Chapter 62: Its my time to step forward

Linne grabbed my shoulder, her touch making me flinch. Why was she so clingy?

‘Just let me go already.’

But she ignored my silent plea, making another unreasonable request.

“Don’t go.”

“No.”

I refused flatly, but she persisted, clinging to me.

“Please, just…trust me this once.”

“You’ve said that… countless times.”

Linne fell silent, her words hitting their mark. I sighed, annoyed, and walked away, leaving her behind.

I headed towards a secluded corner of the clearing, a pile of large boulders, a perfect resting spot. Linne kept calling after me, trying to stop me, though I didn’t understand why. It was clearly a better place to rest than being surrounded by people. She seemed to disagree, her voice following me,

“Wait…I think I saw a huge monster over there…”

“Where?”

“I…I can’t see it now, but…”

“Sure, whatever.”

“I’m not lying!”

Her desperation was suspicious, like she was trying to hide a stash of delicious snacks. The maids always seemed to see through my attempts to hide treats…I was starting to understand why.

“There are tons of bugs over there.”

“There are more bugs on the ground.”

“Right! And you should ask Sister too.”

“She said I could choose.”

“Ugh…”

Linne looked frustrated. But she couldn’t do anything about it.

“Let’s go somewhere else, okay? I’ll give you…a hundred head pats.”

A hundred?
I stopped, tempted.

I almost agreed, then changed my mind. A hundred wasn’t enough. Maybe a hundred and fifty…

I shook my head, my ash-gray hair swaying. Sister, who’d been fidgeting nervously, smiled, relieved.

“Hmph. I won’t be swayed by such a…perverted offer. And besides, do you think I’d let your filthy hands touch me?”

“I really didn’t want to say this, but…”

Linne’s expression turned serious. I waited, wondering what earth-shattering revelation she was about to unleash. She hesitated, then said,

“Ellie, have you heard of a…Wyvern?”

“A Wyvern? The monster that swallows mountains and fills canyons?”

“Yes, that terrifying beast…it’s…there.”

Linne gulped dramatically. I stared at her for a moment, then said,

“Linne…”

“Do you want to go somewhere else now?”

“Sigh…”

I sighed, wanting to say so much, but settling for,

“Are you…stupid?”

“…Huh?”

Linne’s eyes widened in surprise. She actually believed it?

“How many fantasy novels have you read?”

“Novels…? What are you talking about?”

“Wyverns are mythical creatures.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Linne stared at me, dumbfounded. She was such an idiot.

I took Sister’s hand and led her towards the boulders, ignoring Linne’s frustrated cries.

“Wait, Ellie! Ugh, seriously!”

She didn’t try to stop me, though.

“It’s not…ideal, but there’s no shade.”

I placed my handkerchief on a large, flat boulder. I could feel their judgmental stares – Look at the princess, acting all high and mighty – but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to sit there anyway.

“Here, Sister. Sit here.”

“Oh, thank you, Ellie.”

Sister, her usual cheerfulness restored, sat down gracefully, her eyes sparkling like rubies. And they were still fixed on…Linne. She was smiling at Linne, a genuine, happy smile I’d never seen her give me.

I hadn’t realized… So, she liked…blonde, delinquent commoners?

I’d heard somewhere that…nice girls were attracted to bad girls. If that was true, then Sister being attracted to Linne wasn’t so strange.

‘It’s okay. Sister likes her.’

I reassured myself, trying to quell the…unpleasant feeling in my chest. I supported Sister’s…preferences. I wanted her to be happy.

“Ellie?”

“Yes?”

I’d unconsciously sat down on Sister’s lap. Embarrassed, I tried to get up.

“Hee hee…sorry. Am I heavy?”

“Wait, Sister?”

Sister’s arm was around my waist, preventing me from getting up. I looked at her questioningly, but her face was hidden.

“I…I can’t get up.”

“Hee hee, it’s fine. Just stay there.”

“But I’m heavy. I should get up.”

“N…no! Ellie, you’re as light as a feather!”

She was lying. Her body was trembling. I was too heavy for her.

“Ellie, are you okay? You’re shaking.”

“What? You’re the one shaking, Sister. Let me go.”

She held me tighter, her body trembling even more violently.

“Shhh, be quiet, both of you.”

“What’s going on, Linne…mmmph?!”

Linne’s large hand covered my mouth. I would have pushed her away, but her eyes, like a predatory wolf’s, held me captive. I cowered, my body trembling.

She finally released me when the trembling subsided.

“What was that for?!”

I was about to reprimand her for her rudeness when Sister’s body began shaking violently, far worse than before. She couldn’t even sit still.

“D*mn it, hold on tight!”

“Eek!”

Rumble, rumble—

Dust rose from the ground as the earth beneath us shook violently, like a stampede of giants. Linne’s shout and Sister’s scream echoed in my ears, my mind reeling.

Sister’s mana flared, a protective red barrier forming around us.
Still, she held me tightly, as if afraid I’d disappear.

Linne’s reaction was simpler; she shielded Sister and me with her body.

Surrounded by their protective embrace,

“The ground…”

“…is rising.”

I could see it clearly, even through the shaking and the limited view. The ground beneath us was lifting, rising into the air. We were closer to the sky than the earth now. A useless observation, considering our current predicament. But I didn’t want them to see, their eyes squeezed shut, their bodies tensed around me, protecting me.

“It’s just us.”

I could see the tiny figures of the other students on the distant ground, shouting and gesturing, their words inaudible. But…

‘Why are they in attack formation?’

They were all armed, weapons drawn. Even the instructors at the front were pointing their wands at…us.

I looked around, confused. The hazy forest, the academy’s clock tower, the path we’d taken, Sister’s soft… My gaze landed on Linne, and I finally understood.

‘The boulders.’

The boulders we were sitting on, and the others surrounding us, were rising into the air, far more numerous than before, a small mountain of stone.

“Sister, Linne, open your eyes.”

They opened their eyes, blinking in confusion, like they’d just woken up from a dream.

“Are you okay, Ellie?”

“Um…where are we…?”

Their expressions hardened as they realized what had happened. I, the most…informed among us, had to take charge.

“We need to get down. Before something else happens.”

They nodded. I scanned the surroundings, looking for a safe way down, a gentle slope rather than a steep cliff. We were about halfway up the boulder mountain. A faint light emanated from a smooth, dark stone near the relatively flat summit.

“This way.”

I took a step, and—

Rumble—

A sudden jolt threw me off balance, like a carriage hitting a bump.

“Oops…?”

My footing crumbled, and I stared down at the jagged rocks below. I knew what was coming.

“Ouch!”

I landed on a flat rock with a thud, my shin throbbing. I should have rolled down the slope, but something…or rather, someone had pushed me, saving me from a more painful fall.

“Ellie! L…look…!”

Sister pointed, her hand covering her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. What was she looking at?

I followed her gaze, down the rocky slope, and my eyes widened in disbelief.