Why Isn’t the Spirit Responding?

Helen Sylvesta watched as her surroundings suddenly transformed at the magician’s gesture.

“Hmph, predictable illusion magic.”

She had learned that the level of illusion magic generally depended on how similar the changing illusion was to reality.

The closer the illusion was to reality, the higher the level of illusion magic.

The space, which had been a shabby shop until just now, had turned into the Imperial Academy she attended.

She was standing in the central hallway of the Imperial Academy.

It was the way to the undergraduate lecture halls.

The floor was made of marble, and the golden quill, the symbol of the Imperial Academy, was attached to the wall.

Helen ran her hand over the symbol.

The cold touch of gold was vivid.

“Oh?”

Deceiving not only her sight but also her sense of smell and touch, it seemed to be quite high-level illusion magic.

But that was it.

“Not bad for an illusionist tucked away in a corner.”

She had heard that the illusionist, Max, was also quite a talented magician.

If he hadn’t gone down the wrong path of illusion magic, she might have recommended him to work for the family.

Creating such a realistic illusion, that woman must have come here to train.

She must have simulated various wars through this illusion, rehearsing battles and experiencing them in advance.

Her abnormal win rate must have stemmed from this.

But this wasn’t enough to find a weakness.

‘If she had only used it for training, she wouldn’t have run away from me.’

There was definitely something she was hiding from me.

She didn’t know what it was.

This man had only shown her the illusion of the academy.

“Hey, illusionist. This isn’t enough. I want you to show me something concrete that can expose Yuriss’s weakness. At least give me a clue!”

But there was no answer.

“Hey, illusionist!”

What the hell has this damn illusionist done to me?

Helen frowned and looked around.

She had learned at the Imperial Academy that illusion magic was not perfectly real, so if you knew it existed, you could dismantle it at any time.

-That’s why illusion magic is called the lowest-level magic. No matter how powerful a magician is, they have no combat power. It can even be easily dismantled. So, students, if you are caught in illusion magic, calmly look around.

The professor cast illusion magic on the undergraduates, and half of the students escaped from the illusion.

Helen escaped from the professor’s illusion magic in just three minutes.

No matter how talented this place’s magician was, he couldn’t be better than that.

‘Since it’s illusion magic, there must be a gap to dismantle it.’

She knew that illusion magic could not harm her anyway.

So, she should look around slowly and find a way to escape.

-Free wind and land of discipline, come forth and fulfill the contract.

Helen called the spirits.

‘After all, wind spirits or earth spirits would be good for exploring the surroundings, right?’

But the spirits did not answer.

“…What?”

Even when she recited the contracted spell again.

…….

The spirits did not appear.

“This can’t be happening?”

Even in the illusion created by the professor, the spirits answered her call.

But why?

“Is that man’s illusion stronger than the professor’s?”

Even if he wasn’t an illusionist, he was a professor-level magician.

A magician with that level of magical understanding should be able to use other schools of magic at a high level.

To be better than such a professor.

She had never heard of an illusion that prevented her from using her abilities.

“Damn it, could it be that he’s in cahoots with Yuriss and they’re plotting together…”

She trusted that man too easily.

Damn it.

She overlooked the possibility that he was already in league with Yuriss.

She should have known things were going too smoothly.

To dare touch a Sylvesta.

“Once I get out of this illusion, I’ll catch him immediately and throw him in jail for insulting a noble.”

If he rots in prison, he’ll know for sure whose side he should be on.

That’s when it happened.

“Huh? Isn’t that Lady Sylvesta?”

A group of undergraduates approached her.

They were undergraduates she didn’t even know existed.

They were all dolls created by the illusion.

Illusion magic’s form is determined based on the user’s and caster’s memories.

She ignored the undergraduates, no, the thugs, who were swaggering towards her and looked for a gap in the illusion.

But these illusion dolls didn’t seem to be willing to give up on her easily.

“Get lost. You’re just dolls in an illusion.”

“What is this woman saying?”

“She’s calling us an illusion?”

“Heh heh, has this woman finally gone crazy? Well, I would have too if I were her.”

“Of course, since she lost her precious spirit sensitivity.”

The thugs were muttering among themselves.

They weren’t worth dealing with.

They weren’t real anyway.

They were probably the guardians of the illusion magic that appeared to prevent her from finding a gap in the illusion.

“Get out of my way right now. I don’t have time to deal with you.”

Just as she was about to pass them, a thug-like man grabbed her wrist.

“Hey, don’t ignore us. We’re talking to you.”

How dare this bastard?

How dare a mere illusion grab Helen Sylvesta’s hand?

“You bastards! Do you know who I am?”

Normally, she would have immediately chased them away with spirit magic, but Helen, who couldn’t use spirit magic because the spirits weren’t fulfilling their contractual obligations, couldn’t use spirit magic.

“Of course, we know. A dropout from the academy who was abandoned by Sylvesta.”

“What?”

“She lost all her spirit sensitivity and can’t even use spirit magic, so she’s not going to get into the academy, but she’s just a dropout with a huge ego. Haven’t you heard?”

“What is that…”

“Sylvesta abandoned you. Because you’re a waste of money, trash that tarnishes the family’s honor.”

It was a thug spouting nonsense.

Her family would never abandon her.

She was the most precious daughter of Duke Sylvesta.

She called the spirits to shake off the thug who was holding her arm.

-Fulfill the contract immediately!

But again, the spirits did not appear.

What came back was.

“Hahaha!”

“Hehehe!”

“Ah, this is so funny. Look at her still using spirit language, she hasn’t come to her senses yet.”

The thugs’ ridicule.

Helen’s face turned red at the ridicule she had never experienced before.

It was a shame she had never felt before.

This was the first time.

Who would dare laugh at the young lady of the Sylvesta family?

The moment they laughed, their heads would be cut off.

“Y, you…”

Was it because it was something she had never experienced before?

Even though she knew it was an illusion, the shame didn’t disappear.

“If my father knew you were doing this…”

Slap!

“Kyaa!”

With a burning pain on her face, her head snapped to the side.

“Being abandoned by your family and wearing rags, you still think you’re a duchess, huh?”

One side of her face was burning.

Did I just get slapped?

She couldn’t understand.

How dare they slap the Duchess of Sylvesta?

It was burning.

Even the sense of pain that shouldn’t be felt in an illusion was felt on her face.

Didn’t they say that illusion magic couldn’t harm the opponent’s body?

They clearly said it was physically absolutely safe?

Why am I in pain?

While questions about illusion magic were swirling in her head.

Her head turned, and she could finally look down at her clothes.

Helen was wearing the tattered clothes she hated so much.

“Uh…?”

“Do you know your place now? You orphan abandoned by your family?”

“Your dad abandoned you.”

“This, this can’t be…”

The thugs left, watching her tremble in shock for the first time.

“Tsk, boring.”

“Let’s go.”

“If you’ve come to your senses, drop out and get out of here. I don’t want to see someone like you dirtying our academy.”

The thugs left.

Helen, who was covering her cheek, sat down and repeated.

“This is an illusion.”

A very cruel illusion created by a magician under Yuriss’s orders.

An illusion created to torment her.

She didn’t know how much that magician had received from Yuriss, but she would never forget that he had dared to insult her like this.

“Magician, I’ll somehow grind you to dust and take revenge, just you wait.”

Helen bit her lower lip and got up from her seat, gritting her teeth.

Her left cheek, which had been hit by the man, was still burning, but she couldn’t just stay like this.

She had to find a gap in the illusion and meet the magician again.

So she could properly confront him.

If he didn’t want to die at the hands of the Sylvesta family, he should hand over Yuriss’s information.

“After all, it’s an illusion created by a man who has never been to the Imperial Academy. There must be many places where he didn’t recreate it properly.”

Helen walked around, carefully examining her surroundings.

She wanted to take off the trashy, tattered uniform right away, but she didn’t have the hobby of walking around naked, even in an illusion.

If she knew it was an illusion, the uniform would return to its original state.

It was when Helen was walking around inside.

“H, Helen… A, are you okay?”

She heard a voice that made her lose strength just by listening to it.

“Who are you?”

It was that nerd.

That loser, from humble beginnings, who couldn’t even wear a proper uniform.

That man dared to call her name.

Not Sylvesta, but Helen.

A sensation like bugs crawling all over her body made her instinctively unpleasant.

Annoying. Annoying.

What is it with all these guys right now?

Ever since she entered that wizard’s illusion, there have been so many who dare to defy her.

Saying she was abandoned by Sylvesta.

Saying she lost her spirit sensitivity.

It’s all just an illusion.

How dare these puppets in an illusion.

“Who do you think you are to dare call me by my name?”

“He, Helen, what’s wrong? We were good.”

“What?”

What is this loser talking about?

“D-Don’t you remember? We were the best couple recognized by the undergraduates.”

“What are you talking about?”

Couple?

Me, with the likes of you?

“Why don’t you stop talking nonsense?”

“Looks like you really don’t remember.”

She turned her head to get away from this loser.

But as she tried to turn, the loser grabbed her hand.

“Where are you going? We have a date.”

“Get lost! You’re annoying!”

She needed to get back to reality, but why were these insignificant things getting in the way?

“Are you still denying reality? Are you lost in the dreams of the past again, forgetting reality? Okay. I’ll make you feel it.”

“…What?”

Helen couldn’t follow what the loser was saying.

After speaking, the loser took out a small crystal ball.

It was a crystal ball that recorded videos.

And in that crystal ball…

“Ugh, ugh… That’s good…”

There was a video of Helen with her hands tied, her breasts being fondled.

“Wh-What is this…”

“Do you remember now?”

A terrible unpleasantness enveloped her entire body.

How dare you create a video that falsely insults me?

I’m going to kill you.

I’ll kill you.

I’ll kill you right now.

This man too.

That wizard too.

“How dare you! To mock Sylvesta…”

That’s when it happened.

“This won’t do.”

The loser suddenly approached and squeezed her breast hard.

“Eek! Wh-What are you doing…”

Helen, unable to use the power of the spirits, was just an ordinary noble lady.

No matter how much of a loser he was, she didn’t have the strength to break free from his grasp.

“Since you seem to have lost your memory, I’ll help you remember.”

The loser’s touch began to fondle her breasts more and more explicitly.

“We were good, weren’t we?”

“D-Don’t…”

She felt strange.

Why?