“Damn it······! I messed up!”
I sprang up and rushed out of the room.
This is bad.
Really bad.
At this rate, I might lose the enlightenment completely.
Beyond Whist Forest lies the rocky mountain.
The name of the hidden enlightenment there is ‘Vafe’.
A weapon that transforms into the optimal shape for its user.
In the original story, Hertlocker’s weapon became a longsword made entirely of black steel, which that guy called ‘Viper’.
Thanks to the simple structure unique to black steel, it could be decomposed into mana in an instant and hidden, then drawn out to fight when a battle broke out.
What kind of weapon would Schlus have······?
“Get a grip. This isn’t the time.”
Now is not the time for such thoughts.
The important thing is that the map indicating the location of Vafe is hidden in this inn.
Hertlocker accidentally discovered it earlier and sneaked out to find it at dawn.
This means that without Hertlocker, I can’t rule out the possibility of someone else finding that map.
“Where was it?”
Let’s jog my memory.
What did I write down back then?
“Ah.”
I finally remembered.
I hadn’t written where the box containing the map was hidden.
Instead, I only mentioned that it had been swept away by rainwater.
So even looking for that was an error from the start.
*Boom······!*
“Ha.”
Looking outside, thunder was rumbling and rain was lightly falling.
Then it’s impossible to find it inside the inn.
I grabbed my raincoat at my waist and rushed down the corridor.
“Schlus.”
“······.”
Just as I was passing through the corridor, a deep voice called me.
At first, I thought it was someone I didn’t know.
“Aintz?”
I never imagined Aintz would have such low energy.
Aintz was slumped in a chair in the corridor, popping a can and staring at the ground.
Anyone would think he was drinking canned beer.
It was just chocolate milk.
“I······. Did I do something wrong?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Earlier, about Flame Magic. Should I not have used it?”
“······.”
Aintz seemed to be blaming himself for what happened earlier.
That’s a bit surprising.
I thought this guy would sulk in his room thinking, ‘I did well! Why am I the only one getting scolded?’
It turns out he’s capable of self-reflection······.
Is this also the butterfly effect from my arrival?
If it’s this kind of change, I welcome it.
“Aintz.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember what I said earlier?”
“With great power comes great responsibility······. That?”
“Exactly. After all, great power shouldn’t be wielded carelessly. If you swing it without thinking about the consequences, you’d be no different from a rabid dog.”
“A rabid dog······.”
“But still, as Professor Sergei said, it ultimately turned out well. Although there was a forest fire and we had to walk here, it’s far better than causing casualties. But there’s only one thing I want to say.”
“What is it?”
“Feel the weight of your power, Aintz. Power doesn’t define you; you define your power. If you become more composed, you won’t be swept away by your own strength.”
Aintz is overly reliant on power to prove himself.
He mistakenly thinks he must show off his strength to display his talent as a Weigenstein.
But the order is wrong.
You don’t become strong by having great power; you wield strong power because you are strong.
Giving strong power to a loser would just lead to a collapse like Aintz in the original story.
“Huh······?”
I thought I had delivered that message intuitively.
But Aintz was tilting his head as if he didn’t get it.
What an idiot······.
Expecting a breakthrough during the Whist Forest practice might be too much to ask.
I just hope he awakens before the final battle.
Aintz’s vast mana would be very useful.
“Well, I’ll be going now.”
“Where are you going?”
“For a walk.”
“In this weather······?”
Leaving the puzzled Aintz behind, I went outside.
The rain wasn’t heavy, but mud was already flowing on the ground, so it seemed the soil was washing down from the mountains.
So the box must be buried somewhere in the mountain and has been washed down.
Fortunately, looking around, there were hardly any people outside.
Good. If it stays like this, I’ll be able to recover the box first.
“Ah.”
As soon as I thought that, I spotted the box.
As soon as I saw that red, jewel-like box, I knew.
That must be the box containing the map.
It looked exactly as described in the original.
However, the problem was—
“This is messed up.”
It was empty inside.
Someone had taken the map.
Who could it be?
It’s likely someone staying at this inn, so the odds are high it’s one of the students.
Should I go back inside and interrogate each student one by one?
“Ha. Found it.”
As I turned my head, I found the culprit.
More precisely, I found the culprit’s footprints.
Clear tracks were marked in the muddy ground from the rain.
From this inn all the way down to the forest.
In this rain, and with night approaching, there wouldn’t be anyone going into the forest.
Most likely, they would be following the map.
“This won’t do.”
I clicked my tongue.
Up ahead is a minefield.
While there was a path leading up to the entrance of the forest, people might get careless and walk on, but the path would break after that.
However, if they were to mistake the animal trails made by the forest creatures as a path and walk on······
*Boom.*
They’d enter the minefield and get horrifically blown apart.
“Ha······. Damn it. This is exhausting.”
I had no intention of letting any casualties slip through in this practice.
It would be catastrophic if it were someone significant like Professor Sergei or Trie.
With a sigh, I followed the footprints into the forest.
*
“This direction······. Right?”
Trie pulled out the map from her pocket and looked at it,
Hastily trying to put it away to avoid the rain, without a single drop falling on the map.
“Uh?”
Suddenly, the rain had stopped.
Trie pulled back the hood of her raincoat and looked around.
Thick forest on this side.
Thick forest on that side.
To be honest······
“Am I lost?”
She couldn’t figure out where she was.
Still, since she had come along the path, she should be able to return to the inn by going back the other way.
Just as Trie was about to step forward confidently—
“Uh? Uhh?!”
She realized that the ground had disappeared beneath her.
What’s this? There was clearly a narrow path just a moment ago?
Turning back, Trie began to panic as she tried to retrace her steps.
She wasn’t even sure where behind her was anymore.
For now, she thought she should move and look for a path again.
Just as she thought that, she finally noticed the fallen trees around her.
From the rough cross-section, it seemed like they had been blown up······.
Mines.
Only mines could blow up trees like that.
“Is this a minefield······?”
Trie fell into a panic.
“Ugh! I don’t know! Just run—”
“Stop, Trie.”
“······?!”
At the low booming voice, Trie froze in place.
As soon as Trie recognized the voice, her face lit up but then fell slightly.
It was good to meet someone when lost, but that it had to be Schlus.
Her dignity as a teacher was in jeopardy.
“Schlus! I was heading over there······”
“Don’t move an inch. You might trigger a mine.”
“Yikes?!”
At Schlus’s warning, Trie stiffened again.
Come to think of it, she had heard that in the Whist Forest, mines are buried where there are no paths.
Those mines are thoroughly concealed to such a degree that they’re hard to detect by normal means.
They explode the moment someone touches them, turning them into rags.
Before long, Trie’s face turned pale.
“W-what should I do?”
“Just stay still. I’ll think of a way.”
Beyond the bushes, Schlus’s voice continued to echo.
But the direction from which the sound was coming and its volume hadn’t changed from before.
This meant Schlus was also staying put.
“Schlus, did you come in here too? In the minefield······?”
“······Yes.”
“Ah-ha.”
Then it all made sense.
Schlus had also found himself stuck with no way out.
Learning that made Trie want to chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Oh. Did you hear that? You have very sharp ears.”
“Technically, it’s not my ears that are sharp······ but let’s go with that.”
“Hmm?”
Schlus said something that made no sense.
“So what do we do now?”
“Don’t rush me. Who do you think put us in this situation?”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I saw the footprints. When I saw you entered the forest, I was worried and followed the trail.”
“Ah-ha······.”
That certainly felt like a Schlus thing to do.
He’d throw himself into danger to save others, which resulted in him being trapped too.
“Ah. The sun is starting to set.”
“······.”
The sun began to hide among the tall green trees.
Along with it, the orange light shining between the tree trunks scattered in the droplets of water on the bushes.
It was about to get really dark.
If I spent the night here, I’d catch a cold.
Well, catching a cold would be fortunate.
Given that Schlus didn’t have a strong body, he could even suffer from hypothermia.
As those thoughts crossed her mind, Trie began to feel a sense of crisis approaching.
Still, no solution came to her mind to break through this situation.
“Schlus.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Is this how you always are?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you always rushing off to save people like this?”
“······.”
There was a slight delay in his response.
What Trie really wanted to hear was something different.
She wanted to hear that he had come to save her upon realizing she was stuck······.
That he came to save her specifically.
“Yeah. This is how it always is.”
“That’s true······.”
But things rarely turn out the way you want them to.
Trie stiffened her back, which was getting sore from standing too long, and forced a smile.
“But there are exceptions.”
“What’s that?”
“Especially for important people. I tend to go the extra mile for them.”
“For example?”
“You, Trie. Someone like you.”
“······?!”
Caught off guard by the unexpected response, Trie almost fell forward.
In a situation where she didn’t know where the mines were, she needed to avoid shifting her position as much as possible.
“Trie.”
“Yes······.”
“If we manage to get out of here safely—”
“Yeah······.”
Trie could feel her heart pounding as she replied.
The atmosphere felt unusual.
With this flow, it was clear······
“Then how about becoming my comrade?”
“Huh······.”
Of course.
Seeing herself expecting something from him suddenly made Trie feel foolish, and she let out a deep sigh.
“Comrade? Aren’t we already comrades?”
“It’s not just a school thing. I want to be with you, whether during vacations or after graduation. I need your sword.”
“My sword······.”
“Your sword is unparalleled, Trie. No one can match your swordsmanship. If you pick up a sword and dedicate yourself to training again, it’s more than possible for you to reach a higher level.”
“Hah. How do you know that?”
“That is······.”
As if sensing the chilling atmosphere, Schlus’s mouth closed.
Trie, who had been smiling just a moment ago, now wore a stiff expression.
“You’re learning from me, yet you claim I can reach a higher level?”
“······.”
“I can’t reach it. That’s a dimension beyond me. I gave up long ago. I won’t hold a sword anymore, except when necessary.”
“I need you, Trie.”
“Forget it!”
“Trie. Even if you abandon the sword and wield magic, you won’t be able to find your father.”
“······!”
Trie lifted her head sharply.
There was something utterly unacceptable in what he just said.
Her face was flushed with rage.
“You······! What did you just say?!”
“I said you can’t find your father with magic.”
“How do you know that? Have you reached the end of magic? Have you reached the level of a great magician? How dare you declare it! The limits of magic?”
“I’m not sure of the limits of magic, but I know the truth of the world. The dead cannot be resurrected.”
“What are you saying—”
“Trie. Your father is dead.”
“······!”
Trie’s expression twisted into an ugly scowl.
