Chapter 58
Asking about that would be like… how?
“Don’t feel too pressured! Just do what you usually do! Tari Che students are geniuses! Relax.”
“They’re saying she’s going to buy some presents. We only need to bring back one trophy when we come back.”
After the uncomfortable greetings from the magical professors ended, even the botany professors came up to Riche.
“Tari Che, we’ll take care of the greenhouse as you instructed.”
“I’ll use all the knowledge and skills I’ve accumulated over my lifetime to keep things going like they are now.”
“We’re counting on you. Professors.”
[There’s nothing to worry about. Just leave it be, and everything will grow well on its own.]
Pythonthus muttered sullenly.
These were plants nurtured by confining magical power and using it as nutrients.
As long as the magical power in the soil remained stable, there shouldn’t be any problems with the greenhouse.
Once all the preparations were done, the procession of students participating in the competition, accompanied by their supervising teachers and the laborers attending to miscellaneous tasks, set off.
Riche held the golden pendant Blake had given her just the day before, in the carriage.
“It carries my hopes for your safety.”
She had received it from Blake just the day before, during their visit to the mansion for greetings.
Blake said so, patting Riche’s head.
Always the same Blake. He was the only one who didn’t tell Riche to win.
‘Father knows best.’
Thinking of Blake made the burden she had received before departure feel lighter. Riche smiled more relaxedly than before.
Then, she frowned as she thought of another person who, like Blake, hadn’t told her to win.
‘Where is Deon?’
According to Zed, he had left the Lodwick estate with Philip.
What could keep him so busy that he couldn’t even show his face?
‘I won’t be able to see him for the next few months.’
Not even being able to bid farewell made her feel both disappointed and regretful.
When they arrived at the competition venue, she would have to find out if she could send letters or communicate in some way. Riche sighed without realizing it.
Meanwhile, a student sitting on the opposite side of the carriage swallowed hard as he watched the changing expressions of Tari Che.
In the same carriage as Tari Che. Would there be anything else as nerve-wracking as this?
She was called a genius, had excellent grades, was beautiful, and came from a good family.
But leaving all that aside, Tari Che was the younger sister of Derkedion.
‘Considering that she traveled with the terrifying senior Derkedion…’
Even though Tari Che seemed like an angel on the surface, she might be terrifying on the inside. After all, she was the youngest daughter of an assassin family.
‘If I make a mistake in front of Tari Che, I might die that day…’
Some students had similar misunderstandings, but their misunderstandings didn’t last long.
Thanks to Tari Che’s gentle demeanor when she interacted with the students, her image quickly shifted from that of a fearsome assassin to a reliable comrade.
She was knowledgeable, kind to everyone, and took good care of those around her. Eventually, students started to seek Tari Che out before professors when something happened.
And so, the peaceful four-day trip passed. And then, on the night just before arriving at the competition venue…
[Contractor!]
“…!”
As the eerie cries of beasts echoed over the campsite for the night, Riche’s tent was pierced by the talons of a large bird, and she disappeared in an instant.
Startled awake, Riche’s eyes saw nothing but the starry night sky.
She quickly got up from the makeshift bed and checked her surroundings. It was a flock of avian-type demons that had swarmed her campsite. Seven of them were immediately visible.
Riche panicked and asked the fleeing laborer, “What’s happening?!”
“They’re demons from the Rom Desert!”
Since the competition venue was close to the demon habitat of the Rom Desert, it happened once or twice a year. It was when a group camping for the night was attacked by demons looking for prey.
The Roksha Empire Royal Academy, which was now facing the current situation, could relate to it as well.
‘I need to conserve the students’ energy for tomorrow.’
Riche looked around.
The mercenaries hired from nearby regions were accustomed to dealing with such situations. The panicked students quickly adopted a combat stance.
Picking up a rock from the ground, Riche shouted, “Everyone, back off!”
Upon hearing her voice, the students took a step back, and the mercenaries continued to fight, eventually being dragged out by the students.
“Why, why are you doing this? We need to catch them! Are you planning to just die like this?”
“Hey, mister! Don’t interfere, come over here!”
“You’re the ones interfering!”
“Oh, just stand back and watch.”
What are they watching? Are they supposed to stand by and watch while the demons capture and devour the students?
The mercenaries, who were distant from the fighting, eventually lowered their heads without strength.
The noble young lady with silvery hair, who seemed far removed from battle, fluttered her pristine silver hair.
The mercenaries, who thought she was a high-ranking noble participating in a non-combat event, saw her walking forward towards the large avian-type demons.
“What are you doing! Stop her!”
One of the mercenaries urgently shouted, but the students didn’t even flinch.
Meanwhile, Riche took off the magic stone necklace she was wearing and clenched it in one hand.
Then, she threw the rock she was holding in her other hand into the air.
With a short incantation and a gust of wind following, the rock, which had risen above the demons’ heads, turned into water. The water poured down like a massive waterfall, dousing the demons.
“Oh. A compound incantation.”
“You’re capable of that?”
“It’s rare.”
In the next moment, a powerful lightning bolt struck the demons.
The demons, soaked from the water, couldn’t even scream before being struck by the lightning that set their bodies ablaze, one by one falling to the ground.
The mercenaries witnessing the scene were speechless, while the magic and students nodded as if it were natural. It was indeed a skill that one could never get used to, no matter how many times they saw it.
“If the winner is Tari Che…”
As Riche, who should be returning to their side, suddenly began to run somewhere.
“Tari Che! Where are you going?”
“Oh, there!”
As one of the students pointed to a spot, seemingly understanding why Riche was running, they pointed in the direction where someone was being chased by the demons.
* * *
“A star fragment! Contractor, did you feel it too?”
Pythonthus shouted as he rose above Riche’s head as she ran.
The moment she defeated the avian-type demons, she faintly felt the power of the star.
“Yeah. Even though it’s far away, if I can feel it, it must be strong, right?”
“Of course. This means it was a star with superior power.”
Pythonthus exhaled excitedly.
The academy’s storage contained only the star fragment Riche found in the Lodwick family’s library ages ago, which was just a fragment of a star with intermediate power.
To find a new star fragment in a place like this was unexpected.
“A demon? Is it carrying it?”
Pythonthus closely observed three approaching scorpion-type demons.
“Contractor! It’s the one on the far right!”
Pointing to the demon that Pythonthus felt the power of the star fragment from.
Riche, who surely already knew, would find my words meaningless.
However, Riche, who naturally thought she should run there, cast a spell in front of the central demon.
A translucent, large shield appeared and blocked all three demons simultaneously. The blocked demons howled in frustration.
“On the right, huh? Why… ah.”
Only now did Pythonthus, who turned around, understand the reason.
“Th-thank you.”
A girl of Riche’s age, with short brown curly hair and freckles on her face, was offering thanks to Riche while sitting on the ground with a scraped butt.
Due to being chased by the demons until just now, she was breathing heavily with a large heaving chest.
“Could it be… you came to save humans instead of pursuing the star fragment…?”
“……”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Well, that makes sense. You went crazy over the star fragment for some reason.
Pythonthus looked at the three demons with narrowed eyes.
“Then let’s take care of them quickly and find the star fragment.”
“Yeah.”
Glancing back at the person behind her, Riche asked, “Can you escape?”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to release the barrier. Run away because you might get caught.”
“Yes, yes! Thank you! From Roksha Royal Academy!”
It seemed they recognized her from the uniform.
“Is she from another school? I didn’t realize because she’s wearing work clothes.”
When she confirmed the female student was fleeing, Riche released the barrier and used Python’s power towards the demons rushing towards her.
Demons falling to the ground in explosions.
One demon.
Two demons.
And,
“What! That’s ours!”
A golden flash from the sky sliced through the demon with a sword.
A man revealed himself between the demons split into halves on both sides.
A mature male student in an unfamiliar uniform. The light white aura enveloping his body faintly shone like a halo.
Riche’s vision caught the man’s brilliant golden hair. The gaze of his golden eyes, like jewels, shifted from the fallen demon to Riche.
“….”
Silence enveloped the two.
Riche’s silver eyes met the man’s golden ones.
Like the moon and the sun rising simultaneously in the dark night sky. Their gazes intertwined in the silence.
After a moment, it was Riche who averted her eyes first. Riche bit her lower lip hard.
“It’s not Ian.”
She almost mistook him for Ian for a moment. The man resembled Ian to the extent that she wondered if that’s how Ian would look when he grew up.
But she didn’t sense any power accumulated in his chest. He wasn’t a skilled individual.
“Last year’s winner, right?”
Riche could easily guess who the male student standing in front of her was.
Uniform from Udik Academy, blond hair and golden eyes, proficient swordsmanship enough to defeat demons in a single stroke.
“That winner is supposed to be Gerwer’s brat. Even if it’s Ian Dwayne, he can’t use magic, right? Because he’s a skilled individual.”
Just as Python said, Riche thought so too.
However, the warm gaze they met made her think of Ian, warming her heart unexpectedly, then disappointing her.
Morgan, a male student from Udik Academy, was still looking at Riche.
Riche picked up a ring that had fallen on the ground and asked the man.
“Is this yours?”
“Oh no. This idiot! What if it’s a star fragment? What are you going to do if you ask like that!”
Python panicked at Riche’s words and shouted in her head.
If the one who picked it up was the owner, what would she do if she asked someone else?
If that man answered that it’s his, this ungreedy contractor would surely just give it to him.
“Absolutely not!”
Morgan’s gaze, now directed at the squirrel angrily puffing its fur on top of Riche’s head.
