‘Where could he be…?’
“Lord Ryu!”
I’ve looked everywhere, but he’s nowhere to be found.
I last saw Lord Yuria at the party.
“Elaine! Are you okay?”
“Miss Cynthia! Have you seen Lord Ryu?”
“Ah, Ryu? Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him.”
“Haa… Where on earth could he have gone?”
“Ryu will be fine. You know how strong he is.”
“No matter how strong he is…”
Elaine barely managed to hold back a cry of emotion.
A massive undead wyvern had suddenly burst into the party.
At first, everyone thought it was the end.
But, unexpectedly, the situation was resolved swiftly and safely.
The undead wyvern smashed through the building’s outer wall in a dramatic entrance, then immediately left back outside.
With dust rising and broken building debris flying everywhere, the students were in a state of panic. But following the professors’ instructions, everyone managed to evacuate safely.
When it became clear that nothing disastrous had happened, the students calmed down almost instantly.
In fact, some even started joking, wondering if this whole ordeal wasn’t just part of the event itself.
Truly, everyone was Academy students through and through.
Even the ice barrier at the building entrance contributed to calming the students, being so beautiful and magnificent.
“Professor Amillion!”
“Hmm? Oh, Elaine, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, but Lord Ryu has been missing since just now.”
“Ryu…?”
At the exact moment, Elaine spotted Professor Amillion wandering nearby and hurriedly called out to him.
The professor briefly glanced around, then turned back to Elaine.
“Ah, I’m sure Ryu is perfectly fine.”
“Pardon?”
“So don’t worry too much. He’ll probably show up soon.”
“No, Professor! Even so…”
Elaine’s voice wavered as both Cynthia and Professor Amillion sounded way too relaxed.
Of course, she knew how strong Lord Ryu was. That he was capable enough to fight toe-to-toe with his father. He was dependable.
But despite all that, were they really looking at the situation too optimistically? After all, the danger wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill undead—it was a flying undead wyvern!
What if something happened, and Lord Ryu had been swept away by the wyvern and was now in grave danger…?
Elaine bit her lip and instinctively moved her hand to her waist.
But there was nothing there.
She had, unfortunately, left her sword behind today.
Had she had her sword, she’d have already rushed out searching. Instead…
‘Of all days, why today…’
“Come to think of it, Emily hasn’t been seen since earlier too.”
“Eh?”
“I’m starting to worry about her.”
Elaine had only just realized.
Lord Ryu wasn’t the only one missing.
Thinking about it, Emily, who wasn’t even dressed in her dress, had been nowhere to be seen either.
‘Could it be…?’
A hypothesis popped into Elaine’s head.
Perhaps Emily had been the one taken by the undead creature, and Lord Ryu had gone to rescue her. And if the wyvern had moved far away, it would explain why there’s been no sign of either of them.
‘This isn’t time for guesswork.’
Elaine could no longer contain her frustration.
Cynthia and even Professor Amillion sounded alarmingly complacent.
“Elaine? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to look for Lord Ryu and Emily. I can’t sit here and do nothing!”
“Eh? Hang on, Elaine! You don’t even have a weapon!”
Elaine hesitated at Cynthia’s words but quickly scanned her surroundings.
There, a stick of an appropriate length lay nearby.
With a touch of mana, this stick could suffice as something usable, even if it’s not her sword.
“Still, I must go.”
“…Elaine?”
Elaine, holding the stick in hand, adjusted her dress.
She suddenly realized how ill-suited such clothing was for her.
How could she run, or even move quickly in this dress? Absurd.
“Elaine! Do you even know where they are!”
“I’m going to check inside the building. If I go where the wyvern first entered, I might find something.”
“Ah, the professors have likely already checked it out. Everyone’s probably already searching around.”
“No, Miss Cynthia, you don’t realize. There are very few professors remaining in this area.”
“Eh?”
Cynthia looked around and immediately noticed Elaine was correct.
Moments ago, professors were practically everywhere, but now only Professor Amillion and maybe two or three others remained.
“This is unusual. If so many professors have suddenly gathered somewhere, there’s clearly still some problem.”
“No, Elaine…”
Cynthia hesitated, impressed by Elaine’s calm judgment but uncertain of how to rein her in.
Of course, though unaware of Ryu’s location, Cynthia knew what he was likely doing.
He was probably dealing with the Academy’s situation alongside Lady Yuria.
“Elaine, hold on!”
Cynthia quickly grabbed Elaine’s arm to hold her back.
Though, Elaine stood her ground.
“I must go.”
“Yeah, I understand your concern, but you don’t have a weapon. If you’re careless…”
Swoosh!
Elaine, with a serious expression, brandished her stick in front of Cynthia.
Whoosh!
Golden mana enveloped the twig, making it glow brightly.
There was no doubt: This was undoubtedly a weapon.
“If you’re not coming along…”
“Hehe. Miss Elaine, are we? Indeed, the name St. Claire suits you well—very brave.”
“…What?”
Just as Elaine was about to shrug off Cynthia’s hand and step forward, someone appeared.
A person, perfectly dressed in an immaculate gown, emerged from the chaos.
“Lady Yuria?”
“I… Elaine.”
“Emily?”
Elaine and Cynthia were surprised to find Yuria Prism and Emily had appeared.
Yuria was laughing lightly, and Emily clung timidly to her dress hem, much like a child hiding behind their mother.
“Emily, I thought you were with Lord Ryu?”
“Ah, Lady Yuria. One of our members, Ryu, may be in danger. We’ve not seen him since earlier.”
“Yes, you mean that black-haired boy, correct?”
“Yes, exactly!”
Elaine felt a glimmer of hope in Yuria’s seriousness, which was sharper than her discussions with Professor Amillion or Cynthia.
Plus, Yuria Prism? The famed Yuria offering to assist in the search—it would surely be easy to locate him quickly.
“Ryu was missing when the undead wyvern attacked the party earlier.”
“Hmm. Where exactly was Ryu at that moment?”
“Well…”
Elaine hesitated.
Looking back, just before the wyvern broke into the building, she’d witnessed Ryu right in front of her, dancing with Lady Yuria.
“Um… I last saw him with Lady Yuria…”
Chuckle…
“Er…?”
Elaine increasingly felt confused staring at Lady Yuria’s calm smile.
What exactly happened? Even so, strangely, she was reassured.
Ryu’s last seen partner was Lady Yuria herself, and here she stood laughing without a care in the world.
It was a smile that gave Elaine some confidence that Ryu was safe.
“Miss Elaine cares deeply for Ryu, it seems.”
“It’s…”
“It’s?”
“It’s just… we’re in the same class.”
“So?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
Hehe…
Elaine somehow felt like she was explaining herself, almost apologizing to Lady Yuria.
‘No, this isn’t the point.’
“So! Did you see where Ryu went after the last time?”
“Hmm. If I recall correctly…”
Elaine listened intently.
Lady Yuria tilted her head upward as if in deep thought and then continued.
“He seemed to make a quick assessment and immediately dashed out of the entrance when the commotion started, didn’t he?”
“What??”
Elaine was honestly dumbfounded.
The Ryu she knew wouldn’t do that.
Certainly, Ryu would never run away without protecting others first, despite never expressing such a concern. If he had, he wouldn’t have stepped up during the academy contests or the Cain Hover incident.
“Why wouldn’t Ryu do that?”
“Well, Lord Ryu has always been there when I saw him.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“And plus, if Ryu had left first, wouldn’t I have run into him somewhere outside by now!”
“Perhaps he’s already returned to the dormitory?”
“Eh?”
“Or maybe he’s just wandering around the area?”
“Then that’s even more problematic! With the undead wyvern roaming, it’s incredibly dangerous to wander…”
Elaine instinctively glanced around again.
Indeed, some students had already gone back to their dormitories or homes. Others seemed to dismiss the seriousness of the situation, chatting animatedly in groups. Some students were even admiring the beautiful ice wall nearby.
Certainly, the scene didn’t feel particularly “dangerous.”
“…”
Elaine paused mid-sentence.
Yes, the surroundings definitely didn’t appear hazardous.
But…
“Umm…”
Elaine suddenly realized she was being watched by quite a few.
Cynthia, Emily, Lady Yuria…
And, even worse, a black-haired boy standing a bit further back…
“…R-Ryu?”
At Elaine’s whisper, all eyes turned.
There he was, waving as he strolled toward them.
