Chapter 20
When I stared at her silently, Alexandra laughed and said, "You don't think I'm going first because of the bet, do you?"
"...Only slightly."
"Forget it. You could go out and come back first if you wanted to anyway. I've lost. I just want to experience it a bit sooner."
Alexandra spoke like a child in front of an amusement park ride.
Without any intention of dispelling the distrust towards me, or trying to win our bet through trickery.
Alexandra had stepped forward purely because she wanted to experience spatial movement.
She really is consistent, I'll give her that.
"I'll go first. If the battle is still continuing outside, I'd be more suitable than you, Alexandra."
"We saw through the mirror, didn't we? The Grand Duchess's far-sight magic can even penetrate magical concealment. And if there had been a battle, the mirrors outside wouldn't be intact."
"It's right to prepare for the worst case."
"Hmm~ Alright. I'll be patient once more."
Alexandra was the one who stepped back.
So this was decided.
"Grand Duchess, please take charge of organizing the order."
"Me?"
Fiona's eyes widened when I specifically pointed to her.
"Yes. You'll be last, Grand Duchess. It would be troublesome if the pass between the mirrors was cut off and we lost visual contact after moving."
"Ah... I understand."
Fiona's face, which had looked a bit gloomy, brightened.
Is she happy to have a role?
"I'm second to last!"
"I'm third from last."
Leaf and Rei were already approaching Fiona to reserve their turns.
As the two moved, others also gathered around Fiona, trying to quickly determine their order.
"Well, would you look at that? The one doing the moving is over there, but everyone's here. Right?"
Amaia came over, acting friendly.
Or rather, she seemed to be the type to approach without hesitation from the start.
"Aren't you going, Amaia?"
"Me? Well, I can just take whatever spot is left. The most dangerous positions, first and last, are taken by two great people, so the rest are all the same, aren't they?"
"Is that so? Then come after me. Third would be good."
Alexandra had already spoken as if it was certain she would be second.
Well, she had openly competed with Arthur for first place, so if anyone had any sense, they wouldn't try to outbid Alexandra for the second spot she had claimed.
"Roman, are you ready?"
"I'm good anytime."
"Then let's go. It's better to hurry."
When Arthur asked if it would be better to hold hands, I immediately answered no.
Sorry, but I don't have a hobby of holding a man’s hand.
"Stay still. Even if you feel strange, don't raise your mana."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Leaf and Rei had immediately adapted to it as soon as I activated Blink.
Fiona didn't seem to have time to recognize and react.
However, if a mage of Arthur's caliber deliberately created repulsion, Blink might not activate or might shoot off in a strange direction.
I wonder if I'll be able to forcibly activate it while suppressing that mana someday.
By that point, I might be of high enough rank to return to Earth.
Pushing away such pointless thoughts, I drew up my mana.
Seir's tar-like mana passed through the blood-brain barrier filter and settled in the thalamus of the brainstem.
The brain perceived space.
And the moment my will desired to be there.
I was there.
"Is it, over?"
"Yeah. This is the end. Simple, right?"
"...It's a bit dizzying."
"It's like motion sickness."
Maybe because Arthur's senses were more developed.
He lightly touched his forehead, perhaps feeling a great discrepancy from suddenly dropping into a space completely disconnected from the external senses his brain had been perceiving.
Considering that, Rei adapted quickly.
Was it because we only moved within the underground then?
Or maybe beast-folk senses were amazing enough to adapt even to that.
"I’ll be heading back then?"
"Already? Wouldn't it be better to rest a bit?"
"It's fine. I prefer to finish quickly and rest afterward."
I took a deep breath of the outside air and strongly gazed at the underground interior reflected in Fiona's mirror.
And moved again.
Using it consecutively made me feel a bit nauseous, but it was bearable.
"I'm next."
"Alright."
"Can you take two people at once, by any chance?"
That was impossible.
It would benefit me to finish as quickly as possible by taking multiple people at once.
But the output wasn't enough.
Mana kept refilling, but the maximum amount of mana that could be consumed at once was limited.
I haven't confirmed it yet, but there must be a limit to the travel distance as well.
"Ah, I see. If it were possible, you wouldn't be doing it this troublesome way. Forget it. It was a stupid question."
"It's not that bad. Well then, let's go right away."
I was about to grab Alexandra's shoulder to go again when suddenly Alexandra grasped my hand.
"Huh?"
"Isn't this better?"
"Hey!!"
A fierce beast's roar echoed in the cavern.
As expected of a lioness.
Is this the famous lion's roar?
"You, stop flirting so much."
"Hmm? You're interesting. Can I touch that tail once?"
"No way!"
Like a lioness shouting to show who the owner of this territory was to a hyena that dared to step into the pride's domain, Rei bristled up.
Certainly.
Rei would naturally be more wary, given that Alexandra had tried to poach me from the team before.
"Anyway, let go of his hand and go quietly."
Rei directly grabbed my and Alexandra's wrists and forcibly separated our hands.
...It was soft.
"Quickly drop her off and come back. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
What can I do?
Blood is thicker than water, and I have to take care of my own team.
In the end, Alexandra was someone who would go her separate way.
Alexandra, who had the huge nest of the Alexandria School, would return there, while I'd have to dive straight into the wild Abyss.
If she offered school admission as the price for the bet, Alexandra would probably accept.
From her perspective, it wasn’t a difficult proposal.
But entering through that method would only invite ridicule and contempt.
And thinking about the future...
My thoughts had wandered.
Deciding to think about future matters later, I grabbed Alexandra's shoulder and activated Blink.
"Huh?"
Maybe because we suddenly came outside.
Alexandra stopped in place and fell into silent contemplation.
After leaving the follow-up to Arthur, I returned to the underground.
"Third!"
"Me! Number 3, Amaia Iero, coming!"
Amaia came running with her hand raised high, and I Blinked again.
It felt like continuously riding a gyro drop.
At the seventh time, I felt something off with my sense of direction.
My body staggered.
I couldn't tell if I was spinning or the world was spinning.
When had I felt this before?
When I got drunk after secretly drinking the soju at home before coming here?
Or when I got hit on the head as a slave, and my semicircular canals were messed up, making me dizzy?
Anyway, it was a sensation somewhere in between those.
"Roman!"
"Hey! Get a hold of yourself!"
The voices of Leaf and Rei supporting me from both sides created a ringing in my already dizzy head, stirring it up even more.
"Just a moment, be quiet, please..."
"S-sorry."
"Are you really okay? Let's stop here and rest. The guys who went out will probably bring support or something."
"That's probably impossible."
"Why?"
"Outside is a mess too."
There wasn't a single intact building.
What we saw through Fiona's mirror was just a part of it.
Several instructors had probably died.
If they were fine, they would have gathered on our side long ago.
"And there are injured people here too."
Davenport had almost lost consciousness by now.
We had set his turn aside to send him out once the safety outside was secured, but we couldn't just leave him here.
We had some medicine for external wounds, but we couldn't lift the curse.
"Let's move the instructor first this time."
After resting a bit, the motion sickness subsided, and I regained my sense of balance.
Maybe it was because I used too much mana.
A stiffness was running through my entire body, but I figured I could overwork for about a day.
"The instructor, huh?"
"Now that we've moved a good number of people, let's divide the remaining into two groups. I'll take the instructor and check the surroundings. Alexandra will be in charge here."
Arthur formed a team by selecting those who had learned magic with good mobility and versatility.
As if he had prepared in advance, the process was very short.
"...Don't overdo it."
Of course not.
I waved my hand casually to Arthur before returning to the underground.
The second hurdle came when I had moved 11 people.
Maybe the accumulated fatigue was significant.
My body, which had endured seven trips, went on strike again after just four more trips despite the rest.
This time, the world spun round and round as if my semicircular canals were tangled.
I had never experienced anything like it, but I imagine this was what severe seasickness felt like.
My head felt dull, dizziness set in, and nausea churned in my stomach.
I pushed away those trying to support me and somehow made it to the wall to dry heave.
Fortunately, nothing came up as digestion must have been complete, but it was still an unsightly sight to show.
"Huff... huff..."
As I caught my breath with deep breaths, my vision gradually cleared.
My mana had refilled.
As for bodily fatigue, I'd need a good 12 hours of sleep later for this.
After checking my condition, I turned around.
"Shall we go for the next one?"
I spoke cheerfully, but the gazes of the people looking at me were still heavy.
Then someone pointed at my face.
Wondering if there was a problem, I raised my hand to touch my face, and my fingertips felt something sticky.
I pulled my hand away to check.
My fingers were stained red.
Ah, I have a nosebleed.