I Thought It Was Just a Joke

They went to the Holy Church Building first to add Lavertis's name to their team.

Afterward, she purchased a lot of magic gear for camping at the campus mall, such as magic scrolls that unfolded to provide shade, or miniature lanterns made from substances extracted from magical flowers that could easily illuminate a large area at night.

Along the way, they ran into Velrose and Krulu.

Before the Time Reversal, these two students had a tragic romance. When the Flame Magical Beast awakened, they had turned to ash along with countless other lives.

This time, their relationship was not as close; they hadn't even become a couple yet.

Still, their feelings for each other were slowly but surely progressing.

However, if she were to treat Velrose as a girlfriend, Krulu would probably end up severely hurt.

Humans and magical beasts could not coexist. In fact, if anyone stayed too close to Velrose or Sathya for too long right now, their bodily functions would fail, and they would die.

This was all because of the miasma.

The breath exhaled by magical beasts was just like the breath exhaled by humans.

Except this breath was far more lethal.

Velrose could probably control it, which was why Krulu remained unharmed.

“Lady Sathya~”

“Mm.”

They exchanged glances, seemingly trading information, and then began to chat.

After a while, the four of them went to a high-end campus restaurant for a meal.

And so, Tina was dragged around by Sathya the entire day.

When night fell, Tina finally found an opportunity to investigate the Cardinal. She opened her dormitory window, planning to put on the Chaos Mask.

But before she could, the room door opened.

Sathya stood behind her, looking somewhat puzzled by her sudden action of opening the window and peering outside.

“Sister Tina, what are you doing?”

“I can't sleep.”

Tina feigned embarrassment, hiding her hands behind her back with a touch of shyness, looking like a child caught by her parents with a strange hobby.

But Sathya didn't buy it at all.

“You're still sick, yet you're wandering around. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”

She spoke sternly, carrying her over to the bed in the process.

“Wait...”

“Sister Tina, you smell so nice. Oh, you took a bath? Then you should definitely get some sleep. I brought you oatmeal, milk, grilled sausages, and toasted bread—I made them all myself. If you're too hungry to sleep, don't wander around, okay?”

Only then did Tina notice the small basket Sathya had brought. Lifting the white cloth, she found a fragrant late-night snack inside.

“Sathya, why are you being so good to me? Do you owe me something?” Tina's eyes dimmed.

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“We... we're only pretending to be girlfriends...”

“I believe in seeing things through to the end~”

“I don't need to be taken care of,” Tina said, a trace of displeasure in her voice.

“Don't you get tired? Taking care of someone who is completely worthless to you, who won't thank you, and who won't like you?”

“As long as it's Sister Tina, that's enough.”

“I... I hate you. I detest you...”

She wanted to drag Sathya out of the darkness, only to realize that Sathya might actually be the most brilliant light of all.

Every malicious rejection of hers was pierced right through the heart by Sathya's benevolent light.

Like poison.

During the latter half of the night, Sathya watched over her, and neither of them got much sleep.

In the final two hours, Tina decided to relax and closed her eyes.

When she woke up, she found that Sathya had already left.

The plates filled with food scraps had been cleared away. Stepping into the bathroom, the scent in the air told her that Sathya had taken a shower in her dormitory.

The scent on her always reminded Tina of the moments they had spent together.

Some words she didn't dare say to Sathya's face, yet now they slipped out of her mouth.

“Sathya, my Little Ya~”

“I was taken care of by you again today.”

“I love you so much. I hope you have a happy day today, too.”

...

Soon, the next day arrived.

There were thirty thousand students in total participating in the White Dusk Operation.

According to Tina's understanding and the information exchanged with Velrose, the Church would dispatch two Cardinals and a massive army of one hundred thousand knights to assist. However, this also meant that the operation would be extremely dangerous.

The White Dusk Forest was in the far north.

A distance of one thousand kilometers.

When some students asked how they were supposed to get there...

Whooshing sounds echoed across the sky, and the deep hum of magic engines resounded endlessly.

When those colossal giants pierced through the clouds and revealed themselves in all their majesty, everyone was left dumbfounded.

Sailing ships that should have been traversing the seas were floating in the sky. Their massive sails flapped up and down like wings, making them look like giant dragons soaring through the air.

These were the vessels known as the “Ice Dragon Airships.”

They were the crystallization of the world's technology, an airship fleet built through the joint efforts of the Tower of Stars scholars and various nations.

The Sarather family had also sponsored them, resulting in the Sarather family crest being painted across the sides of the airships.

Each ship could carry over ten thousand people. Their sheer scale was large enough to fill several soccer fields. Just landing on the ground snapped some of the more fragile trees. Their towering presence had some of the boys practically jumping with excitement, scrutinizing every detail of the airships.

This was a mode of transportation thousands of times more convenient than a carriage—a mechanical behemoth that commoners would usually only ever see in newspapers in their entire lives.

For the White Dusk Operation, the Church had dispatched seven Ice Dragon Airships.

Sathya's group was assigned to the top deck of “Ship No. 2.”

The top deck closely resembled an apartment building. Although it wasn't as spacious as their dormitory and only had a single level, every room had its own private bathroom and tearoom. Tina was already quite satisfied.

Sathya was originally assigned to a room further away from Tina's, but at her strong insistence, their rooms were swapped. Now, she and Tina were right across from each other.

She moved her prepared belongings into Tina's room, nearly filling it to the brim.

And then, something even more unbelievable to Tina happened.

As the airship began to take off, everyone outside gasped in awe at the spectacular sight.

Tina, however, was settled onto the bed by Sathya, who made sure to stay in the same room with her the entire time.

She had imprisoned her on the bed.

Bound with special chains, she was unable to get off the bed.

It was just like the kind of play one might see in certain games, but Sathya was dead serious.

Tina had originally thought it was just a joke. After all, Sathya had been constantly asking after her well-being during this time.

If she had any physical discomfort, she would receive immediate care.

To be more precise, she had completely lost her personal freedom. Even if she came up with any excuse, it would be instantly shot down with some other reasoning.

Over time, Tina simply gave up.

Honestly, she quite liked being treated this way...

To be pampered by Sathya, to be loved by her like this.

However, even she didn't know how long such a fragile relationship could last.