Demon Search Operation (4)
Elfin raced along the mountain path, her senses sharpened as she scanned every inch of her surroundings. From her brief clash with Hans moments ago, she had a vague but clear impression.
'I thought they only had magitech gear that could hide a single body, but that's not the case.'
It was like some kind of barrier, wasn't it? During her fight with Hans, she'd felt something manifesting around them. The range wasn't small by any means, and as Hans moved, the space shifted with him at its center. She hadn't yet investigated which piece of his equipment created the effect, so she couldn't say for sure. But one thing she was certain of:
'It's hard to detect that space from outside. Unless someone trapped inside destroys the magitech device, or...'
The special space clearly concealed them from others, but it didn't block physical or magical attacks entirely. Deneb and Yustina were surely somewhere on this mountain, even if she couldn't sense them. That meant unleashing slashing waves across the entire mountain or dropping bombardment from the magic circle hovering in the sky could still hit the enemy.
'But it wouldn't just hurt the enemy.'
Elfin understood Yustina's mindset all too well. If that magic circle unleashed its barrage soon, it wouldn't just wipe out the demons—it could harm the students too. As the leader of the Imperial Secret Service, she needed to halt any flashy wide-area magic that drew attention anyway. But more than that, now that she was a professor here, protecting the kids was her duty.
'Master... why does everything have to be so complicated?!'
It had been a chaotic first day on the job. If she could just find Deneb or Yustina, she could handle things somehow. But with no sight or sound of them, frustration boiled inside her. She'd at least sent Gines and Konet down the mountain, but Deneb wasn't the only one in danger—Charlotte and Yozef were too. Of course, Yustina wasn't trying to get everyone killed.
'She probably thinks she can just heal them.'
Yustina was a dragon, a race born with innate magical talent. Her healing magic far surpassed any ordinary priest's. She likely planned to half-kill the demons and students alike, then erase their memories and revive Deneb and the others. Deneb, being the first she'd rush to save, might be fine. But the other students? Missing the golden hour could doom them.
'There's still time, at least...'
The silver lining was that since the magic circle appeared overhead, no further action had been taken. Someone was deliberately interfering with Yustina's activation. That was the only explanation. The question was who.
'Not the prince, right?'
Realistically, it was more likely the demons than Yozef. Deep down, Elfin hoped Grueta—the demon sister of Hans, whom she'd killed—would somehow hold Yustina back. Cheering for a demon she was supposed to capture? It was so absurd that even she let out a wry chuckle.
"...Huh?"
Then, it hit her. She'd spotted something off. Suppose Grueta, the younger sibling of the demon pair, was clinging to Yustina and stalling the magic circle. Yustina had surely sensed something gravely wrong with Deneb and started casting. Hans was caught by Elfin, and Grueta had gone to Yustina... then,
"Who's Deneb fighting right now?"
She had no idea what was going on.
Even Elfin, far away, had realized the sky-blanketing magic circle was Yustina's doing. But Yozef, right beside it, was clueless.
"Wh-what the hell is this?! Demon mage's work?!"
"......"
"Yuz! You know magic—tell me what the hell that is! Can you explain?!"
"Shut thy mouth. I am concentrating."
"...What?"
Yozef hadn't even suspected the girl next to him was the culprit. His swordsmanship was sharp, but his magic skills were mediocre at best. More than that, he couldn't fathom a fellow first-year pulling off magic of this scale. Meanwhile, Yustina was consumed by dread over Deneb, her rational thinking impaired.
'No, Deneb. No...'
She knew what this wide-area bombardment would do. It would slaughter the demons the Imperium wanted captured, incinerate the captured beasts. And the students who'd entered the paths? They'd suffer too. But Yustina saw only the immediate threat.
'I can heal them. Even if they get hurt a little... it should be fine...!'
She could protect Yozef right beside her. The problem was the other students she couldn't locate. The demons must be using tricks to hide them, so kill the demons first, find the students, then fly over and heal them good as new.
'First Deneb, no question. Then...'
What came after didn't matter. Letting Deneb die even if Elfin tried dragging him out felt wrong, but Elfin wouldn't perish in such magic anyway. Save Deneb first, then the rest. That was her plan. But it was nonsense. If the academy's back mountain got bombed, people would investigate. The Imperium's hidden truths would spill out—the demons infiltrating the empire's heart, Yustina as the caster. Endless headaches. And no guarantee she could heal every student except Deneb. But by now, such concerns were irrelevant.
'This Yustina will surely save thee, Deneb.'
"Kyakyakya!"
But plenty were troubled by Yustina's actions. The students didn't even know what was happening. Elfin wanted to stop her. Crucially, she wasn't the only one.
"Who goes there! Declare thyself!"
"Kyakya, Your Highness can see me, can't you?"
"A demon appearing in person...!"
A demon girl with jet-black hair in twin braids landed lightly beside Yozef and Yustina, her cloak fluttering. Yozef drew his sword instantly, but Grueta's gaze fixed not on the prince, but Yustina. Sweat beading on her brow, expression blank, she stared at the nearly complete spell.
Yustina ignored her entirely, focused solely on finishing the circle.
"Hey, that magic circle. You should stop."
"......"
"Kyakya! Gonna blow up the whole mountain? The other students'll die too, y'know? Is that what you want?"
"......"
"...St-stop it, you crazy bitch!!!"
Yustina ignored Grueta cleanly. The sky circle grew brighter, sharper, heralding countless mana blasts. Cold sweat dripped from Grueta's forehead and back. Her foot-tapping quickened involuntarily, hands trembling. Her brother Hans, herself, and the plan's core—the 'witch'—were all at risk. She clung desperately.
"......Silence, wench."
Yustina poured in more mana without pause. Grueta was out of options. As someone versed in magic, she knew completion meant doom for all life nearby. She hadn't pegged Yustina as more than a talented human mage, not a dragon. Time to attack and force a stop.
And that was her fatal mistake.
Clank!
The moment Grueta decided to fight, she yanked out the iron gear linked to her backpack. The cylindrical sprayer growled like it would spew forth at any second. Her backpack—no, fuel tank—rumbled on her mana catalyst, producing something to blast through the sprayer.
"Danger, Yuz!"
Yozef and Yustina recognized the cylindrical sprayer and backpack-like tank as magitech. But when the beastly flame erupted, their eyes widened.
Light, heat, acrid ash stench. A massive firestorm engulfed the forest.
Whoosh!
"Guhhh..."
"Breathe not. The air here's superheated—mess up, and thy lungs'll roast golden."
"C-cough..."
"Tch, such a bother."
Yustina snapped her fingers for the suffering Yozef. A small air bubble flew over, covering his mouth and nose. Only then could he breathe and look around.
"Th-this... the forest..."
Denebergen Academy's back mountain, beast-hunting ground. Yustina's painstakingly managed site. Training ground for countless graduates. Now ablaze from Grueta's magitech flamethrower. Surrounded by foliage, fire spread fast—but magitech flames burned hotter, redder. Without quick suppression, the whole mountain would be engulfed.
"......Damn it."
Yustina snapped back to reality. Burning trees, beasts wailing aflame, searing skin. And Yozef, soot-streaked but resolute-eyed. It reminded her of her duty.
Until now, Dane had always been first for Yustina. Second was his dream: Denebergen Academy. She upheld his will, built and nurtured it, hoping one day he'd return, praise her efforts. Thank her, call her commendable. Childish, fragmented desire. She hadn't moved an inch past his death.
But things were changing slowly. Elfin's sharp words pierced like iron truth. Her way of missing Dane shifted. No longer just for future praise did she grow the school and teach. She found meaning in carrying his dream, his will. She never abandoned hope of his return. The school had become genuinely beloved, students precious. Centuries as chairwoman, endless issues, still imperfect—but Dane's legacy, never neglected. The academy remained nest for his eventual return. But not solely for Dane.
She'd scoured each freshman class hoping for him. But not all non-Danes were trash failures.
'If Dane saw this Yustina now, what would he say?'
As chairwoman, adult, teacher. Considering nothing but Deneb. If Dane—no, Deneb—found out...
She'd get an earful.
'This is no game. This place is this Yustina's nest too.'
Deneb remained first, of course. But now, his dream equaled him in priority. The academy: nest for returning Dane and Yustina. Its tens of thousands of students: children born of Dane's and Yustina's dreams. As precious homeowner, childless mother now awakened, Yustina declared.
"I shall not tolerate harm to the school or students."
Forgive not a nameless demon hurting Deneb. Nor tolerate defiling Denebergen Academy, Dane's dream. This was the academy's back mountain. These children, its students. Grueta, the demon who'd nearly let Yustina shatter Dane's dream herself, opening her eyes. Yustina thanked her inwardly, raising a finger to gather the mountain's fire demon.
"Kyakyakya! What're you saying?! You were gonna bomb the students and mountain to ash moments ago! Changed your mind all sudden?!"
"A lady's heart sways like a reed, easily shaken."
"Don't screw with me! The magitech flames are spreading already? Super advanced tech—unquenchable fire, so look forward to it! It'll burn till not a blade of grass remains!"
Grueta's tank was empty. Mana spent, death inevitable. Yustina was no ordinary human—unbeatable. Unknown why, but clear.
"Even if I lose, I win! Kyakyakya! Brother, and the witch—they'll realize that one's grand dream in this world again! For that great dream, forever! Even in death, eternally!"
"Best not utter 'dream' so lightly."
"...What?"
"Inheriting another's dream... 'tis no easy task."
Red aura gathered at Yustina's fingertip. Tiny sparks slowly formed a small orb. More sparks, yet it grew not—just deepened, reddened.
"The fire... it's going out...?"
Yozef's eyes widened at the change. As the red aura intensified, surrounding flames vanished. No water, no sand or dirt.
"Impossible! Unquenchable fire, I said!"
Grueta shrieked, voice tearing air. Mana-less, helpless. Flames to raze the mountain. Unextinguishable, all-consuming. From that one—no doubt.
Then why?
"Indeed. Unquenchable flames—most wondrous."
"Where'd it go?! My flames! My fire, where?!"
"Hee hee, like a child robbed of her toy."
"Give it back! Return my flames, that one's fire!"
"If thou desirest, here."
The mountain's blaze was fully quelled. Not extinguished, not doused—Yustina had drawn it, made it hers. All condensed at her fingertip.
"Thy dream slays thee."
The tiny red orb pulsed. A thin thread shot out, piercing Grueta's heart effortlessly.
"...Ah?"
Her last word. A small black hole in her chest, she crumpled. Leaving her, Yustina strode off briskly.
"Yozef, get thee down the mountain. This Yustina hath more to find."
"Wait, what the hell just—"
No further explanation for Yozef. Elfin's memory wipe would erase it anyway. Certain Elfin was fine, but Deneb? Yustina quickened her pace.
'That fool Deneb, if only I could trust him...!'
He'd promised return, reappeared after 500 years. Charging headlong at unbeatable foes. With Charlotte beside him, protective instincts would kick in. Find and save him before disaster.
'Where art thou? Can't pinpoint...'
Then, far off, a massive presence charged. Not huge in size. Just overwhelmingly burdensome...
"Yustina, you mad bitch!!!"
"Kyaaak!"
A beast identical to Elfin burst from the brush. Dirt-caked from frantic run, weaponless, it tackled Yustina barehanded.
"You mad bitch! Cancel the magic circle now! We'll all die!"
"Eeeeek! Canceled! Already canceled it! And you should've gone to Deneb, not me!"
"Deneb my ass! I caught the demon brother, you nabbed the sister—Deneb's safest!"
Yustina shoved Elfin off, brushed her knees, stood.
"Heard before killing her! There's a 'witch' too. Deneb's probably fighting her!"
Elfin gasped blankly.
"...A third one?"
But the shock faded quick. Elfin's eyes gleamed with odd confidence.
"Even weakened, Master won't lose to trash like that."
Yustina tilted her head, uncomprehending. Unknown foe, witch's strength mystery. Yet Elfin proclaimed Deneb's victory. How?
"...No matter how weakened or young, I just can't imagine Master losing to anyone."
Yustina nodded blankly. Still needed to find and aid Deneb fast, but she agreed with Elfin.
"True enough."
Deneb strongest when protecting someone—that, sisters Yustina, Elfin, and others knew best.
