Chapter 6: The Witch and the Suspicious Looking Beast

It had been two days since the incident with Rocheford. Leticiel had just arrived at the academy after using Transference, and she walked straight towards the Great Library.

After she had entered the library, Leticiel couldn’t find any signs of Sieg around. She guessed that he was probably doing research in his own laboratory.

“Hoho, you’re here again today?”

“Yes, I came here to finish the book I was reading yesterday.”

“In that case, how about you try this book too? I think it will be helpful.”

“Really? Then I’ll take you up on that, thank you very much.”

After chatting with David about books for a bit, Leticiel headed for the bookshelves to gather her reading materials before going off into her own world.

The book she was currently reading was about the creatures that inhabited the Astraea continent. Despite being an illustrated book, it was more enjoyable than she had thought. In fact, there was a mountain of various illustrated books atop her table.

Whenever Sieg was with her, he would make sure to drag Leticiel back to reality in time for lunch; however, he wasn’t in the library today.

And sure enough, by the time Leticiel removed her eyes from the books, lunch break had already been underway for some time.

“..Oh, oh no. It’s this late already.”

The old Leticiel wouldn’t have cared about the time; however, she now had friends waiting for her. The girl returned all the books on her desk back to their shelves before quickly leaving the Great Library. She didn’t want to make Mirandalette and Sieg wait for her.

The annex containing the Great Library was opposite to the cafeteria, with a courtyard between them. Walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria, Leticiel suddenly ran into Christa as her sister was walking down the stairs.

“..Oh my? Why, if it isn’t Elder Sister Drossel.”

Noticing Leticiel, Christa formed her signature sweet smile.

Leticiel reacted by wondering when was the last time she had met Christa face to face like this. Even inside or outside of the academy, the only people she interacted with were her friends and Ruvik.

“What are you doing at this place?”

“A teacher asked me to help him prepare for a class and I just finished. What about you, Elder Sister? You didn’t show up for class. What were you doing?”

“I have been reading in the Great Library this whole time.”

Hearing Leticiel’s answer, Christa let out a ‘hmm’ as if she wasn’t that interested in that topic.

“So.. Is that why you’re only heading to the cafeteria at this time?”

“That’s right. Is there something wrong with it?’

“No, not at all. I just thought that since you hadn’t once touched a book in the last few years, you would only be able to read books that were very simple and easy to understand.”

As the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria could be heard in the background, Leticiel and Christa met each others’ gazes in an empty corridor.

”Oh that’s right, Elder Sister. Do you still remember the evening party incident?”

Maintaining her smile, Christa asked the question in the gentlest tone of voice. Leticiel tried to read her expressions but couldn’t discern her intention in bringing up the topic.

“Yes, I do remember. Is something the matter?”

“Why did you decide to attend the party that night?”

“Hm? I just felt like showing up, you know? Do you have any problem with it?”

“Tch! That wasn’t what I meant! After all, you..!”

As Christa was about to say, ‘You’re supposed to be banned from all social gatherings’ , the confused expression on her twin elder sister’s face made her stop herself just in time.

It should have been something Drossel knew herself, yet she was acting as if she was completely unaware of it. Her elder twin sister had been behaving like an entirely different person. Dealing with her both at home and at the academy had taken its toll on Christa, and she couldn’t help but raise her voice in exasperation.

Clueless to the reason behind the frustration seeping out on Christa’s face, Leticiel decided to strengthen her guard. Oblivious to the shift in her sister’s stance, Christa introduced another topic to break the silence.

“Elder sister, if I remember correctly, you spoke back against His Highness Rocheford in the banquet hall on that night, didn’t you? Don’t you think it was improper to admonish the first prince in such a public location?”

“..Huh?”

Leticiel didn’t feel a single ounce of remorse about what she had said to Rocheford. In the first place, Leticiel felt that she had done the right thing by trying her best to hold back because he was the prince.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong. He was speaking in such a manner to his own fiancée in public. That would only serve to cast doubt on his dignity as royalty. As the first prince of this kingdom, he should be acting as an appropriate role model, right?”

“But, he’s truly a wonderful person with many good qualities. You just don’t know it, elder sister.”

In response to Christa’s words, Leticiel couldn’t, in any stretch of imagination, think of a way that Rocheford could be called wonderful. Leticiel reflected on what she had seen, but all she could remember was Rocheford using foul language, cheating with his fiancée’s sister, mocking those of lower status, and brandishing the shield at the Museum. There wasn’t a single good impression among them.

“..I see. So you’re with him because you think that he’s a wonderful person.”

Leticiel’s sudden mutters caused a puzzled expression to flit across Christa’s face as she tried to discern why her sister had said something like that.

“..Indeed, but why?”

Leticiel came to the conclusion that while she couldn’t see Rocheford in a positive light no matter how hard she tried, Christa must have truly believed he was a wonderful person to stay with him like that. She was reminded of the lesson her parents had taught her countless times before, that she shouldn’t judge a person by their cover. Leticiel was certain that even Rocheford had a side of him that he would only let Christa see.

“Hmmmmph. Well, you’ve spent much more time with His Highness than I have, so it must be something he would only show you.”

Leticiel voiced her honest thoughts. It was merely a logical conclusion, taking the lesson from her previous life into account.

“..What?”

However, her words had shaken Christa to the point that her tone changed. Unable to grasp the meaning behind Leticiel’s words, Christa could only squeeze out a single word. She lowered her head, causing her bangs to hide her expression, clenching her fist to the point that blood could come out at any moment.

“Anyhow, I’ll be going now.”

Without minding Christa’s strange state, Leticiel said a few words before entering the cafeteria. Her friends were most likely already waiting for her inside.

Searching for Sieg and Mirandalette within the chaotic cafeteria, Leticiel was oblivious to the fact that Christa’s eyes were following her back. Those eyes were filled with deep, dark emotions.

***

There was a vast forest within Lucrezia Academy’s grounds. The edge of the forest by the academy was a well-lit and peaceful spot, but if one were to venture deeper into the woods, the dense foliage would transform it into a dark and gloomy place.

And within that poorly-lit forest was the figure of Rocheford clutching his chest as he tottered through the sea of trees.

In his other hand was the drawn Holy Witch Slayer sword that he had taken from the Museum. Normally, the silvery snow-white blade would reflect the sunlight, giving off an air of divinity. However, due to the current lighting conditions, it only gave off a dull shine.

“W-why.. H-how.. In this place!”

Rocheford bit his lips as he muttered incoherent words.

He was putting all the blame of his current situation on Drossel, or rather, the Witch. Rocheford was this country’s first prince, while she was simply his fiancée.. a decoration decided by the king. If only she hadn’t defied him, if only she’d known her place, then he wouldn’t be in such a situation.

Dragging his feet along as if running away from something, Rocheford cursed Drossel in his mind.

“Shit! Faster.. fasteeeer.”

Rocheford kept a frantic pace as he forced his weary legs to keep going.

He didn’t know where he was going or where he was heading. He simply continued to move his feet to get away from terrifying thing chasing him.

“..!?”

His chest was already throbbing with pain, but a sudden sharp pang rang through his chest as if he had been stabbed by a blade.

The extreme pain forced Rocheford to stop in his tracks. He let out a soundless scream before collapsing onto the ground.

‘No, not yet. I can’t stop here.’ Despite voicing that thought in his head, Rocheford’s consciousness faded away.

A shadow appeared above his unconscious body. The sinister shadow was much darker than the shadows of the trees around him.

For just an instant, the Holy Witch Slayer in Rocheford’s hand emitted a suspicious glow.

***

The strange incident that would destroy their daily lives came out of the blue.

That afternoon, while she was focusing on Formula research in her laboratory like usual, a sudden thunderous explosion that was out of place at the academy reached Leticiel’s ears.

“..What was that?”

Quickly putting her pen down, Leticiel looked out of the research room’s window. She could see a cloud of dust rising from the forest near her research building, in the direction of the Museum.

“..!”

Instantly coming to the conclusion that something must have happened, Leticiel grabbed onto the window frame and leapt out without a moment’s hesitation.

Rather than leaving through the rooms and going down the stairs, this was a much faster method. Negating the impact of her landing with a wind Magecraft, Leticiel softly touched the ground and ran off towards the cloud of dust.

The moment she entered the forest, she began to pick up the faint sound of explosions and the howling of wind.

Leticiel rushed ahead while carefully pinpointing the source of the sounds. As she grew closer, the louder the explosions and winds became, and now she could also hear the yelling of male voices as well.

“Everyone! Use Magic to hold him back! We need as many people as possible!”

“Be careful! Don’t cause too much damage! Hey, how are the injured?”

Leticiel arrived at a small clearing within the forest.

Peeking through the trees, she saw that Lucas and many other teachers had gathered in the clearing, their faces filled with frustration as they fired Magic at the rampaging being before them.

That being was a gigantic beast that seemed to resemble a saber-toothed tiger clad in an ominous, pitch-black aura.

It was so big that calling it twice the size of Lucas, who already had a large build, was no exaggeration. Along with its massive body were long, sharp fangs, and two deep crimson eyes that had no whites.

Despite Lucas’s and the others’ effort to restrain the beast with Magic, the beast continued its rampage without a care for the attacks.

Moreover, when she focused her eyes, Leticiel noticed the figure of a person collapsed by the beast’s feet.

That person was Rocheford. He was lying facedown on the ground while holding some kind of sword in his hand. The beast continued to rampage above him without showing any intention of moving away from that spot.

There seemed to be a makeshift field hospital in the corner of the battlefield where the injured were gathered for first aid. On closer inspection, there were several teachers receiving medical treatment and a male student lying down.

Feeling that she had seen the boy’s face before, Leticiel then remembered that he was one of the followers who were with Rocheford the other day.

“Excuse me, can I have you tell me what happened here?”

“Huh..!? Miss D-Drossel!?”

Leticiel showed her face at the field hospital and asked about the current situation. She had decided against suddenly showing up on the battlefield for now as it would just sow confusion among the teachers.

“Why are you here.. It’s very dangerous here, you should leave at oncー”

“I’ll have to refuse, there would be no reason for me coming all this way if I did that. So, can you tell me what’s the cause of this? And what kind of beast is that?”

Seeing Leticiel’s sudden appearance, the teacher standing by the field hospital opened his eyes wide. He tried to ask her to leave, however, Leticiel simply shook her head.

She had shown herself in the first place thinking she could be of help, there was no way she would just abandon the teachers and run away at this point.

The teacher hesitated at first, but in the end, he acquiesced when Leticiel kept repeating her questions in a forceful tone.

“We don’t know all of the details ourselves, but it began when the Museum’s staff contacted us about strange noises coming from the forest. The Dean then investigated the source, and we found His Highness collapsed on the groundー”

To sum it up, while looking for the cause of the strange noises, they had come across the collapsed Rocheford. The teachers then tried to help him, but the beast appeared out of nowhere. Without knowing the situation, they were forced into a fight.

“We couldn’t let anything happen to His Highness, so we’ve been trying our best to rescue him. But it doesn’t seem like that thing wants to move away from him..”

“I see, so that’s what happened..”

Having heard the situation, Leticiel turned her eyes back to the battlefield. She wondered whether it was because the prince was by the beast’s feet or simply because the difference in power was too great. But the fact was clear that the teachers’ Magic had no effect on the beast.

While the teachers had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, they spent all their Magic Power on spells that had no effect, and one by one the they exhausted their power.

“I’ll go join them. Please take care of the injured.”

“..Huh? Wait! Miss Drossel!?”

Leaving the teacher’s words behind her, Leticiel jumped into the fray.

Every teacher in the clearing was surprised by the silver-haired girl’s sudden appearance. While ensuring the teachers were not in her path, Leticiel created a small whirlwind in her hand.

Following its creator’s wills, the whirlwind swiftly stretched until it had turned into a gigantic spear. Leticiel raised her arm high towards the sky before swinging downwards in one quick stroke towards the beast.

As if it had been thrown, the wind lance howled as it ripped through the air towards the beast. Having heard the sharp sound of the atmosphere being torn apart, it turned its head towards the source at the same moment the lance struck its massive body.

“Gyaahhhhhh!!”

As if metals were grinding together, a harsh screech reverberated through the clearing. The wind lance had pierced straight into the beast’s left eye.

The beast continued to scream after the wind lance had dispersed as it searched for the one who had stolen its sight.

Reflected in the beast’s remaining eye was the figure of Leticiel preparing her next Magecraft. As if it had realized what had happened, it turned towards her, ignoring the teachers that had been its opponents until now. The beast’s eye was filled with bloodlust as it marked Leticiel as its target.

Reacting to the sharp, supersonic claws coming down at her, Leticiel invoked Transference Magecraft to dodge them.

Not only as a means to shorten travel time, Transference also served to provide emergency evasion in combat. Despite requiring a fair amount of concentration to use, at Leticiel’s level, it was something that could be invoked in an instant.

The beast let out an annoyed cry before it immediately gave pursuit. While just moments ago it had taken care to stay close to Rocheford, it had now seemingly abandoned that notion.

The teachers wanted to take advantage of that gap to rescue Rocheford. However, as they feared that doing so would further provoke the beast, they couldn’t get close to him even if they wanted to.

With that in mind, Leticiel knew that her only option was to fight the beast in the clearing.

Luring it away from the clearing wasn’t an option; if she tried to lead it around the forest, she would risk damaging the Museum along with the various important items housed inside it, and if she tried to lure it out of the forest, she would risk dragging in other students.

Deciding that she must first seal the beast’s movement in order to save Rocheford, Leticiel invoked her Magecraft on the ground as she borrowed the power of the trees.

The surrounding trees rustled as they began to respond to Leticiel’s Magecraft. There was no wind blowing, but the sound of foliage moving gradually grew louder, and before long, the air inside the whole forest began to shake.

Even the massive beast was no match against the torrent of trees and foliage rushing at it from all four directions. It tried to break through the trees at first, however, in just under a minute, it had been robbed of its freedom.

“Please use this opportunity to rescue His Highness.”

After she had confirmed that the beast had been imprisoned within the cage of trees, Leticiel informed the teacher closest to her.

The teacher, who had been gaping at the cage of nature, snapped back to reality and ran towards Rocheford. Following suit, multiple teachers joined him.

They all thought that it was safe to rescue the first prince.

“Gishaaaaaa!”

Just before the teachers reached Rocheford, the beast let out a deafening roar from the cage.

The unpleasant roar reverberated through the forest as the ground shook. It was a much louder and more ominous roar than everything until now.

“W-what was that!?”

“L-l-let’s just get His Highness to a safe place first..”

The teachers corrected their postures while covering their ears. They then tried to pick Rocheford up.

However, in the next instant, crimson geysers erupted from their bodies. While watching the crimson liquid flow out of them, the teachers collapsed onto the ground without knowing the reason why.

“..!?”

Rocheford was standing up. In his hand was a silver sword dyed with a bright, scarlet liquid.

In that instant, Leticiel had deduced the truth of the situation and clenched both her hands. If she had thought about it for just a little bit, she would have noticed something was off. The beast had been moving as if to protect Rocheford. It wasn’t using him as a shield at all.

“..our fau..”

A low muttering could be heard. The source of the murmur staggered closer in Leticiel’s direction with the bloodied sword still in his hand.

“..It’s your.. It’s your fault.. that I..!

The moment Leticiel entered Rocheford’s view, as if his sluggish movement had been an act, he laid bare his resentment and swung his blade.

“I’m the first prince of this country! Don’t you dare defy me, you’re just the unwanted child of the Duke’s household!”

The downward slash was stopped by a wall of light as a shrill noise resounded. Through the semi-transparent barrier, Leticiel stared into the hazy flame of hatred in Rocheford’s eyes.

“If you didn’t exist! Then Christa would have been mine!”

His eyes were glazed over, and yet, Rocheford kept on baring his resentment towards Leticiel.

Her barrier let out a flash of light and Rocheford was flung away from the counterattack. As if he didn’t feel any pain at all, Rocheford immediately rose back to his feet and charged at her once more.

“Die! Die! Die! Disappear, wretch! You’re the biggest thorn in my side!”

Compared to the soldiers who had attacked Leticiel in the previous era, while Rocheford’s sword was extremely slow, it had an unthinkable amount of weight behind it.

However, as his movements were too simple, Leticiel simply utilized the force of that boring straight-forward charge against him and flung him away.

“What is going on here!!?”

The exasperated voice of a young boy appeared the moment Leticiel had flung Rocheford away. Leticiel turned to find Sieg standing in the battlefield. It seemed that he had rushed here, as he was gasping for air and had sweat running down his face.

“Sieg! Take care of the teachers for me!”

The teachers who had been injured by Rocheford were being treated by the other teachers. However, it seemed that since either their wounds were too deep, or their healing Magic were insufficient, their treatment had shown very little progress.

Because Sieg lacked any Light Element Magic Power, he had an extraordinary compatibility with healing Magecraft. Combined with the fact that she had previously taught him healing Magecraft’s Formulas, Leticiel judged that Sieg was the only person who was capable enough to heal those teachers.

“..! Understood!”

Sieg stared blankly at Leticiel for a moment before noticing the scene of teachers frantically performing treatment. He immediately realized what he needed to do.

While Sieg was helping with the treatment, Leticiel confronted Rocheford once again.

Leticiel could hear the sound of ripping and tearing from inside the wooden cage. It was only a matter of time before the beast would be free again.

“Die, die, die! Go to hell! Drossel!”

Rocheford charged straight at Leticiel once again.

“Shut up. Can you behave for a moment?”

And who do you think I’m fighting to save in the first place??Holding back those words, Leticiel canceled her attack Magecraft and invoked a body strengthening one instead. She still didn’t know why he was acting like that.

She grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground before immediately delivering a chop to the back of his neck. After confirming that he had lost consciousness, Leticiel thought she had incapacitated Rocheford.

“Gugaaaaah!”

However, without a moment of rest, with a timing that couldn’t had been more perfect, the beast’s cage made an air-splitting noise as it broke apart. The wreckage from the trees made rumbling noises as they pierced deep into the ground.

The emancipated beast’s eye was enveloped with intensifying fury as it sprung straight at Leticiel.

The beast let out an enraged roar. It had already stopped caring about everything else in the clearing.

The only thing reflected in its eye was the figure of the abhorrent silver-haired human, the one who had robbed it of its sight in one eye and its freedom. It was now rampaging for the sole purpose of revenge.

(This is.. not good.)

Leticiel knit her brows as she skillfully avoided the beast’s onslaught.

While it was a blessing that it was focusing solely on Leticiel, the fact that it wasn’t paying attention to its surroundings made the area around it very dangerous.

As the teachers had been fighting with the beast before Leticiel’s arrival, there were many injured teachers and students around the area. They were unable to retreat for the time being.

(Something bad might happen if the others don’t withdraw soon..)

Just as she thought about it, her worst fear happened.

At a location a short distance from the the battlefield, Sieg was treating the teachers who had been severely injured by Rocheford.

However, it still wasn’t a safe zone. Intending to make some distance before charging at her again, the beast leapt back and landed right beside Sieg’s group.

“Sieg!”

The beast swung its claws in a blind rage at Sieg and the others. As she was too preoccupied with being the beast’s target to help other people, Leticiel called out the name of the person she could trust the most in the group.

Because of the beast’s deafening roar, Leticiel wasn’t sure whether her voice had reached Sieg or not.

“..!”

Instinctively sensing his impending doom, Sieg released a Magecraft towards the approaching claw reflexively.

A pale ashen light burst out, a different color than that of the Light Element. That light caused an earth-shattering impact as it crashed into the beast’s claw.

“Gieeeee!!”

For the first time, the beast’s scream was filled with fear as its claw crumbled away like sand. The same beast that had been shrugging off all the Magecraft fired at it let out a scream of terror after it had received Sieg’s Magecraft.

(..Void Element’s Counter Magecraft..?)

What Sieg had used was something Leticiel had taught him during their training sessions after school.

Realizing the possibility that the beast was susceptible against Void Element Magecraft, Leticiel created a Void Element cannonball in her palm and shot it at the beast as a test.

“Gyiiiiii!”

The beast writhed in pain as it let out a distressed scream. As it was merely a Magecraft bullet, it didn’t deal massive damage like Sieg’s Counter Magecraft, but it was clear that the beast was vulnerable to the Void element.

(..Let’s try fighting it with Void Magecraft for now..)

Leticiel decided to go through with that plan to quickly end the battle. While she had been focusing on evading until now, Leticiel shifted her combat strategy to a more proactive and offensively oriented approach.

Incidentally, Sieg’s group had managed to retreat deeper into the forest while carrying Rocheford. Leticiel now only needed to stay away from the forest for them to be safe.

“Well then.. shall we finish this?”

As if those words marked the final showdown, the beast let out a roar filled with pain, rage, and fear as it kicked off the ground.

Reading the beast’s every movement, Leticiel evaded backward and to the right. When they passed by each other, she shot out the various Magecrafts she had prepared.

Left, right, up, down. Magecraft of various Elements strengthened by Void Element assaulted the beast’s body. The air shook as the beast let out a pained roar with every strike.

Like water flowing through a river, the stream of Magecraft from Leticiel’s hands showed no sign of stopping.

When she ran, sharp blades of wind howled through the air; when she swung her arm, a torrent of lightning rained down from the heavens; when she kicked off the ground, the earth warped into any shape she desired.

As if nature itself had become her ally, she advanced on the beast. Like a dancer whose grand stage was the battlefield, Leticiel’s form was so mesmerizing that any observer would be left speechless.

“This is the end..!”

Unable to withstand Leticiel’s bombardment, the beast’s limbs gave out. Leticiel wasn’t someone who would miss that opportunity.

She unleashed a new Magecraft at the immobilized beast. It was a Compound Magecraft made of Light and Void Elements.

Mana from the atmosphere began to swirl and coil around each other in accordance to Leticiel’s Formula. While Void Element Mana was invisible, it had the effect of stimulating and strengthening the power of Mana from other Elements.

Enhanced by Void Element’s Mana, a blinding sword of light began to assemble itself at the girl’s fingertips.

As if she was wielding the heat of the sun itself, light particles trickled down like sand in the desert, and the air around her began to shimmer as heat hazes formed.

The beast let out a howl. Leticiel didn’t know whether it was trying to intimidate or appeal to her. The only thing she knew for sure was that the beast was trembling at the massive, pure-white sword reflected in its crimson eye.

Leticiel swung her arm down towards the beast.

Following the movement of her arm, the silvery-white blade dropped down from the heavens and sunk into the beast’s body. Gouging through its flesh, smashing through its bones, the sword of light severed the beast in half.

An unearthly high-pitched cry echoed through the cloudy sky. Clouds parted making room for the sun’s rays to peek through the gap, shining on the beast’s dissolving body as it left its death throes behind.

The beast faded away, leaving no trace behind as if it hadn’t been there in the first place. Only the traces of the tragic event remained to tell the story of what had happened.

For a while after the beast had disappeared, every person in the forest simply stood there, speechless. Swallowed by the shock from the battle that had unfolded before them, they simply stared at the back of the ‘incompetent’ noble daughter as her silver hair fluttered in the wind.

***

“Well then.. where do I even start?”

In the Dean’s office located within the annex, with one elbow on the desk and his fingers pressing down between his brows, -->>

next page