---

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When Seiya opened the door, he was greeted with a dim single passage.

The passage was lit by a feeble candlelight, the field of vision was narrow, to the extent of not being able to see farther than 10 meters. Fortunately, as there were no enemies around, they proceeded unimpeded.

「It’s creepy here」
「Yes. There are no living presences here at all」

Selena and Aishi moved forward as they said that. Although their steps were firm, their faces betrayed their anxiety and fear.

It wasn’t surprising. It won’t be surprising to see a ghost in such a dim and lifeless corridor.

「That being said, it’s dark. Can you fix it with your magic somehow, bird woman? 」

Seiya only asked randomly but Selena suddenly became red in the face and turned away. Her face was saying, why didn’t I immediately notice this feeling inside of me.

Selena immediately activated the elementary fire spell 『Torchlight』 and illuminated the surroundings.

「Hiiii!!!」

Right after she lit up the area around them, Selena’s face suddenly turned blue.

For a moment, Seiya didn’t know what happened but soon after he discovered the reason behind her change in the face. Ahead of Seiya there was a wall covered completely in spiders.

Lots of spiders filled the entire wall as they crawled around.

「Gross」

Said Aishi as she hid behind Seiya. Seeing her like that, Selena immediately followed suit and used him to cover her view.

「He-hey, do something, lolicon」

Said Selena in a trembling voice that usually couldn’t be heard from her. Aishi kept her eyes closed and silently clung to Seiya’s back. As Seiya felt Aishi slightly trembling too, he had a prank on his mind.

「Don’t pull so hard, there might be more on the other side」

Seiya’s words made the two freeze. However, as their thoughts caught up, they screamed like never before.

「Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa」
「Please stop it please stop it stop it」

The two clung to Seiya and pressed their faces against him.

Faced with such two, Seiya had no choice but to cast『Dark Wave』and erase all the spiders on the wall.

However, the two didn’t notice the spiders’ disappearance and still clung to Seiya. If Yua could see him at this moment, she would have called him a cheater again, so he decided to tell them.

「I made them all disappear. So take some distance」
「Really? 」
「Is it true?」

Asked the two, still pressing against Seiya. They might still be some left, the two were filled with concerns.

With that as a reason, they couldn’t look around. Towards the two, Seiya said in exasperation.

「Yeah, all of them」
「Really all of them?」
「Is it absolutely true?」

The two slowly raised their faces and looked at Seiya’s.

Being stared by the two, Seiya wavered for a moment but immediately confirmed it being true.

The appeal of always tsunstun Selena and always expressionless Aishi being frightened was in no way small. However, the two quickly became pale again.

As they were looking upwards, they point of view was different. Something above Seiya, the ceiling.

「Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa」
「Please stop it please stop it stop it」

Letting out a scream for the second time, the two clung to Seiya again. Making a face that seemed to be indicating that he forgot about it, he used『Dark Wave』to erase the spiders on the ceiling.

The three made their way through the corridor and arrived at a small hall. Because of the previous event, the two, with their faces incredibly red, and Seiya, with a troubled look on his face, looked around the hall.

It was a size of an academy classroom and he didn’t feel anything unusual about it but, being on high alert, he heard a sound.

Gogogogogo

With a loud sound a bunch of 3-meter-tall golems appeared. Their entire bodies were metallic and radiated a menacing aura as they circled in the air above the two.

「What on earth is this」
「A human?」

Of course, the three, who lived in the technologically inferior Leiria, didn’t see any golems in their lives before.

The flying golems headed towards the unmoving three, lifted their right hands, and released multiple lasers at them. Multicolored lasers simultaneously flew towards the three.

「『Wall of Light』」

To protect everyone from the lasers, Seiya immediately cast『Wall of Light』.

A moment later, Selena and Aishi recognized the attack and deployed their own defensive measures. Each individual laser wasn’t that powerful but their number was enough to compensate for that.

To protect themselves from the lasers, the three’s defensive spells were nearly not enough.

「Chi, I won’t be able to use『Dark Wave』like that」

Seiya thought of erasing the golems with『Dark Wave』but couldn’t quite find the moment to activate it under the barrage. The lasers attacked one after another as if their timing was calculated.

「What should we do?」

Asked Selena, who kept lasers at bay with her『Fire Wall』spell. However, Seiya too was concentrated on defense and couldn’t do anything.

「Leave it to me」

Aishi, who was busy defending with『Ice Wall』, said to the two. Aishi too had her hands full with defense but her face looked undeniably confident.

「Do you have a plan?」
「Yes」

Said Aishi and started a new chant.

「All water in creation, become our guide『Fruit of the Ice Tree』」

Together with the end of the chant, the ice started rapidly spreading from her『Ice Wall』.

It resembled multiple trees that pierced through the golems as they grew. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the golems from firing their lasers.

「Stop」

With Aishi’s word as a sign, ice spread around from the places where the golems were pierced until it covered them whole.

As if the tree grew on the foundation of 『Ice Wall』and the golems covered in ice are its fruits.

「Amazing」
「As expected of Aishi」
「Thank you very much」

Being praised by the two, Aishi blushed, even if only a little. The frozen golems didn’t seems to be able to move and completely ceased to function.

As Seiya looked at the golems, he wondered what kind of technical skill is needed to achieve that.

「Let’s hurry forward」
「Right」
「Yes」

The three passed the hall and climbed a big stairway. The stairway was of a spiral type and quite long at that, the three kept climbing for about 5 minutes.

They didn’t know what floor they were on as they ended up in a hall that was bigger than the previous one.

There was someone in this hall besides them. They couldn’t see it well due to the dim light but the three noticed a person’s shadow even before entering the hall.

That shadow, different from their previous encounters, radiated an aura of great power.

「So it’s time for the elites」
「Looks like it」
「Seems strong」

As the three vigilantly entered the hall, it suddenly lit up brightly. And as the room turned bright, the three recognized the person in the center of the hall. However, the three immediately lost their words.

「You are…..」
「Why…….」
「Why are you here….」

The three were surprised. Before the three stood a blue-haired man in black-rimmed glasses.

Although Seiya didn’t meet him that often, that wasn’t the case for Selena and Aishi. That man was the Arsenia Magic Academy’s head teacher, Zaddman.

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Reference

All right, as I mentioned in the post, I’m dropping this novel. Thank you for sticking with me.

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When Seiya and the rest entered the tower, they saw its wide interior along with a stairway leading up.

Then, Seiya vigilantly proceeded up into the room. After discovering nothing dangerous, he gave the rest a sign and climbed the stairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, they were greeted with the same wide room as before with the addition of some human shadow. That being said, there weren’t that many of them and they weren’t particularly strong either.

When Seiya tried to cast『Dark Wave』in their direction, he was stopped by Selena.

「Leave them to us. We will show you our resolve」
「Shall we do it? 」
「Let’s go」

The student council moved to demonstrate their resolve to Seiya.

Selena pulled out her magic guns and run towards the center of the room. The enemy soldier that stood there was surprised at her sudden appearance but immediately pulled out his own gun and tried to pull the trigger.

However, no bullets left his barrel. The reason being, he wasn’t able to pull the trigger.

Looking closely at the gun, its trigger part was frozen. Of course, it was Aishi who did that.

Selena released the red mana bullets towards the defenseless enemy soldiers decimating them one after another.

And Mona’s knives decimated those, lucky enough to survive.

「This is our resolve」
「How about this?」
「We can do it」

Towards the student council members and their daring appearance, Seiya said with a smile.

「You’ve passed. Your resolve is true, no doubt」

Hearing his approval, the student council rejoiced. However, Seiya’s words didn’t end with just that.

「But you took too much time. We won’t be able to maintain secrecy like this」 [¹] 「Uh……..」

Groaned Selena.

「Whatever. This brings an end to our cover. From now on, we shall go with fanfare」
「「「「「Eh? 」」」」」

Seiya grinned and lifted his hands towards the ceiling. No one understood what was happening. However, Seiya didn’t mind and activated the spell.

「Let’s go.『Dark Cannon』」
「Are you kidding me!?」

Accompanying Selena’s voice, the ceiling above them disappeared. Seiya spell, as its name suggests, was a simple spell that fired mana of the dark attribute forward.

By doing this, he made everything up to the 10th floor disappear. Of course, there were plenty of enemy soldiers on those floors but they disappeared without a trace.

「Hey, lolicon! It was an overkill however you look at it」
「Seiya, you overdid things……..」
「Seiya, it was amazing! 」
「This is…….I don’t have any words to describe it」
「Amazing…..」

They complained about Seiya’s rough approach but it was a fact that the number of enemy soldiers decreased considerably. However, at the same time, their team was discovered and the rest of the enemy soldiers started descending under the sounds of the alarm.

When Seiya tried to climb higher, he noticed a certain something.

「Crap, there are no stairs」

The rest couldn’t understand what he was saying. Looking in a direction of the stairway, they found nothing except for the now beautiful and smooth surface of the tower.

「Hey, what have you done?」
「Relax, We have Lily. If you don’t mind, Lily」
「All right! Come! Gedo-chan! 」

Once Lily said that, a big water sphere appeared and transformed into the water dragon. The team immediately climbed on the back of the dragon made out of water and flew towards the upper floors.

「Eliminate all the enemies as we fly up」

Saying that, Seiya released one『Dark Wave』after another annihilating the enemy troops.

Yua created the Yurial and released the arrows of light destroying the enemies around them. Lily too pierced the enemies with the water laser.

Selena, with her magic guns, Mona, with her flying knives, and Aishi, with her ice projectiles. They kept robbing the enemies of their lives.

Only after reaching the 15th floor and getting off Gedo-chan did they proceed on foot.

A lot of enemies awaited them in that room. In a room that was much wider that before, about 1000 soldiers of a greater than before strength waited for them with their weapons ready.

「Apparently, the enemies are prepared for our arrival」

Said Seiya as he summoned his favorite swords, the Hollins. Yua took a stance with her rapier, Yuriel, instead of her bow, Yurial. Lily and the rest also assumed battle positions.

Right before everyone sprang into action, Seiya said.

「The one, who defeats the least amount of enemies, is going to buy everyone’s lunch for a week when we return to the Leiria Kingdom」

As he said that, he activated『Mantle of Light』, explosively accelerated, and went forward destroying the enemies in his way.

「Seiya, unfair…….」

Saying so, Yua activated『Single Light』and went to destroy the enemies. The enemies stabbed by the Yuriel didn’t die immediately. However, in a moment they burst from the inside in a gruesome manner.

It was just an act of Yua filling the enemies with mana of the light attribute and causing them to explode from the inside but the enemies, who weren’t aware of the light attribute, were in terror.

「Lily won’t lose!」

Lily released one water laser after another accurately piercing their hearts. The enemy soldiers could only see the appearance of Lily penetrating 10 people with one water laser as merciless.

Gazing at this spectacle, Mona suddenly said.

「Let’s join them, shall we」
「Mona?」
「This is a fight with our lives on the line. We resolved ourselves to come here. The same goes for our opponent. It seems that our resolve is still too weak.
Here, in this place, I shall demonstrate my resolve one again. I won’t hesitate any longer. Besides, I don’t want to be the one to buy everyone’s lunch for a week」

Said Mona with a smile, pointed at the enemies with her cane, and cast her magic.

「Tempest」

Myriad of knives flew in the air destroying the enemies one after another. There was no hesitation in their movements, just the intent to defeat the enemy.

「Mona……」
「Selena-senpai. Let’s do it」
「Aishi? 」
「This is not the Leiria Kingdom. I think that we were too naive. That’s why I’m going to do it」
「Aishi」

Aishi said as such and made an ice creation. Twin swords. With the twin swords in her hands, Aishi plunged in the midst of enemies.

She cut down the enemy soldiers one after another with her twin swords and, once someone got behind her back, she changed her swords into the katana and pierced him.

After that, she changed it into a spear, ax, knife and many other weapons destroying the enemies in the process.

Watching the two, Selena became aware of her own naivety. Regarding this plan, Selena thought that she had the biggest resolve of everyone present. However, in reality, she had the smallest one.

(I can’t continue like that. My goal is to save my mother)

Selena made a decision. No more hesitation.

「The abyss of the fire maiden, manifest『Atos』」

Selena’s『Atos』, as if to respond to her determination, fiercely branched towards the enemy.

The red laser and its twenty thousand branches hit the enemies burning their bodies. The enemies tried to avoid the laser but sine『Atos』was of the tracking type, their efforts bore no fruit.

The red laser burned the enemies one after another.

In such a manner, the enemies were annihilated. Seiya and the rest, who were the main reason of their annihilation, climbed the stairs to the next floor. On the way, Seiya suddenly said.

「According to my calculations, bird woman killed the least. Bird woman, once we return our lunches are on you」
「Why is that!?」
「Why, she said. Because you defeated the least amount of enemies」
「Arara, Selena, I leave everything to you」
「Selena-senpai, you’ve got it」
「Thanks………」
「Thanks, big sister Selena! 」
「Eh? Were you serious back then? 」
「Of course」
「You have to be kidding me~」

They arrived at the seventeenth floor as they had such a conversation. However, different from the previous floors, it wasn’t wide and only had two doors.

「Apparently, we need to split up into two teams here
「Looks like it」

For a moment, everyone’s faces became serious. That was also a proof of the student council’s newfound determination.

「All right then, how should we split….?」

Thought Seiya as he stared at everyone’s faces. Since they showed their intention to follow his arrangement, Seiya split the team in the most efficient and safe manner.

「Considering the possibility of encountering the dark element it is better for me and Yua to act separately. Also, Lily, who can transmit information without a telepathy stone, should join Yua’s team…….」

Until this point, the division happened easily. The problem comes after.

Who should join Yua and Lily? Normally he should have chosen Aishi with her weapon skills but considering her affinity with Lily it could become a problem.

On the other hand, choosing Selena is troublesome in its own way. Thus, Mona became the natural choice.

「Mona, join Yua and Lily」
「Understood」

At that time, Seiya didn’t know. He shouldn’t have put Mona and Lily on the same team.

「That settles it. I don’t think I need to remind you but our operation’s goal is to rescue Moka Fenix. As soon as you discover Moka Fenix, immediately report and retreat. Avoid needless fighting as much as possible. You aren’t permitted to die」
「Yeah, I understand」

Like that, everyone separated and entered their respective doors.

Right before opening the door, Yua hugged Seiya, whispered「cheating is prohibited」in his ear, and left after a deep kiss, as well as some other things occurred, however, Moka Fenix rescue operation finally entered its second stage. [²]

Seiya, Selena, Aishi
Yua, Lily, Mona

No one knew about the tragedy that will result from this choice.

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Thank you for always reading me. The fight starts at last. The peerless Seiya will encounter a lot of fighting from now on!
This signifies the last update of this year. Thank you for all your support during these three months. See you again next year if it’s fine with you. Happy New Year, everyone
While I’m at it, this author finally started his own Twitter. I’m going to write my progress there, follow it if you’d like. Until we meet again |・x・)ノ [³]

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At the moment, the team of Seiya could be spotted in the mountains outside the second district.

That mountain was located near the second district and wasn’t that high, however, the road was rough and uneven. In order to rescue Moka, the team headed to the Demon King Mansion on the other side of the mountain.

IT was around 10 in the morning and the team left the city about an hour ago. Since they used their magic horses, they covered quite a bit of distance but couldn’t see the Demon King Mansion yet.

Only rocks were in their line of sight.

The student council members thought about certain something as they rode their horses.

They thought about the spell『Dark Wave』used by Grisfon just a while ago. They had no recollection of such a spell but they did see a similar thing.

That was a mysterious technique that Seiya used on the adventurers in the guild.

At that time, Seiya just waved his finger and their spells disappeared without a trace. That sight closely resembled the sight of Grisfon erasing Selena’s magic bullets.

At that time, Selena remembered one more thing. Back then, Seiya used an unknown technique to erase the ear of a suspicious person that tailed them from the bar.

Back then, Seiya erased his ear with a wave of his finger and even managed to restore it after that.

Seiya erasing the man’s left ear resembled him erasing the spells of the adventurers. A hypothesis was born inside of Selena’s head.

Maybe that spell, 『Dark Wave』, is a spell capable of completely erasing the target.

Once she arrived at that point, she couldn’t restrain herself anymore.

Selena had her horse come close to Seiya, who was currently riding in the lead, to ask. Seeing her suddenly appearing next to him, Seiya asked with a wondering face.

「What’s wrong?」
「Hey,『Dark Wave』, what is it?」

Seiya’s expression froze for a moment. However, in the next moment, he made a face as if he decided on something and had his horse decelerate.

Upon him slowing down, the rest of the team followed suit. Seiya got down from his horse saying that it was time for a break.

Seeing Seiya getting down from his horse, the rest got down too.

Seiya proceeded to the nearest clearing and told everyone to sit down. Seiya hesitated for a moment but considering the place they were about to infiltrate he had no choice but to talk about it.

Seiya prepared himself and started.

「Thinking of the place we are going to, I feel that I need to make it clear. That being said, you can’t tell what I’m about to say to anyone. If you speak about this in Leiria, the Holy Church will detain you without any questions. Please make a necessary resolve」

Once he said that, he started to quietly talk about the dark attribute.

「In the Leiria Kingdom, there are composite and derived attributes but they basically consist of the fire, water, wind, and light attributes.

However, there is no such thing as the light attribute in this country, instead, there is another attribute in its place. It’s the dark attribute like that of『Dark Wave』you all saw earlier」

Hearing the words dark attribute, the student council turned silent. They thought of such a possibility but upon hearing it personally, their common sense couldn’t keep up.

Seeing their reaction, Seiya remembered that seeing is believing and decided to demonstrate.

Seiya waved his finger towards a nearby rock.

In the next moment, the rock disappeared as is it was never present in that place.

They couldn’t understand what happened but their instincts made them shudder in fear. If this magic is to be used against the target that doesn’t know its effect……Selena got goosebumps just by thinking about it.

Faced with their expressions, Seiya continued with the explanation.

「This was an elementary spell of the dark attribute『Dark Wave』」

Selena and the rest received a shock when they heard that『Dark Wave』was just an elementary spell. It won’t be surprising for this spell to be classified as an advanced one in the Leiria Kingdom. But for it to be treated as an elementary spell. They felt their hair stand straight.

「The greatest feature of this attribute is a possibility of eliminating the chant」
「Without chanting?」
「Right. To be precise, the existence of a chant itself if being erased. For the dark attribute, as for any other, there is also a special effect」
「Is that erasing? 」

Asked Mona. Seiya answered her question with an explanation.

「Correct. Like that, 『Dark Wave』is able to erase the chant. If you meet such a magician, you should immediately run away. Most likely, you won’t stand a chance」
「But can we escape? 」
「Well, that may be difficult. However, there aren’t that many magicians capable of using『Dark Wave』without the chant, so relax」 [¹]

Said Seiya while recalling Grisfon.

Although that guy used a magic stone, he did manage to unleash it without the chant. The people on the sides called him an A-rank adventurer because of that.

For that, he understood that being able to use『Dark Wave』without the chant was enough to qualify as an A-rank adventurer and that the A-rank adventurers are rarely seen. That’s why Seiya wasn’t concerned about it too much.

「Is there any countermeasure if your opponent is the dark attribute user?」

Asked Selena. Selena knows the frightening aspect of the dark attribute more that the other two. That’s why she was so interested in a method to oppose it.

「Of course there is. In short, the light attribute. It is said that no other element can counter the light attribute in Leiria but the dark attribute can.
The opposite is also true, the light attribute can contend against the dark attribute. That being said, it is impossible in your case so you better dodge」
「Dodge, he said…….」

Selena became exasperated at his ridiculous explanation. However, Seiya didn’t know any other method instead of dodging.

「In general, the chant is still necessary for the dark element magic. That’s why you don’t have to be so frightened. Is there is one, who can do it, leave him to me and run away. Yua can withstand it too by the way」
「Un…..」

While making unresigned expressions, the team proceeded forward once again. In the end, no one asked「Why can Seiya use the dark attribute? 」.

After another two hours of horse riding, the team finally caught sight of the Demon King Mansion.

The Demon King Mansion was more of a tower than a mansion. Its height was beyond that of the 8-story hotel that they stayed in. That stone tower looked sturdy and intimidating.

「All right then, shall we go?」
「Eh?」

Selena was surprised at his casual approach.

Even though it was the enemy’s stronghold, he started walking as if going to a convenience store in the neighborhood. By the way, the magic horses were bound to a nearby rock.

As Yua and Lily followed closely behind him, Selena and the rest hurried after them.

As a matter of course, there was a gatekeeper near the entrance to the tower, who blocked their path.

「Wait, who are you?」

There were four gatekeepers. The four had weapons and looked competent. However, it had no meaning before Seiya.

「Just have some business with your Lord. Let me through」

Listening to Seiya, who was too familiar with the Demon King, the gatekeepers’ pupils shrunk for a moment but they immediately deemed it a lie and turned intimidating.

In the first place, a boy like Seiya couldn’t possibly be the Demon King’s friend, he was just a suspicious person. The gatekeepers pulled out their swords and pointed them at Seiya and the rest.

「I will warn you only once. If you let me pass, I won’t kill you」

Faced with his relaxed attitude, the gatekeepers became enraged and slashed at Seiya.

「Don’t screw with me!」
「You are the one, who will be killed」
「Prepare yourself」
「Die!」

Pachin

The moment Seiya waved his finger at the gatekeepers, their existence vanished from this world.

To be precise, their bodies were erased thanks to Seiya.

Since Seiya killed them too nonchalantly, the student council members couldn’t comprehend what happened at first. However, when this fact gradually seeped into them, they immediately asked.

「Why did you kill them?」
「Wasn’t that overdoing things?」
「Horrible」

A person was killed before their eyes for the first time. The three had trouble to accept the reality. Perhaps, is Seiya killed them after a hard fight, they wouldn’t have minded it too much.

However, he killed a person too easily.

Of course, Seiya had a reason for that.

「What are you saying? This is a fight. The enemies may kill me if I hold back. This is different from the practice fights in the academy. The other side was going to kill me. We should be ready to kill too」

Seiya’s opinion was a correct one.

Because Yua and Lily have experience in the dark territory, they could easily accept it.

However, the student council didn’t have such experience. Since they ventured into the dark territory the problems were mostly solved by Seiya, they didn’t meet with any life or death situations.

That’s why they couldn’t easily accept Seiya’s actions.

That was also one of Seiya’s worried since the day they departed.

Killing people is not the same as killing monsters. Although it is essentially the same, the hesitation may be born depending on your opponent being a human or not. And a moment of hesitation separates life from death.

That’s why Seiya said once again.

「You can treat it like a war. It’s impossible for everyone to survive, if you want to protect something, you must have the resolve to take something away from your opponent. Even if it’s a life」

The three answered with silence.

「If it’s now, you still have time. Those, who didn’t resolve themselves to kill, go back. You will only increase the risks」

Said Seiya and headed inside the tower. Yua and Lily followed right after.

The three looked at each other and decided on an answer. We came all the way here to save Moka. If you need our resolve, we have it.

The three followed Seiya into the tower.

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Another problem occurred in the cafeteria. Next to the five girls, three men sat down without their permission.

Those men wore rings and necklaces and looked quite like the players. These men forcibly approached the girls, who tried to refuse them.

Their sat in order Yua, Seiya’s seat, and Lily with Mona, Selena, and Aishi on the other side but the men took the seat next to Yua and tried to talk with her.

「Hey, at least tell me your name」
「……」
「We are staying on the seventh floor, you know」
「……」
「How about going out with us somewhere」

The brown-haired man on Seiya’s seat tried to talk to Yua only to be completely ignored.

Normally, she would have trashed the men who dared to take Seiya seat. However, since she couldn’t use her light attribute here, she decided to ignore him.

Being refused by Yua, this time, the man tried to talk to Lily on the other side.

「hey, you’re cute. What is your name? 」
「Etto….」

Lily looked at the man with a disgusted face. From her expression, the man understood that he was completely rejected by her but contrary to Yua, he decided to start his conquest with her, since she at least answered him.

「Do you not know me? People call me Grisfon」

At these words, the customers around them, other that the five, showed their surprise.

「Oi, Grisfon is?」
「Yeah, probably」
「It can’t be, that A-rank adventurer?」
「Than the other two are B-rank adventurers」
「They are the recently trending adventurers family」
「Grisfon family, huh……」

The brown-haired man, Grisfon, grinned hearing the words of the customers. The men felt good seeing the rumor spread so far.

The surrounding customers immediately gave up upon hearing the name of the Grisfon family. Their level was just that high.

Trying to show off, he stretched his hand towards Lily. At that time, Lily became his inside his mind.

Every time the women heard his name, they immediately became his.

「How about you stop right now!」

Don! Don!

Selena, who sat across the man, pulled out her magic gun and released two bullets towards the man that still tried to reach Lily with his hand.

The guests were surprised at an unexpected turn of events but Grisfon just lifted his hand and muttered.

「『Dark Wave』」

In the next moment, the two mana bullets disappeared without a trace. Grisfon said to Selena with a depraved look in his eyes.

「Relax. After I finish with her, you are next. No need to be impatient」

Apparently, in Grisfon’s mind, they already became his women. Selena was surprised at her bullets suddenly disappearing but shot again nevertheless.

Don! Don! Don! Don!

This time she shot twice the amount, four bullets but Grisfon lifted his hand once again and muttered.

「『Dark Wave』」

Immediately after he said that the bullets disappeared without a trace, nothing was left behind. Grisfon became a bit irritated at Selena’s pointless behavior.

「It’s useless. You can’t defeat me. Obediently wait for your turn to come. At that time, I will play with you」

Having said that, Grisfon tried to touch Lily. Selena intended to attack Grisfon with her magic guns once again but Lily words stopped her in her tracks.

「It’s all right」

For a moment, Selena couldn’t understand what she just heard. But from Lily’s face, she could see a certain confidence.

Selena, who was convinced that there was a catch, sheathed her magic guns. Once he saw their behavior, Grisfon thought that they came to peace with the circumstances and carried his hand closer to Lily’s cheek.

However, at the next moment,

Zudon!!

With such a sound accompanied by a great pressure, the trio rolled off their seats.

At that time, the two B-rank adventurers besides Grisfon lost their consciousness. Grisfon managed to somehow preserve his consciousness but couldn’t stand up revealing an unsightly posture.

「Do you have some business with my companions?」

Such words were heard in the cafeteria. The customers couldn’t comprehend what just happened and silently awaited a development.

Seiya was the one, who entered the cafeteria. Immediately after coming to the cafeteria he saw Grisfon trying to touch Lily and released his bloodlust at maximum power.

「Seiya……」
「Seiya!」

Lily and Yua turned bright with the appearance of Seiya.

Actually, the two knew that Seiya would definitely come. Yua did it with her unscientific Seiya Sensor and Lily relied on her contract with Seiya to sense his position.

That’s why Lily said that it was all right to Selena, Yua too didn’t do a thing.

「Trying to lay your hand on my companions, you sure are brave, small fry」

Anger dwelled in Seiya’s eyes, which he used to glare at Grisfon.

His contained despise as well as disdain. Being glared by Seiya, Grisfon felt his pride hurt and tried to face him.

However, that turned out to be the greatest failure in his life.

「『Dark Wave』」

Grisfon eliminated the unknown pressure and stood up. Seiya looked at Grisfon for a brief moment but immediately diverted his attention to stroking Yua’s and Lily’s heads, as they came hugging him.

「*******, who do you think I am? I’m an A-rank adventurer, Grisfon Egnozas. If you want to live, immediately release my woman and scram. If you won’t, you will disappear」

As long as I use『Dark Wave』, he isn’t an opponent of mine, thought Grisfon.

Seiya completely lost interest in such Grisfon. If he does touch Yua or Lily, Seiya will erase him without question but since it doesn’t seem like it actually happened, he wasn’t in a mood to play with him.

However, if he doesn’t agree then the story is different.

In Dakuria, Seiya’s team common sense doesn’t work. If the situation becomes beyond salvageable, he didn’t mind to show the offender the harsh reality.

「You sure are great for using the magic stone with『Dark Wave』inside of it. However, this is how true 『Dark Wave』looks like」

Zudon!

Seiya released his bloodlust again as he chantlessly invoked『Dark Wave』to erase a ring on his finger.

There was a magic stone in his ring, he used『Dark Wave』stored inside and acted as if he could deploy it chantlessly.

Being exposed to his bloodlust, Griffon fell on his knees once again. His face was covered in sweat, his body trembled all over, and his breathing became rough.

Since his magic stone was destroyed, Grisfon couldn’t activate『Dark Wave』again. He noticed that he tried to land his hand on someone he shouldn’t have ever messed with.

Grisfon wanted to immediately run away but Seiya’s bloodlust didn’t allow it. Thus, while being aware of the shame, he chanted the incantation for『Dark Wave』.

「Eh?」

Although he managed to successfully activate it, the bloodlust showed no signs of disappearing.

In the first place, 『Dark Wave』isn’t supposed to be able to eliminate something without substance. He did it for the first time because Seiya lifted his bloodlust at the same time as he released the spell.

「How unsightly. Let me warn you. If you make a move on them once again, your existence itself shall disappear. I won’t use a magic stone like you did. Do you understand? 」
「Y-Yes, understood. I understand. I won’t try anything weird anymore. I promise」
「Then grab those two and disappear」

Seiya lifted his bloodlust and released Grisfon. Once released, Grisfon picked up his comrades and run away in shame.

The customers, who were left flabbergasted, stared at Seiya with round eyes.

「Who on earth are they?」
「Who knows? I don’t」
「Maybe they are S-rank adventurers」

It wasn’t an environment suitable for conversations, all of the attention was focused completely on Seiya.

Seiya, who was disinclined to stay in such an environment, took the girls with him and went to have breakfast in a store outside.

After coming to a new place, Seiya told them the gist of his conversation with Bagil as he ate breakfast.

「That’s about it from my conversation with Bagil. I will head to the rescue without waiting for other apostles to join me. I can’t force anyone. There is a great danger involved in this plan.
People may die. That’s why think for yourself. Don’t blindly follow the others, choose by your own will」

Said Seiya and looked in their eyes. The answer appeared soon enough.

「I’ll go…..I’ll follow Seiya until the end of the world…..」
「Lily too! 」

If Seiya goes then Yua and Lily will definitely follow. From their eyes, he felt a determination to never separate.

「I want to save my mother. I’m right here, I don’t want to lose mother because I waited for the reinforcements」
「I shall go too. This is my will」
「I’ll go too. Aunt took care of me a lot」

The members of the student council were determined to go.

「I see, we have full members. You won’t regret it, right? 」
「Un……」
「Un!」
「Yeah, none」
「Yes, no such things」
「Yes, it’s all right」

Everyone was mentally prepared. Seiya made sure to confirm their determination.

「Understood. The plan starts tonight. Let’s leave immediately」

In that way, the Moka Fenix rescue operation started by one boy and five girls.

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Thank you for reading. At this time, I don’t know what I should do about everything. For some my reason, my head was full of thoughts about the last episode of the current chapter and the synopsis of chapter four, it was hard to write anything at all. [¹] The story is on its way to a conclusion. At last, one of the Demon Kings appears in the story. Look forward to it!

Nevertheless, the author is going to become a disabled person tonight. To be precise, by the end of this day I may become a difficult person. Ah, the last feather is always the hardest…… [²]

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「Selena」
「Leave it to me」

When Mona called Selena, she pulled out her magic guns, aimed, and fired.

With a pull of the triggers, the magic bullets flew out and decimated the monkey-like magical beasts.

「Another one appeared……」
「Roger」

When Yua discovered a new monkey-like magical beast, Selena pointed her magic guns in its direction, pulled the triggers and released the magic bullets again. And again, it was blown away.

Right now, the six were closing in on the Great Dakuria Empire. In the morning, they had breakfast and were on the move ever since.

On the way they passed by the two small mountains, yet didn’t encounter any magical beasts, their road was unobstructed. However, the moment they entered a forest, the attacks were coming their way non-stop.

They proceeded with Selena as the main attacker as Aishi and Lily assisted her. Like that, they were able to travel uninhibited.

Once the monster’s ranks were hit by mana bullets, they weren’t able to catch up with the six, who had their magic horses. Instead of fighting them to the end, the six decided to avoid direct confrontations as much as possible.

「One more incoming」
「I got it」

Mona discovered another magical beast.

However, the atmosphere surrounding that beast was different from the others. A magical beast that gave a feeling of being a high rank. Its appearance resembled a lion, the king of the beasts.

「Wait, bird woman. Don’t mess with this one」
「Eh? But…..」

She certainly felt that it was different from the other magical beasts, but she thought that it wasn’t that exaggerated.

As such, Selena, who was already in position to shoot, became confused at his instructions.

「Listen here, we aren’t so free to fight it. Everyone, full speed! We are going to shake it off」

Listening to his orders, everyone increased their speed to the maximum.

However, the lion-like beast didn’t let them go and chose to pursue.

Its speed was comparable to a magic horse at maximum speed, they weren’t able to open any distance.

Then, Selena and Aishi tried to aim for its legs to slow it down only to be stopped by Seiya.

Seiya ignored their questioning expressions and continued to ride at full speed.

However, they weren’t convinced and ignored his warning. They released a spell towards the lion-like beast.

「Maiden of ice『Ice and Snow』」
「Divine protection of fire『Fire Stake』」

When the two released their spells, the ground beneath the lion-like beast was covered in ice.

By covering the ground in ice, she severely inhibited its mobility.

Meanwhile, Selena tried to pierce its leg with a fire stake to completely stop it. The fire stake splendidly hit the lion-like beast and pinned it to the ground.

「How was that?」

Selena looked at Seiya with a smug expression. Aishi too, different from her usual self, looked slightly proud.

Recently, Seiya was somewhat able to distinguish emotions on Aishi’s always expressionless face.

However, Seiya wasn’t that happy over this. His expression was that of impatience.

Seeing his expression, the two wondered whether there was a need to worry so much. They thought that they would be able to escape if they pinned his down.

To these two, Seiya said as if blaming them.

「You two are idiots. Why did you act? 」
「What do you mean by idiots? We succeeded in stopping it」
「Can’t be helped. You two should stay away. Yua! I leave the support to you」

Selena and Aishi, who couldn’t comprehend its actions, didn’t know what was going on.

Mona and Lily were the same, only Yua understood the implications of this situation.

Yua immediately stopped her horse and jumped off. Seeing that his fiancée understood his idea, he smiled. However, his face hardened right after and he jumped off his horse.

When he looked at the lion-like beast again, the ground beneath it wasn’t covered in ice any longer. Selena’s fire stake was nowhere to be found too. Once Selena and Aishi noticed that they were left speechless.

「Why……」
「This is a lie…..」

The two were surprised at their magic disappearing without a trace.

The two didn’t know how this magical beast was able to erase their magic. They encountered the types of beasts, which were immune to magic, before, but just like Seiya, Aishi cast her spells on the environment to slow them down.

The magical beasts aren’t supposed to erase already cast spells.

The spell had successfully affected the ground below it.

However, this spell disappeared without anything left behind. This situation was beyond Aishi’s understanding.

The moment Seiya saw the lion-like beast, he remembered a certain magical beast. That beast caused them to suffer a lot in the Great Dalis Canyon before finally being defeated.

The white tiger beast with the lightning attribute. The beast before them resembled the lightning beast a lot. That’s why Seiya chose to avoid it before everything else.

Even if they are the magical beasts, a beast that can use magic is stronger than an average magician. They didn’t have time to entangle themselves with something like this.

But with Selena and Aishi having launched an attack, they had no choice but to fight. The beast wouldn’t have used magic as long as they would have kept running. However, once they showed the will to fight, it won’t restrain itself any longer.

This made their escape impossible.

「Leave it to me and Yua. The rest should watch over the surroundings. Yua, I will approach it first」
「All right…….be careful…….」
「Yeah」

Seiya summoned his twin swords, the Hollins, and slowly walked towards the magical beast.

His movements showed no openings, yet it looked natural as if he was strolling in a city. The lion-like beast too slowly walked towards Seiya, but he could feel the thick killing intent from the beast.

The rest looked at him with worried eyes, only Yua wasn’t anxious and had a firm belief in him.

When they were separated by no more than 10 meters, Seiya moved into action. He put mana of the light attribute into his legs and accelerated, quickly shortening the distance between them.

The lion-like beast couldn’t react to his sudden acceleration and lost sight of him. In the next moment, a cut appeared on its right front leg and blood flowed out.

Guruuaaaaa

Feeling the pain from the cut, the magical beast roared. However, in the next moment, the wound began to regenerate and was quickly healed.

「As I thought」

Seeing it wounds recovering, he confirmed his speculations.

「Yua, it is fire-attributed」
「What are you going to do?」
「Well, I should manage by myself」
「Understood……then I’m watching you………」
「Yeah, I leave everyone in your care」

If Seiya wanted to do it by himself, Yua had no intentions to stop him. This was a proof of her trust as well as her desire to not drag him down.

Seiya in the demon king mode can immediately dispatch a monster of this caliber. But with everyone present, forget about the demon king mode, most likely, he couldn’t even show his dark attribute.

But even like that, he was stronger than Yua. That’s why she didn’t want to get in his way or be hated by him.

「This is…..wha…….」

The rest, who were still on the horses, were stunned. That voice could express the thoughts everyone had in their heads right now.

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As a result of each group picking one person, the first 3-hour period was Aishi’s and Lily’s.

The first watchman, Aishi, looked somewhat more spirited than usual. On the other hand, Lily looked scared of Aishi.

「Best regards, Lily」
「Uh, un」

Previously, Lily received a trauma when she stayed at Nari’s house, but since Seiya and Yua were enjoying themselves, she didn’t tell them.

After roughly three hours. Seiya opened his eyes. Yua was asleep next to him. He tried to leave the tent without waking her up, but since she grabbed his sleeve, it proved to be more difficult than he expected.

Without any other choice, he took off his jacket and went outside in a shirt.

After that, Yua hugged the jacket and relaxed.

Seiya switched with Lily and sat on the riverbank.

Lily was guarding together with Aishi, returned to the tent with sleepy eyes. Most likely, she will fall asleep immediately.

When Seiya was looking at his tent, a single girl came out from the other tent.

「So you came from the student council’s side」

If front of Seiya stood Selena, who let her hair loose instead of her usual twin tails.

With the loose hair, she looked more graceful than strict. For a moment, Selena made an unpleasant expression but still sat next to him.

「And there is lolicon from your side. So you have some gentlemanly qualities after all」
「You are quite diligent yourself」
「I can’t just sit still. This operation is also for my sake」
「That’s true」

The two had such a conversation while sitting by the riverbank.

The two were discussing the rotation of guards. When the watch is split into three sections, the ones guarding in the middle receive the most of the burden.

Especially, the night watch. It was related to the matter of sleep.

Taking this time as an example. Lily and Aishi, who went first, can sleep for six hours after their shift.

Yua and Mona, who are on the last shift, can sleep for six hours before they need to guard.

However, for Seiya and Selena, who can only sleep for 3 hours before and after their shift, it is undoubtedly harder. That’s precisely why Seiya picked this time.

「Well, I’m counting on you for three hours」
「Yeah, same here」

The silence was born between them.

Only the sound of the flowing water was present. It wasn’t that surprising for silence to be born.

Although it was called a watch, they annihilated every monster they came across while they traveled. That’s why monsters were afraid to approach their camp.

Even if they do attack, with their ability it won’t be difficult to dispose of them.

「The stars are sure beautiful」
「Eh?」

Selena looked at Seiya, who was stargazing, then also looked up. It was a beautiful sky full of stars.

Each star gave a feeling of competing with the others in brightness, thus creating a mesmerizing scenery.

「It’s true. Beautiful」
「Somehow, with this starry sky you can easily forget that you’re still in the dark territory」
「Right. Hey, lolicon」
「What? 」

Selena suddenly called him in a gentle voice.

「Thank you」
「What’s up with that all of a sudden?」

Seiya was confused at her sudden gratitude. But he wasn’t the only one confused, Selena was the same.

She herself didn’t know why she suddenly had the urge to thank him. However, she thought that she must say it and it came out from her mouth before she noticed.

「Un. Thank you for coming with us to the dark territory. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to even reach here」

Gazing at the starry sky, she mysteriously felt herself becoming more honest.

If it was the usual her, she would have strongly retorted, but right now, she was honest with herself. More than that, she just said what she thought.

「Don’t mind. I accompanied you for Nari’s sake. You should thank me after we successfully rescue her」
「Sure」

Selena was honest indeed.

Usually, she would have returned a strong reply, but now she just accepted his words. Whether it was due to the starry sky, she didn’t know.

However, it was sure comfortable.

「Hey, what kind of place is our destination?」
「Who knows. I don’t know that much. Nevertheless, whatever happens, I will definitely deliver everyone back to the Leiria Kingdom in one piece」
「How reassuring」

Selena didn’t want to end this comfortable time.

「Of course. If I don’t, I won’t see the end of it from that Bagil guy」
「You seem to be on good terms with each other」
「I don’t know whether we are on good terms or not, but he is a person of the trustworthy category」
「I see. Do I qualify to be in the trustworthy category? 」

The usual Selena would have taken back this question in a fluster, but she didn’t have such intentions right now. Her expression was a mix of expectation and anxiety.

「Of course. If I didn’t trust the student council, I wouldn’t have taken you with me」
「I see」

Hearing his answer, her expression was somewhat disappointed.

After that, they talked about irrelevant things and watched the sky. Seiya was lying on the riverbank and stargazing, Selena too looked at the stars while lying down.

Maybe because 3 hours have already passed, Mona and Yua came out from their tents.

When Yua saw the two stargazing next to each other, she was displeased for a moment, but immediately laid next to Seiya and grabbed his hand.

Once Selena saw that, she looked at her and Seiya’s hand but swiftly stood up and went back to her tent.

「I’m leaving it to you」

Saying this, Selena entered her tent. When Mona saw such Selena, she「Arara」looked at Seiya.

Without caring about her gaze, he grabbed Yua’s hand back. About 10 minutes after that, Seiya decided to return to his tent and sleep.

When he entered inside, he saw Lily using his jacket as a hugging pillow and patted her head.

With her head patted, she, despite still being asleep, revealed a stupid grin. While watching such Lily, he laid down and let his consciousness be embraced by the darkness.

At the same time, in another tent.

「What happened back then…….I….」

Her face was bright red and she felt extremely embarrassed.

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「I understood about our destination. But I want to know before everything else. Who on earth are you, no, you three? 」

Mona was firmly looking at Seiya. This question was bound to be asked eventually. Mona won’t be satisfied with a half-hearted answer.

「What do you mean by「Who are you?」」

He asked to confirm what exactly she wanted to know, even though it was meaningless. He understood what Mona wanted to hear, but it wasn’t an easy thing to tell.

Mona was aware that they weren’t too eager to tell about themselves, but for the sake of the future, she couldn’t dismiss it.

If she is to believe his story, this time their opponents were some unknown people. To raise the success rate of the operation, it was necessary to trust each other as a team. However, in the current situation, she could work with them but couldn’t trust them.

「There are a lot of things I want to hear. First, from where did you come from? You suddenly transferred to our academy and became the strongest team. I didn’t hear of any famous magicians of Kiritsuna family. Not just that, you are the fiancé of Yua-san, who is a daughter of a special magician. Just how did it come into being? 」

In reality, this question bothered not just Mona, but the whole Arsenia Magic Academy.

A mysterious magician that appeared like a comet and shook the academy with his status of Yua’s fiancé. Immediately after, he defeated the student council and became the strongest in the academy.

Mona’s questions didn’t end with just that.

「Also, what kind of magic did you use in the church? I neither heard nor saw such magic before. It looked like the magic was erased, but if there was such magic, you would have been scouted by the Holy Church long ago. Yet, you aren’t affiliated with the Holy Church. In addition, you seem to have a friendly relationship with one of the thirteen apostles, Bagil Eight-sama, and you also consider each other on equal standing. Not just that, you know the information that could only be accessed by the highest echelons of the Holy Church. Are you going to say that you are an apostle yourself? There is an apostle of the same age, but your surname is different, right? 」

Mona’s doubts grew the more she spent time around Seiya. The same applied to Aishi and Selena.

「I have something to ask too. In a fight against me, lolicon was able to calmly deal with my『Atos』. How could you remain completely unfazed against that? Any normal magician won’t be able to do it」

Selena bombarded him with the question of her own.

She was stunned when he dealt with her strongest attack, but when she thought about it later, she found it eerie how calm he was.

Selena knew only one student who was capable of something like that, but it wasn’t Seiya.

「And it’s not only you. Yua-san too. Yua-san brought out the harpoons and tent parts just a while ago, is it summoning magic? If it is summoning magic, why are you even keeping the tent parts with you? In most of the cases, summoning magic can only summon a single thing object. When you fought us, you summoned a rapier, a hammer, and a bow. How is this even possible? 」

Mona’s doubts not only concerned Seiya, but also extended to Yua. The being the pattern, the next one was for Lily. The one who questioned Lily was Aishi.

「Lily too. Are you really a magician? I could only see that as directly manipulating the water. Besides, you turned an adult. You can’t have such ability at a young age」
「Eh? 」

Lily became confused from Aishi’s questions. At this rate she was about to confess everything so Seiya intervened.

「Take it easy. You ask too fast」
「True. I apologize, I was too agitated. However, it you won’t answer, we won’t be able to entrust our backs to you」

Mona apologized for her behavior, but it seemed that she wouldn’t retreat. Selena and Aishi were the same, they firmly looked at Seiya.

「Everything that I’m about to say is the truth. I want to especially point it out」
「I understand」
「I got it」
「Yes」

The three properly replied. But at the same time, they were hesitant to know the answers. They were hesitant to know his true identity.

Instinctively, they understood that they should know it for the sake of the future. They perked their ears, while being nervous.

「First thing first, I did come from Aquaristan but from Windistan. I was a student of Senabia Magic Academy. That being said, I’m probably considered dead there」
「Dead? 」

Mona was full of doubts. Whether he dropped, transferred, or went missing, they shouldn’t have listed him as dead if something happened to him outside the academy.

If something happens to the student outside of the academy grounds, he would be listed as a drop out.

「That’s right」

Seiya affirmed her question. No one would record the death of a student under normal circumstances, she had no choice but to wonder about it.

Seiya, the「dead」exception, begun his explanation.

「Although no one usually records students as dead, there is a single exception to this rule」
「But it can’t be……this is impossible…」

The president of the student council, Mona, seemed to notice, but the other two weren’t aware. Mona, who understood what he implied, gazed at him with a surprised expression.

「That’s precisely what happened. I was officially「killed」in the dark territory」

Following Seiya’s statement, Selena’s and Aishi’s expression showed the understanding. The two realized the reasons behind this treatment.

The only exception to this rule for the magic academies is when「a student that was killed by a magician in the dark territory, if the body can’t be recovered, he is to not to be treated a dropout 」.

Normally, magicians should protect themselves by their own power. If something ever happens to them, it is treated as their own responsibility.

However, the incidents involving magicians in the dark territory are treated differently. When a magician due to some abnormal circumstances kills another magician, it goes beyond their own responsibility.

If his body wasn’t discovered, the possibility of him being alive still remains, as such, he won’t be dropped out.

In case he is treated as dead, the personal student file still exists. Those who left the academy by themselves or went missing need to complete a certain procedures to return to the academy. But if you wish to attend academy again after your 「death」, you can do it without any troublesome procedures.

That’s why these cases are considered as exceptions. That being said, no one had the chance to enjoy this privilege yet.

「One day, I was caught up in a ploy of a certain advanced magician clan from Freestan and brought out to their base in the dark territory together with a few of my classmates. After I escaped, I found Yua and Lily there. Once we were out of the facility, we decided to go to Aquaristan instead of Freestan. For that reason, we traveled through the dark territory」

At this point, Seiya was already lying.

Lily’s identity is a fairy and they met her in the Great Dalis Canyon. But it would be bothersome to go into the details, so he ended up saying that they met after breaking out of the facility.

The three, who listen to the story, were left speechless. That wasn’t difficult to understand. After all, they heard how he suddenly was kidnapped, suddenly escaped, and traveled through the dark territory. They didn’t know what kind of reaction they should make.

At the same time, they were able to understand something. The reason for their strong attachment to life.

The experience of Seiya and the others weren’t normal. They experienced a moment of life and death.

It was no wonder that they became stronger than the student council. Thinking about that, they realized their own naivety.

「When speaking about going to Aquaristan, you need to pass the Great Dalis Canyon first」

When they heard about the Great Dalis Canyon, the three shivered for a moment. They knew about it from the book, but were in the dark regarding the real circumstances. However, they knew that it was impossible to cross it without sufficient ability.

「When I was conquering the Great Dalis Canyon, I landed myself in a life or death crisis, and before I noticed, I broke through my limits. That’s how I obtained my current power. That power happens to be dangerous so I hide it with the help from Raiga and Bagil. This is our story」

Seiya stopped at this point.

He told the student council about their origins, but didn’t touch on the details of their ability. However, they didn’t want to ask anything else.

They weren’t sure if it was okay to dig deeper into his past.

「Tomorrow we will ride early so let’s bring an end to our discussion. We will occupy this tent, you can use the other one」

While saying that, Seiya walked towards a newly built tent. Yua and Lily followed him, and three entered inside.

However, right after that, Seiya poked out his head from the tent and told them.

「About the night watch. How about one person from each tent for 3 hours. Each shift is three hours」

The student council members looked each other in the eyes, confirmed their intentions and nodded. After that, they went inside their tent, decided the rotation and retired for the night.

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World Chronicle. It is a history of a period before the appearance of magic. Before the Leiria Kingdom was founded, there was a single god. The people worshiped the god as well as his two children.

The people back then weren’t aware of the concept of magic and weren’t able to utilize it.

One day, the god, who ruled the land for hundreds of years, died. The people thought that one of his two sons would become their leader. However, the god’s children considered each other as obstacles.

Due to that, the sons of god fought each other.

The god had a special power. Sometimes he「created objects」, sometimes he「erased objects」, sometimes「cured the disabled」, sometimes「relieved the pain and suffering」, sometimes「hardened the fragile bones」.

That’s why he was called a god.

That power was, of course, inherited by his children and used in their fight. The people felt as if the world was about to end and prayed for them to stop fighting as soon as possible.

However, the god’s children fight wasn’t about to end anytime soon. The god’s children had different powers from each other. One didn’t have the power to「erase objects」, the other wasn’t able to「create objects」.

Having the opposite powers, they recognized each other as enemies and decided to kill.

The people, who have been spectating the never-ending battle, at some day, joined it. They were driven by their desire to dispel the fear from the rest of the people.

The people pledged themselves to the god’s children, whom they believed in, and joined the fight. The god’s sons granted their respective divine protections to their followers.

That was mana. The people accepted the mana and obtained the power of god.  But only the powers of「erase objects」and「create objects」didn’t manifest in any of them.

The war escalated and involved the whole humanity. The people fought with everything on the line and the day to settle everything finally arrived. It happened after 30 years of fighting.

In the end, the god’s child, who had the power to「create objects」, killed the god’s child, who had the power to「erase objects」.

With that, the leader’s position was decided and the world was finally at peace. The new god with the power to「create objects」hunted and executed the allies of his enemy, who had the power to「erase objects」. As a result, he created a world void on any opposition.

After that, the new god married and left the world to his children. That was the beginning of the Leiria Kingdom. However, the magical beasts that appeared out of nowhere disrupted the peace and severed the god’s bloodline.

With the god’s clan destroyed, the people left the country to the god’s clan subordinates. That was the beginning of the Holy Church.

And once the Holy Church discovered anyone with the power to「create objects」, they passed a position of the leader to that person. However, for some reason every single person was female and everyone came to call them as goddesses.

That’s how the Leiria Kingdom arrived at this point.

It is compulsory knowledge in the academy. It falls under the kingdom’s history. On a side note, the reason why the country has kingdom in its name while not having any royalty is that the Holy Church still honors the god’s clan.

「But why did you suddenly remember the World Chronicle?」

Selena’s question as troubling everyone present except Seiya. Except for the privileged few, no one knows about the Great Dakuria Empire in the Leiria Kingdom. No one even thinks about such a possibility.

That’s why, following his next words, the student council members lost their words.

「But what if the god’s child with the power to「erase objects」managed to survive?」
「Seiya……?」

Even Yua, who was aware of the dark element, couldn’t hide her surprise. Raiga told her about dark magic, but he never mentioned any outsiders.

He couldn’t predict how this knowledge could have affected her. That’s why he only told her about dark magic and the countermeasures against it.

「………..」

Lily, instead of losing her words, felt as if she remembered something. However, her face was that of uncertainty. She didn’t show any surprise after learning about the Dakuria.

(So I ended up remembering it………)

Inside of Lily, another Lily muttered so. The adult Lily’s face was stiff. However, the child Lily didn’t hear her voice.

「Is it even possible?」
「It’s hard to believe it without any evidence」
「I don’t believe」

The student council members completely denied that possibility.

It wasn’t difficult to understand. Yua, who knows about the existence of the dark element, can perhaps associate the power to「erase objects」with it, but the student council, who doesn’t know, can’t easily accept it.

It denied their common sense. It was like saying「There were humans with wings in the past, some of them are still flying in the sky」and asking to believe in it. There was no way they could believe that.

「Well, it is indeed unbelievable, However, it is true. A part of the Holy Church believes it」
「In that case, do you have a proof? 」

Aishi sharply replied. Truth be told, it was difficult to present a proof.

For example, if Seiya showed his dark attribute and said「I’m one of them」, they might have believed him. However, that would have created trust problems and thus hindered the rescue operation.

Without any other choice, Seiya decided to proceed as it is.

「There is no evidence that I can show to you」
「Then I can’t possibly……..」
「Ah, that’s fine for now. Please listen to my story until the end」

Aishi faltered for a moment under his serious eyes. Selena and Mona didn’t say anything. Once Aishi saw that and also assumed an attitude of a listener.

Although, deep inside they considered this story quite ridiculous.

「The god’s child with the power to「erase objects」somehow survived and retreated from the territory of the current Leiria Kingdom with a group of his trusted comrades. Then, he went deep into the current dark territory」
「Didn’t he fight with the magical beasts back then? 」

Selena intended to listen quietly at first but doubted his ability to move in the dark territory unobstructed.

Even if he was a god’s child, his power wasn’t different from magic. Listening to his story, it was even closer to mana than to the magic. There was no way to survive in the dark territory with these conditions.

Instead of Seiya, Mona answered Selena’s question.

「The magical beasts didn’t exist at that time. They were the reason why the god’s bloodline died out, but there were no indication of them when the god’s child ruled the land, Selena」
「Precisely. At that time, there were no monsters in the dark territory. Even if there were some, they should have been on the level of wild beasts like tigers and bears」
「I see. Sorry for interrupting」

Selena was convinced by Mona’s argument. The World Chronicle wasn’t that important to always keep in mind, so she wasn’t sure of the exact event sequence. Yua had the same question, but since Selena asked first, there was no need for her to ask again.

「Don’t worry. The god’s child traveled a long distance from the Leiria Kingdom and established a new country there. The country was named as the Great Dakuria Empire. This country still exists」

At this point, Mona noticed.

「Then the kidnapper of Moka-san…….」

Mona finally discarded her carefree attitude from before. Previously she thought that his story was ridiculous, but now it started making sense.

Mona remembered the problem about this whole incident.

That is「Why did he aimed for Moka? Why did he choose that timing? 」. The question itself was simple. A lot of tourists came to the city of Moru due to the Aquamarine.

The church’s people became busy, but if you think that the security became weaker, you are wrong. The are strong magicians and the people affiliated with the Holy Church mixed with the crowd. The security looks lax at the surface, but they would be able to immediately react to any emergencies.

Moreover, their response would be even stronger than usual. Adding to that, 『Fenix’s Flames』is extremely important to the Holy Church.

Adding to that, 『Fenix’s Fire』is extremely important to the Holy Church. Stealing something like that before the eyes of the Holy Church is a serious provocation.

The best timing to kidnap would have been one week after the Aquamarine. At that time, the Holy Church’s people would have returned, the security would have returned to its normal state. No, thanks to the afterglow of the Aquamarine, it would have been even weaker.

However, the fact that he didn’t choose that timing hinted that he was either ignorant or wanted to pick a fight with the Holy Church.

If you pick f fight with the Holy Church, the apostles would be sent after you. There are no people, who wish for that to happen.

That means, he is ignorant. The being said, the Aquamarine is a famous festival in the whole Leiria Kingdom, you can easily investigate it beforehand. In that case, you should be able to notice that this timing is wrong.

Nevertheless, the criminal chose that timing. In short, he is stupid, or just ignorant, or both.

According to Seiya’s story, Dakuria’s people shouldn’t see the Leiria Kingdom in a good light. In that case, this incident makes sense.

Thinking up to this point, Mona started to faintly believe Seiya’s story.

「You are right. Moka Fenix was kidnapped by a person from the Dakuria」
「There is no way I can believe this」
「I agree with Selena-senpai」

The two tried to deny Seiya’s conclusion, but Mona stopped them.

「His story explains a lot of things. I find it difficult to completely reject it」

After that, Mona told them about her speculations. The two weren’t completely convinced, but they understood her logic.

「Something like this…….」
「Then the place we are heading to……..」

Towards the two, who lost their words, Seiya said.

「Right. We are heading towards the 2nd district under the Great Dakuria Empire」

The destination voiced by Seiya was something none of them could think of. They didn’t know what kind of place it is. The only thing they did know was that they need to cooperate between the six of them before even reaching there.

Yua immediately believed in the existence of the Dakuria.

It wasn’t difficult to reach that conclusion. Raiga told her only about the dark magic, but there should be people, who can use it.

It was magic unknown to the public, but since Raiga was able to teach her about it, he should have met someone who could use it before.

However, there were no rumors in the country about such an encounter. In other words, it happened outside the country.

There are no other perfect candidates except the people of the Dakuria.

「I understand…….」

Yua answered with strong determination. She put a lot of things into her determination, but the biggest one was the desire to follow after Seiya anywhere.

「Lily too!」

Lily was uneasy just a while before, but now, her vigor was with her again. Lily wasn’t different from her usual hyperactive self.

The student council felt the need to settle their thoughts. Both, Selena and Aishi, recognized that they had no choice but to believe Seiya.

「I get it」
「I understand」

Deep inside, they still weren’t ready to believe. But at the same time, they felt as if they had to.

That left Mona, but her face was even more serious than before.

「I understood about our destination. But I want to know before everything else. Who on earth are you, no, you three? 」

Mona firmly looked at Seiya. So this question finally appeared, thought Seiya.

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When the sun was about to set, you could spot the six on a mountain path in the dark territory.

Close to the beautiful river, you could see the two tents and a bonfire. At the first glance, it looked like someone was on a pleasure outing, but it wasn’t that relaxed. It was a camping spot for the advance team for Moka Fenix rescue operation.

After they left the church, the six rode the horses for half a day.

On the way, they were looked at strangely by the gatekeepers, but once they saw the 『Request from the thirteen apostles』issued by Bagil, they immediately changed their attitude and let everyone pass.

After that, the six traveled non-stop for half a day and stopped only when the sun was about to set.

There were no humans and, most likely, monsters around the campsite, except for the six. The river quietly flowed and the fish were leisurely swimming in it. The student council was gawking at every little thing they saw during their first trip in the dark territory.

Actually, the horses weren’t ordinary horses either. The six were using a special breed of a horse called『Magic Horse』accessible only to the apostles, their direct subordinates, and the special magicians.

Unlike a normal horse, 『Magic Horse』is able to use mana. That being said, they aren’t able to generate mana themselves, so they need to be powered by the mana of the rider.

A magic horse powered by the mana is able to exert more power than usual. They might have traveled for half a day, but it would have taken 5 days on the normal horses.

Of course, they weren’t able to maintain their speed forever, that’s why they camped near the river to rest.

Naturally, they bumped into the magical beasts on the way, but since it was just a one-sided annihilation, they didn’t slow down.

Most of the time, he was leaving the monsters to the student council, but when they weren’t able to cope he intervened himself. This wasn’t very effective but was implemented to let the student council adapt to fighting the magical beasts.

The student council was able to annihilate most of the monsters, yet Selena with her magic guns was a masterpiece.

As soon as she saw a monster, she pulled out the magic guns, fired a mana bullet, it hit the monster’s head and the end.

Selena’s appearance, when she was shooting in the head every moving thing while riding a horse, resembled a cowboy.

Thanks to that, there weren’t many chances for Seiya to participate. By the way, Seiya was in charge of magic-immune boar-headed bears called boads.

In that case, Seiya used the dark magic to erase soil under their feet and create the improvised pitfalls.

While they advanced, they spotted a river and decided to camp on a riverbank.

Originally, Selena wanted to continue going forward, but she reluctantly gave up due to Mona’s persuasion. Even if they decided to camp there overnight, there was a problem of bedding. There, Yua’s holy attribute showed its usefulness.

She used the holy attribute to produce enough iron bars to construct the frames of the tents and assembled it. As to why she wasn’t able to produce the tents with the skeleton already installed, it was because of the materials being too different from each other.

In short, only one material can be produced at one time. Since Yuriel was completely metallic there was no problem, but to create metal and cloth at the same time was too difficult. That’s why she had no choice but to split the skeleton and cloth.

In this way, the rescue operation met no difficulties until now. With the bedding situation resolved, it was time to solve the food problem.

Fortunately, there was enough water due to the river, but the food was another matter. There, everyone decided to catch some fish from the river.

「Yua」
「All right……」

Being called by Seiya, Yua immediately guessed what he wanted. Yua activated『Holy Creation』and made a large number of harpoons. Seiya grabbed them and approached the river.

「You aren’t going to……」
「Isn’t it a little difficult to pull off?」
「Reckless」

The student council wasn’t that optimistic about his idea. It was impossible for an amateur to succeed on his first attempt.

Instead of doing that, you can use different ways to fish, they thought. However, Seiya immediately proved them wrong, with Lily’s help that is.

「Lily, do not hold back」
「Un!」

As she was told, she faced the river and lifted her hands in the air with great momentum. Immediately, a part of the river rose in the air.

Lily was an Undine, a water fairy. Manipulating the water was the same as eating breakfast for her. The water was suspended in the air for a moment and then fell down into the river, fish not included.

No matter how fast the fish in the water is, it can’t do anything in the air. Seiya kept throwing the harpoons towards the fish suspended in the air one after another. In a blink of an eye, he nailed about 20 fishes.

「It can’t be happening……」
「That was amazing」
「So it wasn’t stupidity」

The student council’s members lost their words at the incredible performance.

「As expected of Seiya…….」
「Lily worked hard too!」
「Yeah, thanks, Lily」
「Un!」

Seiya patted Lily’s head while being stared at by Yua. And after being patted by Seiya, Lily immediately recovered. Seeing Lily enjoying by herself, Yua requested for the same treatment.

The student council started doubting their common sense, looking at this scenery.

「All right, we have the ingredients. All that is left is cooking……」

Looking at the caught fish, Seiya contemplated how to handle them. The reason being, he never had any contact with cooking before.

There he looked at his own fiancée, but he never saw her cooking before. Of course, Yua’s answer was negative. Lily didn’t require food to live in the first place, so she never bothered.

With things as they were, the student council was his only hope, but

「Can’t help it, give them to me」

Selena voluntarily stepped forward.

And after few tens of minutes, many dishes appeared before everyone. Grilled fish, boiled fish, some kind of soup and other things.

「Did the bird woman make all of these?」
「That’s right, Do you have any complaints?」
「No, just thought it is amazing」
「I-Is that so?」

Yua furrowed her brows for a moment, but no one noticed. Everyone tasted Selena’s dishes.

Seiya decided to start with the soup. The moment he tasted it, his eyes narrowed.

「Delicious! You are incredible, bird woman! 」
「Y-You think so?」
「Yeah, to the extent of wanting to eat it everyday」

After tasting her soup, Seiya displayed a wide smile. Her soup produced a great impact on him.

He felt his whole body warming up the moment he brought a spoon to his mouth,

「E-e, every day?! It is not like I did it for you! 」[¹] 「Yeah, I know. I just wanted to say that it is tasty enough to want to it eat every day」
「I know」

Looking at Selena, Yua secretly swore to raise her cooking skill.

「Everyone, can I have a moment?」

However, it was time to dispel this carefree atmosphere. Seiya gathered everyone’s attention and spoke about everyone’s future actions.

「I want to talk about the things ahead of us. However, do you know the world chronicle? 」
「Is that a story about the origin of magic?」

Selena answered Seiya’s question with a question of her own.

「Right. Before the formation of the Leiria Kingdom, there was a sole god in this world. The people lived while worshipping that god」
「I know. That god had two children, who were later called god children」

Mona knew about this. In the first place, it is told in the academy’s history lessons in the beginning of your studies.

As long as you attend the history lessons, you should be aware. If you didn’t know, that indicated that you never attended in the first place. There was no way for the student council to be in that category.

Yua looked like she knew. The only one left was Lily, but she also knew for some reason.

Then, Seiya quietly told them, about the origin of everything.

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Seiya and Bagil concluded their business and went out of the conference room where the others were waiting for them.

「Seiya……」

Yua anxiously looked at Seiya. Towards such a Yua, Seiya told her the plan of action.

「We are to form the advance party for Moka Fenix rescue operation and venture ahead of everyone else. The apostle’s troops will reunite with us later and our task is to hold out until then」

Hearing Seiya’s report, everyone’s expressions hardened.

「All right…..」
「All right!」
「Got it」
「I understand」
「Roger」

Meanwhile, a single girl assumed an anxious expression.

「Em, senpai…..」

Nari anxiously gazed at Seiya. Apparently, she became worried after hearing about the dark territory. Seiya said towards such Nari while patting her head.

「Don’t worry, Nari. We will definitely bring her back」

To tell you the truth, I want you to take me together with you. Nevertheless, she was aware that she would only become a burden.

That’s why Nari decided to reply in a spirited voice. She thought that it was the best he could do at the moment.

「Yes! I will leave it to you」
「No problem」

After that, the group followed Bagil in the depths of the church. There was a certain something prepared in that room.

「This is…..」
「I thought it would be difficult to fight in your current clothing, so I took a liberty to prepare the appropriate clothes」

Everyone looked at the contents of the room. It resembled the uniform of Arsenia Magic Academy, but at the same time, it didn’t. Unlike the white uniform of Arsenia Magic Academy, it was based on black.

In reality, this uniform was much more functional that your usual academy uniform.

It is resistant to physical damage, heat and has a lot of assisting functions. Originally, it wasn’t supposed to be given to someone outside of the apostle’s troops, but due to the state of emergency, Bagil brought them out.

The six changed their uniforms in the dressing room. It matched their size and was very comfortable.

When Seiya wore the uniform, he suddenly seemed more mature and radiated a certain kind sex appeal. [¹]

When Yua wore her uniform, the contrast with her white hair made her even more dazzling.

Lily looked like a kid, who tried to dress like an adult but still failed to become one.

In Selena’s case, her black knee socks attracted the most attention.

Mona was the only one who wore the tights under the skirt, it was strangely erotic.

For better or for worse, Aishi looked normal.

Once he wore the uniform, Bagil called out to Seiya.

「It seems you are ready. I prepared the horses for you. I am counting on you, Kiritsuna Seiya」
「Yeah」

Seiya’s group moved to the front of the church.

When they were passing through the hall, the adult from before stared at them with bewildered eyes. [²]

After all, the student, whom they secretly sneered at, came back in the back uniforms, which could only be used by the people directly under an apostle, and that apostle seemed to be Bagil.

Seiya ignored the adults and approached the six horses.

When the six mounted on their respective horses, Seiya loudly proclaimed.

「Let’s go」
「Un……」
「Un!」
「Yeah」
「Understood」
「Yes」[³]

The five responded to Seiya’s words and rushed out of the church. Their target was the Great Dakuria Empire in the dark territory.

After watching them for a while, Bagil returned to his room and used a visual type telepathy stone to connect to the sages of the Holy Church. The seven sages were conveniently having a meeting, so it immediately connected.

「What’s wrong, Bagil Eight?」

One of the men asked Bagil. It was a man in his fifties with a sharp look in his eyes.

Bagil immediately cut to the chase.

「Did the kidnapping of Moka Fenix reached your ears?」
「Yes, the troops are already on their way. Settle this matter properly. We can’t afford a failure」

Said the man while glaring at Bagil. Bagil proceeded with his report.

「It is about the incident, I concluded that there is a high possibility of the culprit being from the Dakuria」
「Is that true?」

Unlike the previous man, it was a man in his sixties who asked that. The eyes of this man weren’t that sharp compared to the previous man.

「It is true. Due to that, I request another two apostles to join the operation」
「Another two? Are you telling us to dispatch another two, while we already have one on this case? 」

The man raised his voice. That wasn’t unexplainable. It was unprecedented to dispatch three of the apostles on one case.

In addition, it was rare for one apostle to directly request for another one. Bagil was that serious about this incident.

「Bagil Eight. Is this case really as important as you describe it? 」

A seventy-year-old man asked Bagil.

「Yes. Considering the value of『Fenix’s Flames』I think, it would be an appropriate reaction. Depending on the circumstances, it might even escalate into a war」
「All right. We will dispatch two more of the thirteen apostles」
「This is! 」

A man objected to the old man, but he didn’t care.

「Thank you」
「Bagil Eight. As soon as your unit gathers, immediately depart for the Dakuria Empire. The reinforcements will quickly catch up later. Depending on the circumstances, I do not mind a war. Be sure to take back『Fenix’s Flames』at all costs. In the worst case kill her」
「As you will」

The conversation had ended soon after. Even considering the importance of『Fenix’s Flames』, he didn’t plan to kill Moka.

He also didn’t report about dispatching the eldest daughter of the Fenix family. In other words, he only considered rescuing her.

After that, Bagil headed for the Aquamarine before his troops gathered.

Of course, he didn’t intend to enjoy the festival. It was to find Raiga. Perhaps, Raiga will fly into a rage after hearing about everything.

But still, it was Bagil’s job to inform him. After all, the fact that he involved the students was an undeniable truth.

Originally, he wanted to entrust Raiga with this mission. However, there was a lot of paperwork involved in dispatching a special magician in the dark territory. It wasn’t a good idea due to the time constraints.

While getting depressed, he searched for Raiga.

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Once they were left alone, Bagil decided to tell him about the circumstances around this case.

「All right then, what are the details?」

At Seiya’s inquiry, he hesitated ever so slightly.

The reason is, the content touched upon a lot of the church’s secrets, which aren’t accessible for most of the advanced and even special magicians

But he couldn’t just dismiss it, so he opened his mouth and explained the circumstances.

「Do you know about the people living in the dark territory?」
「Yeah, a little」

Seiya answered that he knew about the people of the dark territory.

If there was a person who wasn’t familiar with the circumstances, he would have laughed in a loud voice.

It is a common sense in this country that no people could possibly live in the dark territory. Even if there were such people, they would be soon devoured by the monsters, which is common sense.

Then, why does Seiya know about people in the dark territory? The answer lies in the first time he switched into the demon king mode.

Demon King mode refers to his appearance in the Great Dalis Canyon. Lily, who witnessed the whole process, said that it was demon king-like.

When he turned into the demon king, a part of his memories was awoken. The memories about a father-like figure and his lessons.

The father-like person told him about the inner workings of the Great Dakuria Empire and its location.

「I see, then I will omit that part. Those people created a country and named it as Dakuria Empire. This information I got just recently, of course, it is irrelevant to us right now」

Bagil’s information was treated as classified by the top figures of the church. If someone knew that he told it to Seiya, he would be in for some trouble. However, Seiya corrected his statement.

「That is wrong. The Dakuria Empire is only the core region, like the central kingdom. The country itself is called the Great Dakuria Empire」
「What? Why do you know it? 」
「Professional secret」

Towards Seiya’s correction, Bagil asked for the detail, but, of course, Seiya didn’t say a thing.

Bagil was suspicious why he knew the information that was inaccessible even for the Holy Church. However, it wasn’t the right time to pry.

The rescue operation took priority over Dakuria.

「Whatever. There is a high possibility that the culprit behind the kidnapping came from that Great Dakuria Empire」

Bagil speculated as such from the facts he knew.

「I see. And what is your basis? 」
「His methods. A criminal from the kingdom would have acted more carefully. In the first place, aiming for『Fenix’s Flames』isn’t very likely. But the criminal destroyed everything and took her away, that is the conduct of someone who doesn’t know the position of the Fenix family in this kingdom」

Hearing his reasons, Seiya nodded.

「True enough. There are no idiots in this country who wish to turn the whole Holy Church against them」

『Fenix’s Flames』is a very special magic.

This flame is known for its miraculous ability to heal any kinds of wounds. However, due to its effects and large compensation, it is also known as『Flames of Life』and its usage is managed by the Holy Church.

Flames of life cured the wounds by spending the user’s lifespan. 『Fenix’s Flames』was classified as a forbidden spell and its usage as strictly monitored.

「Then where does he keep her?」
「You probably understood by now, right? On the contrary, I want you to tell me」

To the truth, Bagil’s side still wasn’t aware of the exact location.

He only knows that she was kidnapped by a person from the Dakuria and was brought into the dark territory. However, when Seiya heard about the Dakuria, he already had a certain place in mind.

「Oh, I have a guess. But I have no confirmation and the information is slightly outdated」
「That is fine too. Tell me the location」

Bagil said so and brought out a huge map.

The Leiria Kingdom was situated on the left side of the map. However, the Leiria Kingdom was depicted too small, so the details of its inner territories weren’t included.

But this map was created to display the dark territory, there was no problem.

「Ho, such a nice article you have here」
「Don’t tell anyone about it. Normally, this map is only accessible to the apostles and the special magicians」
「No wonder. This is too much for the public」

The fact that he showed Seiya this map was a proof of his trust. That’s why Seiya too didn’t think of betraying his trust. Besides, Seiya owed him one.

The matter of the dark attribute was a matter of course, but he also helped out in the battle with the student council.

Actually, Lily’s adult transformation became a hot topic yesterday.

As expected, no one guessed about her being a fairy, but the adults made a fuss speculating whether she disguised herself as a trainee at her age or the fact that her ability didn’t match a young girl. As a result, someone doubted the fairness of the match.

Against that, Bagil commented that she was using the water magic to change her appearance and confuse the opponent.

With the apostle saying as such, everyone was convinced and the voices of discontent quickly quieted down.

Bagil himself didn’t think of that explanation as convincing, but he couldn’t just say that she was a fairy, thus he decided to go with it. One way or another, Seiya’s group managed to conceal the truth with Bagil’s support.

「All right, regarding the location. I think it is here」
「Here? 」
「Yeah」

There was nothing written on that section of the map, but Bagil’s eyes were serious.

「Then, let’s send a squad right away」
「Stop it. Even if it is a church’s squad, they won’t be able to achieve anything」

Hearing Seiya’s opinion, Bagil thought it through once again. True enough, it wasn’t very likely for the church’s squad to bring any results.

「Understood. Then I will gather all of the dispatched teams and have them guard the surroundings of that area. Kiritsuna Seiya, how much power does one need to deal with the monsters there? 」

Seiya thought for a while and voiced his estimation.

「At the very least, you need about 10 advanced magicians. If things go awry, maybe even more」
「Would that be enough? 」
「However, it also included my wishful thinking, the reality might be harsher」

There was no lie in Seiya’s words.

「Understood. In other words, the church’s squad stands no chance」
「That’s how it is」

Seiya asked Bagil, who was thinking about the plan.

「What will you do?」
「I wanted to request Arsenia Magic Academy to stay on high alert, but it would be difficult to accomplish during the festival」
「Besides, you aren’t willing to involve any outsiders, aren’t you?」
「Kind of. It would make matters easier for me, but I can’t just tell them that you are the part of the expedition」

Hearing Bagil’s words, Seiya contemplated.

「Hey, Bagil, how long will it take for your unit to return?」
「My unit? It should take them about 2 days to return, then there is a matter of preparation for the deployment. Altogether, more than three days」

Once he heard that piece of information, he immediately decided on his actions.

「The it should be all right. We will venture out first」
「But」

Most likely, Seiya’s plan will spare a lot of other’s lives. But at the same time, it will greatly raise the risks for Seiya’s own group. He couldn’t approve of such a plan.

「Relax. We still have some power hidden. If the situation calls for it, I don’t mind saving them at the expense of my secret. Everyone’s safety if a top priority, so there is no problem」
「But even like that」

From his position’s standpoint, he couldn’t accept it. However, Seiya reminded him of something important.

「I think you know it, but the rescue operation is a race against time. The more time we spend, the less likely it is to succeed」

Seiya thought of the time when he himself was captured.

He thought he would be okay for at least three days, but he was almost turned into organs right away.

From that memory, he learned that he couldn’t be completely confident. That’s precisely why Seiya was in a hurry.

Bagil too was aware of this fact.

「Can’t help it. I’m sorry, but I will send you as an advance party. On my end, I will try to ask the other apostles for help」
「Roger」
「Also, bring this with you」
「This is……」

Bagil handed his one shining blue stone.

「This is the telepathy stone. That being said, it could only be used to contact me. If something happens, use it immediately」
「I will gratefully accept it」
「Then, by the name of the Holy Church’s apostle Bagil Eight, I officially designate you, Kiritsuna Seiya, and the team of six under your lead as the advance party. Head for the dark territory and hold your ground until the Holy Church arrives」
「Order accepted」

With this, they officially joined the operation.

「I leave it to you, Kiritsuna Seiya」
「Yeah, I will end this before you even arrive」
「Yeah, sure」

With the conversation closed, the two left the conference room.

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Everyone was surprised at Selena’s sudden declaration.

Usually, when it comes to the dark territory you leave everything for the church to handle. Besides, with the Holy Church on the move, obediently staying home is the best choice.

However, the girl before Bagil said that she wanted to search herself.

As a matter of course, Bagil tried to stop her. He couldn’t just casually send people to their death.

「I cannot allow it. I witnessed your power in the finals, and it won’t be enough. Please, think it through」

Bagil’s words were theoretically true. It was impossible for Selena to venture into the dark territory and come back alive with her strength.

It would have been fine with to venture into the dark territory close to the Leiria Kingdom, but deep inside it, you could easily find even stronger monsters.

Selena of now wasn’t capable of surviving in the depth of the dark territory. And unfortunately, Moka was brought quite deep. [¹]

Selena was aware that she was pushing her limits. However, she was a daughter who wanted to save her mother herself.

Selena desperately came up with a reason.

「But every person counts……」
「That is true. But including a magician unfamiliar with our tactics is only adding another victim」

It was cruel but it was true.

By including an amateur in the already formed team, you can endanger everyone’s lives. If a newcomer performs poorly, the whole team might be wiped out.

「But……」
「It is regretful, but leave it to us and give up」

Selena gave up persuading Bagil. She may indeed become a nuisance. However, she had her trusted comrades.

「Then I’m going too」
「Me too」

Mona and Aishi proposed to accompany her. In their eyes, Selena saw the color of determination. [²]

However, even with the two of them, Bagil’s answer was unchanged. Even if they are excellent, they are still the students, it is too early for them to venture out into the dark territory.

「Ha, I won’t allow it even with the two of you. In the first place, you know nothing about the dark territory. I can’t allow such people to venture out」

An ignorant person venturing into the dark territory. Such person is either an idiot or wants to commit suicide.

When the church’s army goes into the dark territory for the first time, it happens only after a lot of hard training and only on the outskirts.

A squad consisting of people, who already experienced the dark territory for themselves, also accompanies them. And only after they get used to the dark territory, they are allowed to go deeper.

Nevertheless, Selena’s group, although capable, was completely ignorant of the dangers inside. In these circumstances, they couldn’t be anything but a burden to the team.

Bagil didn’t let go and released his killing intent in their direction. It was for the sake of letting them experience the difference and make them give up.

Once they felt his killing intent, they become unable to move or speak. He intended to remind them of the gap between them.

But when the three were about to give up, someone disrupted his killing intent.

「What would you say if I go with them?」

It was, of course, Seiya’s voice. He had a relaxed expression, almost as if he didn’t feel anything.

「What are your thoughts, Kiritsuna Seiya?」
「I said, I will lend them a hand」
「Do you understand what you are saying?」

Asked Bagil with a blaming tone.

The addition of Seiya to the team won’t make it any weaker.

Bagil understood his strength and considered him an individual of great ability. However, at the same time, the risk of revealing his dark powers to the church was great.

If his power was ever revealed, the Holy Church would become his enemy. And if that ever happens, the special magician, Raiga Arunia will become an enemy of the church too.

No one wanted to witness such an outcome.

Bagil didn’t want that to happen, so he tried to stop him.

「With you in our team, our strength will soar, but you should be aware of the underlying problems. Do you know what I mean? 」
「Yeah, I know. More than that, tell me the number of people in your squad」
「Numbers? I planned to send six teams of six people…..」

Hearing his words, Seiya grinned.

「Understood. I and the student council makes four」
「I will also go with Seiya……」
「Five」

When Yua agreed, a young voice appeared in his head.

(Lily too!)
「Apparently Lily too. Now we have six」

Yua wants to save Moka. She was kidnapped before and emphasized with her.

If she didn’t meet Seiya back them, no one knows where she would have been right now. I was saved by Seiya before, so I will save someone myself.

Besides, she couldn’t let Seiya go alone.

The same was true for Lily. From the moment they entered the conference room, Seiya transmitted her the gist of the conversation.

Lily too wanted to save Moka. Because she was her friend’s mother and was always kind and gentle to her.

Nari helped me when I was in peril on my first day. That’s why it’s time for me to help her.

I want Nari to smile. Besides, no one could foretell what would happen if she separates from Seiya too far.

The two were determined. Seiya’s determination was there too. Seiya didn’t do it for Selena or Moka, he did it for Nari.

She was nice to Seiya’s group, who just transferred.

Nari took care of Lily when she was worried. On top of that, she let them see the information on their opponents.

That’s why it is my turn to help. Besides, he knew that Lily and Yua wanted to save her too.

「You don’t mean the six of you, right?」
「I do. Three amongst us have experienced the dark territory, it should be enough」

The student council members doubted their hearing when they heard Seiya.

Experiencing the dark territory at his age was clearly abnormal. Moreover, there were three of them.

Selena’s trio watched him weird eyes, you could see 「Who the hell is this guy? 」 written inside.

On the other hand, Bagil contemplated. Certainly, with Seiya’s trio, he could relax. The six of them might be even stronger than the church’s teams.

However, the other problem was still present.

The problem regarding Moka’s location. In reality, he had certain speculations. But it wasn’t a place where he could casually dispatch his troops. That’s why the response was delayed.

Bagil steeled himself and made the decision.

「All right. I will allow the six of you to venture out. I will handle the formalities, so please wait outside」
「Thanks」

Everyone tried to leave the room, just as he told them too. But then, Bagil stopped only Seiya from going outside.

「Wait, Kiritsuna Seiya. Let’s talk with just the two of us」

From Bagil’s expression, Seiya understood the content to a certain extent. Bagil still hid something.

Seiya took his seat again and the rest of them left the room. Then, he asked.

「So, what is it?」
「I will tell you the details about this incident」
「I see」

Hearing his words, Seiya grinned. Apparently, this case wasn’t so simple.

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Towards his demand, the receptionist showed an expression that seemed to be saying「Is this guy’s head all right? 」. The student council was no better. He didn’t just ask for an apostle, he called him by his name.

「Hey, lolicon. Calling Bagil-sama over is clearly impossible」
「That’s right. Calling an apostle is a little overboard」
「You even called him by his name」

Seiya was showered in the student council’s criticism. However, Yua and Lily weren’t surprised in the slightest.

The two were already informed about Bagil. At the same time, they understood that this case was big enough to require his assistance.

As for Nari, she was scared of the adult’s stares and hid behind Selena, thus missing the conversation.

「Etto, what is your business with him?」
「As I said, I want you to call him here」
「I was asking, what kind of matter you wish to discuss with him?」
「This is……」
「Stop right there」

When Seiya was talking with the receptionist, a brown-haired man in his twenties intruded into the conversation. The man faced Seiya, but without looking at him, he started ogling Yua and Lily on Seiya’s left and right.

Feeling his gaze, full of hidden intentions, the two hid behind Seiya’s back.

「Hee, flowers in both hands, huh? You live rather nicely. You, what’s your name? 」
「Kiritsuna Seiya」
「What? You are the rumored special…..」

When Seiya introduced himself, the hall got noisy. In reality, Seiya became quite famous with local magicians. A mysterious elementary magician, who came out of nowhere and suddenly became a fiancé.

No one was able to find anything about the Kiritsuna family, his identity caused a lot of questions to arise.

The man immediately said, while still surprised.

「I have no idea how you entered the eyes of a special magician, but what is your business with an apostle?」
「I have no duty to tell you」
「You」

Faced with his thorny attitude, the man instantly became incensed and started to chant.

It was stupidity itself to use magic in the church’s hall. However, the man, angered by his attitude, initiated a chant.

「Even if you became a special fiancé, a nameless elementary magician shouldn’t be this arrogant. I will show you the real power. My soul of fire, manifest on behalf of the fire maiden, dance…….」

The man proceeded with the chant and constructed a red magic circle. Apparently, his spell was based on the fire attribute.

Seiya looked and the brown-haired man with cold eyes.

On the other side, the spectating magicians, seeing him deploying a spell, activated their own defensive magic.

In other words, they didn’t choose to stop the man but to protect themselves.

「Haa」
「Seiya……」
「Right」

While being disappointed in this bunch of adults, he breathed a sigh, intending to stop him.

Against Seiya, maybe because he tried to cast an advanced spell, he constructed multiple magic circles. These magic circles gathered vast amounts of mana in them, telling everyone about this spell’s firepower.

However, when everyone was about to see a spell being released.

Pachin.

With a sound of something cracking, the magic circles, which he was about to deploy, disappeared without a trace.

The brown-haired man couldn’t comprehend what happened, and the other magicians were still busy with their defensive spells.

There was only a sound of Seiya sighing.

「Haa」

Seiya used the dark attribute elementary spell『Dark Wave』.

He activated the spell stealthily and quietly. But if you were to ask whether it was fine to use the dark attribute magic in the church, the answer would have been yes.

The reason is, Seiya was aware of the level of the magicians present in this building. Only three people could sense the dark attribute in this building, Yua, Lily, and Bagil.

Apparently, the main forces of the church were deployed to bolster the security of the Aquamarine after Moka’s incident.

The magicians present weren’t that high in level, so unless he said the name of a spell, he would be fine.

Seiya’s dark magic could be perceived.

In other words, he could inform Bagil about his appearance through its usage.

And just as he predicted, Bagil emerged from behind with demonic expression.

「Ba-Bagil-sama!?」

The receptionist was started at his sudden appearance. The same was true for all magicians present, including the student council.

Looking around the hall, he discovered Seiya and glared at him like a demon.

「What the hell are you doing, Kiritsuna Seiya?」

Why did you come here? Why did you use the dark attribute? He was filled with such questions, but Seiya cut straight to the chase.

「I want to talk about the kidnapping case」
「How did you…..?」

Hearing Seiya, Bagil instantly cooled down. However, he very soon discovered two red-haired girls behind him.

「Let these children pass」
「Is that all right?」
「No problem」

Although the receptionist was quietly complaining to herself, she lost to Bagil’s aura and let them pass.

「Understood. Then, please」
「Thanks」

Seiya’s group followed after Bagil and disappeared in the depth of the church.

They arrived at the small conference room. Apparently, they could hear the circumstances here.

Before entering the conference room, Seiya told Lily and Nari to stay outside. He simply didn’t want to worry Nari for no good reason. In addition, to make it easier for her, he had Lily accompany her.

Lily seemed to understand his intentions and gladly agreed.

「Thank you, lolicon」
「For what?」
「For Nari」
「Don’t dwell on it」

Just before entering the conference room, he received Selena’s gratitude, but he simply treated it as a matter of course.

When everyone took their seats, Bagil started talking. Different from their encounter in the hall, it was a gentle voice.

「Nice to meet you. I’m one of the thirteen apostles, Bagil Eight. I usually stay in the central kingdom, but right now, I came here because of a certain matter. Am I not wrong to assume you to be the eldest daughter of the Fenix family? 」
「Yes. My name is Selena Fenix」

Bagil suddenly started introducing himself without touching upon the main subject.

Bagil, who was commentating during the final match, was familiar with them to a certain extent, but he used this method to reduce Selena’s tension. With introductions finished, Bagil talked about the real purpose.

「A while ago, Selena-san’s mother, Moka Fenix-san was kidnapped. I don’t know about the criminal, but there is a high possibility that he already brought her out to the dark territory」
「It can’t be……」

Hearing him mention the dark territory, she lost her words. For a student of a magic academy, this word was just too heavy.

Seiya’s team and the academy that holds lessons in the dark territory are exceptions. Normally, it is impossible for a student to be familiar with the dark territory.

For the students, the words “dark territory” hold a certain sense of despair.

Meanwhile, hearing about the dark territory, Yua and Seiya furrowed their brows. It reminded them of their previous experiences.

Substituting for Selena, who was in no condition to talk, Seiya asked a question.

「Does the fact that the culprit is unknown means that it isn’t the same advanced magician clan as before?」
「Right. That clan is already disbanded」

When Seiya asked about the advanced magician clan, he meant the culprit behind the previous kidnappings.

Because Moka was of the fire attribute, it reminded him of the previous incident, but according to Bagil, that clan was already crushed. Therefore, they weren’t involved.

Everyone was surprised that Seiya was talking with Bagil on equal footing, but Seiya didn’t care and proceeded forward.

「Any information?」
「I don’t know who it was, but I know his purpose. His purpose…….」
「『Fenix’s Flame』」
「Correct」

Selena answered before Bagil did so.

『Fenix’s Flame』is a unique spell passed down in the Fenix family. It is an exceptional spell among its class.

Seiya knew about it from the books but wasn’t aware of the details. However, Bagil and the church’s executives were convinced that it was the culprit’s true purpose.

「Currently, even the Holy Church is on the move because of this case. All you need to do is wait. We will definitely find her」

Bagil’s decision was an obvious one. Seiya expected such outcome and Mona was of the same opinion.

However, Mona looked at Selena’s face and understood. Understood about what she was planning to do.

Mona hurriedly tried to stop Selena, but she was too late.

「I’m going to her rescue」

Selena’s voice reverberated in the room.

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「Eh, what’s wrong?」

Selena started at his sudden grab.

It wasn’t only Selena. Yua, Mona, and Aishi were the same. Yua glared at him as if saying「What are you doing? 」.

However, she immediately perceived his serious mood. And right after, following after Seiya’s statement, the shock hit them once again.

「It seems Moka Fenix-san was just kidnapped by someone.」
「Hah?」

Selena couldn’t understand the situation. That’s how it should be. After all, her hand was suddenly grabbed and she heard that her mother was kidnapped.

It is difficult to believe it in the first place and it is more so impossible to calmly accept it.

That’s why, Seiya just relayed the facts, which he heard from Lily.

Some time after Nari and Lily left the house for Aquamarine, they heard an explosion. When the two looked back in a hurry, they found that it was in the same direction as the house, from which they left just a while ago.

The two hurried home and saw the smoke rising above the Fenix family.

The church and police-like organization were already on the scene.

They looked for Moka everywhere but failed to discover her. When they heard from the church’s official that there was a big possibility of kidnapping, Lily immediately contacted Seiya.

「Are you speaking the truth?」

Faced with Seiya’s statement, Mona decided to confirm. Selena looked somewhat absent-minded and Aishi was holding her hand.

「Yeah」
「Just how did you hear that? I didn’t see you using a telepathy stone」

Mona’s question was a normal reaction. Normally, in case you need to transmit something over a long distance, you need to use a telepathy stone. However, he didn’t see the signs of him using it.

Adding to that, he suddenly proclaimed that Selena’s mother was kidnapped. It was hard to believe even if you wanted to. Selena and Aishi were of the same opinion.

From Selena’s expression, you could guess that she still hoped that it was just a bad joke. However, Yua showed her the reality.

「Seiya and Lily can talk even without a telepathy stone……..」
「Is that true?」
「Kind of」

Mona made an unbelieving expression.

Using telepathy without a telepathy stone is the same as calling people without a telephone. Even if it called a telepathy stone, you still need to speak to transmit your voice.

However, forget about a stone, he did it in silence. You can’t help but be surprised.

「Let’s assume it to be true, what should we do, Selena?」
「Eh?」

Being suddenly called, Selena released an idiotic voice. She seemed to still have a hard time to believe. Towards such Selena, Mona said.

「Put yourself together, Selena. This is your problem. We will cooperate with your decision」
「That’s right. We will follow Selena-senpai」
「You two」

Selena decided to face the reality for the first time.

「That’s right, bird woman. Now you need to decide what to do next」

Hearing Seiya’s words, Selena slapped her cheek and switched the gears.

「I got it. I have no choice since even lolicon said so. Let’s head for the church first, tell Lily and Nari to meet us there」
「Understood. Let’s go then」
「Yeah」

For now, they decided to visit the church. However, Seiya didn’t tell them everything at the moment.

That is, there was a high possibility of Moka being brought in the dark territory. He still wanted to keep it to himself. [¹]

Nothing has been decided yet. Saying so inside his heart, he moved towards the church.

The church was relatively close, so the five arrived in no time. The church was larger than any building in the vicinity, its grandeur was obvious even to the children.

In front of the church, they saw Lily and Nari, when Nari discovered Selena, she cried.

「Sister!」
「Nari!」
「Mother, it’s mother. If only I had left later, I would have been able to prevent it. I’m……」

That was Nari’s regret. If only I went out later than I did…..Nari’s heart was about to be crushed under the pressure.

Towards such Nari, Selena gently said.

「Wrong. It’s not Nari’s fault, relax」
「But…..」

Selena gently caressed the head of Nari, who was crushed under her regret.

It was for the sake of calming down Nari, as well as calming herself.

After a while, Nari calmed down and the seven opened the big door and entered inside.

Inside of the church, there was a receptionist girl behind the counter and a lot of magician-like people.

The magicians inside looked at their group all at once.

That gaze was an unfriendly one. That wasn’t something that was hard to understand. The reason is, the church wasn’t a good place for students of the magic academy.

There was a big notice board with lots of request hanging on it. The requests ranged from subjugation to collection.

According to the system, the requests from the clients arrive at the board and every magician clan picks one of them to complete.

Each request has a corresponding difficulty level. Some of them, even above the senior magician class. There are times when the church directly assigns a mission.

For example, monster subjugation. They need a swift response, so there is often no time to stick them on the board. That’s why they ask influential magician clans to immediately deal with a threat.

In other words, the area was filled with magicians searching for work. In their eyes, the students only come here to play.

As a result, they weren’t looking at Seiya’s group with good intentions.

After entering the church and receiving the glares of a bunch of adults, Yua gripped Seiya’s sleeve and Lily shrank behind him. Nari was holding Selena’s hand while scared.

This was unavoidable. A student was after all different from a full-fledged magician.

A creature that lives, eats and supports his family relying on magic.

They experienced a lot and their aura unknowingly changed.

It wasn’t surprising for Nari to become scared of them.

On the side note, Yua and Lily, who experienced the Great Dalis Canyon, weren’t scared in the least. They just wanted to stick to Seiya.

Seiya ignored the adults and approached the counter. His actions were not timid or awkward, but completely natural.

Seeing the calmly approaching Seiya, a part of adults sent him an interested gaze.

There was a beauty in her twenties behind the counter.

She wasn’t on the level of Yua and Lily, but she was still a beauty from the world’s point of view. Such beauty faced Seiya with a smile and was ready to listen to his request.

At that time, while he still didn’t manage to speak, Yua pinched his wrist for some reason.

「Greetings. What bring you here? 」

As expected of the church’s receptionist. Even towards a student, she responded by the book. However, her perfect smile cramped soon after.

「An apostle, Bagil Eight, is supposed to stay here. I want you to call him」
「Ha? 」 [²]

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On the next morning after the fierce battle with the student council, Seiya woke up in his bed. But today he wasn’t alone.

On top of the bed, he could see a figure of another person. It was Yua. Last night, she fell asleep in his room instead of her own. If it was the usual, Lily would have come with her, but last night, Yua came alone.

The reason is, Lily wasn’t at home. At this time, she probably just woke up in Nari’s house.

Yesterday, after the battle with the student council and the award ceremony, they joined with Nari and held a celebration party. There, Nari suggested Lily to spend a night in her house, and she ended up agreeing.

Therefore, Seiya and Yua spent a night with just the two of them for the first time in a while.

Seiya woke up Yua who was sleeping next to him. She was still a little sleepy, but today they couldn’t afford to oversleep.

「Wake up, Yua」
「Mn, Seiya. Good morning….」
「O, good morning」

Yua greeted Seiya and lightly kissed him. Without any intention to evade, he accepted her kiss.

After the morning kiss, they went to the dining room for breakfast.

Raiga and Kana were already present there.

「So you woke up」
「Good morning. Both of you」
「Yeah」
「Good morning……」

When the two took their seats, breakfast was brought out. And when everyone started eating breakfast, Raiga opened a conversation.

「I didn’t have a chance to tell you yesterday, but you officially became the representatives of Arsenia Magic Academy. In other words, you will compete in Leiria Magic Tournament. I think you are aware, but be careful about your power. The Holy Church hosts the Leiria Magic Tournament after all」[¹]

In reality, Leiria Magic Tournament exists to gather the outstanding magicians in one place. A festival aimed to find the talents to join the Holy Church. That’s why they often scout excellent students during the tournament.

「It is all right」
「All right…..」
「I see」

Then, Kana changed the topic. Kana wanted to replace the heavy conversation with a light one. Such is a special magician’s wife.

「By the way, are you two going to the Aquamarine today?」

Aquamarine is an annual festival to honor the water maiden held at the end of June. It is famous across the whole Leiria Kingdom. It starts in the city of Moru and lasts three days starting from today.

「Yeah」
「I’ll go…..」
「Just the two of you?」
「That’s how it seems to be」
「After all, Lily isn’t here」

Seiya and Yua were in a mood to enjoy the Aquamarine.

Lily will go around with Nari and join them on the second day. Because of that, today, there were only two of them today.

「Yes, excessive flirting in public is prohibited」

Kana teased the two with a grin.

「It’s fine, I will choose the right place first」
「Un……」
「Ara」
「Haa」

Kana let their remarks slide while Raiga breathed a sigh. Breakfast concluded on that note.

Aquamarine became increasingly active after its opening, even more than Christmas Eve. There was twice the number of stalls, but more than that, the number of people was overwhelming.

It spanned across the 2-kilometer-long street and was filled to the brim with people, to the extent that you needed to make an effort to proceed further. To make matters worse, the procession will pass here on the final day.

So the streets were filled to the brim on the first day and the third day. Seiya and Yua dived into this sea of people.

Both weren’t in their uniforms but in their casual clothes. Seiya was wearing black pants and a short-sleeved shirt, while Yua was wearing a white one-piece dress and a gig straw hat.

Yua’s white skin and white one-piece dress were complementing each other, to the extent that people turned around to look again. However, when they saw Seiya and Yua linking arms, the male population glared at Seiya.

However, Seiya didn’t pay any attention and enjoyed the festival.

「Even so, it’s amazing」
「Every year is amazing……」
「Are you coming every year?」
「Un…..because of my father’s work…..」
「I see. Did you get tired of it? 」
「No…..I’m together with Seiya, so it’s fun…….」
「Thanks」

Towards the sweet space that the two created, people around them felt as if they ate too much cotton candy, it was that sweet.

The two immediate forgot Kana’s warning. That wasn’t surprising. They weren’t able to do it leisurely since a while ago.

With the fan club, the royal guard, the student council, they weren’t able to spare too much time for themselves, they intended to fully enjoy their time together. At that time, Yua found a certain someone.

「Seiya….that…..」
「Nn? This is……fate, I guess」

Seiya looked at “someone” with a bitter smile. The other side seemed to notice them too and asked.

「So lolicon also came here?」
「I’m not a lolicon, bird woman」
「What? Bird woman?!」
「Was I wrong?  Fenix is an immortal bird, right? 」
「That doesn’t mean that I’m the bird woman」

Yua ended up discovering the members of the student council, who they fought yesterday. By the way, you probably understood, but the bird woman was referring to Selena.

「You came to sightsee the Aquamarine too?」
「Yes, that’s right. Also, although late, congratulations on the first place 」
「Yeah, thanks」

After they defeated the student council yesterday, they didn’t meet each other.

The three lost their consciousness and simply weren’t able to. This was their first meeting since the finals. The three were in their casual clothes instead of their uniform.

Selena was wearing black knee socks and a mini skirt, paired with a somewhat childish t-shirt.

Mona was wearing a one-piece dress like Yua, but unlike her, she had bulges where there should have been bulges, it was slightly erotic.

Aishi had a white t-shirt, hot pants, and sandals. Easy-to-move outfit.

The three’s appearance was pleasing to the eye and gathered the attention of the surrounding males since a while ago. Of course, the jealous stares for Seiya were included. [²]

「I must say, your last plan was impressive. The last freezing spell was exceptionally dangerous」
「Un…..dangerous……」

The conversation inevitably touched upon the topic of the fight.

「Thank you very much. I never thought you would be able to overcome that」
「That’s right. I thought it was our absolute victory」
「Well, let’s forget about yesterday and enjoy ourselves」
「Agreed」

The six rode on Mona’s proposal and decided to enjoy the festival. But Seiya suddenly remembered something.

「Hey, bird woman」
「What?」
「Thanks」
「Haa? For what? Do you want to thank me for wasting all of my mana yesterday? 」

Hearing her words, Seiya spontaneously laughed. The same was true for the rest of the crew. Everyone knew what he meant, except for Selena. [³]

「Wrong. It’s Lily. You took care of Lily yesterday. It is about that」
「So it is about that. You don’t really need to worry. She is Nari’s friend. Besides, Lily-chan is cute」

Nari’s house, where Lily is staying, is also Selena’s house since she is Nari’s older sister.

「I see」
「Yeah」
「See you then」
「Yes, see you later」

The group split up here. However, at this time, a voice reverberated in his head.

(……ya!……ya! Disaster!)
(What’s wrong, Lily?)
(Seiya! Disaster! Nari’s mother was kidnapped)
(What?)

Hearing the telepathy, he immediately grabbed Selena by the arm and dashed.

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