“I'm sorry...”
“It's fine, it's fine.”
“Really, I'm really sorry!”
“Sigh, how many times have you said that already...?”
“Ugh...”
“I-I'm sorry?”
Ain found it a bit hard to watch.
Why did this girl like apologizing so much?
No... actually, it did fit her personality quite well.
The wounds on Ain's body had already been cleared away with healing magic. He had known from the very beginning that Erylin wouldn't actually hurt him.
After all, she was the most perfect heroine in this game.
A helpless, bitter smile tugged at the corner of Ain's lips. He quickly reined in his emotions and refocused his attention on compounding the potion in front of him.
Seeing the silence stretch, Erylin's heart tightened. She instinctively thought her presence had shattered the peace, and the next “I'm sorry” was already rolling to the tip of her tongue.
But on second thought, the girl feared that speaking up again would only make him more annoyed. Thus, she could only bite her lower lip and force herself to swallow the apology back down.
Unwilling to let the awkward silence linger, Ain came up with a random topic and said casually,
“Ah, speaking of which, Erylin, the way you looked when you were crying just now...”
“It was really cute.”
“C-Cute?”
Was he... praising me?
“If you like it, I can cry for you again in the future.”
Ain: “?”
He thought she was joking, but seeing the dead-serious expression on the girl's face, Ain suddenly realized she might actually mean it.
“I-I'll cry really seriously!”
Looking at how fired up Erylin was, Ain was slightly dazed. For the first time, he felt that the girl in front of him was cute to the point of bursting.
He really wanted to adopt her...
The next second, Ain instantly snapped back to his senses and hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, no, no. If you do that, I'll probably be beaten to death by your fan club.”
Making the school idol cry carried far too much risk.
“W-We can do it where there's no one around...”
Erylin's voice grew softer and softer. She suddenly felt that these words were a bit embarrassing.
“I'll only cry for you...”
Ain's heart thumped wildly.
This, this, this! How could she be so cute?!
He really wanted to tease her a bit...
A place with no one around...
When the time came, would she really only be crying from her eyes...?
Ain's breath hitched.
He suddenly felt that his thoughts were a complete desecration of a goddess!
Ain! Ain! How can you be so filthy-minded?!
How could you have such fantasies about Erylin?! You deserve to die ten thousand deaths!
Looking once more at the girl's completely defenseless, innocent appearance, a wave of intense guilt washed over Ain's heart.
He forced himself to look away calmly, though in his mind, he had already pinned himself to a cutting board and committed seppuku to apologize countless times.
Fantasizing about anyone else is fine! But absolutely not Erylin!
Soon, Ain shook his head, tossing all those strange thoughts out of his mind.
“We'll talk about this later. Once I finish this bottle in my hand, we'll head out.”
On the laboratory desk, dozens of glass bottles were lined up neatly in front of Ain.
The bottles were filled with a dark gray liquid, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster under the dim light.
【Twilight Forest's Whisper (Modified)】
【Description: Legend has it that this was brewed by the elves at dusk, using the quietest fallen leaves and morning dew collected from the depths of the forest.】
【Effect: The user gains the “Presence Concealment” effect for two minutes. Creatures below Tier 2 will be unable to perceive the user's presence and mana fluctuations. Lowers the alertness of Tier 3 creatures. Creatures of Tier 4 and above will ignore this effect.】
A low-tier version of Twilight Forest's Whisper.
Because of the lack of key medicinal ingredients, the effect and duration of the potion Ain brewed were greatly reduced.
But at least it was usable.
As the last drop of potion was squeezed from the test tube and dripped into the container, Ain cleanly put down all his equipment. He quickly gathered the potions scattered across the table and stuffed them all into his potion bag.
The last bottle was finished.
“Alright, let's go.”
...
“The academy is involved too?!”
“It's a guess, just a guess. Most people in the academy are likely unaware. It's probably only someone at the Dean's level who is the true chess player.”
“Besides, the Dean shouldn't be the mastermind...”
In the original plot, the Dean had sacrificed her own life for nothing to protect the students, so how could she be involved in such a thing?
She probably had some unspeakable reason.
At night, the two of them made their final preparations on the outskirts of the Echo Forest.
Just moments ago, Ain had shared all his thoughts with Erylin. At the moment of confession, he had still been worried about whether she could bear the weight of it.
But the moment his gaze fell upon the girl, he realized her level of acceptance was actually much faster than he had imagined.
“You don't seem very worried.”
Erylin shook her head and said honestly, “If I were alone, of course I'd be scared...”
“But when I think about you being here, it doesn't feel that hard anymore.”
Ain shook his head.
“You think too highly of me.”
“I don't! Ain is really amazing! Really, really amazing!”
Being praised like this by the girl, a wave of pleasure welled up in Ain's heart.
“You really don't have to worry too much. Even if someone in the academy truly wants Lillian's life, it's definitely not a universal consensus.”
“Furthermore, how would they dare bring such underhanded schemes into the open?”
“Even if they really send people to stop me...”
A smile tugged at the corner of Ain's mouth, and a scale materialized in his hand.
【Tier 6 magical tool: Scale of Astral Judgment】
“As long as they don't send a Tier 6.”
As if recalling something, Ain added,
“No, even a Tier 6 won't do.”
Hearing Ain's words, Erylin couldn't have been more astonished. She looked at him with an expression as if she were looking at a monster.
“So you're a Tier 6 Mage?!”
Ain waved his hand and said, “How could that be? The spells I can use right now are only Tier 3. With Mordred around, I should have the strength of a Tier 4, but at the end of the day, I'm still only considered a Tier 3.”
“Then why...”
Seeing Erylin's confusion, Ain confidently held the scale out in front of her and said, “That depends on Lillian.”
“After all, a witch is also...”
“Who's over there?!”
Ain had intended to lay out his entire plan, but before he could finish his sentence, a sudden voice from not far away cut him off.
Damn it, this is still the outskirts of the Echo Forest. There should be academy instructors patrolling. How did I forget about that?!
No! I need to hurry...
“Ah! Instructor! I finally found you!”
Erylin suddenly called out, stepping in front of Ain. Under the moonlight, she ran toward the academy instructor step by step.
“Instructor! I want to help too!”
“As a member of the Typhon Chain, I absolutely cannot stand by and watch those monsters harm our academy!”
The instructor was clearly taken aback. He glanced behind Erylin, and after finding no one there, he finally sized up the girl in front of him.
“Oh! It's Erylin!”
“It's too dangerous here. You should quickly...”
Ain walked toward the Echo Forest step by step. The conversation between the two behind him was gradually stretched and stripped away, eventually dispersing into the wind.
He had already stuffed enough of the Twilight Forest's Whisper into Erylin's hands. As long as she wanted to enter, she could do so at any time.
But Ain wasn't going to wait for her.
From now on, time was money.
【Character Status】
【HP: Healthy】
【MP: 1331/1331】
【Current Usable Magic Tier: Tier 3】
【Positive Effect: Presence Concealment (Duration: 1 minute 29 seconds)】
【Negative Effect: Mana Leakage】
It looked like there was going to be a huge commotion tonight.
Rate on N.U.
