The classroom was isolated by magic.
Reginleif briefly looked back at the students who had fallen into illusions and lost consciousness.
“How did it go?”
To Reginleif’s question, Hárbarðr, who was looking at the crystal ball, opened his mouth.
“The children who were attacked by the dragon will wake up in order soon.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if this is a good thing. Even if it’s just for confirmation…”
“There’s no harm in being cautious.”
That child, Elsie.
To lose her memory and suddenly awaken to combat aptitude was too good to be true.
There was enough reason to confirm it for the safety of the academy.
“Still… they’re still immature students, making them fight a dragon…”
Inside the crystal ball, the rampaging black dragon was reflected.
As were the students being attacked by the dragon one by one.
Some students were seen fighting back against the dragon, but it didn’t seem to be enough.
“It’s a manifestation of the black dragon’s juvenile days, it should be manageable.”
If it were Urmiz in his complete adult form, everything would be over just by rolling up into a ball.
“…Where did Doyun and Elsie disappear to?”
“Hmm, I can’t see them.”
“That’s troublesome. Even the headmaster can’t confirm it if he can’t see them.”
Reginleif was right.
By having Elsie hold the Gem of Borr, it was confirmed that she was of the Asgardian lineage, an Aesir bloodline.
But that alone was not enough.
To protect the academy from any possible danger, more caution was needed.
Therefore, it was necessary to confirm Elsie’s power unfolding directly.
“Did you contact the Adorencia family?”
“Yes. But I still haven’t received a reply…”
It was past the time when a reply should have arrived.
But the Adorencia family remained silent.
“That family has always been difficult to read. There must be a reason why they’re keeping silent about that child, Elsie.”
“Even so, it’s too much. Their family’s young lady lost her memory in another world.”
The headmaster ignored Reginleif’s grumbling voice and manipulated the crystal ball, searching for Elsie.
It was then.
Golden energy was captured beyond the dragon, which was wreaking havoc while spewing breath.
The headmaster did not miss it.
Then, a huge golden energy caused a mushroom cloud-shaped explosion, tearing apart the canyon area.
“That’s…”
The headmaster’s eyes widened at the familiar energy explosion.
Immediately switching the screen, the headmaster soon found Elsie wearing a golden belt.
There was no doubt.
“Some of the scattered power went to that child…”
“Oh my, that armament is…!”
Reginleif, surprised enough to squint at Elsie’s belt, looked at the headmaster.
At the sight, the headmaster nodded and replied.
“There’s no mistake… It’s the Belt of Strength.”
An armament used by his son in the distant past.
The Belt of Strength, Megingjörð.
“…That child, you said she showed excellent combat aptitude?”
“Yes. She uses Heat Ray Emission, like a Skjaldmær Awakener.”
“In addition to combat aptitude, she has manifested divinity to the extent of summoning and wielding a divine artifact…”
A talent that could be counted on one hand throughout the Nine Worlds.
That’s why he wondered.
Why had such tremendous talent been hidden?
Hárbarðr, no. Woden Alfodr, the headmaster of the main academy, reached out to the crystal ball.
“I will confirm it. What kind of being that child is.”
Light burst from the headmaster’s fingertips.
**Divinity Summon: Hliðskjálf.**
A golden halo floated above the headmaster’s head.
The power of the chief god, capable of penetrating everything in the universe, was deployed.
At the sight, Reginleif smiled and opened her mouth.
“As expected, you’re amazing, Odin. To wield that much power even after relinquishing your divinity…”
“I am Woden Alfodr now. Call me headmaster, Teacher Reginleif.”
The headmaster slowly examined Elsie and opened his mouth again.
“Originally, divinity… is not something that can be completely discarded just by relinquishing it. That goes for my son as well… and for you too, doesn’t it?”
At Woden’s question, Reginleif shrugged.
“Well… it’s just that I’m not perfect, so there wasn’t much to throw away.”
***
“Keuhuk…!”
Elsie knelt down, feeling a pain that seemed to squeeze her whole body.
‘As expected, this body is… too weak!’
She had been feeling it all along, but this was beyond imagination.
Elsie’s body was excessively frail.
The burden that Divinity Summon placed on her body was truly painful.
‘If the contents of that letter are true… then this body has never been trained…’
The power of the Aesir Saga that Elsie brought with her when she possessed the body.
If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have been able to fight this much.
‘Conversely, it’s a body that’s too much to handle even that power perfectly.’
This wouldn’t do.
If she struggled this much, she wouldn’t be able to return.
Elsie desperately wanted to get her hands on Ymir’s Horn and return to her home.
To do so, she had to perfectly master the character’s abilities, which were her only hope.
“Elsie! Are you okay?!”
“N-not… okay…”
She couldn’t even look up at Han Doyun, who was asking with concern.
Her mouth was trembling, making it difficult to speak.
‘At this rate, I’ll have to seal Megingjörð for a while. I can’t handle buff-type Divinity Summon yet…’
As Elsie was having a staring contest with the ground, footsteps were heard.
“Elsie!!”
“You blew away the dragon, that’s amazing…”
It was Thrud and Radgrid.
Unable to endure any longer, Elsie quickly released Divinity Summon.
Patsutsu–
“P-please, lend me a hand…”
Elsie flailed her arms to get up.
Seeing that, Doyun reflexively supported Elsie and helped her up.
The warmth conveyed by her small, soft hand turned his ears red.
“Euhak-”
“Is she really… wasn’t she pushing herself too hard?”
At Thrud’s question, Elsie waved her hand and smiled weakly.
“O-on impulse, about half of my sincerity. No… half of half…”
“On impulse?”
Thrud and Radgrid tilted their heads at Elsie’s strange explanation.
At the sight, Elsie began to explain the situation without much thought.
“Well, you see, Han Doyun, this guy, he…”
Doyun was chilled to the bone by Elsie’s innocent expression.
At this rate, Elsie would confess what happened in the bushes.
He almost instinctively covered Elsie’s mouth.
“Uueup!! Eubeueu-!”
With that small shock, Elsie’s consciousness, which she had barely been holding onto, was cut off.
“Doyun-ah?!”
“I’ll explain. Elsie… looks a little tired.”
However, Doyun was not given time to defend himself.
This was because the illusion that made up the canyon’s environment began to disappear.
Everything that had substance began to turn into golden particles.
“No, wait, there’s no time to explain-”
Just like that, they woke up in the peaceful classroom as if nothing had happened.
***
“Huh! C-classroom?”
Thrud, who had regained her senses, checked on Elsie in the next seat.
“Elsie?”
Elsie, who had finally lost consciousness due to not being able to handle the aftermath of Divinity Summon.
She didn’t respond even when shaken.
The students who had regained their senses one by one as the illusion broke were looking around the classroom in a daze.
Crossing the chaotic classroom, Hárbarðr and Reginleif approached Elsie.
“She seems quite free in opening and handling divinity. It’s an excellent quality.”
Hárbarðr’s gray beard had turned white at some point.
And there was even an eyepatch on his right eye that he hadn’t seen before.
Thrud couldn’t help but tilt her head at the change.
“Y-you’re the visiting professor, right?”
At Thrud’s bewildered question, Reginleif chuckled and replied.
“Hehe, no, Thrud. Actually, this person is the headmaster.”
“Nee?! B-but the headmaster I saw at the entrance ceremony looked a little more… um… younger…”
Thrud’s expression, recalling the entrance ceremony, became increasingly incomprehensible.
At the sight, the headmaster, who had been silent, stared intently at Thrud and opened his mouth.
A smile was faintly visible on the old man’s expressionless face.
“That’s the external appearance. It’s a simple transformation.”
“Transformation…! Ah! This is not the time for this, Elsie has lost consciousness!”
It was surprising that the old man disguised as a visiting professor was actually the headmaster, but Elsie was the problem.
Thrud shook Elsie haphazardly with her overflowing strength.
“Eugeoheokeo!”
It was a violent momentum that would bring back even a lost mind.
Thanks to that, Elsie forcibly regained consciousness.
Immediately after, Elsie was overwhelmed by almost deadly fatigue.
“S-stop… I’m, I’m awake! Euhek!”
“Elsie-!!”
“Ugh. Crazy, really-”
Elsie was not fully conscious.
Reginleif, who had been watching silently, glanced at the headmaster.
The headmaster nodded and opened his mouth.
“Since she has deployed that much power, it would be good for Elsie to rest a little.”
“Thrud? Would you take Elsie to the infirmary? As the class president…”
Thrud, who had her golden eyes shining and burning with enthusiasm, nodded and supported Elsie to help her up.
To think she, who usually recoils from contact like this, is just limp…
She was starting to get worried.
Thrud disappeared into the infirmary, supporting Elsie.
As she disappeared from sight, Reginleif said to the headmaster,
“It is Thrud, after all.”
“Hmm.”
“Worthy of being the headmaster’s granddaughter…”
“Let’s stop talking about that. The girl doesn’t even know her grandfather exists.”
That damned son of his didn’t even contact him on the day his granddaughter was born.
Headmaster Wodan frowned, recalling that day.
“More than that, that Elsie girl is no ordinary one.”
“How so?”
“She’s seriously tangled up. Even Hliðskjálf couldn’t fully grasp her inner workings.”
“Pardon?!”
Hliðskjálf, one of the ultimate artifacts said to be able to discern the identities of all beings in this world.
To be a being whose identity cannot be discerned even with that.
Reginleif’s eyes widened in surprise.
“One thing is certain…”
The headmaster paused for a moment.
Despite having lived a long life, he had never seen a being like Elsie before.
It was also the first time that the information confirmed by Hliðskjálf did not make sense.
“Two completely identical souls have merged into one… That’s all I could find out about that child.”
“What?! What does that mean…”
Two completely identical souls.
It was a contradiction in itself.
Souls are unique.
The same soul cannot exist, and souls cannot merge.
“It’s hard to believe, but what can I do if it’s true? Two identical souls have merged. That’s all.”
The headmaster, who slowly stepped out of the classroom, looked out the window for a moment.
“The fact that she awakened her powers and lost her memories, unlike the submitted records, is likely due to that.”
The suspicion that she might be a dangerous presence threatening the academy turned out to be unfounded.
However, such a special being needed to be watched over and guided as an educator.
“The Adorencia family… Come to think of it, I have something to say about what that child broke…”
***
Elsie was floundering in the boundary between dream and reality.
She faintly felt the presence of someone supporting and moving her.
“Today’s broadcast is… eugh…”
“Elsie! Stop talking nonsense and wake up!”
Elsie was spouting nonsense.
Thrud tried to wake her up by talking to her, but it was no use.
“Thrud Raid… challenge…”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
It was almost sleep-talking.