Chapter 35

Chapter 35

The Occupation of Ophelis Hall (5)

“Something that I need to take care of suddenly came up, so I might be a little late. I’ll be there as fast as I can, so please just wait a little longer. I’m sorry.”

It would be a lie to say that something didn’t feel right.

From the tone of his voice in the note he left her, it was clear to her that Ed Rothstaylor had gotten caught up in some unexpected trouble.

Nevertheless, Yennekar put away her worries about Ed Rothstaylor. He was someone that was always able to deal with any crisis or problem in a smooth manner.

He never took any unnecessary actions and would always finish the job quickly. Whether it was simply chopping firewood or making tools for survival, to intervening in the student center’s subjugation team that was in a tough spot because of Yennekar’s mistake.

Ed Rothstaylor was someone who had created a certain expectation around himself that he could somehow solve any problem, no matter how big or small.

Only after being stabbed in one’s blind spot, hidden in their complacency, is one able to truly reflect on themselves.

“I’ll definitely help you then.”

She remembered when she told Ed those words, sitting in his camp and looking up at the stars.

She meant for him to ask her for help whenever something difficult arose, or if there was something too burdensome for him to take on alone.

Yennekar Palerover was fully aware of her own strength. She didn’t often reveal it because of her humble and sympathetic nature, but... she had complete confidence that she would surely be of help to him in the event of a crisis.

But Ed Rothstaylor never asked her for help.

He fought until the point where he was covered in blood, but ultimately ended up collapsing with a beaten body. He had ignored Yennekar, who had told him that she would always lend him a hand whenever he needed it, and fought by himself to the very end.

What was the reason for that?Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

What was the reason he left her a letter that was so unusual, why he made sure that she was outside of Ophelis Hall, and why he had to fight here, to the point that he was bleeding?

She didn’t know what was happening in Ophelis Hall, but she wondered if he was just trying to make sure that she wasn’t involved.

Yennekar Palerover’s strength wasn’t at the level that Ed would need to worry about it.

However, Yennekar had already been given various disciplinary actions due to the Glasskan Incident. Creating any more trouble here would only ruin all of the hard work that her peers put in to support her and to make sure that she would only receive a light punishment.

Seeing Ed Rothstaylor fighting all the way to the end, until he was completely covered in blood... If Yennekar saw such a thing, would she be able to hold herself back? She immediately shook her head.

That was why Ed Rothstaylor had made sure to push Yennekar away from the battlefield.

Considering that, an unbearable anger surged from inside Yennekar’s chest.

She didn’t know why Ed Rothstaylor was fighting until things became like this. However, at the very least she knew quite well that he was not the type of person who would commit irrational actions or evil deeds like the rumors claimed that he would.

What was she doing while Ed Rothstaylor was fighting here, to this extent?

While someone was walking out towards a battlefield by himself, what was Yennekar thinking?

She worried about her clothes, making her hair nice, and the color of her hairpin, all while she stayed up late at night in excitement, as her imagination went wild like any other girl who had fallen in love.

The direction of her anger was towards herself.

But right now, it was the time to put that anger aside.

Shwaaaaaaa!

With her back to the sound of the falling rain and her head lowered, she quietly asked Taylee and the rest of the party a single question.

“What are you doing?”

There was a chill in her voice.

“Yennekar?”

Taylee was the first to respond.

It went without saying, but at this point there was no way for Taylee to understand Yennekar’s feelings.

“Thankfully you didn’t get caught up in this situation, Yennekar! Right now, Ophelis Hall is being occupied by other students. But... I don’t think it will simply end like this. Seeing as Ed went this far to stop us, that must mean there’s something else...”

“Is that so?”

With her head down, it was hard to see Yennekar’s eyes. However, the fact that she was glaring directly at them was obvious.

At that moment, a huge amount of magic power fluctuated around the main entrance of Ophelis Hall.

The mana resonance level of the 2nd year magic department’s top student was impressive enough to even make alumni stare in awe. Her collar stood up as the wind hit her skin. The small chandeliers on the ceiling began to shake like crazy as they threatened to crash down next to the main chandelier.

“Wh-What?!”

“Yennekar! What are you doing?!”

She didn’t summon the high-ranking fire spirit Takan.

Because of its enormous power, it hadn’t fully recovered from the damage caused by its previous battle.

Though, she didn’t need to borrow the power of a high-ranking spirit against three 1st year students.

Mid-ranking fire spirit Olgoas, mid-ranking wind spirit Pesci, mid-ranking water spirit Flan, mid-ranking earth spirit Tyke.

The four mid-ranking spirits were summoned together to deal with Taylee’s party.

Besides those four, many other fluid spirits and lower spirits also began to rise, creating what looked like an army.

On the 1st floor, the windows began to shatter as the wind swept around. The rain mixed with the pieces of glass that was caught up in the storm of mana that shook the entire main hall.

“Get a grip, Taylee! She’s an enemy!”

Elvira, who was the first one to realize the situation, quickly picked up all of the reagent bottles. She put them, one by one, into the hole of her torn alchemy bag. The rain was flying around like crazy and obscuring their vision.

“You know... What you guys were doing, I wasn’t even curious about at all.”

What Yennekar wanted wasn’t that complicated.

Did you guys do that to Ed?

To that extent... She didn’t ask that question in such a straightforward manner.

What was happening at Ophelis Hall, and what Taylee and the rest of his party were thinking of by trying to enter Ophelis Hall, was no longer Yennekar’s concern.

“Yennekar!”

Through the wind and rain, she heard that boy’s voice.

He couldn’t hold himself up properly, but from the bottom of his throat he was able to squeeze out Yennekar’s name.

Seeing the boy’s wrecked body, Yennekar's heart was struck with pain. She didn’t want him to use his strength unnecessarily, so she quietly responded to Ed.

“Just wait one minute, Ed.”

At most, it would be just a minute.

That was more than enough time to sort this situation out.

It was obvious that the aftermath would lead to the destruction of Ophelis Hall, hurt her juniors, and would break school rules. Nevertheless, the thing that was pushing Yennekar to go to such extremes was her past self.

She wanted to live up to expectations, she never wanted to harm others, and would always try her hardest for the people close to her. That was most definitely who she saw in the mirror.

On the other side, reflected in the mirror was Ed. Ed, who was trying to take on all the work by himself for Yennekar’s sake, to the point that he collapsed, covered in blood.

His appearance was what had triggered Yennekar Palerover’s wrath.

Yennekar knew herself just how sad and grief-stricken she was, which is why she couldn’t leave Ed Rothstaylor like that.

An eagle made of fire, a raging lion formed by the wind, a giant shaped by water, and a horse created with mud all stood for their summoner. Each and every one of them was a mid-ranking spirit that could only be defeated with 4-5 people rushing it.

However, when dealing with someone whose emotions were out of control and their ears closed, it was necessary to make such a gesture to have them hear you out.

“Uh? Ehh?!”

Only then did Yennekar start to go back to her regular self, little by little.

“E-Ed! Your hand! Your hand is on my shoulder!”

“Yennekar... First, get rid of the spirits. The wind is too strong, so I’m having a hard time standing...”

“Uh, yeah?! Of course. It must be hard for you to stand up. I’m sorry...! What did I do...? I’m such an idiot...”

After that, it all happened in an instant.

The raging storm of magic power quickly died down, and all the spirits waiting for their master’s order to attack disappeared.

After a while, the main hall of Ophelis Hall was once again filled with the sound of the falling rain.

“......”

Taylee and his party were staring, completely stunned, as I quickly waved my hand at them.

They all looked as if they had seen a ghost.

At this rate, they might end up missing Clevius, who was wandering around on the 2nd floor. If that happened, it would be troublesome to deal with.

“Hurry and go... I don’t think there’s much time left...”

Saying that, I finally lost all of my strength.

The completely confused Yennekar was frantically holding my collapsed body up.

* * *

Shwaaaa

“I’m really upset.”

The pouring rain only added to the atmosphere.

Sitting and holding her knees, Yennekar’s voice was low and didn’t sound very good.

The main hall on the 1st floor Ophelis Hall was a complete mess. Taylee and his party went up the stairs to the 2nd floor while Yennekar and I sat alone, leaning against the wall and listening to the rain.

We looked quite funny as we were both completely drenched, but... sometimes, after getting rained on, for some reason you could feel a sense of freedom and exaltation.

Anyway, I thought that Taylee’s specs were growing quite well. There didn’t seem to be any issues.

Looking at the range of his ‘Elemental Slash’, as well as the speed and precision in which he struck, I could figure it out... It seemed that all of the regular events had been completed well.

Of course, from my point of view he wasn’t completely perfect. But that was only because I was someone who would completely foster my specs to the furthest extent... I should have just been happy that he had attained the specs to be able to clear it.

In any case, for a short while it would just be a matter of mental strength. As the story progressed, it would push a human’s sanity to its furthest.

Professor Glasts’ Celestial magic would trap Taylee in the cracks of time, causing him to experience hundreds and thousands of deaths.

Lucy’s supreme-rank magic would put Taylee on the brink of death, and Mebula, who was the evil god summoned by the head of House Krepin, would trap him in his worst nightmare.

Despite that, even in the ordeals that would test one’s mind to its limits, Taylee would never give in.

I had said it quite a few times already, but... I didn’t want to take on such hardships.

I was planning to just take care of myself and rake in the success, but... when I came to my senses, things had become like this. As expected, not everything in the world goes as planned.

“Why do you never say anything and get hurt? I told you to come talk to me if there was something going on...”

“There was a reason for it this time. Next time, I’ll tell you everything...”

I persuaded Yennekar, who was twisting my arm to go see a therapist immediately, as we sat on the 1st floor of the main hall and waited for the event to come to an end.

Though it was originally supposed to be in the rose garden, now we were waiting in the main hall of Ophelis Hall to check if there were any possible variables, and if everything was going as planned.

For quite some time, I sat next to Yennekar as we watched the rain pour down outside the half-destroyed main hall.

Although there were some variables, somehow we passed the 1st floor event safely and Taylee’s specs were growing without any issues.

The job itself went as I had planned...

“They really went too far. I don’t know exactly what happened, but there shouldn’t ever be a reason to attack someone to this extent. Next time we meet, I’m going to get really angry at them.”

It was completely understandable that Yennekar would say such a thing, as she didn’t know about the chandelier I made fall... or the fire that I set... or the arrow that I shot.

I was grateful that she was unconditionally on my side, but I didn’t feel comfortable explaining everything that happened to her.

Well, it would be fine to put it aside and do it later.

“Anyway... Ed... Don’t go around getting hurt, okay? You got it? Promise me.”

“Alright. Thanks for worrying about me.”

Considering that, I calmed down and let myself rest. It was a little different from what I had planned, but in the end I had done my part as the 1st floor boss...

Now, I could take a break and take care of the work at my camp.

I felt a sense of relief, listening to the sound of the rain.

My heart felt a little more at ease.

That was, until I heard what Yennekar had to say.

“By the way, Ed. When I was sitting in the rose garden, I saw a very big carriage.

“It went by so quickly that I couldn't see it well, but... There was a golden crown on it. Thinking about it carefully... isn’t that a carriage from the Elte Store?

“I read about it in a book long ago. That golden crown... For sure, the head of the Elte Store... That’s the pattern for ‘The Golden King, Elte’, right?”

The fake boss ‘The Golden King, Elte’, who would leave the stage after being stabbed in the back by Lortel in the event that took place after the occupation of Ophelis Hall: ‘The Battle for the Sage’s Seal.’

The fact that he had arrived in Silvenia way before it was planned...

It was completely outside my range of knowledge... That meant that something unexpected must have happened.

Once again, I started to get anxious.

* * *

“You’re not hurt anywhere else, are you, Taylee?”

“Yea, I’m okay. Ayla also seems fine. What about you, Elvira? Do you have enough reagents?”

“I have enough, so don’t worry.”

Ophelis Hall that was still getting rained on.

The three members of the subjugation team climbed the stairs as they checked on each other’s strength and healed any wounds they had.

They had felt that something was happening in Ophelis Hall, but they needed to make sure of that fact.

At least from the 1st floor, the fact that Ed Rothstaylor went to such extremes to stop them was unusual.

It was too tiring to face off against Ed Rothstaylor, since it was impossible to figure out what he was thinking or feeling. Even Yennekar Palerover was about to enter the fight as their enemy.

They couldn't figure out what was happening yet, but they wouldn’t let down their guard any further.

From the next floor, the enemies who would be blocking Taylee and his party would be just as difficult and complicated as on the 1st floor... Or maybe they could be even more troublesome. Just thinking about it gave them goosebumps.

Nevertheless, they had no intention of going back down.

Calming themselves, the group continued to climb up the stairs. They couldn’t ever let their guard down.