132 – Ghost of the Guardian Tree (11)
Heavy-armed knights were fiercely camped in front of the principality-owned mansion located in the central square of Riggbed.
Because Princess Gainax, the heir to the duchy, was residing there, it was the most heavily guarded place in all of Rigbed.
When it was an afternoon of drizzling rain, a carriage stopped in front of it.
And when the knights lined up in front of the mansion saw this, they all knelt down.
An attendant carrying a parasol ran in front of the carriage, while another attendant set up a makeshift platform in front of the carriage.
And there, a beautiful woman wearing a long-brimmed hat gracefully got off.
It was Princess Bibi Gainax.
Aide Gerald was at her side.
“How was the party, lady?”
“….”
“It was just a regular prom.”
The princess answered indifferently and stepped inside her mansion.
Entering the foyer and passing through the hallway, Gerald gestured away the guards and attendants.
Since she brought an agenda that she might consider sensitive, she did it to avoid sparking fire on the petty person.
“The news came from my home country.”
“Tell me.”
“Due to the unfortunate disaster that occurred in the capital, an order has been issued to further strengthen the escort of the principality’s leadership. For that reason, more troops will be deployed for the return of the young lady.”
“Yes.”
“And… To investigate the cause of the disaster, the principality requested help from the Church and Silverin.”
Princess Gainax crossed the Great Hall and stopped. But she didn’t turn around, only showing her back to her aide.
Gerald closed his eyes tightly. Vivi’s anger and inferiority towards Silverine were indescribable.
For her baboon, who inherited some of her regal aspects from her father, the existence of her Sylverine reigning over her own head was unacceptable even in death.
Princess Gainax paused like that for a few seconds before she spoke.
“Who made that request?”
“The Grand Duke himself requested the Saints. Silverin-nim will go straight to the principality after the Continental Congress in Chengdu.”
“….”
Even if she didn’t do anything, Gerald could feel what was boiling inside her.
Without a word of knowledge, she moved back to the end of the hall and lit a fire with magic in the huge fireplace.
Then she saw a long table in front of the stove. There, a grand dinner was prepared that made her legs bend. It was for the princess’s late lunch.
“I don’t need to dress up so grandly.”
“… Sorry. I’ll make it simple the day after you go to the party.”
Princess Gainax took a wine bottle and glasses and sat down at her table.
When Gerald tried to call her attendant, the princess stopped.
“All right. Rather, what happened to what I asked for?”
“And… The request to escort a student named Damian, a disciple of the Archmage, was rejected.”
As she drank her wine, the princess’s eyes twitched in an instant.
“….”
“Since the order to reinforce escort personnel has been issued, the focus is on senior students who can be deployed immediately with a sense of power….”
And in the middle of the conversation, the dishes on the table spilled over with a clattering sound.
The cause was that Vivi’s magical power, unable to control her emotions, was randomly emitted.
“That’s not what I asked for.”
Gerald hurriedly lowered himself and apologized.
“My lady….”
Bibi said in a sharp tone as if warning.
“I need the boy, so bring him.”
She seemed unwilling to give up her stubbornness.
***
Tomorrow, there was a class in the Combat Division. This meant that I had to show my skills in some form in front of everyone.
Frighteningly powerful demonic swords, wooden swords sharper than steel, and even griffon potions could not be used in that class. So I had to get used to normalcy.
In the training week, Plantera is released on Mount Grace, just like during the entrance exam. Today, while catching them, I thought to develop a sense for ordinary swords.
I went to the dormitory to get my robe and sword. Then, we headed to the lawn at the entrance to Grace Mountain, which was the meeting place for the entrance exam. There, Planteras for training stood tall even in the midst of torrential rain.
I thought there would be no one because the weather was like this, but there was another person unexpectedly.
It was Lilith.
She was engrossed in her practice with her hair drenched and hanging down like her seaweed. It seemed that he came right here after the art class.
Leading two Plantera units, they were immersed in the battle as if it were a real battle.
The sound of Lilith’s magic chanting echoed through her raindrops.
It seems that you haven’t even seen me come.
Even when Plantera’s club threatens you, it doesn’t show any sign. Plantera was also her training dragon, so she didn’t inflict a fatal blow, but even after receiving her rather painful blow, she trembled and got up and fought again.
I looked around for a while and lured Plantera around me to practice with a moderate distance from Lilith.
My purpose was not to catch Plantera, so I stayed at the level of evading attacks and measuring the sum of weapons facing each other.
I recalled the time when I crossed swords with Shion in the circulatory system. Her movements. The gaze, the steps, everything remained clear. Lacking basic skills, I had to drag and use them.
Two Planteras surrounded me and wielded clubs at random.
The sound of clashing swords added to the sound of Lilith’s magic chanting.
Reading the opponent’s movements, avoiding attacks, and aiming for weak points become easy. However, there were certainly many parts of my swordsmanship skills that were “For show off” That were crude.
I added Plantera and continued training in a ratio of 4 to 1. Puddles were dug here and there as Plantera’s stray clubs hit the ground.
While training like that, I felt someone’s gaze on the back of my head.
I cut off the Plantera’s knees and incapacitated them all, then checked their gaze.
Lilith was staring at me from afar, looking like a water ghost. Somehow, even the Planteras next to him were standing there and looking at me.
“….”
“….”
When her eyes met mine, she turned around and started fighting Plantera again.
***
From noble mtl dot com
Lilith, who practiced so much that her face turned pale, left first, and I remained alone and continued to practice.
And then, right around the end of Trisha’s class, we headed to the Ministry of Magic’s lecture hall.
“Damian!”
Trisha saw me in the midst of the crowds leaving the lecture hall and jumped up and down. Seeing that, she felt like a parent who had sent her children off to school and picked them up.
She looked at my wet, rain-drenched face and said.
“Looks like a stray puppy!”
“Let’s go. Cold.”
“Wait a minute. I can use the newly learned magic now. This will warm you up quickly.”
Trisha cast her spell and cast her spell, but nothing happened.
“It’s cold. Let’s go.”
“Ee-ing, why not….”
“It’s really cold. Let’s go.”
Tricia’s face turned sullen again. It’s not just me that she has to work hard for. How did he pass the Masters Class screening?
“Wait, I’ll give you my clothes!”
Trisha began unbuttoning her buttons in full view of her. She must have worn something else underneath, but it’s not good to see a girl taking her nails off and putting them back on in a place like this.
“Okay. Your clothes are small.”
I grabbed Tricia’s wriggling hand and moved.
Leaving the lecture hall, we headed to the entrance of the labyrinth to avoid the eyes of others.
And on my way out, a stray stitch whirling through the air flew in front of me.
I wondered if it was Silverine’s stitch, so I hurriedly grabbed it. Looking at those initials, it was obvious that there was a misunderstanding.
Trisha asked curiously.
“Moya?”
Fortunately, seeing that the color was dark, it was Cecil’s, not Silverine’s.
“It’s a letter asking you to pick up what you entrusted to you.”
Only a short message was written asking you to come to the research building of the Faculty of Magic. I asked him to appraise the crystal, but it seems that the results have already come out.
I handed the umbrella to Tricia.
“Go into the dormitory first.”
***
I put on a mask and headed towards the research building of the Faculty of Magic. The first thing that greeted me was the screams that pierced my ears through the window.
“Hey! Calm down!”
“Kyaaagh! Go away!”
“Anesthesia! Where is the anesthetic!”
The sound of breaking glass and breaking furniture also spread as if someone was making a fuss.
In front of the front door, a female student walked past me crying out loud.
“I can’t. I really can’t.”
I thought it was a big deal, but looking at the reaction, it didn’t seem like anyone was seriously hurt. Rather than something dangerous, it feels like dealing with something very repulsive.
I went inside the building and peeked through the crack in the door to the lab where the commotion was going on. The opening was narrow, so it was not possible to determine exactly what was going on inside.
What was visible between them was the legs of a long hairy creature.
Then a woman stretched out and pushed the door with her body. It was Cecile.
Then our eyes met.
“Oh, candy? Is it already here?”
The commotion was still going on, but Cecile came out of it with a very calm face.
“The Faculty of Magic is full of energy.”
Cecile said with an awkward smile.
“Oh, I see you heard it too. Helping me prepare for the Combat Division class. Would you like to take a look?”
Cecil opened the door wide, revealing her inside.
Afterwards, the cages inside came into view.
In the cage was a giant spider of enormous size that would eat even a bull. The fangs on its face were the size of a human hand, and it seemed to have eight eyes.
And the teaching assistant and some students were cutting off the spider’s legs with a saw.
“It’s definitely difficult to grow for ornamental purposes.”
Cecile giggled and said,
“It’s a beast for training in the combat department. What will the first graders have to deal with tomorrow?”
“…That one?”
“Yeah. It’s a relief that the Faculty of Magic only assists. How do you fight something like that? It’s good that you didn’t go to the combat department.”
“Someone will die while practicing.”
“Of course, we’ll get rid of all the claws, fangs, and stingers. That’s why we had such a hard time.”
“…”
In the meantime, Cecile looked at my face and said worriedly.
“But, Candy. Why are you all wet? Have you ever had a broken heart?”
“Just by chance.”
“Oh, my face is so pale. I think I’ll catch a cold.”
Look at him. He is covering his face with a mask, but he speaks skillfully as if he can see everything.
Cecil pretended to dry herself off and subtly slipped her fingers into the mask.
I restrained Cecil by gently lowering her arm.
Then Cecil smiled mischievously and said,
“If you let me touch the ball once, I’ll tell you something fun about practice.”