Raella has spent decades watching the teachers and the students of the school.
She knows everything from disturbing secrets to embarrassing stories, but more relevant to us, she also knows a lot about the systems and spells in place.
Thanks to her help, Bea has managed to eliminate many of the spells that were getting in her way by confirming with Raella so of their aspects.
Thus, our investigation has proceeded smoothly these past few days, albeit Bea still insists that she hasn't been able to reach a level of understanding where she feels comfortable enough to interact with the system that is bringing monsters to the school.
It's also a little botherso that choosing to protect Raella has created friction between Edmond, Sabrina, and .
They aren't fond of the idea of keeping Raella around. Even though I made a good case about her identity and innocence, they still believed it would be better to exorcise her to guarantee the students' safety and that there wouldn't be any new victims.
However, Raella's knowledge was just too valuable for
to give up.
So I promised that I'd personally keep an eye on her. Which ant I had to assign the Valkyries to Isabella.
Thankfully, everything worked out, because among the things Raella knew about was the Labyrinth.
This imnse structure has been a mystery to us for the longest ti.
Battle encounters can often send the player's party into the labyrinth, which results in a ga over.
Not only is the location the player falls into random, but the monsters inside can wipe the party in one or two battles.
Due to its multi-layered structure, it was hard to map this in the ga as the battles prevented us from exploring as much as we wanted.
We couldn't even find the entrance until Raella showed it to us.
It was hidden in one of the dormitories and once we went through it, we finally started effectively exploring the labyrinth.
Miwen: "That's all of them down... How's your side?"
Mia: "No one's hurt. We can keep going."
Even in the first layer, the battles weren't easy, even for a group of experienced adventurers like us.
The monsters' levels weren't the problem, but they felt stronger than they should have been.
They seed much more used to battle, which according to the girls can happen with monsters that have escaped from the dungeons as they fight against each other and grow stronger, even if they don't get more levels.
As such, we had to be careful with every battle, but we noticed a reduction in their numbers every ti we returned.
Slowly we were cleaning up the place and advancing a little more.
Ellie: "It's been a while..."
Claire: "Right? It makes
want to go all out!"
She spoke as if she was not always doing that anyway.
Still, I shared the sa feelings.
A lot had happened since the last ti we were in a Dungeon fighting monsters together, so being with the classic party again felt a little nostalgic, even if we were missing Elizabeth and had a new addition in Cassandra.
With Anna, Claire, Licia, and Mia taking care of the front while receiving Ellie and Bea's impeccable support, things felt just right.
Especially since our coordination hadn't deteriorated as much as I would have imagined it to.
Bea was especially outstanding since she was also occupied analyzing the barriers and systems of this structure.
However, it's not like we didn't have so problems.
Our coordination relies on everyone's understanding and awareness of each other, which ans that any factor we are not counting on can break things.
Even if their intention is only to help.
Miwen: "...Didn't I tell you not to do anything?"
[Sorry... -I only wanted to help. My heart, heavy with unspoken remorse, feels as though it might break under the weight. I acted too quickly, without thought, and now there's nothing left but this overwhelming sorrow -So terribly, endlessly sorry. Each breath feels like-]
At first, she was a little reserved when talking to us.
I couldn't help but think that perhaps this thod of communicating with us was uncomfortable for her.
But I soon realized that it wasn't the case at all. She has a lot of fun writing her thoughts and words, and now that she's more comfortable around us, she truly doesn't mince words.
Not that I could bla her either.
It must have been ages since she last had the chance to talk properly with soone, so being overly enthusiastic about it is more than understandable.
Miwen: "That's fine... Just try not to waste your Demonic Power."
[Filled with determination, I took his words to heart and promised-]
She agreed.
We truly did not need her help when it ca to fighting.
But I couldn't get mad at her. She was trying to help to the best of her ability, but we rarely need buffs or healing since even the two idiots who rush ahead know themselves enough to retreat when it gets dangerous.
This left her with only the option of helping offensively.
Surprisingly, for a Saint, she's not half bad with offensive spells. However, it is hard for an outsider like her to find gaps in our fighting and react quickly enough to cover it.
Perhaps if she spent more ti with us, she'd be able to do it, but as it stood, it was better if she focused on simply guiding us.
This was a piece of advice that I gave her a few tis, but she always gets restless and ends up acting on impulse.
But even with that considered, we continued progressing on the one path she knew, and eventually, we reached a room.
So letters were carved with fire, and its entrance didn't have a door or a gate.
Instead, there was a small hole in the wall.
Using earth magic or air magic to feel the wall on the other side of the hole, we could notice so chains.
Pulling them eventually made the hole bigger, which allowed us to enter the room.
Then, by releasing the chains, they started to be pulled back, and the hole closed again.
It took so work but to make a room in a place like this, you couldn't rely on a simple door.
The place was quite dark, and we couldn't see two steps ahead, so we had Claire light up so torches.
Their light revealed the remains of a corpse still sitting on a chair.
In much the sa way as when we first t Raella, a chilling air surrounded it. It kept growing colder until an eerie figure was revealed.
The second ghost of the school used fire to mark the walls around us.
The ssage made by it confird its identity as Raella's teacher and killer.
[You ca back. I knew you would. I was waiting.]
Raella's first book starts as an innocent story of a girl who falls in love with her teacher.
After a while, the man accepts her feelings, and their secret romance blossoms slowly.
Those first few chapters are heartwarming enough. However, even then, the more acute girls who read it could already notice a few oddities in the man's behavior.
And with the story's progression, it beca more obvious that he had ulterior motives.
Not that Raella, a woman who grew up in a church, surrounded by only love, affection, and the hopes and wishes of others for her to grow into a Saint, would know anything about how even the strongest malice can easily be hidden.
On a certain day, innocent-looking as any other, she was drugged.
The perpetrator took her to a very dark room, where sotis strange noises could be heard outside, but no matter how much she scread, no one ca to help her.
The only one in that room was the man she fell in love with, a master of [Fire Magic] at the school, but also secretly equally as good with [Dark Magic].
However, contrary to her first impressions, his reasons for abducting Raella were far from envy of her recognition for being a Saint with powerful [Light Magic].
He showed deep interest in two concepts. One he called "Divinity
Reviews
All reviews (0)