Chapter 91: Second Semester (1) (1/2)
Boom—!
The air vibrated as she fell vertically from the Training Island, her landing causing an impact so violent it created a crater. Nevertheless, she just dusted off her clothes as if nothing happened.
“… This is faster.”
Allen jumped straight out of the ground after free-falling from a height of 3,000m, during which she kept her speed under control.
—Explain why you did it.
She hadn’t even walked a few steps yet when someone talked to her. Allen pressed a finger against her ear.
“What do you mean?”
—I heard the news about yesterday.
“Aha~ That? It was part of the mission.”
—We never gave you such a task.
Allen laughed softly.
As she expected, they didn’t know how to listen properly.
“Yeah~ that’s why I said it’s only a ‘part’ of it.”
—…
The voice remained silent for a moment, allowing Allen to check if her robe was clean. If it were even just a bit dirty, the Professor wouldn’t like it.
… She felt like she got infected by his obsession with cleanliness.
—You don’t need to feel more emotions than necessary for the subject.
“… What?”
That was a bit out of the blue. She tilted her head, seemingly unable to understand, then smiled.
“No way. You know me. I didn’t even know such a possibility existed until you told me.”
—You’re only given a three-month extension, Ellie. Make sure you’ve got everything sorted out by then.
She didn’t reply. Instead, Ellie smiled broadly and hung up.
“Huh? Over there! That’s a supervisor over there—!”
As she did, from the other side of the forest, three panting children came running to her. They had name tags labeled ‘Carlos,’ ‘Leo,’ and ‘Lia’ on their chests.
“Are you a supervisor?” Asked the only female among them.
Ellie shook her head. “No, I’m not~ What test are you taking?”
“Oh, we’re undergoing the adventurer exam— Ah! Run!”
The trio turned around and grabbed Ellie’s hand in surprise, causing her to look where they came from.
Boom—! Bang—! Boom—! Bang—!
A large beast with a physique larger than a bear and antlers that could cut even steel appeared, charging in their direction.
Bearhorn.
“If you’re not a supervisor, you should evacuate immediately—”
“It’s okay. I’ll stay behind.”
“What?”
“Go, please.” She insisted with a smile. Albeit hesitantly, the three children left.
“Grooooooar!” The Bearhorn roared, perhaps growing frustrated and enraged.
“Hello. Bye.” Ellie smiled and crossed her hands in the air.
That was all it took.
Riiiiip—!
Its body split in two according to her hand gestures.
As blood spurted from its open wound, she took a step towards its corpse, and the landscape around her immediately changed.
From amid a forest, she now stood in the middle of a village market.
“1 Elne for two fish cakes! 1 Elne!”
“We have lots of medicinal herbs~ Feel free to take a look, everyone~”
“Magic ingredients for sale! Buy from us, go to the floating island, and resell for a profit!”
The merchants’ voices echoed loudly. After careful observation, she deduced she was at Ropon.
“I’ll get to the island in an hour.”
Nodding with satisfaction, she approached the pavement to rest until her [Stride] finished recharging.
“Two fish cakes, please.”
“Sure! Here you go. What kind of magic was that earlier, though? You appeared out of nowhere.”
“Ah~ You have good eyes, but don’t worry about it.”
Ellie could manipulate space, and that didn’t just mean she could move through it. Rather, she literally controlled space itself.
Not only could she transfer her own space anywhere she desired, but she could also do the same for others. Naturally, it cost her enormous amounts of mana.
She often used this talent to separate creatures’ heads and bodies, allowing her to kill them with ease.
If her opponent could resist magic or mana, it would take her a little more power. On the other hand, she could cut through the limbs of those significantly lower in rank than her in the blink of an eye.
“… These fish cakes are delicious!”
“Haha. Eat as much as you want. They’re only an Elne for two. Pretty cheap, right?”
“Yeah~! I’ll buy two more!”
She grabbed two fish cake skewers at the same time.
*****
The roadside of the Isle of Wizard’s Wealth, after the exams.
Epherene followed Sylvia with Mayho.
“Can we really follow her like this?” Mayho asked worriedly.
Scratching the back of her neck, Epherene answered, “We’re not following her. We’re walking together with her.”
“Ah~ is that so~?”
Listening in on their conversation, their words caused Sylvia’s ears to prick up, seemingly finding it ridiculous. Deciding not to say anything, she soon stopped amid one of the floating island’s residential areas.
Looking up at the sky involuntarily, Epherene felt astonished.
Right above them was yet another residential area.
“W-What is that?!”
While astounded, A wizard looked down at her as he took a newspaper out of a mailbox. Their eyes momentarily met before he went back into his house with a chuckle.
“A space division spell is used to maximize the floating island’s residential area. You’re stupid for not knowing that.” Sylvia casually unlocked the front door of a building.
The two moved closer to her.
“Is this your house?”
“Yeah.”
Epherene swallowed hard with envy.
‘Oh my gosh, she has a property here in the Isle of Wizard’s Wealth. She really is from another world.’
“Aren’t residences expensive here?”
“Ten million Elnes.”
They gasped.
“What?! A house that size cost you 10 million Elnes?”
“Isn’t that too expensive~?”
Ten million Elnes was a huge amount for a residence, especially considering hers was only about 70m².
“That’s just the way things work around here.”
“Well… You’re Sylvia, after all. So, you’re not going to school anymore?”
“….”
She didn’t answer.
Feeling disappointed for reasons she couldn’t fathom, Epherene pouted.
“You’ll come visit sometimes, right?”
“…”
When she nodded ever so slightly, her eyes widened.
“Huh? Did you just nod your head?”
“Yes.”
Sylvia had been thinking quite a bit about what she should do with Epherene, eventually making up her mind to make her her own ‘person.’
Having a rival was better for her than not anyway.
“I’ll be coming here a lot now as well, so I’ll be sure to visit you then.”
“Me too~ Me too~”
“…”
She found May-ho or Mie-ho, who came out of nowhere, a little annoying, but she nodded nonetheless.
“Well then, Sylvia! See you later!”
“Stay safe~”
The two smiled brightly at her before they closed the front door.
Sylvia looked around her new home, where all her furniture and luggage had already been completely set. It was smaller compared to her mansion, but it was rather cozy.
Moreover, she thought she’d feel lonely if it was too large since she’d be living by herself.
Going into her bedroom first, she found her panda and familiar waiting for her.
“I’m home.”
Having given life to them using mana stones, they both flew towards her, with the panda using its cloak to do so. Sylvia took them in her arms and sat down on the bed.
Tick—tock—
“….”
Tick—tock—
An empty room where only the clock moved.
Bored, she took her art notebook and a pencil from the bedside table, drawing a portrait of a sharp, cold, and handsome man with captivating blue eyes.
Deculein.
*****
Having returned to the Yukline mansion after so long, I immediately immersed myself in training and understanding.
I had a lot to do, including mastering [Intermediate Psychokinesis] before it could drag on any further and practicing to control the [Snowflake Obsidian] to some extent.
[Snowflake Obsidian Understanding: 23.1%]
There was still a long way to go, but fortunately, 20% of it was equivalent to its corners, rendering that part of it manipulatable, at least.
“… Not bad.”
Snowflake Obsidian was metal as mysterious as its reputation.
I aggregated its corners with [Psychokinesis], making it look like a ping-pong ball.
Changing freely, almost as if it had rubber-like attributes, it spread out like a cloth, then clustered up into a ball, lengthened to create a spike…
Its sensitivity to [Psychokinesis] was incomparable to any other metal.
Knock knock—
Already knowing who was waiting outside my room, I held back my smile and opened the door from afar.
“I brought you snacks, Professor.”
Julie. After being unable to find her way during the Altar invasion incident, she deemed herself a sinner. These days, she had taken over my servants’ duties, perhaps to punish herself.
“Please enjoy.”
She put the tray containing food and coffee down on my desk.
I shrugged.
“You don’t have to worry too much, Julie. What could you do, having no sense of direction?”
She bit her lip slightly.
“Is your training going well?”
“I just finished.”
I had stored 80% of the Snowflake Obsidian in my safe and turned the remaining 20% into a ball, hiding it in my inner pocket.
“A new semester is about to begin.”
“Yes. We’ll grow busy soon, you and me both.”
Smiling bitterly, she held out a document.
“What’s this?”
“After analyzing the floating population near the Yukline mansion, we identified a few among them that constantly roam around the area but at irregular times. That’s the list of all the people who exhibited suspicious movements outside the scope of the general public.”
Upon reading it, I found 33 individuals, but honestly, I thought this level of observation was natural.
For the Altar, Imperial Family, eunuchs, and other noble families, the Yuklines were the most prominent existence they had to keep in check.
“Julie.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Perhaps surprised by my words, she scratched the back of her neck and turned her eyes to look at the bookshelf, only to find all the neatly arranged books in it were related to medicinal herbs.
Seemingly coming to a realization, a soft smile spread across her lips.
“No. I should be the one thanking you.”
I was currently studying a way to heal Julie. No, I already knew the best method to do that.
However, my greed to be with her was just too strong for me to put it into motion.
“You can go now.”
“Thank you. Have a good rest.”
After bowing once, she went outside.
I was once again alone in this quiet annex.
Taking a sip from the coffee and looking up at the night sky, I watched the stars twinkle in the dark.
At that moment, I came to a realization.
My drink was far too bitter.
“… She made this herself, didn’t she?”
She could’ve just asked another servant to do it. How the hell was I supposed to drink this?
Shaking my head, I nevertheless finished it all, leaving not a drop behind.
*****
Beep, beep— Beep, beep—