Silent Witch

After Isabelle Norton has done her solo performance, Caroline Simmons and her two friends were taken by the teacher to another room. Cyril snorted as he watched them go.

It has not been officially decided yet, but Caroline, the perpetrator of the incident, will be forced to leave school, while her two friends were expected to leave voluntarily.

Until the very end, Miss Caroline refused to admit that she was at fault. On the contrary, she put the blame on Monica and tried to excuse herself.

How foolish.

Like the previous treasurer who was expelled a while ago, they don't understand that this place serves as an extension of their social circle. They think that if something happens, their parents will lay out their money to fix it.

If money could buy trust, there would be no hardship… how thoughtless of them to think of that.

Once Caroline had left the room and things had quieted down, Isabelle Norton straightened herself up and bowed to Felix and Cyril.

"Your Highness, I apologize for the disgraceful appearance in your presence."

It was hard to believe that she had been doing that high-pitched laughter just now. Cyril thought, "Women are terrifying."

Felix, however, responded with a gentle smile.

"It was quite amusing. By the way, do you think your father will abandon Count Norn?"

In response to Felix's question, Isabelle shook her head without hesitation.

"No, my father is very sensible. He would never abandon another territory out of emotion."

Count Norn's territory was one of the most important supply routes. Having the road closed after the damage caused by the dragon would prove to be quite inconvenient.

Well, this was the powerful Count Kerbeck after all. He will probably use this matter as a bargaining card with the Norn Count family.

Count Kelbeck was the most influential noble in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Ridill.

The eastern part of the Kingdom of Ridill has experienced many disasters caused by dragons, and since it was adjacent to several countries, including the empire, it will be the front line in case of emergency—therefore, the nobles in the eastern part of the kingdom have military power that rivals that of the royal capital.

This is why the eastern provinces were the most threatening if they started a rebellion.

Fearful of the eastern nobles rebelling and turning their troops against the center, the central nobles have been trying to control the size of the eastern nobles' army… that's what Cyril's adoptive father, Marquis Highon, once said.

However, the nobility in the east can't reduce their forces so easily. The eastern part of the country has always been beset with two treats: the neighboring country and the dragons.

That's why my adoptive father said he doesn't want Count Kerbeck to become his enemy…

In the struggle to determine the next king, Count Kerbeck held a neutral position. Forcing them to take sides would be difficult.

Therefore, keeping them from becoming enemies would be the safest thing to do.

As Cyril was pondering these things, Felix was speaking to Isabelle in a casual tone.

"Oh, speaking of Count Kerbeck's territory… That Black Dragon Wogan's incident must have been tough."

"On that occasion, we would like to thank His Majesty for dispatching the dragon knights from the capital. I am grateful for his prompt and generous action."

To Isabelle's auspicious attitude, Felix then said in a joking tone.

"Maybe the count's army alone could have managed without the arrival of the dragon knights?"

The count's soldiers were accustomed to killing dragons, so they often managed to kill them before the Dragon Knights arrived. That's why Felix said in a roundabout way that it might have been unnecessary to dispatch the dragon knights, but Isabelle was like, "Of course not!" exclaimed.

"Our Count Kerbeck family has a history of fighting dragons for hundreds of years. Even with such a history, we have only faced a black dragon once before, two hundred years ago. The reason we were able to defeat the Black Dragon Wogan was thanks to the efforts of the dragon knights and… the Silent Witch who lend her power."

The [Silent Witch] was a young genius who became one of the Seven Sages two years ago at the tender age of fifteen.

Cyril had never seen her before, but it was rumored that the [Silent Witch] always wore a robe over her head and kept her head down, even during ceremonies, and never showed her face.

A robe over her head?

Something stimulated Cyril's memory. A hooded robe was nothing unusual.

But a strange feeling rose in his heart… as he remembered the events of "that night."

While Cyril was quietly suppressing his agitation, Isabelle said in a slightly more excited tone.

"Although I didn't see it with my own eyes… I heard that [Silent Witch] shot down more than twenty wyverns that had been following the black dragon in an instant!"

"Well, I'm not much of a magician, but that sounds amazing."

Felix gestured at her in a way that seemed to be impressed.

Shoot down over 20 moving targets in an instant? …such a thing is impossible.

Dragons have a weakness for cold, but their bodies were sturdy and highly resistant to magic, making them impervious to most spells.

To defeat it, they would have to aim at the eyeballs or the space between the eyes, but accurately aiming at the space between the eyebrows or the eyeballs against a moving target would be extremely difficult, even for an advanced magician.

In addition, shooting down more than 20 of them at the same time, such a thing was…

Suddenly, the events of the night a few weeks ago came back to Cyril's mind.

Terribly advanced magic that accurately shot down the ice blocks released by Cyril, who had gone out of control.

It wasn't the kind of situation where the chanting could be done in time. And yet, that person was able to deploy such precise magic with Cyril's "afterthought."

—A silent monster.

That person might be able to use magic to target the eyebrows of more than twenty wyverns, just as he shot off Cyril's ice.

As he listened to Isabelle's impassioned talk about the [Silent Witch], Cyril had quietly pushed down his agitation.

＊ ＊ ＊

After chatting with Felix, Isabelle left the salon and walked down the hallway with her chambermaid, Agatha in tow.

She could see the eyes of the students glancing at her. Most of them look at her in awe.

It was probably because Caroline had spread the word about what Isabelle had done to her early on.

"My Lady, are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I was prepared for that."

Trampling on someone is an act of making enemies, of course.

Still, Isabel dared to retaliate against Caroline.

Stay out of the way of the Count Kerbeck family… Once that unspoken agreement was established, no one would dare mess with Monica.

Monica Everett, the [Silent Witch], was a benefactor to all who lived in the territory of Count Kerbeck.

When the presence of the black dragon was discovered in her territory, all the people living in the Count's territory mourned in despair.

For humans, dragons represent a disaster. And the most feared of them all is the black dragon.

The black dragon's scales are said to repel all sorts of magic, and the flames it spits out are the flames of the underworld, burning away even defensive barriers. Legend has it that a single black dragon could destroy an entire country.

Even a fire breathed out by a black dragon on a whim could kill dozens or hundreds of people.

The flames of the black dragon burned through iron and stone, leaving not even the bones of a human being.

Still, both Isabelle and Agatha had resolved to stay in the mansion until the end. Death was something they were prepared for.

But the report that came from the battlefield was…

—With the help of the Silent Witch's spells, we shot down 24 wyverns. The black dragon was defeated.

The [Silent Witch] used a spell to wipe out the wyverns that had been gathered in one place by the dragon knights and then she proceeded to the nest of the black dragon to fight it. Although she was unable to finish the black dragon off, she succeeded in driving it away from Count Kerbeck's territory.

Isabelle has understood how much effort and sacrifice it takes to defeat a single wyvern.

What the [Silent Witch] has done was nothing but a miracle.

For the Count Kerbeck family, the [Silent Witch] was their great savior. And yet, she left Count Kerbeck's domain without accepting any hospitality.

So, when Louis Miller asked her to support the Silent Witch, she agreed to do everything in her power to support Monica.

After returning to her own room and closing the door, Isabelle looked around her room and put her finger on her chin.

"Say, Agatha. We can put another bed in this room, can't we?"

"Of course you can, my lady."

The clever Agatha immediately understood what Isabelle wanted.

Isabelle humphed and clenched her fists.

"In that case, please arrange for a new bed immediately. Big Sister Monica will probably have to take some time off from her classes to recuperate. Unfortunately, I cannot take good care of her in the attic. I will have to ask her to come to this room under the watchful eyes of the other students."

"Certainly. I'll make arrangements as soon as possible."

"Thank you. Fufu… Sharing a room with my beloved big sister… Oh, she must have been hurt both physically and mentally by this incident, I must comfort her! Does she like romance novels? I'd be happy to lend her one of my recommended series. Ah, it would be wonderful if we could have a novel talk together… Oh, right, sleepwear! Agatha, don't forget to prepare her sleepwear! A very cute one that matches mine!"

Isabelle's eyes sparkled as she pleaded, and Agatha, the capable chambermaid, answered emphatically, "Please leave it to me."