Chapter 89

89. 88.

Kirran was flying around the forest in high spirits.

This mischievous fairy enjoyed teasing the students.

[Ha ha ha! Fool! Do you really think I’d be caught by such a pathetic butterfly net?]

Kirran, who had sufficiently riled up another first-year student, was humming a tune.

[Who should I target next?]

Whoosh!

[… ?]

A net suddenly flew in and caught Kirran within the blink of an eye.

Before he could even realize what happened, Kirran was trapped in the “pathetic butterfly net” with a dazed expression on his face.

[Huh-?]

Upon meeting Leo’s eyes, Kirran’s face turned pale with panic.

“I sent you here to stay out of trouble, not to cause it, did you think?”

[Oh, no, no! It’s a misunderstanding! I had a reason for being here… guh!]

Leo, who had Kirran tightly in his grasp, asked.

“What is the reason?”

[It seems there’s something unusual happening on this island, so I was investigating!]

“What?”

Leo’s eyes widened in surprise.

That evening, after the sun had set, Leo, while eating fruit he’d gathered from around the island, questioned further.

“So, what you’re telling me is that the familiars on the Island of Beasts have become more violent, and you were sent here to investigate it?”

[That’s right.]

“But it seemed like you were more focused on teasing the students of Lumeran?”

Although Kirran had lost his powers as the Fairy Prince, he was still a fairy. Moreover, having regained some strength with the acquisition of a new pair of wings, he wasn’t someone even second-year students could easily find or capture.

Following the day Kirran arrived on the Island of Beasts, rumors about fairies spread like wildfire through the island.

[That’s because!]

“That’s because?”

[I was amused by the students’ overreacting upon discovering my presence!]

“So, you just forgot about your mission and ended up playing around?”

Leo, who had bound Kirran with vines and hung him upside-down over the campfire, fell silent in thought.

“The Island of Beasts has experienced an anomaly?”

Currently, this island is practically under Pirina’s dominion. She wouldn’t fail to notice any kind of unusual occurrences happening on it.

“Miss Pirina, what made you send him here?”

[That Phoenix, Pirina, isn’t even on the island right now! Let me go! Let me go!]

“W-What? She’s not on the island?”

[Yeah! She’s been gone ever since you sent us here three days ago! She mentioned in a letter that she’d return to her Vow Keeper for a short while…! Gah!]

Whoosh!

Kirran’s body ignited in flames.

Kirran, who barely managed to escape, rolled around on the ground to extinguish the fire on his body.

“How did you know something was unusual in the forest?”

[It was Fiore who said so.]

“Fiore?”

Leo stroked his chin.

Indeed, Fiore, Pirina’s daughter, can be considered the second-in-command of the familiars on this Island of Beasts. Although she is still young and her powers not yet fully matured, she is more than capable of detecting changes happening in the forest.

‘Could it really be a coincidence that the anomaly occurred while Pirina is away undergoing a trial?’

Leo narrowed his eyes and stood up.

‘I should find Fiore first.’

Although summoning would be the simplest way, practical exams are currently underway. If he uses spiritual energy in a situation where no one else is using summoning magic, he would certainly be found out.

‘If Fiore’s true identity is discovered, it would be troublesome.’

Currently, in Lumeran, only Professor Yura from the Department of Summoning and Principal Kalyan know that Leo is the Contractor of the Phoenix.

Leo concentrated and called out to Fiore mentally.

‘Fiore.’

Even from a great distance, one could hold a conversation with a high-level familiar like Fiore because they are mentally connected as a Vow Keeper.

But despite Leo’s summons, Fiore did not respond.

‘Fiore? Can you hear me?’

“Why isn’t this brat responding?”

Without any reply from Fiore, Leo furrowed his brow.

Kirran, who had flown over next to Leo, rested his fingers on the back of his head and said.

[Perhaps she’s distracted and didn’t hear you?]

“……”

That’s actually a very plausible explanation. Despite pretending to act mature, the highly curious young Fiore often got easily distracted.

“…All these Vow Keepers are practically children.”

[You’re one to talk.]

Sighing after hearing Kirran’s muttering, Leo refocused his concentration.

And he started walking in the direction where Fiore’s power was emanating from.

‘There’s no choice but to find her myself.’

*

The direction where Fiore’s power was being felt was the far west.

‘Currently, we’re on the eastern part of the island, so it’s on the opposite side.’

Sighing, Leo entered deeper into the forest.

He encountered students who were practicing survival skills.

To cut a long story short, the students from the Department of Summoning were completely unprepared for survival in the wild.

Scenes of students screaming in panic over bugs or mistakenly eating poisonous mushrooms, causing them to foam at the mouth and collapse, were frequent.

Even Eliza, the ace student of the Department of Summoning, was struggling to adapt.

‘What exactly are they planning to do from tomorrow?’

Seeing the struggling students while knowing that the real hardships had not even started yet, Leo clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Of course, not all students were like that.

“Busy even at night, Flob?”

A colossal student named Warden, who was sitting with his arms crossed in front of the campfire, eyes closed, spoke up.

Though Leo had been moving stealthily and had accidentally stumbled across him, Warden had spoken without opening his eyes.

“I’ve got something important.”

Leo casually shrugged in response.

Upon hearing this, Warden opened his eyes and looked up at the tree.

Among the students of the Department of Knights, there are very few as physically imposing as Warden.

Although he might seem like someone who would engage in tough combat, the truth is that Warden is actually a very thoughtful student.

‘Didn’t he rank second overall in the general subject written exam last semester outside his major?’

Chloe was ranked first.

Moreover, his knowledge of magic was extensive, even surpassing that of many students in the Department of Magic.

‘The ability to combine magic with spirit magic. He really is impressive.’

“This year’s Battle Royale, I’m looking forward to it, Flob.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I intend to knock you down.”

Leo smirked upon hearing Warden’s nonchalant declaration of war.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Hearing his response, Warden closed his eyes again.

Leo leaped off the branch and ran off, his speed unmatched as he darted through the forest despite not using aura.

On the way, he encountered some wild familiars, but they didn’t dare attack because of Kirran perched on Leo’s shoulder.

Familiars generally have a strong instinct not to attack familiars stronger than themselves.

After traversing the forest at high speed, Leo arrived at the western end of the Beast Island.

To the west of the Beast Island lay a pebble beach.

[Wow, it’s beautiful.]

Kirran marveled at the beautiful lake scenery illuminated by the moon and stars.

Leo noticed Fiore crouched by the waterside, earnestly searching for something.

Splash!

Fiore stood up after picking up a small pebble from the water.

She held the stone to the moonlight and exclaimed in delight.

It was a transparent crystal-like magic stone.

“Pretty, pretty!”

As Fiore’s eyes sparkled while examining the magic stone from all angles, she suddenly said “hah” and popped the stone into her mouth.

She then began humming a tune while rolling the stone in her mouth like a candy and resumed her search for more magic stones.

“…What are you doing?”

“Mmm? Deo, i kin eet alreay.”

“Swallow everything in your mouth first.”

After swallowing the magic stones in her mouth with loud crunching noises, Fiore asked curiously.

“Leo, what are you doing here?”

“Before we get to that… you’ve been finding and eating all the magic stones on this pebble beach?”

This place was originally forbidden to students.

This was because the pebble beach naturally generated magic stones.

Around the ecosystems of familiars and spirits, regions rich in magic stones often form.

The forces emitted by these beings seep into the ground and accumulate in specific locations, where large quantities of magic stones then naturally emerge.

Young spirits and familiars absorb these magic stones to support their growth.

The pebble beach serves exactly this purpose in the Beast Island.

Because the students might try to collect these magic stones, the area has been restricted.

However, little Fiore was currently busy finding and consuming all these magic stones.

Fiore turned her head and said.

“It’s normal to eat a lot when you’re young.”

[We supreme familiars don’t need magic stones to grow up. We’re like…]

That’s true; magic stones aren’t particularly helpful for supreme familiars like the Phoenix.

They might serve as a delicacy, but it’s absolutely wrong to consume all the magic stones required for the growth of other familiars under your dominion.

“By any chance, haven’t you chased away the other familiars and spirits to dominate the magic stones all for yourself?”

Even though Fiore is still weak, the presence of Phoenix energy would undoubtedly scare away other familiars and spirits.

“I didn’t do it to that extent. I was trying to share peacefully!”

Fiore complained.

[You can’t share peacefully if you’re using Phoenix power as a threat. This chick…No! You’re acting like a pig!]

“Who are you calling a pig?”

[Hmph! Still a pathetic attack!]

Fiore, who was enraged, threw a pebble at Kirran who laughed it off and dodged.

“Both of you shut up. Fiore, didn’t you send Kirran to investigate the eastern region because something strange happened to the island?”

“Oops!”

Fiore was startled, having totally forgotten about it as she was preoccupied eating magic stones.

[Hey! You were the one who told me with an extremely serious face, and now you’ve forgotten about it?]

Fiore, realizing she was wrong, was floundering and couldn’t answer.

[Oh? This is a completely chick-level memory, isn’t it? Oh?]

“I’m sorry.”

Thinking she had the upper hand, Kirran arrogantly patted Fiore’s head.

[Forgive me! Instead, call me your prince and treat me with utmost respect in the future… Guh!]

“You were also investigating but ended up playing pranks on the students, weren’t you?”

Leo slapped Kirran with his palm while saying this.

“Alright, so what exactly is the anomaly?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but there’s this intense, unpleasant aura I can faintly sense from the island.”

‘Unpleasant aura?’

Leo furrowed his brows.

Since the Phoenix has the power of purification, if it found something unpleasant, it indicated the presence of some malevolent force.

‘During the mid-term exam, the summoners extended their influence over the Tartarus. Could it be related to this?’

Just as Leo thought this,

Booooooom!

Fog started to spread suddenly.

Upon seeing this, Leo quickly took Fiore and Kirran to leave the pebble beach and hide behind a tree.

This fog was not naturally occurring.

Moreover, the energy emanating from the fog was something Leo recognized well.

It was the same dark magic he felt during the practical exam for the Department of Summoning’s mid-term.

‘That summoner from back then.’

Leo’s eyes widened.

Splash!

As the summoner appeared on the pebble beach, waving his hands,

Whoooom!

The magic stones scattered around the area reacted.

The summoner froze, puzzled by the absurdly few numbers of magic stones.

“What is this? Why are there so few magic stones?”

[The pig ate them all.]

Kirran’s words made Fiore glare daggers at him as she choked him.

“Stop fighting and prepare.”

Leo summoned his spiritual energy.

Although the use of spiritual energy was forbidden over the weekend, this wasn’t the time to be concerned about that.

“He’s coming!”

Whirr! Thud!

A giant summoning circle formed below where Leo had been standing.

Leo leaped high.

Grrrrr! Crunch!

An enormous monster opened its mouth and swallowed the spot where Leo had been, with a deafening roar.

Whoosh! Thud!

Leo landed and faced the monster summoner.

“It seems we are destined to repeatedly cross paths, Leo Flob.”

As the summoner spoke coldly, Leo smiled with a sinister gleam in his eyes.

“It’s a very wretched bad omen that followed me from my past life.”