Chapter 38:

Chapter 38:

“Listen, let’s not act this way and think logically for a moment. What benefit do you gain from handing me over to the fairy?”

The Blue Tower’s mage, Geo Lomartan, was quite desperate. He had to convince Phillip one way or another.

“Why do you think there’s no benefit? Killing you means I would erase one reckless mage from the world, wouldn’t I?”

“It seems you’ve forgotten for a moment, but I haven’t committed any crimes yet. Has anyone actually suffered any harm? Think about it again. If you let me go, I’ll give you all the artifacts I have and never appear in this world again.”

Phillip snorted at Geo’s proposal.

“Ugh!”

“Attempting to summon a Manticore or angering the fairy, either one of those alone would be enough misdeeds to become infamous in the realm. But why should I trust you and let you go?”

He was like a walking time bomb. If one of Geo’s attempts had succeeded, it would have caused a catastrophe that could only be resolved with the intervention of an entire order of knights.

“Well, anyway, you can’t stop me now. I don’t know how you found me, but you seem to know nothing about the race of mages.”

Geo furrowed his brow from the pain coming from his neck and muttered in a gloomy voice.

“What?”

When Phillip asked, Geo pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“Am I just planning this for the sake of my personal ambition? The essence of a mage’s existence is the transmission of knowledge, so the failure of an experiment just because I couldn’t observe it doesn’t mean anything.”

Reluctantly, Phillip understood Geo’s words. That crazy magician was saying that the summoning of the Manticore would eventually happen.

“If you want to save your students, you should act quickly now. Isn’t the Manticore a powerful demon? Though the Privia Academy may be prestigious, it doesn’t seem like they can handle a Manticore. They are merely two instructors and students, not capable of dealing with such a creature. Hehehe.”

As if the situation had turned around, Geo mocked Phillip while giggling.

“Ah, really?”

Phillip acted as if he didn’t care and kicked Geo once more. He hit the back of Geolro’s knee precisely, causing him to collapse and scream in pain.

“You seem to be mistaken. I never had any intention of summoning a Manticore in the first place. What I was worried about was the fairy’s anger.”The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

Phillip’s anger reached its peak, and he began to stomp on the writhing Geo.

‘Because of this guy, the game’s difficulty had increased several times over.’

As per the setting, the fairies in this world quite liked humans. However, their affinity takes a steep decline when Geo Lomartan summoned a Manticore.

Fey creatures born from natural phenomena abhorred creatures associated with dark magic. The malevolent and dreadful beast, Manticore, was an unforgivable presence from the fairies’ perspective, and the mage who summoned it was no different.

The enraged fairies attacked nearby human villages, and the relationship between fairies and humans became distorted from the moment the knights and mages stepped in to subdue the fairies.

‘He did that all by himself.’

Several years later, when demons began their full-fledged activities, humans would need the assistance of the ancient mountains, lakes, and river’s guardians – the fairies.

Philip restrained Geo’s vital points, causing him to faint, and then started collecting visible items that appeared to be Geo’s research data.

‘... So now we’re going to fight the Manticore?’

When Neria asked, Philip nodded.

“Well, it looks that way.”

‘Hmm, it doesn’t seem so difficult. Your Moonlight Sword is lethal against creatures like Manticore.’

“Before that, let’s take this damned guy back to the fairies. I can fight the Manticore anytime, but I don’t want to fight angry fairies.”

“Wouldn’t the kids be in danger then?”

“Felicia will handle it. I trust her. Besides, she’s a once-in-a-generation genius with the sword, so she won’t have any trouble with mere Manticore.”

“... Did she hold my hand?” Janice wondered, but when she turned her head, she was met with a bizarre sight.

In place of the cute brown-haired girl, there stood a fish-human hybrid with fins and scales, a rather eerie creature.

Confused and taken aback, Janice couldn’t help but utter, “What?”

As the horrifying creature flicked its gills and turned its gaze towards her, Janice couldn’t contain herself and let out a piercing scream.

“Eek!”

—

“Your Grace, did you hear that scream just now?”

As Stephen and Cheryl walked in the opposite direction from Janice, Cheryl suddenly spoke up, and Stephen nodded in agreement.

“It sounded like Miss Janice.”

They had already covered quite a distance, and now they found themselves almost on opposite sides of the lake. It wasn’t feasible to rush to the other side, nor could they afford to ignore the situation.

“Should we try using flight magic to cross the lake?” Cheryl suggested.

“No, it’s too risky. Flying such a long distance with magic would drain a significant amount of mental strength, and we wouldn’t be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances. Let’s first assess the situation. Climbing to a higher vantage point and using a Telescopic Spell to survey the other side of the lake would be a safer option.”

Cheryl agreed with Stephen’s suggestion. His quick thinking and judgment impressed her, and she knew he was right.

“I have a Telescopic Spell prepared. Let me climb up a tree and take a look.”

Cheryl cast the flight magic, levitating herself into the air. Stephen followed her movements with concern, but when she flew over his head, he quickly averted his gaze.

“Whoa!”

Cheryl chuckled, realizing her mistake of wearing a skirt, and hastily focused on her spellwork.

“Never look up when I’m flying like this!”

Blushing, she aimed her wand towards the far side of the lake.

Soon, a translucent bead about the size of a human face appeared before her. With a flick of her wand, the bead soared through the air towards the middle of the lake, not the opposite shore.

“Huh?”

Through the bead’s view, Cheryl saw an unsettling sight in the middle of the lake, rather than on the far side.

Something disturbing was shimmering beneath the surface, as if an earthquake had occurred underwater, and then something shot up from the lake’s depths. Upon identifying the entity, Cheryl’s face turned pale.

She descended from the tree in a hurry and shouted, “Janice is in danger! Your Grace, we need to head over there immediately!”

“What? What’s going on?”

Confused, Stephen inquired, and Cheryl’s voice trembled with fear and concern as she responded.

“A Manticore! A Manticore appeared in the lake!”

“What? Why would a Manticore be here?”

Though bewildered, Stephen swiftly prepared his flight magic. He knew Cheryl well enough to trust her instincts, and he couldn’t ignore the seriousness of the situation.

“If a Manticore is indeed there, I’ll go and check on Miss Janice and Lua. You should head back to the camp and inform the Instructor and the professors. We don’t need all of us in one place.”

He made his decision. If there was something dangerous that needed to be done, he would take on that responsibility.

———-

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