Chapter 26
Hmm.
If this keeps up, I feel like Aris is going to chew me out.
For now, I'll deny it!
“I didn’t go there!!”
When I said that, Karnaroff gave a dark smile.
“Yumia, the data from the West Forest was truly impressive. I have no idea how you got in there, though.”
Aris's gaze became even fiercer.
At this rate, I'm definitely getting a sermon!!
“I-I copied it!!”
“Hahaha. If I recall correctly, this assignment was only ever given once, twenty years ago, and only as a special task for the top student.”
“…What.”
“How could you have copied something that exists only in Karnaroff's treasury, the pocket dimension among pocket dimensions?”
No.
This isn't good!
There's no way out at all!
I decided to pin my hopes on my last remaining card.
“D-data manipulation...”
“Do you think such precise data manipulation would be possible?”
I curse you, my past self.
You worked so hard for no reason!
“No, but how did Karnaroff know that?”
“High mana density and foreign natural mana. There was no way I couldn't notice.”
Damn it...
“…Amazing. I never would have thought to go there.”
Linia said, looking at me.
“You even went into the West Forest, Yumia! You always exceed my imagination!”
“Robert, don't even think about going in there.”
“Huh? Isn't that place used for practical training, at least?”
“That's true, but they only ever go along fixed routes, and a professor accompanies them. That's because they need to be able to respond if a problem arises.”
“And what sort of problem is that...?”
Linia asked.
Linia seemed interested in the West Forest as well.
The moment that question was asked, Karnaroff's expression soured sharply.
As if even thinking about it was tiring.
“That place is the lair of the King of Wings.”
“…The King of Wings, as in... the one from the rumors?”
“Professor Shila said the same thing.”
Robert looked shocked, and Aris made a face as if she remembered something.
Ah.
If what I'm thinking and what they're talking about are similar, then this shouldn't be a problem.
I thought it was because of magical beasts again.
But even that was a problem Adrian had helped me solve.
Thanks to my nature-affinity trait, I can still run away even if I run into something C-rank or higher.
“If that's the case, then there won't be any problem...”
My words were cut off by Karnaroff.
“She is dangerous. Very strong, hostile to humans, and always takes something from them.”
Huh?
‘Hehe. Sis, you came!’
I thought of Adrian, who always welcomed me while wearing that elegant old-fashioned dress.
“Why do you think that? She could be kind.”
When I said that, Karnaroff spoke as if he intended to shatter my illusions about dragons.
“Hahaha... I have never once seen that dragon brat treat humans peacefully, or even kindly.”
“Excuse me?”
“And its godawful personality is a work of art.”
Hmm.
I recalled the conversation I'd had when I went to the forest for the assignment.
‘Sis, I went to the Eternal Snow Mountain and dug up some elixir this time. Want to eat it?’
‘I managed to get some good liquor this time...’
“She's always forcing trades and taking one-sided gains... Damn it. This time too...”
Karnaroff clenched a fist, face flushed with anger.
“That isn't all. She is always arrogant and fiercely proud. Not only can humans not touch her, they aren't even allowed to come close.”
A scene came to mind.
‘A lap pillow? Of course. If it's you, sis, you're always welcome.’
For reference, her lap felt cool and nice.
As for physical affection, she was the one who initiated way more of it.
“Of course, if you pass the trial, you can at least receive a bit of mana. That's one of the rules bound by oath. But even the chance to attempt that trial isn't easily granted...”
‘You need natural mana? Just fill it with mine! I'll draw out the mana for you! How much do you need?’
‘I have plenty of things better than that magic circle! With talent like yours, sis... this should do!’
‘Mana? I’ve got it overflowing like trash anyway, so I’ll give you some.’
She's talking about people like us, right?
I don't think so.
Maybe another being called the King of Wings lives in the West Forest after all?
Robert shuddered.
“I never imagined a dragon would be this close. If that's the case, then it's impossible to even approach...”
“There is an oath, so the first time would only end with her driving you away, but there won't be a second.”
“…Then we'll have to go only after building up enough skill.”
Robert bit his lip.
He looked like he hadn't expected it to be this dangerous.
I stuck out my tongue from an angle Karnaroff couldn't see.
Bleh.
I can just go.
“That is true. If you need a place with particularly high mana density, I recommend the Central Library.”
I opened my mouth.
Still, I should at least pretend to listen.
“Wow. It. Will. Be. So. Dangerous.”
“You're listening all at once for once.”
Karnaroff nodded.
“I. Absolutely. Must. Not. Go.”
Aris must have thought I was reflecting on my mistake, because she didn't scold me at all.
Okay.
So I can just go after all.
***
Anyway, once the assignment submission was over, I had a lot less to do.
As for magic practice, nothing in particular had changed.
Aris and I came to the practice room in the great hall.
“It's been a while since we've been here too.”
Inside the great hall, each student gets a private practice room.
Using offensive magic or elemental magic on school grounds would be insane.
That's why students usually made heavy use of these practice rooms.
‘Well, I have the West Forest, so it doesn't really matter to me.’
There aren't any students, there's open space, and plenty of magical beasts that make for good targets.
‘It's the best environment for a training ground.’
Whenever I got bored, I'd sometimes hunt down magical beasts that looked easy.
And then I'd take their mana stones to the school market and sell them.
That way, I could barely earn enough for one meal a day.
‘But I can't go in during the day.’
That's the biggest downside.
And it's not like anyone would believe me if I said I knew Adrian.
If someone said they were friends with an S-rank hunter, I wouldn't believe them either.
She looked even stronger than that.
I couldn't see any way to beat either of them, but Adrian was on an entirely different level.
“Let's finish up quickly and go eat.”
The place we came to was a two-person practice room you had to apply to use.
The single-person rooms were pretty spacious too.
The two-person ones were only a little larger than two single rooms combined.
You could even do simple sparring there.
I fired magic at the target fixed to the wall.
“Casting, Bullet, Triple.”
I added one more phrase and one more small magic circle to the casting process.
That made it possible to fire three shots at once.
The white glowing mana bullets all struck the center of the target.
Aris also raised her staff.
“Casting, Bullet, Double.”
One shot hit dead center, but the other missed slightly.
“Ah...”
“Casting, Bullet, Triple.”
I fired mana bullets at the target whose three parts moved separately.
—Crack, crack... snap.
“Ah, one barely missed.”
I sighed as I turned off the practice artifact that moved the target.
If I can't hit this, the report is going to get longer.
And since Karnaroff ordered it, I can't exactly skip it.
Still, it's a relief I hit it.
“Waaah! Amazing! How do you even hit moving targets!?”
Aris exclaimed in admiration.
Her reactions really are great.
“Just use Dragon Eyes.”
I opened my eyes differently.
“…Huh?”
“Ah, I never showed you? My eyes are like this.”
“What interesting eyes. Are they mystic eyes?”
“Mystic eyes?”
“They're eyes with special abilities. I heard you can even cast magic with them and stuff.”
Mine only had things like telescopic vision and enhanced dynamic vision.
Oh.
I guess night vision too.
They have more abilities than I thought.
“This isn't mystic eyes. It's Dragon Eyes.”
“Dragon Eyes? Hehe, what a joke. Yumia, you're human, aren't you?”
“I’m serious... Anyway, it improves my dynamic vision, so it's easy to hit things. I have a sense for it too.”
Since I've fought a lot, I can roughly tell when and where to shoot to hit.
I continued the assignment.
Lights went pew-pew from my staff.
I reduced the power as much as possible and increased stability.
Thanks to that, by around the tenth attempt, I could fire four shots in a row and pierce four targets.
After checking the mana I'd used, the practice room's mana density, and the state of the targets, I slumped down onto the floor.
“It's scary that this is starting to feel manageable too...”
“Your skill has improved a lot too.”
Sure enough, Aris was now firing mana bullets at a speed that looked usable in actual combat.
Aris had more mana than I did.
If she gained just a little more real combat experience, she seemed like she could beat a D-rank hunter.
If she were a healer, she could probably do really well with just a little training.
Of course, there was an obstacle.
‘Healers do need a bit of knowledge, after all.’
Knowing anatomy versus not knowing it makes a clear difference in mana efficiency and healing speed.
Hmm.
Should I kidnap a healer and train them?
If I kidnapped them to another world, there wouldn't even be any evidence left.
With that thought, I recited the spell.
“Casting, Shield.”
A transparent barrier formed around me.
I tried using magic while it was active.
A structure where my attacks passed through, and the opponent's attacks were blocked.
It was really amazing.
“You learned that already!?”
“It's similar to attack magic.”
“How exactly is it similar?”
“The pattern for channeling mana.”
“Everything except that is different... Yumia, you learn so fast. I don't even know how I'm supposed to catch up later.”
“There's no need to try to catch up, is there? Let's just go at our own pace.”
“That's true. All right, it's time now. Let's head down to the great hall.”
Aris picked up the backpack she'd brought.
We went down the stairs.
I quietly watched Aris with that huge backpack on her small frame.
“You're carrying something that big?”
Today, before the afternoon Magical Biology class, we had to receive the Potionology materials and tools for tomorrow.
I hadn't checked the quantity, but it looked like a significant amount at a glance.
Of course, it didn't matter to me.
I had emptied my inventory completely.
Students were moving busily inside the great hall.
The ingredients and tools were piled up like mountains.
We have to take all of this?
“All right! Go over there, line up, and take them one by one! Be careful handling the materials!”
The staff members were shouting.
They were probably the employees who usually stood guard.
I picked up the pot first.
“Whoa!”
It was incredibly heavy.
Maybe I should raise my Strength stat a bit.
Seeing me startled by the unexpectedly big, heavy cast-iron pot, one of the guards said,
“Why doesn't the student have a bag? We clearly announced that you should bring one...”
“I didn't bring a bag.”
“Tsk, can't be helped. At least that old bag over there...”
“No, I don't need it.”
The cast-iron pot vanished without a trace from my hand.