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While answering my questions, Chytis Khaleed skillfully used the long rod to strike down the men. It looked similar to the staff techniques from Chinese martial arts that someone from the escort unit once showed me.

“As the shape changes, do its properties change to some extent?”
“Guaaah!?”
“Yes. The output of the spell is condensed to a certain degree.”
“Gyaaaah!”
“Being able to turn a large-scale spell that’s hard to use into a weapon sounds convenient.”
“No, you need enough space to actually cast the spell itself. It’s not that convenient.”

I see. Still, the idea of deriving variations by combining alchemy rather than relying solely on magic is very interesting. If I had more mana, I’d like to experiment with various things myself.

“Is it limited to physical spells?”
“No. In theory, any spell is possible as long as it’s composed from the same mana as oneself. Though the difficulty of control changes drastically.”

So it’s something like a composite formula. I might not be able to use it, but I want to understand the theory.

“There are several papers on its application in combat, you see.”
“I haven’t checked those.”
“Well, it’s not a field most alchemists would look into.”
“I’ll read them later.”
“You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲—what are you even talking about!?”
“Ah, my apologies. I’ll finish this quickly.”
“Gaaahhh!?”

The lightning rod, thrown like a spear, pierced the last man who came at us with spittle flying as he swung his blade. There was a crackling sound, and the smell of something scorched filled the air.

…I completely forgot about the attackers.

I moved my ears, picking up sounds around me, but there were no others.

Just as I was about to relax my focus, I sensed a faint disturbance in the air above.

“…a clione?”

Looking up, something resembling a transparent clione swam through the moonlight. Moving its wing-like parts, it drifted through the air and floated gently beside Chytis Khaleed.

“This creature is called a Wind-Swimmer, a Magic Beast. It happened to grow attached to me during my travels. It’s excellent at concealing its presence through transparency, and combined with a blindfold that allows visual sharing with a familiar, it proves to be quite useful.”
“I see.”

When he lifted the blindfold, calm hazel eyes appeared beneath it. On the inside of the blindfold, a complex formula was woven… That blindfold seemed to be a magical device.

The written structure looked like a compression formula, but the contents were something I didn’t recognize. Maybe a type of familiar-control technique.

…it’s easy to call something magic, but that just means there’s still so much I don’t know.

“Let’s leave the rest to the knights and head inside. It seems your older sister is causing quite a scene.”
“Okay.”

■■■■■

“Let me go!! I’m going to Alice!!”
“Your sister is fine! Please, just calm down!”
“Why are you stopping me!? Grrrrrr!!”
“Ow ow ow! She’s biting me!”

At first, Chytis Khaleed walked at a normal pace, but when he realized I couldn’t keep up at all, he slowed down to an almost absurd crawl.

I don’t like being touched by strangers much, so we returned to the common room at a snail’s pace… and found a disaster waiting.

Several knights were restraining Sufi together, while Langbert stood off against Noche and Filia, who had drawn their daggers.

“Quite the commotion.”
“They’re lively. Promising as future adventurers.”
“Alice! Are you okay!? You’re not hurt!?”
“Yeah… let go of Sufi.”

For now, I asked the knights restraining Sufi to release her. I understand the reason and the situation, but the irritation I feel just watching might turn serious.

“O-okay! Whoa!”
“Ow… yikes, it’s like a wolf just bit me…”
“Alice!”

The moment her restraints loosened, Sufi shook off the knights and rushed toward me.

I panicked for a second, but she slammed the brakes just in time, so we didn’t fall. She used to send me flying a lot, but it seems she’s learned to control her strength.

“Are you okay? Were you scared? You’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“What’s going on!? Sufi don’t get it!”

After confirming I was safe, teary-eyed Sufi turned back toward the knights, baring her fangs.

“Basically put, we were used as bait.”
“Bait!?”

Receiving Noche’s glare, Langbert let out a quiet breath.

“They gathered us here so it would be easier for the assailant to abduct us, then waited and captured them. It’s easier to catch those who come to attack than those who flee.”
“That’s awful!!”
“We were wrong to trust you, nya…!”
“I know it’s not something easily forgiven.”
“We could’ve died! Alice could’ve been taken, nya!”

Their anger was justified, so I couldn’t say anything. If something had happened to Sufi and the others, I wouldn’t have forgiven them either.

“This was the fastest way to resolve the situation.”
“What would you have done if something happened to Alice!?”
“Nothing would have happened to her or you.”
“How can you say that!? They almost took us away!”

Being an alchemist too, I found Chytis Khaleed’s confidence unusual.

“The Shield of Devotion that the Sister possesses protects those under her care from harm. So long you’re within this orphanage ground, you are under her protection. No ordinary attack could harm you. And I was assigned to guard your most at-risk sister.”
“Even so!”

If that’s the effect of the shield artifact, then this really would be the safest place.

“But you should’ve told us earlier.”
“The enemy moved faster than expected. I apologize for that.”
“I know this sounds like an excuse, but we intended to explain after securing the surrounding area.”
“Like hell, nya!! We trusted you! Was Sister in on it too!?”
“She strongly opposed it! We persuaded her—promised we would do everything to protect you!”

Noche and Langbert the knight argued—well, I can probably just call him Langbert now.

I don’t like that we were essentially deceived, but thinking about it calmly, given we’re being targeted, staying somewhere with defensive forces is something to be grateful for.

More than anything, I can see the efficiency of it, so I’m not that angry. If anything, I’m annoyed about Sufi being pinned down.

…Huh?

“Where’s Sister?”
“Alice…!”
“Sufi, I’m fine, so calm down.”
“She should have finished subduing the ones who tried to enter from another side… hmm.”

While calming Sufi, I asked because it felt strange that Sister hadn’t joined the discussion.

Perhaps thinking the same, Chytis Khaleed gave an order to his familiar. The presence of the invisible clione moved and left the room.

Since it makes no sound when moving, you have to focus and pick up the flow of air to notice it. What incredible stealth.

As Noche continued her heated accusations beside me, we waited. After several dozen seconds, Chytis Khaleed spoke.

“…Seems like there’s a bit of trouble.”

It looked like the uproar wasn’t over yet.