“Your Grace the Saintess, have you seen enough?”
Beside Tina, who was currently using Invisibility Magic, an elderly woman wearing silver spectacles suddenly appeared.
“Good day, Madame Felier.”
Watching Elena and Ai’er leave the library, Tina deactivated the Invisibility Magic covering her body and gave the old woman a noble’s salute.
“If you are asking whether I have seen enough, then the answer is naturally no. You are also quite interested in this silver-haired Fairy lady, are you not?”
With her eyes narrowed in a smile, Madame Felier could not discern what the Saintess was thinking.
However, Madame Felier did not want to see the Holy Church meddling in Elena’s affairs.
After all, Elena’s mother, who had been her former student… her passing was inextricably linked to the Holy Church.
She had been unable to help with Elena’s situation before, but this time, Madame Felier intended to do whatever she could for the girl.
“Madame Felier, if there is nothing else, please allow me to take my leave — “
“Wait.”
As Tina prepared to bow again, Madame Felier stopped her.
“I recall that the Saintess’s eyes can perceive the nature of mana. What was the mana of that silver-haired girl like?”
The moment the words fell, the corners of Tina’s mouth curled upward.
The young girl’s narrowed eyes opened. Her eyes were smiling, but the intoxication and longing for a novelty within them were nearly overflowing.
“It was extremely pure.
By the White God, I have never seen mana so pure. There was not a single trace of impurity; it was pure mana, as if she were a mana-based creation herself!
Furthermore, you must have heard the rumors circulating in the Academy, right? Everyone calls Lady Ai’er a Fairy.
You saw it too, did you not? Even a man-made spirit like the Guide Book is so affectionate toward Lady Ai’er.”
‘So this silver-haired girl is named Ai’er.’
‘The Guide Book…’
Madame Felier had indeed seen it. Before she had spoken to Ai’er, the Guide Book had affectionately nuzzled Ai’er’s cheek.
Whether man-made or natural, spirits always possessed a high level of affinity for those who were pure.
The only other case was a master recognized by the spirit.
But the second possibility could be ruled out immediately.
After all, this library had a history spanning several hundred years.
From the look of things, Christina likely was not lying.
If this girl named Ai’er truly was that pure, then she probably wouldn’t do anything to Elena…
“Do you have any other questions for me? If not, please allow me to take my leave.”
This time, Madame Felier did not stop Tina.
However, after taking only a few steps, Tina suddenly came to a halt.
the Saintess gently turned her head and offered Madame Felier a smile.
“If you had continued the story of the White Principality just now, you would have reached that part of history. From the look of things, it seems Lady Elena hasn’t told Lady Ai’er about those events.
For instance… how the daughter of a hero like Duke White, who expanded the Empire’s borders, ended up being called a ‘Witch’ by the people of the Duchy.
With you leaving the story half-finished like that, I wonder what Lady Ai’er will do?
And tomorrow — “
Tina said no more. Keeping her smile, she turned back around and walked out of the library.
***
It was a bit awkward.
Ai’er recalled the history Madame Felier had mentioned, especially regarding the Magic Beast Tide.
A Magic Beast Tide every ten years… when would the next one be? That Duke White should be Elena’s father, right? And then there was the “accident” Madame Felier hadn’t finished explaining…
Did it have something to do with why Elena was called a “Witch”?
‘No, this isn’t working @ _ @. The information is too fragmented…’
The more she thought, the more Ai’er realized that all of this was likely far more complex than she realized.
Add to that the fact that the System was hiding a lot of things from her, and there were just too many unknowns right now!
It was time to have a proper talk with Elena.
Thinking this, Ai’er glanced toward her hand, which Elena was holding.
After leaving the library, Elena had remained silent, simply gripping her hand tightly.
Ai’er could feel a slight trembling coming from Elena’s fingertips.
**[Current Task: Have the Witch of Time, Elena White, “kill” you.]**
Even though she had learned quite a bit about the Duchy of White from that book about Magic Beasts, the System’s task had still not refreshed.
The System remained silent as well, and the task prompt in her field of vision had not changed in the slightest.
‘Is there actually any progress on this task at all? -_-||…’
It felt like being stuck in a single-player game, and it made Ai’er feel uneasy all over.
Feeling like she should do something, Ai’er looked up slightly, her gaze drifting toward the tip of Elena’s ear before sliding to her profile.
“Um… Elena, is everything taken care of?”
Elena froze for a moment, stopping in the middle of the path without any warning.
Unable to react in time, Ai’er bumped right into Elena’s back.
“*Myaa!*”
Clutching her reddened nose, Ai’er met Elena’s gaze as she turned around.
*Pfft.*
Elena let out a short laugh and then pulled Ai’er into her arms.
“The day after tomorrow, the Academy will arrange a separate assessment for me. Once the assessment is over, we can head back.
But Ai’er doesn’t need to worry. It’s just a simple assessment; I’ll finish it very quickly.”
‘A simple assessment… the day after tomorrow?’
‘Why the day after tomorrow? What about tomorrow?’
The question popped into her head, so Ai’er spoke subconsciously.
“Why not tomorrow?”
Ai’er wasn’t sure why she was obsessing over this point.
Perhaps it was like checking a package’s tracking every day, or wanting to use gacha resources the moment they were available in a game.
…Was that it?
Ever since waking up at the Academy, her heart had felt strangely restless for no clear reason.
There was also that sudden stabbing pain in the Student Council Office earlier, which the System still hadn’t explained.
…What was wrong with her?
It couldn’t be that something bad was about to happen, could it?
“Tomorrow? Does Ai’er want to go back early? I suppose that makes sense… You aren’t familiar with this place, and you woke up in a strange land.
If tomorrow weren’t the Mother’s Day holiday, perhaps we could have finished the assessment then. So… I’ll need Ai’er to be patient for a little longer.”
‘A holiday? Tomorrow is Mother’s Day?’
‘Does the whole country get a day off for Mother’s Day in this world?! That’s so nice — ‘
“Urgh!”
A familiar stabbing pain struck Ai’er’s heart. In the next instant, several images flashed before her eyes —
A pitch-black room with a young, black-haired girl.
A plate with a cake sat on the table before her, but the candles on top were unlit.
She sat there just like that, until the dark night outside the window began to rain, until a clap of thunder sounded —
In the flash of lightning, the young girl’s slightly pale cheeks were illuminated.
The rain outside seemed to have pierced through the roof, wetting the dim room and the girl’s eyes —
Wetting those ink-blue eyes.
“…Liar.”
The next clap of thunder roared, completely drowning out the girl’s voice. As the white light flashed, the stabbing pain struck Ai’er’s heart again, stripping away everything she had seen.
…Ai…
“Ai’er!”
‘Ugh! It hurts!’
Elena’s call and the sharp pain pulled Ai’er back to reality.
But for some reason, everything in Ai’er’s sight was blurry, her vision completely failing to distinguish any outlines.
“What’s wrong?! Where does it hurt?! The infirmary! We’re going to the infirmary right now!”
In that moment, Ai’er felt something warm sliding down her cheeks.
…Eh?
‘Am I crying?’
‘But why…’
The tears would not stop, as if a bottomless trench had suddenly opened in the depths of her heart, allowing endless sorrow to pour out.
The next moment, a force suddenly lifted Ai’er up.
Even though she couldn’t see her surroundings through the tears, Ai’er could tell that Elena was running while carrying her.
In Ai’er’s blurred vision, Elena’s ink-blue eyes and the eyes of the little girl she had just seen —
Slowly overlapped.