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The time spent with Epheana was quite beneficial for Shione.

She was able to receive assistance regarding the improvement of her magic and basic mana manipulation as a wizard. Epheana, who seemed to resonate well with Shione, fulfilled the role of a good teacher by selectively guiding her with precisely what she needed.

Thanks to that, Shione was now fully engrossed in a different method of mana manipulation than she had ever handled before.

‘Who would have thought I’d get so into practicing magic even while at the dormitory?’

In line with this, after arriving at her dorm, instead of mindlessly resting on her bed as usual, she was continuing her practice in mana manipulation. As a result, I was granted a certain amount of free time.

‘It’s nice to help a bit with basic mana manipulation, but Shione said she wanted to practice alone now.’

Solo magic practice. Well, considering she only learned basic magic today, she did have the capability to practice solo after all.

Given Shione’s focus on my personal time, I now had a chance to concentrate on what happened earlier today.

What I needed to focus on had already been decided.

“Orna’s reverse summoning.”

Just a moment of leaving the surrounding scouting to her, and she was reverse summoned in an instant.

I had questions for the little spirit, but due to Orna’s condition not being recovered throughout the day, I couldn’t summon her.

As the sun set and the moon began to rise, once the Cotton Puff had somewhat recovered, I was ready to summon Orna.

I channeled my mana and summoned the spirit.

“Meow!”

With a bright demeanor after the injury, Cotton Puff appeared.

I placed the spirit on my hand. Since Orna still couldn’t speak human language, a deep resonance and empathy were necessary to read the spirit’s will more precisely.

The conversation began with Cotton Puff perched on my hand, looking up at me.

“You said there wasn’t much suspicious going on in the streets, right?”

“Meow.”

It seemed there wasn’t anything special to worry about on the main road after all.

She only witnessed the ordinary sight of people coming and going, chatting amiably.

“Well then, can you tell me the details about what happened during the reverse summoning?”

“……!”

The issue was what Orna felt at the moment of the reverse summoning.

The world seen through the puffball’s now puffed-up body conveyed to me in an instant, translated into a series of short phrases and Orna’s emotions.

‘…Narrow alley, unease, sudden ambush.’

Unlike the open road with a clear view, the filthy alley, scarce with people and full of cover, seemed to have been a different story.

As soon as she spotted a suspicious figure, the moment she decided to retreat, an attack came from behind, accompanied by a strong sense of discomfort. Even Orna’s sharp senses detected the foreign energy.

It appeared that the remnants associated with the Demon of Gluttony were skilled in ambushes and stealth.

“Thanks for the info, you did well.”

“…Meow.”

In response, Orna hopped onto my bed and flopped down with a languid expression.

Watching the spirit roll around on the bed, I thought.

‘Kidnapping and ambush, huh—’

If it were a cult worshipping the Demon of Gluttony, they’d likely be looking to sneak people away one by one as offerings.

With the boost in the number of kidnapped individuals, the longer their tails grew, now was a time when they needed to be cautious. It wasn’t a good sign that they killed an investigator and left a mark.

‘They wouldn’t have just recklessly marked their identity like that.’

Whether they gained some type of power from sacrificing the kidnapped individuals or they were mocking the academy’s lackadaisical attitude while bolstering their cohesion.

Or it could also be that… they intended to cause a considerable crisis within the academy.

Whichever the case, it was not a delightful circumstance for us, who needed to get rid of the demons.

“It might be better to discuss this separately with Shione later.”

As I thought this while cooling my head for a bit, the Cotton Puff lying on the bed suddenly bolted upright.

Floating in the air, the spirit was gazing out towards a heavily darkened world beyond the window. Soon, Orna started tapping the glass with her short front paw.

“Orna?”

It was the same fervent behavior she displayed when desperately slapping Shione awake after she lost consciousness during the battlefield trials in the Great Forest. Given that, I was taken aback by her sudden vigorousness.

“Meow!”

Cotton Puff not only declared the end of my guard duty but also seemed to be tugging at my sleeve, leading me toward the door.

There was clearly a reason for the spirit to be acting like this. As I aligned my actions with Orna’s, she finally communicated her intent to me.

‘…The divine power emanating from Shione’s necklace erupted?’

The divine power embedded in Shione’s necklace belonged to Sion Shianella.

If Orna sensed that divine power, then it meant Sion was either using the divine power or the conditions of the necklace had been met to activate its effects.

‘That necklace is probably with Sion right now—’

It was quite a distance from the Divine Faculty’s dormitory.

If she could detect something unusual right away, it meant the two were much closer than I thought.

While wondering about what could be happening at that moment, I gradually became aware of the situation unfolding, as the status window that had been quiet recently suddenly erupted into chaos.

“Emergency rescue for Sion Shianella.”

Without even needing to check the details, just the name of the quest was sufficient.

“Orna, please gather my bow and arrows from the room right this instant.”

The quests thus far had focused on Shione’s restoration and survival, but today’s target was none other than Sion Shianella.

With the sudden emergence of variables in the status window, I stomped the ground immediately.

*

The Shianella family was an ancient martial lineage, renowned for their outstanding swordsmanship talent and remarkable finishing ability. Sion Shianella also inherited the blood of the Count’s house as a direct descendant.

He was locked in confrontation with an enemy, wielding a one-handed sword that was easy to use compared to a longsword, grasped from the secondary armament held by his escort knight.

“Hah… Hah…”

While his assistance in divine power merely helped him to block the sudden attack, it was still the result of his past hobby of sharpening his swordsmanship. Thanks to the instinctive movements honed through the techniques learned, he managed to avert several situations from worsening.

Thanks to this, they were able to buy themselves a bit more time.

‘In the end, all escape routes are blocked.’

But the problem was that they were cornered in a remote area where it was difficult to request help or flee.

“Sion, stay behind me.”

His escort aimed their longsword at the enemy while guarding in front of Sion. The escort’s condition did not look good.

It was no easy task to protect Sion while facing seven enemies.

Taking care of two enemies left five remaining. With exhausted stamina, dealing with the relentless five while trying to protect someone was unfeasible.

‘Bleeding… Faster than I can heal, I get injured again.’

Divine power didn’t instantly heal all wounds just by pouring it out. Depending on the priest’s level, healing took a little time. Therefore, even if he continuously poured divine power into his escort, there were limitations to covering all damage caused by ceaseless combat.

No matter how outstanding his talent was, he was still a student in need of learning. And since there was one knight against five enemies, it was natural that even his abilities couldn’t keep pace with their skill level.

“What should I do now…?”

Sion anxiously observed the situation.

Having been hit by two enemy attacks, if it weren’t for the necklace, he might have sustained serious injuries or even been on the brink of death.

In such chaos, entangled in the enemies’ intentions, it was an ideal description of a worst-case scenario.

With the enemies’ attack once again imminent.

“I’ll try to carve out an opportunity.”

His escort gathered mana.

With a determined look, as if anticipating death, he stared at the enemies.

Sion, likewise, gripped his one-handed sword tightly, feeling the rising tension.

“Where do you think you’re going…!”

The two’s combined attacks overwhelmed the escort.

As one knight bore the burden of two enemies, the remaining three circled around.

They barely managed to fend off the attacks and managed to bind one enemy, but fatigue began to accumulate and ultimately lost track of both foes.

The sharp darts of the hidden weapons aimed at Sion’s neck extended out swiftly.

“Ugh…!”

Ducking to avoid the dart aimed at him, all that remained in his view were the assailants falling upon him.

‘The necklace has one effect left…!’

Sion bravely blocked the enemy’s sword, stabbing in return.

“Grrr!”

A burst of divine power erupted, creating strong recoil.

Following which, he immediately withdrew his sword from the chest of the staggered enemy, attempting to fight back against the last one—

“Ha, did you think you could survive?”

The enemy with a sword plunged into his chest grasped Sion’s hand with bloodied fingers, clumsily hindering his actions.

Sion could do nothing but watch the dagger approaching toward his temple.

“Ah—”

So this is how it ends.

The moment the voice of resignation echoed.

“……!”

The sight of a strange-faced woman soaring beside him took Sion by surprise.

“…An arrow?”

He thought his head would get pierced, but instead, an arrow was lodged in the temple of the woman trying to stab him.

A new figure appearing beyond the enemies brought Sion a sense of relief.

 

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