Chapter 264: Crossroads (5)
“Cecilia?”
Perhaps he had not expected to run into her here.
When Lian recognized Cecilia’s face and repeated her name, she—peeking out from the other side—let out a small sigh as if in relief.
“……It seems you’re safe. That’s a relief.”
“How is the situation outside?”
At Lian’s question, Cecilia gave a small nod.
“At some point, the enemy’s momentum weakened. Thanks to that, things have been mostly brought under control now.”
Then she murmured in a voice filled with trust, as if she had not doubted it even for a moment.
“So I figured Lian must have done something again. And as expected, I was right.”
“……What about the others?”
“Everyone is exhausted, but no one is seriously injured. You don’t need to worry.”
While saying that, Cecilia suddenly narrowed her eyes as if she had just noticed Lancia lying across Lian’s back.
“That person is…?”
“Ah, this is Senior Lancia.”
Lian immediately twisted his body slightly so that Lancia could be seen.
“To explain the situation would take a bit of time……”
“Hmm.”
Only then did Cecilia seem to notice Velita and Artemia standing behind them, and her eyes narrowed again.
Seeing how battered and exhausted the two of them looked, she slowly nodded as if she could roughly understand what had happened.
“……Let’s talk about the details after we get outside. For now, I’ll help you get out.”
“Thank you, Cecilia.”
“It could be dangerous, so please step back a little, Lian.”
Lian quietly stepped back as she instructed.
Soon after—
Boom! Craaash!
The thunderous noise they had heard earlier began echoing again.
Only when the debris gradually cleared and his view widened did Lian see what was happening.
The spirits Cecilia had clearly summoned were moving in perfect unison—smashing apart the rubble and throwing it aside.
They moved so vigorously that it was almost surprising the noise wasn’t even louder.
‘……Even while moving like that, they somehow aren’t collapsing the debris further.’
Perhaps that was why they were called spirits.
Before long, the entrance—which had been so tightly blocked that even air could not pass through—had been cleared enough for people to move through it without issue.
“Phew.”
“……We were fortunate.”
“…….”
After stepping outside, Lian let out a small sigh of relief.
He had believed things would probably be fine, but actually seeing it for himself brought a completely different sense of reassurance.
Artemia, who must have suffered quite a bit as well, followed him out and muttered with a relieved sigh.
Velita simply glanced back and forth between Cecilia and the spirits several times without saying a word.
“Thanks to you, we survived. Thank you, Lady Everglenn.”
“……Ah, yes. I’m glad I could be of help, Your Highness.”
As Velita slightly bowed her head, Cecilia also returned the gesture with proper courtesy.
“You’re safe.”
Cecilia was not the only one waiting for them.
Lian gave a small nod when Allen spoke to him, as if acknowledging his hard work.
“From the looks of it, you didn’t have it easy either.”
“Haha……”
Allen merely gave a weak smile and neither confirmed nor denied Lian’s words.
But that alone was answer enough.
It wasn’t difficult for Lian to guess that Allen had gone through something extremely difficult.
“I am glad you are safe. I was worried sick.”
“Yuran.”
Although she looked tired as well, Yuran had no visible injuries.
Lian lowered his head toward her in gratitude.
“Even underground, I could feel your warning, Yuran. Thank you.”
“Ahem… hm……”
At Lian’s thanks, Yuran coughed awkwardly.
“……It was nothing. Just something that had to be done.”
“Even so, it helped greatly.”
“Ahem, hm.”
Clap.
At that moment, a small clap echoed out, yet it drew everyone’s attention.
“Well then……”
Yeriel, who had silently watched their brief reunion until now, finally spoke.
“I believe we should first share what happened.”
As he said that, Yeriel extended his hand toward Lian and the others.
A moment later, his hand emitted a faint glow.
Instantly, the various wounds covering Lian and the other three began to heal.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but it even felt as though some of his strength had returned.
“For now, let me start by telling you what we experienced.”
Yeriel then began explaining what had happened on the surface in a brief and concise manner.
During this, he showed slight surprise upon noticing Velita among them—but otherwise displayed no particular reaction.
His explanation was simple.
The area around the entrance where Lian and the others had descended underground had essentially been the source from which the mire-like creatures and the revenants with iron needles embedded in their chests were emerging.
At first, they had been able to hold them off without much trouble.
But the numbers were overwhelming, and they gradually began to be pushed back.
However, at some point, the endless tide of enemies began to decrease.
Eventually, it stopped altogether.
Taking advantage of that momentum, they had wiped out all the mire creatures and revenants in the surrounding area.
“……You must have had quite a difficult time.”
At Lian’s murmur, Yeriel stroked his beard.
“The problem came after that.”
“A problem?”
“Yes. Look up.”
At Yeriel’s words, Lian raised his head toward the sky.
And immediately flinched.
Dragons.
An enormous number of dragons hovered in the sky—so many that calling it a swarm would hardly be an exaggeration.
‘Ah, right. Mentor definitely said…….’
He had mentioned that dragons had appeared.
Even though he already knew that, perhaps because his memories from his previous life overlapped with the present, Lian could not hide his shock.
Seeing this, Yeriel nodded.
“You seem less surprised than expected, but even you couldn’t help being startled.”
“……Did it look that way? I’m actually extremely shocked right now.”
“That’s because your reactions have always been so faint.”
Muttering that, Yeriel continued while gazing up at the dragons.
“For some reason, they are only observing the situation from above. They show no intention of coming down.”
It was different from what had happened in Lian’s previous life.
Now that he had calmed down and looked more carefully, it was true.
The dragons were merely watching this place and various other areas. They didn’t seem to be planning to do anything else.
“What do you think it means?”
“Who knows. Only they would know.”
Muttering that, Yeriel looked at Lian again.
“Now then, tell us what happened below. To be honest, we tried to check the situation ourselves, but……”
He cleared his throat awkwardly.
“For some reason, neither my magic nor Professor Deiare’s Far-Seeing Eye worked. So we know nothing about what happened down there.”
“Yes, well……”
This time it was Lian’s turn to speak.
He began preparing to explain everything they had experienced underground.
Naturally, he could not reveal anything about Talia or Berenistella, so he was just about to fabricate an appropriate story when—
[Stop.]
The voice echoed in his mind again.
This time he wasn’t startled.
But what happened next shocked him.
“[First, we went down and participated in the auction. Not long after that…….]”
It was clearly his mouth that was moving.
Yet the one speaking was not him.
Berenistella was using his mouth to tell the story.
[The Far-Seeing Eye.]
As Lian wondered why she was suddenly doing this, her voice echoed again in his mind.
[It can discern truth from falsehood.]
While weaving a believable story through Lian’s mouth, Berenistella continued speaking inside his mind.
[With your level, you cannot evade the perception of that Centauros’s Far-Seeing Eye.]
[Rather than having a lie exposed and drawing suspicion, this is the better option.]
[So do not resist. If the connection breaks, it will only make them more suspicious.]
Lian stopped resisting the strange energy flowing through his body as she instructed.
Meanwhile, his mouth continued moving naturally, recounting the events that had occurred underground.
“[……And that is how we returned.]”
Only after the story concluded did Lian feel the energy flowing through his body disappear.
“Hm……”
“That is quite a difficult story to believe. It seems you had just as hard a time as we did.”
After hearing Lian’s account, Yeriel frowned thoughtfully.
Professor Shagas appeared to find the story difficult to believe, but he showed no sign of suspicion.
“……It is true.”
After a long silence, Professor Deiare murmured in a trembling voice—sounding as though she could hardly believe it, yet had no choice but to.
“By any chance, was there a small girl inside…… no, I apologize. Please forget what I just said.”
She shook her head.
Then, with a sigh, she struck the ground with the butt of the halberd she had been holding.
“……So what should we do now?”
Velita, who had been quietly resting until then, suddenly spoke.
Yeriel answered her with courtesy.
“We will need to divide into three groups.”
“Three?”
“It is a poor and simple strategy. But it is necessary.”
Yeriel explained.
“The Academy, the streets where the unrest has not yet settled, and this place—the entrance—in case of any unforeseen circumstances.”
“All three are certainly important.”
Professor Shagas nodded.
“But if we do that, we’ll have to split our already limited forces into three. Can we even act properly like that?”
“There are many others moving independently besides us. We will have to rely on that.”
“Hmm… well, that’s true.”
Professor Shagas nodded reluctantly.
Then Professor Deiare spoke.
“The Headmaster, Professor Shagas, and myself. Let us divide into three.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
Naturally, the three who possessed the greatest combat strength here formed the groups.
Yeriel looked around briefly, seemingly assessing everyone’s remaining strength, before speaking first.
“I will go to the Academy.”
He nodded to himself.
“My residence is there, but more importantly…… given the situation, it is hard not to worry. Besides, I can move the fastest, so it would be best if I head to the farthest place—the Academy.”
“Then I will handle the remaining mire creatures and revenants.”
Professor Shagas cleared his throat.
“I’ve had my fill of urban warfare. Not that it’s something to boast about, but among us, I probably have the most experience with it.”
“……Then I suppose I will remain here.”
Deiare muttered calmly.
“If you don’t mind, I will keep observing both of you. If it seems you need support, I will come immediately.”
Yeriel nodded.
“Good. Then it’s decided.”
“Since it’s decided, we should move quickly. Yuran, let’s go.”
“Eh, uh……”
“Yuran? What is it?”
At Professor Shagas’s words, Yuran glanced toward Lian.
“Yuran?”
“Ah, it’s nothing… I’m coming now….”
Perhaps realizing this wasn’t the time to be stubborn, she quietly walked over to Professor Shagas.
After hesitating briefly, Allen followed after her.
“……Lian Gwendil, Princess Velita, Ms. Artemia, and Miss Jintia. I will take charge of them.”
Watching them, Deiare spoke.
In other words, they were effectively being classified as out of combat strength.
“So the rest of you should—”
“Me too.”
At that moment, Lian spoke up.
“I will go to the Academy as well.”