Chapter 22: Anomaly

“Eclara, do you know the reason why I called you here?”

Carlos commanded the people who followed him to surround Eclara.

“You want to pay back your past grudges… right?”

“Pfft, there’s that, but also something more.”

Eclara became skeptical as she glared at Carlos. Carlos flashed a big smile and spread out his arms.

“Pax isn’t your master, right? Then why don’t you become my servant!?”

Eclara’s eyes widened at Carlos’s proposition.

“You’ll be satisfied if you become his servant~”

This work is hosted on mananovel.com

“In more ways than one, hehehe.”

The twins behind Carlos echoed his words, making Eclara blush.

“You’re really red, Lumina-sama.”

“Eh!?”

Touching my cheeks with my palms, I felt how hot my face had become. As I tried to cool down, I noticed that Liza, Mary, and Victoria were also blushing. Seeing their reactions helped calm me.

“Just focus on the screen.”

“I wonder what you thought of their words.”

“S-shut up!”

Emilia giggled as I shouted at her to hide my embarrassment. I puffed my cheeks, ignoring her, and continued to watch the mana screen.

“I’m afraid I can’t accept your offer, Carlos-sama.”

“Why?!”

“I already have a new master.”

“Is it that Anomaly’s master?”

“No, my new master is the leader of the general studies students.”

“General studies students?”

Carlos and the other students looked puzzled. I, along with my companions, despaired when we realized that our existence had been forgotten by them.

“Ahh—you mean those trashes.”

Fwoosh!

A ball of fire flew near Carlos’s ear.

“I won’t let you insult my master and her servants.”

“You’re saying that your master is trash? What’s more, she’s the leader?”

“She’s a she.”

“But she’s still trash! Hahaha!”

The surrounding students burst into laughter. From the screen, I saw Eclara’s hands trembling in frustration.

[Fire, burn the ground to ashes <Scorched Earth!>]

Eclara invoked magic, setting the ground around her ablaze. Carlos’s smile didn’t waver; instead, he snapped his fingers. The twins stepped forward and began chanting.

[[Water, cleanse the place where I stand <<Surge!>>]]

Water appeared from their hands and cooled the land.

“Tsk.”

“Oioi, you’re getting aggressive. Is that trash really worth serving?”

“Stop insulting her!”

“No helping it then.”

While Eclara focused on casting a new spell, Carlos and the twins retreated behind their followers. Most of them began chanting spells, while others continued to observe.

<Fire Dragon!>

<<<<<Dew Rain>>>>>

Just like in the game, Carlos contacted Eclara to become his servant. However, she was contracted to the protagonist’s summoner and rejected his offer. In retaliation, Carlos ordered his followers to attack her. Despite her resistance, she was eventually overwhelmed by their numbers.

Carlos would then order his men to violate her. However, as soon as he made that order, the protagonist and his summoner would arrive to save her.

But Eclara wasn’t contracted to the protagonist’s summoner—she was contracted to me. Unlike in the game, it was Eclara who attacked Carlos first. These were minor differences from the game, but I could see that it would end the same way.

“Emilia…”

“Yes.”

Emilia, who stood beside me, formed a bow of mana. She drew it to its limit, and without me noticing, three mana arrows appeared. After locking on, she shot the three arrows into the night sky. They arced and struck three students.

“What!?”

“Who’s there!?”

“Create a barrier to prevent further attacks from reaching us!”

“Yes.”

Carlos began searching for the culprit by turning his head frantically. I smiled slightly at his panic.

“We’re ready to attack at your command, Lumina-sama.”

From my side, Liza manifested a mana sword, Mary formed a mana bludgeon, and Victoria created a mana spear.

I was surprised to see their angry expressions. However, given the enemies' numerical advantage, we were at a disadvantage in close combat.

“No, I think it’s better if the three of you just observe for now. If you can replicate what we’re about to do, then I’ll gladly accept your help.”

“Eh?”

“Look at what’s going to happen to the normal ‘Null Element’ mana arrow.”

I pointed at the mana screen and focused on the mana arrow Emilia had shot. As the arrow approached the barrier, it grew fainter and then disappeared before touching it.

“That arrow is merely the condensed form of External Mana. Although Internal Mana triggers magic, it is External Mana that maintains its form.”

Their faces grew pale at my explanation. I patted Liza, who was closest to me, to reassure them.

“Now look at Emilia.”

She gave a small nod and began weaving spell words as she felt the three gazing at her.

[Appear before me <Fireball>]

A small fireball floated in front of Emilia’s bow. She drew the bow to its limit and shot the arrows through the fireball. The arrows ignited, leaving an orange glow as they flew.

“Shit! It’s a fire user!”

“Have some of the water magicians create a water barrier.”

From the screen, I heard Carlos giving orders to his followers. They formed a water dome around themselves, and a smile surfaced on my face.

“What Emilia just did is an application of ‘Null Element’ magic. Since ‘Null Element’ is essentially External Mana, you can use it to elevate your basic spells. Like this.”

I conjured two walls of mana in front of me. Then I created around ten mana javelins between me and the walls. Although I referred to them as javelins, they were essentially stretched-out mana balls.

“Now this is where it gets fun.”

I drained the energy of the molecules in one mana wall and transferred it to the molecules in the other wall. One wall froze, while the other caught fire.

The smile on my face grew savage as I launched the mana javelins. Soon, ten ice javelins and ten fire javelins soared through the sky. The ice javelins hit the water dome, forming a layer of ice upon contact.

A moment later, the fire javelins shattered the ice-coated barrier.

“Ice? There’s someone who can use Ice Magic?!”

The five of us heard Carlos’s exclamation from the screen.

“Phew~”

I sighed as I stopped concentrating and dispersed the walls.

“I remember when Lumina-sama almost burned her hair the first time we discovered this.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Emilia and I exchanged wry smiles as we reminisced about past experiences.

“So can the three of you do that?”

I faced the three who were frozen in awe.

“W-we’ll try.”

Victoria was the first to recover. She dispelled her mana spear and created a mana bow similar to Emilia’s. She took a shooting posture and chanted.

[Appear before me <Wind!>]

Though I couldn’t see it, I felt wind converging in front of Victoria. She released the string, and the mana arrow shot through the breeze, becoming a powerful gale that struck the group of people.

“Kya!”

“Where is this coming from?!”

The twins screamed as they held down their skirts, while Carlos shouted, “Rawr!”

The fire dragon Eclara had summoned roared and fought against the water mages that had restrained it. From the screen, I saw Eclara’s wide-eyed astonishment as spells rained down upon her enemies.

[Appear before me <Waterball!>]

[Appear before me <Fireball!>]

Liza and Mary also dispelled their mana weapons and created mana bows. Like Emilia and Victoria, they shot their mana arrows through the magic they conjured. An orange glow flew through the night sky, striking the water dome that had just been recast. The single fire arrow caused only a small amount of vapor.

The water arrow, being water, simply merged with the water dome.

“Muu~ Why are they copying you instead of me? I showed them my most powerful magic.”

“Hehe, it’s because you demonstrated something quite advanced. Did you want them to burn their hair like you did?”

“Stop repeating that!”

Emilia giggled as we chatted. Liza, Mary, and Victoria wore ecstatic smiles as they continued shooting arrows through the Fireball, Waterball, and converged wind. They occasionally swapped places, shooting through the magic cast by their friends.

Our tension eased as we watched them playfully shoot arrows. Moments later, a loud shockwave of air swept through us. I squinted as the dust settled on the mana screen.

What emerged was a boy with black hair and black eyes. He wore a plain white uniform and black pants made of polyester nylon, a material that shouldn’t exist in this world.

“So he’s arrived, huh.”

“Who arrived?”

Emilia tilted her head, puzzled.

“The Protagonist.”

Emilia and the others looked even more confused.

“Let’s get away quickly before anybody sees us.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because he’s here.”

“Eh?”

Liza, Mary, and Victoria, who were enjoying themselves, started asking me questions. I ignored them and began walking away. Emilia, on the other hand, bowed and silently followed me. Ripples formed in the air as we slowly retreated.

My mind raced as my hypothesis—that this was the game world I had played before I died—was confirmed by his appearance. Despite the differences, the end result would be

the same.

“Regret always comes last, huh.”

I uttered these words in a cold tone, causing Liza, Mary, and Victoria to fall silent and follow me in fear.

I bit my nail in frustration. Five years had passed, and recalling the scenarios from the game had become difficult. Remembering the names of the protagonist and his enemies was challenging. I even forgot the names of the other two influential students in this school.

This lapse occurred because I hadn’t preserved my game knowledge, unlike how I had retained my knowledge of science and mathematics when I first enrolled.

After this scenario, my memories of what would happen next were blank. All because I continued to believe that this wasn’t the game world.

* * *

The anomaly suddenly appeared before me and confronted Carlos-sama. They appeared to be talking, but their words went in one ear and out the other.

My focus was on the ripples in the night sky. These ripples could only be created by using the unique magic Lumina-sama developed. Meaning, the ones who had helped me in the fight were them.

“Oi! Eclara-san, are you okay!?”

I snapped out of my daze when I felt hands grabbing my shoulders and shaking me violently. Veins popped on my forehead as I punched the person responsible.

“Ow! Why’d you do that to your savior?”

“Savior? You almost killed me. If I hadn’t created a barrier, I would’ve died from your reckless stunt!”

“I’m sorry, okay. I still can’t control magic very well.”

“You really are an Anomaly. Not only were you summoned, but the amount of mana in your body is monstrous.”

The Anomaly pouted and hung his head in depression.

“It’s not my fault.”

“But this is your fault.”

I pointed at the destroyed park with half-open eyes.

“Urk.”

“Oooi! Is everybody alright?”

As the anomaly reflected, I suddenly heard a high-pitched voice from above.

“Haa~ Why did my master ever order me to observe him? What does she see in him?”

“Hmm?”

The anomaly made a goofy face and tilted his head. I grew angrier and hit his head again.

“Well, it is true that you saved me. So thanks, Juumonji Shin.”

“No prob.”

He flashed a big smile, showing his teeth as he scratched his left cheek.

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble, Eclara-sama.”

“It’s okay. Michelle.”

The person who arrived a bit later was his master. Her name was Michelle (Michael) Alinstad. A girl with blonde hair who was currently wearing men’s uniform due to her family’s orders. The only ones who knew she was a girl were me and this anomaly.

“It seems they still want to fight.”

“It appears so.”

“Uuhhh.”

The three of us had different reactions as Carlos-sama’s minions slowly stood up one by one.

“There’s just three of them! Hurry up and beat them up!”

Carlos-sama ordered his minions to attack us, clearly underestimating our strength.

“Come!”

“Don’t destroy the park too much, okay?”

“Don’t worry, he’ll pay for this.”

“Waaaaah!!! I wanna run away!”

The anomaly charged at Carlos with a vicious smile. His hands were burning, and his body was surrounded by a bright aura. He used magic to enhance his physical abilities, giving him superhuman strength. With nearly inexhaustible mana, he was a monster who could fight an entire legion of soldiers with a smile.

“Clench your teeth, you bastards!”

With that, I, along with the anomaly and his master, fought against one of the most influential people in the school and won. We didn’t realize that Carlos-sama’s fall would trigger chaos in the school.