133. Evacuation

133. Evacuation

Meanwhile, Claire and Priscilla, who were rescuing people separately from Skadi, talked in front of a frozen building.

“It’s completely frozen here! It looks like an Ice Dragon breathed on it.”

“It’s better than burning. If it’s just freezing- Ouch!”

Claire, who had touched the ice that had frozen half the building and was emitting white steam, quickly pulled her hand away from the biting cold. Priscilla opened her mouth.

“Dragon breath isn’t just simple fire or ice. It’s a kind of magic that continuously burns or freezes what it touches.”

“Agh… you should have said that sooner.”

“That’s common sense, Princess!”

Leaving Priscilla, who spoke with her hands on her hips proudly, Claire sighed and entered the building. Priscilla, who had been rambling on, suddenly realized no one was beside her and quickly followed.

“Wow, it’s really cold in here. But I’m used to this.”

“It was always cold near Skadi… though she doesn’t know it herself.”

The interior, like other buildings, was completely blacked out. Priscilla, who had been exhaling white mist, created a small spark from her staff, illuminating the surroundings.

“It doesn’t look like anyone is trapped here.”

“But we definitely heard a sound from somewhere around here.”

“Ugh… If it were Skadi, she probably would have known exactly where the sound was coming from.”

Claire, realizing the convenience of being a beastkin anew, searched the area thoroughly, but felt no presence. Meanwhile, Priscilla, who was searching the opposite side, called out to Claire.

“Princess, doesn’t this place look a bit suspicious?”

“Huh?”

The place Priscilla pointed to was a corner of the room, frozen solid. Among the ice covering the room, this particular patch was unusually large, and something seemed to be visible within it.

Claire enveloped herself in a golden aura. She took a deep breath and thrust her fist forward, shattering the ice and revealing a hidden staircase. Priscilla exclaimed in surprise.

“Huh? This is illegal!”

“Huh? Isn’t it just a basement?”

“Who do you think I am! I’m the second daughter of the Louer family, you know. I know all the building codes. This is definitely an illegally constructed building. Who would do such a thing….”

Leaving Priscilla muttering about needing to catch and imprison whoever did this, Claire stepped into the basement.

The corridor extending from the stairs was narrow, and apart from the stairs she descended, there was no other connection to the outside. Doors were lined up on both sides of the corridor, all appearing to be some kind of research lab.

“It looks like they lived and slept here. There’s even a sleeping bag?”

“What in the world, are they raising slaves?”

As they went further down the corridor, the faint human voices grew louder. The two, having pinpointed the source, nodded at each other and descended the stairs at the end of the corridor.

“Huk…! A person, a person!”

Upon reaching the second basement level, the two finally found the stranded individual. It was a woman wearing a lab coat, looking like a recluse. She exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the two who opened the door.

Priscilla looked at the name tag hanging around her neck and said.

“Looking at her name tag, she seems to be a graduate student, Princess.”

“Oh, um. Yes.”

After asking the woman if there were any other people here, Claire and Priscilla sent her to the evacuation shelter and then headed elsewhere.

On the way, Claire suddenly spoke.

“By the way, how long are you going to call me Princess?”

“Huh? It just rolls off the tongue. Is that not okay?”

“Just call me by my name. It’s embarrassing.”

“Alright, then… Claire?”

Claire turned her head with a strange expression. Being called by her name instead of her title felt unusual and awkward.

As they continued forward, a red dragon landed in front of them, spreading its wings wide. The sandstorm that spread from the impact made them squint.

The dragon roared, shouting as if it had lost its mind.

“My eggs!!! Where are they!!!”

“What is it talking about?”

“I don’t know either.”

Pondering the incomprehensible rage, the two decided to deal with the dragon first. Claire drew her sword, and Priscilla wove red magic around its blade, causing Claire’s sword to glow red.

A dagger shining with a blend of gold and red. Claire’s high-speed sword strike pierced through the scales. The wound began to burn, and the dragon writhed in pain.

Claire repeatedly plunged her sword into the rampaging dragon while clinging to it. Priscilla shouted.

“Claire! Dodge!”

BOOM!

“Ugh!”

As soon as she dodged, a massive boulder crashed down where the dragon had been. It was a meteor.

However, the meteor, which had fallen with great dignity, shattered into fragments and bounced off upon hitting the dragon’s body. Apart from the dragon staggering slightly from the immense mass, there was no significant damage.

“It’s not working!”

“If it wasn’t a Red Dragon, it would have worked!”

However, through that opening, Claire was able to plunge her dagger into the dragon’s neck. The dagger, a blend of gold and red, severed its neck, and the dragon gurgled before finally collapsing.

Claire sighed.

“Hoo, why is it looking for its eggs here?”

“Who knows. Maybe someone stole them?”

They began searching the surroundings again. After rescuing several people, Priscilla asked.

“By the way, Claire, about yesterday’s match.”

“Yeah.”

“What wish did you make?”

After being defeated by Claire, Priscilla couldn’t properly watch the match because she was busy drying her urine-soaked underwear. She only knew who the winner was from what she heard later. Since the outcome was completely different from what she expected, Priscilla was very curious about what wish Claire had made.

“Do you want to know?”

“Yes!”

“I asked her to marry me.”

“What?”

Priscilla’s eyes widened as she rummaged through the debris searching for people. Then, flustered, she opened her mouth.

“W-with Skadi?”

“Yes.”

Claire said with a smug expression. She looked like a confident child, but Priscilla swallowed her words and said something else instead.

“We promised to share fairly, didn’t we?!”

“Promises are meant to be broken. If you’re so upset, win next time.”

Claire replied with a smirk. Priscilla stamped her feet and shouted. Her red twin buns swayed with her body.

“I can’t accept this! I met Skadi first!”

“What are you going to do if you don’t accept it? Skadi agreed to marry me.”

The first one to claim it gets it. Priscilla, who had been pouting at Claire’s words, thought for a moment and then said something that suddenly came to mind.

“Wait a minute, but isn’t same-sex marriage illegal in the Empire right now?”

“The law can be changed.”

“Ah… then.”

The Louer family is responsible for almost all of the Empire’s laws. Realizing this, Priscilla retracted her pout and started to grin instead, and Claire, seeing her face, looked puzzled before understanding the situation.

“Wait, you….”

“The more women, the better! That’s what was written in the book Skadi gave me! There’s no need for a wife to be just one person, right?”

“What?!”

What kind of absurd logic is that? Isn’t a pure and devoted love contract supposed to be one-on-one? What kind of impure….

“As soon as this is over, I’ll send a letter to my sister right away. Heh heh…!”

“Hey!”

No matter how much Claire grabbed Priscilla by the collar and shook her, she showed no sign of changing her mind. After a moment of despair at being outmaneuvered by her own plan, Claire heard something.

“Hey, over there… I hear something.”

“Yes?”

They reached the wreckage of the destroyed building and began searching through the debris. After a while of sifting through the rubble, they found a hidden basement, as expected.

“How many illegal buildings are there?! This is unacceptable, we need to arrest all the academy officials….”

“There’s a person there!”

“Ah.”

In the completely collapsed basement, there was a person trapped under debris, severely injured. They seemed to have been trapped for quite some time, as they were already unconscious.

“Huk… We need to treat this quickly!”

“I’m faster, so I’ll take them to the evacuation shelter. You search this area thoroughly.”

“Yes!”

After picking up the patient and running out enveloped in a golden aura, Priscilla began searching the basement.

“Huh?”

After rescuing a few more people who were trapped, Priscilla finally saw something strange in a corner of the basement.

“Is this… an egg?”

It was an egg about the size of a hug, with a white shell speckled with red spots. It seemed to have miraculously protected itself amidst the building’s collapse.

Priscilla tilted her head and listened to the egg. It pulsed gently with a warm sensation, proving its vitality.

The identity of the egg was unknown, but judging by its size, it clearly contained a significant amount of substance. It could probably feed ten people and still have some left over.

Priscilla’s mouth watered, and she brought a spark towards the egg.

“Uh, huh?”

However, instead of roasting golden brown, the egg absorbed the spark in reverse, and then the shell began to crackle.