Chapter 29 - Surprises

Midway to the library, I suddenly heard a voice calling me.

“Oi!”

At first, I thought of ignoring it, but I knew that he would only become more persistent if I did. Reluctantly, I looked behind me. As expected, the person calling me was Shin, the protagonist.

“Why did he follow us?”

“Who knows?”

“He’s been really rude to Lumina-sama for a while now.”

Victoria, Mary, and someone else—Ant-something—began discussing amongst themselves. I sighed and sat on a mana chair, waiting for Shin and his companions to catch up.

“It’s quite breezy, isn’t it? I wonder if it’s because of them.”

“Maybe it’s because they’re using wind magic to fly.”

“I think so too.”

I used mana to keep my skirt from flipping in the wind. Victoria and Mary did the same. The four of us continued chatting as we waited.

A few seconds later, Shin arrived and stopped in front of us. With his arrival, a strong wind blew, causing our hair to become disheveled. Consequently, Mary, Victoria, and I created mana brushes to smooth our hair.

“So, what do you want?”

I spoke to him in a cold tone as I brushed my hair. He was silent for a moment before suddenly bowing to me.

“Thank you very much for not punishing Eclara.”

“Is that all? If it is, then I’ll be going.”

I tried to end the conversation quickly, as I didn’t want to get involved with him. The reason was simple: he was the protagonist of the game I had played. From experience, I knew that getting acquainted with him would only bring trouble.

“Can I also come with you to the library?”

“….”

I didn’t answer him and turned my back. Since Shin’s companions hadn’t arrived yet, I decided to walk at a slower pace.

“… stop trying to disturb Lumina-sama.”

“Anthony, it’s fine.”

Anthony, who was about to scold Shin, was stopped by Victoria. Thankfully, he wasn’t stubborn and backed off. I felt a bit of relief as I finally remembered his name, and I thanked the two of them. They smiled upon hearing my thanks.

A few moments later, Shin’s companions arrived. I wasn’t surprised to see that it was Eclara and Michael.

Without facing Eclara, I addressed her: “Since you’re already here, mind helping me gather suitable books for magic, Eclara?”

“Eh?”

“I’ve always wanted to read books about magic. However, I was prevented from doing so because I was a general studies student. I’d really appreciate your help.”

“Yes.”

Though her face didn’t show it, her tone was noticeably more enthusiastic. Shin looked like he wanted to say something, but Michael stopped him before he could speak.

* * *

The library had been reduced to a pile of rubble. It had once been vast, but Shin’s magic explosion from the previous day had made it look as if an earthquake had struck. Not a single pillar remained standing.

Using sonar-like mechanisms, I sent out mana pings to check if any books were safe. I discovered that there were 20 people trapped under the rubble.

“Eclara, can your companions use earth magic?”

“Eh? Ah… Shin can…”

“Hmm?”

I glanced at Shin, considering whether he was suitable for the task. While he could use earth magic to move the rubble, he needed to be skilled at controlling it, especially since there were people trapped beneath.

“Can he perform delicate tasks?”

Eclara thought for a moment and then shook her head.

“What do you want me to do?”

“….”

I assessed him from head to toe and decided he wasn’t up for the job.

“Mary, you can use water magic, right?”

“Yes. Victoria uses wind magic, while Anthony can use earth magic.”

“Alright. I want the three of you to create weapons. There are people trapped under the rubble, so we need to remove it carefully to avoid crushing them.”

“““Yes.”””

The four of us created swords and used ethereal shift.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s still amazing.”

“Where did those come from? Did they summon their weapons?”

“That’s the new magic Lumina-sama developed.”

“Hmmm, so all students in black uniforms are martial artists?”

“…. Not exactly.”

Eclara, Shin, and Michael started discussing amongst themselves. Eclara had a complicated expression as she tried to explain our situation to them.

Meanwhile, my servants and I began removing the rubble. I made a wakizashi, Mary created a standard broadsword, Anthony fashioned a pair of gauntlets, and Victoria made a wand. Each weapon created through ethereal shift had distinct effects.

Water-shifted weapons can cut through anything with ease. Fire-shifted weapons can melt anything. Wind-shifted weapons can pierce through defenses and have a longer range than other elements. Earth-shifted weapons can crush anything or act as impenetrable shields.

The more mana we fed the weapons, the stronger they became. However, increased mana also made them harder to control. So, the weapons we created weren’t as powerful as they could be—just sharper and stronger than most. Some weapons still surpassed ours.

Mary and I cut through giant blocks of rubble. Anthony used his hands to remove or crush debris, while Victoria blew away smaller obstructions. Eclara and her friends wanted to help, but Eclara judged that they weren’t useful and decided against it. Shin wanted to join us, but Eclara and Michael stopped him.

A few hours later, we managed to rescue the unconscious students. Thankfully, the library had emergency barriers set up on every chair, so none of them were injured. Initially, I thought it would have been better to create one large barrier, but Eclara explained that emergency barriers used the host’s mana, making it inefficient to create a large one.

“Emilia, send some students here. We’ve found more unconscious students.”

“Yes.”

I communicated with Emilia through a mana screen while Mary and the others placed the Magic Students on the mana beds we had created.

“Hmm… what’s this? How come they’re floating? I don’t understand it. Are they using magic?”

“Yes. The magic they’re using is invisible to non-practitioners, so it appears as though they’re floating to you. However, to me, they’re resting on beds.”

“Heeh, so that means you can also summon weapons, Eclara?”

“Wow, so Eclara-san can also do that?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t. The weapons they made seem to be an advanced form of their magic. I’d need someone to teach me that, but since everyone is quite busy, I haven’t found the right time to find a teacher.”

(The three of them are really close, huh.)

I was sitting under the shade of a tree, reading a book we had also recovered.

(Seeing them like this, I can guess that things are really going to happen, just like in the game. I already know that this kingdom will be invaded sooner or later. But the exact location of the attack is still a mystery to me.)

I glanced at Shin while hiding my face behind the book.

(Also, he doesn’t look guilty at all.)

A random thought crossed my mind as I observed Shin.

(I forgot why the girls in the game fell for him. He seems okay, but he’s annoying and clueless. Hmm… he must have done something to make them fall in love with him. I wonder what it was.)

“Lumina-sama, here are some more books we recovered.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Mary carried five books to my table. She then sat beside me and picked one of them.

“I wonder what we’ll do once the magic students start waking up.”

I pondered this as I looked up at the sky and saw that some students had already arrived.