Silent Witch

Casey Groove had three older brothers, all of whom went off to slay dragons and never returned.

Her eldest brother was grabbed by a wyvern and dropped from a high place. He died instantly from a broken neck.

Her second brother was torn apart by the claws of the Red Dragon, and his corpse returned with missing limbs.

Her third brother was burned to death by the Red Dragon's fire breath. He was buried in his armor, unable to remove his helmet and armor that melted into his seared skin.

Every time a dragon threat occurred, her father would request the kingdom to send out the Dragon Knights over and over again. However, they rarely arrived in time.

Casey's hometown, Bright, was a barren land of little importance to the Ridill Kingdom. That's why the central nobles haven't paid any regard to it.

In fact, the more dragons there are in this land near the border, the less likely it is to be attacked by neighboring countries. Some even said that dragons were more useful than weak nobles as a line of defense—regardless of the people who lived in the land.

After the dragon ravaged their land and took away their family, Casey and his family were on the brink of despair… but then the Knights from the Randall Kingdom came to their rescue. They rushed to the Bright territory in secret and struggled hard to exterminate the dragon.

Casey's grandmother has a tie with the Marquis family of the Randall Kingdom, apparently, because of that connection, they had rushed over to help.

One can imagine how grateful Casey and the others were for that support when their country had abandoned them.

Since then, Casey's father, Count Bright, and the noble of Randall have been in secret contact with each other, exchanging information about the situation in their countries.

One topic that often came up was Duke Crockford.

This man, the second prince's maternal grandfather and the most influential man in the Ridill Kingdom have his eyes set on war with the Empire, and he apparently wanted to invade Randall as a stepping stone to that goal.

If the second prince became the next king at this rate, that nightmare would become a reality.

—Is there anything I can do?

He told Casey with a pained expression on his face.

—You should go to Serendia Academy.

If she could catch Felix's eye and cajole him, that would be the best.

But if that's not possible…

—Use this.

His father gave Casey a small magic tool to use… the [Conch Flame].

＊ ＊ ＊

What's going on?

Casey was confused as she was carried on the shoulder of the dark-haired man.

This Nero guy, who was wearing a school uniform even though he was clearly at the age of a person who would attend school, was strange, but what even stranger was Monica.

It was surprising that Monica knew about the existence of the [Conch Flame], but when she also said that she would neutralize it was even more so.

That's not possible…

Casey's father had told her how powerful the [Conch Flame] was.

The downside of the [Conch Flame] was its narrow effective range and its low accuracy. That's why she set it off at the moment when Felix was present for the bringing in of the fireworks.

Even if the [Conch Flame] didn't hit Felix directly, the damage caused by fireworks should kill him for sure.

The man known as Nero easily jumped over the old garden gate and proceeded to the inner part.

Since this old garden untended, it was covered full of weeds. At the center of the garden lies an old fountain.

Climbing down from Nero's shoulders, Monica ran over to the fountain and peered into it. The now unused fountain was filled with puddles of rainwater and was covered with moss.

"This fountain has a magic formula carved into at the bottom… it was a large-scale barrier that protected the academy."

Monica also squinted at the decorative carvings on the outside of the fountain.

"There's another layer of protective barrier around the large-scale barrier… probably to keep the barrier from being destroyed, he added another layer of protective barrier around the large-scale barrier…"

"In other words, if you don't deal with the outer protective barrier, you can't tamper with the main large-scale barrier, right? …So what are you going to do?"

In response to the dark-haired man's words, Monica declared in a voice without a hint of hesitation.

"I'll only break the outer protective barrier."

Casey became more and more confused, wondering what Monica was talking about.

She might be a novice when it came to spells, but she could tell that what Monica was talking about was not something anyone could do.

＊ ＊ ＊

Monica stood in front of the fountain and focused her concentration. What she needed to do now was really simple.

First, destroy the protective barrier that covers the outside of the fountain.

Next, rewrite the formula of the large-scale barrier inside the fountain so it can be used against the [Conch Flame].

The outer protective barrier, which was triggered by any attempt to touch the inner large-scale barrier, was extremely strong and would not be destroyed by ordinary spells.

If so, Monica will only have to destroy it with all the power she has.

Monica closed her eyes and quickly weaved a magic formula.

This magic formula was a very high-level spell that only a few people in the kingdom have mastered. Even Monica, who's got no chanting skill, needs more than ten seconds to complete it.

Once Monica completed her spell, she would only say the last chant out of awe and respect for the one she was about to summon.

"…Answer my call, O king of the shapeless guidance, show me a glimpse of your power."

At that moment, the rustling of all the trees stopped.

The wind calmed, the sound died away, and a white door appeared above Monica's head.

Casey peeled her eyes open and Nero whistled merrily, "You sure did it flashy."

"In the name of Monica Everett of the Seven Sages. Open the gate. I call upon you from the depths of silence… Sheffield, King of the Wind Spirits."

＊ ＊ ＊

In Felix's breast pocket, Will was restless. Apparently, he was trying to tell him something.

Felix left the area a little bit after giving a word to Elliot and hid behind a tree.

"Will, what's the matter?"

"I apologize for interrupting your student council duties."

The white lizard peeked its head out of Felix's pocket and looked around restlessly.

When Felix saw that Will was not acting normally, he asked again, ‘Will?' which made him look up at Felix and said.

"…a gate to summon the Spirit King has been opened somewhere around here."

"Are you saying someone used the Spirit King summoning spell?"

"Yes. I believe this presence is Lord Sheffield, the Spirit King of the Wind."

At Will's words, Felix put his hand on his chin and pondered.

In the Ridill Kingdom, there were less than ten people who had made a contract with a High-Ranking Spirit. In addition, only about half of them could summon a Spirit King.

Could one of the Seven Sages be nearby? If it's the one who specializes in wind magic… could it be Louis Miller of the [Barrier Magician]?

Summoning the Spirit King was not a simple matter. It meant that a major battle or something similar was going on.

However, there was no clamor or destruction to be heard in the surroundings.

"Will, be vigilant in the surrounding area for a while. Once I'm done with the loading, we'll take a look around the school."

"Understood."

With one nod, the white lizard went back into Felix's pocket.

＊ ＊ ＊

Monica could only keep the door to the Spirit King open for less than three seconds.

But it's enough to break a single barrier.

"Destroy it."

As if in response to her voice, a sharp blade of wind swung down from the gate. It was as if a huge machete had been wielded, and countless cracks appeared in the protective barrier around the fountain.

As the wind subsided and the gate closed, what left was the clearly shattered outer frame of the fountain.

"…what… was that? And just now… what do you mean… by the Seven Sages…"

Casey, who was being carried on Nero's shoulders, groaned in a shaky voice.

Without even glancing back at Casey, Monica climbed over the debris on the outer frame of the fountain and headed inside.

"…You're not the only one who's hiding something, Casey."

That was all Monica could say at the moment.

For now, there was still work to be done. Once the outer barrier has been destroyed, the next thing to do was to rewrite the main barrier—the large-scale defensive barrier that has been placed over the entire school.

The barrier magic formula engraved on the bottom of the fountain was so wonderful that Monica couldn't help but exhale in admiration. As expected of a barrier that Louis Miller of the [Barrier Magician] took his time to create. The delicate technique of constructing the barrier was similar to that of a first-class architectural technique. In a different sense, Louis was also a great genius like Monica. Although he has a bad personality.

It's got multiple anti-rewrite dummy formulas installed… but first, I need to disable them.

"Monica! Mana in the west warehouse is going bad! It's on the verge of bursting!"

Right now, Monica couldn't even hear Nero's voice.

Her eyes were filled with complex and difficult magic formulas. Monica deciphered them as if she were solving a mathematical equation.

Dummy formula analysis complete. Specify the coordinates of the barrier. Change the barrier activation condition from "attack from outside" to "attack from inside". Limit to anti-fire attribute. Prevent the incoming oxygen. All that remains is to compress, compress, compress…

Things that occurred now were not something flashy spell like the Spirit King summoning, but a plain and silent battle.

After fully grasping Louis's protective barrier, Monica compressed it from one that protected the entire school to one that covered the [Conch Flame]. Since the [Conch Flame] was the size of a palm, the barrier needs to be compressed into extremely small.

Then, the [Conch Flame] secretly set up under the shelves of the west warehouse exploded. The conch-like flames explode as if countless springs, packed to the very limit, were released all at once.

Normally, the flames would have pierced the nearest person, ignited the fireworks, and wreaked havoc on everything it passed… but they were held back by the tiny barrier.

Normally, barriers were designed to allow oxygen and other substances necessary to sustain human life. However, Monica purposely set up the barrier to prevent oxygen from passing through.

It's the same logic as putting a lid on an oil lamp to extinguish it. The [Conch Flame] that had lost its oxygen within the barrier quickly disappeared as if the intensity of the flame had been a lie.

Eventually, when she was sure the fire had completely extinguished, Monica let out a breath of relief.

"…neutralizing the [Conch Flame]… complete."

After saying that, Monica flopped down on the spot.

Having summoned the Spirit King and rewrite the formula of the large barrier, Monica's mana was at its lowest point.

As Nero walked over to the fountain, he said to Casey, who was dumbfounded on his shoulder as if he's boasting.

"How is that, my master is awesome, right?"