Chapter 228

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

Spirits Acting Strange

By the time Mikhail returned from the station and met up with Claude, everything was over . The Professor was surprised by how fast the problem was resolved .

「Well, Hikaru’s here, so I guess it’s understandable!」

Mikhail laughed heartily . He was in favor of moving to Scholarzard as well . Hikaru, however, couldn’t quite grasp why him being here was enough of an explanation for the Professor .

Hikaru and the others arrived in Scholarzard by the end of the day . Mikhail, Claude, and Luka would be staying at the academy . Preparations for Ludancia’s potential attack would begin tomorrow .

「The dorms would be a good place to stay at, but it’s a small two-story building, so it’s not really suited for defending . 」

They were gathered in a lecture hall, with Mikhail standing at the platform, while Hikaru (together with Drake), Lavia, Paula, Claude, Luka, and Ivan listened . League was not around as he had to discuss their next plans with his attendants .

「So are we staying at an ordinary inn, then?」Ivan asked .

「Are you serious? We’ll be even more defenseless . The academy can shelter Luka . There’s a barrier around the place and people can only enter through the front, rear, and west gates . 」

「In that case, the dorm is better…」

「Relying too much on the barrier might become our downfall . We must come up with a number of plans . 」

A military personnel, Mikhail excelled at devising strategies . Hikaru listened attentively too .

「But we can use the dorm . The enemy will attack there first . 」

「A decoy, huh?」Hikaru said .

Mikhail nodded . 「We’ll set up a binding magic item there . Reducing their numbers would be great for us . 」

「Professor . I don’t have any objections about that . But where should Luka stay then?」Claude asked .

「Hmm . Let me ask you, then . Where would you make her stay?」

「Uhm, let’s see . A place where she could sleep… I guess the sleeping quarters in the admin building?」

「The enemy would think of that as well . There’s not a lot of places a person can sleep in, after all . This is all about outwitting your opponent . Think of a place where the enemy wouldn’t even consider that someone would stay there . 」

「Does such a place even exist?」

「It does . Hikaru, any ideas?」

「I don’t really wanna say it . 」

「Oh? If you have something with mind, then please share it with us . 」

Hikaru sighed . 「Lecture building C . 」

「Bingo . 」Mikhail said with a smile .

Lecture building C was where Professor Mille Crepes van Quad taught her Short Sword class . To be more specific, classes started inside, but the actual lessons happened on the vacant lot out front . The reason being, Mille slept there after getting drunk .

In an effort to reform the professor, Hikaru helped tidy up the place, but blankets and the like were still left inside, making it a good-enough location for Luka to stay at . They would have to think about food and baths, though .

Moreover, Mille basically made the place her own, so the academy might not even mind if they turned it into a fort .

Mikhail sure knows his stuff, Hikaru thought .

「But why am I the one doing this?」

Hikaru trudged towards lecture building C . Mikhail asked him to check if the place was safe since he was familiar with it; in fact, no one else but him knew what it was like inside . He even knew the place better than Mille . Unfortunately .

Hikaru stepped out of the building . It would be much faster to cut through the front yard, but even though it wasn’t snowing, the cold breeze made him shiver .

「Ugh… so cold…」

Times like this, he was grateful he had Drake with him .

『Hikaru, something’s strange . 』

Drake, who was always asleep besides eating time, woke up, creating an opening for the chill to get to Hikaru’s neck .

「Why are you up? You know you have to stay put when we’re outside . So cold . 」

『What? I’m doing you a favor by coming with you despite the cold . What’s more, I can’t even get any mana from you . 』

「Man, I didn’t know scarfs complained and removed themselves from one’s neck . 」

『Am I just a scarf to you?! You’ve been treating me poorly lately!』

「Freeloaders who only eat and sleep have no right to speak . 」

『So mean! Wait, I said there’s something strange—』

Drake’s persistence made Hikaru think that maybe something was wrong .

「What’s up?」

But the drakon’s answer was not what he expected .

『It feels like there’s not a lot of Spirits around . 』

「Spirits? You mean the ones that are summoned when casting magic?」

『Yup . 』

Hikaru knew Spirits were beings that filled the world, although invisible to the naked eye . The only time humans could sense their presence was when causing supernatural phenomena through Spirit magic . Both mana and Spirits were things that didn’t exist back on Earth .

「Can Spirits even fluctuate in numbers?」

『Of course . They decrease in number the more humans use Spirit magic . 』

「Are you serious?! What happens if there’s not a lot of them?!」

『Things go back to normal after some time . 』

「O-Oh, I see . Don’t scare me like that . Wait, if they return to normal, why is there only few of them here?」

『Like I said, it’s strange . 』

According to Drake, he felt like the number of Spirits was lower than usual ever since they entered Forestia . While fewer Spirits didn’t really pose any problems, if the number dropped very low, people wouldn’t be able to use Spirit magic for a while .

「Do you know why?」

Hikaru had a terrible sense of foreboding, slowly spreading in his mind like a drop of ink diffusing in a cup of water .

『Maybe someone’s using a little too much Spirit magic?』

「That can’t be right . Forestia’s not known for using much Spirit magic . 」

『Hmm… Maybe someone or something is absorbing Spirits?』

「Absorb?」

『You can convert them to mana that way . 』

「Oh, like Spirit magic gems . 」

The Spirit magic gems that sorcery utilized were formed by Spirits attaching themselves to minerals . It might sound like Spirits had actual forms, but in reality, they did not .

Sorcery basically used these Spirits like mana . An example of that was the ring that emitted fireballs which used Spirit magic gems .

「Okay, so people can’t use Spirit magic when there’s not enough Spirits around . But other than that, is there some sort of a serious problem?」

『I don’t know . But I just feel uncomfortable . 』

「I see . 」

『Huh? I thought you’d get mad at me for basing all of this on a gut feeling . 』

「What kind of person do you think I am? Intuition is important . 」

Yes, they’re important . Especially Instinct . Mine is telling me that it’s strange too .

「Let’s go see Professor Katy . Maybe she knows something . 」

Hikaru hurried to the lecture building C and checked inside . Except for some dust, it looked exactly like before, so he then went straight to Katy’s laboratory . His Mana Detection indicated she was alone as usual .

「Excuse me—」

As he opened the door, he saw a woman with a flame tattoo on her face wearing a creepy smile while rubbing her cheeks on a large magic rock . Piled up on the table were the magic rocks that Hikaru gave Katy .

Hikaru closed the door, pretending he didn’t see anything .

『What was that, Hikaru?! That person’s bad news!』

「Don’t say a word . 」

『Maybe that woman’s the one absorbing all the Spirits?!』

「Ssh . That might actually be possible, but just don’t mention it for now . 」

Hikaru knocked first before entering this time .

「Oh, hello there, Hikaru . What brings you here?」

The table had been tidied up and Katy stood there with arms folded . Her face was flushed, her eyes teary, but Hikaru decided to ignore it . He felt relieved that Katy had shame like the average person . It’s important to knock, I suppose .