"I’m sorry, Elias. Can you please carry me? I need to go with Silver, or she might get reckless."
I only needed to hear that once. I carried her in my arms, she held onto my shoulders, and I ran after Seraphine. We were way behind them; I had to keep track of their footsteps to keep up, pretty much guessing where they were turning, which wasn’t actually that hard.
My entire focus was on them, but for a brief second, I realized how light Sister Maren was. She was using this moment to rest, her body was that weak, her body heat overpowering mine.
It’s exactly like what she said. She can’t fight alone. She shouldn’t continue this fight at all. Yet she wants me to carry her.
I had to focus back on the footsteps or else we’d lose them. After a moment, both pairs of footsteps stopped. Upon turning, I was met with the view of a massive hole in the wall leading outside, Seraphine standing on the edge, polearm in fighting grip.
"Silver, wait!"
Sister Maren said just in time, Seraphine was about to jump down. She’s the kind of person who will chase the enemy to hell. Despite that, at her words, she stopped.
I stepped closer to the hole, not to the edge, just enough to take a look at where the beetle woman had gone, while carefully lowering Sister Maren to her feet. She took her time, balancing.
The view before me was beautiful to look at, several towers and corridors fading into the fog, yellow lamps around them, giving it a painting-like look. Too bad I couldn’t enjoy this view with coffee.
Among those several towers, one was familiar, where it all started. The tower with the mysterious door, most likely an old lab. It was visible from where we were standing.
And the beetle woman was crawling back to where she came from with a student as a hostage. I squinted my eyes because I recognized that face, tall, nerdy, with glasses. Wait... it’s Wendel!
What the hell was he doing at the university when Sister Maren announced the evacuation? This was bad, she was thinking of taking me as a breeding slave, God please keep Wendel safe.
I couldn’t clearly see his expression from this distance, but I knew he was terrified. Anyone would be, I was.
"I’m going after her, to finish her off. She managed to take a student hostage."
Seraphine took a few steps back and was about to jump with some momentum, but Sister Maren got in the way.
"No, Silver. It’s not just any normal lab. There are many traps inside, you have to treat it like a dungeon. I can’t tell you the details because I’m out of power, but it’s risky."
Seraphine stopped, spinning around, gripping her polearm in frustration.
"What do you suggest, then? We wait till tomorrow and form a party?"
"Yes... I–I know it sounds bad. But students need us. We are the only higher-ups present right now."
Seraphine bit back her words, letting her anger melt down a little because Sister Maren was right.
"Also, we are not telling any of the higher-ups about the century-old lab. They will definitely stick their noses into the matter out of their own selfish ambitions."
"I know, I know. Who’s trusting them anyway."
The atmosphere was much lighter than before. But I still felt like I shouldn’t be listening to their conversation. Not because they were sharing information, I just didn’t want to drag myself into another mess. I hoped they would ignore me.
"What’s the next plan of action."
Seraphine asked, crossing her arms, polearm pressing against her chest. Sister Maren was still breathing heavily and taking long pauses.
"I’m at my limit. You and Elias have to carry out this rescue tomorrow."
"Yes, tomorrow is fine. You should– wait. Why am I in the party? What about the other teachers?"
Sister Maren turned to face me, a blank expression, as if it were obvious.
"Elias... your powers can be very useful there. Even if you just provide basic potions, you don’t know your true potential. You should go. And I already explained why the others can’t come."
Sister Maren explained it like I’m some military dog. Yes, I can help with potions, but I’m a student who knows nothing about attacks. Seraphine definitely caught the word "potions" and got curious.
"Potions? Interesting. You can craft potions? How exactly? Even skilled chemists struggle with potions."
Yeah, I just happened to have a gacha system. I can’t say that. Seraphine was really giving me the suspicious look, angry-suspicious, to be specific.
"That’s not important right now. You could say he has a special magical technique."
Sister Maren stepped in to save me, her words always compelling. Once spoken, they could bring even a wild woman like Seraphine down to earth. Even in her weak state, that didn’t change.
But I still had to go. Rue, you’re going to have to work overtime.
"Oh, I forgot, Rhiannon can be helpful. She won’t tell anyone. Convince her, she’ll be interested in the biology."
Sister Maren said to Seraphine, and her eyes rolled like she didn’t want to hear it.
"That psychotic bald bitch? I guess she can be useful."
"Who is Rhiannon?"
I asked, which I regretted instantly, Seraphine made a pissed face at me.
"Dr. Rhiannon Ashcarte, she is the Assistant of research and development department at the Greyclock Conservatory. She can work as both a healer and a fighter."
Oh, is she hot? Is she gentle like you, Sister Maren? I’m excited, no, I think I was born for dungeon hunting.
You can’t blame me for shifting so quickly, everyone likes hot doctors, alright! Not as hot as my future wife, Saelith.
Speaking of her, now I can report back to her, tell her about the secret behind the mysterious eeriness, and that I actually managed to win the first round of a fight. I wonder what her reaction will be.
Ouch!
Sister Maren pinched my ear, a little too hard. How did she recover this fast?
"You are a good boy, right, Elias? Not the type to show off about some fight you won."
Sister Maren made a blank smile to hide her anger. Her eyes are closed, bangs covering them, but she can still hear my thoughts?
My fault, actually, she was the one telling us we should keep this a secret a minute ago.