Editor: Poor_Hero

Feeling a slight warmness on her right side, Selphy woke up. Half-awake, her memories came rushing back and she quickly put herself on guard. Opening her eyes, instead of darkness, what she saw was something white.

” A ceiling…. that I have no recollection of..? ”

Selphy murmured and got up, but at that moment, she realized what had woken her up.

Will was here….

She tried to think back.
She was slashed by a black-clothed guy all of a sudden.
Escape, she had to escape.
Even if she was bleeding profusely, she was terrified to the point of not feeling anything.
Then she tripped once she ran pa.s.sed the shoe racks and thinking that it was all over, she closed her eyes.
And when the pain she was expecting did not came after long time, she peeked timidly and saw Will’s back.
Then she lost consciousness…

Sitting on the chair right next to her bed was Will, who fell asleep, still holding on to her hand. Seeing that, Selphy smiled.

” I’m saved by you again. ”

….Nn. It’s warm. Or rather, it’s bright. Morning came?
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I propped myself up before remembering. This was the infirmary.
Which means, Selphy――――

” Ah, he’s up. ”

I sat up and saw Selphy looking at me, laughing.

” …..Thank G.o.d. How are you feeling? ”
” Perfect, thanks to you! Will, thank you. ”

When I was feeling relieved that Selphy was alright, the curtain was pulled open.

” Is someone injured? Sorry, I heard screams so I had rushed over to….! ”

I looked at the Sensei and our eyes met.
….Why did he seem so surprised?
As I stared at the man who suddenly turned silent, he frowned.

” …That disgusting hair color, that disgusting face.. Can it be, you’re a Beryl? ”

….
All of a sudden, he started sprouting some brash words.

” Eh, ah, ya.. ”

The me who answered while being confused, was such a gentleman.

The man had his black hair all slicked back, and had eyes in a sort of greyish, amber-like beautiful color. He was wearing a black shirt with a white lab coat on top, the very standard attire for a school doctor.

He exuded s.e.xiness and had an aura like he’s Italian. And an ikemen, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Although he looked slightly high-strung, he did still have a Sensei aura.

In that case, why the sudden rudeness towards me?
Ah, but I already had an inkling in mind.

” As I expected. You’re Gion’s kid? ”

I am the one who wanted to say ‘As I expected.’
Father.
What did you do to this guy!!

” Eh? What? What is going on? ”

Selphy asked, very confused by the conversation taking place. Thank you, Selphy. I had always been saved by you. Especially in this kind of situation!

The man finally remembered his job and looked sheepish as he scratched his head.

” Ah, sorry, I was a little distracted by something else. ”

Really, I wondered what happened between him and Father. There was a pressure around him as if telling me not to ask. Ranking 2nd at the Academy was not for show. In the end, I placed my question aside and chose to ask something else.

” You know Father? ”
” Haha. Tentatively we were in the same grade but instead of friends, enemies would be much more adept. ”

Scary. Your smile was really scary. What the heck really happened?

” Ah~ Sensei’s name is..? ”

Leaving the trembling me aside, Selphy asked him, smiling. Brilliant, Selphy. You had my respect. As a former j.a.panese, I would choose to remain silent in this situation. I wouldn’t even have thought of changing the topic like this.

” Ah, sorry about that. I’m Varino, the school doctor. You guys are…. ”
” I am Selphy. I am also the reason for the disturbance just now. ”
” Wha, what? Are you okay? ”

To the me who only felt dislike, or rather, my Father, from Varino-sensei, he was now looking worriedly at Selphy.
….Mmmm, it’s, it’s not like I felt hurt or anything! Let’s stop, it was not cute at all for me to be sprouting these words.
[TN: Tsundere period over?]

As I had removed all the blood stains from Selphy’s hair and clothes using magic, she should look fine to others. Even so, for him to be so worried showed that he had a gentle personality. As expected of a doctor.

And this kind of person hated my father.
I was really curious now. I will definitely asked about it later.

” Yes, most probably. ”
” What happened? ”
” ……About this, the Headmaster said he would explain so we can’t… ”

At that vague explanation, Varino-sensei looked like he had something to say but ended up not saying anything. Apart from that person, he was quite meek to everyone else. Or it might be because he had realized the seriousness.

” Is that so. Then Will, you return to the dormitory as it was announced for everyone to return. ”

He then noticed the worried gaze from Selphy. Turning around to face her, he grinned.

” As I would need to do a check-up, you would have to remove your clothes. Do you need Will to attend to you? ”
” No need! There’s is absolutely no need to! ”

Selphy yelled, red in the face.
Thanks to that, I was able to escape from the infirmary.

” Black smog…? ”

I stood up.

” Yep. Do you know anything about it, Father? “
” Not much.. ”

My voice faltered off.
It was unbelievable when it was said that Abi had appeared and now…. But Will won’t lie. Ah, my head was hurting.

Abi. The legendary beast said to possess high intelligence as well as strength and magic.

Such as, to be able to destroy a small country in a day.
Such as, to be able to defeat a dragon single-handedly.
Such as, to be able to cause an entire village to lose consciousness by its magic.

Elusive and not much about its way of living was known but it was said to be human-shaped and wrapped in black cloth. It was a beast that came with its own legend as well as preposterous rumors.

No, all facts about Abi might just be rumors.
As it was very rare, the information about it might just be wrong. This was one of the possibility and also the most appropriate one. But Will had said that it was strong. Just that and I was starting to doubt myself.

” A black smog… Most likely it’s a summoned beast. ”

Saying that, I took a seat.
Summoned beasts, when defeated, will dissolve into black smog. It was not widely known but it was the truth. It was the truth but….

” Hmm… ”

I had let out a moan unintentionally.

” Are you okay, Father? “
” Ah, sorry. Will, was it true that Abi’s magic caused people all around to faint? ”
” Yes, it was quite powerful. Something like coercion? “
” Is that so… ”

Which means..

” What about it? “
” …..It’s nothing. Is Selphy okay? Bring her over the next time! ”
” Bring her you say…I got it. By the way Father, Do you remember a man called Varino? “

A surprising question was thrown at me abruptly.
…..I don’t have to remember. I don’t have the time to hesitate because of that name. I too… don’t have the intention to tell anything to Will.

” Ah, hm… haha, I’ll tell you the next time! ”

Saying that I hang up the communication tool. It was a tool Will invented. It was a norm to have it in homes but the one Will was using was made by him and was able to communicate to anyone he wanted.

But the mana required to power it was enormous so it was not practical. As Will was the only one who could use it, it would most likely die along with him. But with a bit of modification, it might be usable….

Mana.

So it was confirmed that Abi had the mana power to knock people out. And that it was a summoned beast. Summoning requires mana which was why one can never summon a beast with a higher mana than them. And that you had to make a contract with the beast you summoned and that contract was not without a price. It might be your real name or various things but mostly, it would be mana.

Yes. It means that someone with a higher mana power than Abi was somewhere near the Academy.

” This stinks. ”

I had thought that once Will entered the Academy, the shadows or the mastermind behind them would start moving. The incident this time, although Will was not the target but they might be aiming at his friends.

It might also be a coincidence.
But something stinks.
This is too troublesome. First Shadows who were controlled by the slave collar and now Abi? If it was all done by the same person it will really turn into a troublesome case. Not to mention how strong they were.

Will should be alright but for the sake of my cute son! I would love to head over to investigate but my gut was telling me about the danger there. If I were to fail, everything would be lost.

Hm. What to do.

I sank into my seat deeply as a sign escaped. Should I contact someone in the capital?

…….Varino. I wonder where Will got that name from.

” Will’s father? ”
” Yea, just to update him. ”

When I returned to the dorm, as Varino-sensei had said, everyone was in their rooms. Trying not to get found, I hastily sneak into my room and contacted Father at once.

Might be thanks to my ninja training skills I cultivated when I was 1, I was not found out by anyone. Hehehe…. As expected, I do have the talent to become a spy!

But I did have another motive up my sleeve. I wanted to get information on what had happened between Father and Varino-sensei. War is controlled by information!
…Ah, though we were not at war.

A sigh got out as I sat straight up on the chair and kept my communication tool back into my pendent. Ah, no, it’s not a locket pendent. I will tell you about it later.

Then, as usual, Zen approached me.

” Oh yes, Will! ”
” What? ”
” You were so cool!! Will is really strong! You’re amazing! ”

His eyes were sparkling.
Like someone who just met power rangers at an event.

” …..Eh, really? ”

I know it was stupid of me but I was feeling slightly hurt. I had put in great effort. From the day Chiffon came, I had been training on how to hold my sword as well as daily sword practices, sword practices, got beaten up, got beaten up, over and over again.
Father was really spartan.

Thank to that, I can immediately react to Abi’s sword and saved Selphy. I would be lying if I said I was not happy about how far I had come.

To know I was praised because of my magic instead was…

As I was controlling my face to avoid it collapsing, Zen, who realized something, asked.

” But where had the umbrella went to? ”
” ……..Ah. ”

I had forgotten all about it.

AN: Varino-sensei. Italian-like and fashionable Onii-san. Around 30.

TN: I had to say I love translation Gion.
I had also updated the character page, located at the bottom of the chapter list.

I added 8 years old Will, Varino and Selphy. As Maria had only just appeared in the manga, I’m waiting till a better pic comes out. Same goes for the headmaster.

Enjoy.