find freshman with varying ages in my world
though]

Since there was no age limit for admission, the new students were of varying ages.
Some were as young as ten years old, while others were over twenty.

The most common age group is around 12 to 14 years old. The same age as Fran.
In a part-time school system, an age difference of this magnitude would be normal.
However, children and adults should never be mixed. It was like elementary school
students and college students studying in the same classroom.

However, this was not unusual in this world, and the adult freshmen mixed in with
the children did not seem embarrassed, nor did the children seem to look at them
strangely.

However, it was inevitable that people of the same age would tend to stick together.
It was the same as on Earth.

The new students were gleaming with excitement as they saw the facilities of the
Academy of Magic. As we were heading towards the classroom with them at our side,
we were approached from behind.

“Fran-san?”

“Nn?”

“I knew it was you!”

Fran turned around and looked unusually surprised when she saw the face of the
person who had called out to her.

“Khanna? Why are you here?”

“That should be my line”

In front of Fran’s eyes, the girl was Khanna, the girl who had been with us on the
pass from the Kingdom of Kranzel.

And she seemed to be a freshman as she was wearing the uniform from this
academy.

“Fran didn’t come to the entrance ceremony?”

“Nn? What do you mean?”

“No, it’s just that I didn’t see you there. But if you’re here, does that mean you were
able to enroll here?”
“Nn. I’m enrolled here”

It was not like she was enrolled though. She was just being treated as a temporary
student here.

“But I was told that I didn’t have to attend the entrance ceremony”

“Ara, really?”

“Nn”

“But it’s good to see you again. Since we couldn’t find you anywhere, I was
wondering if you had abruptly canceled your enrollment. But it’s impossible for Fran
to not be accepted because of her ability”

I had a feeling that Fran and Khanna were not quite on the same page, and now I
know why. It seemed that she thought that Fran was a new student just like her.

Come to think of it, she only told Khanna that her destination was the Academy of
Magic.

Fran’s age was just right for enrollment, and it was not surprising that Khanna
misunderstood.

“Since we’re both new students, please take care of me”

As I thought, she seems to have misunderstood.

“But your uniform is…? It’s so different from ours”

“This is the Special Battle Class uniform”

“Eh? The Special Battle Class? Isn’t that an advanced class…?”

“Nn”

“You didn’t get into the Elementary department?”

At this point, Khanna must have finally realized that something was wrong.
They then exchanged information with each other, and finally, she realized that Fran
was not a new student.

“I see. I never thought you’d be an instructor. Well, it was natural for someone as
capable as Fran-san”

“So Khanna wanted to get here from the start?”

“Eh? Well, that’s right, but…”

She didn’t reveal that the purpose of her trip was to enter the Academy of Magic
because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to get in.

“You said this place is open to everyone, right?”

“Well, I have a lot of things going on my side…”

I was aware that she had her reasons, but what exactly was the reason that might
have caused the rejection of her admission?

Well, she wouldn’t tell us even if we asked. I guess Fran was not really interested in
that either. So, she asked a different question.

“Hey, what happened to the other two?”

“Dianne and Shella?”

“Nn. Those two”

Fran had completely forgotten the name of Khanna’s companions. Well, she was
always like this though.

“Shella is looking for a job in town during our stay. If I can successfully graduate,
then we’ll return to our home country together”

It would take years for Khanna to graduate. If Shella waited that long, it would cost
her a lot of money just to keep staying at the inn. She was looking for a job at Lady
Blue to raise as much money as possible to pay for her stay.

“And about that knight?”

“I don’t know what Dianne is going to do. Originally, her job was to accompany me to
this place. She said she would return to the country with me, but she is allowed to
act at her discretion during her stay”

“I see”

“She said she was going to train as a warrior, but she hasn’t decided where she’s
going yet”

I’m rather glad that she was not here.

“Aah, I have to go. I’m sorry to keep you with me”

The teacher leading the new students called her, and Khanna hurried back.

“Umm, hey!”

“Nn?”

Looking back at her, Khanna opened her mouth with a somewhat thoughtful
expression.

“Can I meet you again next time?”

“Nn. See you”

“Yes! See you!”

Khanna smiled with relief and with a nod and wave at her. It was probably because
she hadn’t seen Fran smiling during the conversation and thought that she was
annoying her.

But from Fran’s point of view, she was actually quite happy to see Khanna again.

[I’m glad you meet someone you know here]

“Nn”
It had been ten days since we had come to the academy.

Fran was feared as an instructor, but as a student, she was becoming familiar with
the academy and her class.

She greeted students as we passed them, and if they had a mock battle scheduled for
that day, they would often ask her to go easy on them. She ate together in the
improved cafeteria and taught each other what she lacked in the class.

Fran also seemed to be enjoying life at the academy.

As for the classes, she didn’t doze off all the time. Several classes caught Fran’s
interest, including the class on spirits and the class on magic. Well, if she was not
interested, she would just doze off though.

I tried to wake Fran up at first. But she even devised a way to ignore my calls and
stay asleep. I gave up trying to wake her up because of her persistence. After all, if I
nag her too much, she might even start to hate the academy.

And besides the boring classes, she seemed to have other complaints as well.

[I mean, this is an academy, we can’t really go crazy like that, you know?]

“…Nn”

“…Woof”

Both Fran and Urushi seemed to be frustrated by the fact that they hadn’t been able
to really exert themselves for the past week or so.

The first few days were still better. She was able to vent some when they were
introduced to each class. But after that, there was hardly any fighting except for
mock battles with the students.
If we were outside the town, I could have played with Fran and Urushi, but we
couldn’t do that in the town. I wondered if we could borrow the academy’s training
grounds, but that also seemed to be quite difficult.

The field outside, where they wouldn’t trouble anyone for being serious, was usually
used by one of the classes. But when it was free, Fran had a class to attend.

I thought about going there after school, but that time was filled with club activities.
The clubs’ names were quite fancy, like the Society for the Study of Military Arts, and
there were also clubs with quite dangerous names.

[Besides, we’re going to have an off-campus survival training tomorrow. So, you’ll get
a chance to kill some magic beasts and stuff there]

“Really?”

[…I’m not sure though. Besides, once we’re out of town, you can have a mock battle
with Urushi]

“Oooh! I see”

“Woof woof”

[So, don’t make the mistake of using the wrong amount of force in the next mock
battle, okay?]

“Nn!”

“Woof!”

As a matter of fact, several classes, including the Special Battle Class, had a tradition
of going outside the academy for training every year at this time.

The location was planned to be on the shores of Lake Vivian. Apparently, it would
also allow for swimming practice for the students.

As long as they lived in this country, they should visit it at least once, and visiting
that huge lake would be a great experience for students from outside the country.

And Fran was going to participate on the instructor’s side.

(Looking forward to it!)

[You’re going to be their escort too, remember?]

Well, it seemed that adventurers from around Lake Vivian will be hired, so the
students wouldn’t be in danger that often. And the students themselves were quite
strong.

I heard that they would use carriages for transportation. Three days to get there,
three days to stay, and three days to return.

[Once that’s done, your job as an instructor is over]

“Nn…”

[Hey?]

“Hmm?”

[If you want to stay, we can get yourself officially hired by the academy, you know?
Well, it’s also okay for you to enroll as a student though]

This was Fran’s first time at the academy. In fact, it was the first time for her to be in
contact with so many people of her age.

If Fran felt comfortable being in the academy, staying was an option.

However, Fran’ replied with a shake of her head

“…No”

[Are you sure?]

“Nn. It’s fun here, but being an adventurer is more fun. Besides, I won’t get stronger
by staying here”

[But you’ll gain knowledge. It may go a long way, but it’ll help you get stronger]

“No need. I’ve thought of something when I heard about the evolution”
[Is it about the class?]

“Nn. Horial’s story. When I heard that, I thought that it would be great if everyone
could evolve too”

By “everyone” she must mean all of the Black Cats except herself. In the past, Fran
had fought for the Black Cat kin in her mind.

She wanted to break the curse that had been placed not only on her but on the entire
Black Cat kin.

Apparently, after listening to Horial’s lesson, she reconfirmed her feelings and made
them stronger once again.

[You’re ready for it, aren’t you?]

“Of course”

Breaking the Curse of the Black Cat kin. It would be an arduous path that would
make the word “thorny” sound rather bland.

The power of the Black Cat tribe alone had to be enough to defeat the Evil People or
the underlings of the Evil Gods with a threat level of S or higher. That was the
condition for them to break the curse.

However, at present, there was no other Black Cat kinsman besides Fran that could
participate in the battle.

The Black Cat people of the Beast Nation would have already started training and
hunting the evil people. However, it was going to take quite some time before it
would bore fruit.

In addition, if they want to fight an evil person with a threat level of S or higher, the
strength they had gained through power leveling was not enough. They needed to
have a core strength that was based on experience as blood, training as flesh, and
everything that they had acquired on their own.

I wonder how long it would be before the Black Cat people would reach that level.

So, we have to go it alone or find a companion. The Black Cat kin was said to be the
weakest, and their evolution had been blocked. However, there was an exception,
Kiara. She was said to have gained that much strength thanks to the extra skill of the
God of War’s favor. There was no guarantee that something similar would not
happen to the other Black Cats.

But I don’t even know if there was someone as strong as her out there. So, there was
no way we could rely on that alone.

“I need to get stronger and even stronger”

[Yeah, you’re right]

In the end, whether she was going to take on the challenge with a companion or
alone, Fran needed to become even stronger than she was now to accomplish the
ordeal.
“Here it is. Tonight is your last night staying here, so I made a big one for you”

“Oooh―!”

“Woof woof!”

Tonight was our last night staying at the Green Ancient Tree Pavilion.

Tomorrow, we were going to an off-campus survival training exercise, and her job as
an instructor would be over. So, we would have to leave this inn.

When we told her that, she prepared an even more sumptuous meal for Fran and
Urushi.

Fran and Urushi ate a large portion of pasta and grilled meat at a super speed. I
thought they had ten servings worth of pasta in their stomach already, but still, they
didn’t slow down.

Or rather, weren’t they eating a little too much? I’m worried about tomorrow. No,
before that, I’m worried what the innkeeper would think of this.

“Mogu mogu mogu mogu!”

“Momu momu momu momu!” (*munching sfx)

“You sure eat a lot, aren’t you?”

The old lady was smiling and giggling when she saw how much Fran and Urushi
were eating.

In the middle of that, the old lady suddenly looked up at the ceiling. Both Urushi and
I followed her gaze but found nothing but an ordinary ceiling.
But not so for the old lady.

“Aah… Spirit-sama is sad”

“She’s there?”

“Yup”

Fran, reacting to the old lady’s words, stared at the same spot. She continued to stare
at the ceiling for a while, occasionally squinting her eyes.

“Can you see it now?”

“I still can’t see it”

Fran responded to the old lady’s words with a shake of her head. However, there was
more to Fran’s words.

“But, I somehow know”

“Hou? You mean you can feel it?”

“Nn”

Fran straightened up her posture and relaxed her entire body. In addition, she
stopped using the various skills she normally used unconsciously. In particular, the
amount of information coming in must have been greatly reduced by turning off her
sensing skills.

She intended to focus all of her senses on her eyes. The way she opens her eyes
reminded me of a cat staring into an empty sky. It was called the Ferengel Staden
phenomenon*. Well, I heard it was not really a phenomenon though.

As I watched over Fran, I was reminded of the class on spirits we had taken a few
days ago.

There were two types of special lectures on spirits at the Academy of Magic.

One was the Spirit Magic Class. As the name implied, this was a class to teach and
train students about Spirit Magic.
The other was Spiritology. This one was a class for students who could not use Spirit
Magic but could sense the presence of spirits, to learn Spirit Magic. Students learn
the basics and train themselves to be able to feel them.

Fran decided to take the course in Spiritology.

It was unusual for Fran to take the class so seriously. She must be very interested in
the subject.

According to the class, Spirit Magic was a very special kind of magic. I thought I knew
about it, but its uniqueness was actually beyond my imagination.

First of all, our skill level was not proportional to the strength of the spirit we could
handle. It seemed that the skill level of Spirit Magic would just indicate how well our
ability to communicate with spirits was.

If we have a high level of Spirit Magic skill, we might be able to see spirits clearly,
hear their voices, and share a lot of magic power with them.

However, spirits were fickle beings with a will of their own. No matter how well we
listened to them and conveyed our voice to them, it was compatibility that counted
in the end.

And it was a matter of luck whether or not we would be able to meet a higher-level
spirit with whom we would be compatible.

The reason why there were so many Elves among the strongest Spirit Magicians was
actually due to this fact. In fact, it seemed that many Elves were favored by spirits
because of their racial characteristics.

In addition, the Elves know the places where spirits tend to gather due to their
experience and knowledge accumulated over the years. This was one of the reasons
why they were able to find and make contracts with spirits that were compatible
with them.

However, it takes a long time to find a spirit that was a good match for them. There
was even an Elven saying that says, “You’ll meet a spirit once every hundred years”.

In other words, if we don’t have the lifespan of an Elf, we probably won’t be able to
master Spirit Magic. However, it was not impossible for a human being to make a
contract with a spirit.

In Fran’s case, she could sense them, so she should have been able to learn Spirit
Magic as her connection with the spirits deepened.

In the class, she even tried to train herself to sense the presence of the spirits in the
academy. However, even after those classes, she was unable to reach the level to be
able to see them which was necessary to acquire Spirit Magic.

“…I still can’t see them…”

[I see]

“Woof”

For about five minutes, she stared at the place where the spirit-sama would be, and
then her shoulders slumped and she fell back to her chair.

Almost every day in the inn, Fran sensed the presence of the spirit, but in the end,
she could not seem to see it.

However, when Fran looked depressed, the old lady kindly called out to her.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be able to communicate with the spirit-sama since
you’re so well-liked by the Spirit of the Great Tree”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I guarantee it. Besides, you’ve come to understand the spirit that you couldn’t
sense at all at first, right?”

“Nn”

“I’ve never seen anyone grow so fast like you”

She was right. In the first place, it has only been ten days since Fran became aware of
Spirit Magic. If she were able to use it, the world would be full of spirit users already.

Rather, it was amazing that she could sense the presence of spirits on her own,
without even relying on my abilities.
“Thanks”

“That should be my line. It’s been a long time since I and Spirit-sama had this much
fun. Please come again”

“Nn”

She was greatly comforted by the old lady’s words. Fran then nodded slightly and
smiled.

(If not now, someday I’ll definitely be able to talk to a spirit!)

[Yeah. It must be nice if that happens]

(Nn!)
[Our convoy is longer than I imagined]

“Nn. Lots of carriages”

“Woof”

Fran and Urushi muttered in agreement to my unintentional comment.

We were currently outside the Lady Blue, about 20 meters up in the air. Fran, riding
the Thoroughbred-sized Urushi, was looking down at the long line of carriages.

(Note: Thoroughbred > name of a horse breed)

Today was the start of our off-campus survival training. We were traveling to Lake
Vivian with 40 carriages, including those for transporting our supplies.

Over 200 students were participating in the event, and 30 instructors were
accompanying them as their guards. In Fran’s case, she was given the role of a scout,
so she could keep an eye on the entire group and respond to any dangerous magic
beasts that might appear.

On the other hand, if it was a small fry, the students were supposed to handle it by
themselves, and we were not supposed to help them.

Senior students such as those in the Special Battle Class would take turns escorting
the carriage as it moved. However, some students rarely got off the carriage and
were just escorted to their destination.

About thirty new students were accompanying them on this off-campus survival
training. This seemed to be a tradition of the academy, and the students of the
Special Battle Class had also experienced that when they enrolled in the academy.

Even on Earth, there was a joint school activity with the upperclassmen, and I guess,
this event was similar to that.

In one of the carriages that don’t have a roof, we saw Khanna chatting with her
classmates.

There were three freshmen and three upperclassmen in each carriage. However,
there were always two upperclassmen guarding the carriage outside, and they took
turns to rest.

Charon and her group were the ones who were guarding Khanna’s carriage. In case
Charon and her group couldn’t handle the situation later, they had an instructor
sitting on the coachman’s seat, and if that wasn’t enough, they had Fran and Weena
Rhyn as support.

[Well then, Let’s get going too]

“Nn. Urushi”

“Woof! Woof!”

By riding on Urushi, we were going to keep an eye from the sky.

As Urushi ran out by leaping in the air, I could see that the students below us were
looking up at us.

It was not every day they got to see a giant wolf running in the sky. Urushi was
particularly magnificent, and I’m sure that this sight would make a great picture.

[It’s going to be more troublesome if we get a bunch of the small fry than just a big
one]

“Like goblins?”

[And maybe a bandit, or a swarm of bug types monster]

It would be a disaster if a large magic beast were to run into them. So, it might be
better for us to defeat the big ones as soon as possible.

[Let’s keep looking for the enemy!]

“Nn!”

“Woof!”

Six hours after our departure.

The convoy had passed the first rest stop and was now entering the forest area from
the plains. From here, the visibility was very poor, and we need to be more vigilant
than before.

It must be a difficult place for the students playing the role of escort, as I could
clearly see the tension in the whole group increasing.

As for Fran, she was now a little further away from the convoy. We were not slacking,
okay?

Rather, we were currently doing our job.

“Haaa!”

“Gii! Gigii!”

We were in a battle with a magic beast that lived in the forest area. Our opponent
this time was a Tall Mantis. It was a giant praying mantis with unusually long arms
and legs. Its body was seven or eight meters long, but its legs were probably more
than ten meters long. It was a magical beast with a threat level of E. It used its arms
and legs to move dexterously through the deep trees.

It must have sensed the signs and smells of the many prey moving. It was
approaching the convoy at a fairly fast pace, so Fran went out to intercept it.

However, it was quite an unusual magic beast, as it possessed a martial arts skill
called Scythe Technique. It was able to catch Fran’s first blow with its sickle. Even
though it was just a check to gauge our opponent’s strength, it was pretty
impressive.

Moreover, its scythe was covered with electric shocks. If it hadn’t been for Fran, who
was immune to lightning, they might have been paralyzed.
However, the magic beast’s resistance only ended there. Fran, who had found a blind
spot where the scythe could not reach, sliced it in half from the back and it fell apart.

I heard that this was a troublesome enemy that would rain scythes down on us from
above when we fought in the deep forest, but for someone like us who could always
attack from the sky, it was an opponent full of openings.

[Now that we’ve cleared all the big ones, let’s get back to the convoy. It seems they’re
fighting with goblins right now]

“Okay”

The reason for our return was not to help them but to heal any students who were
badly injured. However, their opponent was just a normal goblin, and no one would
be injured enough to need Recovery Magic.

The students of the Special Battle Class were capable enough to handle them. They
were also able to strip materials from the defeated goblin skillfully. I could even see
relaxed expressions on their faces.

However, the new students looked pale.

Not many students were able to remain as calm as Khanna. In her case, she already
had actual combat experience and she was capable of defeating goblins.

However, most of the children must have had no experience in fighting. So, if they
were suddenly shown a fight with a magic beast in front of them, it was inevitable
that they would become frightened.

“Master”

[What’s wrong?]

“That”

[Aah, you mean the Heavenly Dragon’s Lair, huh? We can see it clearly from here]

“Nn!”

Fran doesn’t seem to be interested in the fights below us, she was looking up at the
floating island that stood so majestically far above us.

We didn’t get the chance to see a Heavenly Dragon today either. However, the sight of
the floating island covered in white clouds never got boring no matter how many
times I saw it.

Both Fran and Urushi stared at the floating island with sparkling eyes. However, they
quickly turned their gaze back to the ground and stared deep into the forest with
sharp eyes.

“Master, Urushi, Let’s go!”

“Woof!”

[This time they came as a flock huh!? Let’s kill them all at once!]

“Okay!”

We sensed the presence of magic beasts approaching the convoy. And they were
much stronger than goblins.

They were called the Assassin Apes, magic beasts that excelled at killing their target
with a single blow by a sneak attack. They were slightly larger than a Mountain
Gorilla, but their threat level was the same as that of the giant Tall Mantis.

In fact, these beasts were more troublesome to deal with than the larger target, like
the Tall Mantis, as they could move quickly and had the attack power to kill their
target instantly.

There were six of them. Six of them, using tree branches as platforms, repeatedly
leaping towards the students at a tremendous speed.

The way they eliminated their presence was that of a seasoned adventurer, so the
students were probably still unaware of them.

“Urushi, take care the two on the right”

“Woof!”

[I’ll take care of the two on the left then!]

“Nn!”

We were the first to attack them, as we were a step ahead of them in terms of
eliminating our presence, and in terms of detection. Moreover, we could also
teleport.

It took less than a minute for them to be annihilated after the first one was cut down
by Fran, who had appeared with teleport in front of them. They hadn’t thought that
they would be taken by surprise in the forest. A look of astonishment was still on the
face of the big ape that was about to die.

[For two types of magic beasts with a threat level of E to appear in such a short time
is… It looks like we’ll be pretty busy until we reach Lake Vivian]

“Nn!”

Fran looked happy when she nodded to my words. She must feel refreshed after
being able to rampage against those magic beasts. Well, it was better for her than
being stressed out and frustrated.
The first night after our departure.

The convoy from the Academy of Magic camped out in a large open space in the
middle of the forest.

They formed a wall by arranging the carriages in a circle and set the tents inside of it.
Guards took turns resting and patrolling the outside of the carriage’s lines.

And in one corner of the camp.

Fran had been called to Weena Rhyn’s tent. We left Urushi on patrol because I was
not sure if the two greatest warriors of the group would be at ease leaving their
posts, but it seemed to have been unnecessary.

“We have spirits with us”

[Hee? Where are they?]

“Around there? And over there too”

[…I can’t see them though. But is that all?]

“There are a few more of them. Maybe”

[Are they strong?]

“Dunno”

Even though Fran’s ability to sense spirits were getting stronger, she still couldn’t
seem to discern what kind of spirit they were.
Perhaps, the spirit that dwelt in the great tree of the inn was a spirit of some high
rank. The Elf innkeeper even addressed it with “sama” and she also said that it had
existed for over a thousand years.

However, Fran could not distinguish between the lower-ranked spirits of the
academy and the spirits of the inn. Were they a lower-ranked spirit or a higher-
ranked spirit? What attributes and abilities did they have? She had no idea about
that.

I couldn’t sense spirits at all, so I could only imagine from Fran’s poor description,
but she said she felt like she could hear a slight sound that spirits made. And it
seemed that she could only hear something that sounded like ringing in her ears if
she concentrated very hard.

Based on the direction and interval of the sound, she judged that spirits were there.

[Are they Weena Rhyn’s spirits?]

“I don’t know, but they’ve been in the same place all the time”

They must be spirits sent out by a spirit magic user as a guard. There were quite a lot
of them, and they seemed to be fine without us.

In the first place, they were doing the same event every year, so they should be fine
without her.

She walked straight into Weena Rhyn’s tent and found that the High Elf magician was
not the only one there.

“…Zelos Reed”

“…”

Zelos Reed sat on a chair behind Weena Rhyn. Beside him was the boy, Romio, who
was glaring at Fran.

We already knew from their presence before but decided to face them. Fran seemed
to be suppressing her feelings by clenching her teeth. Well, her murderous intent
was leaking out though.
“Even though I’ve sealed his power, I can’t just leave him at the academy without me,
right? So, I had no choice but to restrain and bring them here”

Just as Weena Rhyn said, metal bracelets were restraining both of Zelos Reed’s arms.
Moreover, it also seemed to have some kind of sealing magic power, further
suppressing Zelos Reed’s power.

But with Weena Rhyn close by, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“…”

“…”

Fran and Romio glared at each other.

Well, Fran wasn’t really glaring at him, but she just couldn’t help but be concerned
when he expressed his hostility so straightforwardly.

On the contrary, Zelos Reed barely showed any emotion when he saw Fran. He was
shocked for a moment, but he quickly returned to his calm face.

I guess he decided to stay out of this as much as possible because anything he said
would be offensive. But Fran didn’t like that attitude. Well, she didn’t like everything
about Zelos Reed.

She glared at Zelos Read with irritation in her eyes. She might not have violent
outbursts anymore, but there was no way she could control her feelings in front of
someone she would kill right now if she could.

But then, it was Romio, who clung to Zelos Reed’s leg and looked up at Fran, who
broke the tense atmosphere.

“Don’t bully Oji-chan!” (Note: Uncle)

“…I’m not bullying him”

“Liar! I know everything!”

“…”
Fran, however, didn’t want to argue with Romio as she knew that Romio didn’t mean
anything bad by it.

Besides, the current Fran, who emitted murderous and angry intent, must be quite
frightening for a child like him. She was slightly impressed by Romio’s courage to
confront her to protect Zelos Reed.

But it was not a time to praise him.

In the end, she didn’t seem to know what to do next, and with a bitter smile, she
removed her gaze from Romio and asked Weena Rhyn why she had called us.

“You need something?”

“Yes. I’d like to talk with you about your escort’s job for tomorrow onwards”

I thought her purpose was to bring her together with Zelos Reed and Romio, but that
didn’t seem to be the case.

Weena Rhyn showed us a rough map of the country and explained the terrain ahead.
Beyond the forest area, she said there was a plain that was inhabited by a large
magic beast that would be hunted by the students.

And the reason why Weena Rhyn had called Fran was to talk about that.

“The target is the Slow Tortoise. It’s a tough and strong magic beast, but it moves so
slow that even the students can manage to hunt it down”

The Slow Tortoise was an herbivorous magic beast that spent most of its time holed
up in its shell when facing strong enemies. It should’ve been a relatively easy magic
beast to hunt as long as they were careful to avoid some of its attacks.

Its threat level was E, but she said that the students could defeat it with proper
preparation. She also said that they had magic tools to stall and defend from its
attack so it could be said that they were already well prepared.

“What is my role then?”

“You don’t have to do anything to help the students to hunt down the Slow Tortoise.
But a lot of magic beasts will come close to them when they smell the Slow Tortoise’s
blood. Especially those goblins, they show up every year”

Fran’s role was to defeat those magic beasts that would try to steal the student’s
prey.

“Okay”

“And also, I’ll make this guy work too”

“…Why?”

“Since we have so many available forces, shouldn’t we use it all for the safety of the
students?”

“…I understand”

Fran nodded quietly, neither disagreeing nor agreeing with her.

[Are you sure?]

(…I don’t know)

As we returned, Fran didn’t seem to understand her feelings either.

If Weena Rhyn said it was for the students, she won’t be able to object. Besides, if he
would work as forced labor or a meat shield, it would sound like a punishment for
him. Denial and affirmation swirled in Fran’s chest, and she couldn’t seem to sort it
out.
On the third night after we had left the academy.

The off-campus survival training group had reached Lake Vivian as planned.

On the second day, they had to hunt the turtles for food, but a horde of goblins
attacked them, which increased the challenge, but apparently, it was expected by the
teachers.

They smiled at each other and said that it was just like every other year.

On the other hand, the students’ faces were showing signs of great fatigue. It was
because this was not only a long journey, but they also had to fight on their own.

Moreover, we didn’t camp out on the second night.

In the forest areas where it was dangerous to march through the night, we had no
choice but to camp, but in the plains where night marching was possible, we
continued to drive through the night without stopping our convoy.

This should be a good experience for them.

The students acting as guards must have taken turns taking naps, but they still
looked very sleepy. The teachers, who should’ve been under much harsher
conditions, were still in good spirits, probably due to their status and experience.

And Fran? Fran was fine. She could take a nap on Urushi’s back after all. And of
course, she was always ready to wake up if a magic beast came closer.

Due to Urushi’s evolution, sleep was less necessary than ever before, and he could be
active for several days without sleeping. Well, he liked to sleep, so he usually slept
like normal.

He was reliable in a case like this trip. In fact, he hadn’t slept since our departure, but
he was still full of energy.

[We’re now back in Sheftent again]

“Nn”

The place where the convoy from the Academy of Magic was setting their tent was
next to the town of Sheftent. It didn’t have an outer wall or anything like that, but the
ground was flat and level and looked like an easy place to set up camp. They used
this place as a base for their annual training at Lake Vivian.

“Everyone looks sleepy”

[I don’t think they’ll be able to do their duties properly]

We could see a group of sleepy students standing guard at their posts. I’m sure
they’ll miss any suspicious person walking past in front of them right now. And they
would surely get scolded later.

“Charon! That was a close one”

[I never thought a serious girl like her would doze off]

She dozed off, or rather, she fell asleep. It seemed that she was awakened by the
boat’s momentum. She then looked around in panic and was relieved to know that
there was nothing wrong happening.

We proposed an idea to build a wall around the camp with Earth Magic, but Weena
Rhyn rejected the idea.

It seemed that one of the purposes of this off-campus training was to experience
camping and escorting others in an exhausted state.

If there was a wall, the students would feel less tense, and if the magic beasts do not
show up, it wouldn’t be a good experience for the students.

It was just like Spartan training, but I guess they have a point.

The best we could do was to look around to make sure no big ones showed up. Since
we were near the town, it was unlikely that any big one would appear, but the scent
of many preys might draw them in.

However, that was no longer necessary.

“Master, a lot is coming”

We could see a group of adventurers coming from the town towards the camp. They
were about thirty in number.

[They must be the adventurers from Sheftent. They were probably hired by the
academy as escorts]

“Jill is there too”

[The Guild Master came here in person?]

The leader of the group was a small, old woman. However, the magic power
emanating from her body was that of a First-Class Mage. She was probably the
strongest among the adventurers, who ranged from young to more experienced.

She was Grandma Jill, the Guild Master of Sheftent. She was also the one who asked
Fran to be an opponent for the adventurer promotion test before.

As we looked down from Urushi’s back at the figure, Fran suddenly turned her gaze
to somewhere. But all I could see there was the darkness of night.

[What’s wrong?]

“It’s the spirit”

[What?]

Immediately after Fran said that a dim mass of light appeared as if springing out of
the empty darkness. It was the size of a bowling ball, and the intensity of the light
was about that of a bulb.

And I don’t feel any hostility coming from it.

“Fran. Can you come to the tent?”

“Okay”

[I see, so this the visualization of spirits, huh?]

The greatest advantage of using spirits was their stealth ability. However, there were
times when this was inconvenient.

For example, they can be used as messengers as it was now. It would be difficult if
the spirits were invisible in case of emergencies.

Therefore, there was a technique to visualize spirits so that they could be seen by
anyone. It was said that this technique could be used by any Spirit Magic-User.
However, it was said that only Advanced Spirit Magic-Users could use it to send their
voices far away.

The one who sent a message to us this time must have been Weena Rhyn, and the
technique used must be quite the advanced one. When we were in Alessa, the Guild
Master, Klimut, had shown us the same technique, but he had actually done it with
great difficulty.

As we followed the spirit to Weena Rhyn’s tent, we saw Grandma Jill outside,
exchanging greetings with her.

Some of the adventurers around them were faces we had seen during the promotion
exam. However, the boy who had sent a killing intent at Fran wasn’t there. Well, I
don’t want to be bothered by anything strange during this escort, so that would be
more convenient.

“I look forward to working with you again this year, Weena Rhyn-sama”

“Yeah. I’ll count on you this year too”

The two then shook each other’s hands. At first glance, Grandma Jill looked more
experienced and important, but in fact, it was the opposite. I could tell that Grandma
Jill’s words were filled with awe and respect for her.

“I’d like to start their training on the lake tomorrow, but how things are going there?”

“As expected of Weena Rhyn-sama. Did you already know?”

“The spirits told me”

“There has been a change in the lake recently. So, I’m afraid it won’t be the same as
last year…”
 ?

[Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?]

“Oji-chan, I think they have arrived”

[They’re finally here, huh…?]

My partner, who had better detection abilities than me, was staring out the window
of the inn.

It was already nighttime. The stars were shining bright in the sky, and the curtain of
darkness had fallen.

But I was sure that my partner could feel it. He could feel the presence of the many
people within the darkness of the night.

Not many people had that ability, even for an E-ranked adventurer. In particular, his
ability to sense presences and danger had grown remarkably as a result of struggling
on his own for years.

On the other hand, my ability to sense things had dropped significantly since I got
into my current body. I guess it was because my survival instincts and intuition had
been dulled. However, I am now able to sense things that I couldn’t sense before.

I focused my attention to look for any presence. Even though I don’t have the same
accuracy as my partner, I could still sense the presences if I concentrated.

And Indeed, I could feel the presence of a large number of people outside the town.

They were finally here, huh?

10 years… It felt like it had been a long time, but it also feels like a blink of an eye.
But I couldn’t turn back time, so I had to be prepared.
[It looks like Romio was also there]

“Yeah. But he’s crying like a baby as if he doesn’t know what’s going on, which is
annoying”

An annoyed look showed up on my partner’s face as he spoke about Romio.

[Don’t say that. It’s normal for someone of his age, right? For a child like that, all he
sees must be new to him]

“You’re right…”

[There’s also that damned High Elves near Romio]

I guess it was just like before, huh? I’ve brought Magnolia’s bloodline with me in case
of emergency.

We were the ones who leaked the information about Romio and Zelos Reed to lure
that High Elf. We thought it would be better than them being captured by Zelyse and
treated as lab rats.

But was this really the right thing to do? That High Elves also had her eyes on the
sealing technique that resided within Romeo after all.

At this rate, we’ll just end up in the same situation as before… But we had prepared
to prevent that from happening, so we should be fine.

“As expected of a High Elf, her presence is so tremendous”

[I’d like to beat her to death, but It’s impossible for us now]

“She’s too strong. I just realized how monstrous a High Elf is at my age”

[…]

She had killed my previous partner before, and now, she might kill my new partner
too.

But I must prevent that from happening.

However, I couldn’t find any hint of dislike or hatred on my partner’s face when he
talked about the High Elves. On the contrary, he seemed to genuinely admire her.

[Are you sure you want to do this?]

“This is the surest way”

[That’s true, but…]

“I’ll do my best to prevent that from happening again”

[Well, unlike last time. Zelyse won’t intervene this time. The seal has loosened
considerably due to the replacement, but we can still manage it for now]

“I’ll do something about it too”

[Ou]

It seemed that this slow-witted kid had learned to talk some sense.

“And it seems, there’s also an adventurer named Fran there…”

[That girl, huh? You’ve seen her before, aren’t you?]

“Yeah”

[Don’t make such a face. It would be different this time. You wanted to see Romio,
right?]

“I know, but…”

My partner’s face turned into a hateful expression. He even exuded murderous

intent.

For me, Weena Rhyn was far more unforgivable, but my partner didn’t seem to think
so. He had a strong desire to kill the girl from the Black Cat kin.

Seeing him made me feel uncomfortable. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the girl from
the Black Cat kin hated and wanted to kill me as I had killed someone important to
her.
I’ve been living my life just like that. A life of being resented, a life full of negativity,
and an endless cycle of bloodshed. All of that only brings more and more struggles to
me.

As a result of that, I don’t mind if someone wanted to kill me for revenge. I would
accept it. However, even if I told him not to hold a grudge, my partner would not
forgive her.

And so, the endless cycle of negativity would only continue. Even after I’ve rotted
away.

What I’ve done――

“――Chan?”

[…]

“Oji-chan?”

[Oops, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something]

“Thinking about the seal?”

[It’s a bit different, but let’s focus on the seal for now]

“The thing we need to be most vigilant for now is the presence of Zelyse…”

[Even I don’t know where he is right now. I wonder if he’s anywhere near here]

“He was here before. So, there’s a good chance that he’s here this time too”

He was the Alchemist, Zelyse.

He was a man who acted based on his own desires. He didn’t care how many people
he had to sacrifice to achieve his goals. Rather, he was a man who found joy in the
number of sacrifices and the increase of his infamy.

“Zelyse used me for his own gain before, but not anymore”

[You’re right. But that bastard is tricky. No matter how much of an advantage you
have, he always seems to have a trump card that can turn the tables to his favor]

“Yeah”

[More importantly, I don’t even know how long I can hold my ground against him. He
might even have something in store for me]

“…Yeah”

As for me, I think my current body is convenient, but I’m sure it was because of the
magic stones and the sword that Zelyse had implanted in me.

Zelyse was a very careful person. I wouldn’t be surprised even if he had planted a
curse to manipulate me in anticipation of this.

“But can Zelyse use that now?”

[Well, I wonder…? But we should assume that he might use it, so we can deal with it
when the time comes]

Weena Rhyn, Romio, Zelos Reed, and Fran. While all the key people were on the stage
of doom, only Zelyse’s whereabouts were unknown.

And yet, we would prevent our demise. That was what we’ve been doing for the past
eight years.

“I know for a fact that the fleet is suspicious. Let’s look again for any abnormalities”

[Yeah, let’s do so]

Next time, I would save my partner.

It was the day after we had arrived at Lake Vivian.

The Academy’s students were dispatched in groups of ten around the town of
Sheftent. They were asked to gather medicinal herbs and defeat any magic beasts
with a threat level of F there.

Since it was an official request from the Adventurer’s Guild, each group must have a
student registered with the Adventurer’s Guild, and the other students would be
treated as their party.

Many students were active as Adventurers in Lady Blue, not only in the Special Battle
Class but also in the Advanced and other classes. They must have thought that the
request this time would be quite easy for them, but actually, it was not that easy.

It was because the vegetation, animals, and weather around Lady Blue and Lake
Vivian were quite different. If they thought it would be the same as usual, they might
have a hard time later.

Each group was accompanied by one instructor and one Adventurer, and the spirits
seemed to be following us as well. So, without any abnormalities, there wouldn’t be
much danger for them.

“I’m Charles”

“Fran”

“I’m looking forward to working with you. It’s reassuring to know that the Black
Lighting Princess is with us”

“Likewise”

Fran was also assigned to accompany one of the groups. The adventurer who was
assigned to accompany the same group as us was a young E-ranked Adventurer.
They seemed to have balanced the instructor and Adventurer pairs, with strong
Adventurers paired with weaker Adventurers and the weak instructors paired with
stronger Adventurers.

And that was the reason why Fran, the strongest instructor they had, was paired
with Charles, the weakest of the Adventurers. Moreover, I don’t know if they were
aiming for it or not, but Charon and Khanna were in the same group as us.

“I look forward to working with you, Fran-san”

“Nn”

“Me too, I’m glad to be in the same group with Fran”

At first, the students were uneasy when they saw how unreliable Charles looked, but
when they knew that Fran would accompany them, their smiles returned.

The upperclassmen probably knew that Fran was second only to Weena Rhyn in
terms of ability.

But still, it was the new students who seemed anxious. They only saw Fran as a
fledgling Adventurer.

They should have seen her riding on Urushi’s back before, but she hadn’t properly
shown them her abilities yet. They must think that she was a strong magic beast
user, but Urushi was now hiding in her shadow, and they only saw Fran alone.

Thus, they might think that their escort was the newbie duo of Charles, who was a
fledgling, and Fran, who looked just like a child. That was probably what made them
feel uneasy.

Currently, Fran and the third group were asked to gather medicinal herbs and defeat
a pack of wolves. Our location now was in the middle of the mountains, a little away
from the lake.

Charon was walking in the lead while looking at the map. Those requests could be
done in no time if I or Fran helped, but this time we had to let the students do it.

“Let’s pick some herbs around the river ahead”

But then, it was Khanna who replied to Charon’s words with an uneasy expression.

“Eh? But you sure you want to come closer to the water?”

“It’s the lake that we should stay away from. So, there wouldn’t be a problem on the
river, right, Charles-san? It’s safe for us to go near the river up ahead, right?”

“Eh? Yeah, you’re right. It’s fine if it is the river up ahead”

“Thank you very much. Let’s head there then”

“Yes”

Charon, she was quite good, wasn’t she? She casually extracted the information that
there was a river up ahead. Charon’s map was taken from the Adventurer’s Guild in
Sheftent, but I’m not sure how accurate it was.

Some rivers would disappear depending on the season, and if the information was
old, there wouldn’t be a river anymore. However, Charles’ slip made her sure that the
river was still there. That was unless Charles hadn’t purposely told a lie.

Well, I guess it was simply just a slip from him. He doesn’t even seem to be aware
that he had given her a hint, as he was talking to Charon in a carefree manner. So, it
was unlikely that he had told a lie to her.

There were some restrictions set for the students in this off-campus survival
training. One of them was to stay away from Lake Vivian. This restriction was not set
by the Academy, but by the Adventurer’s Guild.

It was because the Modoki sightings were increasing and it had become too
dangerous for the students to be there.

When we reached the river, Charon and the others started looking for medicinal
herbs. Then one of the students shouted with joy.

“I’ve found it! This must be some kind of medicinal herbs, right?”

“Ooh, isn’t that a Scarlet Water Weed!? They’re short in supply right now, so they
must fetch a high price!”
It was the Scarlet Water Weed that we had found before. We were told that there was
a shortage of it back then, but it seemed that there was still a shortage now.

The Scarlet Water Weed was supposed to be a cure-all for this country’s unique
endemic disease, but was the endemic infection still spreading?

I asked Fran to ask him about that. But even Charles didn’t seem to know the details
either.

“It’s not a big deal around here. But in the eastern part of the country, the demand
seems to be rising. You all came from the Magic Academy, right? I’m sure you know a
lot about it, don’t you?”

[Well, I haven’t heard anything about an endemic disease spreading though]

“I don’t know”

“Really?”

“How about you, Charon?”

“I don’t think there is that kind of problems at the Academy. Even last year, there
were only a few students from other countries had been affected by it”

It seemed that Charon didn’t know much about the endemic disease either.

“Is that an epidemic in other towns?”

“No, Fran-san. That’s not possible”

They told us that children were more likely to be affected by this endemic disease
and that the number of patients increased at the Academy of Magic when there was
an epidemic. In other words, the disease couldn’t be prevalent elsewhere when it
was not prevalent at the Academy.

“Then, from where is it?”

“I don’t know about that either. Maybe it’s only prevalent in the coastal areas in the
eastern region”
Oh, and by the way, Fran was fine. The potion made from the Scarlet Water Weed was
supposed to be preventive medicine, and Fran has already taken it.

“Khanna, what’s wrong?”

“Eh? No, I was just wondering if I could make some money by procuring the
medicine that is short in supply”

“Ooh, as expected of a student of the Academy. I didn’t know you could come up with
something like that from what we just talked about for a while”

“I’m the daughter of a trading company’s owner after all”

Charon and her group, with Fran as their escort, were searching for a pack of wolves
to kill while gathering herbs.

However, the search was not going well.

In the vicinity of the academy, they live in holes on the plains, but the wolves around
here have their dens in the forests. In addition, they dug holes in the trees’ roots and
hid in them.

If they didn’t know that, they would have had a harder time finding them. But the
receptionist of the Adventurer’s Guild would tell them that hint right away if asked.
Even Charon, who had thought about getting a map at the guild, didn’t seem to think
that the wolves’ behavior here would be so different.

Charles, their escort, had an indescribable expression on his face. He wanted to teach
the students, who were continuing their fruitless search, about the wolf behavior
here but that would not be a good experience for them.

He wanted to teach them, but he shouldn’t. The frustration must be torturing him
from within.

We knew about the wolves’ behavior because we’ve tracked and spotted them many
times during our herb gathering before.

I think they were probably the closest to the wolves when they were looking for
medicinal herbs at the river.

Since Urushi was hiding in Fran’s shadow, Familial Hatred didn’t seem to have shown
its effect before, but it might do so to an advanced wolf-type magic beast though.

We followed the students at a leisurely pace, keeping an eye out for any magic beasts
that might approach them.
We have only had one encounter today. And that was only because we went to kill a
Lesser Wyvern that was in the distance by teleporting.

But we had been in some good fights these past few days, so Fran doesn’t seem to be
frustrated today. It must be so refreshing for her, unlike being in the stifling city. And
she was also in the mood for a picnic with Charon, Khanna, and the others today.

As we continued to move, Charles issued a warning.

“Aah, please don’t go any further to the lake”

“Oh, we’re already that close?”

“Yeah”

When we were at the lake before, the Modoki used to appear only near the center of
the lake, but it seemed that they would appear in a wider area now.

A few cases of people being attacked on the shores of the lake had also been
reported. Therefore, the Adventurer’s Guild decided to restrict the students from
approaching the lake for their safety.

However, that only applied to the students of the Academy of Magic. They could not
deprive the local people of their livelihood, so there were no restrictions on the
traffic of the ships.

And the result was the scene in front of us right now.

“Eh? Hey, that ship seems to be under attack!”

“I-it’s true!?”

A cargo carrier had been attacked by a Modoki.

When Charon and Khanna shouted, the other students seemed to notice it too.

“W-wait! Don’t go!”

Charles was desperately trying to hold back the students who were about to run
away.
“But, if we don’t do something, they’ll sink that ship!”

“Yeah! We can help them!”

“Oi, you guys need to calm down!”

“We can’t even go there, you know!?”

Some of the students appealed that they should go to the rescue, but the students
who remembered the information about the Modoki were against it. However, the
students in the rescue group were appealing with good intentions while the students
who were against it were the weaker ones.

The ones who were against it would also like to help if they can.

However, if the students go there, they will surely be killed by the Modoki.

(Master, let’s help them)

[Yeah, the students would be reckless if we leave them alone]

(Nn)

[Urushi, we’ll count on you here]

“Woof!”

The students’ eyes then focused on Urushi as he jumped out of Fran’s shadow.

“I’ll go help them, but Urushi will stay behind, so don’t worry”

“Eh? But…”

The new students, who had not yet seen what Fran was capable of, looked at her like
she was a child who won’t be able to do much to help them, but the upperclassmen
seemed to agree.

“We’ll leave it to you!”

“Yeah, we’ll be counting on you!”

“Nn”

The ship’s mast had already been broken, and the tentacles of those Modoki were
stuck to its deck. We’d better hurry.

[Let’s jump at once!]

“Okay!”

We then made a long jump and teleported directly above the ship.

[People are floating on the lake. Are they the crew members?]

“They’re still alive”

[So, the Modoki is still attacking the ship, huh…?]

The Modoki continued its attack without paying attention to the crew members who
had been thrown out into the lake. Doesn’t it have the habit of preying on humans?
As I was wondering, we saw a man still on board being coiled and lifted by its
tentacles.

[That guy is in danger!]

“Let’s help him!”

Fran used her aerial jump to dash towards the ship. Noticing the appearance of a
new enemy, the Modoki tried to attack us with its tentacles but Fran managed to
dodge them all and landed on the deck.

“Haaa!”

We rescued a man who was about to be dragged into the lake by slashing its
tentacles.

The man who fell from a height of about five meters shouted in pain, but he wouldn’t
be badly injured, as the tentacles that were gripping his body served as a cushion.

“Ugh…”
“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah”

“Just wait there, I’ll be right back”

After leaving the man behind, Fran jumped out again because to save all of them, we
had to do something about the Modoki.

[Fran, thunder-type magic is no good, it’ll include the crew members]

“Okay. Let’s shoot it down then!”

[Roger!]

With Fran’s intentions in mind, I instantly changed my shape. I transformed into a

one-handed sword with a cone-shaped blade without a brim, suitable for throwing.
It would be easier to understand if I said I transformed into the smaller version of
the jousting spear.

“Haaaa!”

[Let’s go!]

I activated my telekinetic catapult as she threw me straight down, and I turned into a
super-high-speed bullet that shot through the Modoki. Its hard shell would be just
like plywood in the face of this attack.

Thanks to the fact that the power was concentrated at one point, there was no
damage to the surrounding area. And the crew members floating in the lake did not
seem to be suffering from the aftermath.

The Modoki that was pierced by me melted into a mushy mess. Oh, that reminded
me, we wouldn’t be able to collect materials or magic stones from this thing.

“Let’s help everyone before other Modoki come”

[Yeah. Let’s bring them to the shore for the time being. That ship was already
useless]
“Nn!”

However, it was just a normal-looking ship, why was it attacked by a Modoki? Was
there a reason for its strange behavior? Or did they just randomly attack large
moving objects?

I have no idea.
“Young miss, thanks for saving us…”

“I can’t believe that Modoki would even go to this area…”

“Aah, our cargo is…”

The five crew members who had been rescued by Fran were grimacing on the shore.
Some of them had drunk a lot of water, but their lives shouldn’t be in danger.

The old man, who seemed to be the captain, lamented as he stared at the sinking
ship.

“Is your cargo is something that shouldn’t get wet?”

“We have no choice but to let go of the grains we brought. But we have to recover the
Scarlet Waterweed medicine back somehow. There’s a shortage of it after all. It’s
stored in a sturdy crate, and I’m sure some bottles are safe”

“Scarlet Waterweed medicine?”

“Yeah. It’s the recently developed medicine made from Scarlet Waterweed. It works
the same as the conventional pills against the endemic diseases, but I’ve heard that
its efficacy is enhanced by being made into a potion”

And he told us that that ship was loaded with that new medicine.

“I guess we’ll have to ask the adventurers to pull up the medicine later… I hope this is
a place with few magic beasts though”

I wonder about that. Right now, thanks to the Modoki, the other magic beast seemed
to have escaped, and there was no sign of them. But I’m sure they would come back
after a little while.
(Master)

[You want to help them?]

(Nn)

Well, we can go get it now though.

“Where did you store that medicine?”

“Eh? It’s in a storage room on the port side. Right around where that damned Modoki
pierced our ship”

The captain pointed to a large hole on the port side of the ship, which was sinking
with the starboard side facing down.

(Note: port, nautical terms for ship’s left side, starboard > right side)

It wouldn’t be a problem for us if it was there. Rather, that big hole would make it
easy for us to get into. Well, that hole was half of the reason the ship was sinking
though. The other half was the cracks that had formed all over the hull. It was
because of the Modoki’s tentacles.

“I’ll be right back”

“Y-young miss!?”

Waving lightly at the surprised captain, Fran jumped out again.

“Let’s retrieve the medicine”

[Wait, let’s see if I can store the hull itself first]

“Aah, I see”

That would be the fastest way to do this. However, I failed to store the whole hull.
Maybe there were living beings inside the ship. It didn’t have to be human beings,
just a fish or a rat, and it wouldn’t be able to be stored in the dimensional storage.

“It won’t be stored…”

[We don’t have any choice. I’ll take care of the air for you to breath, Fran, use your
water magic to move]

(Okay)

If we were going to explore the small ship, it would be safer for Fran to move around
on her own.

Fran then jumped into the ship through the hole made by the Modoki. The inside was
already filled with water and half of it was submerged.

Fran landed on a half-flooded crate and looked around the storage room.

“Where it is?”

[Hmm…]

The captain had told us before that it was a magic potion, so I tried to use my magic
detection to find it, but I got no response here.

But I could feel a small hint of magic power in the entire water in this room. Perhaps
the bottle of the scarlet potion had been broken and the contents had dissolved into
the water.

It’s just that there’s something weird about it…

[We had no other choice, we’ll have to check the label on each crate]

“Nn”

I checked the crates that had not yet been submerged in water, but there was no
Scarlet Waterweed medicine. No, at this point it would be better to stow all the
crates away and check them later.

[Let’s just store it all away for now]

“Okay”

Then I started to store the crates in my dimensional storage, Fran, who had gone
underwater, quickly swam out of the water.
It was not that she looked like she was in a hurry, but she seemed to be a little
surprised.

[What’s wrong?]

“…I felt strange when I used some magic”

[Strange?]

“Somehow… It feels like my magic worked a little too well”

[What do you mean?]

When I listened to the details, it seemed that the output of the magic she used was
higher than she had imagined. It was just a small difference, when she manipulated
the water to move about 10 centimeters, she went a few millimeters further than she
had estimated.

Normally, this wouldn’t bother her, but Fran, who had gained a high level of magic
control through her training, seemed to feel a slight discomfort.

[There might be something other than the Scarlet Waterweed potion leaking here
then]

It’s probably not poisonous, as my crisis perception wasn’t triggered, but it was a
little creepy. Let’s get it over with and get out of here.

I went into the water, leaving Fran behind, and quickly stowed the cargo.

I also tried to use water magic, but it definitely felt strange. It seemed that there was
a problem with the water itself, rather than something being wrong with the water
magic that I had activated. There was a high possibility that some kind of magic
potion was dissolving in the water.

Or was it the effect of the Modoki that had dissolved in the water? That sounds
possible too.

[Anyway, let’s get out of here quickly]

“Nn”
By using Teleport, we returned to the shore at once. And at the same time when the
captain saw us, he rushed over to us with an expression of relief.

“Are you safe!? We can get the medicine pulled up later, you know! Don’t be so
reckless!”

“I’m fine. More importantly, I brought it with me”

“What? No, since she used teleport before… Could it be that you can use space-time
magic?”

“Nn. Should I bring it out here?”

“A-Aah, yes please”

They had already selected the most well-rested crew members and sent them back
to Sheftent. He said that help would be coming soon.

But as Fran stacked the crates, the captain’s face was changing rapidly. First joy, then
confusion, then a look of impatience, and finally, astonishment.

Space-time magic was very weak at a lower level. It wouldn’t be strange if its
capacity was only the size of a small crate.

The captain must have thought that she only managed to retrieve a crate of Scarlet
Waterweed potion. But we’ve retrieved the entire cargo instead.

With nearly 30 crates piled in front of him, he was beyond happy.

“Is this fine?”

“A-ah, yes… T-thanks”

He seemed to be troubled. But still, he didn’t forget to say thanks, so he must be quite
a nice person.

However, we can’t help them any further. We’re in the middle of escorting the
students. Since it was an emergency, we had to leave to save them, but we need to get
back to the students as soon as possible.
We could help them carry the cargo back to the Sheftent, but that would have
disqualified us as an escort.

Oh, before we went back, we asked him about something that had been bothering
me. It was about our discomfort when using the water magic before. However, the
captain didn’t seem to understand it either. He said that they didn’t have any magic
potions other than the Scarlet Waterweed potion on board.

Then, was my theory about the Modoki’s dissolved body was right? Well, it was also
possible that the Scarlet Waterweed potion itself was the cause though.

But since they were in shortage of this medicine, I can’t ask them to share it with me
for experiments.

We’ll have to ask someone who seemed to know more about this later――like
Grandma Jill.
The night following our slaying of the Modoki that attacked the cargo ship.

When we returned to the camp, we had an evaluation meeting with Charon and the
others. At the end of the day’s training, the escorts were now allowed to give them
some advice.

Fran and Charles point out their mistakes of the day’s mission. Despite his low rank,
Charles was still one of the adventurers who made his living around this lake.

When it comes to gathering and hunting, he could give more precise advice than
Fran.

When the meeting was over, Fran was on her way to the tent she had been assigned
to sleep in. Perhaps because she had Urushi with us, she was allowed to use a tent
without sharing it with anyone else.

But on our way there.

We spotted a small shadow crouching in the grass. It could not be an animal as it

seemed to be wearing proper clothes. So, it should be a small child.

It seemed to be Romio.

No, we knew he was there from his presence, but when we approached him, he
looked strange. His cheeks and forehead were flushed red, and he was breathing
heavily.

“Ugh!”

Fran rushed over to him and hurriedly picked up his little body. His fever seemed to
be quite high. His cheeks, which were peculiarly puffy for an infant, were red from
the fever, and his forehead was covered with a lot of sweat.
“…”

Romio opened his eyes slightly to see Fran, but he didn’t even seem to have the
energy to speak anymore.

Fran didn’t ask him if he was okay as it was obvious that he was not.

(Master, what should we do? Use Heal?)

[No, don’t use Recovery Magic]

(Why?)

[I don’t know what will happen to his physical exhaustion…]

I had heard that if you use Recovery Magic on a child who didn’t have much strength,
it could cause them to lose extra strength and worsen their condition instead.

The same went for potions. And I don’t even know if he was injured, sick, or just
tired.

It wasn’t simply a matter of using magic.

My appraisal told me that Romio’s condition was fatigue. But I don’t know how
reliable that was.

The fact that he was in a contract with Zelos Reed, an evil person, made things more
complicated as some of the results of my appraisal were displayed as unknown.

Some skills were impossible to identify, and the statuses had holes in them, so I
didn’t get to see everything.

[Let’s bring him to Weena Rhyn right away!]

“Nn!”

Fran gently picked up Romio with the so-called princess carry. It was refreshing to
see Fran holding someone like this.

Romio tensed up slightly, but he didn’t have the strength to move much.
“Don’t give up”

“…!”

When Fran called out to him, Romio’s eyes widened in surprise.

Fran was like an enemy for him. To Romio, who was only about four years old, the
world had only recently begun, and in that world, Zelos Reed was a dependable
guardian for him. At least that was how Romeo perceived it.

I don’t know how he behaved in front of Romio, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t treat
him badly. Otherwise, there was no way Romio would miss him.

That enemy had unreasonably attacked Zelos Reed before, the most important
person for Romio. And that enemy was Fran.

Well, for that matter, Fran understood that it was no use getting angry at a child who
didn’t know any better.

That was why we have very little in mind for Romio. It was not that we didn’t think
about him at all, but it was not to the point of being hostile with him. At most, I have
a sense of dislike for him.

Just like now, we were honestly worried about Romio, who was in poor physical
condition.

And that was what surprised Romio.

Seeing Romio’s confused expression reminded me of Fran when she met Zefmate.
The guy from the Blue Cat kin. Zefmate was the first Blue Cat kin that Fran had
encountered in her life that was friendly to the Black Cat Kin.

At that time, Fran also had a confused look on her face. Romio’s face was just like
Fran’s at that time.

Romeo was just a young child――well, because he was a child, he must have thought
that the world was clearly divided into friend and foe.

So why would Fran, who was supposed to be his enemy, help him? I guess he
wouldn’t understand that for now.
“Weena Rhyn! I found Romio lying on the ground!”

“…Can you put him down here?”

“Okay”

Zelos Reed was not here. It seemed he was doing some chores right now, and that
must be the reason why Romio went to look for Zelos Reed.

She laid the limp Romio on the bed as Weena Rhyn had told her. Weena Rhyn,
without seeming to be in a hurry, began to do some sort of medical examination.

“Hmm… He’s just simply tired. Well, just being around Zelos Reed could get you
affected by the evil spirits, so it can’t be helped”

“Is that so?”

“He must have been through so much exhaustion, hadn’t he?”

Weena Rhyn said so and shrugged her shoulders.

Well, as a High Elf, childhood was a long time ago for her. She might not be able to
understand Romio’s suffering.

“Romio will be fine?”

“Well, it’s not life-threatening”

“I see, that’s good then”

“I’m surprised. I thought you’d hate him”

“Not really”

Fran shook her head in response to Weena Rhyn’s question.

Well, it was not that she didn’t hate him.

It was just that she didn’t know how to treat him.

“!! I’m leaving!”

Fran took one last look at Romio’s face and hobbled to the entrance of the tent.

“…”

“…!”

She sensed that Zelos Reed was coming back. We passed each other at the entrance
but did not say a word to each other.

Soon, however, we heard Zelos Reed’s voice behind us.

“Romio!”

Fran, who had been expressionless when I saw her face, widened her eyes when she
heard Zelos Reed’s voice. The expression on her face was not one of frustration or
anger. If anything, the look on her face was one of surprise and panic.

[Fran, what’s wrong?]

“…No, it’s nothing”

It doesn’t seem like that though… I wonder what part she thought was so surprising
about Zelos Reed?

Fran continued to walk in silence and returned to our tent.

The look of panic she had shown earlier was no longer there, and on the surface, she
seemed to be calm. However, Fran was quite emotional when it came to Zelos Reed.
To be exact, she was nervous.

She didn’t know whether she should call out to him or not…
When I was thinking so, someone suddenly called out to her.

“What’s troubling you?”

“Who!”

[Who is it!]

“Grrr!”

Fran, Urushi, and I all turned around in a panic.

I couldn’t sense their presence after all. Although we were a little distracted, we were
not defenseless. However, none of us could detect any sign of the owner of the voice.

This was a really strange situation.

No, there was one possible existence.

That was if the other party was a spirit. Urushi and I couldn’t sense any sign of it, and
Fran would have to be very focused to sense it.

But that doesn’t seem likely either.

What I saw in front of us was not a spirit at all. On the contrary, it was a girl we
recognized.

However, unlike before, she was not wearing an eye patch.

“The one from the food stall?”

“Long time no see”

It was Rhyn, a blind girl who ran a food stall in the town of Kiarazen. She was a
beautiful white-skinned girl with beautiful loose blond hair in half-twins.

However, now she had removed the eye patch that covered both eyes and was
exposing her eyes. We could see that her right eye was purple and her left eye was
green, it was the so-called odd eye.
Even in this dimly lit tent, lit only by a single pale light from a small magic tool, her
eyes were as clear as if they were shining.

I guess that was what you would call eyes that seemed to suck you in. I couldn’t take
my eyes off Rhyn’s odd eyes, which sparkled like jewels.

Her eyes seemed to be firmly focused on Fran. Wasn’t she blind? I’m pretty sure the
appraisal at the time showed that she has lost both of her eyes…

I tried to appraise her again.

[Wha!]

(Master?)

[My appraisal was blocked]

I should have been able to appraise her before.

“Fufu. Sword-san. It won’t work on me”

“…What do you mean?”

“Fufufu”

She actually knows what I am!? But Rhyn had no intention of pursuing the matter.
She smiled and looked at Fran, who played dumb.

“I’m here to see Fran today”

“Why? Besides, are you… a spirit?”

[What?]

(I could feel the sign of a spirit coming from Rhyn)

For real? But certainly, I couldn’t feel Rhyn’s presence at all. It was as if an illusion
was standing right in front of us. But I sensed her human presence when we were in
Kiarazen…
Was she really a spirit? I’ve never thought I’d be able to see a humanoid spirit like
her. Long ago, Klimut told us that a humanoid spirit was a high-ranking spirit.

If so, was the girl in front of us a high-ranking spirit?

“I’ll tell you my name again. I’m a spirit, Rhyn. The spirit of time and water”

“As I guessed, you’re a spirit… Amazing, you look like a human”

She was a spirit. And her right eye was purple and her left eye was green? Wasn’t
that the characteristic of the Great Spirit, who is said to be guarding Lake Vivian?

However, when she told us that she was a spirit, I was convinced of her mystical
beauty. In fact, there was a sense of detachment of the worldly sense that made it
hard for me to be convinced otherwise.

“I came here today because I wanted to tell the both of you about something”
“I came here today because I wanted to tell the both of you about something”

“…What is it?”

Rather than trying to pry into Rhyn’s identity, Fran decided to listen to her first.
There was something about the serious expression that Rhyn wore that made it
difficult for her to say no.

“Through water, I can see the cause and effect of the past. And from the vision of the
past, I can know the future”

“The future?”

“Yes. There is no such thing as a fixed destiny in this world. But there is an outcome
called the future, which is likely to come if we do nothing”

Rhyn seemed to have some kind of psychometric ability. Since she could predict the
future, she must have been able to analyze the past in great detail. Moreover, it
seemed that she could also predict the future by performing calculations based on
past information.

Maybe it was because of that ability that she found out I was not just a simple sword.
If she could see Fran’s past, then, of course, she could see me in her past too.

“Of course, this is not a sure thing. It’s just that, as it is now, there’s a high probability
that it will come”

“So what does that mean?”

“There’s a tragedy coming for the both of you”

“Tragedy?”
“Yeah. You’ve saved my life before, and I wanted to return that favor”

“Before? What are you trying to say since a while ago?”

“I’m sorry. If I interfere too much, the future I see might change into something
completely different. But I’m really worried about you guys… Sword-san. To avoid
this tragedy, you’d need to be ready”

Rhyn’s eyes definitely focused on me.

“You must haven’t noticed, the changes in yourself”

[…What do you mean?]

I’d been completely exposed. There was no point in hiding it any longer. I was
worried about the tragedy that was coming to Fran too.

“You are, becoming a sword”

[Becoming? I’m already a sword, aren’t I?]

“The body is. But not the inside. You’re still a person inside”

Aah, so that was what she meant. I’m a former human being, so it couldn’t be helped.

“However, you’re becoming less and less of a person. The change is accelerating,
from a human spirit to a spirit worthy of the sword”

[Is that bad?]

“In the past, you hesitated in a situation where you would have stopped Fran.
Nowadays, you are taking a step back and looking at Fran from behind”

[Well, that is――]

“No, definitely not. You acted like a guardian before. But now, you act like a sword,
just like what any sword does”

[Well, it’s because I’m a sword, right…?]

“And you’re starting to feel more comfortable by thinking that way”

[No… I-I’m…!]

I tried to argue with Rhyn and was surprised at how weak my words sounded. What
was it? I tried to shout, “No! I’m not just a sword!” but failed.

“You must haven’t noticed the change in Fran too”

[What?]

“Was she frustrated because she couldn’t freely move her body? Did you really think
that was the case?”

What do you mean? When I looked at Fran, she laid her ears flat and turned her head
down with an indescribable look on her face. She looked apologetic, sad, lonely, and
a mixture of other emotions.

“I’m sorry…”

[Why are you apologizing?]

“I had noticed that Master was a little strange. But I was afraid to tell you”

[Fran…]

The uneasiness I was having was making her irritated and agitated…? Because of
me?

“You are indeed a sword. But you’re also a person. Don’t forget that”

Right after she told us that, Rhyn’s body started to fade.

[W-wait!]

“You’re her master, aren’t you? Don’t just be a mere bystander. Keep your mind
strong. You are Fran’s teacher――”

[Rhyn! Wait! Please tell me more about it!]

It was no good. She had said all she wanted to say and disappeared.

[Fran, can you sense Rhyn’s presence?]

“She is gone”

[I see…]

But, I was becoming a sword? How did that lead to tragedy?

“Master”

[What is it?]

“I prefer Master to remain as my master”

[Fran…]

There was a definite sadness in Fran’s voice. Her eyelashes trembled, and her eyes
moistened slightly.

Fran pulled me out of the scabbard and hugged me tightly. I could feel Fran’s warmth
and the beating of her heart.

“There are many swords. But Master is my only master”

[I’m…]

Fran was afraid. She was afraid I would turn into a sword. She even shed tears for
me.

I was terrified at that moment.

Even though Fran had done so much for me, I wasn’t afraid of the fact that I was
becoming more like a sword. If it had been me when I first met Fran, I would have
definitely felt sorry and scared.

As Rhyn had said, I was on the verge of becoming a sword. The moment I became
very aware of this, I was hit by a terrible chill.
[Guh…]

“Master!?”

It was the first time I felt this way since I became a sword. The next moment, I felt
my body tremble with an unfamiliar urge that took over my mind. No, I don’t have a
body to tremble though…

[Gha…]

“――!”

Then, I suddenly realized that I had a strong fear of becoming a sword.

This is――.

“――! Master!”

I became blind and couldn’t see my surroundings. I couldn’t even hear Fran’s voice
anymore. However, the moment I heard the sorrowful call, I was able to rapidly
regain my composure.

[…Fran?]

“Master! Are you okay?”

[A-aah, yes, I’m okay. I’m totally fine. Sorry, I was just a little distraught… Hey, have I
been acting weird lately?]

“Just a little. But it is really just a little”

So, it was only a little, huh? Apparently, that was why she couldn’t bring herself to
say it. But Fran was clearly relieved.

[Fran]

“Nn?”

[I’m still myself. I’m Fran’s master]

“Nn…”

Just what am I supposed to do? Rhyn told me to be strong-minded. I guess that

means we can still do something about it.

[I’ll do my best]

“Nn!”
I’m about to become a sword to the soul and will be nothing more than a bystander.

That’s what Rhyn said to me.

If that was the case, I would be a person and a guardian for Fran.

It seemed like I had been talking less and less lately. And I had been letting Fran
decide what to do. No, I had always let Fran do whatever she wanted to do.

But lately, I had probably been tossing judgments at Fran rather than trusting her to
do the right thing.

It was hard for me to be aware of it, but I was going to try to get it back, starting with
a conversation.

[Hey, Fran]

“What is it?”

[Earlier, when you heard Zelos Reed call Romio’s name, you were surprised, weren’t
you? What’s wrong with that?]

Even in such a conversation, Fran happily responded.

“He sounded just like someone”

[Just like someone?]

“Just like Master”

[Huh? Just like me?]

“Nn. It was the same voice that Master used when he asked me [Are you okay?]… A
gentle voice”

I didn’t expect that answer.

Do I sound like him? A gentle voice? Of course, it was not the tone of the voice, but
the feeling of it… I couldn’t tell it myself, but Fran seemed to be sure.

[So, do you think that Zelos Reed is really worried about Romio?]

“Nn”

I heard that the Magnolia family’s bloodline could even influence someone…

[Is the Magnolia bloodline really that powerful? So powerful that it can change the
very foundation of a person’s personality]

“I don’t know. But his words were sincere. Without a doubt”

[…If Fran thinks so, then I’ll believe it]

“Nn”

I finally understood why Fran was so confused. She must have been surprised to see
the kindness that her enemy, Zelos Reed, showed to Romio.

She also felt sad when she compared the good changes in Zelos Reed with the bad
changes in me.

Had I… failed as a guardian? I didn’t even realize that I was making Fran sad.

“Hey, Master”

[Hmm? What is it?]

“Can I sleep with you today?”

[…Of course]

“Woof woof!”
“Urushi can join too”

“Woof!”

I don’t think I’ve seen such a happy smile on Fran’s face in a long time. I was even
shocked by that fact.

[Then, let’s sleep together!]

“Woof!”

“Nn!”

Fran then dove into the bed with me in her arms.

My sword blade was completely exposed. But when Fran wanted to be pampered,
she would hug me without a sheath like this. Oh, I’d already transformed to remove
my blade.

“Hey, Master”

[What is it?]

“…Tomorrow, will you make breakfast for us?”

[Tomorrow?]

“Nn. You can’t?”

[Of course I can, what do you want?]

“Pancakes!”

[Aah, I see. I haven’t made those in a while]

“Nn. Hey, Master”

[Yeah~?]

“You know――”
While being cuddled up in Urushi’s fur, Fran and I continued to talk. It was not a
particularly interesting conversation, just a casual chat.

But it was probably the most important thing for us right now. Fran seemed happy
with it.

That made me happy too.

We must have been talking for almost an hour. Our conversation ended when Fran
couldn’t stand the drowsiness and fell asleep.

[…They’re asleep, huh?]

“Shu~ Shu~”

“Gu~ Gu~”

I won’t make Fran sad because of me anymore, and I’m not going to turn into a mere
sword

That was what I thought when I saw Fran sleeping in a cuddle with Urushi.

[Announcer-san]

<Yes>

[My soul… Is it really on the verge of becoming a sword?]

<Yes. The soul of the individual named Master is beginning to adapt to the vessel of
the sword>

[I see. Hey, how can I prevent it? What should I do to avoid making Fran sad?]

<Your desires are conflicting. I can’t provide a definitive answer>

[Huh? What do you mean?]

<The way to keep your soul as a person is simple. The solution is to erase the sword
adaptation from the system>
An adaptation system. I didn’t know I had such a thing. But it seemed that my soul
really was becoming a sword.

[By conflicting, do you mean that if I stop adapting to the sword, Fran will be sad?
But why?]

<The adaptation system is salvation provided by God. By stopping the adaptation,

there is an 88% chance that the individual named Master will lose his mental
stability and go crazy>

[Wha…!!]

Are you saying that the fact that my soul was trying to become a sword was God’s
way of saving me? But, I was pretty sure I was told that if they put a person’s soul
into a sword, they would definitely go crazy…

<There’s 100% chance that the individual named Fran will be saddened if the
individual named Master went crazy>

In other words, If I tried to stop it, I’d become crazy one day and would make Fran
sad. But if I don’t, that would still make Fran sad?

[Then… What’s the better choice? What should I choose?]

<Suggestion. As long as the individual named Master succeeds in retaining his soul
as a person and developed enough mental flexibility and resilience to not go crazy as
a sword, there is no problem>

[Is that even possible?]

<It has 5% chance of success>

[…So, it’s not zero?]

<Yes>

Just a few minutes ago, I decided not to make Fran sad anymore. So, I was not going
to give up, even if it only had a small chance of success.

[Let’s do it. Announcer-san, you’re going to help me too, right?]

<Yes>

I wonder why. Even though her voice was inorganic as usual, I felt as if Announcer-
san was happy. Was it only my imagination?
The next day.

Fran, who was in a good mood after she had my special pancake, was on her way to
Weena Rhyn’s tent.

She called us because she had something to say.

“Morning”

“Morning, Fran. I need a little advice from you”

Weena Rhyn cut straight to the point without much greetings. There seemed to be a
subtle hint of impatience on her face.

“What is it?”

“You must have noticed that there’s something wrong with the lake, right?”

“Nn. The Modoki are coming out”

“Yes, about them. To be honest… I didn’t even know why this was happening. It
wasn’t like this until last year…”

The strange occurrence must have really happened very recently then.

“I need you to find out what’s going on”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re the strongest person I could ask. And I’ll also relieve you of your guard
duty temporarily”
“Master?”

[Fran, you must also curious about what’s going on with the lake, right? After all, we
have encountered the Modoki many times already]

“Nn”

[Then, I guess you should take it]

“Okay”

Besides, Fran was now employed by Weena Rhyn, and if she was given a new job, she
should do it.

This was not what an Instructor would do though.

But we were not going to complain because we would be able to go out there and
investigate what was going on in the lake that we’ve been wondering about.

But I did have one question.

[Wouldn’t it be faster if you do this on your own?]

She was an ocean magic-user who controlled water, and a spirit user who might be
useful for reconnaissance. In addition, she had local connections, power, and money.
If you wanted to investigate the lake, Weena Rhyn was definitely the right person for
the job.

But apparently, that’s not possible as Weena Rhyn shook her head at my words.

“For various reasons, I want to stay as far away from the lake as possible”

“? We’re close now though”

“This is the very edge. I shouldn’t get close to the lake”

“Why?”

“That is… Don’t tell anyone, okay? If it ever leaks to the other countries, it’ll be a
disaster”
“Understood, I’ll never tell anyone”

“That said, I don’t have time to tell you the whole story. But let me give you a short
explanation”

“Nn”

“First, there is a certain magic beast sealed at the bottom of Vivian Lake”

“Magic beast?”

“Yes. A huge magic beast that I’m sure must have a threat level of A or higher”

We’ve heard about it in Kiarazen before, Lake Vivian used to be a much smaller lake
in ancient times. However, due to a natural disaster, it was connected to the sea and
then separated from the sea again, becoming the large lake it was today.

And she said that that natural disaster was actually caused by that magic beast.

Even though it was at the sea, it sensed the presence of the Great Spirit that lived in
Lake Vivian and tried to devour its power.

And it seemed that in order to reach the spirit in this lake, it connected the sea and
the lake.

“In the end, the spirit of the lake was devoured by the magic beast, and that magic
beast gained tremendous power. The entire continent was on the verge of a great
disaster that time”

The magic beast was so large that it could sink part of the continent into the sea and
had absorbed the Great Spirit. That’s why she said that it could have been classified
as a threat level S.

If it ever got out of control, the continent of Zilberd would surely be destroyed.

However, an acquaintance of Weena Rhyn succeeded in sealing the magic beast. He

separated its source of power, the sea, and sealed it in the bottom of the newly
formed lake.

Since the magic beast was a sea-dwelling being, staying in freshwater for a long time
would surely weaken it.

And after that acquaintance died, Weena Rhyn took over the seal and had been
protecting it ever since.

She didn’t go into detail about her acquaintance, but they might be a High Elf. I could
sense the affection in her tone, and she even took the trouble to take over the seal
after their death.

“As soon as I took over the seal, I entered into a contract with the magic beast. Or to
be more precise, by making a contract with the guardian spirit of the lake that was
absorbed by the magic beast, I also made a contract with the magic beast”

“The guardian spirit, is still alive?”

“It’s a spirit, so I’m not quite sure if you could even call it alive, but it hasn’t
disappeared yet. It was now a part of that magic beast and continues to exist”

By using her contract with the spirit, Weena Rhyn seemed to have been able to keep
the huge magic beast under the seal quiet.

“A part of the power of the magic beast and the spirit has been contained within me.
Therefore, if I ever get closer to the lake, that power will be attracted to the magic
beast and it will be revitalized”

That was why Weena Rhyn couldn’t go near the lake. Even so, she had tried to find
out the cause of the anomaly and talked to the spirits living in the lake, but she was
unable to find any clues.

[In the first place, what is the Vivian Guardian, which is the origin of the Modoki? I
heard it’s not just a magic beast. What does it have to do with that sealed magic
beast?]

“The Vivian Guardian is the guardian of the seal. Well, it actually wasn’t me, but the
spirit inside that magic beast that created the seal”

So that was why, huh? She said that the Vivian Guardians don’t attack people, but
tried to prevent anyone from entering a certain place.

“What if they attack us and then go out of control?”

“I don’t know much about it either, but I think it must be a warning. It tried to warn
anyone who ever got close to the seal”

“I see”

Then I asked her about something that had been bothering me.

[Is the name of that spirit is, Rhyn?]

“Ara? How did you know?”

[That’s what she called herself]

“We met her yesterday”

Fran took over my words. And it was right after that. Weena Rhyn’s expression
changed dramatically.

“What… did you say…!?”

“What… did you say…?”

Hearing Rhyn’s name come out of our mouths, Weena Rhyn’s expression changed
dramatically.

The look on her face was of suspicion and astonishment. She stared at Fran with eyes
that were opened to their limit.

“You must be joking, right…?”

Weena Rhyn’s expression looked as if she hoped it was just a joke. But Fran shook
her head.

“I’m not”

“Really…?”

“Nn”

Then she stood up with enough force to knock over the chair she was sitting on and
shouted in disbelief.

“That’s ridiculous! That shouldn’t be possible!”

“Why?”

“Rhyn is…! That child is…!”

With a weak gesture, she placed her hand on the desk and panted as she spoke.

“As long as I’m here! As long as Weena Rhyn exists, Rhyn shouldn’t be able to show
up…!”
[What do you mean?]

“Weena Rhyn?”

“Yes, I’m still Weena Rhyn… What does this mean? Is this why the lake is so strange
lately?”

It was no good. She’s completely ignoring what we were saying. She was scratching
her hair with a look of confusion and dismay on her face.

Of course, if Rhyn was the spirit from Weena Rhyn’s story, and she was inside the
great magic beast, then I can understand why it would be strange for her to show up.

However, it seemed that Weena Rhyn didn’t mean it that way.

“…Fran”

“Nn?”

“Can you investigate the lake as soon as possible?”

We didn’t dare to ask Weena Rhyn any more questions than we already had. Weena
Rhyn’s face was so intense that even Fran could sense its pressure.

“…Okay”

The words that came out of her had an indescribable power that could not be
denied. To be honest, even I was not an exception.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people in the local guild who are working on this, so you
can talk to them”

“Nn”

“You may use my name as well. I’ll even allow a little recklessness”

[Oi, oil, that isn’t quite peaceful]

“That’s just how bad the situation has gotten”

A situation that would even alarm a High Elf? Wasn’t this a seriously dangerous
situation then…? It seemed like we had to do whatever it took to find out what was
going on.

“I’m counting on you”

“Nn”

We were about to leave the tent, but Weena Rhyn’s next words stopped us.

“Hey, did Rhyn say anything about me?”

“Nn? Not really”

“I see…”

Was there something wrong with my sight? As there seemed to be a hint of

loneliness on Weena Rhyn’s face.

One hour later. We arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild in Sheftent.

When we arrived here, we realized that we forgot to tell her about Rhyn’s stall. It
seemed that we were a little overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of Weena Rhyn
before. Well, we’ll tell her the next time we meet her.

“Please come this way”

“Nn”

The receptionist seemed to remember Fran, and it had become a face pass already.
She told her that she wanted to see Grandma Jill, and she let her through right away.

“Hmm? Isn’t it the Black Lightning Princess, what can I do for you?”

“Nn. I was asked to investigate the lake”

“…Why is that again?”

“Weena Rhyn asked me”

Fran said in a halting voice that Weena Rhyn had asked her to investigate the lake.
This probably made her realize that the situation was more serious than she had
imagined.

Grandma Jill then straightened up her figure.

“I see. So, she’s worried about the situation too”

“Nn. Do you have any information?”

“Of course, we’re investigating into it as well, but it’s not going anywhere”

To begin with, the central part of Vivian Lake, where the Modoki appeared, was still
guarded by the Vivian Guardians. Because of this, they couldn’t investigate the
source of the problem.

“Are there any adventurers investigating the anomaly?”

“There are some. The adventurers you know would be Lovren and Sierra”

I remember Lovren. He was the rank B adventurer of the Commercial Fleet. She had
a small talk with him when she acted as an examiner for the promotion test there. He
was a very composed man with a gentle nature.

But I had never heard the name Sierra before.

“Sierra? Who is he?”

“Oya? You don’t know him?”

“Maybe?”

“Aaah, come to think of it, he didn’t give you his name that time. He’s the kid who had
taken the promotion exam and got promoted. His hair is brown and I think he’s got a
peculiar interest in you, don’t you remember?”

Could it be that boy with the killing intent?

For some unknown reason, he was an F-ranked adventurer who had turned his
killing intent on Fran, whom we had never met before. Well, I guess he was an E-
ranker now.

Fran asked her about his features, and it seemed that it was him. Could we ask her to
tell us about him? Well, let’s see.

“Lovren is the only one we’ve sent a request to. But Sierra seems to be investigating
on his own. Well, it’s not just Sierra though”

The Adventurer’s Guild was still looking for more information about the anomaly,
and they had even asked Lovren, a senior adventurer, to help.

It seemed that many adventurers wanted to make a name for themselves by solving
the mystery of this anomaly or to make their presence known to the guild by
competing with the senior adventurers.

“For now, let me tell you what information we have”

“Please”

“First of all, the Modoki often aim at boats. We still don’t know the reason yet. And
unlike the usual, they also eat people now”

“It ate people? Like musha musha?” (munching SFX)

“Yeah. Well, it looks like it’s doing it to absorb magic power. It’s also been confirmed
that it also attacks the other magic beasts”

The only time a Vivian Guardian attacked a living being is when it was attacked. And
even then, they did not eat them, they would only attack them.

When I thought about it, I found out just how abnormal the Modoki were.

“Why would they attack a boat?”

“We don’t know much about that either. I thought about narrowing it down based on
the cargo, but almost no ship carries only a single item”

Wasn’t this almost as if they didn’t know anything? When I thought about it, they
actually had some good information.

“It’s just that the commercial fleet has the highest probability of being targeted by
far. It may be that a large number of ships makes it worthwhile to attack them, but it
is also possible that there are other reasons”

I see. We would have to look into that too. But let’s talk to Lovren first.
Should we go talk to Lovren Right away? Well, I think it was better for us to go back
to Weena Rhyn first and report about Rhyn’s stall. I was sure she had calmed down
by now.

But before we left, I remembered that there was something I wanted to ask Grandma
Jill.

“Hey, does the scarlet waterweed medicine have any effect on the surroundings?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yesterday――”

She explained that when she saved a boat from the Modoki attack, she felt some
discomfort with her Water Magic and that the cause may have been the spilled
Scarlet Waterweed potion or the Modoki’s dissolved body.

Then Grandma Jill nodded her head in agreement.

“I see… If it’s someone in your class, they might be able to feel it. Perhaps that’s the
effect of the Scarlet Waterweed potion”

“Is that so?”

“You can use the Space-Time Magic, can’t you?”

“Nn”

“Then it’s no wonder that you’re so sensitive”

Then Grandma Jill explained to her.

“The water in this lake has a slight amount of magic power in it”
“Magic power?”

“Yeah. It’s a magic power similar to Space-Time magic?”

“Hmm, but why?”

“Well, we don’t know much about that either. All I can say is that it’s been that way
for hundreds of years”

People living around here seemed to live their lives thinking that was the way it was,
and don’t question it much.

“Of course, it’s so slight that you wouldn’t normally be able to feel it at all. Even you
can’t detect it either, right?”

“Nn”

Indeed, if it hadn’t been for the Scarlet Waterweed potion, we wouldn’t have noticed
it either. It seems to be a very small amount of magic power.

However, it wasn’t completely unaffecting the surroundings. It has become an

endemic disease that has taken root in this country.

Apparently, it is not caused by pathogens, but by continuous consumption of the

water from Vivian Lake, which is their water source, since birth.

In fact, the disease is not endemic in areas of the country that get their water from
other sources.

The process is simple. If they keep drinking the water from the lake, they will
accumulate Space-Time Magic power in their body.

As a result, the magic power of the water made them feel slightly hasted. In other
words, the water in the lake acted as a very weak Haste potion.

However, since the effect was really slight, no one noticed it. Because no one noticed
it, the person’s senses and the body’s reaction to it keep deviating from each other,
causing fatigue to build up and making the person even more intoxicated. This was
the true nature of the endemic disease.
The reason why adults rarely develop the disease is that once they do, their bodies
will get used to it and it becomes less of a problem. Many of them might even adapt
without developing the disease at all.

Also, no matter how severe, no one died from the endemic disease alone. It must feel
like terrible car sickness.

Besides, it can be cured quickly by ingesting a special medicine. Therefore, the

people of this country did not consider this endemic disease to be that important.

It was like measles, which you may get only once in your life and was not deadly. Of
course, some die from complications due to other illnesses or from accidents caused
by poor health, but that was no different from the common cold.

“And the cure is also imbued with Time-space Magic-type magic power”

Scarlet Waterweed, which grew only in the Vivian Lake ecosystem, was tolerant of
that water.

Simply put, the stems had the effect of repelling and disrupting Space-Time Magic,
which protected itself from the waters of the lake.

And inside, it seemed to have the power to accumulate and control the magic power
contained in the water it absorbs from its roots.

By extracting those effects from the scarlet waterweed, a cure for the endemic
disease could be created.

When they took the medicine, the Haste effect on their body was further enhanced.
As a result, the brain would be aware of any sensory discrepancies and adjust to
them immediately.

The human body was an amazing thing, it seemed that once it understood the
feeling, it would never get sick again.

“According to a guy who had an aptitude for Space-time magic, it’s only 1/100th as
effective as Haste, even after they have taken the potion and are enhanced”

But to Fran, who was used to using Haste regularly, it must have felt like a big
discrepancy.
Moreover, if the water itself was filled with magic power, it was even more difficult to
act as usual.

However, some questions remained.

From what we just heard; an endemic disease was not the kind of thing that can be
transmitted. So how was it possible that an epidemic like this year’s could happen?

It was inevitable that there would be a certain number of cases every year, but I
didn’t understand why there would be a sudden epidemic.

When Fran asked that, Grandma Jill gave a few reasons.

“It’s caused by various things. First, the number of children born. Do you know how
some years, after a war or something, there are more children born than any other
year?”

In addition to that, the number of patients could also increase after a few years of
accepting immigration from foreign countries. After all, if there was an increase in
the number of people who were not resistant to the disease all at once, it could be a
trigger.

“It also depends on the climate. In years when it’s a little warmer and there’s a lot of
fog, the amount of water that gets into the body increases. That’s sure will increase
the number of patients”

“I see”

“Other reasons include the popularity of new types of crops that use a lot of water
and the development of new methods of making sake. Aah, there was even a time
when the popularity of water-soluble incense led to an increase in the number of
patients”

Since water was an inseparable part of human life, trivial reasons could lead to an
increase or decrease in the number of endemic patients.

“So what’s the reason for the increase in patients this year?”

“I don’t know why it’s so widespread this year. Maybe you could ask Weena Rhyn-
sama about that”
So, it was not under the jurisdiction of the Adventurer’s Guild? Certainly, the reason
for the epidemic disease was the responsibility of the government and research
institutions.

We were going back to Weena Rhyn after this anyway, so let’s ask her then.
“Weena Rhyn is not here?”

[It seems so… We’ve only left for about an hour though]

After talking to Grandma Jill, we came back to the camp. We wanted to talk to Weena
Rhyn about Rhyn’s stall. However, there was no sign of her in the tent.

“…Weena Rhyn, where did she go?”

“She didn’t tell me where she’s going”

Fran asks Zelos Reed, who was tied up in the tent, but he didn’t seem to know where
she was.

[Maybe she went to investigate it herself]

(What should we do now?)

[Hmmm…]

We have no choice. I guess we should leave a message with Zelos Reed and go talk to
Lovren. She was able to have a normal conversation with someone like Zelos Reed
with him now.

Even so, I wondered if it was okay to leave this man alone, but it seems that the
spirits are closely watching him. I guess they wouldn’t have much problem if it was
the current Zelos Reed whose power was greatly suppressed.

However, with chains around his ankles and restraints around his neck, he looked
like a slave. Even so, the way he stayed still and didn’t start raging, made it hard to
believe that he was the same person as that battle junky he was before.

“…Tell Weena Rhyn that Rhyn might be still in Kiarazen. She’s running a food stall
there”

“…Understood”

They exchanged such looks with no expressions on each other’s faces. Fran still
hated Zelos Reed, but what about him?

Does he hate her? Or just dislike her? I couldn’t tell which one it was.

But when Fran, who had said what she had to say, was about to leave the tent, she
was unexpectedly stopped by Zelos Reed.

“Wait”

“…What?”

Fran stopped for a moment and replied in a sharp voice.

“…I have a request to ask”

“Request? Request you say…!?”

Fran snapped immediately after Zelos Reed uttered those words. She muttered to
him with an angry expression.

Uncontrollable killing intent covered the surrounding area. However, Zelos Reed
showed no sign of fear and knelt on the spot.

It was not that he was not afraid, but he was prepared for it. Here, even if Fran cut
him down, he must have thought that it was inevitable.

The eyes that stared at Fran while he was down on his knees were so clear that it
was hard to believe they belonged to Zelos Reed.

“I have, a request”

I could hear the blunt sound of gnashing teeth coming from Fran’s mouth. I couldn’t
help but notice that her hand, which already stretched out on my handle, was
trembling in disbelief.
[Fran! Wait! This place――]

(…Don’t worry)

The fire of anger still burned in her eyes. However, Fran let her hand go from my hilt
and slowly lowered her fist.

(I know…)

I wonder, did Fran allow him to at least tell her his request after seeing his look?
Zelos Reed then opened his mouth again.

“…In exchange, you can take my life”

“!?”

“Weena Rhyn is going to cancel the contract between me and Romio. After that, she
can do whatever she wants with my life”

“Do you know what that means?”

“Yes. If just by killing me is not enough, you can also torture or do whatever you want
to me”

“…”

“My request is for Romio. I want you to bring Romio to an orphanage in Barbra after
I die”

“…”

“Romio wouldn’t be happy if he stayed with me. So, please”

Impossible. Even I thought that. Did he really entrust Romio to us with his life as the
price? But he was not lying. He really meant it.

As if in a daze, Fran’s strength loosened from her arms. And at the same time, the
killing intent that had been so prevalent dissipated into thin air. This time, the
atmosphere was eerily quiet. Her hands that were hanging down were swinging
limply.
A dumbfounded expression appeared on her face. Was she dumbfounded after
hearing the unexpected words? Or did her anger break through the limit?

But to my surprise, Fran nodded lightly to Zelos Reed.

“…I understand”

“Really?”

“Nn. With your life as the price, I will take Romio to an orphanage”

“…Thank you, very much”

“…Hmph”

Fran then turned her back to Zelos Reed, who continued to bow down on his knees.
And just like that, she walked away with an indescribable expression on her face.

[Fran, well done for holding back]

(…That guy… has changed. He’s not the same Zelos Reed I remember)

[Will you forgive him?]

(…I’m not going to forgive him, but…

Fran seemed to find it difficult to put it into words. Even so, it seemed that Zelos
Reed had changed to the extent that made her willing to listen to his words instead
of immediately drawing me. No, was it Fran who had changed?

Her hatred was still there, but it seemed that different feelings were also growing.

[You did great]

“…Nn”

At that moment in the Academy of Magic, when Fran slashed Zelos Reed, I thought
that it couldn’t be helped.

If I were in Fran’s position, for example, I would have definitely attacked him. I
wouldn’t care if it involved people who had nothing to do with it.

With that in mind, I thought that it was only natural for Fran to attack Zelos Reed.
That was why I was too late to stop her, and I also wondered if I had the right to stop
her.

Besides, I was Fran’s sword, and I was willing to follow her to the end, even if it
would lead to her demise.

But that was ridiculous. That’s not what a guardian should do.

I am disqualified as a guardian, aren’t I?

Wasn’t it the guardian’s duty to scold, even if he has to put himself on the line? It
reminded me of my parents. They were not saints, nor were they good adults. If I
were to list their virtues and faults, I would say that they had more faults than
virtues. When I was little, my parents would scold me and I would think, “Don’t tell
me what to do”

But they still scolded me and raised me. In the first place, it was the job of a guardian
to show a good example of what not to do.

I’d even say it was a job because it was not only love that parents needed to give.
Parents also have a duty. They have a duty to raise the children under their care in a
healthy and proper manner.

As a self-appointed guardian, I will have to remember that.

So, I praised her. I praised Fran for being able to suppress her hatred and being able
to contain herself.

[You did great, Fran]

“Nn”

However, what I was wondering is whether Fran was really going to take Zelos
Reed’s life or not. However, Fran turned over with a troubled look on her face at that
question.

“…I don’t know”

[Is that so?]

Apparently, a spur-of-the-moment decision at that time had made her promise to do

so.

“…But”

[But?]

“I still can’t forgive Zelos Reed”

[I see]

“Nn”

"Still", huh?
We were now back in Kiarazen again.

We were told that Lovren was here.

It was close to other countries, and the legend of the Lakeside Maiden was popular
here. It was a place that shouldn’t be missed when investigating the strange
occurrences in the lake.

Besides, we’d like to visit Rhyn’s stall again.

But her stall was not in the same place as before. We looked around the town to see
if she had moved locations, but she was nowhere to be found.

In the end, we even went to the merchant association that organizes the stalls in this
town to ask them about it. But they replied that there was no such merchant by that
name.

They didn’t lie as their answer was not a lame response. After all, we even mentioned
Weena Rhyn’s name and showed them Fran’s adventurer card. In addition, I also
used my doppelganger to accompany her as her guardian this time.

This was also meant to be a test to see if this skill would be effective in keeping my
soul as a person. I wanted to try having a conversation with someone in this state
and see what happens.

In addition to the big shots, we also met with the high-ranking adventurers. The
person in charge of arranging the stalls in town was even shaking with a blue face. I
felt a little sorry for him when I saw him going over the list of names again and again.

The chairman of the trading company, who could not stand to see the situation, even
took over the handling of the situation, but his investigation did not change the
results.
However, he remembered something in his mind.

“There is an urban legend in this town”

“An urban legend?”

“It’s a story that people are very uncertain about whether it’s true or false”

Apparently, there is a rumor among the merchants that there was a phantom stall
that could not be normally encountered, although they do not know when it all
started.

They never knew when or where it would appear, but there were stories of travelers
who had encountered strange food stalls and had been sold amazingly delicious
food.

“The vendor of the stall is said to be a mysterious looking girl with black cloth
covering her eyes”

“Nn. Without a doubt, she’s the one I’m talking about”

“Could it be, the rumor was true…? But then, we have no more information to go on.
I’ve heard that some people have tried to find it before, but they couldn’t find it”

“I see…”

“But it could be the Lakeside Maiden disguised as a girl to watch human activity, or a
demon taking human form”

So, in the end, we didn’t get many results. But it seemed that no one had ever been
able to find it. They couldn’t even get a clue.

Rhyn must have some kind of status disguising ability that was at the level at which
even my appraisal is completely fooled.

Well, from what Weena Rhyn had told us before, she was originally a high-ranking
spirit that was fused with the huge magic beast. In addition, she was in a contract
with Weena Rhyn. She’s probably overwhelmingly superior being to us. Even if
nothing was done to her, there was a high possibility that she could not be appraised.
There was nothing we could do if her disguise skills were added on top of that.
Also, does she possess the ability to block perception? She was a spirit, so she should
be invisible to normal humans, but that alone didn’t explain why they couldn’t find
her stall. Maybe she could also use it for anything besides herself.

[Well, it can’t be helped that we can’t find her. Let’s go to Lovren for now]

“How is it? Has anything changed?”

[Hmm? Oh, you’re talking about my body]

“Nn”

Fran tilted her head and looked at my doppelganger.

[Umm, I don’t know…]

“Nothing changed?”

In the first place, my main body was a sword, but at the same time, my doppelganger
was moving, so it was not as if I had completely gone back to a human body. Besides,
my doppelganger had weak senses, so it was hard to feel that it was a human body at
all.

It felt like controlling a full dive avatar in a VR game, maybe? Anyway, I was feeling a
strong sense of wrongness. In fact, I felt that pretending to be a person reminded me
more that I was a sword.

Also, Fran seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with it. To Fran, I’m a sword. That
was the way it should be, and she felt uncomfortable seeing my doppelganger for the
first time in a long time.

[Well, it’s not exactly the goal I’m aiming for, and I’m not sure I’d use this skill often
enough]

“I see”

But Fran seemed to be a little happy while saying that. After all, she didn’t really like
the idea of me using my doppelganger’s body.

From now on, I would use it from time to time, but I wouldn’t use it all the time.
Then I erased my doppelganger and urged Fran to move

[Well, let’s go to the harbor~]

“Oo~”

According to our information, Lovren had been at the harbor until about an hour
ago.

He was a very famous person in this area, so when we asked the merchants, they
immediately knew where he was.

We headed to the place we were told to go to, but there we ran into someone we
didn’t expect.

“It is… Err…”

[It’s Sierra]

There was Sierra, the boy with the killing intent.

He was holding a somewhat sinister-looking sword with a jet-black blade in his right
hand, and for some reason, he was dipping the tip of the sword into the lake. I
wonder what he was doing?

“――I guess”

“――maybe?”

He was mumbling something in a low voice, but I couldn’t hear him clearly. It seemed
as if he was talking to someone, but there was no one around. Did he have a habit of
mumbling to himself?

As we approached the boy, he turned around and looked at her.

“…!”

“…”

Sierra and Fran stared at each other for a while.

In contrast to Fran’s curious look, Sierra’s gaze toward Fran was filled with killing
intent.
“…”

“…”

Fran and Sierra stared at each other in silence. But Fran was just as silent and
expressionless as usual.

Eventually, Sierra looked away and walked past Fran to get past her.

But at that moment, Urushi, who was standing beside Fran, grew huge at once and
intervened between Fran and Sierra.

“Grrrr…”

Urushi growled with the full force of intimidation. Sierra stopped in surprise at his
reaction, which was even laced with killing intent.

However, Urushi’s gaze was not on Sierra――but on the sword at his hip.

Does it mean it was his magic sword that Urushi is wary of? No, but that didn’t
explain this reaction. Was it because the person releasing the killing intent was in
possession of a powerful magic sword?

I wondered as I appraised Sierra and his magic sword.

[Not that it matters, but…]

Sierra’s status was the same as before. He was certainly strong for his age, but his
abilities were at best at those of a D-ranked adventurer.

But after appraising the sword, I understood why Urushi was so wary.

[What! All of its descriptions were displayed as unknown!?]

If the opponent’s rank was higher than mine and the appraisal fails, it would end up
not showing up anything rather than showing up as unknown.

The only things that showed up as unknown were evil people and things possessed
by an evil spirit. Come to think of it, Urushi should had the skill to detect evil spirits.
So, I’m sure he had sensed a very small amount of evil in the sword that even Fran
and I couldn’t detect.

[Urushi, hold back a little]

“Grrr…”

Urushi reverted to his large dog size and lessened his intimidation. However, he was
still in a position to attack at any time. Sierra, who could understand this, was
bracing himself with a sense of caution.

“That sword… Where did you get it?”

“…Do I have to tell you?”

We had never heard his voice before. It was higher-pitched than we expected.

“I can sense the evil in it”

“Then?”

“Nothing”

“Hmph”

His reaction now, Sierra seemed to know that there was an evil spirit hidden in his
sword. Honestly, we were not sure what to do now.

But we couldn’t sense any evil in him, and just because he had an evil weapon didn’t
mean he was evil.

It was the same for me. No, rather, am I even worse? After all, a part of the Evil God’s
soul was sealed in me. Was it evil of Fran to use me? No, not at all. It was just that the
sword I’m using has a bit of a story behind it.
I guess it’s the same for Sierra.

The boy frowned uncomfortably and walked away. It was amazing that he was only
slightly surprised by Urushi’s intimidation. In terms of his ability, it wouldn’t be
strange if he would instantly die from being shocked… It seemed that he had
tremendous courage.

It was then at the moment after he avoided Urushi and passed Fran, Sierra stopped
and opened his mouth.

“…Weena Rhyn might kill Romio”

“! What do you mean?”

“But the fact that she decided to do it means that it needs to be done. And when she
does, don’t do anything you don’t have to do”

“Wait! Please explain!”

“…Just ask Weena Rhyn yourself”

That was all Sierra said and tried to walk away, but Fran wouldn’t let him. She
walked around in front of him and glared at him.

“…The power of the [Evil God’s Sacrament] is hidden in Magnolia’s bloodline. But if
she uses that power, Romio will die”

“Evil God’s Sacrament?”

“It is a fearsome grace given by the Evil Gods to rule over the evil people, to devour
them, to absorb their Evil Soul, and to transform them into power. That is the Evil
God’s Sacrament possessed by the Magnolias. The Grace of the Evil God passed down
to each family is what gives the three Gordician families their power”

The three Gordician families were the guardian families that were supposed to keep
the Evil Gods at bay, right? They are Magnolia, Camellia, and Wisteria. I’ve heard that
they’ve already been ruined though…

But now he’s telling me that they were empowered by the Evil God? In other words,
they worshipped the Evil God? And yet, they sealed away the Evil God?
“Was it given by the Evil God?”

“You’re gonna have to find out for yourself. What’s important now is this lake. The
magic beast sealed in here has also taken in the power of the Evil God’s piece. The
best way to suppress its power is to sacrifice Romio and use the power of the Evil
God’s Sacrament to seal it”

Oi, oi, the huge magic beast in this lake has even had the power of the Evil Gods?

“How do you know all this?”

Certainly, Sierra knew too much about Romio. It was hard to believe that he could
know so much from mere research. However, there was no way Sierra would answer
it.

“It’s none of your business. Just stay out of my way and Weena Rhyn’s. That’s it”

Sierra told her so with a cold expression on his face, to which Fran replied in protest.

“Romio will not die!”

“…? You, aren’t you supposed to be Romio’s enemy?”

“Why?”

“You’re an enemy of Zelos Reed, aren’t you?”

“Nn. Zelos Read is my enemy. But Romio isn’t really an enemy”

“…Tsk”

How much does Sierra know about anything? I’m not sure why he even knew about
Fran’s relationship with Romio and Zelos Reed.

Who was he? I wondered, and Fran questioned Sierra’s back as he was walking away.

“Are you… Romio’s big brother?”

“I’m not”
Sierra only answered with that and disappeared into the crowded streets of the
town.

[Romio’s big brother? What made you think so?]

“He knew a lot of things”

[I see. Well, I guess that’s why he even knows about the power of Magnolia’s
bloodline and all that]

“Moreover…”

[Moreover?]

“He looked like Romio”

[Is that so?]

Sure, they had the same hair color, but did they look that much alike?

“Nn, their eyes look similar”

[Eyes?]

“Their eyes are similar when they stared at me”

Ah, now that she mentioned it, they may indeed be similar. Romio’s eyes towards
Fran, and Sierra’s eyes towards Fran. The sharp eyes mixed with hostility; the feel
was very similar.

Why did he teach Fran such a thing? What was he aiming for?

I wonder who exactly he was. Anyway, I’m sure he was no ordinary adventurer.
After Sierra left, we were finally able to come in contact with Lovren.

We had been so focused on Sierra that we hadn’t noticed that we were already in the
harbor.

“I’d be grateful if you could be a little calmer around the town, you know?”

Lovren, of course, must have seen our encounter with Sierra earlier. He was
complaining to us right now.

Especially regarding Urushi. A big wolf that had suddenly appeared and growled
ferociously while radiating intimidation in the town.

Fortunately, there were no people in the harbor, but it could have caused a huge
commotion. It would have been no surprise if Adventurers and guards had been
dispatched to check the situation.

[Fran, Urushi. You should apologize. It’s definitely our fault]

“I’m sorry”

“Woof”

“As long as you understand, just be careful next time, okay?”

Huh? Was that all? I think a little more scolding would have been in order.

Well, even though he was a high-ranking adventurer, he was a very meek man after
all.

“Hey, the sword Sierra was holding. What’s that?”

“Are you curious?”

“He was dipping it in the lake before”

“Eh? He did that?”

“Nn”

“Hmm, Sierra already had it when he first became an Adventurer, maybe around six
or seven years ago”

What? Six or seven years ago? Sierra was just a kid, right?

“In this country, can a child that age became an adventurer?”

“Well, he could only register, he wouldn’t be able to move up from G rank until he
was 12 years old, so he could only do chores”

I see. There was no way a child who wanted to be an adventurer had a decent
background. Even if they turned him away, he would probably end up committing a
crime or dying in the wild. So, it would be better for the child if they gave them a job.

“That sword… We called it the Cursed Magic Sword around here. It’s because every
Adventurer who had tried to steal it always ended up with bad luck”

“…Did they die?”

“No, no, no, at most they would be badly injured. At first, they thought that Sierra
might have done something, but he had an alibi for everything. However, I don’t
think that Sierra had anything to do with it. Hence, it must have been a curse”

“I see”

Could it be related to its Evil Spirit? There was no sign of a curse being placed on it,
and curses should be prevented by our resistance to abnormal conditions, so Fran
should be fine.

Well, let’s get our focus back on the anomaly pertaining to the lake for now.

“I knew Sierra was looking into the Modoki, but… I wonder if he’s onto something?
Maybe I’ll ask him next time I see him”
“Let me know when you do”

“Hmm? Could it be that Fran is also investigating the anomaly?”

“Nn”

Apparently, Lovren had already gotten the information that Fran had become an
instructor at the Academy of Magic.

We explained why we were looking for Lovren and asked if he had any information
for us. Of course, we made sure to use Weena Rhyn’s name. It was the quickest way
to get the information out.

Then Lovren nodded his head in agreement.

“I see. So Weena Rhyn-sama has started to act too”

“Nn”

“Actually, I was just about to go to the merchant association and get some
documents?”

“Documents?”

“Aah, why don’t you come with me, if you don’t mind? I’d really appreciate it if you
could help me there”

It would be faster to get the information and we would like to hear more about the
story. It would be better for us to help him.

“Okay”

“Ooh, thanks. Then, let’s go”

When they saw Fran back at the merchant association again, they must have thought
she had come to complain about the lack of information. The same person in charge
as before had turned pale, but when he found out that was not the case, he became
very polite.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but you are really helpful. I didn’t expect they’d let me
get the documents so easily”

Some of the information about the cargo may violate the confidentiality of the
merchant association. Even though Lovren was a B-ranked adventurer, it was rare for
him to be shown such information so easily.

But this time, when he asked, he was immediately taken to the reference room. He
seemed to be really surprised by that.

“Usually, we have to ask what kind of documents we want, and they’d bring it to us
later”

In addition, it was forbidden to take them out of the country, and even making copies
of them was not looked upon favorably.

If someone were to look at the documents, they would be able to find out all about
the inner workings of the Merchant Association and the status of its purchases. That
was why they usually didn’t disclose all of their information to adventurers.

“I mentioned Weena Rhyn’s name when I came here earlier”

“Aah, that’s certainly quite frightening. If they go against her, they won’t be able to
survive in this country”

In the meantime, we arrived at the archive room. There were already several
documents on the desk.

They also served tea for us, along with some snacks beside it.

This was already more than satisfactory. It seemed that they were really afraid of
Weena Rhyn, as they were trying to make things as convenient as possible for Fran,
who seemed to be her subordinate.

“What are you looking for?”

“The cargo of the boat that was attacked”

To my surprise, Lovren said that he was going around the town to investigate the
cargo of the boat that was attacked by the Modoki.
In some cases, he even talked to the captain of the boat.

“I was trying to figure out if people were being attacked for their Magic Power or if a
specific cargo was being targeted. Fran, please check the documents over here”

“…Okay”

For a moment, Fran looked really uncomfortable.

But she couldn’t say no after coming all the way here.

[Fran, do your best]

“…Nn”

So, the two of them read the documents and made a list of the ship’s cargo. It was a
task that required a lot of patience, but Fran still managed to do it.

She almost dozed off a few times, but as soon as I called out to her, she got right back
up and got back to work. Well done, Fran!

It was an hour later when they finished checking all the documents.

After comparing it with the list of other merchant cargo that Lovren had already
gone through, he came to one conclusion.

“Did you find out anything?”

“Yeah. Every boat that was attacked always had a certain cargo on board”

“What is it?”

“The Scarlet Waterweed Potion, or the Scarlet Waterweed from which it is made”

Indeed, all the boats were loaded with Scarlet Waterweed Potion or Scarlet
Waterweed. The rest were foodstuffs, but it was unlikely that the modoki would
target bread and wheat.

“I’m not completely convinced that they’re targeting people’s Magic power…”
“They could target the Magic Beasts instead. It’s weird that they only attack people”

“I know, right?”

If they wanted to get magic power, there would be more appropriate prey. A magic
beast like the Lake Murderer would have more magic power than a human. And if it
was the Modoki, they wouldn’t have any problem preying on them.

“…Let’s go to the Atelier”

“Atelier?”

“The Atelier where the Scarlet Waterweed Potion is made”

“Where it is?”

“It’s in the Commercial Fleet”

Even though we were heading for the Commercial Fleet, we were not currently in the
harbor. We had to head to the Sheftent first and then take a fast boat to it.

(Master, Weena Rhyn is back)

[You’re right. Let’s show her our faces then]

(Nn)

From the Academy of Magic’s camp built next to the Sheftent, we could feel the
presence of Weena Rhyn there.

We decided to give her a brief update on our investigation. We also asked Lovren to
report to the Adventurer’s Guild while we returned to the camp.

In the tent, we saw Weena Rhyn sitting in a chair, concentrating on something.

Romio and Zelos Reed seemed to be in the next tent.

[What is she doing? Her magic seems to be flowing in strange ways]

“There’s a spirit…”

She was apparently communicating with a spirit. Fran was about to turn on her heel,
thinking it would be a bad idea to interrupt her, but then Weena Rhyn opened her
eyes and called out to her.

“Fran, it’s fine”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I didn’t do anything serious. I was just gathering information from the
surrounding spirits”
I’ve heard that communicating with spirits was a challenge even for a skilled Spirit
Magic User, but apparently, it was no big deal for Weena Rhyn.

“I got your message. You think Rhyn’s in Kiarazen?”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find her”

[We went there again. But we didn’t get to see Rhyn, we also heard a rumor that
there was a stall run by a mysterious girl]

After that, we reported to Weena Rhyn about our previous conversations with Rhyn
and the circumstances of our encounter.

Maybe it was because the time had passed, she didn’t get so emotional at the mere
mention of Rhyn’s name anymore. Thanks to this, we were able to talk calmly.

First of all, there was the time when we met her at a stall in Kiarazen. We told her
about how at first, we only thought she was a blind girl, and how she could still see
us.

“…She was running a food stall in town?”

“Nn. It was delicious. But why did Rhyn, a spirit, would do something like that?”

“I’d like to know that too”

“Even Weena Rhyn doesn’t know?”

“Yes, I don’t know…”

I could see the deep anguish on Weena Rhyn’s face as she muttered. She really didn’t
seem to understand the reason for Rhyn’s actions.

“I really don’t know what she’s thinking… I guess we’ll have to get in contact with her
after all. Well, that’s fine for now. Tell me the rest”

“Nn”

At Weena Rhyn’s urging, we talked about the next time we saw Rhyn again. We told
her about her sudden appearance and the advice Rhyn had given us.
“Does Rhyn really have the power to see the future?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. And spirits don’t lie unless they’re ordered to do so by their
contractors. Her case is a little more special, though… But I don’t think she’s lying”

[So, if my soul adapts to the sword, it’ll be a tragedy for Fran…?]

“That’s what it’s gonna be”

[Hey, what do you think I should do then?]

She was a person who had lived for thousands of years. So maybe she could give me
some advice.

To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much, but Weena Rhyn put her hand on her
chin and started thinking.

“Hmm… That’s a very difficult question. First, Master doesn’t want to go crazy. But in
order not to go crazy, he has to adapt to being a sword”

[Yeah]

“However, if he becomes a sword, he will lose his human emotions. Moreover, a

tragedy might befall on Fran”

[Yes]

“In other words, you have to adapt to the sword without going crazy, but you also
have to keep your human heart”

[You think that’s possible?]

Weena Rhyn pondered my question.

“…Oh right. I’ve met intelligence weapons several times in the past. But most of them
had gone crazy. However, their craziness was different from each other”

“Different?”

“One was in an irrational, manic-depressive state. It was in the type of state that
would come to mind when you think of the word “crazy”. But what they all had in
common was that they hated their sword bodies and were tired of living as swords. I
guess it was that the ego of the human being could not accept its sword body”

Just like the Fanatics. He was the type who didn’t know what he was going to do next.

“Then, there was the type that didn’t feel like it had true sentience. Just like if you
took away all emotions from a human being and gave them the ability to just answer
questions”

Just like a machine, huh?

“Of course, an artificially created being is not uncommon. Golems with a

conversational function are one example. However, if a being that was originally
human is sealed in something, or if a being that has had its soul transferred without
a way to help them to adapt then they would surely go crazy”

Announcer-san was originally created to support the sword, so she couldn’t be called
crazy. That was because it was only natural for her to not go crazy.

But if I become like Announcer-san, I would surely go crazy.

[The former is when they’re too conscious of being human. They couldn’t adapt to
the sword and went crazy. And the latter was when their adaptation to the sword
advances too far]

“Yeah”

I was on the verge of becoming the latter. And I didn’t even notice it myself. It was
scary.

“Thus, the existence of the only intelligence weapon that I have met that was not
crazy becomes important. Now that I think about it, a sword and a person. I suppose
both sides were balancing each other mentally”

“How did that sword manage to not get crazy?”

“…This was something I couldn’t say for sure. Still, there was one thing that made it
different from the other swords, it was its bond with its wielder”
Weena Rhyn said that the swords that went crazy had passed through the hands of
many different wielders and were regarded as powerful and rare.

However, the exceptional sword had been used by the same wielder ever since it was
created, and had apparently formed a bond with that wielder as if they were
partners.

“It was both a sword and a person. It was proud of itself and had accepted itself as a
sword. I think that’s what sustained its soul”

[I see…]

A bond with the wielder. But what exactly should I do? Should I communicate more
with Fran?

However, Fran smiled at me with a look of relief on her face.

“Then, Master will be fine”

[Eh?]

“Because we’re the greatest combination”

[Fran…]

“That’s why, Master will be fine”

Fran wasn’t talking in a comforting or wishful way, she seemed to really mean it. She
was smiling, as if this problem was no longer dire.

When I saw her like that, I felt the frustration that had almost taken me over
unknowingly disappear. If I’m with Fran, I’ll be fine. I should think that without any
worries.

“If you’re afraid that you might go crazy, it might trigger an imbalance in your mind. I
also think it’s better to be as optimistic as Fran, right? There’s no perfect way to deal
with this, and I think it’s important to stay aware of it”

[…I see]
“Nn”

“As soon as you understand your problems and start struggling to do something
about them, the future might change. Then the fate that Rhyn had mentioned may
have already been averted”

Rhyn had said, [There’s a high possibility that it will come true if we did nothing
about it]. Indeed, the future could have been different once we understood the
problem.

[But I don’t know if that’s enough to avoid the tragedy. We don’t even know when it
will be coming in the first place]

Aside from the possibility that I might or might not be going crazy, what was the
tragedy she mentioned? From Rhyn’s words, it seemed to be coming soon. However,
the sense of time of beings who have lived for a long time was often different from
ours.

I couldn’t deny the possibility that 10 or 20 years to us may feel like a day or two to
Rhyn.

[Hey, where’s that intelligence weapon that didn’t go crazy, right now?]

I wasn’t sure if we would be able to make it in time for the tragedy Rhyn had told us
about, but if we meet it, it might be able to give me some insight.

“Let’s see. I’ll let you know if you can figure out what’s the cause of the lake’s
anomaly. What do you think?”

I didn’t think it was petty, and neither did Fran. The information was really valuable
for us. But it was information that had nothing to do with the current incident. So
Weena Rhyn had no obligation to give it to us without any compensation.

“We’ll definitely find out the cause of the anomaly!”

[Ou!]

Fran had been serious on our investigation so far. But she wasn’t in a hurry before.
She was just doing what she could because her current employer, Weena Rhyn, had
asked her to.
But now it became a case that was actually involving us. Fran’s motivation was
clearly visible.

“I’m counting on you”

“Nn!”

Author-san note (or was it his editor, dunno XD):

The ability handed down in the Magnolia family has been revised from “Evil God’s
Charms” to an ability called “Evil God’s Sacrament”, and a light explanation of it has
been added.

To summarize, the Sacrament of the Evil God is an ability that absorbs Evil Spirits
from evil people or pieces of Evil Gods and converts them into power.

The power of the three Gordician families, including the Magnolia family, was
actually given to them by their ancestors from the Evil God.
We were still in the camp, not at the meeting point with Lovren, after being asked by
Weena Rhyn to investigate the cause of the anomaly again.

It was also because we wanted to greet Charon and the others.

At Weena Rhyn’s request, Fran has been relieved from her duty as an instructor for
Charon and her group. But because we were so overwhelmed by Weena Rhyn before,
we went out to investigate without even saying something to them.

Fran was concerned that she hadn’t said anything to Charon and Khanna. They didn’t
seem to be the kind of girls who would blame her for that, but she wanted to at least
greet them.

We went straight to the tents for the students. There, we found Charon’s group and
Charles, the adventurer. In addition, there was also an instructor we knew with
them. It seemed that he had taken Fran’s role as Charon group’s escort.

Apparently, they were on their way to take on a request. However, when they saw
Fran, they greeted her with a smile.

“Fran! You have returned?”

“Nn. I didn’t get a chance to say something to Charon and the other before because of
the job Weena Rhyn had asked me to do”

“So you came all this way to greet us? Thank you very much. But I heard that you
were investigating the anomaly in the lake, so we won’t blame you”

It seems that they understand the weight of Weena Rhyn’s direct request. In
addition, Charon and the others, who were born in this country, seemed to be
interested in the anomaly of the lake, and they asked her a lot of questions about it.

Fran told Charon and the others that it was very likely that the Modoki were aiming
for the Scarlet Waterweed Medicine, and advised them to check for Scarlet
Waterweed around them when approaching the lake’s shore.

Oh, we had Weena Rhyn’s permission to tell them about it, so it should be okay.

But we told Charon and the others not to spread the word, citing the fact that we
were still investigating. She told them that it was also Weena Rhyn’s order, so they
wouldn’t dare to spread the word.

We were almost certain that it was true, but it was still unconfirmed. Weena Rhyn
also feared that if this information spread, it might cause widespread panic among
the people, and Kangaroo Courts could be rampant.

(Note: Kangaroo Court: an unofficial court held by a group of people to try someone
regarded, especially without good evidence, as guilty of a crime or misdemeanor)

There was no doubt that some sort of witch hunt would even take place if that ever
happens.

With that in mind, it would be bad for rumors to spread at this stage.

First of all, we needed to confirm whether or not the Modoki were really after the
Scarlet Waterweed medicine. Well, Weena Rhyn will be the one to look into that
though, so we were going to head to the Commercial Fleet with Lovren as planned.

Charon and the others looked worried. If the cure for the endemic disease was being
targeted by the magic beasts, then the people of this country would surely be
concerned about it.

In the midst of all this, Khanna was reacting in a somewhat unusual way. She seemed
to be more surprised than anxious.

“Khanna?”

“Ah, no…”

Fran became curious and called out to Khanna.

“What’s wrong?”
“…Fran-san, may I have a moment?”

Then Khanna looked at Fran with a somewhat serious look. She took Fran’s hand and
moved away from everyone.

“…Actually, I have some information that might be useful for you”

“About the lake anomaly?”

“I’m not sure if it will lead to that yet… but you can look into it yourself. I would like
to share this information only with Fran-san if possible, as I was able to get this
information through my parent’s contacts”

When Khanna said so, Charon seemed to understand and distanced herself. The
other group members also followed Charon’s lead.

If it was a message from a nobleman or a trading company, it might contain a lot of

important information. Being a noble herself, Charon probably understood that it
was better if they didn’t listen to it.

“So?”

“This information is about the Scarlet Waterweed medicine”

Khanna’s said that she had been investigating the Scarlet Waterweed and the
medicines that use them since she arrived in this country. She had been gathering
information on everything from prices and raw materials to efficiency while
traveling.

“Why?”

“I was thinking that I could use it as a commercial product”

In this country, Scarlet Waterweed was only recognized as a raw material for special
medicine for endemic diseases. However, it was still a material to make magic
potions. Depending on the research, it could be used in various ways.

Apparently, Khanna thought it would be a shame if she couldn’t purchase the Scarlet
Waterweeds and sell them outside the country. As expected of the daughter of a
trading company owner.
However, it seemed to be quite difficult. Even though it was not life-threatening, a
disease was a disease. Scarlet Waterweed was the raw material for the cure, and it
was still impossible to cultivate, so it was practically impossible to sell outside the
country.

It was not that they were prohibited. However, many citizens tended to be reluctant
to ship large quantities of it out of the country. Merchants were not an exception.
After all, they were reluctant to export Scarlet Waterweed in case they ran out of the
special medicine in case of emergency.

And if there was a shortage because of her doing, it would make it harder for her to
live in this country.

“Still, I was looking for some way to do something about it, and I did a lot of
research… But at some point, I got a hunch that something wasn’t right”

“What do you mean?”

“Even though it is impossible to export in large quantities, it is not so difficult to buy

in small quantities. So, I decided to start by buying them from various places and
send them to my home”

She also said that the reason why she bought it from various places was to study the
differences in the growing areas. Otherwise, she would not have been able to collect
the necessary amount for her research.

However, Khanna suddenly noticed the difference in prices. Normally, in the area
near the lake where most of the plants could be collected the price should be
cheaper, and the further away from the lake, the more expensive it should be.
However, the Scarlet Waterweed was actually the most expensive around the lake
and was sold at the same price around the Academy of Magic.

And the reason for the skyrocketing price was said to be the increase in the number
of patients in the eastern region…

“But actually, there has been no increase in the number of patients”

“…Really?”

“Yes. By using my family’s contacts, I checked the number of endemic cases in each
city in the Kingdom of Belios. And they said that they’re all the same as usual”

But they were actually experiencing a shortage of Scarlet Waterweed medicine,

right?

“So where do you think the Scarlet Waterweed medicines that were supposed to be
sold domestically disappear to?”

“You know that too?”

“The distribution of the Scarlet Waterweed potion is quite strange and is almost
monopolized by a certain trading company that has signed a contract with the
workshop that succeeded in developing it. And that trading company is actually
connected to the Kingdom of Raidos from behind the scenes”

“!!”

Seriously? So, the reason behind this anomaly is actually because the Raidos
Kingdom is doing something behind the scenes?

“We don’t know what’s going on yet. However, around the same time as the lake’s
anomaly, a new special medicine has been developed, and the shadow of the
Kingdom of Raidos is flickering in its wake… Furthermore, there are signs that the
information is being manipulated by someone. And if one doesn’t check very
carefully, one may not realize that the increase in endemic cases may be false
information”

Was the merchant association involved in this incident? Or was there some kind of
conspiracy behind it? It was suddenly starting to smell fishy.
Having unexpectedly learned some valuable information from Khanna, we returned
to Sheftent and met up with Lovren.

There, we also gave him the information we had received from Khanna.

“The Merchant Association has ties to the Kingdom of Raidos? It’s kinda hard to
believe…”

Lovren was also quite surprised. He said that the Mesther Merchant Association,
which was selling the Scarlet Waterweed medicine, was a very old merchant
association with a high reputation in this country.

“We’ll need to double-check that first”

“Nn. But, Lovren didn’t notice it? That the disease wasn’t really an epidemic”

Indeed. That was what we were most curious about. Anyone who did a little research
would know that the epidemic was false information, but was anyone else in the
country aware of it?

“Well, yeah. In the first place, we don’t have anyone who’d investigated such things”

“Why?”

“Because there’s no one in trouble”

Although it was said that there was a shortage of Scarlet Waterweed medicine, it
didn’t mean that there was no distribution at all. There was always a certain amount
of it available in the country. But still, it was thought that there was not enough for
everyone…

“Actually, even if the disease was not endemic, I’m sure it would have been properly
distributed to all patients. So, no one would be making a fuss about the shortage”
“Nn”

“And its price was still the same as in the previous years”

Furthermore, the distribution was being handled by the Mesther Merchant

Association, a relatively big merchant association. If the source of the rumor was the
Mesther Merchant Association, no one could point out anything strange about the
distribution.

After all, although it was being said that there is a “shortage of scarlet water pills,”
not many people had been affected by this. The only people who had suffered were
the adventurers near the lake, who had to collect more Scarlet Waterweed than
usual.

“But why would they spread such rumors?”

“Well. I could understand if they wanted to raise the price of Scarlet Waterweed
medicine by spreading false rumors that the disease that was not actually an
epidemic had become an epidemic… But if that was not their aim, maybe they were
actually aiming at the Scarlet Waterweed medicine itself”

“What do you mean?”

“They could disguise it as a domestic sale and ship it elsewhere. Like the Kingdom of
Raidos for example. But I don’t know what their purpose is though”

In other words, there was a high possibility that their objective was to obtain the
medicine.

“How should we investigate it then?”

“Well, I guess our best bet would be to ask around to the people in the merchant
association”

Well, he was right. I would also like to hear from their top brass if possible.

“Where is the merchant association?”

“Its headquarters is in the Commercial Fleet”

It seemed that both the atelier and the headquarters of the merchant association
were located in the Commercial Fleet.

“The problem is that we can’t just barge in without an appointment and expect them
to listen to us”

“Don’t worry”

“You got a secret plan?”

“Just give them Weena Rhyn’s name”

Both Fran and I already witnessed the tremendous influence Weena Rhyn had in this
country.

I didn’t think there was anyone who would dare to defy us with Weena Rhyn’s name.
We were already at Komon-sama level, weren’t we?

(Note Trivia (skip this if you’re not interested in these details as it is quite long XD):
Mito Komon (Tokugawa Mitsukuni), was a Japanese Daimyo (feudal lord) that lived
in the 17th century. During the latter half of the Edo period and the Meiji period, a
kodan (narrative tale) named “Mito Mitsukuni Man’yuki” fictionalized the travels of
Tokugawa Mitsukuni. This tradition of dramatizing his life continued with a novel
and, in 1951, the first television series to portray him as a wanderer, masquerading
as a commoner, who castigated evil in every corner of the nation. The most
memorable phrase of the series is “この紋所が目に入らぬか!!” (Kono mon dokoro
ga me ni hairanuka!!) “Don’t you know whose family seal is this!?” while his escort
shows up with the Tokugawa family’s emblem. Well, you should get the idea about
the references already)

(Another Trivia: In the light novel Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku,
the main protagonist quotes Mito Komon frequently)

Moreover, she gave us a valuable but frightening assurance that she would cover
things up for us.

I have no intention of abusing it, but it was times like this that we needed to use that
power.

“Hahaha. Now that you mentioned it, you’re on a mission for Weena Rhyn-sama,
aren’t you? Let’s go with that strategy then”

“Nn”

We had planned to head to the Commercial Fleet by boat at first but decided to ride
on Urushi instead. It was much faster that way.

If we didn’t get lost, that was.

This lake was the size of a small country. If we ever lost our direction, we could get
lost. In fact, it was said that several ships a year fail to return because of it.

This time, however, the Commercial Fleet was relatively close to shore, and we had a
guide to lead the way. Well, there was no need to worry about getting lost, since
Lovren was familiar with the route.

“I see it”

“Haha! So fast! Amazing!”

“Woof woof!”

About three hours after we left Sheftent, we had managed to find the Commercial
Fleet.

Lovren seemed to be in high spirits. He seemed to like the experience of riding the
flying Urushi more than he thought he would.

His praises also put Urushi in a good mood.

“The ship is a little behind that one in the center. Can you go down there first?”

“Okay, Urushi”

“Woof!”

It was hard to tell from above, but it seems to be the ship of the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Adventurers on deck were surprised to see Urushi descending from the sky.

Some of them even raised their weapons, but the commotion quickly died down
when they saw Lovren on his back.

It was a good thing we had come down here. If it had been any other ship, we might
have caused a commotion.

“Well, let’s head to the Mesther Merchant Association first”

From here, the Commercial Fleet was apparently much more organized than I had
thought. The Commercial Fleet seemed to look like a mess of ships, but in fact, the
specific placement of each ship was carefully regulated.

Therefore, it seemed that those who were familiar with it already knew where some
things were.

“Which ship?”

“That one. The ship with the red flag”

It looked surprisingly close, but we had to take quite a detour to get there. Well, we
had to move from ship to ship. Sometimes we crossed a simple suspension bridge
that connected the ships and even had to move from ship to ship in a small boat.

“Can’t we just ride on Urushi?”

“We can’t. It would only cause a fuss here”

Well, it couldn’t be helped. The Commercial Fleet was just like a town after all. Flying
over it on Urushi was just like running around the town on Urushi.
The ship of the Mesther Merchant Association, which Lovren had led us to, was small
but had a rather grand appearance. The railings were carved, and there were even
plants on the deck. This place might have even been regarded as the lobby of an
ordinary merchant association already.

The entire ship itself seemed to belong to Mesther Merchant Association

At first, I thought it was a rather ordinary thing, but apparently, it was difficult for a
small business association to even own a single ship here, so they’d rent a corner of a
large ship to use as their office. In other words, they were using the so-called tenant
system.

With that in mind, I could tell how wealthy the Mesther Merchant Company was, as
they could own an entire ship in this Commercial Fleet.

I wondered if they would listen to us when we suddenly visited such a merchant

association… But to my surprise, we were able to meet with their top brass without
much difficulty.

“I heard that you, one of the top Adventurers in this lake, came to visit us
unexpectedly”

It seemed that it was thanks to Lovren that we didn’t have to wait long. But come to
think of it, there was no way that a merchant association of this size did not know
Lovren, a famous Adventurer around this lake.

“Could you introduce me to the young miss beside you?”

“She is Fran. Even though she looks like this, she’s still an Adventurer, you know?
She’s been a great help to me”

“Nn. I’m Fran”

“I see. My name is Gregory from the Mesther Merchant Association. I am pleased to
be able to make your acquaintance”

He hadn’t realized that Fran was the Black Lightning Princess? Although he was
polite, I felt like he was treating her as a companion of Lovren up till now.

“So, what can I do for you today? If there’s anything you need, I’ll do my best to get it
for you”

“Thanks, I appreciate your kindness, but I’m not here to make a deal today”

“Hou?”

The conversation started with a smile. But soon enough, the other side’s face turned
grim.

“Actually, I’m working on a request from the Adventurer’s Guild. I was hoping you
could help me with my investigation”

“Investigation?”

“We’re investigating the anomaly in the lake”

The moment Lovren said that Gregory stiffened for a moment. It was only for a
moment. His expression did not change, neither did his voice.

But for us, who had strong suspicions from the start, even that was enough of a hint.
Both Lovren and Fran looked convinced that Gregory knew something.

“Hohou? Then what brings you to our merchant association? I don’t think there’s
anything I can do to help you with your investigation about the lake, right?”

“Then, would you mind showing me the bookkeeping records and the warehouse of
Mesther Merchant Association?”

“What did you say!?”

We know that they may have prepared a forged version of their bookkeeping. But
our purpose was to see how the other party would react.
And if they really did bring out fake bookkeeping records, we might be able to use it
as evidence to prove their crimes. No matter how well they did their bookkeeping, it
could never be perfect.

“Can you please let me check all the bookkeeping records containing the sales
records of the Scarlet Waterweed potion at Mesther Merchant Association, as well as
the storage warehouse where the Scarlet Waterweed potion is stored?”

Having been convinced that the Mesther merchant association was hiding
something, Lovren became quite bold.

“Hahaha. What are you talking about… you know that’s impossible, right? It’s our
merchant association’s trade secret after all”

“That’s why I’m asking you to do something about it”

“Do you have any suspicions about our merchant association? Do you think we have
something to do with this incident?”

“Well, yes”

“That’s ridiculous. Our merchant association has nothing to do with it”

Gregory stood up with a stern expression on his face. It was probably his way of
saying that he had nothing more to say.

“Please leave now. It’s truly a shame, Lovren-dono. I thought you were a respectable
man for an Adventurer. We’ll never do business with you again”

Gregory turned away and walked toward the doors.

But we couldn’t let him get away. After all, this guy had lied about a lot of things. Not
only did he say that there was nothing he could do to help in the investigation of the
lake, but he also lied about his claim that they had nothing to do with the lake’s
anomaly.

He was really suspicious.

[Fran, this guy definitely knows a lot]

“Nn. Wait. I still have something to talk”

“But I don’t”

“Maybe you don’t, but I have”

Fran’s words made Gregory look even more pissed. But before he could raise his
voice in anger, Lovren opened his mouth.

“And also, unlike me, she’s working on a commission from a different place. We’re
just working together on the investigation”

“From different place?”

“Fran-san has been entrusted with full authority by Weena Rhyn to investigate the
recent anomaly”

“Weena Rhyn, you said!? A kid like her is working for her…?”

“Fufu. She is indeed a kid, but her strength is well known. She’s a B-ranked
adventurer that even has her own alias, and she also happens to be a special
instructor at the Academy of Magic”

“What…!? An alias!? Could it be, she’s the Black Lightning Princess…!?”

“Nn. I’m Fran, a B-ranked adventurer. Nice to meet you”

“I can vouch for her identity”

When Lovren said so, Gregory stopped in his tracks.

He seems to be struggling with something.

But it was no surprise. I suspected that Gregory just wanted to pretend to be angry
and make Lovren and Fran leave.

However, it was a different story when Weena Rhyn’s name was mentioned. To put it
bluntly, she was a much more influential figure in this country than the Royal Family.
There was no way that a mere merchant association would refuse an order from
someone who claimed to be Weena Rhyn’s representative.
If he still refused to allow us to check their bookkeeping records and warehouse, it’s
like he was saying that he had something to hide.

Lovren already had some clues and was suspicious of the Mesther Merchant
Association. So, if he still refused Fran’s request to conduct an investigation even
after she mentioned Weena Rhyn’s name here, his suspicions would be confirmed.

Well, Fran and Lovren were already convinced of it, but it seems Gregory thought
that he could still handle this.

With Lovren’s confirmation, there was no doubt that Fran was Weena Rhyn’s
representative. I suppose he could argue that it was just hard to believe, but…

Gregory froze for about ten seconds, but eventually, he nodded bitterly.

“Very well then. But since it will take some time to prepare for the bookkeeping
records, let me show you our warehouse first”

Gregory called a person and told him to lead us to the warehouse. Then he said that
he would prepare the bookkeeping records while we checked the warehouse and
then left.

I attached a piece of string that I had created using my transformation skill to

Gregory. If it was someone like Gregory, he wouldn’t even notice it. Well, if he turned
around for no reason, he might see it though.

However, I managed to remain undetected. Gregory ordered his men with a yell, and
they were clearly visible through the thread. No matter how thin it was, it was still a
part of me.

“Oi! We’ll have to advance our plans! Hurry up and prepare to withdraw to the
homeland!”

“Is something went wrong?”

“The Adventurers have noticed us!”

“Th-that is… How could a mere Adventurer notice our plan…!?”

“Idiots! Do you really believe all that propaganda about them being incompetents
and incapable of doing anything was real? I’ve told you to think of them as being on
par with the Red Knights, right!?”

“I-I’m sorry”

“Enough. Anyway, I’ll leave the preparations for the withdrawal to you. And also, tell
the President”

“V-very well. But what about the Adventurers?”

“I’ve ordered someone to take them to our third warehouse. The rest can be left to
that creepy corpse. I’m sure it’ll be happy to kill them”

“A-are you sure?”

“According to that man, those black corpses are stronger than the Red Knights. So,
I’m sure it’ll be fine”

As I’d expected, there was no way he would just let us check their warehouses so
easily, and it seemed like something was waiting for us there. But, corpse, he said? In
other words, it was an undead? He even said that they would withdraw to their
homeland, didn’t he? It seemed that these people were from another
country――from the Kingdom of Raidos, I guess.

(Master, how is it?)

[It seems that an enemy is waiting for you at the warehouse. Stay alert]

(Nn. Okay)
We readied ourselves while being led by the people of the merchant association.

Lovren’s face scrunched up dramatically. He must have understood that a frightening

enemy was waiting for us at our destination.

Lovren also began to secretly prepare the magic power within his body.

The man guiding us didn’t seem to realize what we were doing, due to his complete
lack of combat skills. But still, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t feel anything.

From time to time, he would look back at us and turn his head around, but he didn’t
seem to know what we were doing.

After a few minutes of walking, we were led to a gloomy area close to the bottom of
the ship. Our guide stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary door in one corner.

“T-this is the warehouse”

“Okay”

I couldn’t sense any magic or presence from behind the door. There must have been
some kind of barrier on the walls.

Well, we would just have to check it out ourselves.

I once again turned into steel thread and entered the room through the doorway. To
Lovren and the others, it would appear that Fran had the skills of a thread user.

“Eh?”

“I need to do a quick check before we enter. You’re going to show us the inside later
anyway, so why not?”
“Th-that is…”

The guide looked troubled. Lovren then moved quietly behind us, it seemed that he
intended to stop him if he tried to interfere with us.

Once inside, there was indeed a hint of the undead. But it was really faint. Did that
mean it wasn’t a strong undead?

I searched lightly to see where it was and found the magical power of the Undead
was emanating from a coffin placed in the center of the room.

The coffin itself seemed to be a magic tool. It seemed to be able to suppress the
undead’s presence and reduce the consumption of magic power while it was
sleeping.

But weren’t they going too far just for it? They even had a coffin-shaped magic tool
for an undead… Well, I guess its purpose was to hide it, but it was too obvious.

[Well, whatever. I’ll just launch a preemptive strike for now]

I manipulated my steel thread body with skills to stretch it around the coffin. Then, I
activated my Magic Steal Skill multiple times.

Since the undead lived by magic, they weakened when their magic was absorbed and
then disappeared when their magic ran out.

I could feel the magic power in the vicinity begin to decrease rapidly. It would not
only affect the coffin, but also the undead.

Well, what should I do next? It was an undead, so I wouldn’t know until I checked it.

It was probably aware of the changes that were about to happen to it, but if it moved
now, Fran and the others would find out about it.

The undead, who still thought it could take us by surprise, seemed hesitant to make
a move here.

In the first place, he wouldn’t even know if it was an attack by Fran and the others or
not.
After about a dozen seconds, there was finally movement in the coffin. With a bang,
the lid sprang up from the inside, followed by a corpse raising itself.

[A Wight King, huh!?]

It was the Wight King, a magical beast with the threat level of B. No doubt. It was the
same as the one we fought in the Plains of the Demon Wolf. It was just as
intimidating and had just as much magic power as that Wight King.

They looked very similar. The robes it wore were probably almost the same.

Wait, wasn’t that strange? Even if they were the same kind of magic beast, it was
unlikely that they could have the same equipment. Could it be that this Wight King
belonged to the same group as those guys? In other words, they might have been
working for the Raidos Kingdom.

“W-what the hell is this…! Thread…?”

It still hadn’t grasped the situation. However, it soon realized that the threads all
around him were sucking up his magic power.

Magic power began to gather in the palm of its hand. It was going to blow me up at
once.

But I wouldn’t let him.

[Ora-!]

“Nuooh! T-This is, Purification…!?”

I wrapped my thread body around the Wight King’s body and activated the
Purification spell. My skill level was still low, so it was not powerful enough to defeat
an opponent of the Wight King’s level, but I should be able to weaken it significantly.

The Wight King’s cries can be heard from outside the door. What was more, it
sounded as if it was in some kind of pain.

The guide seems to be confused.

[I’ll leave the rest to you! Fran!]

“Nn!”

“Why, why did I――Guoooh!”

It was going to take us by surprise, but it was the one who got caught by surprise
instead and was not able to respond to us in time.

It seemed that it had tried to respond to Fran’s attack by kicking down the door and
putting up a barrier. However, the activation was blocked by my Magic Steal and
Purification Magic.

“Ghaa――!”

Being tied up with threads, it couldn’t even twist its body and was left defenseless to
Fran’s attacks. Before Wight King could even use its signature necromancy, it was cut
in half by Fran.

[All right, good job Fran]

“Nn…”

Even though she had killed the Wight King in the blink of an eye without causing any
damage to those around her, Fran’s face did not look happy.

[What’s wrong?]

(We didn’t get it magic stones)

[Aah, now that I think of it, you’re right]

This Wight King, just like the Wight King we defeated in the Plains of the Demon
Wolf, didn’t have any magic stones in its body. Could it be that the Wight Kings were
a race that didn’t even have a magic stone?

Well, we need to explain things first to Lovren, who looked stunned.

“Fran-san…?”

“Nn?”

Lovren was stunned by the sudden battle that took place in front of him. No, it was
not a battle, but rather a one-sided fight.

[Fran, we need to explain it to him]

“There was an undead inside, so I defeated it”

“Undead?”

“Nn. And there’s no Scarlet Waterweed medicine inside”

Hearing Fran’s words, Lovren peeked inside the warehouse. In addition to the
remnants of the undead and coffin that had been cut in half, he confirmed that there
was indeed no medicine in the warehouse.

He then threw a glance at the guide.

“What’s the meaning of this!?”

“Did you know that there’s an undead inside?”

Lovren and Fran asked the question at the same time, and the guide trembled.

“N-no! I had no idea there’s something like that inside!”

[He’s lying]

“Did you also know that there is no Scarlet Waterweed medicine in there?”
“I didn’t know!”

[He’s lying again]

I guess that meant that this guide knew what was happening to some extent.

“Lovren, this guy knows something”

“Hou?”

The guide shivered at Fran’s words. I guess it was because he knew that his lie had
been exposed. Then he blurted out the information he knew once we hurt him a
little.

He was from this country, but it seemed that his deceased father was from the Raidos
Kingdom. That country has been sending spies into hiding for a long time. This man’s
father must have been one of them.

However, since he was not a native of the Raidos Kingdom, his loyalty was low. He
was answering all of our questions without lying.

“What does the Raidos Kingdom plan to do in the lake?”

“I-I don’t know! I swear! It’s just that the alchemist under the Eastern Duke is giving
orders to the merchant association!”

“Eastern Duke?”

“Y-you don’t know him?”

“You know him, Lovren?”

“Just the name. We don’t have much information on Raidos, so I only know that he is
one of the four Dukes in the Raidos Kingdom”

There were no diplomatic relations between the country, and no adventurers came
from and went there. Therefore, even Lovren was not familiar with the Raidos
Kingdom’s domestic affairs.

According to the guide’s explanation, the current situation in the Raidos Kingdom
was quite chaotic. First of all, it seemed that the King had died in an accident and no
one had taken over the throne.

And among the children of the deceased King, no one had been chosen to be the next
King.

Several factions were trying to push their own candidates to take the throne, but
they seemed to be in a deadlock. The King’s oldest child was still 13 years old, and
the fact that there was no better candidate who could take the crown seemed to
further prolong the problem.

The main players behind the chaos in the Raidos Kingdom were the Four Great
Dukes, who held positions and territories second only to the King.

In the past, Raidos Kingdom was just one of the many small nations that were
scattered in the northern part of this continent. However, one day, a Supreme King
with an overwhelmingly superior military talent took over the throne, and under his
kingship, they conquered the surrounding nations and built the country that we
know today.

At that time, four generals, who served as vassals of the Supreme King, played an
active role in the war. The four armies, led by the Eastern, Western, Southern, and
Northern generals, launched their invasions of the surrounding nations at breakneck
speed, and the Raidos Kingdom expanded rapidly.

At the end of the war, each general was appointed as a Duke by bonding their family
with the Royal Family through marriage.

However, it seems that the Dukes still had some sort of hierarchy within them. The
most powerful was said to be the Northern Duke, followed by the Western Duke. The
Eastern and Southern Dukes were said to be almost equal in rank.

The reason for that was due to their war records. The Northern General had skillfully
manipulated a small number of troops to achieve his goal of completely conquering
the northern part of the Zilberd Continent. As a result, the Northern Duke was highly
regarded by the people and nobility.

The Western General is said to have almost conquered the western part of the
continent in his hand but failed in the face of the Kingdom of Philias, who possessed
a Divine Sword, the Diabolos. However, they were regarded as the most economically
prosperous by their slave-trading practice, and the Western Duke was also said to be
as strong as the Northern Duke.

On the other hand, the Eastern and Southern Dukes were said to have weakened in
power. Although they were not going to fall, they were probably less than half as
powerful as the Northern and Western Dukes.

That, too, was influenced by past battles. Weena Rhyn to the East and the Kranzel
Kingdom to the south stood in the way and stopped the advance of both generals.
Because of this, the two families had slightly smaller territories and less influence
than the North and West.

Apparently, the two families were not happy with the current situation and
continued to fight even after they were appointed as Dukes, and fell into a vicious
cycle of continuous defeats that skyrocketed their war expenses that put pressure on
their economy.

These days, they had stopped waging war head-on, but instead seemed to be
working on various schemes under the surface.

It seemed that the Eastern Duke was the main culprit this time as well.

“But a lackey like me won’t even know the details! I just heard Gregory-san mutter
something like that!”

All the guide knew was that the Mesther Merchant Association was a front for the
Raidos Kingdom, and its head was the Eastern Duke. Also, the alchemist who was
sent by the Duke was currently giving them orders.

“Who is this alchemist?”

“I-I don’t know… But I heard that he was frequenting the Scarlet Waterweed
medicine-making atelier…”

After we got some information out of him, we punched the guide and knocked him
out, and then tied his limbs and rolled him over.

“What would you do now?”

“What about you?”

“Capture the top brass. Urushi is keeping an eye on them, so it won’t take long”

“Can I leave it to you then? I’ll return to report to the guild and then head straight for
the atelier”

“Okay”

Certainly, there would be less chance for them to escape if we split up. Lovren picked
up the guide and headed straight for the Adventurer’s Guild.

If the Raidos Kingdom was behind this, it meant that it was not a simple matter
anymore.

[Let’s capture Gregory]

“Nn!”
Relying on Urushi’s presence that we could feel from a distance, we made our way
through the ship.

If we met any people from the merchants’ association along the way, we would try to
put them to sleep as gently as possible. This was because we didn’t know if they
were all from the Raidos Kingdom or just hired locals.

But if they turned out to be the enemy, we would just simply break their legs.

[Fran, he’s around the corner]

“Nn”

Fran arrived at the corner of the ship’s upper floors. They probably used the upper
floors as offices and the lower floors as warehouses.

[Urushi]

(Woof)

When I called him, Urushi showed up from the shadow of a decorative plant.

[Is Gregory in this room?]

(Woof woof!)

[Fran, let’s capture everyone in the room]

(Nn!)

[Urushi, keep an eye out for anyone who might try to escape from the ship. Don’t
hesitate to use violence to prevent them from escaping]
(Woof!)

Then, after we saw Urushi off, we stepped into the room in front of us.

The people inside finally noticed us when they heard the sound of the door being
slashed open by Fran.

Gregory, who had been rummaging through his desk, turned his gaze towards us.

Then, a look of astonishment came over his face.

“H-how…!?”

“How come you’re still here, did the undead not kill her!?”

“!!”

With those words, they must have realized that their attempt had been exposed.

“Jag! Vade! Kill her!”

Besides Gregory, there were other men in the room who looked like Adventurers.

They didn’t seem to be strong, as they couldn’t even detect Fran’s presence outside
the room before. Well, their abilities as warriors were just average, but their skills
outside of combat, such as detection, seemed to be mediocre.

“…Haa!”

“Nuuooh!”

However, it seemed that they were well trained. Without uttering a single
unnecessary word, they attacked Fran.

I guess they had been trained to follow orders regardless of the opponent’s
background or age. Their level of coordination was not bad either.

If their opponent had been an E-ranked adventurer, it might have worked. But
something like that wouldn’t even work against Fran.
Fran’s fist, which she swung like a flicker jab, struck them both in the jaw in rapid
succession, reaping their consciousness in an instant.

Even though it was just a simple jab, they still received a hit from someone like Fran.
Their jawbone would be shattered at the very least.

“Wha…! S-she took out two knights in instant!?”

“I’ve defeated your undead, so there’s no way I’m gonna had a hard time against
these people”

Gregory was astonished for some reason, but Fran told him so while tilting her head.

Then Gregory’s eyes, which had been wide open, widened even more. I didn’t know
human eyes could get that big.

“You’ve defeated it… you said!?”

“Nn”

“Liar!!”

“I’m not lying”

“That’s a monster that can even destroy a small country, you know…!? It was a non-
fighter, but no ordinary adventurer should be able to hurt it! That’s why―…!”

“But I’ve defeated it”

“That’s ridiculous!”

Apparently, he thought that we had noticed the undead and went away without a
fight. Well, knowing the strength of the Wight King, he probably could not help but
think that.

Even at the sight of two men instantly defeated in front of his eyes, he didn’t seem to
believe that Fran was stronger than the Wight King.

But he seemed to understand that she wasn’t an opponent he could beat anyway.
There was a hint of anger and impatience in Gregory’s eyes.
“Little girl… If you didn’t get out of here now, we’ll――”

He was probably thinking of scaring Fran to get out of this situation. However, as if to
interrupt Gregory’s words, Fran opened her mouth.

“We know that you are connected to the Raidos Kingdom”

“Ha, hahaha… What are you talking about? Where did you get that false
information…?”

At this stage, he still tried to make an excuse, but it was of no use. There was no point
in arguing with him here.

“Shii”

“Ghaa!”

Fran stepped in easily, keeping low, and drove a body blow into Gregory’s stomach.
Fran’s fist went in deep enough to completely bury itself in Gregory’s plump flesh.

“Ughaah!”

Gregory cowered in place, spitting out various things from his mouth.

He was plunging face-first into his vomit, but the pain in his abdomen must have
been so unbearable that he didn’t even notice it.

Even when he didn’t have anything left to spit out, he was still holding his stomach
and groaning on the floor.

Even so, Gregory looked up at us with a miserable expression on his face, as if he was
feeling somewhat better after a dozen seconds. He seemed to have completely
understood his position.

“I’m gonna have you talk about a lot of things”

“…Kuh”

After that, he was able to endure some of it, but again, for not being a fighter himself,
Gregory did not have a high pain tolerance.
I guess he was prepared for a violent interrogation, but his resolve seemed to have
been shattered when he was actually beaten.

It was quite rare to see people who looked so desperate when they were being
healed.

“Ghaah… Talk…! I’ll talk…! L-let me talk, I beg you!”

Ten minutes later, he was crying and begging for it himself.

When we spoke to him, we found out that Gregory was a nobleman of the Raidos
Kingdom. To my surprise, he was actually a Viscount.

However, he said that he had never lived like a nobleman since he entered the Belios
Kingdom disguised as a merchant more than twenty years ago.

I thought it was amazing that he remained loyal to the Raidos Kingdom, but it
seemed that his fear of being killed if he betrayed them was stronger than his loyalty.

In fact, some of his fellow spies had been killed for trying to betray their homeland.

Maybe there were even spies watching over other spies.

Besides, spies from the Raidos Kingdom were somewhat unique. Instead of always
conducting operations against the other country, they usually worked earnestly so
that they could move easily in case of emergencies.

He mentioned that a Knight named Saruth, who had infiltrated the Kingdom of
Philias, also worked normally in peacetime to gain trust.

Gregory was the same, and it seemed that he was really a decent merchant, except
for the fact that he sent information to the Raidos Kingdom once every few years.

Because of this, he had gained the trust of the people around the lake, and their
scheme involving the Scarlet Waterweed medicine had been able to proceed
smoothly.

Gregory and the others were under the command of the Eastern Duke, and they were
helping the alchemists under his command with their plans.

“Who is this alchemist you’re talking about?”

“Zelyse, a man who behaves like a child”

“Zelyse!? He’s in this country?”

“Y-yes…”

Fran’s eyes widened. She never thought she’d hear his name here.

He was the crazy, psycho, good-looking alchemist, who had done several things to us
in Barbra. Well, we did manage to thwart his plans as well, so I’d say it was even
between us.

But still, is he on the Raidos Kingdom’s side? Or did he originally belong to the Belios
Kingdom? But he also said something like he was raised in the Kranzel Kingdom at
that time…

“Is Zelyse a subordinate of Raidos Kingdom?”

“I-It would be more accurate to say that he was a subordinate of the Eastern Duke…”

“Even though he’s being hunted elsewhere?”

“Criminal records in countries that are hostile to our country are irrelevant. Besides,
in the Raidos Kingdom, where there is no Adventurer’s Guild, the bounties issued by
the Guild is meaningless…”

In other words, they would accept criminals from other countries as long as they
were capable. On the contrary, it was even possible that they were actively accepting
those who were wanted in the Kranzel Kingdom. Just like that saying went, “the
enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

[Could it be that that undead are under Zelyse’s command?]

When Fran asked him about it, he said that it had nothing to do with Zelyse. He said
that the undead was loaned by the Black Skeleton Army, an organization under the
control of the Southern Duke.

To my surprise, it seemed that the Black Skeleton Army had created a technique to
transform necromancers into undead while retaining their human consciousness.
“How is that even possible?”

“I-I don’t know. But even that Wight King was still able to hold a decent conversation.
Although his mind was greatly corrupted…”

It seemed that it was not possible to tell which class of undead a slave would turn
into depending on the affinity of the person who became the base body, so the
current method was to force a slave to turn into an undead after making them learn
necromancy.

After they were turned into undead in this way, they were then controlled by higher-
ranking necromancers and made to swear allegiance to the Raidos Kingdom.

The advantages of turning a human into an undead were strong reasoning and the
ability to talk. The undead, who were usually too mentally deranged to carry out
complex missions, could be transformed into fearsome and powerful soldiers by
having human thoughts.

However, he said that those who became undead must sleep in a coffin during
normal times because their bodies and minds would gradually deteriorate over time.

The coffin also had a powerful concealment effect, so powerful undead could be
hidden inside their luggage and be transported. In some cases, it was even possible
to carry them close to the heart of the enemy country without being detected.

The Wight King we had just defeated was said to be one of the few remaining top-
level forces in the Black Skeleton Army. When we mentioned Weena Rhyn’s name
before, they must have seen us as a possible enemy. Well, we killed it instantly
though.

However, the Scarlet Waterweed medicine was more important than the undead
right now.

“What is your purpose? What are you going to do with the Scarlet Waterweed
medicine?”

“Z-Zelyse hasn’t told us his main goal! He just asked us to mass-produce the Scarlet
Waterweed medicine!”

“Where are you sending that Scarlet Waterweed medicine?”

“N-nowhere…”

“Nn?”

[Huh?]

What does that mean? Aren’t they trying to make Scarlet Waterweed medicine and
use it for something?

However, Gregory told us that the Scarlet Waterweed medicine was still stored in
large quantities in the ship’s warehouses.

He said that all of them were left here except for those that were distributed for
domestic use.

They assumed that it would eventually be transported somewhere else, but the
situation had remained the same for over a year now.

(But why? Isn’t their purpose is to get the Scarlet Waterweed medicine?)

[Well, I don’t know about it either… Besides, I don’t even understand the connection
between the fact that these guys are from the Raidos Kingdom and are working
under Zelyse’s orders and the anomaly in the lake]

We thought that the anomaly was caused by something that the Mesther Merchant
Association had done. In fact, we thought that the Scarlet Waterweed medicine had
been misused in some way to cause the current anomaly.

But was that really the case?

“Did you know that there’s been some kind of anomaly in the lake?”

“Y-yes”

“Are you guys the ones behind it?”

“T-that’s outrageous! There’s no way we could do something that big!”

[For real? But this guy seems to be serious]

Was it just that Gregory didn’t know about it? Or did they really have nothing to do
with it?

[Fran, It seems we need to get Zelyse to talk, even if we have to force him to]

(Nn)

Fran then asked Gregory where Zelyse was.

“T-the atelier! He should be in the Scarlet Waterweed medicine making atelier!”

We got Zelyse’s whereabouts out of him. Apparently, he was in the atelier where the
Scarlet Waterweed medicine was made.

(Should we head to where Lovren is going?)

[Yeah, but…]

Could he have possibly run away from this? It wasn’t like I was making a fool of
Lovren, but I didn’t think he could handle Zelyse.

If they found out that we were suspicious of their atelier, Zelyse might try to flee
immediately.

But we couldn’t leave this ship unattended either. We hadn’t been able to capture all
of their top brass, such as the head of the merchant association.

As I was wondering, I then heard Urushi’s howl from outside. And at the same time, I
could sense that multiple presences were coming towards this ship.

[It looks like the Adventurers have arrived]

There was no hint of tension in Urushi’s voice. So, they were probably not enemies.

As soon as we stepped out onto the deck, we saw a group of Adventurers coming
towards us in a small boat. Some of them looked familiar to me. They were Daghour
and some C-ranked Adventurers that we fought during the mock battle.

“Black Lightning Princess-dono! It’s been a while! I’m glad to see you are well!”

“Nn. Likewise”

“Hahaha. Well then, we’ve been asked by Lovren-dono to assist you to take over this
ship, but what’s the current situation?”
She then explained to Daghour, the leader of the group, that Gregory, who was tied
up and lying next to her, had told her everything, and that this merchant association
was a front for the Raidos Kingdom.

“I had heard about it from Lovren-dono, so it was actually true, huh…?”

“Can I leave the rest to you then?”

“Yes, you can leave it to us. But Black Lightning Princess-dono, what are you gonna
do now?”

“I’ll head to the atelier”

“I see”

“No one has escaped since we went in. But I don’t know if they could have teleported
or not”

As she said, it would not be surprising if their top brass had some kind of
teleportation device to help them escape. However, they should not be able to travel
very long distances.

In fact, it would be just far enough to escape from the ship. It would have been
impossible for Urushi and I to not notice if someone had teleported that close to us.

However, there was a possibility that they had a magic tool that we did not know
about, and there was also a possibility that the president of the merchant association
was actually a Space-Time Magic-User himself. In that case, there was honestly
nothing we could do.

“For now, we need to capture everyone on this ship”

“Understood”

With this handled, we could finally head for the atelier. We just didn’t know exactly
where it was, so we would need a guide. It would be much easier if we could just see
it from here.

But just as I was thinking that―――

Boooom!!

“Uh!”

“Woof!”

“Wha!”

Fran and Urushi were surprised at the sudden explosion. I was so surprised that I
couldn’t help but let out a yelp.

When I looked in the direction where the sound came from, I immediately knew the
cause.

A huge pillar of fire was erupting into the sky from a small ship that was part of the
Commercial Fleet. There must have been something that exploded.

What happened?

Was there an accident? Or was it attacked by a magic beast?

The ship that was still engulfed in flames was similar to an oil tanker that I had seen
on the news. Well, this one is smaller in scale though.

But still, with that sort of fire, the surrounding ships might be in danger of catching
fire, and it would be difficult to save them.

[I wonder what ship that is?]

The ships of the Commercial Fleet had a wide variety of functions and ownerships.
Some were used for residency, fishing, offices, workshops, and even the Guild
Headquarters. That’s why it was hard for outsiders like us to identify them at first
glance.

“Daghour. That ship, what ship is that?”

“T-that is the atelier that Black Lightning Princess-dono said she was heading for!”

Eh? That ship?

[Is Lovren and the others safe?]

(Master, is this Zelyse doing?)

[I don’t know!]

But still, that possibility was very high.

[Let’s head for that ship for now!]

“Nn! Urushi!”

“Woof!”

Fran jumped on Urushi’s back and headed towards the burning ship. Since it was an
atelier, it was probably filled with flammable chemicals, and from time to time
explosions of various sizes occurred.

Moreover, it seemed that a hole had appeared in the hull and the ship was sinking at
a considerable pace. This could be quite a catastrophe.

This didn’t seem like something that could be handled by just pouring water on it
with magic.

[Oi oi, what’s going to happen to Lovren and the others…]

“Master! Over there!”

At where Fran pointed, I could see Lovren floating in the lake, holding on to a board.

“Lovren!”

“Aah, Fran-san…”

Maybe it was because he had already seen Urushi many times before, Lovren didn’t
seem to be frightened by his giant wolf appearance. Or maybe he just couldn’t afford
to be, though.

I then used my telekinesis to pull Lovren up onto Urushi’s back.

“Are you okay?”

“I somehow made it out of there… But the Adventurers who went into the atelier
with me are…”

“What happened?”

Fran asked the tragic-looking Lovren about the cause of the explosion.

“The alchemist in the atelier suddenly unleashed powerful Fire Magic. Then his
magic ignited the medicine inside the ship”

“Do you know who that alchemist was?”

“He must have been caught in the explosion… I don’t think he could survive from
something like that”

According to Lovren, he was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, however, he
spoke just like a child.

“But he’s not just an ordinary alchemist. He’s more like a terrifying opponent… Just
looking at him gave me goosebumps”

No doubt about it, he must be Zelyse. With his sharp intuition, Lovren must have
sensed that he wasn’t just an ordinary person.

[Fran, we must prioritize on rescuing those in danger for now]

“Nn!”
Urushi and Fran split up to rescue the people floating on the lake.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m saved…”

“Woof?”

“Hiiii!”

The ones we rescued were not only the Adventurers who stepped onto the ship with
Lovren, but also ordinary people who worked on that ship.

The Adventurers were generally grateful to us, but those who weren’t screamed
when they saw Urushi approaching them. They probably thought that they were
going to be attacked by the giant wolf.

Urushi was using his mouth at first to pull them up after all… A normal person would
find it hard not to be frightened at the sight of his giant body and dreadful looks.

[That’s why so don’t be so upset]

“Woof…”

Later, the Adventurers who could walk on water like Lovren joined in the rescue, and
we were able to rescue quite a lot of people.

But still, not everyone was safe. We also recovered a lot of dead bodies floating on
the lake.

“…Zelyse…!”

[Where the hell did that bastard go!?]

“Grrrr!”

At the sight of the wreckage, Fran muttered in anger. The same went for Urushi and
me.

Zelyse must have had some kind of teleportation ability, but I didn’t think that he had
gone very far yet. Could we just find him with Urushi’s nose? Or maybe, the current
us now could detect his presence with our skills.

[Zelyse should still around here somewhere――]

Boooom!

[W-what!?]

“Another explosion!?”

“Woof!”

As we were thinking of ways to find Zelyse, we heard a loud explosion again. We

hurried to check it and saw a pillar of fire coming from a different ship than this one.

We knew right away what ship that was. That was where we were just a moment
ago.

[That’s the Mesther Merchant Association’s ship…!]

Just like the ship that had been set on fire by Zelyse, the Mesther Merchant
Association ship was also engulfed in flames and smoke and was slowly sinking.

The fire was spreading incredibly fast. It seemed that the ship had been modified in
some way to destroy the evidence.

“Let’s go!”

[Yeah!]

We once again went to the rescue. However, we were only able to rescue the
Adventurers.
Many of the people from the merchant association must have been tied up and could
not escape the fire. Even if they had successfully jumped into the lake, some of them
would have drowned because of their tied hands and feet.

But things didn’t end there.

Crack!

There was another loud sound again.

However, the sound this time was not caused by an explosion.

Rather than an explosion, it sounded more like a fracturing sound, as if something

was creaking and breaking.

Crack! Booom!

And I could hear it happening over and over again.

[Fran!]

“Nn!”

We ascended and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

[This is… quite bad, isn’t it…]

“Master! Let’s go!”

[Yeah! Urushi, hurry up!]

“Woof!”

It seemed that our detection skills had not gone crazy.

[Why are there so many Modoki coming here…!?]

“Did Zelyse summon them?”

[That’s crazy! The people living around the lake didn’t even know their ecology,
right!?]

To our surprise, several ships in the Commercial Fleet had been attacked by the
Modoki. Some of the ships were already surrounded and had large holes pierced in
their hulls.

Many Adventurers must have been sent to the Mesther Merchant Association and the
atelier ship, so the security around the Commercial Fleet was quite weak right now.

And then, because of the sheer number of Modoki, they couldn’t deal with them in
time.

Was this a coincidence?

The Modoki were suspected to be after the Scarlet Waterweed medicine. And when
the atelier ship and the merchant association ship exploded, a large amount of
Scarlet Waterweed medicine must have been spilled into the lake.

Moreover, the loud noise and the conspicuous pillar of flame were still happening
around here.

That must be the reason why Modoki was attracted here.

We didn’t know exactly how many there were, but there must have been more than
30 of them around the fleet. And more of them were likely to be coming here.

[Anyway, let’s hunt the Modoki!]

“Nn!”

[Fran, Urushi, don’t use any flashy magic, okay? We’ll kill them in close combat so as
not to cause any damage to the fleet!]

“Just like before. Don’t worry”

“Woof!”

[All right! Let’s go!]

We split up into two groups and took the nearest Modoki down first.
I actually thought about splitting into three groups. If I fought underwater, it would
be unlikely that I would be exposed as a sword that could move on my own.

But I decided not to do that.

There was a chance that Zelyse might still be in the vicinity. And I didn’t want to
leave Fran alone in such a situation.

I think it was unlikely that the current Fran could be easily defeated. However,
something was unsettling about Zelyse that could not be measured by strength or
status. I was afraid of what he might do.

“Master?”

[Aah, sorry. I was just a little worried about Zelyse’s whereabouts. Anyway, we’ll have
to deal with the Modoki first]

“Nn!”