Chapter 89
Kirran gleefully flitted through the forest.
This mischievous fairy loved teasing the students.
[Hahaha! Idiots! Like I’d ever get caught by some cheap butterfly net!]
After tormenting another first-year, Kirran hummed a tune.
[Who should I mess with next?]
Whoosh—!
[…?]
A net flew in out of nowhere and caught Kirran.
In an instant, Kirran, caught in a cheap butterfly net, wore a dazed expression.
[Huh?]
Kirran’s eyes met Leo’s, and his face turned pale.
“I sent you here to behave, not to cause trouble.”
[W-Wait, it’s a misunderstanding! I had a reason for being here… Ack!]
Leo, holding Kirran tightly, asked,
“What reason?”
[I was investigating because something strange seemed to be happening on this island!]
“What?”
Leo looked surprised.
That night.
After sunset, Leo ate fruits he’d gathered from all over the island and asked,
“So, you’re saying the familiars on Familiar Island have become violent, and someone sent you to investigate?”
[That’s right.]
“Then why did it look like you were just messing with Lumene students?”
Even though Kirran had lost his power as a Fairy Prince, he was still a fairy.
And now, having regained a pair of wings, his power had returned to some extent.
He was a familiar that neither first-years nor even second-years could find.
But the day after Kirran arrived on the island, rumors about fairies had spread everywhere.
[That’s because—]
“Because?”
[I just found it funny to see the students making a fuss when they saw me!]
“So you forgot your original purpose and were just playing around?”
Leo tied Kirran up with vines and hung him upside down over the campfire, then fell into thought.
‘There’s a disturbance on Familiar Island?’
Currently, this island was practically Phirina’s domain.
There’s no way she wouldn’t notice something strange happening.
“So where’s Phirina? Why did she send you?”
[That Phirina—the Phoenix—isn’t on the island right now! Let me go! Let me go!]
Kirran wriggled desperately.
“She’s not here?”
[Right! She’s been gone since you sent us here three days ago! In a letter, she said she was returning to her contractor for a bit…! Argh!]
Fwoosh—!
Kirran caught fire.
Barely escaping, Kirran rolled on the ground to put the fire out.
“How did you know something was happening in the forest?”
[Fiora told me.]
“Fiora?”
Leo stroked his chin.
Fiora, Phirina’s daughter, was effectively the island’s second in command.
Though still young and not very strong, she’d be able to sense any major changes in the forest.
‘What are the odds that a disturbance happens while Phirina is away?’
Leo narrowed his eyes and got up.
‘First, I need to find Fiora.’
He could have just summoned her, but this was a practical class.
If he used Spirit Power while no one else was using summoning, it would immediately stand out.
‘If Fiora’s true identity gets exposed, it’ll be a headache.’
Currently, only Professor Yura and Headmaster Kalian knew Leo was contracted with the Phoenix.
Leo focused and called out to Fiora.
‘Fiora.’
Even when far apart, you could communicate with high-ranked familiars through your bond.
But there was no answer.
‘Fiora? Answer me if you can hear.’
“What is she doing that she won’t answer?”
Leo frowned at Fiora’s silence.
Kirran, who had flown over, clasped his hands behind his head and said,
[Maybe she’s distracted and doesn’t even know you’re calling?]
“……”
That sounded plausible.
Even if she acted mature, Fiora was still a curious child easily distracted.
“All these contractors are just kids.”
[You’re a kid too.]
Leo sighed at Kirran’s complaint and focused again.
He walked toward where he could sense Fiora’s power.
‘Guess I’ll have to find her myself.’
* * *
The direction where Fiora’s power came from was the western edge.
‘We’re on the east side, so it’s the opposite direction.’
Sighing, Leo made his way deeper into the forest.
There, he encountered students struggling to survive in the wild.
To sum up, the Summoning Department students weren’t adjusting to the wild at all.
They screamed at bugs or collapsed foaming at the mouth from eating poisonous mushrooms.
Even the ace, Eliza, was having trouble adapting.
‘What are they going to do starting tomorrow?’
Watching the students suffer before the real hardship even began, Leo clicked his tongue.
Of course, not all the students were like that.
“Busy at night, Plov?”
Walden, a huge student sitting cross-legged in front of a campfire with his eyes closed, spoke up.
Leo had tried to move quietly but ran into him by chance.
Yet Walden spoke without even opening his eyes.
“I have business to attend to.”
Leo shrugged nonchalantly.
At that, Walden opened his eyes and looked up into the trees.
Even among the Knights Department, few students had a physique like Walden.
He looked like he’d be a rough brawler, but in fact, he was quite the strategist.
‘He was ranked second overall in general subjects outside his specialty, wasn’t he?’
First was Chloe.
He also had more knowledge of magic than most magic students.
‘He even has the sense to combine magic and spirit arts. Impressive.’
“I’m looking forward to this battle royale, Plov.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I plan to defeat you.”
At Walden’s flat declaration, Leo smirked.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Hearing that, Walden closed his eyes again.
Leo sprang off a branch and sped through the forest.
He couldn’t use Aura, but he crossed the woods quickly with his overwhelming physical abilities.
He ran into wild familiars a few times, but none attacked.
Because Kirran was on Leo’s shoulder.
Familiars generally avoid picking fights with those stronger than themselves.
Crossing the woods at high speed, Leo reached the western edge.
There, a field of pebbles stretched out.
[Wow, it’s beautiful.]
Kirran admired the moonlit, starlit lake view.
Leo spotted Fiora squatting by the water, busy looking for something.
Splash—
Fiora picked up a small pebble from the water and stood up.
She admired the stone under the moonlight with a cry of wonder.
It was a transparent, crystal-like magic stone.
“Pretty, so pretty!”
Fiora’s eyes sparkled as she examined the magic stone, then—pop!—put it in her mouth.
She rolled it around like a candy, humming, then started searching for more.
“…What are you doing?”
“Hmm? Leo, I’m busy right now.”
“Swallow what’s in your mouth and then talk.”
Fiora crunched up the stone and swallowed it, then asked,
“Leo, what brings you here?”
“Never mind that… Have you been eating up all the magic stones in this pebble field?”
This area was originally off-limits to students.
That was because the pebble field was a natural magic stone site.
Areas around familiar and spirit habitats often generated large numbers of magic stones.
The energy they gave off seeped into the earth and gathered, naturally forming magic stones.
Young spirits and familiars absorbed these to fuel their growth.
Familiar Island’s pebble field played exactly that role.
That’s why students were forbidden from collecting stones here.
But Fiora had been eating all the magic stones.
Fiora turned her head sharply and said,
“When you’re little, you’re supposed to eat a lot.”
[High-rank familiars like us don’t need magic stones to grow.]
As Kirran said, magic stones don’t help top-tier familiars like the Phoenix much.
At best, they’re a tasty treat.
But even then, hogging all the stones that other familiars in her territory needed was not right.
“You’re not telling me you scared off all the other familiars and spirits and kept the magic stones for yourself, right?”
She might be weak, but if others sensed the Phoenix’s aura, they’d be too scared to come close.
“I didn’t do that. I tried to share!”
Fiora protested.
[If you’re using Phoenix power to threaten others, there’s no way you can share. You chick—! No, you pig!]
“Who are you calling a pig?!”
[Heh! Still a weak comeback!]
Fiora, offended, threw a pebble at Kirran, who just snorted and dodged.
“Both of you, quiet. Fiora, you told Kirran to scout the east because something happened on the island, right?”
“Oh, right!”
Fiora, who’d forgotten while eating stones, flinched.
[You made such a serious face when you told me, and then forgot yourself?]
Caught, Fiora just stammered.
[Agh, your memory is really chick-level!]
“S-Sorry.”
Kirran, thinking he’d found an opening, started patting Fiora’s head.
[I’ll forgive you! But from now on, you have to call me ‘prince’ and—Ack!]
“You forgot your own investigation and were just playing with the students.”
Leo smacked Kirran on the head.
“So, what exactly is this disturbance?”
“I don’t really know. I just sense a faint, unpleasant aura on the island.”
‘Unpleasant aura?’
Leo frowned.
If the Phoenix, with the power of purification, found it unpleasant, it had to be some sort of unclean force.
‘During midterms, Tartarus tried to meddle with the Summoning Department. Could it be related?’
Just as Leo reached that conclusion—
Whooo—!
Suddenly, mist began to spread.
Seeing that, Leo quickly grabbed Fiora and Kirran and hid behind a tree, away from the pebble field.
This wasn’t natural mist.
And the energy in the mist was familiar to Leo.
The black magic he’d felt during the Summoning Department’s midterm exam.
‘That time, the dark beastmaster.’
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
Splash—
A beastmaster appeared on the pebble field, waving a hand.
Vmmm—!
The magic stones scattered across the field reacted.
The beastmaster hesitated, seeing how few there were.
“What’s this? Why are there so few magic stones?”
[Because the pig ate them all.]
At Kirran’s words, Fiora glared and grabbed him by the throat.
“Stop fighting and get ready.”
Leo gathered Spirit Power.
Using Spirit Power was forbidden during the weekend, but now was not the time to worry about that.
“They’re coming!”
Ziiiing—!
A giant summoning circle formed beneath Leo.
Leo leapt high.
Grrrrr—! Crack!
A massive beast opened its jaws and swallowed the spot where Leo had been.
Whoosh—! Thud—!
Leo landed and stared at the beastmaster.
“You really are a persistent one, Leo Plov.”
At the beastmaster’s cold words, Leo flashed a deadly smile.
“A damn rotten fate that’s haunted me for lifetimes.”