“That guy is dead.”
The Stitcher spoke in a flat tone, her beautiful brows furrowing slightly.
The situation at the academy was becoming clear. Under the siege of a dozen eighth-rank experts and the suppression of the guardian barrier, she was at the end of her rope. Her strongest summoned beast, the Tyrant, was also reaching its limit.
Although she had confirmed that Dean Korowa was not in the academy, if she really dragged this out until the other party arrived, the Stitcher would be finished here.
“Let’s go.”
Leaving those words behind, she issued a self-destruct command to the dying Tyrant. Taking advantage of the professors working together to block the shockwave, she retreated with the Plunderer and the few remaining members.
Before leaving, she took a deep look back at the academy, a flash of disappointment in her eyes—it was unclear whether it was because the plan failed or because she failed to see her teacher.
In short, this operation by the Dark Magic Beast Legion was a complete failure. Not only did they fail to secure the Dark Chimera, but two of the Three Beast Soldiers were gone, over seventy percent of their elite members were killed or captured, the bio-beast units were nearly wiped out, and even the Stitcher herself suffered significant injuries…
It could be said that the current Dark Magic Beast Legion was no longer a threat.
However, the professors were not happy at all. While tallying the losses, they could already imagine the scene of being held accountable by various national officials and the Headmistress.
In this disturbance, at least thirty students died, over ten were missing, and over a hundred were injured. It could be called the worst attack on the Mistra Magic Academy in nearly a hundred years.
By comparison, the damage to various buildings and facilities on the front lines was practically negligible.
Of course, all of this was left for the professors to worry about. It had nothing to do with Camilla. Inside the infirmary, the girl lying on the hospital bed slowly opened her eyes.
It was an unfamiliar white ceiling. Dull pain radiated from various parts of her body, but even more intense was the splitting headache that felt like her skull was being pried open.
She frowned, letting out a faint gasp.
“Camilla?!”
A voice familiar to her core rang out beside her ear, carrying an unbelievable tremble.
In the next second, her vision was filled with a fluttering field of gold.
Ophelia practically threw herself at the bedside, her bloodshot ice-blue eyes wide and covered with a thin layer of mist.
She opened her arms and very carefully pulled Camilla into her embrace, as if holding a lost treasure, her entire body shaking.
“You’re awake… You’re finally awake… Thank goodness… Thank goodness…”
She repeated herself incoherently, warm liquid falling drop by drop onto Camilla’s neck and hospital gown.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… It’s all because your sister was useless… I couldn’t protect you…”
Her voice choked up, leaving only suppressed sobs and arms that tightened further.
Camilla was squeezed until she was a bit short of breath, but she felt more of a dazed confusion.
The headache made her thoughts sluggish, and her body was weak and limp. She could only stay stiff as her sister held her, the faint, reassuring scent of Ophelia lingering at the tip of her nose, mixed with the smell of medicine and the saltiness of tears.
It wasn’t until the faint sound of clothing rubbing and several deliberately softened breaths reached her ears that Camilla sluggishly moved her gaze away from the top of her sister’s golden head to look around the room.
The small room was filled with people, almost to the point of being crowded.
Lillian stood closest to the bed, her pale gold eyes watching her without blinking. The gentle smile usually on her face was replaced by deep exhaustion and relief.
Alina leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. Her violet eyes glanced over before quickly darting away, her lips pressed thin.
Emma’s eyes were red as if she had just cried, and she was currently trying to force a tearful smile.
“You’re quite tough.”
Camilla tilted her head toward the voice. On the other side of the bed, Salina’s face was even paler than usual. Her crimson eyes stared at her with a complex expression.
Lyudmila held her greatsword, standing silently in the shadows. She gazed at Camilla’s face, half-covered by gauze, with a subtle expression, feeling inexplicably as if she had seen the girl somewhere before.
Shana sat on a chair against the wall, the Blood Wolf lying quietly at her feet. Seeing Camilla look over, the girl and the wolf straightened their backs simultaneously.
“Puji!”
Rimuru, who looked no different than usual, sat in Shana’s lap and waved its hands excitedly at its master.
Even the members of Tom’s squad were squeezed by the door, looking over with concern.
For some reason, Camilla felt a strong sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen this scene somewhere before.
Oh, right. In the original work, after the player powers up to resolve the boss of the first practical test, the game enters a new chapter. At the beginning of that chapter, there is indeed a scene where the player wakes up in the infirmary, and the characters waiting there change based on their favorability toward the player.
Since Camilla was the one who ultimately killed the Dark Chimera, the protagonist of this scene had become her.
However, Camilla swore she had never seen a lineup like this. In the original game, only the top three characters with the highest favorability would appear, but for some reason, the number of people visiting her seemed a bit excessive.
Being watched by so many pairs of eyes, Camilla belatedly felt a bit of embarrassment.
“…Everyone… is here. Did I… sleep for a long time?”
She struggled to pull her head out of Ophelia’s embrace, managing a sheepish smile, her voice somewhat raspy.
“Three whole days.”
Lillian answered softly, leaning in a bit closer.
“We were all very worried about you. Thankfully, you were saved in the end.”
Her gaze swept over Camilla’s pale face and her bandage-wrapped arms, a hint of darkness flickering in her eyes.
“Hmph, who was worried about a troublemaker like you? I just didn’t want my favorite novel author to stop updating forever. Even if we don’t mention that shitty ending of yours, you still have another novel that isn’t finished yet.”
Alina turned her face away, the tips of her ears turning red.
“Camilla, it’s so good that you’re okay… Miss Ophelia has been guarding you the whole time and hasn’t really rested…”
Emma hurriedly added in a small voice.
Ophelia seemed to realize only then that there were so many people in the room. She loosened her arms slightly, but one hand still tightly held Camilla’s hand while the other haphazardly wiped the tear stains from her face.
When she looked up, she had regained her usual dignified expression, though her slightly red eyes betrayed her earlier loss of composure.
The atmosphere in the sickroom was a bit subtle, and just then, a light sound of footsteps came from the doorway, along with a familiar, somewhat childish voice.
“Oh my, oh my, it seems I’ve arrived at just the right time~”
A petite figure wearing a slightly oversized magic robe appeared at the door. The white-haired Dean Korowa entered with a smile, clutching her beloved Miss Gloom bunny doll.
Her gaze swept across everyone in the room before finally landing on Camilla in the bed. A nearly imperceptible flash of scrutiny and inquiry glinted deep within her emerald eyes.
“Hmm, would the students visiting mind stepping out for a moment? I have something important to discuss with Camilla.”