Chapter 30: Connections to that thing

A few hours had passed, and before I knew it, it was already late afternoon.

Since Eclara was with me, I had her teach me about basic magic and its connection to magic circles. Although we gathered only a few books on magic and magic control, Eclara helped me and my three companions understand the theory. We planned to implement this knowledge into our magic control exercises tomorrow.

As Eclara continued teaching us, Emilia suddenly sent me a message through a mana screen. Only Emilia and I could create mana screens; I had tried teaching the students, but since it involved complex concepts like light waves and sounds, I gave up.

“What’s wrong, Emilia?”

“It’s about the Magic Students, Lumina-sama. They’ve started to wake up.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Well…”

Emilia changed the image on the screen to show me the situation.

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“Don’t try touching me, you trash!”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Hmph! Don’t even come into my sight again.”

“Y-yes!”

I sighed and told Emilia that I would head over there. She gave me a troubled smile and nodded. Standing up, I informed Mary and the others that we were going back.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Shin suddenly appeared in front of me and asked a question. I answered him without looking at him.

“The Magic Students have started waking up.”

“Really!? Then we’ve got to hurry back!”

He quickly ran towards Michael, took his hand, and began chanting magic. Wind started to gather around them.

“We’re going ahead.”

“Yes.”

I told Eclara before covering my body with mana and flying swiftly. Mary, Anthony, and Victoria followed. Along the way, I felt a sudden pain in my abdomen. Since it only lasted a moment, I decided to ignore it for now.

Since I was flying rather than walking, we traveled quickly. After three minutes, we arrived at the field. I descended and landed in front of Emilia.

“How many have woken up?”

I quickly asked Emilia as we walked to the right side of the field.

“Around 30 students have woken up, Lumina-sama. Also, it seems some of them know Liza and Achil.”

“I see.”

As we walked, I noticed that they had stopped using null element magic. I asked Emilia why. She explained that if they continued using null element magic, the Magic Students might become confused by floating objects. I then remembered that null element magic was invisible to them and accepted her reasoning.

“Ah! Lumina-sama!”

As we arrived, Vertical Rolls, Achil, and Frank ran toward me. I noticed that the people they were talking to were glaring at me.

“So you’re the ringleader behind this incident.”

“No.”

“Stop spouting lies! We know that you were the one who instigated the students to fight each other!”

“Like I said last night, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Achil’s brother began interrogating me for some reason. Despite my denials, he still believed I was lying.

“Haaa~, why do you keep implying that I’m responsible for all of this? Look, I was one of the victims here.”

“You have connections with that ‘thing’!”

“That ‘thing’?”

I tilted my head and glanced at Emilia. She looked just as confused about who they were referring to.

“He’s talking about the one who followed you into the library, Lumina-sama.”

I clapped my hands when Vertical Rolls clarified who the ‘thing’ was. Facing Achil’s brother, I answered him with half-open eyes.

“I only met him today. How can you assume I know him? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You bastard! Don’t try to lie your way out! You told us that Eclara’s your servant and that she usually spends time with that ‘thing’ and its summoner.”

I placed a hand on my forehead, sighed, and responded.

“I only told her to observe him. Rumors about a human being summoned by magic also reached us, so I became curious and had Eclara observe him.”

(I didn’t receive any reports from her for two weeks, but I understand that they were having a hard time.)

“…”

“If you don’t believe me, that’s up to you.”

Achil’s brother fell silent and continued glaring at me.

Crash!!!

“You trash student! How dare you spill water on me!”

I suddenly heard the sound of glass breaking and a student’s shout nearby. Turning my gaze to the source, I saw a Magic Student kicking a General Student. Angered, I decided to intervene.

“Stop it.”

With a very cold tone, I instructed the Magic Student to stop kicking the General Student. The Magic Student’s shoulders trembled, and he looked at us fearfully. When he saw I was just a General Student, his fearful look was replaced by contempt.

“You’re just trash! Trash like you should be quiet and obey us, Elites.”

“…”

I narrowed my eyes at the Magic Student and approached the General Student, ignoring the Magic Student.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-y-yes.”

I noticed that the General Student’s body was covered with a thin layer of mana. Smiling unconsciously, I helped her stand up. The Magic Student became enraged and grabbed my shoulder.

At that moment, Emilia and Vertical Rolls approached and seized the Magic Student’s hand. I sent the General Student away before facing the Magic Student.

“You called us trash, right?”

“What’s wrong with calling trash trash?”

Glancing at Emilia from the corner of my eye, I said, “Emilia, though I know you meant well, I think helping them was a mistake.”

“I’m sorry, it was my mistake, Lumina-sama.”

“It’s fine. Tell the students to go back to the dormitory and gather as much food as possible.”

“… Yes.”

Emilia created a mana screen and began giving instructions. I overheard that the students who received the order laughed upon understanding it.

“Ah, right. Tell them to also gather their clothes. I have a feeling that the Magic Students will come to our dorms to sleep.”

“Yes.”

After giving Emilia this instruction, a gust of wind ruffled my hair. I knew who the culprit was, as he had done the same to me earlier. I made a mana brush and did my best to control my irritation.

“… Shin.”

“Hmmm? Where are you going? I thought you were going to meet with the Magic Students?”

“….”

I walked past him, brushing my hair. He followed us and continued to ask questions, but we ignored him until we reached the dorms.