Book 6: Chapter 14: Feelings Similar to Love

After leaving the student council room, Felix made sure no one was around before poking his finger in his breast pocket.

After the white lizard Will poked his head out of his pocket, Felix spoke in hushed tones, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.

"Earlier, you said that the Spirit King was had been summoned?"

"Yes, I felt the gate for summoning the Spirit King being opened in this vicinity."

"Okay, then sneak into the teacher's room and see if there's been any talk of it among them."

No matter how much of a student council president he was, it would seem unnatural for him to be entering the teacher's room without proper reason. Then, entrusting it to Will, who can invade discreetly, would be the right choice.

"What are you going to do, Your Highness?"

"I am going to take a look around, to see if there's anything out of the ordinary."

"Understood. If you encounter any problems, please summon me immediately."

Will crawled out of Felix's pocket, then slithered down before moving quickly through the hallway to the staff room.

After Felix saw him off, he went outside the school building himself. Since he hadn't mastered a sensing spell, he had to rely on his intuition to look something amiss… but there was one place he really wanted to check first.

——It was the old garden. The place where he met Monica for the first time.

Felix was aware that the fountain in the old garden contained a large-scale barrier that protected the entire academy. In fact, he went out of his way to duplicate the key to the old garden, because he was interested in its magic formula.

The magic formula in the large-scale barrier that Louis Miller of the [Barrier Magician], one of the Seven Sages created was, a work of art even to the amateur eye.

Such complex and elaborate magic formulas were not something one can see very often.

And if there was an emergency situation where the Spirit King had to be summoned… or there was an attack on the school from the outside, the barrier should have been activated.

In any case, it would be a good idea to check the barrier first.

With that in mind, Felix headed for the old garden and took out the key he had secretly duplicated earlier to open the door.

Come to think of it, I forgot to ask how that little squirrel managed to slip through this door.

Maybe there was another secret passage that only Monica knew about.

As Felix walked forward, thinking about this, he felt a person's presence ahead of him, so he stopped in his tracks.

… There's someone near the fountain?

He then crouched behind the tree to hide his presence before peeking out toward the fountain. And saw a man in a robe working on something in there.

The one working on it was a young man with chestnut hair in a braid wearing a monocle. Felix was familiar with his face.

… Louis Miller of the [Barrier Magician]? Why is he here?

If he was going to do a regular inspection on the barrier, he should have contacted the school beforehand. But Felix has not heard of such notice.

Another thing that bothered him was the outer frame of the fountain, which was broken into pieces.

The outer frame of the fountain is supposed to have a barrier that protects the large-scale barrier… and it's broken? What sort of situation is this?

Louis was inside the fountain, chanting repeatedly, seemingly adjusting the barrier.

Then a strong wind softly sweeps over the area, bringing a young woman in a maid's uniform down from the sky.

He had heard that Louis Miller had made a contract with a High-Rank Wind Spirit. Perhaps that woman was the one.

"Master Louis, I've completed the escort."

"Alright. Then, go retrieve the remains of the [Conch Flame] from the west warehouse."

"Wow, you sure like to use your spirit roughly."

"I can't keep my hands off this one. This barrier… I almost had to rebuild it from scratch. I know it was used to neutralize the [Conch Flame], but that's pretty reckless."

Felix frowned upon hearing this conversation.

He had heard of the term [Conch Flame] before. It was the name of an assassination tool with extremely high killing power.

…that thing was placed in the west warehouse?

Not long ago, it was none other than Felix who was in the west warehouse.

From their conversation, someone had attempted to kill me, and Louis Miller secretly protect me, I suppose?

However, from the way Louis described it, he didn't seem to be the one who neutralized the [Conch Flame].

…then, who was it?

Felix held his breath to focus on the conversation between Louis and that woman.

Louis looked down at the fountain with a weary face before letting out a sigh.

"This fountain can't be fixed anymore… well, the academy will probably just think it's broken over time… but to summon the Spirit King just for the sake of protecting the Second Prince…"

Louis ruffled his neatly trimmed chestnut hair and blurted out.

"Lady [Silent Witch] is being reckless, really."

……….What?

Felix's heart jumped at the name that came out of Louis's mouth.

[Silent Witch] summoned the Spirit King? To protect me?

A scene from a few months ago came back to Felix's mind.

A flock of wyverns shot through the eyebrows. Their huge bodies fluttering down silently like snow.

That magic was so quiet and beautiful.

And now, its wielder, [Silent Witch], summoned the Spirit King?

To protect Felix?

…Looks like it's the truth.

Felix's heart raced in excitement as if he were a young child discovering the existence of a shooting star for the first time.

How majestic and beautiful would be the sight of that beautiful magician summoning the Spirit King?

Was [Silent Witch] still nearby? Did she just happen to be passing by? Or has she been infiltrating the school for some time? From what I've seen of her at the ceremony, she's a small figure, but… wait, that alone can't determine that she's a woman. The [Thorns Witch], one of the Seven Sages, also bears ‘witch' in his title, but that person is a man, and it might be possible that the [Silent Witch] is also a man. Then, there's also a chance that she's infiltrated into the middle-grade section… No, she could have infiltrated as a teacher as well. Wait, calm yourself. She might not have been infiltrated, but just happened to be passing by.

Unlike any other time, he felt his thoughts running ahead of him.

That's how much Felix admired the [Silent Witch].

I want to see her. I want to meet her. I want to see her use her no-chant magic, if only once.

Felix couldn't help but press his hand to the upturned corner of his mouth.

He heaved a huge breath as he pressing down his mouth with his palm, he felt his cheeks flush in a way that was uncharacteristic of him.

That was just like a little boy who is searching for his first love.

I might have finally found it.

Felix squeezed his chest, which was throbbing, over his uniform.

Something I am truly interested in.