135. Evacuation

135. Evacuation

“All personnel accounted for have been evacuated to the underground shelter.”

“Oh.”

After finishing the evacuation of my assigned area, I returned to the academy’s central plaza to find briefings underway for each sector.

The chairs and desks seemed to have been hastily gathered from around the academy, and the arrangement was quite makeshift. It appeared they had quickly set up a meeting place in the plaza.

The academy map spread on the table showed various sections divided by letters and complex lines. Next to it were documents with a lot of writing, and people were gathered around them, discussing things. It looked quite… impressive.

A scene straight out of a movie.

I should report that the rescue in my area is complete. Seizing the right moment, I inserted myself into the discussion.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, Princess! Your assigned area….”

“I’ve checked it all.”

An employee quickly marked the map. Looking closely, most of the areas were checked. It seemed the evacuation process was almost complete.

“Could I see the list of evacuees?”

“Yes?”

“I need to find someone.”

“And who might that be?”

“Freya… Freya von Lyra.”

It had been a while since I last called my sister by her full name. It felt strange.

The employee quickly flipped through the list. So quickly that I doubted if they were actually searching, they flipped through the pages. Upon reaching the end of the list, the employee seemed to notice something odd and reread the list several times. The answer that came back was… negative.

“According to our records so far… she is not in the shelter.”

“….”

My brow furrowed. Seeing that, the employee flinched.

No, stop it. The employee just looked for the list; it wasn’t his fault. I calmed my emotions and returned my expression to normal. I took a deep breath.

There were still unchecked areas on the academy map. One was where Priscilla and Claire had gone, and another was elsewhere.

Freya must be in one of those places.

“Skadi!”

“Skadi, you’re here!”

As I worriedly wagged my tail, I heard familiar voices. I turned my head and greeted them.

“Claire, Priscilla, welcome… what is that?”

“Ah, this? Look, isn’t it cute?!”

In Priscilla’s arms was a dragon with red scales, the same color as her hair. It was still a juvenile, so small that it was nibbling on Priscilla’s rolled-up hair and looking around.

“It’s a baby dragon! It seems to recognize me as its mother. Please call me ‘Priscilla, Rider of the Dragon of Judgment’! Or ‘Priscilla, Master of the Fiery Flames’, ‘Mistress of the Red Dragon’….”

“… Where did you get it?”

Even if it’s a baby, bringing a dragon to a meeting during an invasion by dragons. I may not be well-versed in common sense, but I know this isn’t exactly the right thing to do.

“I found an egg lying around and was roasting it when it suddenly hatched! Isn’t it amazing?”

“R-really.”

The world is vast and difficult to understand. And things that are difficult to understand must be accepted as they are.

I took my eyes off Priscilla, who was doting on the baby dragon, and asked Claire. She was as small as ever, but she had a sulky expression, as if she didn’t like something about Priscilla.

“How did the rescue go?”

“Well, I think I rescued everyone I could see. If I couldn’t find them, then there’s nothing I can do….”

“Did you happen to see Freya?”

“Freya?”

If she hadn’t seen Freya either, then the only remaining possibility was that unconfirmed area. It’s not impossible that Freya is in that area due to sheer bad luck, but honestly, the probability wasn’t very high.

I waited for Claire’s answer with a sense of urgency.

“I definitely locked her in the warehouse… Wait, hold on.”

Claire muttered to herself and then, with a pale face, began to tremble. Worried, I tried to ask what was wrong, but Claire, even enveloping herself in aura, tried to run off somewhere.

It was at that moment.

“Ugh?!”

“Whoa….”

CRASH!

A bizarre tree trunk shot up from a building far away. With a green light, branches extended at high speed, piercing dragons, strangling them, and killing them in large numbers.

“… That’s.”

It’s Freya.

The tree trunks were a magic I had never seen before, but the green magic was definitely my sister Freya’s. Freya is there.

My tail wagged on its own. My heart sank.

The tree trunks were moving at high speed, searching for something at this very moment. She’s probably looking for me. I need to signal that I’m here.

“Just a moment… Ur, 5000 times light.”

“Eh.”

A powerful flash erupted from Ur, who had transformed into human form. A light brighter than the sun momentarily consumed the world.

“-Agh! My eyes!”

“Kyaaak!”

“What is it?!”

There was a minor, trivial damage, but the signal was definitely delivered. The trees, dangling dragons, slammed into the ground several times and rushed towards me. Finally, a familiar black figure jumped and landed in front of me.

“Freya!”

“Sister!!”

In the world, how did she become so gaunt? How hard must it have been for her alone….

I embraced Freya as she ran towards me. Our black and white tails intertwined with joy, and Freya buried her nose in my chest, sniffing my scent repeatedly. As expected, she’s sensitive to smells, being a beastkin.

“Uheheh….”

“I’m glad you’re safe, Freya.”

“Of course, who do you think I am! If that ill-mannered blonde hadn’t been there… I would have come sooner…!”

Claire?

Hmm, ill-mannered. I don’t know. Anyway, the important thing is that my precious sister is unharmed. I calmed my heart, feeling my sister’s warmth. I kissed her several times and tangled our tails vigorously.

Then, an employee shouted.

“Evacuation of all areas is complete!”

The evacuation is over. Then there’s only one thing left.

A counterattack.

——

Dragons are monsters that fly freely in the sky. There are limits to how they can be dealt with. Accordingly, there was much debate among the professors regarding how to defeat the dragons.

“Of course, we should shoot magic and catch them. How long will it take to drag them to the ground and catch them?! Is magic inexhaustible?”

“No, in the end, if the time drags on, the mana consumption increases, which is the same for your opinion! Rather than aiming and catching them one by one, it’s more time-efficient to collectively cast magic to drag them down and beat them….”

I was just going to swing my sword in the sky to catch them, but various discussions were going on among the professors. I don’t know much, so I should just stay quiet.

“No, so of course, we should shoot-“

“Stop! You’re all wrong?!”

But Freya interrupted the discussion. Freya yelled irritably, scolding the professors, and then, as their gazes turned to her, she continued.

“Do you think the dragons you see in the sky are all there is? Haven’t you ever thought it strange that even when you kill them, they keep appearing?”

Of course, dragons are not infinite. But if their numbers don’t decrease even when you kill them….

“The dragons are giving birth on the spot!”

“No!”

Freya lightly bonked me on the head.

It didn’t hurt, but it made me feel a bit down.

“There are far more dragons than you can see. Up there!”

Freya’s hand pointed to the sky. Towards the sky, which was as blue and clear as always.

Thousands of dragons fly and bomb the ground. Strangely, their attacks are not aggressive. It’s just that their sheer numbers make the impact significant. If they were hostile to the academy, they wouldn’t need to sporadically shoot breaths from above.

And the number that doesn’t decrease no matter how many you kill….

Why is that?

“Sister!”

“Yes?”

“Can you slash the sky with your sword! With all your might!”

Is she telling me to kill the dragons?

That’s what I was planning to do anyway. However, it would cause damage to the surrounding buildings…

Seeing my hesitation, the swordsmanship professor who gave me a 25 on my midterm stepped forward and said.

“Don’t worry about building damage, student. They’re all going to collapse anyway, so we’ll have to rebuild them. The president will pay for it.”

“Ah ha.”

Then there’s no reason to hesitate. I smiled and returned Ur to its sword form, gripping it in one hand.

The cold air spreading out, the feel of the grip in my palm. Ah, this cool and heavy sensation, how long has it been since I went all out without holding back?

I looked up at the sky.

Perhaps sensing my gaze, or perhaps feeling threatened, the dragons all looked down at me.

Freya quickly gathered the people around her and created a protective barrier of green light. As expected of my sister, her support is reliable.

When I trained in the north, countless monsters always swarmed towards me.

Crashing like waves, trampling and crushing each other, smashing everything in their path, as if they were a giant monster themselves, they charged at me mercilessly.

Towards me, who stood alone in an open field, holding only a sword.

And I.

“Ha.”

I’ve broken through that thousands of times.

I tightened my grip on my palm. Ur responded by emitting light. My muscles writhed with pleasure. The corners of my mouth turned up on their own.

As always, firmly planting my feet on the ground,

Just one step.

The sky split in half, and through the gap, a black sun looked at me.

——