Chapter 81

A massive earthquake engulfing the entire Northern Region occurred, and Aria appeared before the panicking students to evacuate them.

Fortunately, there were shelters prepared in advance for such emergencies, allowing everyone to escape the mansion unharmed, yet monstrous creatures had suddenly become ferocious and were rampaging, causing anxiety not only among the students but also the staff.

To make matters worse, unidentified beast people had fled to this place as well.

Amidst this turmoil, Stella noticed that two people were missing and approached Arhen, who had gone out with them, to inquire about their whereabouts.

The response she received was enough to deliver a significant shock to her.

“W-What…? Aria and Evan…?”

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t save them because I was interrupted at the moment I tried to use magic.”

Arhen had done his best.

In that situation, he had confirmed their fall and used summoning magic to save the two.

However, the magical power of the monster, akin to a disaster and momentarily blocking his spell, had prevented him from casting it.

Had he had even a moment’s pause, he could have quickly twisted the spell and cast it immediately, but the ground was collapsing in a frantic race against time.

Even a brief interruption ended up being lethal.

In the end, before he could properly cast magic once more, they vanished below.

Of course, it was not impossible to follow them down, but given that the gorge was collapsing, heading down would likely result in everyone being trapped below as well, making such a decision impossible.

Thus, considering the authority possessed by the saint, he quickly concluded that allowing them to fall for a moment would be acceptable.

Though he said this, it was effectively placing all the responsibility on Aria.

As a hero who had not yet fully awakened, it would be burdensome for him to face the monsters down there. He might be able to handle a few of the monsters that appeared, as he wasn’t entirely unawakened as a hero, but he had to hurry to help them.

With the safety of the kids secured, they must now prepare for the fight against the monsters that would appear here.

However, both the saint and the hero were essential for defeating the monsters.

Therefore…

“I swear on my name, I will definitely find them.”

Arhen sincerely promised Stella.

Those two were the saint and the hero.

Even if it wasn’t the case, they had to be rescued.

As a teacher who provided guidance, Arhen was earnest in his resolve.

Stella, looking up at Arhen, who promised he would surely rescue them, lowered her head for a moment, lost in thought.

‘It’s not like there’s absolutely no way…’

For some reason, the location of Aria still showed up on the tracking magic.

Previously, there had been distorted coordinates blocked by some unknown barrier, but it was unlikely that such distorted coordinates would appear against the monsters.

Unless that monster had opened up a barrier to directly block her tracking magic…

She had heard that monsters capable of such magic weren’t common, so it was probably not the case.

‘That means… the coordinates I see now are her true coordinates…’

Knowing where Aria was located was undoubtedly a good thing, but teleporting there wasn’t a particularly good idea.

Even as a magician capable of only casting advanced magic, venturing into a place full of notorious monsters would lead to her demise in an instant.

To prevent that from happening, she needed someone who could effortlessly sweep away such monsters.

Stella turned her gaze back to Arhen.

While she didn’t know the exact nature of the monsters below, she was aware that they were more than she could withstand.

However, the one who possessed the capability to quickly dispatch those monsters stood right in front of her.

“Arhen.”

“… What is it?”

Even though the lives of the students were more important, he seemed troubled about leaving the two behind and returning here, as his expression was still grim.

He hadn’t revealed this magic to anyone else.

To be honest, just using this type of magic itself couldn’t earn him any favorable opinions, and he felt a sense of fear.

Naturally, he wanted to keep this a secret from Aria, as it was a magic he had secretly developed.

However, hiding such magic in a situation like this out of fear of others’ reactions was a foolish act.

“Is there… a way to find them?”

Stella looked up at Arhen, who had turned to her with a surprised expression at her words, and swallowed hard. After mentally preparing herself again, she continued.

“…”

Upon hearing her mention of magic, Arhen’s expression hardened.

While she didn’t know why he had such a face, one thing was certain.

There was definitely a way to rescue the two.

*

I couldn’t keep lying down forever, so I should gradually get up.

‘Didn’t I eat monster meat earlier…?’

In the game, monster meat was commonly tasteless but packed with tremendous effects. It felt essential to eat for efficiency.

However, judging by Evan’s reaction, it seemed more than just tasteless; it was hard to eat.

In other circumstances, I could simply use healing magic to replenish the energy, but when it came to the monsters below, the scenario was different.

How I caught it was a mystery, but grilling it to eat would surely help with magic power.

Evan was a hero, but unlike me, whose power was composed of divine energy, Evan operated his bodily magic infused in the sacred sword, transforming it into divine energy. Thus, the more magic he gained, the more divine energy he could utilize.

It seemed that the meal was completed… I couldn’t stay here any longer, so as I had resolved earlier, it looked like it was time to get up.

I shifted my body as if I had just woken up.

“… Aria? Are you awake?”

Just the slightest movement caught Evan’s attention, and he looked surprised, asking if I had woken up.

“[Where am I…]”

Pretending to be oblivious, I maintained the act of just waking up.

I was already awake, of course.

“Are you okay, Aria?”

“[… I’m fine. But where is this…? I apologize, but I can’t see ahead…]”

I might still use thought detection, but detecting divine power was becoming a bit difficult.

To consider what events might unfold in order to escape this place, it was wise to conserve divine energy.

“This seems to be the very bottom of where we fell. But what do you mean you can’t see ahead…?”

With a puzzled voice, Evan questioned me.

He couldn’t possibly be unaware that I couldn’t see ahead.

Had it been before, I would have used a bit more divine energy to determine what he was thinking to ask such a thing, but right now, I needed to recover my divine energy…

“[Ah, I thought you would know, Brother Evan… I’ve been detecting the surroundings with divine energy all this time.]”

– So that’s where the waves I felt around came from.

What? No one knew?

I would think at least Esther would have figured it out, but it seemed she didn’t know how I perceived my surroundings.

I had been acting as if I could see all along, so what had she thought back then that she had no doubts whatsoever?

“If that’s the case, then you can’t see right now…”

“[… I apologize. Just before falling, I used my divine energy to grant you as many blessings as I could… It seems I may have exhausted all of my divine energy…]”

Hmm.

Even now, since I couldn’t see anything, I had no idea what expression Evan wore…

If he just now realized that I had been perceiving my surroundings until now, he might feel disappointed.

By his silence, he might have felt betrayed that I had lied.

It’s a bit regrettable.

If I could have used divine energy detection, I could have seen what expression he was making.

It was a moment where I truly felt the inconvenience of not being able to see.

I had to conserve my divine energy as much as possible to recover.

I needed to recover my divine energy quickly to return to the mansion.