LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 33
I knew the Academy was large, but I didn’t expect it to be this vast.
Of course, it’s smaller than the house I stayed in within the Eustetia Duchy, but still…
“Hmm… doesn’t seem like there’s anything here either.”
With every door I saw, I tried to open them all, and it was getting infuriatingly wide.
And now, two hours in.
We opened the last door on the first floor.
“…Nothing here either.”
I couldn’t find the end of the illusion.
Damn it.
“Ugh… I guess it’s not up, but down…”
Gailan, who had fixed his glasses more than a hundred times with the crooked arms, sighed.
“Well, there’s only two floors left to look around, so just a little… ju, just a bit more, everyone, or, uh, guys…!”
“Hehe… yeah. Gailan, let’s hang in there a bit more.”
Yurasia represented the group by responding to the silence around her.
“Thanks… by the way, Yurasia, you’re really strong… I knew you enrolled as the top student due to the speech, but I didn’t expect you to be this strong.”
“Huh? Ahahaha… I’m not that strong, just… hehe.”
“And you even passed the special entrance exam, right? How was it? Was the Basilisk tough?”
Silina seemed curious as well, glancing at Yurasia.
Pina had been staring at Yurasia since earlier, no surprise there.
“Well… yeah. It seemed decently strong.”
“Wow… to be honest, I went to look for the Basilisk and just heard it crying for a bit and turned back… but you actually took it down…”
“Ah, come on… I was with the Knight Order until just before this, so… hehe. Don’t flatter me too much. It’s embarrassing!”
Yurasia squirmed, shyly coiling herself as if to hide.
With her hair stained in monster’s blood, she lifted it up to cool down her sweaty nape.
After using mana continuously for over three hours, it’s no surprise she’d be drenched in sweat.
Moreover, the way Yurasia was using mana was the same method I used in my previous life. It must be tough for her now.
But I’m proud of her.
I thought she’d resort to tricks if she struggled a little, but she’s pushing through… she really is my most treasured, treasured… sister… right.
“Whew… whew…”
“Ah, hehe… this feels nice. Thank you, Young Lady.”
I discreetly said as I fanned Yurasia’s nape, cooling her off while she sat in the chair, catching her breath.
“Yurasia, you should rest now. I’ll handle the monsters coming from below.”
“No, no! I’ll do it! You can relax, Young Lady!”
“Listen, it’s not a battlefield, and if your mana gets twisted in this illusion magic, we’d be in big trouble.”
“Okay… I understand.”
While taking a moment to cool off, I glanced back at Silina standing stiffly, Gailan lounging, and still next to me, Pina.
First, Gailan. He doesn’t have Stella’s talent, but he uses unusual magic.
Lightning magic.
He demonstrated various lightning spells as his main weapon.
Of course, now isn’t the time for that, but once we’re properly prepared and reach the high circle, I believe it could become useful someday.
Next, Silina.
Since Yurasia handled nine out of ten of the monsters, I didn’t see much of her in action, but it seemed like she was using her left hand for defense and her right for offense.
Her movements weren’t like handling a sword.
To describe it adequately, Silina’s fighting style appeared closer to that of a barbarian than a princess.
Lastly, Pina.
I have no idea what this squirrel can do.
Whenever I stare at her, she hugs her tail and hides her eyes.
The research department doesn’t overlap with the combat department, so it’s clear that Pina applied for the combat department without knowing anything.
She claims she can’t use magic or wield a weapon, leaving doubts on my mind.
“It was a labyrinth during the entrance exam, and this place is no different from a labyrinth…”
Gailan’s voice slithered in.
It could be comparable to a labyrinth, though.
But it’s different.
This kind of illusion magic uses places from the subjects’ memories as backgrounds, so someone in the illusion knows all the paths.
Even now, I see that Gailan and Pina know all the paths inside the Academy.
In contrast, in a labyrinth, no one knows the way.
There are sometimes moving labyrinths, and if you step wrong, you get teleported to another place.
If you get lost in a shifting labyrinth, it’s really damn annoying.
It’s my least favorite type of dungeon.
Anyway, illusion magic is different from a labyrinth.
Illusion magic can’t replicate a labyrinth in the first place.
That’s why the Labyrinth, with its weak original powers, could rise to fame for having a unique ability.
That’s also why it didn’t admit any dark mages under its command.
Labyrinth is a creature proud of its own power.
“Let’s move.”
I set my thoughts aside and stood up.
Yurasia, gripping the twisted desk leg, stood up. Gailan shook off the dust and stood. Silina was holding scrap metal in both hands.
Lastly, Pina tugged at my clothing as we moved.
“Do you have something to say?”
[May I ask Lady Eliaernes a question?]
…So unnecessarily polite.
“Yeah.”
[How did you realize this was an illusion magic, Lady Eliaernes?]
“I read it in a book.”
Yurasia quietly nodded in response to my now-familiar excuse, but the others didn’t have the same reaction.
Especially Silina’s expression was priceless.
The usually expressionless Silina stared at me with a face that said, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Books?”
“I have some peculiar ones at home.”
“…There aren’t any like that in the Imperial Palace.”
“There are in Eustetia.”
Silina narrowed her brows.
“I want to read one someday.”
With that last comment, Silina closed her mouth.
“Wow, wow! Eustetia Duchy sure has many books, huh…?”
“Well, it is Eustetia.”
That wasn’t a boast for my family.
I just said it because it applies to any situation.
Because it’s Eustetia, descendant of the Hero.
Because Eustetia is right next to the Empire.
Because Eustetia has a Knight Order that can stand against the Royal Knight Order.
It can be interpreted in many different ways, but it serves as a sufficient explanation for my past life’s knowledge.
“I see…”
With that statement, Gailan also fell silent.
Pina, looking satisfied as if a question had been resolved, let go of my clothing.
So we made our way down the stairs at the far right to the starting point.
And now.
“…Incredible.”
Yurasia, who had been about to step forward instead, is now slashing at the monsters.
With the scrap metal in both hands, she’s pounding on the monster’s abdomen and scattering its innards everywhere.
When attacks came from behind, she blocked them with her left hand, chewed a monster’s tail with her teeth, and used her right hand to tear through the skin and smash the bones.
Her face, splattered with the monster’s thick blood, looked strangely content with a slight, nearly imperceptible smile.
I realized something while watching that scene.
An axe.
The weapon the princess uses is a hand axe.
Two hand axes, to be precise.
Oh dear.
“That’s no different than a barbarian.”
She isn’t even doing the axe work properly.
Without any technique or skill, just slamming down the metal and chopping—not something that should be done by someone raised in a castle.
That’s precisely how the northern barbarians fight.
“Whoa. Young Lady…! You can’t say stuff like that!”
“Yikes… the princess with that…!”
She’s small and looks like a delicate flower, I shouldn’t be saying that, but seeing Silina fight like that is a bit, well, bizarre.
Who on earth taught the princess that fighting method? Did she even learn it?
Did she learn it and still fight like that?
As Silina’s monster butchering time drew to a close, my eyebrows surely twisted in disbelief.
She’s undoubtedly talented.
Somehow, how should I say it.
Her instincts are sharp, perhaps.
At first glance, her eyes appear to be observant.
She reacts to the monsters’ attacks.
She isn’t just relying on instinct; she’s looking at them and literally ‘reacting.’
Hence, there’s a gap in her thoughts amid her movements.
And that gap is filled with instinct.
Like a beast.
“Hmmm…”
Silina finished her butchering.
The way she casually wiped off the blood from her face with a handkerchief was almost elegant.
“Wow, wow! Silina… no, you’re really strong!”
Gailan said with a newly bright expression.
[That was amazing!!]
Even Pina, who had been quiet until now, excitedly held up two cute exclamation marks.
Yurasia seemed to sense something in Silina’s movements and was lost in thought, wearing a somewhat grave expression.
“Indeed… um… should I say unexpectedly… you were really tough.”
And yet, she still offered her praises.
Because of those gazes on her, Silina’s expression gradually brightened as she tied up her sticky hair.
“Let’s head down now.”
After just a moment ago rampaging like a wild beast, it was odd seeing her now shying away.
Watching her, my fingertips itched. My throat tingled.
My arms were twitching, and my legs stiffened.
“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say?”
Silina, looking at me, tilted her head.
“Can you say it quickly if you have something to say?”
I do have something to say.
But I should wait until we’re outside; I have to hold back here.
I can’t just blurt things out where a dark mage might be watching.
What’s more, she’s a princess.
The second princess, who might just be the biggest fool of them all.
In front of that princess,
I can’t just say that slashing like that isn’t how you use an axe.
She seems to hold high pride; I’m sure casually saying that will only cause trouble.
So, I simply shrugged my shoulders and said.
“That’s not how you use an axe.”
You did well with the axe, though.
“Ah, damn.”