Breathless Dash for Help
The air she sucked in carried an involuntary fishy tang.
The girl with beige hair, Millije, ran without even a moment to steady her ragged breaths.
'Erhan from Lubrium Hall, and Senior Lumen, the Knight of Light...'
She clenched her small fists tight.
Both were famous figures she could scarcely dare to address by name. Lumen Ribens was even more renowned by her epithet 'Knight of Light' than her actual name, and Erhan from Lubrium Hall was the proud runner-up among this year's first-year knight department entrants.
To her—someone who had placed near the bottom of the entrance exams, with no illustrious background or outstanding grades—they were dreamlike existences.
...But.
'I have no choice but to do this now!'
By now, the seniors back at the dorm were surely fighting to hold off the monster that had appeared due to her mistake.
'That senior said it wasn't my fault...'
Adrian Rothschild de Repelheit.
But now, disowned by his family, the second-year senior lived solely under the name Adrian.
She had been terrified to even approach him because of all the vicious rumors swirling before enrollment, but he was the only one she could turn to for help right now.
'...I have to make this work.'
The conviction in his words. The assurance that Lubrium Hall would surely hold the solution to their problem—Millije had no choice but to nod in agreement.
There was also a sense of responsibility. If she hadn't botched that summoning magic assignment, the monster wouldn't have appeared, no one would have been hurt, and none of this would have happened...
'Lubrium Hall is a bit far from Merin Hall.'
Unlike Lubrium Hall and Adel Hall, which only a select few resided in on Riven Island's living quarters, Merin Hall—packed with commoners—was divided into separate zones.
So, getting from Merin Hall to Lubrium Hall meant covering a straight-line distance of about three kilometers without rest.
That was the distance Millije was sprinting right now.
Ignoring the scenery around her, leaping over the riverbank and pounding down dirt paths—suddenly, Millije's steps halted.
Ahead on the path, someone was blocking the way.
"Wh-who... are you?"
A single figure in a black robe gazed calmly in her direction.
Familiar uniform. Judging by the necktie color, a fourth-year perhaps. A man with neat hair and glasses, holding a book emanating dark energy.
"You."
His voice evoked ice—chillingly cold.
Millije froze, unable to open her mouth.
"You're the owner of that summoning magic circle, aren't you."
"......"
From the approaching man—no, more precisely from the grimoire in his hand—poured an overtly malevolent aura. Without realizing it, she stumbled back.
Wh-who are you...?"
"......What's the situation at Merin Hall right now?"
"I-I don't think I have any obligation to tell you."
Millije managed to reply despite her trembling.
At a glance, the man's state was far from normal. His gaunt face and deep shadows under his eyes looked even more eerie under the moonlight.
It was frightening, but answering might bring even greater harm to Merin Hall.
Upon hearing her response, the man sighed deeply.
"Answer, and I'll let you go."
"......It could be a lie."
At that, the man casually stepped aside.
"......Answer honestly, and I'll let you pass."
"I'm sorry. But I-I can't!"
"Then swear on my mana. 【Here and now, if you speak only the truth to me, I shall do you no harm.】"
Millije clamped her mouth shut.
The man shook his head slowly.
"Freshman. It looks like you have somewhere urgent to be. Are you going to miss your chance by hesitating?"
Millije bit her lip hard.
"It was my mistake—a m-monster came out of the summoning magic circle. A Lycanslope..."
The man's expression remained impassive as he listened.
"S-so, all the seniors at Merin Hall got hurt..."
"......Dead?"
"They're all badly injured, but no one's life is in danger."
A subtle shift in his expression. But Millije didn't notice.
"When I left, Senior Adrian was carrying the injured himself, and a second-year knight department senior was holding off the monster alone..."
The man's brow furrowed.
"......Adrian? You mean Adrian Rothschild de Repelheit?"
"Yes."
Millije saw the man's face twist strangely.
"......Why is he there at this hour?"
"He's probably joined the fight by now too. Th-there, I've told you everything. Please step aside."
The man stared at Millije for a moment before retreating to the edge of the path.
"No lies, it seems. Go."
"......Yes."
Millije dashed past him and kept running.
What an odd encounter. She should tell a senior about it later.
But there was no time to dwell on it now.
How long had she run like that?
Far off, Lubrium Hall's walls came into view.
Squeezing out her last reserves of strength, she pushed on—when an unfamiliar voice called out.
"Oh? A freshman? I don't recognize you. What brings you to Lubrium Hall?"
Millije looked up immediately.
Long black hair, jade eyes. The woman tilted her head curiously, hugging a book to her chest as she watched Millije.
Her breath catching in her throat, Millije flailed and shouted.
"S-senior! Senior! M-Mer-Mer-Hall... it's in d-danger!"
"Wait! Calm down and tell me more."
Millije explained everything to the unknown senior: the monster bursting from her magic circle, Adrian moving the injured and sending her to Lubrium Hall for help, and him heading into battle himself.
The black-haired woman listened with a surprised expression throughout... until one part made her face harden.
"He... Adrian went into battle against the Lycanslope himself?"
"Y-yes, Senior, h-how..."
"Just call me Reina. And he told you to bring Erhan?"
"Sorry to interrupt, but do you need me for something?"
At the mention of his name, a black-haired boy poked his head around. Millije and Reina turned to look at him in unison.
"Well, if he asked for you specifically, there must be good reason. Come with us."
"R-Reina Senior! Senior Lumen too..."
"Time's critical. Senior Lumen's away right now, so we have to head to Merin Hall with who we've got."
Her voice was urgent, a far cry from her earlier leisurely greeting.
"I'll gather some people to help. Wait here just a moment."
She hurried into Lubrium Hall with quick steps, soon emerging followed by fifteen students.
"Millije, you're coming too."
"Y-yes?"
"Let's go."
And so, the elite force gathered by Reina von Wolfgang set off toward Merin Hall.
Merin Hall's walls appeared in the distance.
Reina quickened her pace.
As they drew near, a chilling metallic scent of blood wafted over.
The group entered through the wide-open front gate.
"......"
In the main building, injured students lay gathered. Bandages on their wounds, potions seemingly consumed—but everyone's condition was dire.
'...As expected.'
Judging by the vial shapes, they were the lowest-grade potions, offering only a slight boost to natural regeneration.
She signaled a classmate beside her.
"Handle this."
"Leave it to me. 【Mid-tier Water Elemental Magic: Cradle of Water】."
Large water orbs unfurled from the staff's tip, attaching to each student's wounds.
"Focus on treatment here."
"Got it."
The moment they entered the inner courtyard...
"......What in the world."
Reina saw the massive ice jutting from a sword embedded in the ground, and at its tendrils' end, a trapped wolf monster—and two men collapsed unconscious on the floor.
Both were covered head to toe in blood, their arms—aligned side by side—stripped raw to the flesh.
Their mana utterly depleted, not a trace left; they drew only faint breaths.
She split the group, sending some to carry the fallen to the main building, while she rushed to him.
"Adrian. Adrian, it's me."
"......Ah."
A faint groan. His thin eyelids fluttered.
"Reina...? Why are you..."
"Yes, it's Reina. I brought people from Lubrium Hall. You can rest now."
"Erhan..."
"Brought him."
"......Lumen?"
"......Unfortunately, she can't make it right now."
"Reina."
"Yes."
His lips moved faintly.
His words were never wrong.
Reina leaned in to his fiancé's whisper.
Lips twitching.
Adrian closed his eyes again.
Reina nodded and stood.
"Erhan."
"Yes!"
"You're in charge. Finish that monster off. We'll cover you."
"......M-me? Can I... handle something that heavy?"
To the hesitant black-haired boy, she glanced at her unconscious fiancé and spoke firmly.
"You can. He said so."
She drew her staff from her waist.
The magic department students followed suit, drawing theirs; Erhan unslung his massive greatsword from his back, and the knight students readied their weapons.
The wolf monster, half-embedded in ice, rolled its eyes toward them despite being trapped.
'...I won't forgive you.'
Crack!
────Grrrrrooooowl!
Ice shattered into fragments, and the Lycanslope roared from within.
"Now! Attack!"
Her staff unleashed the first spell, followed by a barrage of magic raining down on the Lycanslope.
Boom boom boom!
"Knight department!"
As the knights charged forward amid the explosions, slashing and stabbing the beast's body.
Once they fell back, another wave of magic; after magic, a combined knight assault.
Wounds steadily accumulated on the one-armed Lycanslope.
And so─
"Grrrk!"
Thud...
When the Lycanslope finally buckled under the accumulated damage, kneeling on one knee.
"Now! Finish it, Erhan! 【Mid-tier Earth Elemental Magic: Ground Chain】!"
"Yes, Senior!"
The ground quaked as clumped earth rose into iron chains, binding the Lycanslope's limbs.
The black-haired boy shot forward like a bullet from the front lines, swinging his greatsword as tall as himself.
'The seniors entrusted this to me! So I have to take responsibility and end it myself!'
"Haaah!────!"
His black hair turned snow-white, vivid seven-colored mana gathering on his greatsword.
"【Hero Sword: True】!"
Crunch!
Erhan plunged the blade straight into the weakened Lycanslope's heart, twisting it free.
Purple blood gushed out.
The beast's massive body tilted, expiring without even a death cry.
The boy's hair, momentarily white, returned to black.
He stared blankly down at his sword and hands.
......The battle was over.
Reina watched Erhan, then turned at the murmurs behind her.
"R-Reina, what in the world happened..."
"Professor Lütpfel. The situation's resolved, so please handle cleanup. Get the details from Millije."
The first-years had returned with the professor in tow.
Reina rushed to her fiancé, pillowing his head in her lap and stroking his hair.
Nothing mattered more than his safety.
Not because he was her fiancé or her watcher—nothing so trivial.
"Oh dear, this skin's all peeled off. 【Mid-tier Wind Elemental Magic: Breeze Cradle】."
How much had it hurt?
"The old you wouldn't have stepped up even for this. What happened?"
No answer.
But he would tell her later, surely.
She believed that.
"......It's all over now. Rest easy, Adrian."
She smiled down at her fiancé, asleep on her lap.