“Ugh...” Margarita lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling with dead fish eyes.
She had still overestimated her mental fortitude. When she climbed through her window back to the dorm last night, her temples had only been throbbing slightly, and she thought she would be fine after a night's sleep. Instead, she was woken up by the pain this morning; it felt as if a gunshot had gone off inside her temple.
Clara, seeing her favorite student like this for the first time, found it rather novel and leaned against the doorframe to watch.
“...Good morning, Instructor.”
“There are no classes this morning, so you can lie there for a while longer. However, if you're planning to find your friend for breakfast, you've already missed the cafeteria rush.”
“...Then never mind. Instructor, I have a question. You should have seen how I use my barriers. If I generate multiple small barriers and combine them, would I be able to achieve the same effect with less mana?”
“Did you stay up late last night secretly finishing my book?” Clara asked, looking somewhat surprised. “That’s advanced material. Oh well, since you’ve brought it up, that’s what we’ll practice today.”
Is advanced material really taught this casually? Just because I asked, you’re going to teach it?
...
Margarita sat on the floor of the Magic Department’s indoor training ground, the pale pink mana glass bead in her hand constantly shifting shapes. It suddenly dispersed into pink light particles, simultaneously transforming into hexagonal segments of equal size that combined into a light shield as thin as a cicada's wing. Then, it flickered and vanished. After explaining the key points of the composite shield to Margarita, Clara had left; the instructor always seemed to have endless things to do.
The throbbing in her forehead became unbearable, so Margarita simply flopped backward, splaying out on the floor like the character for 'Big.'
No one is in the training room at this hour anyway... Why is Constance here?
Almost the instant she noticed Constance, Margarita bounced up from the floor, her signature smile snapping onto her face. “Is the President looking for me?”
Constance’s eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly.
“I’ve interrupted your practice.”
“Not at all, I was just resting.” Margarita’s smile was textbook perfect as she habitually brushed non-existent dust off her skirt.
Constance walked into the training room and stopped in front of Margarita. She didn't beat around the bush. “Joshua is going to an outpost outside the city for a field survey with me tomorrow. You already know this.”
“Yes, he told me.”
“I originally intended to take only him.” Constance opened a folder, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Margarita. “But he came to find me yesterday, saying he had discovered something on the survey route.”
Margarita took the paper. It was in Joshua’s handwriting—scrawled but neat. He had drawn a simple map of the area, marking several locations in the hills outside the East Gate. A dried-up well was circled in red, with a small note beside it: “Scent of the Demon Race, persistent, highly suspect it is a passage or entrance.”
“When did he go outside the East Gate?” Margarita asked.
“The afternoon before last,” Constance said. “He said he went for a walk, but I think you know better than I do what exactly he does when he ‘goes for a walk.’”
Margarita gripped the paper and said nothing.
Joshua hadn't mentioned this to her. She remembered that afternoon very clearly. She had been in Clara’s office practicing soul mana infiltration; Joshua had said he didn't have training that afternoon and was resting in the dormitory. He had lied.
“Do you think he's hiding something from you?” Constance asked.
Margarita looked up. Constance’s expression was as calm as ever, but her emerald-green eyes were watching her intently. Margarita handed the paper back, her smile remaining unchanged. “Joshua has his reasons for what he does. Perhaps he was afraid I would worry.”
“He was afraid you would follow him,” Constance stated. “He asked Professor Glion for half a day off before he left.”
Margarita’s fingers tightened inside her sleeves.
That dried-up well... She quickly flipped through her memories. In the game, the hills outside the East Gate were a common area for the Adventurer’s Association's night hunts, but the setting for the dried-up well was very vague. The official setting collection only mentioned: “There were traces of Demon Race activity in the hills outside the East Gate, which were later cleared by the Adventurer’s Association.”
A one-sentence background element.
“What is the President’s intention in telling me this?” Margarita maintained her smile.
“The survey plan remains the same, but I will be bringing a squad.” Constance closed the folder. “Joshua’s discovery is worth taking seriously. If that well indeed leads to something, we need to confirm it.” She paused. “I came to find you because I wanted to tell you that Joshua is more proactive than you think.”
“...What?”
“He came to me of his own accord, saying he had found a suspicious target and asking if we could move up the survey.” Constance looked at Margarita. “He did all of this without consulting you.”
Margarita’s smile finally froze. Constance saw it but said nothing, merely nodding slightly in farewell before turning to leave the training room.
The training room fell silent. Margarita stood where she was, looking down at her open palm; the pink light particles had completely dissipated.
But she suddenly felt her temples start to throb again.
She sat back down, leaning against the training room wall, and buried her face in her pulled-up knees. Joshua had found a lead himself, gone to Constance himself, and decided to move up the survey himself. In truth, this really didn't have much to do with her; after all, she had said she would no longer make decisions for him.
It was a good thing that Joshua could act independently.
It was also a good thing that Constance clearly intended to groom Joshua. Maybe the Student Council President’s route would open up just like that.
But she was inexplicably sad—why?
Since the day of the demon attack, Joshua had never asked her about the Star-Spun Stone again. He simply trained harder and later. Professor Glion praised his fast progress, and Lovell said he had already caught up to the Advanced Class.
Everything was improving, so she attributed this feeling to the discomfort of things slipping out of her control.
Margarita lifted her face from her knees, took a deep breath, and stood up to brush off her skirt. As she reached the training room door, Clara happened to come walking from the other end of the corridor, carrying a stack of books.
“Done practicing?”
“Yes.”
“Have you mastered the key points of the composite shield?”
“More or less.” Margarita reached out, and six small hexagonal shields appeared before her, forming a wall of light. This was the current limit of what she could control.
Clara tilted her head. “Your mind works faster than I expected. Go back and rest for today; your face is pale.”
By the time Margarita stepped out of the Magic Department building, the sky had already darkened. She didn't go to the cafeteria, heading straight back to the dormitory to lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling.
Joshua would be going on the survey tomorrow. If that well really was a problem, combat was almost inevitable. Joshua’s current level was fine for dealing with low-tier demons; mid-tier would be a struggle, and high-tier... impossible.
But Joshua wasn't the type of person to hide in the back, and Constance wouldn't just watch from the sidelines.
Margarita rolled over and buried her face in her pillow.
She suddenly remembered the last thing Constance said before leaving: “He’s more proactive than you think.”
He simply practiced his sword every day until late into the night. Then, on some afternoon, he went to the East Gate alone.
Margarita took the pillow off her face and sat up.
She secretly left the dormitory. The moonlight was perfect, and the muffled sound of a sword blade cutting through the air came faintly from the direction of the training grounds.
Joshua was putting in extra training again.
Margarita stood outside the training grounds, the night wind blowing through her white hair. She leaned against the railing, watching the figure in the training field.
“Don't push yourself too hard, Mister Sword Saint,” she whispered.
...
The mist on the hills outside the East Gate had not yet dispersed when Joshua led the Special Action Group to the dried-up well nestled among the low bushes on the northern slope.
Constance stood at the front. She wasn't wearing her academy uniform today, having changed into a dark grey riding habit. Her long golden hair was tied in a high ponytail, and a slender, silver-white longsword was strapped to her waist. Beside her stood a boy with curly brown hair tied back, holding a short spear—this was Patrick from the Advanced Class. The other was a girl with short pale-gold hair, wearing the Magic Department uniform with several different colored alchemy bottles hanging from her waist—this was Irene, a Magic Department student specializing in alchemy.
“Detect,” Constance gestured.
Irene took an alchemy bottle from her waist and uncorked it. A wisp of grey smoke rose from the mouth of the bottle, swirled in her palm, and then drifted straight toward the well.
“Mana concentration is very high, and there's... the smell of blood.”
Joshua’s intuition flared with a frantic warning.
He lunged to the side, drawing his sword simultaneously. A dark shadow shot out from the well, grazing his shoulder. A second shadow followed close behind, landing on the other side of the clearing. Their faces were closer to human than the low-tier demons in Percy Village, their yellow vertical pupils calmly scanning the four humans.
Mid-tier demons, and there were two of them.
Constance tapped the hilt of her sword, and her figure vanished. When she reappeared, one of the demons was already flying backward into the oak forest behind the well.
“I’ll leave the remaining one to you.” Leaving those words behind, the light of Battle Qi surged around her as she turned into a golden streak of light and charged into the forest.
Irene was the first to act. She swung an alchemy bottle in front of her, and a grey mist instantly enveloped the three of them.
Steel Perfume: it enhanced physical strength without hindering movement.
At the same time, she threw a second alchemy bottle. A fiery red mist exploded the moment it touched the demon. Fire and lightning wrapped around the demon in the next instant, but when the smoke cleared, the demon was gone.
Joshua's Sword Saint’s Intuition pricked him then.
He immediately turned and raised his sword to block the demon’s claws. Patrick leaped in from the side, his short spear wrapped in Battle Qi plunging directly into the demon's body. The demon didn't flinch; it grabbed the spear and swatted Patrick away with one claw. He flew backward, slammed into a tree, and didn't get up again.
The demon turned back toward Joshua. While it had been dealing with Patrick, Joshua had landed several strikes, but they only left shallow bloody marks on its body. He stopped aiming for specific angles and techniques, resorting to basic slashes. Just then, he felt a surge of power erupt from his chest, flowing down his arms and into the sword in his hand. A layer of faint light lit up the iron sword.
A Sword Saint’s sharp Battle Qi.
The Battle Qi left a deep gash on the demon. However, Joshua’s footing slipped due to the momentum, and the demon’s claws were about to pierce his body when they were blocked by a pink wall of light.
“Close your eyes,” Margarita’s voice rang in his ear.
Joshua reflexively closed his eyes as a brilliant light exploded between him and the demon. Flash—the lowest level of Illusion trick, but the demon's vertical pupils constricted violently in the glare, and its movements stalled for a moment.
Joshua seized the opportunity, slashing repeatedly with his iron sword and leaving multiple wounds on the demon. The demon finally reacted, swatting the iron sword out of his hand with a claw.
Irene had already dragged the slumped Patrick to safety. She threw out another alchemy bottle, and red mist enveloped Joshua. He suddenly felt a strength that wasn't his own fill his limbs.
The demon’s claws came whistling through the air. Joshua ducked to dodge the strike, gripped the hilt of the short spear Patrick had left behind with both hands, and pulled across with all his might.
Dark purple blood sprayed out as the demon's body began to dissipate. The yellow glow in its vertical pupils dimmed bit by bit.
Before Joshua could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Margarita step out from behind the bushes. Her face was frighteningly pale, her coat over the Magic Department uniform was covered in grass and dirt, and several strands of white hair were stuck to her sweaty cheeks. She didn't look at him, walking straight to Patrick's side and crouching down to press on the wound under his ribs.
Patrick let out a muffled groan, but he was still conscious. He managed to open his eyes and look at Margarita, his lips moving as if he wanted to say thank you. Before he could speak, Margarita pulled a small cloth bag from her waist and tossed it to Irene. “Hemostatic herbs. Crush them and apply them. His ribs aren't broken, just cracked. Don't let him move for now.”
Irene caught the bag, looked at Margarita, then at Joshua, but said nothing. Margarita swayed as she stood up. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then turned to walk back toward the way they came.
Joshua took a step forward. “Margarita...”
She didn't stop.
“Margarita!” He chased after her for two steps, reaching out to grab her arm. Margarita shifted her body, and his fingers brushed against her sleeve, catching nothing. She kept walking; her pace wasn't fast, and she was wobbling as if she might collapse at any second.
Margarita walked a few more steps and paused. She didn't look back, but she raised her voice slightly, addressing Irene. “Don't tell Constance I was here. Tell her you solved it yourselves.”
Irene froze while holding the medicine bottle. “But...”
“Just say you solved it yourselves,” Margarita repeated. Having said her piece, she left, her deep blue coat flickering in the dim light of the oak forest before soon being swallowed by the tree trunks and bushes.
Joshua stood where he was, watching her figure disappear. His hand was still hanging in the air. He looked down at his palm; a blister had popped, and blood was mixed with dirt. The residue of that faint Battle Qi from earlier was still clinging to his skin, feeling slightly warm.
She was angry.
But... why?
He turned the question over and over in his mind. Was it because he had told Constance about the well but not her? Was it because he came on this survey alone? Or was it because she had used too much mana during the fight and her temples were hurting?
“Percy,” Irene’s voice came from behind. “Patrick is calling for you.”
Joshua turned around. Patrick was propped up against a tree trunk while Irene applied the medicine to his ribs. He walked over and crouched in front of Patrick. Patrick looked at him and twitched the corner of his mouth in a smile.
“Your friend is pretty famous,” Patrick said to Joshua. “After that business with Valen, several people in the Advanced Class were asking about her in the cafeteria. A white-haired Magic Department freshman, and so...”
“Yeah,” Joshua said.
“Thank her for me,” Patrick continued. “She must have used some spell to catch me, otherwise I would be...”
Joshua didn't respond. He looked down at the wound on Patrick’s ribs; the bleeding had mostly stopped after the herbs were applied, but the skin around it was swollen, with purplish bruising spreading from the edges of the wound.
“Percy.” Irene tied a knot in the bandage. “Your friend asked me to pass a message to you.”
Joshua looked up.
“She said, ‘Next time you do this, I’m going to blast you.’”
Just then, the depths of the forest nearby suddenly lit up. Joshua snapped his head around and saw a burst of blinding silver-white light erupt from the heart of the old oak forest, like countless sword lights exploding at once. This was followed by a short screech that didn't sound human, and then the silver light abruptly contracted and vanished.
The forest fell silent. Constance stepped out from behind the trees.
Her gait was exactly the same as before—composed and steady. Her silver-white longsword had been returned to its sheath, though there were a few more dark purple bloodstains on her riding habit. A few strands of her golden ponytail had come loose and were draped over her shoulder; she casually tucked the hair behind her ear, revealing her calm face.
She walked into the clearing, glancing at the dissipating demon corpse on the ground, then at Patrick leaning against the tree and at Irene and Joshua standing nearby.
“It’s settled,” she said. “Let’s head back. Hand in your reports tomorrow. Remember to include the fifth person in the report.”
Joshua was stunned. “...The fifth person?”
Constance gave him a look. “There were traces of Feather Fall in the bushes, stretching all the way from the East Gate to the well. There isn't a second person in the academy besides that white-haired sister of yours who would use auxiliary spells to travel.”
Joshua opened his mouth. “She’s not...”
“I noticed her the moment she arrived.” Constance didn't give him a chance to speak. “I didn't stop her because she was indeed useful. Your sister is a waste in mana capacity, but in terms of battlefield judgment, she is much stronger than you.”
Joshua’s ears turned red. He wanted to say, “She’s not my sister,” but the words caught in his throat. He was the one who had said they were siblings to the guards at the city gate; changing it now would be strange.
Patrick piped up from behind, “President, that girl saved mine and Percy’s lives. Can’t you let her off for her merit?”
“I wasn't scolding her,” Constance said. “Write the report truthfully. She joined the operation without authorization but provided effective support. Her merit balances out the fault.” She glanced sideways at Joshua. “Next time she wants to come along, have her come to me directly. She left a trail of Feather Fall the whole way; does she think the academy guards are blind?”
Patrick muttered under his breath, “Isn't that still scolding her...”
“Just shut up,” Irene said in a low voice. “The President is speaking up for her.”
As the team walked out of the old oak forest, the morning light began to brighten. Joshua squinted and saw a silhouette at the city gate. White hair, her pace wasn't fast, but she kept moving. She hadn't waited for him, but she wasn't walking fast either.
Constance saw her too. She tilted her head slightly. “After you return, tell her to come find me. Her composite shields would have a better effect if coordinated with the Special Action Group’s standard spells.”
She walked away after saying that. Joshua quickened his pace to keep up with the team. Patrick was still rattling on to Irene about the Feather Fall from earlier, while Irene checked his wounds with half-hearted responses.
The silhouette at the city gate was gradually growing smaller, her white hair swaying a few times in the morning light before she turned and entered the city.
Rate on N.U.
