Kurt!　Over here!

　I was running around the school building when I suddenly heard a voice in front of a room.
　It's Maryse.

　Avril and I twisted the doorknob, walked in and immediately closed the door.
　At the same time, we locked the door with magic so that no one could get in from the outside.

What's going on here?
Kurt, can you tell us what's going on?
The people outside ...... are all after Cynthia and the others .......

　When I entered the room, Lara, Marise and Cynthia were there.
　When I entered the room, Lara, Marise and Cynthia were there.

First of all, ...... just to be sure, are you sure that everyone in this room is from the Rosangrila Academy of Magic who came to the Empire?

　Lara and the others moved their heads in response to my question.

　Apparently, this room was originally assigned to Lara and Marise as their bedroom.
　Not only Lara and the others, but also thirty people from King's Landing were gathered there.

"Next, Marise. Can you explain the situation to me?
"Yes, sir.

　Marise stroked her hair as she began to speak, trying to remain calm.

After Kurt told me, I immediately looked for Lara, who was still testing her mettle. It was not long before I found her,...... and as I was doing so, I heard a loud noise in the basement,...... and when I thought it had stopped, people began to come into the school building in droves.
Just to be clear, you're not a student of Disalia, are you?
I'm sure of it. They're clearly not students by the looks of them, and their magic power is of a different quality. Each and every one of them seemed to be quite a skilled magician.

　So the main force of the empire has raided the school building.
　They're probably just like Messiah.

　Marise covered her mouth with her hair as she continued.

There were a couple of engagements. I was able to keep up with Lara and Cynthia because they were there, but ...... there's no end to it.
So you gathered everyone together and ran to this room?
Yes. Obviously, this is an unusual situation. It seems that everyone has noticed.

　Marise turned to the others and said.

"Mm, okay. Thank you, Marise. I think it was the right call.
I'm relieved to hear you say that.
And that warding spell you cast on the room was quite impressive. The warding magic in the room was very good, the concealment magic was very good, the people outside must not even know that there are people in here.
Cynthia ...... did it.

　Cynthia proudly proclaimed.

"Hey, hey!　I'm sorry!　I was very active in the fight against the people outside.

　I'm not sure if she was jealous, but Lara puffed out her cheeks to show off.
　I patted her on the head as a compliment.

　Well.
　I had to re-establish the wards when I came in here.
　It would be difficult for the people outside to know that Marise and the others were here.
　Even if they did notice, they wouldn't be able to unlock the spell and get inside.

　But.

"Lara, Marise, Cynthia. Listen to me.

　I lowered my voice a notch.

"This warding will be breached soon. It's only a matter of time before people start coming in.
Kurt, you put up these wards?
Yeah.

　In the first place, no matter how many wards I put up, the door ...... and walls of this room are nothing special.
　If you pry it open with all your might, there's a good chance the magic lock will be blown off.
　However, if I were you, I could put up a ward around the entire room, including that,......, but I don't want to devote that much magic to the fight ahead.
　The more you move away from the sorcerer, the more magic power you need and the more difficult it is to control.

The Empire's goal is to annihilate us.

　I'm not sure if it's to keep my mouth shut or if I'm just running off the rails, but ...... I'll continue.

So I want to ask Lara and the others. I think it's a good idea to just stay in the room. Unless something happens, the wards won't be broken. But another suggestion I have is to escape from ...... the school building here.
You mean from here?
Yes. Sooner or later they'll figure out that Lara and the others are here. We have to move and outsmart them before then.

　The Imperials are thinking.
　Aside from me, the rest of the students are too confused to even get out of the building .......

　We know from detection magic that the front of the school gate is sealed off. It's not easy to get out from inside.
　Well, I thought about using transference magic, but there are counterspells all over the place to block that. There was a possibility that the magic formula would be distorted and we would be transported to a completely different and dangerous place.

　That's why they're looking around the school building so hard.



"Then I'll go outside the building. They'll get more distracted, and it'll be easier to do what I'm about to do. They may still find us, but it will be slower than if we stay here. If I can buy enough time, I'll take care of the rest. By then, you can go and finish him off and go help Lara and the others.
It's a good idea, but how are we going to get out of this building when the ...... school gates are blocked?

　Marlies asks.
　I've got an idea.


"We can use the hidden passages in the basement.


What?
There's an underground maze here at Disalia Academy. I just went there to check it out, and it seems to be connected to the outside as well.

　To make matters worse, the underground mazes are so large that one of them leads to the castle.

Kurt knows everything, doesn't he?
How do you know so much about ......
Kurt...... knows everything......

　Lara, Marise and Cynthia opened their mouths.

　So.
　I've known about this for one(0)(0)(0)(0)(0) years.

　Even a thousand years ago, I knew there was a huge underground maze under the Empire.
　I heard that it was ...... created by the nobles using magic as an emergency escape.

　From the looks of it, they don't seem to be aware of it.
　They may eventually notice it, but ...... by then, Lara and the others will have left the school and will be scattered throughout the city.

　When I entered the basement of the Great Library, I was convinced that the maze was still there.
　And if I'm right, the entrance isn't only in the Main Library. There are other entrances to the hidden passages.
　We can use them to fool the Empire.

"...... after all is said and done. So what do we do?　We can stay here. Or do you want to go with my plan and get out of the building?　It's up to Lara, Marlies, Cynthia ...... and everyone else to decide.

　I turned to the others and asked.

　To be honest, I thought many of them would choose to stay in this room.
　Even if we go through the underground passages that the Imperials are unaware of, the danger is still hidden.

　But here's what I didn't expect.

"Yeah. ......!　Kurt's right, I'll go outside. I don't want to get in Kurt's way.
I don't want to drag Kurt down." "If Kurt says it's better, then it's better. It's a little scary, though. ......
Cynthia ...... believes Kurt ......, was always right.

　Everyone has been braver than we thought.

　It wasn't just Lara and the others.
　Everyone in the room nodded strongly.

I'm proud of you.

　I'm so proud to have met such wonderful friends at .......

　Now that that's settled, let's go.

"Guys, I'll use mine, but each of you can use your own cloaking magic. Then we'll split up and go. It'll be safer than having all thirty of us moving together.

　I've already found the other entrance to the underground passage.
　The diner where we all had dinner.
　I saw it while we were eating.
　It's close from here. I'm sure it won't take more than a minute to run, but there's no point if they find us before then.

"What about Kurt?

　Lara looks me straight in the eye and asks.

I'm going to take the underground passage to the imperial castle of Chenevale.

　And to that I replied.