Return
— KRAAAAAAAAAANG!!!
A radiance so blinding it threatened to burn the eyes clean out of their sockets erupted into the air.
Power that defied every law of common sense crushed the space around them flat. Even the air itself sank, as if a colossal hand had closed around it and squeezed.
Dorothy slowly raised one hand.
— KUUUUUUUUNG!!!
A vast tide of mana boiled up around her. It looked like it might run wild at any second — but in truth, every thread of it had been refined with terrifying precision. The enormous force rolled and shook the air, yet not a single fragment escaped without her deliberate will.
She exhaled a cold breath and fixed her eyes on Envia.
"You filthy little bitch… how dare you wear that face…"
Her voice had gone ice-still.
Dorothy flicked her fingers. The form that had been wearing Yeon's exact likeness began to collapse, peeling away until only the original, repulsive black mass remained.
"KRAAAAAAAAGH!!"
Envia screamed and thrashed. Black smoke boiled off her body. She flailed, instinctively trying to scatter herself into nothing — but with Dorothy's mana dominating the space, no transformation of any kind was permitted.
Envia's eyes bulged. She stretched a hand toward Dorothy.
"No, no, no, no!!"
The black aura that composed her slowly tore itself to shreds, and her body began to come apart with it.
— KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!
Light detonated.
It was the kind of brilliance that looked like a star going nova. Dorothy's magic was a catastrophe unto itself.
And so the calamity-class monster that had tormented humanity for nearly a thousand years vanished without ceremony.
That's completely insane.
An attack that powerful — and not a single tree around them so much as trembled. Everything remained exactly as it had been. Only Envia was gone.
Even after unleashing that overwhelming force, Dorothy hadn't moved an inch. Not a single breath was out of place. She simply lowered her hand with perfect calm.
Then she looked at me.
"Looks like that's about wrapped up."
Only then did I finally let out a long breath.
"…Haa."
Bella crumpled where she stood. I staggered, barely managing to keep my balance.
Dorothy approached at an unhurried pace. Her gaze pinned me in place, sharp enough to cut straight through.
"Don't even think about making excuses. Tell me everything. Leave nothing out."
Dorothy quietly looked down at Yeon.
A sigh escaped her before she could stop it.
The Cultists of Contamination who had infiltrated the Academy. Of course Dorothy had never wanted to send Yeon to prison — but at the time, the Academy itself had been in far greater danger. All she could do was lean hard on that bastard Isaac Bennet and put pressure on the prison so that Yeon's life inside wouldn't be any more miserable than necessary.
I sent her there to rest and recover, and instead…
Her beloved disciple's condition was even worse than it had been two months ago.
Haa. Where do I even start with this.
She uncrossed her arms and walked slowly toward Yeon.
And then, very lightly—
Thwack!
Yeon's head snapped forward. She looked up at Dorothy with vacant eyes, not a trace of pain on her face.
That alone was enough to make Dorothy's temper flare all over again. Still the same child who treated her own suffering like it didn't matter.
But the next moment, Dorothy frowned at the reaction she saw.
What is that expression?
Yeon was clutching her head — and somehow, she looked… disappointed.
"……"
Dorothy drew a very short breath.
I must have imagined that.
"Do you understand what you did wrong?"
Dorothy dropped her voice low and began to press her. Yeon flinched and lowered her head. Dorothy kept her gaze cold and waited to see what answer would come.
At last, Yeon spoke quietly.
"…I'm sorry."
Dorothy tilted her head slightly.
"Sorry for what?"
Yeon's voice was more subdued than expected. Dorothy studied her more carefully — head bowed, thoroughly dejected. Her resolve softened despite herself.
Then came the answer.
"Because of me… people were put in danger again."
"……"
Dorothy's anger surged at her disciple's absurd words. That catastrophically low self-esteem — the kind that reduced a person to garbage. She knew Yeon had always been deep in self-loathing, that she wasn't putting on an act…
Dorothy let out a long sigh.
"Haa…"
And then, perfectly naturally—
Thwack!
She rapped Yeon on the head again.
"……!"
Yeon swayed slightly at the unexpected blow, but still showed no sign of pain. Dorothy frowned at her once more.
"Please, for the sake of the person hitting you, at least pretend it hurts?"
Yeon awkwardly cupped her head with both hands.
"Aaaagh… it hurts…?"
Faced with that pathetic acting, Dorothy could only cross her arms and shake her head.
"So. What did you do wrong?"
Yeon shrank in on herself again.
"……I mean, because of me, people were put in danger, and—"
Thwack!
"……!"
"That's not it. Haa…"
Dorothy exhaled deeply and pulled Yeon into a firm embrace.
"This isn't your fault, my disciple."
This foolish, precious child who tried to take responsibility for everything, even if it meant sacrificing herself. Dorothy had always ached watching her tear herself down and drown in guilt.
I'll have to teach her carefully. Properly, this time.
She needed to fix that twisted sense of guilt Yeon carried buried so deep inside.
And then—
A little shift.
Yeon squirmed faintly in Dorothy's arms, wearing a strange expression.
What? Why does she look like that?
Yeon turned her head slightly and snuck a glance at Bella, who was standing off to the side in a daze.
More precisely…
At Bella's chest.
Even in armor, it carried a presence on an entirely different level from Dorothy's own.
"You… even in a situation like this, that's what matters to you?"
Dorothy put every emotion she had been holding into a far more powerful punch.
Thwack!
"Ghk…!"
Yeon collapsed without managing a single word of defense. Her body went limp.
Dorothy stared down at her blankly.
"…Ah?"
She looked faintly flustered and scratched the back of her head.
I really did hit her gently, though…
She quietly checked Yeon's pulse.
This is bad.
While listening to their story she had cast recovery magic on both Yeon and Bella, so the body itself was fine. The problem was the soul.
Malice was an Authority of Level 11. The realm where a Transcendent forced their own law or concept upon the world — Level 11. Even Dorothy, a Level 10, could not handle it carelessly. For a Level 5 to have been using something like that… of course there would be consequences.
Cracks ran through Yeon's soul in every direction. Even if the body recovered, problems would surface if this was left alone.
"Um…"
Bella Staren, was it?
A memorable student. Five years ago she had graduated with outstanding marks, gone straight to the battlefield, and begun racking up achievements almost immediately.
"It's been a while, Bella."
At the sound of her name, Bella jumped and bowed her head.
"Is that child… all right?"
Bella was staring at the collapsed Yeon with a face full of worry.
"For now. She just fainted for a moment. Her body is fine."
Only then did Bella look away from Yeon, visibly relieved.
"Bella Staren."
"Y-yes!"
Bella startled and straightened to attention.
"We're going back to the Academy. You're coming too. I have questions."
Dorothy spoke briefly, then swept her hand through the air. Space willingly opened a path at her command. The minor detail that this was a teleportation-restricted zone meant absolutely nothing to her.
In the blink of an eye, the three of them stood atop a magic circle Dorothy had prepared in advance — inside her office at the Academy.
Dorothy settled into her chair with familiar ease and pointed at Yeon.
"Lay that child down, then sit."
Bella carefully placed Yeon on the bed and sat rigidly in the chair opposite. Dorothy tilted her head slightly and looked Bella straight on.
"From now on, answer everything I ask you. Precisely. Leave nothing out."
She needed to find out how much Bella knew — and whether she was someone who could be trusted.
If I decide she can't be trusted…
She would have to erase Bella's memories of Yeon. But she didn't want to. She could feel that her remaining time in Tera was running short. Yeon would need someone else who could help her — someone besides Dorothy herself.
Bella looked far too weak to stand at her disciple's side… but that much, Dorothy could fix with a little help.
Dorothy gave Bella a sidelong once-over.
Hmm…
Just now. That strangely wistful expression Yeon had worn while nestled in Dorothy's arms, right before she collapsed, floated back into her mind.
Dorothy could enlarge them with magic whenever she wanted. But magic was magic — it couldn't solve the fundamental problem.
She tried to keep a mild expression, but the corner of her mouth twitched beyond her control.
"Yes! Understood."
Bella sat ramrod-straight, extremely tense.
Dorothy Lightsheld. Among the Transcendents she was ranked toward the bottom in raw combat power — and even so, if she felt like it, she could erase Tera from existence without breaking a sweat. Bella's nerves in front of her were only natural.
And the question Dorothy put to her was…
"What do you usually eat?"
"Pardon?"
Bella blinked in confusion at the completely unexpected question.
"W-what do you mean?"
Dorothy's mind snapped back into focus at the words that had just left her own mouth.
Ah. That's not what I meant to ask…
"Ah — that is… I was asking about the importance of basic nutrition."
"……Pardon?"
"Protein intake is essential if you want to maintain muscle mass."
Dorothy crossed her arms, putting on an air of perfect composure.
"I was simply curious what kind of diet a knight maintains. Protein intake, calcium, that sort of thing. Ahem."
Bella still looked at her as if something was off.
"……All of a sudden?"
Dorothy fought to keep her composure, but she couldn't fully hide the irritation boiling up inside.
Damn it. Because of that disaster of a disciple, now I'm the one asking weird questions.
Bella chewed over Dorothy's words carefully, then answered with caution.
"…I don't particularly pay special attention to it, but I do maintain a meat-heavy diet."
Dorothy nodded as if that settled something.
"……I see."
So it really was… because of that?
Dorothy Lightsheld.
Several thousand years old.
She preferred vegetables over meat.