Constel was quiet.
Most of the classrooms were in the middle of morning lessons, and only occasionally could teachers' voices be heard.
However, within that,
"…Teacher."
Suddenly, a girl raised her hand.
"What is it, Elodie?"
"I'm sorry. My head hurts so badly…"
"What? Go to the infirmary right away."
"Thank you…"
The teacher sent Elodie off with a worried expression.
Elodie is a model student, lacking nothing in either skills or character.
The teacher didn't even consider it could be a sham.
Thus, Elodie, who should have been suffering from a headache, walked too briskly for someone in her condition through the corridor.
Meaning,
Elodie was the first to notice.
"Really faint, but there."
Something caught in Elodie's mana detection.
From a very far distance, yet from all around.
A faint malice stood poised towards Constel, something almost dismissible as imagination.
"Frondier's words were true."
Elodie had previously heard from Frondier about an 'Raid'.
The information was hardly believable.
Had it been the Elodie of the past, she wouldn't have believed it.
But, now Elodie knows Frondier has changed.
Elodie shelved her thoughts and ascended the stairs.
Of course, in a direction completely unrelated to the infirmary.
Click.
Opening the rooftop's iron door, the morning's chilly wind swept over her.
Elodie stood at the edge of the rooftop and narrowed her eyes.
Even from this height, not even a shadow of a demon could be seen.
Conversely, it meant that the malice from a far, invisible distance was felt by Elodie.
"If Frondier hadn't told me."
The demons would have overwhelmed Constel before Elodie could initiate a response.
Then, her power would be halved.
-"I trust you, so it's okay."
"…Hmph. You did say something right."
Indeed, now that it has come to this, there was no need for her to believe in Frondier's words.
By telling her the timing, Elodie became more sensitive to her mana detection at that time, and as a result, she realized that Frondier's words were correct.
Frondier really just trusted Elodie.
Her sensitive mana detection.
"I feel a bit deceived, though."
Elodie de Inies Rishae.
Fifth in the midterm exams.
For her, who was said to have received the love of five gods, this result was somewhat ambiguous.
Many expected her to naturally rank first.
However, this outcome wasn't due to a lack of her power.
"It's a good thing I knew in advance."
Elodie gathered her magical power.
A light warm-up, preparation to block the attack.
With that alone, the air around her began to tremble.
"No need to control my power."
She is clumsy at controlling her power. She has hardly ever tried.
No one among her instructors at Constel had taught her how to control her power.
Instead, they encouraged her to increase her output, fearing that her talent might wane.
Control could be developed later, but the peak of one’s output was uncertain.
Midterms were conducted along with other students.
Hence, the reason her ranking was ambiguous during practical exams was simple.
If she went all out, other students could get caught in the crossfire.
Eventually, from a great distance, a faint dust storm became visible.
An uncountable legion of massive monsters.
To Elodie, who had enhanced her vision to the utmost with magic, the scale of the horde became apparent.
To an ordinary person, the sight of such a vast swarm of monsters would have made them collapse in fear, but Elodie smiled fearlessly.
As soon as she spotted a monster within her maximum line of sight, she began to cast her spells.
Her school uniform fluttered, and her eyes and hair turned a mix of red and blue.
Divine Power Unleashed
Agni, Rudra
Individual Spell Deployment
Fire Magic Four Forms
Elemental Resistance, Impact, Spread, Mana Conversion … Named, ‘Hellfire’
Wind Magic Four Forms
Range Increase, Separation Activation, High-Speed Rotation, Updraft … Named, ‘Storm’
Spell Combination, Focusing
Elodie Original, ‘Vermilion Bird Ascension’.
“I was asked to make it as flashy as possible.”
Elodie aimed with both hands extended forward.
...In truth, as long as the distance was roughly correct,
aiming wasn’t particularly meaningful for this spell.
“I’m just doing as I was told.”
Elodie, as if it was someone else’s concern.
She unleashed a storm of fire upon the approaching horde of monsters from afar.
* * *
After Frondier had gone upstairs, Elysia whispered to Philly in a subtle tone.
“I know what Mother is thinking.”
“……”
“You suspect me.”
Philly remained silent, taking a sip of his tea.
“Is that man saying I’m the culprit?”
Elysia asked again, but Philly still kept her silence.
However, Elysia knew well that Philly would react this way.
Philly's style, with silence and expressions, making the other party make mistakes on their own.
However, Elysia also knows another weakness of Philly.
It's because she's her daughter.
"Have you ever thought Mom was strange?"
Philly doubts everything.
At the same time as suspecting that Elysia might be the culprit,
She also harbors doubts that maybe she's not.
That's Philly.
Philly's true power is unleashed when given enough time.
Philly's choices, made after careful consideration and long deliberation, have always been the right ones.
However, if there's less time than she has anticipated, even Philly could make mistakes.
"Should we fight?"
At Elysia's words, Philly's pupils faintly wavered.
"I'm your daughter, Mom. Why would I do that?"
A slight strength entered Philly's hand holding the teacup.
"I knew I'd be suspected. But think about it calmly."
Philly's lips quivered slightly.
A subtle movement that only Philly's daughter Elysia could barely notice.
Elysia smiled triumphantly.
"…Mom, the culprit is Sale."
"…!"
Philly's eyes widened.
This time, the change was noticeable to anyone.
"That man is Sale's henchman. He's framing me to help Sale."
Philly was surprised by Elysia's words.
Indeed, it was as she said.
"…Elysia."
"Hmm?"
Finally, Philly spoke.
On Philly's face, smiling as usual,
Elysia realized something was terribly wrong, accompanied by a massive fear.
"You've crossed the line."
