7

The giant serpent grazed the uniform she had only just put on.

It tore, but did not go so far as to devour Kirishiya’s soft skin. She kept twisting her body flexibly to avoid it and hurled herself into the library door with a body slam.

She had escaped by a hair’s breadth.

But the library she entered already looked as though it had been ravaged by the giant serpents; bookshelves had toppled over, and books lay scattered across the floor, covered in dust.

The light of the transmitter indicating Seidel pointed even farther inside.

“Seidel, Ains-san…”

Kirishiya got to her feet and, using the fallen bookshelves and the heaps of books piled like mountains as footholds, ran onward through the unstable space.

Even as she did, the giant serpents bit into the bookshelves stretching high up through the library and sent a rain of books falling over Kirishiya’s head.

Kirishiya ran on while keeping watch above as well.

But even for a princess who had trained her body, this sort of situation was a first.

She was unable to pay sufficient attention to her footing as well.

“Ugh!?”

She twisted her ankle.

A sharp pain shot through her ankle, and when Kirishiya stopped moving, the belly of a giant serpent slammed violently into her back.

Kirishiya was blown forward with tremendous force and went tumbling.

Just like that, she crashed into an old-fashioned door and rolled inside.

“P-Princess Kirishiya!? Why are you here!?”

Above Kirishiya, who had been struck so hard in the lungs that she could not draw breath properly, stood Seidel.

“…S-Seidel.”

As if to hold up Kirishiya, who had rolled and gotten soot and scrapes on herself, Seidel wiped the dirt from her face with a handkerchief.

“Oh my, to run all the way through that, you are quite a gutsy princess. I am impressed.”

Her lungs, spinning uselessly as though their gears had come off, gradually recovered and allowed her to breathe normally again as time passed.

“Who are you?”

Using Seidel’s hand for support, Kirishiya stood up.

In her field of vision was Ains, standing as though facing Rubelmel.

“…Ains-san.”

Even in a situation like this, Kirishiya suddenly felt as though her cheeks might redden, and she shook her head to dispel it.

That profile of Ains’s had his eyes shining as he faced Rubelmel.

“I am Rubelmel, the Sorcerer of Antagonism, one of the Next-Era Luminaries. Princess Kirishiya, it is my first time meeting you.”

Standing beside Rubelmel, who introduced herself respectfully, was Darius, averting his eyes.

“The Next-Era Luminaries…! And Darius…san? Seidel, what is going on here?”

It was Rubelmel who answered the bewildered Kirishiya.

“As for the disturbance outside, I sincerely apologize. It is the result of my sorcery. Once I have achieved my purpose, I will release it immediately, so I ask that you kindly overlook it.”

From Rubelmel’s words, Kirishiya understood that the wooden giant serpents surrounding the Sorcery Academy were the result of her sorcery.

Even so, what exactly was the purpose that Rubelmel, a member of the Next-Era Luminaries, was trying to accomplish, and what position Darius held in all this, were what concerned Kirishiya.

But even without hearing those answers, the action Kirishiya ought to take had already been decided within her.

It was obvious that her own magical skill was inferior to Rubelmel’s. However, at Kirishiya’s side stood Seidel, who had graduated from the Sorcery Academy with excellent results.

“Seidel, capture her!”

“At once.”

At Kirishiya’s order, Seidel moved immediately. The Next-Era Luminaries were enemies of the kingdom. If that was the case, then the order Kirishiya gave Seidel was naturally understood.

At his liege’s command, which he had half expected, Seidel deployed magic.

What appeared was one of the three representative intermediate spells, a spear wreathed in flames rising into the air: Fire Spear.

He fully understood that this was a book vault, and that directly behind Seidel and the others was the library. However, if the opponent was a sorcerer allied with the Next-Era Luminaries, then there was no room here to be worrying about books.

It did not matter if the collection burned.

Letting the great criminal before them escape would be a greater loss.

Seidel, being an excellent mage, of course manifested Fire Spear without chanting. Just like that, he fired about three of them in succession at Rubelmel.

Darius, who had been beside Rubelmel, hid behind a bookshelf in fear of the Fire Spears flying toward him.

Both Seidel and Kirishiya watched Rubelmel’s movements closely.

The spears sought to pierce Rubelmel’s body, but she did not cloak herself in mana.

She merely spoke.

“Water overcomes fire.”

Rubelmel’s short murmur. Those words held no mana and were not even a spell formula.

And yet, that meaningless murmur was directed at the spears.

The roaring burning spears wrapped themselves in water and were extinguished.

The spears, which crumbled away as though smoldering, vanished without piercing Rubelmel’s body.

“What!?”

Neither Seidel nor Kirishiya beside him could hide their shock at the sight.

“…”

Ains merely watched the scene silently from the side.

Seidel stared in astonishment, but even so, he did not come to a complete stop.

If Fire Spear would not work, then something else would.

Spears formed of freezing ice. Ice Spears were manifested by Seidel’s hand.

“Ice, is it? But its essence is still water.”

“What are you talking about!?”

As he looked at the sharp tips of the Ice Spears aimed at Rubelmel, she spoke in an unhurried voice utterly lacking any sense of danger.

From Seidel’s and the others’ perspective, Rubelmel’s words were so irrelevant that they could have dismissed them with a simple so what.

In accordance with the movement of Seidel’s hand, the Ice Spears attacked Rubelmel.

“Earth overcomes water.”

Once again, Rubelmel’s mere muttering.

But in the path of the Ice Spears’ points, a wall of earth suddenly appeared. It was a small square block wall, only enough to stop a single Ice Spear. One floated up along the path of each of the three spears Seidel had manifested, as though to protect Rubelmel.

The ice spears flew into the earthen blocks. As though it were only natural, all three spears shattered the instant they struck the walls.

“Impossible!?”

Just like with the Fire Spears earlier, and again now, everything had been blocked without Rubelmel giving even the appearance of releasing mana.

“Oh? Is that so surprising? As I thought, the kingdom’s mages are no challenge at all.”

Rubelmel did not move a single step from where she stood, did not lift a finger, and merely murmured short words without putting any mana into them.

The words she directed at Seidel were full of contempt.

“Seidel, what kind of sorcery is she using!?”

Seeing that her own servant was unable to contend with Rubelmel right before her eyes, Kirishiya could not help but raise her voice.

“I do not know. She showed no sign of deploying magic or sorcery.”

Keeping his eyes fixed on Rubelmel, Seidel answered Kirishiya at his side.

“…That is a rather interesting kind of magic.”

Ains moved off to a place where he would not get in their way and struck the floor with his prosthetic leg.

Ains sat down as though making himself comfortable in a chair formed by the floor changing shape.