Chapter 28
After returning to the academy, the group cleaned up and then explained the situation to Violet. The explanation mainly focused on Emily’s circumstances – how she had gone deep into the forest to search for the magic orb, rolled down a low hill, and then fallen into the shelter when the ground collapsed.
“All three of you have been through a lot. Above all, I’m so relieved that you weren’t hurt. By the way, I didn’t know there was a hidden shelter in this area – we thought all the shelters around here had been excavated long ago. The teachers will investigate separately, so don’t worry and just rest well today.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
“Thank you so much.”
The three bowed and left the infirmary, deciding to return to their dormitory. Sarina’s dormitory was in a different building. The exhausted trio agreed to part ways for now, rest well, and meet again later, saying goodbye at the main building entrance.
“The teacher looked pale. Do you think she’s alright?” Kira asked worriedly as they walked towards the dormitory.
Emily recalled Violet’s ashen face. “I think she was shocked because incidents keep happening in her classes.”
“I feel somewhat sorry…”
“It’s not your fault, Kira! This isn’t anyone’s fault. It just happened. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“Okay…”
Seeing Kira looking dejected, Emily changed the subject to distract her.
“By the way, what was that mana we saw in the shelter? The mana that was absorbed into us. Will the charged mana remain?”
“Well… I think it’s not just a simple charge, but our mana circles might have grown a bit. About 1/20th of the original size?”
“What?! Mana circles?”
Emily turned to Kira, startled by the unexpected answer. Kira put her finger to her lips, indicating to lower her voice.
“Shh! Emily, changes in mana circles are a sensitive issue for magicians, so it’s better not to speak loudly about it.”
“Ah, yes, sorry. I was just so surprised…”
“I understand. I was quite shocked too when I felt my mana circle grow a bit. From what I can guess, it’s probably an ancient magic that expands the mana circle proportionally to one’s existing mana.”
“Such magic…! Isn’t that almost like cheating? To have your mana circle grow through magic without training! And our mana quantity increased too!”
“It’s probably high-level magic? I’m not sure either, but it’s best if we both don’t say anything about this. Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any physical side effects, so I’ll go to the library tomorrow to find out more details.”
“Okay, I understand. I won’t tell anyone. I’ll help with the research too. Let’s look into it together.”
Emily nodded, pressing both hands to her mouth. It was truly remarkable if what Kira said was true.
A magician’s mana quantity is inherently innate. In the past, it was said that mana could be increased through harsh training, but nowadays, there are virtually no magicians who shut themselves in magic towers for decades just for magic training.
Therefore, both the expansion of the mana circle and the increase in mana quantity are extremely rare occurrences. Emily only then realized that an incredible stroke of luck had come her way. Of course, it was just a drop in the bucket compared to Kira, but wasn’t the very fact that her mana circle had grown almost miraculous?
“Oh, what should I do, Kira? My heart is suddenly racing.”
“Don’t be too nervous, Emily. It doesn’t seem like the mana quantity increased that much. Don’t you think they might have put that magic there to help in truly dire situations, to save lives when facing a real crisis?”
“You’re right. Whoever they were, thank you, ancient magician.”
Emily nodded at Kira’s words and thanked the unknown magician. As they talked and walked, they soon arrived at the dormitory. As they were passing through the corridor and about to go up to the second floor, Emily suddenly caught sight of a female student passing through the first-floor corridor of the dormitory.
This caused Emily to unconsciously turn to look at Kira walking beside her, but she didn’t seem to have noticed the student who had just passed by and was simply climbing the stairs. After a moment of hesitation, Emily made up her mind and spoke to Kira.
“Kira, I have somewhere I need to stop by briefly. Would you like to go up first?”
“What? Aren’t you tired? If you need something, shall I help you?”
Surprised that Emily, who had been exhausted just moments ago, was suddenly saying she had something to do and going back down the stairs, Kira called out to her.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be back very soon. Please go rest first.”
“Alright, Emily. Then I’ll go back to our room and take a shower. Don’t overexert yourself.”
As Emily insisted she was fine and would be back soon, Kira nodded with a worried expression.
After watching Kira go up the stairs, Emily hurried down and looked around for the disappeared female student.
“I’m sure she went this way…”
Those purple eyes were definitely Chloe’s. Following the direction the pale-faced girl had gone, Emily came to a small garden in front of the side door of the dormitory she had visited before. She looked around the area with a white bench swing with a roof, searching for Chloe.
“…Stop it already!”
As Emily was looking behind the swing, she was startled by a sudden loud voice and turned around. However, there was only the small garden there, with no one in sight.
“I said I’ll handle it myself!”
Hearing the voice again, Emily carefully moved towards the source of the sound, muffling her footsteps. She saw trees surrounded by bushes in the inner part of the small garden, and a female student with her back turned was talking to someone there.
“Is that how you acted after saying you’d handle it yourself? Do you even know how much that dress cost?”
As Emily peeked her head slightly towards the female student, she saw the student talking to what seemed to be thin air. No, to be precise, she was talking to a shimmering letter floating in the air.
Seeing this scene, Emily suddenly remembered the latest magical letters that had recently come out. She had heard they were much cheaper than magic devices, and although they didn’t show images, they could transmit the other person’s voice, costing twice as much as regular magical letters.
The magical letter was unfolded and glowing in the air. The voice coming from it was that of a middle-aged woman. It seemed to be the student’s mother. Emily was turning her head this way and that to try to confirm if the student was Chloe, as she wasn’t turning around, but the conversation between the student and the woman in the letter continued.
“It was Father who refused the Second Prince’s offer to pay for the dress!”
“So, should we become the laughingstock of high society by accepting dress money from the Prince? It’s such a disgrace. Your father did that for your sake, Chloe. We sent you to the academy at great expense in hopes of finding a better marriage prospect. Do you know what rumors are circulating about you in high society now?”
As their conversation deepened, Emily thought it wasn’t right to eavesdrop on others’ conversations and was about to leave when she suddenly heard Chloe’s name and stopped in her tracks. She turned back to look at the student standing with her back turned, covering her mouth with both hands. So, that student was indeed Chloe.
“…What do you want me to do?”
“Come back home and quit the academy.”
“Mother!”
“If things continue like this, your marriage prospects will be ruined!”
“No! How long has it been since I entered? I absolutely refuse!”
“You think I’m not upset about this? Do you know how much the entrance fee was? Of all people, you had to act that way towards a commoner favored by the Second Prince! Why can’t you distinguish between time, place, and people? If only you hadn’t acted so foolishly…”
“I don’t care! I’m not going to drop out!”
“Chloe! Clo…”
-Pop!
Chloe covered her ears as if she didn’t want to hear anymore, then immediately snatched the floating letter and crumpled it. The letter that had been emitting the voice instantly lost its light and turned into an ordinary piece of paper. And as she turned around abruptly to walk away, she unexpectedly made direct eye contact with someone.
“…Oh.”
Emily’s eyes met Chloe’s as she suddenly turned around, leaving no time to avoid her. Emily was so surprised that she hesitated, unable to say anything.
Chloe, who had been overcome with displeasure at the thought of a stranger eavesdropping on her conversation, belatedly realized that the person standing before her was Emily and smoothed her furrowed brow, looking flustered.
“Um…”
“Uh…”
For a while, neither knew what to say and just watched each other’s reactions. Then Emily spoke first.
“You’re Chloe Allen, right? I’m Emily Adesio. Please call me Emily. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I missed the timing to leave…”
“No, no. Don’t apologize, Miss Emily. I should be the one apologizing. Are you alright? I really didn’t intend to…”
Chloe, looking perplexed at Emily’s sudden apology, shook her head and started to apologize to Emily when her eyes suddenly reddened with tears. She looked at Emily, hurriedly wiping her face with both hands, seemingly embarrassed by the sudden tears.
“I’m sorry, Miss Emily. Suddenly, tears… Why am I like this? I know I shouldn’t have done that in the forest, but when I saw Miss Kira, I was so frustrated… I didn’t know things would turn out like this. I’m sorry. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.”
Chloe, rambling with a flushed face, suddenly stopped speaking as if her emotions had intensified, and burst into tears on the spot.
Taken aback, Emily didn’t know what to do at first, but then carefully approached Chloe, who was crying with her face buried in her hands, and gently patted her shoulder.
After crying for a while with her shoulders shaking, Chloe eventually calmed down and raised her head, wiping her reddened eyes.
“I’m sorry for crying like this when I’m not in a position to cry, Miss Emily. Please call me Chloe.”
“Yes, Chloe. Are you feeling a bit better now?”
As Emily looked at Chloe with concern as she spoke between sniffles, Chloe’s eyes welled up with tears again, but she took a deep breath and swallowed her tears.
“Yes, I feel much better, thanks to you. I was prepared to be severely criticized. But when you spoke to me so kindly, Miss Emily, I think my emotions just overwhelmed me. First, let me apologize. I’m sorry, Miss Emily. I’m really glad you weren’t hurt.”
Chloe straightened her posture, looked directly at Emily, and bowed deeply to apologize.
“…Chloe, let’s sit down and talk slowly.”
Looking at Chloe, who was speaking incoherently with her head deeply bowed and her face flushed, Emily took her hand and helped her up. Then she moved with her to the nearby swing.
