Chapter 252
Chapter 252:
Hesty and McGrim were translucent.
It was thanks to McGrim’s concealment magic, which also made anyone she touched transparent.
McGrim had decided to reveal her true appearance only to Hesty and no one else.
Before long, the light surrounding McGrim faded.
The black-haired girl in the white beret vanished without a trace, replaced by a girl whose pink-and-blue hair fluttered in the wind.
A pink guitar was held in her hand.
“…….”
“…….”
Neither Hesty nor McGrim could continue speaking.
The instant Hesty saw the girl before her, she immediately realized who she was. There was no way she couldn’t.
The greatest rookie songstress in the Empire, receiving the hottest love of all.
The friend she had thought was merely an ordinary girl who happened to share the same name was none other than that ‘Miss McGrim, the songstress.’
“McGrim……?”
“……Sorry, I had reasons for hiding it.”
McGrim lowered her gaze with a slightly sorrowful expression.
Was she sorry that she hadn’t revealed her identity from the beginning?
“Hesty, does seeing me like this…… make you uncomfortable?”
Her voice trembled slightly as she cautiously asked, worried that perhaps this might create a rift between them.
However, though Hesty seemed flustered at first, she quickly returned to her usual bright expression.
“To be honest, I was a little surprised at first…….”
Hesty stepped forward without hesitation and faced McGrim.
“I know you didn’t hide your identity with bad intentions.”
The two had been inseparable ever since taking the entrance examination.
To Hesty, McGrim was the first friend she had made away from home.
Thanks to the common connection of ‘Senior Villead,’ they had been able to become close even faster.
“I’m actually happy. It feels like you told this secret only to me.”
Even after learning the incredible truth that her friend was a songstress, the warmth in Hesty’s eyes remained no different from usual.
“Hesty……!”
Tears of emotion welled in McGrim’s eyes.
“But McGrim, is something going on? If you’re showing me your original appearance all of a sudden.”
Right, the situation was far too abrupt.
Revealing her identity in the middle of a Virtual War match.
There had to be a clear reason.
It couldn’t simply be because she had changed her mind or wanted to surprise her.
“McGrim, something really important is happening, right?”
“……Yeah.”
McGrim slowly nodded and continued.
“This might sound a little vague. And I can’t logically explain right now why we have to do it. But…….”
McGrim took Hesty’s hands in both of hers.
“……Can you help me? We absolutely have to gather the cadets in one place.”
At that earnest request, Hesty’s eyes sparkled.
“Yeah! Of course, if you need me, I’ll gladly help! What do I need to do?”
“Hesty, thank you……!”
Once the tension left her, McGrim relaxed and told her everything.
She intended to hold a ‘performance’ in order to gather the cadets.
Even though they were in the middle of a Virtual War, a surprise live performance by the most popular songstress of the era should be more than enough to gather the scattered cadets.
“Hesty, you can use earth- and wind-type magic, right? Could you make something that could serve as a performance stage?”
“A performance stage? Hmm, I’ve never made anything like that before…….”
As expected.
Had it been too unreasonable a request?
“Ugh, sorry. That was a weird thing to ask, wasn’t it?”
As McGrim’s shoulders drooped, Hesty shook her head at an almost excessive speed.
“No, no! I didn’t mean it was impossible. I’ll give it a try. I can practice a little first, right?”
“……Yeah!”
McGrim’s expression brightened again.
To achieve a high level of concentration, Hesty closed her eyes and extended both arms.
She focused on her palms and felt the mana flowing through her body.
The mana circulated through her blood vessels and began gathering in both palms.
Rumble-! Soon, the ground began rising along with a small tremor.
Earth and stone packed together tightly, and before long, a platform spacious enough for around ten adults to stand on had formed.
Although it was small for a performance stage, it was excellent considering it had only been made as a test.
“Wow, Hesty! Amazing!”
“Hehe…….”
Hesty scratched the back of her head with an embarrassed smile.
“Actually, this is magic I learned from someone else.”
“Someone else? Who?”
Hesty’s cheeks seemed to turn a little red.
Looking somewhat embarrassed, she averted her gaze and hesitantly answered.
“……Um, well. I-I learned it from Senior Villead. Ah, he didn’t teach me directly! I just watched him do it and copied him on my own.”
“You…… watched Senior Villead’s magic and copied it?”
It was an application of the earth-type civil engineering magic Senior Villead had used when they first met at Kirchen Inn’s tent grounds last winter.
“……Senior Villead could use earth-type magic too?”
When McGrim asked in puzzlement, Hesty nodded vigorously.
“Yeah. I saw him build a house out of earth myself. I adapted it a little by gathering soil and stone into one mass, smoothing out the surface, and spreading it wide.”
Right, once you understood the flow and principles of magical energy, changing the shape didn’t take long.
The magic Senior Villead had used was probably something like this.
Rumors that Senior Villead was incompetent had spread as though they were established fact, but in reality, he could use magic with great proficiency.
In truth, Villead’s body genuinely could not use magic, and when he had built the earthen house, he had used the ability of a spiritual beast contracted with him. But Hesty had no way of knowing that and simply thought there had to be a reason he was a student of the Finders.
“Senior Villead really did know how to use all kinds of magic.”
“He’s a second-year senior and a Scholar. Maybe that’s only natural?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
McGrim nodded.
Just as she had suspected, the rumors about Senior Villead being incompetent seemed to be false.
But then why didn’t he thoroughly refute rumors that sullied his honor?
Especially when he was a high-ranking noble.
McGrim briefly fell into thought, but Hesty’s voice soon pulled her back out.
“Anyway, if I inject more mana into it, I should be able to make a much bigger and better stage than this. It’ll take a little time though…….”
“How long?”
“15 minutes…… no, about 10 minutes should be enough.”
“Hesty! Amazing! You really are a genius!”
“N-No…… a genius is a bit much…….”
McGrim and Hesty changed locations.
It was an open plain close to the first-years’ castle gate.
After choosing a relatively flat patch of ground, Hesty gently closed her eyes.
She focused on the mana within her body and began drawing together the energy of soil and stone.
Recalling the precise earthen wall Senior Villead had shown her, she wove together the flow of mana.
“Rise!”
As Hesty raised both hands upward, the ground trembled and surged up.
Taking into account that several hundred spectators would gather, she formed a tall stage.
And so, in barely more than 10 minutes, a fairly convincing and nature-friendly outdoor performance venue was born from what had previously been an empty plain.
“How is it, McGrim?”
Wiping away the beads of sweat gathering on her forehead, Hesty panted for breath.
Looking overwhelmed with emotion, McGrim suddenly threw her arms around Hesty.
“Thank you so much, Hesty!”
“Hehe…… it’s not over yet.”
Hesty gave a short laugh and gently pulled McGrim away for a moment.
“A performance doesn’t only need a stage, right? It’s also important that everyone can hear the song……. ”
Hesty began using wind-type magic.
Sound was originally a wave that spread in every direction through vibrations in the air.
Using that principle, Hesty finely adjusted the airflow around McGrim’s mouth and guitar.
The method involved instantly catching the small sounds McGrim produced with wind magic, then massively amplifying the range of their vibrations.
It worked on the same principle as using magical energy to magnify the ripples created when a tiny pebble dropped into a calm lake, turning them into enormous waves that spread outward, maximizing the resonance itself as it propagated.
“McGrim, your voice should be louder now. Want to try saying something?”
“Ahem, ah, ah, mic test.”
McGrim’s lightly spoken voice was amplified, ringing out grandly and clearly.
“Yes, this is it……! Hesty, thank you!”
At this level, it wasn’t much different from an actual performance.
……Not much different?
No, it was a little different.
A surge of heat welled up from deep within McGrim’s heart.
This wasn’t a massive dome concert venue where tens of thousands of spectators cheered, nor was it a stage bursting with dazzling lights and special effects. It was merely a rough stage where dust drifted through the air.
……And yet McGrim’s shoulders trembled with more excitement than ever before.
Because…… this was a stage personally made for her by her precious friend, Hesty. On top of that, it was a place created to help Senior Villead.
Here, she would hold a guerrilla concert to protect the cadets.
McGrim gripped the neck of her guitar. Without realizing it, strength entered her hand.
“Hesty!”
Along with the brilliant smile spreading across her lips, McGrim’s eyes filled with life.
Zzzing-!
McGrim lightly strummed the guitar, then spoke brightly to Hesty.
“It’s a new song I haven’t revealed anywhere yet. I’ll let you, my first VIP, hear it!”
Meanwhile, Marie went to find Kaiel, the blond young nobleman waiting alone at the castle gate, and explained her plan with Villead.
That alone was enough to persuade Kaiel easily.
They had lived as family for more than 10 years, so simply explaining things briefly was enough to convince him even in such a complicated situation.
Kaiel agreed to help deploy the Blocks, but there was another major problem.
How to gather the cadets.
Just as they began pondering how they could gather everyone……
……That was when it happened.
A sound came from somewhere.
A sweet voice and the lively sound of a guitar…….
“……A song?”
And shortly afterward, magical communication connected to every first-year began flowing in.
[Miss McGrim! Miss McGrim is here! Everyone, hurry over!]
[……Who’s there? Miss McGrim? What are you talking about?]
[You mean not our classmate McGrim, but Miss McGrim appeared?]
[Quit talking nonsense!]
“……?”
As Marie listened to their conversation, her eyes slowly widened.
No way.
[Ah, I’m serious! If you don’t believe me, come see for yourself!]
[Where is she?]
[Near our castle gate!]
“…….”
Marie couldn’t bring herself to speak.
……All of it.
Exactly as Senior Villead had predicted.
He had confidently said there would be a helper who would greatly assist in gathering the first-years.
Marie had wondered who that could possibly be…….
[This song…… it really is Miss McGrim!]
[I’m going too!]
[Hey, we’re in the middle of a match! ……I’ll just go check what’s happening for now.]
[You actually want to see Miss McGrim perform too, don’t you?]
[N-Not at all!]
It was obvious at a glance that the popular songstress ‘Miss McGrim,’ who had suddenly appeared in the middle of the match, was the very ‘helper’ Senior Villead had mentioned.
Marie nearly got goosebumps.
The claim that Villead possessed the rare unique skill, ‘Observation’…… had actually been true.
In that case, his warning that casualties would occur had to be true as well.
……Such a horrific future absolutely had to be prevented.
Marie clenched her fist and shouted.
“Kaiel, let’s begin.”
“……?”
Curio, who had been completely absorbed in the match beside Luga, blinked.
Then, looking confused, he glanced around.
The other cadets were staring at their personal screens in midair or the massive central screen, completely immersed in the excitement of the Virtual War.
But Curio’s screen alone was filled with bizarre static, as though the signal had been cut off.
“Sir Luga, is it only my screen that isn’t working?”
Thinking it was merely an error, Curio asked lightly.
“…….”
But no answer came.
Ordinarily, Luga would have been wearing a relaxed smile with his eyes narrowed into slits, but now, unusually, his eyes were wide open with a chilling intensity.
Overwhelmed by that suffocating presence, Curio even forgot what he had just been about to say.
“……Sir Luga?”
Curio called again, but Luga still kept his mouth firmly shut as he abruptly rose from his seat.
Then, he disappeared.
Neither the cadets nor even the professors nearby noticed at all. Only a faint afterimage remained where he had been standing.
……A speed beyond common sense.
At that speed, Luga raced like a gale toward the arena where the Virtual War was taking place.
But suddenly, Luga stopped.
What entered his sight was a single black butterfly.
Flutter, flutter…….
One butterfly circled around Luga, then became two, then three.
And…….
Flap-flap-flap-!
Along with the eerie sound of beating wings, hundreds of black butterflies gathered before he knew it, swirling like a vortex.
A person emerged from within.
Black lace draped over a wide-brimmed hat.
A mysterious woman dressed in black, half of her face concealed behind a black fan.
“Been a while, you little brat called the Empire’s Greatest Swo…….”
Before she could even finish the greeting.
Slash-!
There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation.
Luga’s sword tore through the air and cleaved the witch in half in a single stroke.