Chapter 31
"Did... did you steal my paper?" Daphne asked Kailyn about the paper issue.
Come to think of it, there was the paper problem too?
After all, this whole incident started because Kailyn allegedly stole Daphne's paper.
This issue must be quite important.
Did she really steal it?
Honestly, I was curious at this point too.
Did Kailyn really steal the paper?
Daphne and I waited to see how Kailyn would answer, and after a brief pause, Kailyn responded.
"Ha... Is that what you wanted to ask?"
It was a reaction of disbelief.
"I didn't steal any such paper," she said confidently.
She didn't steal the paper, she said.
Kailyn refuted Daphne's words as if to say, what would she need to steal a paper for?
Daphne hesitated for a moment after hearing Kailyn's words, then asked an additional question.
"B-but, your name was on the paper, and it was about spirits... you... that's really..."
She said she clearly saw Kailyn's name on it.
Besides, wasn't a paper about spirits what you wanted, Kailyn?
Despite Daphne's timid rebuttal, Kailyn's words remained consistent.
"I didn't steal it."
Kailyn said again.
She insisted that she absolutely never did such a thing.
"I didn't steal any such paper. And I don't need spirits anymore."
She didn't need it in the first place.
Kailyn was saying that Daphne's paper was no longer necessary for her, unlike her former self.
"You don't need spirits?"
"That's right. I'm going to find something even more amazing."
She seemed to have completely given up on spirits now.
She spoke confidently.
"Then I'm leaving. By the way, I didn't lose to you. Daphne. I lost because of the difference in escorts."
Kailyn left after saying those words.
Daphne, left behind, was dazed for a moment, then looked at me and said, "Ugh... I think I must have misunderstood?"
She said she probably understood wrongly.
There wasn't any particular evidence, but if Kailyn showed such an attitude, wasn't that evidence?
It seemed impossible to doubt after seeing Kailyn like that.
"It seems so."
I felt the same way for now.
I couldn’t deny the possibility that Kailyn's words just now were a lie and that she actually stole the paper, but still, I felt somehow that she didn't.
I had doubts about whether Kailyn really stole the paper from the beginning.
Kailyn was basically a person with extremely high self-pride.
Putting aside whether she was good or evil, I didn’t think someone like her would bother to steal a paper.
If she reacted like that, it was probably not the case.
"I'm not sure."
Anyway, nothing was certain for now.
The paper issue was still unresolved.
So Daphne still looked unsatisfied, but at least she avoided expulsion from the magic tower.
"Anyway, thank you so much."
With Daphne thanking me, the magic tower's practical exam safely came to an end.
***
So the magic tower's practical exam ended.
A few days later, the truth about Daphne's stolen paper was revealed.
'It wasn't much of a story.'
The revealed truth was a somewhat anticlimactic story.
The person who stole Daphne's paper seemed to have just been someone with the same name as Kailyn.
Someone with the same name stole it or something...
Anyway, Daphne went to that person and argued that the paper was hers.
There were a few trials, but in the end, it was recognized that Daphne was the owner of the paper.
The incident was resolved very well.
So Kailyn really didn't steal it.
It was such an anticlimactic story when one knew the truth, but still, I thought it was fortunate that this matter was resolved well.
Who knew how twisted the story might be now if Daphne got expelled from the magic tower?
I didn’t have the confidence to handle such a story.
I was very satisfied that it didn't become chaotic chaos.
But I wasn't without worries either.
Still... the story seems a bit twisted, doesn't it?
Actually, after unintentionally talking with Kailyn this time, I was feeling that her actions were not normal.
In her conversation with Daphne, Kailyn said very meaningfully, “I don't need spirits anymore. Because I've found something even more amazing.”
She didn't explain in detail what it was, but as someone who knows the entire original story, I couldn't help but know what she was talking about.
Probably... she must have realized that it exists?
In the original story, Kailyn kept searching for spirits endlessly, but in the end, she didn’t find them.
So she became desperate, but that didn’t mean she didn't find anything at all.
She found another way to solve her fundamental mana problem.
Because she contracts with that in the last part of the original story.
That was the existence called a demon.
At the very end, Kailyn contracts with it.
She was able to overcome her weakness.
Well... the end isn't good, but.
Of course, contracting with a demon, naturally, couldn’t bring a good ending.
Actually, demons weren’t fundamentally very different from spirits, but they are quite evil beings.
They never made contracts with humans on good terms.
Even if one made a contract and achieved what one wanted, the contract with a demon inevitably lead to destruction in the end.
In that sense, it was undoubtedly a very dangerous existence.
Of course, Kailyn didn't hesitate to contract with a demon because nothing else had any value for her dream, but anyway, what Kailyn mentioned before must be referring to demons.
I didn't expect her to find clues about demons so early.
This part really made me sigh.
In the original story, Kailyn found clues about demons at a much later point, right?
She learned about its existence in the very late stages of the story and started searching for it in earnest.
But now, at the beginning of the story.
She seemed to have learned about it at a point when the official story hadn't even started, before the hero had formed the hero's party.
What kind of butterfly effect could have led Kailyn to learn about demons?
It seems things will flow in an ominous direction.
Although I didn’t know the details about it…
It certainly wasn't a good sign.
How will Kailyn act now?
At a point where the story really seemed to be going off track, I decided to do what I could for now.
For now, I've told Daphne to monitor Kailyn's movements.
After the magic tower's exam ended, I made one request to Daphne.
I asked her to monitor Kailyn.
Daphne was quite puzzled about why I was asking for such a thing, but I persuaded her that this was all for the sake of the world.
And since she had also said she would definitely repay me for helping with the magic tower's exam, she easily accepted my request.
Let's keep a close eye on the situation for now.
So I thought Kailyn's actions wouldn’t escape my notice for now.
Although Daphne was often criticized as being somewhat airheaded in the original story, she was still good at her job.
She'd monitor Kailyn well.
And if anything happened, she'd report to me immediately.
So I wasn't too worried for now, but it seemed things wouldn't flow as comfortably as I thought.
"Um... Davian. You know that thing you asked me to do? To let you know what Kailyn is doing."
"Yes? What about it?"
"Well..."
Some time later, Daphne came to see me again.
And she continued speaking to me with a worried face.
Why wis she making such an expression?
Had Kailyn already caused trouble?
Had Kailyn contracted with a demon at this point?
If that happened, we really wouldn't be able to stop Kailyn?
As my heart was starting to feel uneasy along with Daphne's expression,
"Don't tell me Kailyn has contracted with a demon or something?"
"Demon? What's that? Why is that suddenly coming up?"
"...Never mind."
Fortunately, it wasn't the worst-case scenario I was thinking of.
But still, it certainly couldn’t be called a good situation.
Daphne started to explain the current situation to me.
"Well... what I was going to say is... Kailyn has disappeared."
"What?"
Daphne, who had been monitoring Kailyn after receiving the mission from me.
She said she could no longer monitor Kailyn.
It was because Kailyn was not at the magic tower.
"Kailyn left the magic tower and disappeared."
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know. When I woke up in the morning, Kailyn had already left the magic tower."
Kailyn had left the magic tower.