A short spear with a red braided cord was held in the hand of the figure that emerged from the bend.
　In front of Felinella and the others, the woman raised her voice in a mixture of doubt and astonishment and lowered the cutting edge of the short spear.

''You are the one, Kalia-san!　Shouldn't the First Academy of Wizards have been investigating a more remote location?

　Illumina put the AWR back in its sheath and asked dubiously. Of course, the look on her face was surely somewhat relieved.
　Before you can answer that, Kalia looks behind the girls and seems to have gotten a general idea of the situation.

''There were some injuries. So how are the wounds?

　Without changing a single expression, Kalia resumed her steps. Wearing an air of familiarity with the outside world, she nonchalantly went out to check the necessary matters.
　When Karia and Felinella's gazes met, she nodded as if her bad premonition had come true.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what to expect when you are in a place where the second magical academy is not even in charge of investigating, and the situation where people are injured is not to be guessed at.

It's a good thing that you're not the only one seriously injured. It's difficult to continue the operation. We're retreating.

　Felinella reported briefly, but some remorse was evident on her face. Kalia read this and chose to reassure her, "You're in luck," he said, "You're in luck.

'Use this. I left more than half of it with the troops but it has some painkillers in it.

　Seeing that the wound had been treated, the medical equipment Kalia had on hand didn't help much.

'You can use whatever you have that looks useful. Our troops will be catching up soon, so we'd better change the bandages there as well.

　Kalia handed the entire pouch to Seniat, who was tending to the wounded man's condition. You can't help but notice the lack of gentleness in this gesture. I'm not sure that the situation is going to get any better, even if people around me are getting impatient.
　Kalia continued.

''I agree with you about the retreat, or rather, my troops are just getting together in a retreat.
"--!　Mr. Kalia's place is wounded too!

　Felinella asked if it was okay to give her limited medical equipment, but Kalia shook her head.

'This one's only a minor injury, but...'

　Swallowing the words once, Kalia glanced behind Ferinella - to the wounded.
　It was a consideration that it would be best not to let them hear too much.

　The first thing that comes to mind when Ferinella hears Kalia's intentions is that she is relieved to be able to get out of the current situation for the time being. Now they could safely return home. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

'Thank you,' bowed Felinella deeply. It made me acutely aware of my inexperience and deeply grateful at the same time. If I could have lowered my head, I would have lowered it as much as I could. There is no way you can weigh the lives of your friends.
　But Karia, with a face as if she had bitten down on a bitter worm, said, "It's fine," while rubbing her neck in a lazy way.

I have to head towards the direction of the scream. We've defeated a few demons along the way, so we should be able to meet up with them soon.

　In the meantime, multiple footsteps could be heard echoing back and forth. It wasn't long after that that the troops of the First Magic Academy showed themselves.



　◇ ◇ ◇

'So, Mr. Currier, to continue what we were talking about earlier...'

　As she ran, Felinella threw a few words to Kalia, who was running alongside her.
　She and the others watched both troops meet up and immediately headed to the rescue, aiming for the spot where the scream came from. Felinella also had a desire to head to help if her troops were able to retreat safely. The choice to discard is a normal part of the world, but it is also human nature to pick up both when there is no longer a need to discard.

　In no small part, Felinella was that kind of person.

　However, it's not like Felinella followed me around on her own accord. No, it's true that I offered it, but it's also true that Kalia asked for my cooperation. Of course, I nodded immediately with two replies.

　With Kalia's instructions, Phililic promised to send them off responsibly, and both troops began their return trip to retreat.
　Kalia has the map, and Seniat is the retreating group.

　Kalia herself also felt that she had to share the retreat with as many troops as possible. On the way to the rescue, she also wished she could meet up with Felinella if possible.
　Kalia pulled her chin back once fearfully and opened her mouth as if to say why.

'There are demons inside the deposit that are at least too much for our troops to handle. To be precise, it's a demon that requires a deadly resolve.
--!

　This mission, even if it wasn't safe and secure, no demon was supposed to be required to have such a preparedness.
　Strictly speaking, it's probably a preparedness that's required when you go out to the outside world, but it can't be a mission where you're just going to be overrun like a discarded piece of equipment.

　In other words, that's the main reason why Kalia ordered the retreat. In addition, she has been given a private mission by Jean.

''Then, Karia-san's prediction is that the result confirms what Jean-sama had feared.

　The one who interrupted me with that voice was the other companion - Illumina. She too was following Kalia on her way to the rescue.
　The retreating merging forces had more strength than necessary, and it could be said that it was enough for Filiric alone. In the first place, the troops of the First Magic Academy could function adequately without including Karia. Since Karia joined later, she was not the captain.
　Therefore, it seems that Illumina, who has no trouble with the battle, has decided to help here. Naturally, Kalia also watched Illumina's matches at the Seven Nations Friendship Magic Tournament and she probably judged that she was perfect in terms of strength. It was helpful, he said.

　The three of them were advancing in the direction of the voice for the first time - but.

''Felinella-san, I only have a rough idea of the direction in terms of distance.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them. The two of them had an idea of the source of the sound to the extent that they didn't even need to probe with magic.

　Of course, Felinella was immediately probed with unstable magic, but her choice was halfway decided around narrowing down the source of the scream. She couldn't take the risk of being destroyed.

　Leading the way, Felinella stopped at the mysterious room she passed to join the Fourth Academy of Magic, the Pocket.

''Right here,'' Kalia guessed without checking.
　The back of the dimly lit passageway was clearly different from any of the passageways inside the deposit, and she must have sensed something unusual.

　However, as if to discourage Kalia's departure, Felinella added.

''Karia-san, this place, but it's a room [pocket] that isn't marked on the map. And we don't even know where it leads to. Maybe there's a mistake on the map. It's very likely that it leads to an unexplored section of the map, which is a long way down the road.
..........

　Kalia turns her narrow, thoughtful eyes over her shoulder.
　She seems to have several circumstances that Felinella and the others cannot know about, and she looks back with a divine face that seems to have come to a point, or has come to a point.

'Hey, Mr. Felinella. I said we had a disagreement as geologists before I started my mission.

　Felinella and Illumina nodded silently. The warning of a few hours ago was naturally fresh in their minds. Rather, it was impossible to forget the shocking warning. It was enough to remember every single word.

　Looking at the two of them, Karia stepped into a new route that suddenly appeared with the words thrown out - an uninvestigated passage. With a cautious, probing gait, she went deeper and deeper into the depths of the dim hole.

　The bottom of the hole - no wonder it felt that way. It wasn't complete darkness due to the suspiciously glowing mithril, but the light was disorienting. We could understand that we were moving forward, but it would be terribly ambiguous whether we were going straight or meandering, up or down.

　If I could, I'd run through it.
　I can barely even walk along the wall with my hand on the wall. The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that it's a very good idea to be able to have a good time.
　At that time - suddenly.

　Blurting out, the lead Karia resumed her explanation. Whether it was the deposit or the influence of mithril, his voice was low, yet strangely clear and audible to those following him.

'You said earlier that you didn't know where it led,'
'Yes, sir. It's not even marked on the map, but it was mislabeled as a passageway, not unsurveyed, so it's not supposed to be there.
Does Mr. Kalia know?

　In the end, Illumina flew a question that went to the heart of the matter, but Kalia didn't show a twitch of reaction and answered plainly.

''I don't know. But perhaps.........

　Kalia, who had been walking ahead, stopped, followed by Felinella, who looked ahead and saw a pathway that had been widened. It was darker at one point, but still recognizable for sure.

'Down! And Felinella's strong mouth unconsciously spun those words.