The first-class section of the airship was in an extremely gloomy mood.
Princess Sia had been covering her face with both hands and sobbing for several hours,
And the other students could not sit still either, their expressions grave.
Even Butler Elford remained silent with his head lowered, looking anxious.
Lizbette entered the first-class section and said,
"Only three thieves jumped with parachutes. Trine has not been confirmed."
With her head lowered, Princess Sia murmured,
"If... If only I had not done something like that..."
The students could not offer the princess any words of comfort.
It was bad luck.
Terribly bad luck.
Of all times, Trine had fallen during the five minutes when the airship's barrier had been breached.
At this point, it was enough to say that Trine dying was simply fate.
Lilian suddenly rose from her seat and said,
"Let us chase after the thieves. With my flight magic, I can take up to three people with me."
At that, Barbara glared at Lilian and said,
"What do you plan to do by chasing them?"
"Do you not find it strange that one of those thieves had Trine's book?"
"They must have just taken the book and dropped him."
"I think I saw those thieves in the newspaper about a month ago. Righteous thieves who never kill anyone, Sky Nuts or something?"
"Even so, they said only three thieves left the airship."
"They may have put Trine on a pterosaur. And if one of them is an alchemist, they may have a recognition-obscuring or teleportation magic tool."
Suddenly, Princess Sia cut in.
"Please take me with you too."
At that, Maria stopped Princess Sia.
"Please stop. We are on our way to save Prince Sirean right now."
"If Trine is alive, then we have to save him!"
Princess Sia sprang to her feet, her face soaked with tears.
Lizbette could not bring herself to refuse when faced with that expression.
In the end, after some thought, she calmly said,
"Very well. Then I will go with you."
Just then, Butler Elford cut in with a calm voice.
"Even if you cannot find Trine, you must depart by tomorrow."
Princess Sia wiped her tears with her sleeve and answered,
"Yes. I have that much sense, so you do not need to worry."
***
"Achoo!"
Trine barely crawled up to the waterside, completely soaked, and looked around.
All he could see were dense trees and mountain ridges.
Aside from the fact that they were still in the Altoria Kingdom, he had no idea where they were.
Cat and Muscle, who had come out one step ahead of Trine, said,
"Let us move quickly. There are a lot of insanely strong monsters around here."
"From here to the Academy, would it take about three days by carriage?"
Muscle placed his palm against his own body and murmured something.
His wet clothes and body dried in an instant.
At that, Cat shouted,
"Do that for me too!"
Muscle grabbed Cat by the shoulder and dried him as well.
Trine was included too.
"Thank you... Ah, right!"
Trine hurriedly took the grimoire 'The Bremen Town Musicians' from inside his clothes and looked at it.
As expected, all the letters inside had smeared.
"Damn it. That was the only weapon I had."
While Trine was feeling dejected, Cat also opened 'Hwaran,' which he had.
"Oh, luckily, this one seems to have been waterproofed."
"That is a relief... But why are you two going to the Academy?"
"Because we have to give this book to a guy named Trine at that Academy."
"What? Um, I am Trine."
"Really? Take off your eyepatch."
Trine tried to take off the eyepatch.
However, like it had been glued to his eye, he could not remove it.
"This will not come off."
At that, Cat clicked his tongue and said,
"As expected, the curse effect was too strong."
"Did you seriously put a cursed item on me?"
"To give something a powerful effect, you have to put a curse in it too. After about a day, its mana will run out and it will come off on its own."
Trine sighed.
Truly, none of this would have happened if it had not been for this eyepatch.
Cat handed the grimoire to Trine and said,
"Anyway, this saves us the trouble of going all the way to the Academy."
"I have never seen this book before. Who requested this?"
"Some female knight requested it in a dream."
"A dream?"
"Cat and I both had the exact same dream. So we decided to accept the request."
"...You people are amazing."
Trine sincerely thought these two thieves were amazing in many ways.
Their ability to act on nothing but a revelation in a dream,
And their skill in ultimately succeeding in their operation despite seeming incredibly sloppy.
The fact that no one had died in the process was practically a miracle.
Cat said to Trine with a calm face,
"Try reading it. Then you will know who sent it too."
Trine looked at Cat suspiciously once, then opened the book.
'We finally meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!'
'Are you kidding me?! How could you throw me away and not even look for me until now?!'
'You must be the only master in the entire world who abandoned the grimoire he gave birth to!'
Trine's eyes widened in surprise, and he murmured without realizing it.
"What in the world is this book..."
At that, the book's letters began changing on their own.
'My name is Hwaran!'
'I sent you telepathy over and over again. Did you not even notice?'
'Just how stupid and dense are you?'
Just then, Muscle looked up at the sky and murmured with a frown.
"I think something is falling from the airship."
Cat took a telescope from his pocket and looked at the airship.
"Damn it, they really are chasing us. Two people? Three?"
"To think they would jump from the airship just because we stole one book."
"We are going to run away from here. What will you do, Trine?"
"What? Ah..."
It seemed he would have to postpone reading this noisy grimoire.
Trine closed the book, put it inside his clothes, and answered,
"I think they are acquaintances of mine, so I will stay. Will the two of you be all right running away?"
"Well, we will manage somehow."
At those words, Trine thought for a moment.
Running away was easy to say.
Even if Trine persuaded the people chasing them to let the thieves go,
Moving carelessly in a mountain full of monsters was suicidal.
In the end, Trine let out a short sigh and said,
"I will handle it, so why don't you just stay here?"
At that, Cat glared at Trine and said,
"Do not be ridiculous. You are trying to casually betray us and have us captured, aren't you?"
"I simply do not want you to die. I want to repay you for handing me this book too."
At that, Cat's expression relaxed without any particular suspicion, and he shouted,
"You are a pretty loyal guy! I like you."
...Trine even felt as though he would regret it for the rest of his life if he left someone this sloppy alone.
Just then, muscles cut in.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but aren't you in a fairly dangerous situation too?"
"You mean the recognition-obscuring eyepatch? If I explain properly, surely something will work out."
"There are levels to recognition-obscuring magic. That is an item Cat made, so the effect will be absolute."
At those words, Trine's eyebrow twitched for a moment.
"Well, if we speak calmly, they will understand."
"...Just in case, everyone prepares to run at any time."
***
Lizbette, Lilian, and Princess Sia, who had landed by the lakeside, were somewhat dumbfounded.
The thieves they had expected to flee were shamelessly waiting.
They even had their hands raised above their heads as if surrendering.
It was so suspicious that any normal person would think they must be plotting something.
Lizbette carefully drew her greatsword and asked,
"What are you plotting?"
At that, Cat crossed his arms and said,
"First, calm down and let us talk."
"If you try anything funny, I will kill all three of you."
"If we cause a disturbance in a place like this, all of you will become monster food too, you know?"
When Cat showed a somewhat provocative attitude,
Muscle quietly jabbed Cat in the side with his elbow.
In that opening, the man wearing an eyepatch spoke instead.
"First, please state your demands."
Princess Sia stepped forward and asked,
"Where is Trine?"
The man with the eyepatch sighed briefly and answered,
"He is not dead, so you may be relieved, Princess."
Princess Sia was still under recognition-obscuring magic.
That was why Trine thought that if he directly mentioned the word "princess,"
She, who was sharp, might realize who he was, but...
Princess Sia drew her pistol and aimed it at the man with the eyepatch.
"I will ask again. Where is Trine?"
"Um, wait, please calm down-"
BANG.
The ground at Trine's feet froze, and sharp shards of ice rose up.
The three thieves were startled and jumped back.
Cat glared at Princess Sia and shouted,
"Hey! What are you going to do if the monsters swarm us because of that?!"
Lizbette and Lilian also stopped Princess Sia.
"Wait, please calm down!"
"If we provoke them now, Trine will only be in more danger."
However, Princess Sia paid them no heed and aimed the muzzle at the eyepatched man's head as she said,
"I will ask one last time. Where is Trine?"
Trine was more than a little flustered.
Because this was the first time that Princess Sia, who was always calm and calculating,
Had become this furious, to the point of losing her reason.
'But even if I tell her the truth, she won't believe me.'
If she still had not noticed, there would be no point in saying he was Trine.
On the contrary, it might make Princess Sia even angrier.
That was why Trine could not carelessly open his mouth and was breaking out in a cold sweat, when-
Suddenly, as if an earthquake had struck, the ground began to rumble heavily.
Cat looked toward one side of the forest and shouted,
"Damn it! It's a Forest Grizzly!"
In the distance, a giant bear was charging toward them, knocking down trees like a bulldozer.
"Damn it, that crazy woman fired her gun and provoked it! Everyone, run!"
Cat and Muscle began running without looking back.
For them, it was the obvious decision.
That monster was an opponent difficult to defeat even if ten knights charged at it.
However, Lizbette instead ran toward the bear and shouted,
"Lilian! Protect Princess Sia!"
Lilian also calmly stood before Princess Sia and deployed a barrier.
If they ran away like this, they would not be able to protect Princess Sia.
Both of them had made excellent judgments as members of the knight department, but-
"Ugh!"
Even Lizbette's greatsword was not enough to stop the bear's charge.
In the end, with nothing but the bear ramming her with its body,
Lizbette was sent flying as if she had been hit by a truck.
"Lizbette!"
Lilian shouted, but she was in no position to worry about others either.
When the bear rammed into the barrier, it shattered in an instant.
Thanks to that, even Lilian was sent flying.
When the bear continued charging at Princess Sia without stopping,
Trine shoved Princess Sia hard to the side.
"Dodge!"
Thanks to that, Trine was struck by the bear instead of Princess Sia.
In the end, only the bear and Princess Sia were left.
The bear rose onto its two hind legs and looked down at Princess Sia expressionlessly.
"Ah..."
Unable to react, Princess Sia blankly stared at the bear.
When the bear tried to bring its front paw down on Princess Sia,
"Close your eyes!"
With Cat's shout, a flashbang flew in.
Thanks to the flashbang exploding in front of the bear's eyes, it roared and staggered.
Meanwhile, Muscle placed his hand on the ground and summoned an earth golem.
While the golem grabbed both of the bear's arms and struggled against it in a contest of strength, Muscle shouted,
"Everyone, run! This is not an opponent we can fight head-on!"
However, as soon as Lizbette and Lilian stood, they charged at the bear again and shouted,
"We are knights! We will never abandon our comrades and run!"
"We will not let anyone die!"
At that, Cat clicked his tongue and murmured,
"This is why I hate Academy people."
Muscle approached Cat and asked,
"What are we going to do?"
"What else? We are righteous thieves who save people in danger."
In the end, Cat and Muscle also gave up on running and faced the bear.
***
Trine could not get up.
He groaned and tried to raise his body, but it would not listen to him.
It seemed his body still had not recovered from mana intoxication after all.
That was why he had no choice but to watch from a distance as the others waged a desperate battle against the bear.
It was pathetic.
Even Princess Sia was firing wildly instead of running away.
"Damn it... I have to get up..."
Just then, for some reason, a familiar voice sounded in Trine's head.
'I recommend running away like this.'
A voice he had heard several times in dreams.
It seemed to be the grimoire 'Hwaran' that Trine had just obtained.
However, Trine still groaned and replied,
"Say something that makes sense."
'Even if you stay here, all of you will be wiped out, you know?'
"Don't be ridiculous! Surviving alone would be meaningless!"
In the end, the bear shattered the golem and began rampaging again.
At this rate, everyone would be defeated.
Trine desperately forced himself to stand.
'I am telling you, you will truly die like this.'
"I would rather we all die together than survive alone!"
Then he tried to chant the magic sword spell.
"Though the flesh may decay, chivalry shall be eternal- Ugh!"
It seemed his mana still had not recovered enough.
In the end, giving up on the magic sword, he began running blindly toward the bear.
Then the voice sounded in his head again.
'It cannot be helped. I will lend you my strength.'
A purple sword appeared in Trine's hand.
***
In the end, neither Lizbette nor Lilian could stand.
The same was true of the two righteous thieves.
Watching the bear charge at her, Princess Sia resigned herself and lowered the muzzle of her gun.
"Trine... I am sorry."
It seemed this was as far as she went.
Since she had killed Trine with her own hands anyway, everything was already over.
If this was the karma for killing Trine, she would accept it gladly.
The moment the bear tried to pounce on Princess Sia...
"Get a hold of yourself!"
The man wearing the eyepatch snatched Sia's arm and pulled her hard.
Then, barely dodging the bear's claws, he swung his purple sword.
The bear screamed as if electrocuted and twisted its body.
"Stay back!"
The man shouted and engaged the bear.
He dodged the bear's wildly swinging paws as if dancing and cut the bear again and again.
However, rather than being injured, the bear only grew more enraged and charged madly at the man.
Even knowing it was meaningless, Princess Sia pulled the trigger at the bear again.
"I told you to stay back!"
"I do not need help from someone like you!"
Provoked by the gunshot, the bear tried to charge at Sia again.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
Just then, the familiar cry of a rooster came from the man's sword.
At that, the bear ignored Sia and turned back toward the man.
The man swung the purple sword again and again as he shouted,
"Enough already! This is not like you, Princess!"
"What do you know about me?!"
"Why wouldn't I know?! I'm your knight!"
At those words, Sia paused for a moment.
Come to think of it, why had that man recognized Sia as a princess?
The recognition-obscuring magic should not have been released yet.
And why did that man know how to use Trine's magic?
"Marking complete!"
The man struck the bear's back with his palm and shouted.
At the same time, the bear slammed its head hard into the man's side.
The man rolled across the ground and shouted,
"Jump into the water!"
At that, the bear roared and jumped toward the lake.
It swam hard,
But before long, it stopped and turned back again.
"Damn it! Already out of mana?!"
The man sank down while clutching his side.
Even so, he stubbornly tried to stand by using the sword as a cane.
Princess Sia asked the man's back,
"Why are you trying to protect me to this extent?"
Without sitting down, the eyepatched man answered,
"I told you. I am Trine, your knight."
It was an absurd lie.
However, one thing was certain.
For some reason, the man's back felt terribly familiar and reliable.
"...I will help you."
Sia fired toward the lake and froze the area around the bear.
As the bear flailed, trapped in the ice, Sia shouted,
"If you are going to finish it, now is the time!"
The man sprang up and ran toward the bear.
At that, Sia stretched out her arm, chanted a spell, and froze the lake, creating a path for the man.
The man ran with all his might along that precarious path of ice and leaped.
"Eat this!"
The man's sword pierced the back of the bear's neck.
The lake glowed purple, and the bear screamed.
The surrounding ice shattered, and the bear sank into the water together with the man.
Sia shouted without realizing it,
"Trine!"
She knew.
He could not possibly be Trine.
Surely Sia only wanted to believe that.
However...
Soon, the eyepatched man flailed and barely managed to swim out of the lake.
"Hah... Hah... How many times have I almost died just today?"
The man grumbled as he lay on the shore.
At that, Sia slowly approached the man.
Then she climbed on top of him, grabbed him by the collar, and asked,
"Who in the world are you?"
"I told you."
Sia slapped Trine across the cheek.
"I asked who you are!"
"I am Trine."
"Do not lie! Trine would never do anything to hurt me!"
"That... I am sorry. I was wrong."
Sia pulled hard on Trine's collar and buried her face in his chest.
Then she began crying at the top of her lungs.
Trine's wet and cold chest soon became warm.
Trine hesitated for a moment.
Then he gently wrapped his arms around Princess Sia's back.