Chapter 213
At the time when Damian and Louis were in the midst of fighting, the remaining Art Club members also encountered enemies.
The remaining members were ambushed unexpectedly, just like Damian.
After a few minutes of pursuit, the carriage was completely destroyed. The horses pulling the carriage had their reins cut and fled in panic somewhere.
Rilke, the Drama Club leader, and second-year top sea in the Magic Department, single-handedly devastated the Art Club and Instrumental Music Club.
The Art Club desperately tried to avoid direct confrontation, but because they had non-combat members from the Instrumental Music Club with them, they were easily bogged down.
Rilke protected herself with a translucent circular barrier and heightened her senses to assess the number of opponents.
Giving up on escape, they changed their strategy to ambush and concealment.
"I roughly know where you're hiding."
The presence emanating from one outstanding mage was greater than the combined Art Club and Instrumental Music Club.
Projectiles made of pure mana, as white as snowballs, were floating.
On average, it took until about thirty years old to build up the proficiency for intermediate magic, but Rilke wielded it effortlessly in her teens.
The Art Club and Instrumental Music Club members were stalling for time, each taking cover behind obstacles in the sparsely wooded hills.
Rilke smiled and said, "It's exactly as written in the magic counter-tactics manual. You must have paid close attention in your classes, huh?"
Everyone remained silent. Rilke casually swatted away flying insects in front of her. She showed no signs of tension at all.
"But how long are you going to stay like this? Either challenge me first or surrender."
Rilke's combat ability was outstanding, among the best of those who had set out on this mission.
Even if they all coordinated and attacked simultaneously, the chances of winning were slim.
However, Rilke had a cautious personality, so she refrained from unnecessary provocation or hasty advances.
Hubert from the Instrumental Music Club, who was lying in ambush, spoke in a low voice to his companions, "This is crazy. Hey, are all the department top seats this insanely strong?"
Cecil, hiding behind a rock, glared at Hubert with an expression that seemed to say. “Isn't that obvious?”
"You're the top sea in the Magic Engineering Department too. Don't you have any way?"
"If we had enough supplies, we might have had a chance. But because you couldn't do your job properly, Gale took all my things."
"...We need to find a way. We can't just stay like this. By the way, that Damian guy..."
"He was alone. He must have been defeated, obviously."
Classmates and seniors all avoided each other's gazes, seeming dejected.
Lilith, who had been silently crouching and holding her breath, opened her mouth.
"Be grateful to Damian."
Cecil retorted, "What?"
"He's not helping us at all. If I had been the leader instead of Damian, I would have abandoned you all without hesitation."
"..."
Lilith deliberately left her cover and walked forward openly, step by step.
Rilke's eyes narrowed. She knew that face well. It was a junior she had persistently tried to recruit for the Drama Club at the beginning of the semester.
Rilke greeted her smoothly.
"Oh my, Lilith, to see you in a place like this rather than a social club. How unkind of you."
Lilith bowed her head.
"Nice to see you... Senior."
"You didn't come out to fight, right? I know your abilities well."
Rilke was as sharp in her discernment as she was in her skills.
"..."
"Why don't you just give up unnecessary resistance and surrender? If you hand over some information and supplies and return to Eternia without complaint, I won't touch you further. Seems like a reasonable proposal, doesn't it?"
Lilith shook her head.
"Our leader must be doing his best somewhere far away. We can't choose the easy path either."
"...Damian? Hmm, he's an excellent friend, but... still clumsy. Do you really think Damian accomplished something?"
"..."
"Damian probably got beaten to death somewhere in that mountain valley. We sent three of our elite members there just to catch him. Well, we gave him some special treatment."
"..."
"It seems Damian had unknowingly earned the antipathy of other boys. Even if it was a sparring evaluation, punching a senior is a bit much."
Lilith's expression didn't change.
"Damian is stronger than you think, Senior. I've seen him up close, so I know well."
"Hmm..."
Just then, the sound of small wings fluttering echoed from somewhere.
A Stitch came flying, carrying a letter in its mouth, looking for Rilke.
She snatched the letter and, without even opening it, waved it gently while saying, "Ah, it's a letter from Icarus. It seems the battle on that side is over now. Well, do you still blindly believe in Damian after seeing this?"
"..."
"Since it seems the matter is settled on that side, shall we wrap things up here too?"
Without warning, Rilke immediately shot the mana spheres she had been keeping on standby in the air.
As expected, Lilith deployed a low-level magic defense barrier. The barrier was barely large enough to cover her own body.
"Kyaa!"
The barrier tried to block the mana spheres but eventually couldn't withstand it and dissipated with a shockwave.
Bang!
The impact sent Lilith flying backward and rolling on the ground. It was an utterly one-sided match.
"I told you I know your abilities. Now, I'll show you how Icarus defeated Damian."
"..."
Rilke opened the letter and began to read its contents.
"Let's see. The next one after these vermin is yo—Eek!"
Rilke was startled and dropped the letter.
Then she picked it up again and flipped the letter paper back and forth as if something was strange.
"W-what is this?"
"It seems Damian won."
Rilke just blinked her eyes, looking dumbfounded. Lilith stood up, dusting herself off.
Rilke hadn't yet noticed that the earth was trembling slightly.
"And it's not over here either."
In the distance, the ground rumbled faintly as if a cavalry unit was marching.
Thump, thump, thump.
Soon after, dozens of Plantera scouts began to appear, cutting through the forest.
"Plantera? Why are those things here?"
The Plantera unit passed by Lilith at a quick pace and headed straight for Rilke.
Then they began to attack, randomly clinging to Rilke's barrier.
Every time their heavy fists struck down, Rilke's barrier flashed.
"W-wait. What's wrong with these things!? Aren't scout Planteras supposed to protect students!"
The Planteras were showing hostility only towards Rilke. She occasionally attacked with mana spheres, but the scout Planteras, designed to face magic creatures, took little damage. Even if they were damaged, they pushed forward with sheer numbers, making it impossible to counter.
Seeing Rilke pushed back on the defensive, the Art Club and Instrumental Music Department Club who had been in hiding cautiously revealed themselves.
Cecil said with an expression of disbelief,
"Why are the Planteras attacking... a student? And only Senior Rilke while leaving us alone?"
One Plantera knelt in front of Lilith and presented her with a bright yellow bouquet.
Lilith received the bouquet as if she were used to it and smelled its fragrance.
"Thank you. I don't know why you're doing this to me, but..."
The Planteras were protecting Lilith as if she were a sacred object.
Seeing this, Cecil clenched her fist with an expression as if her stomach was churning.
***
Just before reuniting with the other members, Luna got off my back, perhaps conscious of the gazes.
"Has Damian come?"
"Damian? Is Damian back?"
And as we approached the campsite, Tami, a senior from the Art Club, first spotted me and called the other members.
Soon after, most of the Art Club and Instrumental Music Club members came running towards me, making a fuss.
They all looked like they had been through a war. But judging by their uniformly bright expressions, it seemed there hadn't been any major incidents.
They ran over hurriedly and each spoke a word with faces as if they had seen a ghost.
"Wow."
"You really came back safely."
"Did you really win everything and come back?"
"I had some luck on my side."
Luna, seeming embarrassed after looking at the other members' reactions, hid behind my back.
Sierra said, looking at Luna, "Why is she..."
The atmosphere wasn't particularly welcoming towards Luna.
"It's good that you're safe, but... you brought an outsider woman. We nearly died because of the Drama Club members. Moreover, Fabella hasn't joined us yet."
"Hasn't Senior Fabella come yet?"
"No. I thought it was Fabella coming behind you... She only sent a letter saying she would head to the next village first, and there's been no news since. What exactly happened?"
"Senior Fabella will be fine."
"Did you meet her?"
"According to Luna, she doesn't have a single injury. Because Fabella won."
"...Fabella won? You believe what that girl said?"
"Yes. I confirmed it myself."
"But she attacked us..."
"The Drama Club has been disbanded, and Luna no longer has the will to continue the mission. Moreover, she was exhausted in a remote area. And the Magic Academy secretly helped us against the Drama Club."
"Well... if that's the case..."
The Art Club seniors reluctantly agreed.
Even if they were in a competitive relationship, that was limited to this mission only. When they returned to Eternia, they'd be friends and classmates again. There was no reason to be so cold as to neglect someone who was injured.
Seeing that Luna seemed uncomfortable with the attention, I changed the subject.
"What's with these Planteras? And the carriage..."
The Planteras were cleaning up the messy ground around them and repairing the half-destroyed carriage.
Seeing the state of the carriage, all sorts of thoughts briefly crossed my mind.
That's not my carriage. Strictly speaking, it was Teacher’s.
I should have anticipated that this would happen. It's my oversight.
"We don't really know why the Planteras came either. It seems Lilith did something... but she says she doesn't know either."
"...Pardon?"
Lilith was engrossed in picking tree fruits with a few Planteras at a distance. What on earth happened for Planteras to intervene in student affairs?
"Oh, and where is Senior Rilke?"
Rilke had declared surrender in her letter reply and informed me of Luna's location.
"...She ran away quite a while ago. Lilith! Stop that and come here!"
Only then did Lilith look in my direction and acknowledge me.
"Ah, oh? Damian!"
She stopped what she was doing and ran towards me, her hair fluttering. She greeted me awkwardly as if she still found it difficult to deal with me.
"You're safe... Oh, and, um, are you hurt anywhere? Did you finish investigating the village?"
As she spoke, she noticed Luna and stared at her for a moment.
"Yes. I'll explain after we finish regrouping."
***
This was the information about Poron Village that was half-forcibly extracted from the Drama Club members:
The name of the missing person was “Yuan”. He was a 17-year-old boy working as a carpenter. The only notable detail was that his parents were from Haman City. The boy's body was found by a stream a few days after he went missing. It was reported that around the time of the disappearance, a madman had been spotted around the village.
[He was muttering to himself as if talking to his sword. They said he was a person who couldn't communicate normally due to madness. That's all we found out.]
Icarus, who had confessed all the investigation details, thought it was meaningless, but it was different for me.
As intersections formed with the information about the missing person from the previous village, things became clearer.
First, both missing persons were boys around my age. Their past histories were strangely similar to mine.
The second missing person was even from Haman. That was where the Akates Temple was, where I spent my childhood.
Also, many of the letters in their names overlapped.
The mastermind behind this incident might be targeting me.
Moreover, I had recently received a warning message about magic sword hunters from Sion's master, which made me even more suspicious.
Professor Candinella said the matter of the magic sword hunters had been well resolved, but... the more I dug into it, the more my anxiety grew.
There was no guarantee that there was only one magic sword hunter. It was possible that while one was dealt with, some undetected ones remained and were causing problems.
Moreover, if the Eternia side knew that this incident was related to me, they certainly wouldn't have entrusted this case to students.
If it became known that magic sword hunters were targeting me, someone might also realize that I possessed a magic sword.
It was certainly an issue that required extreme caution. However...
"Returning now isn't a good idea."
"That's right. Our chances of completing the mission in the lead have increased."
"With our current strength, I think we can even beat Gale or whoever."
However, persuading my companions wasn't easy.
I subtly suggested returning, citing the depletion of supplies and numerous injuries, but most opposed it.
The majority opinion was that it would be a shame to leave the last investigation site behind and return like this.
It was difficult to make them understand the danger of this mission, and even if I forced the Art Club to return using my authority as leader, there was a high possibility of splitting from the Instrumental Music Club. The matter of the magic sword hunters was just a vague inference. Even I couldn't be certain about it.
If there was a potential danger lurking, it might be better to move together rather than splitting up.
Cecil, who had been listening with her arms crossed, opened her mouth.
"I'm against returning too. We're just facing the last investigation now. There won't be any problem if we resupply at the last village. We beat the Drama Club, which had the best strength, so why can't we beat the Dance Club?"
I ignored Cecil's words and asked Lilith, "Lilith, what do you think?"
Lilith, who had been peeling the skin off some unknown tree fruit, looked towards me.
"I'll do whatever the leader says."
Lilith seemed indifferent to whatever happened.
"..."
"More importantly... do you want to eat this? The Plantera and I picked it."
Lilith handed me the white fruit flesh. As I reluctantly accepted it, Luna, who was sitting demurely beside me, stared at Lilith.
"...Do you need some too?"
At Lilith's question, Luna just stared without answering.
Cecil, as if her mood had suddenly soured, handed the map she was holding to the person next to her and silently left the meeting place.
"By the way... what's going on with the Planteras?"
"They come to help me in certain situations. I don't know why though."
"Can you use them as you wish?"
Lilith was flustered.
"I can't go that far... Sorry."
Hubert said, "Did you make a good impression on the Communicator or something? It's the first time I've seen Planteras favoring just one student."
"No!"
My thoughts were similar. I had never heard of a regular student controlling Planteras. Even within Eternia, it was known that only a very few, including Communicator Erzsebet, could command them.
Not just me, but my companions also looked at Lilith with curious faces.
Seeing how the Planteras treated Lilith, they were like knights serving a princess. Even she didn’t seem to know the reason, but we might be able to get a definite answer if we asked Teacher.
***
The members fell into deep sleep early, perhaps due to the release of tension.
The campsite was so quiet that it seemed like you could even hear the clouds drifting by.
Cecil volunteered to take the night watch alone.
Although Luna, who had newly joined, could have substituted the night watch with her spirits, she decided to take more rest as her mana was depleted.
Sleep wouldn't come. It was because she couldn't compose her emotions.
The feeling of powerlessness from not being able to do anything in the mission. And anger and feelings of inferiority towards Lilith.
Cecil sat down on a rock and threw stones into the moonlit stream.
Having grown up without lacking anything and being praised as an unparalleled genius for a long time, her current situation felt even more painful.
"...Candy won't like someone who flirts around here and there without loyalty."
She threw another pebble meaninglessly.
"That's right. He doesn't like it. He doesn't fall easily."
After ruminating on her emotions alone like this, as the shift change time approached, she returned to the campsite.
Then Cecil noticed a human figure in front of the dying embers of the campfire.
It was the shape of a woman with long hair reaching her waist, sitting demurely.
Feeling something strange, Cecil approached carefully, muffling her footsteps.
The moonlight, which had been hidden by clouds, came down.
The figure was Luna.
She was sitting at the head of a sleeping man, looking down at his face.
Cecil felt for a moment as if she had seen something she shouldn't have.
It was a scene that might come from affectionate lovers.
Luna kept looking at his face in the same position. It was a sight that seemed tender, yet also eerie.
That man was Damian.
After a brief moment of consideration, Cecil deliberately made some noise as she approached Luna.
And Luna, hearing the sound, hurriedly turned her head as if startled.
Their eyes met like that.
Luna had a flustered face, as if caught in the act of stealing. Damian was sound asleep. It wasn't an agreed-upon action between the two, but something one-sided from one person.
Cecil spoke first, "What kind of relationship do you have with Damian?"
"..."
"I heard you've never interacted with boys. I know that the only one you're friends with is, at most, Damian."
"..."
"And if there's one more, it would be Candy. You two were partners during the Circulation System practice, right?"
"That's right. They're both my friends."
"Tell me. You know, don't you?"
"...Know what?"
"Candy's true identity."