Doyun muttered blankly.
“What did I just see…”
An eagle so huge that its massive size could be guessed even from a distance.
A falcon perched on the head of that giant eagle.
And even the figure of a person riding on the eagle.
It was such an absurd sight that he doubted whether he was seeing things.
The giant eagle, which seemed to be flying towards the academy, suddenly changed direction and disappeared into the forest where Fenrir had rampaged.
Doyun, who had been staring at it, scratched his head.
“Should I tell the teacher…”
A giant eagle with a falcon on its head, carrying a person, flying around like something out of World Tree Ecology class.
After briefly contemplating whether anyone would believe this absurd story, Doyun changed his plans.
“Guess I’ll go to the training grounds.”
The Nine Worlds were full of all sorts of races and monsters.
Even dragons flying towards the sunset were occasionally sighted in the city, so a giant eagle was no big deal.
Having come to that conclusion, Doyun changed direction and headed for the training grounds.
\*
A man ruffled his short silver hair in frustration and opened his mouth.
“Are you sure you delivered the letter properly?”
In response to the man’s question, the nameless eagle sent a thought into his mind.
“…Not delivered, but left it near a house where the trail went cold?”
At the absurd answer, the man rubbed his forehead.
He felt like screaming at the Suri’s appalling work ethic.
“I understand it took a long time to deliver the letter with only a faint trail.”
He also understood that it had taken a while to return because it had been distracted.
Originally, the nameless eagle often went to Hraesvelgr’s nest to play, or even went down to Niflheim to cause trouble.
“But you didn’t deliver the letter directly, you just left it at a place where the trail went cold? And you forgot the location so you can’t find it again? Seriously-”
The man, who had momentarily felt like cursing, shook his head and regained his composure.
He would soon be meeting his beloved younger sister for the first time in a long time.
He couldn’t ruin this exciting feeling by being foul-mouthed.
“First, reduce your size. If you enter the city like that, it will cause a commotion.”
The nameless eagle looked around and sighed, then sent another thought.
“It’s hard to reduce size with someone on my back… Seriously… Ugh… Fine. Let’s go down for a bit.”
The nameless eagle usual appearance was too conspicuous to fly over Glitnir.
As the eagle himself wished, it was necessary to land in a suitable place and reduce its size.
Quickly changing direction, the man spotted a suitable forest near the academy as he turned.
“I don’t know if I should call that a forest…”
The center of the forest was devastated, as if there had been a huge explosion.
It looked more like a plain than a forest.
The man quickly landed, jumped off the nameless Suri, and looked around.
The center of the forest had been turned into a plain by trees that had been uprooted or broken.
And bloodstains were visible here and there.
“It hasn’t been long. A battle took place here.”
And it was a very fierce battle.
The man rolled his blue eyes around.
No matter where he looked, there were only traces of battle.
He reached the place where the wing-shaped bloodstains he had seen from the sky remained.
“What on earth happened?”
Such traces of battle in a forest not far from the Main Academy where Elsie attended.
This was not good.
‘I heard that Glitnir is a relatively safe city…’
Seeing these traces left so blatantly made him anxious.
The lovely image of Elsie smiling brightly and calling his name flashed through his mind.
“Elsie…”
His younger sister, whom he cherished because of their considerable age difference and her weak constitution since birth.
It was no exaggeration to say that he had raised her in place of their mother, who had passed away early.
Elsie, who gradually grew into a lovely and peerless beauty, was his pride.
‘After Father took a concubine, he was very concerned that she couldn’t develop her abilities…’
For a moment, the face of a bothersome red-haired woman came to mind, and he frowned.
But soon, the admirable image of Elsie working hard came to mind, and his face softened like water-soaked dough.
“I hope she wasn’t pushed down here by that woman’s machinations…”
He could find out the details by meeting Elsie.
In any case, he wanted to see Elsie.
“It’s already been… let’s see…”
His face turned to shock as he counted by folding his fingers.
“H-Has it been over half a year?!”
The knight order he belonged to had been incredibly busy due to various problems that had occurred in Niflheim and Ginnungagap.
Even so, he hadn’t been able to take care of his young sister for more than half a year.
He had been sending letters regularly, but even that he hadn’t had time to do properly recently.
Realizing the time that had passed, he became quite anxious.
“I-I have to hurry! Eagle! Are you all small now?”
The nameless eagle, who had shrunk to nearly a quarter of its original size, approached and nodded its large head.
“Good, then… you remember the location of the house, right?”
The eagle stared into his blue eyes for a few seconds, then shook its head left and right without hesitation.
Damn birdbrain. The man felt like his insides were about to burst.
Vedrfolnir, the large falcon on the Suri’s head, who had been silently watching, opened its mouth.
[Dane. Why don’t you just go to the academy your sister attends?]
The man called Dane.
Dane Adorenchia swept back his silver hair and replied.
“I don’t want to disturb Elsie enjoying her time at the academy. I have that much sense.”
[Easy for you to say. You were just singing about wanting to see your sister.]
“If you guys had remembered properly in the first place, we would have arrived at the house where you left the letter a long time ago!”
[I am just this shameless eagle’s ‘memory.’ If this guy forgets, I forget too.]
“You could have forgotten something else…”
Dane, who was pacing anxiously, glanced at the eagle, who seemed to have no thoughts at all.
And the nameless eagle truly had no thoughts.
It wasn’t even trying to recall the forgotten memory.
Knowing that it was capable of that, Dane began to worry.
Could he find Elsie’s residence by aimlessly wandering around the city, relying on that birdbrain’s unreliable memory?
He wanted to surprise Elsie when she came home and see his beloved sister happy.
Dane looked in the direction of the academy and swallowed hard.
Reason and impulse began to clash.
***
Reginleif, looking a little tired, leaned against the teacher’s desk.
It was the result of being dragged around for hours about what to do with the captured Fenrir.
‘From the headmaster to Forseti…’
“Ugh…”
It was fortunate that the city lord, Forseti, happened to be at the academy.
Her cooperation was essential, as it was necessary to finish things as quietly as possible before the chaos grew.
If a Jötunn like Fenrir had started rampaging in earnest, it would have caused enormous damage, incomparable to a typical monster outbreak.
‘It’s a miracle it ended with just one forest. They’re really outstanding kids.’
Reginleif raised her violet eyes.
Elsie, Thrud, and Doyun were sitting quietly in their seats.
It was thanks to those three children that they had managed to hold Fenrir down.
‘Even so, it was too reckless.’
If Fenrir, who had come out of the island of Lyngvi, had recovered even a little more strength, it would have been a truly dizzying situation.
“Hoo.”
Reginleif sighed briefly.
It was truly a problematic day.
Fenrir, the suspicious man who tried to kidnap Elsie, and…
Recalling the latest news that made her frown, she hardened her expression and clapped her hands lightly.
“Everyone must have been out of their minds today because of all the commotion, right?”
The students nodded with sullen expressions, and she looked at Elsie, who was spaced out among them, and slowly opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry to deliver such unpleasant news again, but I can’t help it.”
After pausing for a moment, Reginleif began to tell the absurd report she had received from the academy security.
“A little while ago, there was a suspicious man who tried to break in, asking to meet a female student at the academy.”
Reginleif, whose expression had changed to a slightly contemptuous one, continued.
“He tried to get inside while reciting the appearance of a specific female student in great detail… Be careful, everyone, because he might be a stalker.”
She hadn’t received detailed information about his appearance or other characteristics, but it was clear that he wasn’t a normal person if the security guards had stopped him and chased him away.
“Especially Elsie!”
“Eep?!”
Elsie, who was trapped in a cycle of various worries and concerns and was spaced out, was startled and answered when her name was called.
“Elsie, you’re… conspicuous in many ways, so be especially careful. Don’t cause problems, and don’t jump into them either!”
The words that followed were the key.
“Eh?!”
But Elsie, who was still spaced out, only made strange noises in response.
She was still unable to recover from the shock of earlier.
“Well then, I’ll be gone for a while for a faculty meeting about this… Study quietly!”
Reginleif flashed violet light from her eyes as if warning Elsie, then left.
‘If that time comes, like Thrud said, what should I do? No, let’s not think about it. I need to get Ymir’s horn as soon as possible.’
“…Elsie!”
…
‘I make a wish and get myself back. Me… me? What did I look like? Wait, what was my name again…’
“El…!”
*Throb!*
Again, her waist throbbed with a dull ache.
“Elsie-!!”
“Huh?!”
Elsie, so lost in thought that she hadn’t even reacted to the voice calling her name, finally snapped out of it and looked up.
“She’s been even more out of it than usual since she regained her senses. See? That’s what happens when you overdo it…”
Thrud looked at Elsie with pity, seeing how she had turned into a fool after recovering.
Elsie narrowed her eyes and met her gaze, pouting her lips.
“…What? What’s with that infuriating look…”
“It’s a look of pity for our sweet Elsie, who turned into an idiot after all that hardship.”
“Tsk-”
“More importantly, did you listen properly to what the teacher said?”
“There are weirdos everywhere. Just what I’ve experienced recently has been insane.”
Assassins sent by the family, human trafficking rings, and to top it off, a genuine madman who appeared with the legendary Jötunn Fenrir.
“This is just a crazy neighborhood.”
“That’s why you need to be more careful. People hit on you even when you’re just standing still. Maybe that stalker the teacher mentioned might be targeting you-”
“Ugh, don’t say such creepy things. I didn’t do anything…”
Although the messes she had made were considerable, Elsie brazenly put on a straight face.
‘When I think about it, I was just minding my own business, and they came and made a mess, right?’
Even today.
She had just gone to the forest to experience monster subjugation without any particular thought, how was she supposed to know there would be some crazy guy and Fenrir there?
Elsie twisted her hair with her fingers, then swept the strands that had fallen onto her ears back.
‘Another gaze…’
Again, she felt a suspicious gaze.
Could this be a real stalker or something?
“Anyway, Elsie, you’re not in good condition right now, so be careful.”
“Eh, it’s just a stalker… It’ll be unpleasant, but I can just blow them away.”
Elsie clenched her fist and shook it, grinning.
The sight of her acting like a cocky little boy made Thrud reach out and stretch Elsie’s cheek.
*Squish-*
“Ehehe- Wha are you doing-”
“You’re the one who needs to be the most careful, Elsie.”
*Boing-*
Elsie, who was holding her stretched cheek with her hand, glared at her with a stinging look.
“Because you’re cute.”
“Tch-”
No matter how she thought about it, Elsie puffed out her cheeks, thinking that the pink-haired girl smiling foolishly in front of her was the most dangerous.