Chapter 99
Eliane had made two miscalculations.
First, the wind magic cast by Eliane, a novice at magic, did more than knock over the gunpowder used for the stage effects: it fed oxygen to the tiny flame, turning it into a blaze.
The second was that the 〈Silent Witch〉, a practitioner of wordless magic, happened to be here.
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Monica, realizing that Eliane was chanting a wind-based attack spell onstage, was forced to make a split-second decision.
Monica had no idea what Eliane was aiming at. To begin with, she hadn't known that stage gunpowder had been set up as part of the effects.
She only sensed that Eliane was trying to attack someone, so Monica followed her gaze. The spot Eliane was looking toward while chanting was below the stage.
Could Eliane be targeting Glenn? Reaching that conclusion, Monica hastily spread a simple defensive barrier around Glenn.
That ended up saving Glenn's life.
Eliane's wind magic caused the tiny flame in the stage gunpowder to swell into a blaze and come roaring at Glenn. Without Monica's defensive barrier, Glenn would have suffered severe burns.
To the spectators, who knew nothing of what was happening, those few seconds seemed to be entirely part of the performance.
Amelia's defensive barrier had protected Ralph from the Dark Dragon's flames.
"Hmm, was that magic as well as gunpowder?"
"A performance using real magic? This year's play is certainly elaborate!"
The spectators were admiring it without a care, but Monica had no time for that. The emergency onstage was not over yet.
Unlike magical flames, gunpowder flames aren't capable of continuing to burn in midair for long. But that was another matter if they caught on to something. And there were plenty of flammable things—paper and wood—onstage.
Monica focused all her attention on extinguishing them.
The quickest way to put out a fire was to douse it with water, but that would reveal that magic had been used.
So Monica enclosed every scattered flame in a small barrier. It was the same way she had extinguished 〈Spiral Flame〉. Within the small barriers that let no oxygen through, the flames rapidly died out.
Felix, seated beside her, watched the stage with a serious expression, unaware that Monica was fighting to put out the fires beside him.
(How many embers are left—!?)
Then a shrill scream of "Eek!?" rang out from the far right of the stage. The set resembling a cliff, where Eliane was standing, was tilting. One of the pillars supporting it had been scorched by the fire and was on the verge of collapsing.
(Oh no!)
If that set collapsed, it would be a disaster. Eliane was on top of it, and Glenn was beneath it. At worst, the audience could be harmed as well.
Monica tried to cast a barrier around the people nearby, ready for the moment the set collapsed. But she could maintain only two defensive barriers at once.
Eliane, Glenn, the audience—she didn't have enough to go around.
During the few seconds Monica spent struggling to decide, the situation grew even worse. The wind shifted, and smoke from the stage gunpowder temporarily covered the entire stage. Now she couldn't determine Glenn and Eliane's exact positions.
From beyond the smoke came the creaking sound of wood breaking. There was no time left.
(No—I won't make it!)
Just as Monica went pale, something shot out of the smoke.
It was Glenn, with Eliane cradled in his arms. He had rescued her with flight magic, burst out of the smoke, and risen into the sky.
The audience stirred at the rare sight of flight magic.
(This is my chance...!)
Monica quickly cast a defensive barrier so the collapsing set would not send debris flying into the audience. Fortunately, there were no visible flames within her line of sight.
(I-I made it...)
Monica pressed a hand over her uniform to quiet her pounding heart and secretly wiped away her cold sweat.
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(What? What? What's going on?)
Eliane, cradled in Glenn's arms, was utterly confused.
She had only meant to knock over a little gunpowder and startle Glenn, but its flame had swelled and scorched part of the set.
And, as ill luck would have it, the part that was scorched was the cliff set where Eliane stood.
The place where Eliane had been standing was, in a manner of speaking, a makeshift tower. Naturally, if a pillar broke, the whole thing would collapse.
But just before Eliane was thrown to the ground, she felt an impact—but not one from hitting the ground.
With a soft thump, someone's broad chest hit Eliane's cheek. Strong arms lifted her up.
Her view was clouded with smoke, and she couldn't see a thing. Coughing, she barely opened her eyes—and found blue sky spread before her.
"...Huh?"
"Whew... That was a close one!"
The voice came from startlingly close by. Only then did Eliane realize that Glenn was holding her in his arms.
What's more, Glenn's body, with Eliane in his arms, was floating in midair.
(What? What's this? What is happening??)
"It's dangerous, so hold on tight!"
"Y-you, what is this...? This is...!"
"Flight magic! Man, though, I never heard there was a stunt like this! Director, your explanation was way too skimpy!"
Apparently, Glenn thought this emergency was part of the performance.
(As if this could possibly be part of the show!?)
Below them, the smoke cleared from the stage, revealing the devastation. The cliff set where Eliane had been standing had collapsed into pieces scattered across the stage... but fortunately, the damage hadn't reached the audience. Even the Dark Dragon prop was safe.
As Eliane secretly let out a sigh of relief, Glenn licked his lips.
"All right, time to put the finishing touch on this."
"...Huh? What?"
"I'm gonna make one real zooming dive, so hold on tight!"
Saying that, Glenn's body began a steep dive straight toward the stage. Eliane panicked and wrapped her arms around the back of Glenn's neck. Clinging to a man like this was deeply distasteful, but she had no choice if she wanted to keep her balance.
Glenn descended to just above the stage and picked up Ralph's sword, which had been thrown onto the stage, with his right hand. Then, with Eliane held in his left arm and the sword gripped in his right, he flew with flight magic above the head of the dragon prop.
"'This is the end, Dark Dragon!'"
Ralph's sword pierced the dragon between the eyes.
The people operating the dragon prop cried out in the dragon's death throes, then retreated backstage.
"'──And so, Hero King Ralph defeated the Dark Dragon and liberated the lands it had ruled.'"
The student playing the narrator immediately read this aloud, and the audience erupted.
No history book records Hero King Ralph ever using flight magic. Even so, Glenn's flight magic had a tremendous impact as a stage effect.
The applause directed at the stage was nothing compared to that during the first half. Everyone was captivated by the performance and cheering.
Eliane jolted. Right, she still had lines to deliver.
In the final scene, Amelia praised Ralph and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Kissing a man who wasn't Felix was terribly unpleasant, even if it was only acting. Still, she had to perform her duty.
Eliane forced the anger and disgust rising within her down into the pit of her stomach and put a beautiful smile on her face.
"'Ah, may the spirits bless you, Ralph-sama...'"
Still held in Glenn's arms, Eliane moved to kiss his cheek. Naturally, she intended to stop just short.
But when Eliane brought her lips close, Glenn swiftly turned his head away from her.
Then Glenn leaned close and whispered softly into the stunned Eliane's ear.
"You gotta save that kind of thing for someone you like, y'know."
Eliane's pale cheeks flushed rose as she looked down.
To the spectators, it probably appeared that Eliane had lowered her head out of embarrassment. In fact, her body was trembling.
But what churned within Eliane was not embarrassment. It was pure, unadulterated anger.
(I—I, of all people, was deigning to kiss you despite my distaste, and you rejected me? You, a mere stand-in?)
She was so angry that she felt sparks snapping in the back of her head.
(...You humiliated me. I will never forgive you. Never, Glenn Dudley.)
Amid the thunderous cheers, Eliane quietly fed the dark flame of her anger.