It was a dark space.
Nothing could be felt.
Astina slowly pondered in that darkness.
She realized, like Rudy, that this magic was related to hallucinatory phenomena and wondered what to do about it.
As she pondered, she felt a warm heat on her hand.
"Hmm?"
This time, she heard her own voice.
Touch and hearing had returned.
But it wasn't completely back.
It was like the numbness from anesthesia was still partially there.
"Uh..."
As her sense of touch was returning,
Squeeze─
Something was pressing down on Astina's nose.
"...What's this?"
Astina cautiously opened her eyes.
In her blurry vision, she saw a mix of white and gold.
Her sight gradually returned.
"Ah?"
It was Rudy who was pressing on her nose.
"Ah... Ahh...!"
However, the manner in which he was pressing was problematic.
Rudy, with his eyes closed, was lying on top of Astina.
His face was right in front of Astina's eyes.
It was Rudy's nose that had been pressing on hers.
They lay there, noses pressed together in this awkward position.
The situation became awkward due to the prominent hill on Astina's chest.
Rudy's body was lifted slightly because of her chest.
Thus, their noses were touching, and had Astina's chest been smaller, it would have been their lips instead.
"Uh...!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Astina's face turned red.
Although she often showed a confident senior figure in front of Rudy, she was a girl who knew nothing about men.
"Se...nior."
That's when Rudy opened his mouth.
Rudy's breath touched Astina.
"Ah..."
Not just her face, but Astina's ears also turned red as if they were about to burst.
Even then, she couldn't take her eyes off Rudy's face.
Rudy, still not fully conscious, tossed and turned.
He moved his body to the side, positioning his face next to Astina's head, almost as if embracing her.
"...Just for a moment."
Astina tightly closed her eyes and raised her hand, then hugged Rudy tightly.
"Hmm..."
Astina cleared her throat as if nothing had happened, but she couldn't hide her expression.
Her lips curved into a delighted smile, and her hand gently stroked Rudy's back.
During that brief moment of happiness,
"How long are you planning to stay like this?"
"────!!!!"
Startled by the sudden voice, Astina quickly pushed Rudy away and sprang to her feet.
Standing in front of her was a wolf shining with silver fur.
"Pr...Priscilla?"
"Sorry to interrupt your pleasant time, but we need to clean up, don't we?"
"Pl, pleasant time? I was just trying to make Rudy comfortable after his hard work..."
"That's enough of that. Catch that guy."
Priscilla gestured with her head towards Jefrin.
Astina, her face still red, covered it with her hand and looked in that direction.
Jefrin lay on the grass, aged and defeated.
Surrounded by chunks of ice, her punctured belly was sealed with ice.
"Is she alive?"
"She's breathing, but it doesn't seem like she'll last long."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Astina gazed intently at Jefrin.
She lay sprawled on the ground, aged.
Dust and dirt clung to her body.
"This isn't how she should meet her end, considering all she's done."
Astina approached Jefrin, taking out a small mana stone.
When she brought it to her, her wounds slowly started to heal.
Astina, with a cold gaze, turned to Priscilla, who was looking at Jefrin, and spoke.
"Priscilla, can you check if any professors are nearby? If not, bring them here as quickly as possible."
"Understood."
Astina had no intention of letting Jefrin meet such an end.
Priscilla arrived with Mcguire at the place where Astina was.
Mcguire looked at Jefrin, lying on the ground.
"It seems you were successful."
"Yes, Rudy managed to do it."
Astina greeted Mcguire, laying Rudy on her lap.
"How is Rudy...?"
"His condition doesn't seem too bad. He just hasn't regained consciousness yet."
"That's good to hear."
Mcguire nodded and looked at Jefrin.
"She doesn't look like she'll last much longer."
Jefrin was barely breathing, gasping for air.
"Even if we save her, it won't make much difference. She went into mana overload on her own, so her mind must be half gone."
Mana overload was essentially a suicidal act.
If mana overload is caused by other magic, the body's defense mechanisms provide some protection.
But deliberately causing a mana overload bypasses these mechanisms, damaging not just the mind but the entire body.
Jefrin was, in essence, more dead than alive.
"Still, I don't plan to let her go easily."
The conversation Astina couldn't have in front of Rudy.
The Rebels had invaded the Academy, and Rudy had spoken of the possibility of his death.
Astina had laughed it off then, but she had pondered it deeply.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})The Rebels killing her.
It might not happen, but it wasn't something to be ignored.
She had to prepare.
Astina trained to defy fate.
In doing so, she distanced herself from those around her.
She avoided Rudy, whom she cherished.
In another timeline, Rudy had changed for the worse after her death.
To prevent that, Astina distanced herself from Rudy for a while.
Distance in body leads to distance in heart.
She would do her best against the Rebels, but she also had to consider the possibility of not escaping death.
Even if she died, she stepped back to ensure Rudy wouldn't fall apart.
Luna and Rie accompanying Rudy was unavoidable.
Astina, thinking that she would be in their place if she could just survive this ordeal, endured patiently.
She was focused solely on finding a way to oppose the Rebels.
And now.
Astina had formed a definitive plan.
With Jefrin captured, Astina saw a possibility.
The Empire was currently embroiled in internal strife.
The Rebels were active, but not a major concern for the Empire.
For her own protection, the Empire's assistance was essential.
There was something she needed to do to create this situation.
"Then, I leave Rudy in your care."
Astina handed Rudy to Priscilla and lifted Jefrin with magic.
"Astina, where are you going...?"
"I'm heading to the capital."
"The capital?"
Astina pointed at Jefrin and looked at Mcguire.
"I intend to put this woman on the execution block."
Despite it being the time for Jefrin's return, she hadn't shown up, and they learned she had been captured.
The Rebel leaders convened a meeting.
"What do you plan to do, leader?"
"..."
Aryandor held his head in his hands.
The Rebels were unaware of Jefrin's whereabouts.
They knew she was defeated at the Academy, but her movements thereafter were a mystery.
They wondered if she had escaped and searched around the Academy, but to no avail.
"For now, we wait..."
Waiting was all Aryandor could do.
"Leader!!!"
A man suddenly burst into the meeting room.
"There's going to be a public execution in the capital of the Empire...!"
"A public execution?"
"It's... It's Jefrin's public execution...!"
At these words, Aryandor's eyes widened.
"What are you talking about? Jefrin disappeared less than a day ago. It doesn't make sense..."
The Empire generally advocated non-violence.
They upheld the principle of reforming rather than killing.
Of course, many were killed behind the scenes, but to the common people, this was the stance they projected.
Still, a public execution meant extensive deliberation and a compelling reason to proceed.
But it had only been a day since Jefrin's disappearance.
The idea that all these events transpired in such a short time was implausible.
It takes a full day just to travel from the Academy to the capital.
The details of how this unfolded were puzzling.
"Leader, what will you do?"
"...I will go alone."
The Rebels were at a critical juncture.
With their influence spreading, they couldn't afford to spare other leaders.
"Contact Daemon in the capital."
Daemon was currently in the capital due to matters involving the Astria family and the necromancers.
Aryandor planned to meet Daemon, observe the situation, and if an opportunity arose during the execution, attempt to rescue Jefrin.
However...
"Sigh..."
Aryandor arrived in the capital just in time to witness the execution.
Before the execution platform, there was a large crowd.
Public executions weren't a common occurrence, so many had gathered out of curiosity.
On the execution platform, an aged Jefrin knelt, covered in wounds, with Astina standing in front of her.
But that wasn't all.
Beside Astina stood Cromwell and the Empire's Chancellor, Jason Ophillius.
Nearby were Ian Astria and several nobles.
It was a gathering of the Empire's central figures.
The security was too tight for Aryandor to breach alone.
"Leader, have you arrived?"
Daemon, hooded, approached the prearranged meeting spot.
"What's happened here?"
"I heard that during a meeting of the Empire, Astina Persia arrived and brought about this situation."
"Astina?"
"Yes, she brought Jefrin from the Academy to the meeting."
Aryandor gazed at Astina, standing highest amongst the surrounding nobility.
Her presence there among the high nobility implied she had achieved a significant feat.
"That girl captured Jefrin...?"
As Aryandor muttered to himself, the time for the execution arrived.
Astina stepped forward, unfolding a scroll in her hand.
"The accused, a member of the Rebel faction and its leadership, conspired against the Empire's core and committed numerous atrocities. Thus, she is sentenced to death for the crime of national treason."
Her statement was concise and deeply summarized.
Treason was one of the most severely punished crimes in the Empire.
Lengthy explanations were unnecessary.
Astina read the charges and set the scroll down.
She then looked at the crowd in front of her.
"This criminal orchestrated a national rebellion, killing over a hundred people alone."
Astina continued.
"Not only that, but with his magical artifacts and soldiers, she killed countless more. Under the pretext of purging corrupt nobles, thousands of families were destroyed. Some lost sons, others husbands, and still others fathers. Those people were innocent. They were merely defending their families against the Rebels."
Astina extended her hand.
"To the Rebels listening somewhere, I ask: Do you really believe the world you're trying to create justifies killing innocent people? Can you claim to be better than the corrupt nobles you've killed? Is the world you're building truly ideal?"
Astina had investigated the Rebels to protect herself and those around her.
And she was prepared.
She could explain to the Empire the danger posed by the Rebels and the contradictions in their actions.
She had prepared in advance, seizing this opportunity.
Astina had barely kept Jefrin alive and headed for the Empire.
Instead of a normal carriage, she used magic to fly at high speed and arrived at the Empire.
This challenging journey was to participate in the ongoing conference in the Empire.
Astina attended the conference of the Empire and pleaded the case she had prepared.
She argued that now was not the time for the Emperor's faction and the nobility to fight.
The Rebels were planning to bring down the Empire.
It was not the time to just watch.
As a result, this moment had arrived.
Astina's efforts were not in vain.
Hearing her words, both the nobility and the Emperor's faction resolved to deal with the Rebels first.
"This act will be a declaration of war, a direct confrontation between you, the Rebels, and the Empire. People, do not be deceived by the Rebels sharing a bit of food. They are murderers who killed your families, your neighbors. The bread they give you is made from the flesh of your family, the wine from their blood. These are not goods sprung from the earth. Never forget that."
Astina, with piercing eyes, looked at the crowd and declared.
"Astina Persia..."
Aryandor gritted his teeth as he looked at Astina.
Then he turned his gaze to Jefrin beside her.
Jefrin looked even more haggard and miserable than when he first saw her.
She was practically half-dead already.
As Aryandor watched Jefrin, a soldier standing next to Astina shouted.
"The execution will proceed!"
Hearing this, Aryandor turned away.
Daemon watched Aryandor's reaction.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes."
Aryandor clenched his fist tightly, repeating a name in his mind.
"Astina Persia."
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