(EP-292.2) #1

292 – Fall #1

Aira didn’t respond. Elga hadn’t expected her to, so she simply swallowed her thoughts with an inward sigh, thinking, ‘Always like this.’

Though they were cousins, Queen Aira was so enigmatic that it was hard to believe they shared the same blood.

To describe her….

What would be a good analogy?

If it were that half-fairy, he’d have easily come up with one, but analogies weren’t Elga’s strength. Still, if she had to, Aira was like… yes, like a spider. A spider sitting motionless in its web, as if waiting for death.

Swish.

When Aira’s small lips finally parted, Elga realized her cousin, the queen, was about to say something.

“… Ran away….”

Ran?

That word brought something to mind.

“Are you still upset about those battle nymphs escaping from the palace?”

“……”

Elga hadn’t expected the nymphs to break through the palace guards’ capture net, so she had her guard down. Worried Aira might blame her, she quickly took the wheel.

“Hey, what were you planning to do with those nymphs, anyway?”

“Have there been any messages from Theo’s group?”

“Huh?”

“Any word from Theo’s group?”

Theo? All of a sudden?

Elga pondered her cousin’s question.

“Other than saying they were heading to the wall today, there’s nothing. By now, they’re probably touring the Great Wall Sandora. Didn’t we visit it once as kids, too?”

Elga recalled her early childhood.

The day she climbed the towering wall.

The Sandora Citadel was famous for being taller than any other wall. She had heard it was because of the wyverns beyond the Sandora Wall.

Of course, all the wyverns were said to be killed after the last one fell into the citadel.

Elga had hoped to see a wyvern, a beast powerful enough to rival the Black Lion. Alas, she was left disappointed. While she was lost in thought, Aira spoke.

“… fell.”

“What fell?”

“…….”

Instead of answering, Aira closed her eyes.

She looked utterly exhausted. It was hard to believe that she had just been sipping tea and scribbling on papers. Why did she look so worn out when she hadn’t done anything?

Always so odd…. Elga realized once again how peculiar her cousin was.

‘Am I supposed to be in the same harem as this girl?’

Elga wanted to applaud the half-fairy’s bravery for even trying to seduce someone like her. After all, it was said that ferocious female spiders would devour their male counterparts.

A small half-fairy would surely be swallowed in one bite…

Of course, Elga would make sure to help prevent such a thing from happening.

* * *

When I opened my eyes….

Everything was pitch black.

The reason was simple—I was trapped in a tight, dark space where no light could reach. It was so cramped that I could barely move my hands and feet.

A coffin?

… Did I die and end up in a coffin? The space was so tight that such a thought naturally crossed my mind.

“Ugh.”

Then my head throbbed. At the same time, I struggled to recall why I was trapped in this confined space.

What was my last memory?

I clearly remember fighting that wyvern on top of the wall and casting my ultimate spell, Star Slayer. It hit the monster’s body….

But what happened after that?

I didn’t really remember.

Was this what people meant when they said they’d blacked out? I’d never had a drop of alcohol, yet here I was, experiencing something similar.

Thud, thud.

I pressed my hands against the walls around me. It felt rough, bumpy, and hard to the touch. It was also cold.

A stone wall?

The walls felt like they were made of stone, almost like the walls of a cave. I snapped my fingers, casting the basic Rank 1 Illumination magic.

Whoosh.

The light revealed cold stone walls. Just as I suspected, I had been lying in a narrow, cave-like place.

Why was I here?

With that thought in mind, I turned my body toward the cave’s entrance near my feet, and crawled out slowly. Escaping the narrow, dark cave, I felt a wave of relief as the open world greeted me.

Though, “open” was a relative term—the area was still filled with towering trees of a dense forest. Nevertheless, it was better than being stuck in a stifling cave.

“Hu.”

So, where was everyone?

Looking around, I soon met with Professor Balan, who was sitting on a nearby tree stump. She was surprisingly close.

“Th, Theo-nim, you’ve finally woken up!”

As soon as she saw me, she lit up with excitement. Eager to understand the situation, I decided to ask Professor Balan a few things.

“What exactly happened? Why was I lying in that cramped cave?”

“Y-You don’t remember…? Memory loss due to magic trauma is common… What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I remember casting a spell to take down the wyvern.”

“Aah.”

After hearing my explanation, Balan nodded and raised her finger.

“After that, the mortally wounded wyvern went berserk, and part of the wall collapsed. You fell from t-the top of the wall. I managed to catch you. Of course, Professor Stella helped too, but-”

… I fell?

I fell from that dizzying height and survived? I couldn’t quite grasp the details of what happened, but just hearing it was nerve-wracking.

She mentioned that it happened two days ago.

So, I’d been unconscious for two whole days.

“Th-thanks to that, I broke my hand, and Professor Stella got a bit injured as well… But more than anything, I’m just g-glad Theo-nim is safe…”

Now that I looked closely, Professor Balan’s hand was tightly wrapped in a splint. For someone like her, who could heal quickly as an Ars Nova, to still need a splint meant the injury had been severe.

Did she shield me when I fell?

“I owe you my life, Professor Balan.”

At my words of gratitude, Balan lightly bowed her head.

“I-I only did what I was supposed to do… I’m, I’m glad I could be of help…”

“So, where is everyone? Falling was one thing, but I don’t see Professor Stella or anyone else around.”

“Professor Stella is nearby… fetching some w-water…”

As Balan explained, I glanced around and noticed something weird. It was something subtle, but my sense of direction was telling me something felt off.

“Why is the wall to the south of us?”

Edit by: faker