IWSE 9

“My daughter! Is there still no news of my daughter? Do you have any idea how precious Sylvia’s ability is? It’s Recovery—a power you lot will never even get to witness in your entire lives!”

“Good heavens! Is this how you treat the most venerable spirit mages in the Empire?”

“Ahhh! My son!”

It was absolute pandemonium.

The moment the accident occurred, the dean had bowed his head and apologized, but nothing had been resolved. The faculty members had a feeling that Dean Bartelli’s tenure would not last beyond the end of the week. If he hadn’t been connected to the Imperial Family, he would have already lost his head.

“Just when are you going to begin the rescue operation?”

“What do you mean, you can’t determine their coordinates?!”

“L-Louise. Our Louise needs to eat meat three times a day.”

Every one of the victims’ parents was a high-ranking noble. No—there were even members of the Imperial Family among them.

“We are currently investigating, investigating the matter. The Empire is sparing no effort in providing support, so we truly apologize, but—”

“……Dean. A messenger has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”

Dean Bartelli’s face turned twice as pale.

“Are they coming here, or am I going there?”

“Pardon?”

“Are they coming down here, or am I being summoned?”

“……Only a letter has arrived. Please, read it.”

The dean left the room, leaving the parents’ uproar behind him. The door shut firmly.

“Stop right there! I said, stop!”

“It is an order from the Imperial Family.”

Marquis Brune looked as though he had nearly lost his mind. Even as the guards tried to restrain him, he only grew more frantic, foaming at the mouth.

“Our Sylvia! Who knows what kind of suffering Sylvia might be going through right now!”

The faculty members also glanced at Marquis Brune with sympathetic eyes.

Sylvia, who had inherited Recovery Magic—a power whose bloodline had nearly died out—had gone missing. It was no wonder the marquis was acting like a madman.

But aren’t those people over there the ones who deserve the most sympathy?

Madam Perrier, the supervisor of the girls’ dormitory, turned her gaze toward the corner of the long table. The sight that kept catching her eye was that of the Baron and Baroness Fontaine, sitting as rigid as white wax, barely even blinking. Looking closely, their hands were clasped together on their laps, trembling violently.

“Clarissa, everything will be all right. Elodie is……”

“Lucas……”

Pale blonde hair and tear-filled amethyst eyes.

Clarissa Lafayette. No, Clarissa Fontaine now.

Twenty years ago, the princess of a small, peaceful kingdom across the sea had married a baron of the Bayern Empire for love. Every young man in Bayern had envied the baron for winning the princess’s heart. And then, one year later—

[Your Majesty, please help us! God, please let me go back! I beg you!]

The Kingdom of Lafayette had been swallowed by the sea and drowned. Clarissa became the sole survivor of her fallen kingdom. A princess who had lost all her support and found herself with nowhere to turn. After that, she and the baron seemed to have settled into a quiet life as a married couple, but……

……The daughter they had finally been blessed with.

At the sight of the parents with their heads bowed, Madam Perrier squeezed her eyes shut.

[Student Elodie, are you at the library late again?]

[……Please let it slide just this once.]

Elodie Fontaine. The innocent face of the young model student flashed before Madam Perrier’s eyes.

“Please, let her be safe.”

Remembering everything did not mean one could prepare for everything. Elodie was reminded of that once again.

On the day she brought Red back, Robert had gotten into a massive battle with the monsters. The prince’s Pillar of Flame had drawn the monsters’ attention, and his group had spent an entire month wandering the wilderness and struggling to survive, but……

Since Elodie had been among them at the time, she hadn’t fully understood the aftermath. She hadn’t realized just how badly Robert’s flames had frightened the monsters.

“Damn it. This is bad.”

Watching the cloud of dust rushing toward her from the west, Elodie brought her brief recollection to an end.

Thud-thud-thud-thud……

The vibrations were growing closer.

“If I’d known, I would’ve moved somewhere else!”

She had never imagined that the Mud Rhinoceroses, startled by the fire, would come marching in this direction.

“Red!”

Elodie hurriedly cradled the reddish-brown egg in her arms and dove beneath the roots.

Mud Rhinoceroses. As the name suggested, this was another one of Robert’s creations. They were monsters that inhabited the southwestern marshland, where his group was probably still wandering. They were enormous, and once they went on a rampage, they were difficult to stop.

But the environment here was perfectly fine in my previous life. There were no signs of the Tree of Rest being trampled by Mud Rhinoceroses.

Ah.

Holding her breath, Elodie quickly reached a conclusion.

Camille moved too quickly.

If Camille had remained in the southwest as he originally had, he would have been much closer to the rhinoceroses. In that case, they would have encountered Camille Veltierre before reaching this place. Their rampage would have been stopped then.

Damn it! Of all the times!

Elodie gritted her teeth and curled up. The sound of enormous trees being trampled mercilessly battered her ears.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!

When panicked rhinoceroses went on a rampage, almost nothing remained in their wake. Her eyes stung at the thought of the strawberry patch she had worked so hard to find being reduced to ruins, but no. She couldn’t let that happen.

More importantly, she needed to pray.

God, please. Spare the roots.

It didn’t matter if the trunks were broken. The real danger was if the roots happened to be trampled as well. The soil around the roots was so soft that one’s feet sank right into it. If the rhinoceroses trampled that spot, Elodie and Red—the egg that was supposed to become Red—hiding beneath it would also……

Her once-plump cheeks turned pale in an instant.

Clutching the egg like the last candle in the darkness, Elodie murmured:

Please, please. Spare this place. I’m begging you.

The sounds of destruction grew louder. The rhinoceroses were so close that she might be able to see them if she simply lifted her head. Her heart pounded. No, it was a hot, restless sensation, surging back and forth.

To the left. To the right. Again and again.

“……?”

Back and forth?

Elodie suddenly looked down.

It wasn’t her imagination.

The egg she was holding tightly against her chest was warmer than before. Until just moments ago, it had felt like an ordinary lump of stone.

“……Red?”

She could feel a heartbeat coming from its rough, uneven shell. It wasn’t supposed to hatch yet. Elodie quietly focused on the pulsing sensation of the egg pressed against her heart.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!

The world around her was filled with the sound of everything being trampled, but the strange sensation in her arms had completely taken over her mind.

It’s moving.

Perhaps it was her imagination, but Red’s warmth seemed to be shifting. She could barely sense what was happening outside anymore. The blood throughout her body, pressed close to Red, was gradually growing hotter. Something coming from the egg was showing her the way.

“Ah.”

The novice mage soon realized what it was.

Mana.

Elodie’s mana had increased tremendously after she consumed the Essence of Enlightenment. The mana that had been floating throughout her body was now greedily following the warmth of Red.

It’s reacting to the dragon’s heartbeat.

As she held the reddish-brown egg tightly, mana swirled in her amethyst eyes. Elodie forgot her eyes, her nose, and even her mouth. All she remembered was Red and the movement of mana.

“Haa……”

The temperature around her dropped at an exponential rate. White mist escaped with every breath she exhaled. Elodie’s thin lips trembled as she spoke.

“Ice, protect my nest.”

The veins throughout her body screamed. The tree roots turned white in an instant, and a wall of ice spread overhead, covering her golden head.

This is real magic……!

Elodie gazed up at the thick ceiling of ice. The sparkling ice made her eyes shine like crystal balls.

“You’re saving me even before you’re born.”

In her second life, Elodie hugged Red’s egg, which filled her arms, even tighter. She would remember this day forever.

The day she had properly wielded mana for the very first time.

“A cave! Somewhere Red would feel more at home!”

Elodie chose a warm, cozy cave as her next hideout. Since it was close to the Lava Basin, she had to venture into the hot jungle. Beads of sweat gathered on her smooth forehead.

“Come to think of it, was this the place Tristan found, too?”

The entrance was so narrow that one could only crawl through it, making it difficult to notice. But one kick from Tristan had opened the way.

[Elodie Fontaine. You’re slower than a slug. At this rate, when are you ever going to catch up with Lord Robert?!]

Crash!

And so, according to the account of the sluggish Elodie Fontaine, the muscle-bound gorilla kicked the wall in a fit of frustration, creating a brand-new entrance.