"Monicaaaa. Are you aliiiive?"

Monica, who was turned her body over in the fountain, responded in a faint voice in her heavy breath.

"…some…how…"

"Wow, that's amazing. You've drained almost all of your mana."

"…yeah, I haven't… used this amount of mana… in a long time."

Speaking of her combat style, Monica usually used minimum consumption of mana to shoot enemies down with precise control.

However, in order to destroy the barrier created by Louis Miller, she had no choice but to use the most powerful spell she could use.

Summoning the Spirit King had cost 70 to 80 percent of Monica's total mana. It's not something that can be used casually.

Right now, she just wanted to let this exhaustion take over and fall asleep, but she still had things to do.

"…I guess it was my loss…"

On Nero's shoulder, Casey smiled helplessly.

"Casey…"

Monica slowly raised her heavy body to look up at Casey.

Casey looked neither hateful nor angry, only smiling sadly as if he had given up on everything.

"Why do you look like that? I was the bad guy who's deceived you."

The only reason Casey had been so nice to Monica was to get closer to Felix. And it had worked well. Because of that, she was able to find out the schedules that the student council planned.

That's how Monica had been taken advantage of by Casey.

"…even so…"

Monica squeezed the bosom of her dress and began to frantically wring out her voice.

"You are the person who had invited me… whenever it was eating lunch or visiting elective courses… and it makes me happy."

Even if her reason was to take advantage of Monica, she still couldn't hate Casey.

The girl who put the fried fish in bread, then ate it cheerfully as if tasted so delicious.

The girl who would casually mediate Claudia and Lana when they got into a fight.

The girl who said that she was good at embroidery then spread out a beautifully embroidered handkerchief, only to smile bashfully.

"…Please don't look at me like that, Monica."

Casey closed her eyes and shook her head gently.

"I was the evildoer who tried to kill His Highness…  you should properly hate me for that."

To what extent Casey's behavior was an act, Monica had no idea.

Still, she didn't think all of that was a lie.

After had attempted the assassination of the royal family, Casey and her family would end up being executed.

………executed.

Monica felt a chill run down her spine.

At that moment, Nero looked up at the sky and clicked his tongue.

"Hey, Monica. There's a bad guy coming here. I'll be hiding over there, you hear me?"

Nero placed Casey, who was still too numb to move, down on the ground and quickly running away. Perhaps he tried to disguise himself as a cat behind a tree.

She knew that sooner or later since she had messed with the barrier without permission, "that person" would come.

Although Monica was staggering on her foot, she still stood firm and looked up at the sky.

Far away in the sky, a small black dot could be seen. It was approaching her way at a tremendous speed… did he even think about his landing?

Had a bad feeling, Monica took a few steps backward.

Then, just a few seconds later, two figures fell from the sky—spinning wildly as if they were going to pierce the ground.

One of the figures, a beautiful woman in a maid's uniform, spun around at high speed in an upright position and landed at a point where she was buried knee-deep in the ground.

On the other hand, the other figure behind her swung his staff and lifted his body just in time to avoid being buried into the ground.

"Daaaaaamn you, stupid maid! Didn't I tell you to fix that way of your landing?"

"I named it the Rotating Landing Method. It is highly offensive and very stylish."

"There is no such thing as stylish when you're buried knee-deep in the ground, you damned maid!"

Louis Miller of the [Barrier Magician]—the man with braided chestnut hair with monocle—clicked his tongue loudly and stared down at Monica.

Then he put his finger between his eyebrows and let out a deep sigh.

"I thought my barrier was in trouble, so I came to see what was going on…it was you, after all, my colleague."

"I-It's been a while, Louis."

After Monica bowed her head, Louis bent over to look into Monica's face, giving her a quizzical look.

"…You've almost drained all of your mana? This is the first time I've seen you like this. Even when you've finished killing more than 20 wyverns hadn't made you in this state."

Louis squinted his pale purple eyes behind his monocle and looked alternately at the destroyed fountain and the slumped-down Casey.

"Now, young lady over there, I take it you're a student at this school… Are you an enemy or an ally?"

When Monica clammed up, Casey said it with a casual tone.

"I am an enemy. A foolish enemy who tried to assassinate His Highness Felix, but failed."

"I see… Lynn, restrain her."

After Louis gave his order, the beautiful woman in the maid's uniform pulled her buried knee out of the ground and restrained Casey by her hands behind her back. Casey did not give any resistance as she meekly did what was told.

"Now, my colleague. Can you explain the situation?"

"A [Conch Flame] was set up in the west warehouse where the fireworks were being brought in."

Louis frowned at the words of the [Conch Flame]. He, too, fully understood how terrifying that magic tool was.

Not to mention the terrifying sight if those fireworks were burning nearby.

"… I figured my defensive barrier wouldn't be able to completely defend against it, so I borrowed your barrier, Louis."

"I am sure I had put up a decently sturdy protective barrier to cover the large-scale barrier."

"… I summoned the Spirit King to destroy it."

"I am sure I also had filled that the large-scale barrier themselves with dummy formulas to prevent anyone from tampering."

"Um, actually, I'm pretty good at detecting such things… ah, but it took me almost a minute to spot those dummies. It's true!"

"… a minute? All of those things, you only took a minute…?"

Monica's words made Louis's face twitch.

He was silent for a while with a sunken face, but then he grunted with a bitter face.

"…If there are any incidents in the future where my barriers get altered, I will suspect you first and foremost."

"Eeeh!?"

"I'm telling you it's not something anyone can do."

How could I believe that, damn it?! Monica thought she heard a very disturbing muttering at the end, but she pretended not to have heard it. Despite his refined demeanor, Louis Miller was a rather dangerous man.

"I understand the situation in general. Anyway, the Second Prince hasn't found out about your true identity yet, has he?"

"Yes, he still doesn't know… I think."

"Very well. In that case, I will collect the [Conch Flame] for in your stead in secret. We will also take custody of that young lady. As for you, I'll have you continue to guard the second prince…"

"W-Wait!"

Monica raised her voice to interrupt Louis's words.

"What is it?"

"C-Casey… what will happen to her?"

"We'll have her interrogated, and drag out every single person involved in the assassination. If she refuses to talk, we'll probably have to use some kind of mind-involving spells."

The use of spells to coerce a person into confessing or getting their mind to obey was strictly forbidden. However, under certain conditions, such methods were permitted if it was used for the interrogation of violent criminals.

But Monica knew. She knew that mind-involving spells could cause serious damage to the mind of the subject—in the worst case, she would become a vegetable.

Louis could guess by Monica's complexion what she was trying to say, but he just gave her a cold look.

"… you seem reluctant to have her interrogated using mind-involving spells. But, she might be happier if she becomes a vegetable. When it comes to the attempt assassination of royalty, an execution is inevitable. It's better to be executed while she's losing her mind, so she doesn't have to suffer."

Casey's face paled quickly.

Monica gulped down the spit in her mouth and braced her trembling body to look straight up at Louis.

"L-Louis, you're in the First Prince faction, aren't you?"

"… that's a bit out of the blue, what is it?"

"Please… answer me."

Louis looked at Monica's face probingly with his cunning eyes.

The [Silent Witch], who usually turned her head away immediately, was now looking straight up at Louis.

This fact caught Louis's interest suddenly.

"Yes, you're right. I'm a schoolmate of First Prince Lionel. I guess you could say that I am a member of the First Prince's faction. However, please don't misunderstand me. It is not that I want the First Prince to be the king no matter what."

"…Eh?"

Monica was expecting that he was going to say, "His Highness Lionel is the most suitable person to be the next king!" But to hear it different from what she thought was a bit of a letdown.

"I call myself a member of the First Prince's faction is because I don't like Duke Crockford and the Second Prince."

"………"

It was a very Louis-like reason.

But the fact remained that Louis was a friend of the First Prince.

After confirming this fact, Monica made her next move.

"C-Casey has ties to the Randall Kingdom, who is also the part of the First Prince's faction."

Louis's eyebrows twitched.

"If the truth that the First Prince's faction, which is connected to the Randall Kingdom, plotted to assassinate the Second Prince is revealed, it will be a huge disadvantage for the First Prince's faction, right?"

Just by having the truth of the attempted assassination of the Second Prince was revealed, the First Prince's camp will be at an overwhelming disadvantage.

When Monica pointed this out, Louis gave a thin smile.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you, a person who doesn't care about political struggles, would make a deal like that with me… how clever of you."

"Neither His Highness Felix nor anyone else knows about the assassination attempt. The only people who know about this were Casey and I."

"…so you want me to pretend that assassination attempt itself never happened?"

"………"

She didn't expect it to be considered never happened, Monica only wanted to prevent Casey's execution.

As Monica desperately persisted, Louis said in an admonishing tone.

"The First Prince's faction is not entirely united. Both the First Prince and his mother are, let's say, not interested in the throne. They would prefer to use fair methods than an attempt assassination… but not everyone who supports the First Prince is like that."

Cutting off his words, Louis glared at Casey with cold eyes.

"Fools who do unnecessary things like assassinating the Second Prince will be erased in secret."

"B-But, there should have been another way to handle things up in secret."

Monica bit her lip tightly and stared at Louis with tears in her eyes.

At this moment, Louis Miller was secretly calculating.

For Louis, it would be better to cast a mind-involving spell on Casey to make her confess the name of the extremist group before erasing her in secret, so there would be no loose ends.

But if he did that, he would probably not be able to get Monica's cooperation in the future.

The strength of Monica Everett of the [Silent Witch] was far greater than she herself realized. It would be a shame to lose her cooperation.

After weighing all the factors, Louis came to a conclusion.

"If the young lady confesses to everything honestly, I will promise not to use mind-involving spells. She shall be sent to a convent. Never again be allowed to appear in social situations."

That was the best compromise he could make.

In response, Monica bowed deeply to Louis.

"Thank you, Louis."

"In return, you will have to continue cooperating with the mission to protect the Second Prince…"

"Yes!"

Monica nodded without hesitation, and Louis narrowed his eyes behind his monocle.

One of the reasons Louis chose Monica to be the second prince's bodyguard was Monica's distrust of people.

A person who trusts others so easily will not be able to serve as a guard.

"……don't let yourself get too attached."

"Eh!?"

Louis put his index finger on Monica's brow and looked into her face.

"Remember, you are one of the Seven Sages, Monica Everett of the [Silent Witch]… and Monica Norton of the student of Serendia Academy is your temporary identity."

Monica's shoulders jerked.

"…don't ever forget that."

"Y-Yeah."

When Monica nodded, Louis stared down at her with a glint in his eye.

Lynn, who had been watching the scene in silence, had a strange thought like, ‘This scene's like that of child abduction.'