After the Attack

After Adelyn came to the scene, the result of this fight was already concluded. I don't know if I ever mentioned that before but Adelyn herself is a 7-star mage, so she is pretty strong. And combined with her royal blood and her innate talent for magic, she can deal with enemies like this without batting an eye.

And, of course, I didn't miss this opportunity either.

The moment she showed up and started using her unique fire magic, I started observing her as well as the mana fluctuations around the environment.

And I have noticed several things.

Firstly, Adelyn is really proficient in her fire magic since she didn't use any chants and directed her fire like her own limb.

Secondly, the mana density in her core is really something else.

Although I can't see other people's mana with my [All Seeing Eye] right now, I can still sense it with my mana sense. And the mana in her core. It is very close to the 8-star mage's mana core, so I don't think it will take too long for her to reach that state.

Well, that was to be expected since, in the game, she reached that rank two years after Austin's death.

The last thing I noticed was how she directed her fire.

The way she was using her mana was a lot different from how I used it. Although it is very hard to conclude how she did that, I think I have some hypotheses about those.

But they still need to be tested to understand that better.

And overall, I can say that fight itself was really helpful to me in understanding how a 7-star mage uses the mana in her core and affect the environment.

Anyway, while she was burning those imposters alive, everyone was watching her from a distance.

The main cast, Arthur, Emma, Celia, Alicia, as well as me and Diana. We were all watching this, and as expected, our protagonist didn't have a good expression on his face. It seems he is still a good and heroic boy; he is dreaming in his bed. And the other three are not that different, either. Only me and Diana are unfazed in front of this scene.

And that is to be expected. Since Diana is not right in her head and she is also cruel like her mother, and for the case of me, there is no way I, Callius Augustride, would lose my composure over something this trivial. But this is, of course, not the case for those kids who think this world is some sort of playground. They are still little children who have yet to see the cruelty of the battlefield, so it is no wonder.

Well, enough with my ramblings. While Adelyn was dealing with those little discarded pawns, I heard Diana asking me.

"Brother, how did you know they were trying to abduct us?"

She asked while looking at me with a curious tone.

"Well, actually, that whole attack was pretty fishy, even from the beginning. I mean, why did they attack so blindly into the main branch of Celestia Church in our dukedom without any 8-ranks or 7-ranks? That was plain suicide.

After that, they summoned a monster, but that was when the knight commander showed himself, which led me to think they were trying to keep him busy.

Then, why were they trying to do that?

I speculated that they were trying to steal something from the church or just were trying to give a message, but later discarded that idea since those preparations require a lot of budgets and it won't be worth it if it is just for that reason, and I finally understood the reason later.

When we were attacked again with the explosions, but this time the explosions were not aimed at killing; no, they were aimed at separating people. However, how come we were at the point of separating? Shouldn't we already have been close to the main group?

Yes, we should have been. Any normal knight would do that and stick close to the main group, but those knights didn't. Even from the beginning, they could move us closer to Adelyn and other high-ranking knights, but they didn't. Which means they have the intention to separate us from the beginning.

And there is also the fact that they were excluding a huge amount of dark mana. I am surprised that you haven't sensed that, you know?

Anyway, those were the reasons why I concluded they were collaborating with enemies or they were part of the enemies themselves. Each way, it wouldn't matter since we were no match for them when it came to fighting, so I instructed you to inform Adelyn, and here we are."

I answered while explaining my logic. Although I can see Diana is still curious about something, which I presume is the magic I used, she is still a sensible kid not to ask that in front of all those people.

"Wow, brother. You really are something, aren't you? I would have never thought that even if I had thought for the whole day. And I don't know why but I can't sense any mana or any dark aura from them. It seems they were prepared for me especially."

She said while looking at Adelyn.

"ALL HAIL HODUR!"

"ALL HAIL HODUR!"

/BOOM/ /BOOM/

And while we were talking like that, suddenly those guys screamed, and following were a couple of explosions.

"But, brother, who is this Hodur, they have been calling? Do you know something about him?"

Diana asked with a curious tone. Well, it is not that secret either, so I can answer that question.

"I read in a book describing old gods, and there it was saying Hodur was the god of Darkness. But there wasn't any other information regarding that, but I have never heard of a group of people worshipping that god. Either they are a new group, or they have been hiding pretty well."

I answered back.

"I see. I will ask to master when I return to the Elven Kingdom later. Maybe she might know something about it."

She said, but at that time, we heard Adelyn coming closer.

"Knights, what is the situation with that monster in church?"

Adelyn asked the 7-star knight near us while looking around to see if there was any other enemy remaining.

"Duchess Adelyn, the knight commander, said that it won't take too long for him to defeat that monster, at most another 2 minutes. I sent some knights to check the landscape around to see if there are any other enemies left."

He reported back and saluted again.

"Good, we shall return to the mansion then; I am no longer in the mood for the ceremony or whatever. Also, contact the capital and inform the king about the attack."

She started instructing, and we started returning back to the mansion slowly and slowly.

And we weren't attacked again after that. It seems they used all of their resources, or they understood their plan was ruined, so they fled immediately. Either way, the road back to the mansion was pretty uneventful, and we reached there safe and sound.

However, if there is something wrong, then it is the constant ringing sound in my head. I mean, since I was subjected to a couple of explosions from a close range, even though I wasn't injured that hard, the sound had quite affected my head. And the result is this constant ringing sound.

Right now, I can understand why all those soldiers were traumatized. This ringing sound brings all those memories again and again. Well, aside from that, I don't have any problems, and it seems our main cast doesn't have any, either.

Well, if we exclude the little shakiness they are showing right now, but as I said, that was to be expected.

With that, we reached the mansion, and everyone went to their own respective rooms.

The guests, or should I say, people who were rescued from the attack by knights, were presented with a choice. Either they could stay in this mansion and leave tomorrow, or they could contact their household and leave as soon as possible. And almost everyone decided to leave.

That was to be expected since, although the troops of our dukedom dealt with that situation quite efficiently, the lingering feelings of fear were still there. So, it is no wonder most people chose to leave immediately.

With that, the only ones left in the mansion as guests were, of course, our main cast.

Arthur said that he wouldn't leave Emma in this state alone since her father's funeral was also ruined by those attacks, and the other two agreed to stay as well.

Adelyn said the funeral ceremony would be postponed or wouldn't be continued in public. Either way, she said she would inform us again.

And here I am in my own room, studying magic after taking a hot bath. It really helped me to relieve this constant tingling sound in my head.

However, of course, I wouldn't be left alone.

/KNOCK/ /KNOCK/

"Brother, can I come in?"

It seems our curious cat is finally here…