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The forest, where Osnia’s magic was dispelled, was filled with tranquility.

“Ugh…”

I caught the stumbling body of Osnia as she collapsed.

Now that the illusion was gone, Osnia had returned to her usual eighteen-year-old self, not the child she once was.

“Instructor….”

Osnia glanced up at me with blurred eyes, then weakly lowered her head and lost consciousness.

I immediately placed my hand on Osnia’s neck to check her pulse.

Both her pulse and breathing were stable. I confirmed she was just asleep and let out a small sigh of relief as I gently lifted her with both arms.

Heading back the way I came, I quickly found my way out of the forest. Technically, I was exiting through a path I had just created by pushing through the trees.

If I had only followed Osnia’s traces, returning to the dormitory would have been quite troublesome, so I was glad I made a path in advance.

Whoa!

At that moment, I suddenly sensed someone’s presence above me.

“Ah, no, what on earth….”

The figure that appeared from the sky was none other than Headmaster Heinkel.

Normally, magic related to teleportation couldn’t be used within the academy’s barriers, but the headmaster, being the top administrator of the academy, was an exception to that rule.

It seemed Heinkel had detected the commotion from the forest breaking apart from a distance and appeared here right away.

He stared blankly at the neat path created in the middle of the forest, then slowly descended towards me and Osnia.

“Instructor Ion…! W-what is going on here? Could this possibly be your doing?”

“Yes.”

Unlike the pale-faced headmaster, I nodded indifferently.

At my nonchalant tone, Heinkel displayed an unusually flustered expression.

“Goodness, for a single person to achieve this… Should I call you one of the Seven Heroes of the Continent? Wait, this isn’t the time for admiration. Instructor Ion, what on earth made you do this?”

“I was just trying to protect a student.”

“A student?”

At my words, Heinkel looked at the unconscious Osnia cradled in my arms. His expression suddenly turned very serious as he examined Osnia’s condition closely and said, “This…! Hmm, it seems like her mental strength has been significantly drained. It looks like a considerable amount of magical power has also been taken… Could it be that she was caught up in the forest’s illusion? Although, as long as she doesn’t stray from the path, that shouldn’t have happened….”

“She seemed entranced by something. The moment I looked away for a second, she vanished into the forest.”

“Really…?”

Heinkel frowned as if lost in deep thought.

“This has never happened before… Perhaps the forest’s spirit or some external force may have influenced her in some way.”

“Does this happen often?”

“No, absolutely not. The spirits of this forest originally do not welcome outsiders. When intruders come in, they only show illusions and lead them to wander constantly around the forest’s outskirts, never guiding anyone deeper into it.”

Heinkel stroked his long beard and nodded.

“For now, I’ll take responsibility and investigate further. Instructor Ion, could you please take Miss Osnia to the infirmary?”

“Understood.”

“It would also be wise to refrain from patrolling the forest for a while.”

Saying that, Heinkel looked upon the shattered scene around us with cloudy eyes.

“Well, that’s assuming there’s still a place to patrol….”

“….”

If I had to make excuses, it was because there was no other way.

Putting aside how I felt at the time, I had to hurry as much as possible since I didn’t know in what state Osnia had vanished. The damage to the forest was merely a secondary issue.

In fact, I still had many questions I wished to ask Headmaster Heinkel.

Osnia had once said that the spirits of the forest were guarding something.

They were guarding something in the very center of this forest, and I wondered what it was, why the spirits were protecting it, and for what purpose they had called Osnia forth.

However, right now, it was more important to prioritize what was happening with the collapsed Osnia than asking Heinkel.

Since Heinkel’s teleportation could only be used by him, I had no choice but to carry Osnia and walk to the infirmary. However, I didn’t really like the feeling of teleportation, so walking was actually more comfortable for me.

I walked as smoothly as possible to avoid jostling Osnia in my arms. During that time, Osnia’s eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Osnia looked up at me with a dazed expression.

“Instructor…?”

“You’re awake. How do you feel?”

At my words, Osnia tried to check her condition by moving her body, but she had no strength at all, just drooping limply.

She blinked slowly and eventually shook her head.

“No….”

“I thought so. We’re heading to the infirmary now, so just hang in there a bit.”

“The infirmary?”

Osnia’s complexion turned pale at that moment.

She seemed to realize something and involuntarily shivered, shaking her head more vigorously than before.

“N-no. I don’t want to go.”

She didn’t want to go to the infirmary?

That was a problem. We didn’t know what had happened to Osnia, and she definitely needed to be properly examined by the on-call priest at the infirmary.

So I tried to refuse firmly, but Osnia desperately clutched the lapel of my clothes with her arms that had no strength in them.

“I don’t want to go to the infirmary….”

The trembling voice still held the shock and deep fear that had not faded away. It was clear that this was not a normal reaction.

Then the scene I had just witnessed flashed through my mind.

A church that was disproportionately large for a rural village.

The villagers cursing and calling for the goddess.

After a short silence, I nodded slightly.

“…Alright. I understand.”

At my words, Osnia seemed to relax, closing her eyes and breathing steadily.

As I walked quietly, I soon arrived at the Opal Black Dormitory building. Instead of turning towards the tram station to head to the infirmary, I entered directly through the main entrance of the dormitory.

Even though it was already quite late, all the students of the Opal Black Class were gathered in the lobby.

Among them, Titania was the first to speak up in surprise.

“Os! Instructor Ion!”

Seeing Osnia’s limp body, Titania asked worriedly, “Instructor, what happened to Oz?”

“She got caught up in the forest’s illusion. It seems she drained quite a bit of magical power and mental strength. But….”

I looked around at the students who were all present without exception.

“What are you all doing here so late after curfew?”

Marian responded incredulously, “With such a loud noise in the middle of the night, how could we sleep? We thought a massive monster was rampaging! We all rushed out in a panic, but we couldn’t find you or Oz anywhere… What on earth happened outside?”

“Hmm….”

A massive monster? That seemed a bit excessive.

As I swallowed my reluctant expression, Marian waved her hand.

“N-no, you don’t need to explain. Let’s just move Oz first. She looks really unwell.”

I nodded slightly.

Right now, stabilizing Osnia took precedence over explaining the situation to the students.

“Titania, come with me. The rest of you, head back to your rooms. Nothing more will happen tonight.”

At my words, the students sighed in relief and returned to their respective rooms.

Just before leaving the lobby, my eyes unexpectedly met Elizabeth’s. She looked at me with a meaningful smile.

Rather than focusing on the meaning of that smile, I prioritized what needed to be done and took Titania with me to get Osnia to her room.

I opened her door carefully with Osnia’s student ID and laid her gently on the bed.

Outwardly, she seemed merely to be exhausted, but having gone through a situation like that, I knew I needed to examine her closely to understand her actual state.

If Headmaster Heinkel’s words were to be believed, it seemed Osnia had gotten entangled in the spirit’s magic, and thankfully, Titania—an elf well-versed in spirits—was here in this class.

“Titania, it looks like Osnia got caught up in the spirit’s magic. Can you check if there’s anything wrong with her body?”

“Spirit magic…?”

Titania’s eyes widened in surprise, then she continued with a serious expression, “So that’s what happened. I’m not an expert, but I’ll do my best.”

Titania rolled up her sleeves and gently placed both hands on Osnia’s body.

Warm light flowed from Titania’s hands and seeped into Osnia’s body.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, quietly observing the two.

After some time passed, Titania let out a sigh of relief.

“For now, there doesn’t seem to be any external injuries. Given the traces of magical energy remaining in her body, it’s clear that she got caught up in the spirit’s magic, as you said. Fortunately, it seems there are only traces left. Since I used revitalizing magic, she’ll recover soon.”

“So she’s alright then?”

“Yes, for now.”

That meant she was fine at the moment, but it also implied potential risks still lingered.

Titania gently brushed Osnia’s forehead as she sighed deeply, checking her color with a worried expression.

“I haven’t seen the forest spirit directly, so I can’t be certain, but it seems the spirits took a liking to Oz. So they likely wanted to become friends with her.”

“…Is that so?”

As I frowned at her response, Titania offered a hesitant smile.

“The spirits can be unpredictable. Their criteria for friendship can differ greatly from human logic. They might try to take her into their realm without considering the physical differences between humans and spirits… But then again, that’s a different story; that’s why you have to be careful when making contracts with spirits.”

“Hmm….”

If a fire spirit invited a human into its realm, it might be a comfortable abode for the spirit, but for a human, it would simply be a blaze.

Even spirit users must have their own difficulties.

“My spirits have shown a lot of interest in Osnia for a long time, so I knew she had high affinity. But I didn’t expect it to go this far….”

“Is high affinity a bad thing?”

“That could be the case, or it might not. It depends on what kind of entity shows interest. In Osnia’s case….”

Titania paused for a moment, deep in thought, then carefully continued.

“…I’m not sure. Oz is different somehow. I can’t tell if this is due to the difference between elves and humans or if Oz is particularly special… It doesn’t seem like the only entities interested in Oz are spirits.”

I crossed my arms, pretending to frown.

To be honest, even after hearing Titania’s explanation, I didn’t understand much about magic, spirits, or affinity.

What was important right now was figuring out how that affected Osnia.

“So what should we do?”

“Well, I wonder if Oz might’ve already known about this issue?”

Titania propped her chin with her index finger, looking thoughtful.

“Although it’s only been a week, nothing’s happened to Oz so far. The spirits haven’t shown this level of interest either. No matter how much the full moon may have heightened the spirits’ feelings, this situation seems a bit strange.”

“…I see.”

Now that I thought about it, Osnia’s condition today was particularly unusual.

She seemed far more dazed than usual and appeared somewhat unstable.

I got the feeling that it might be related to this.

 

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