I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 707: Light of Hope (3)

"What on earth did you do?"

Marias couldn't understand the current situation.

The attack she had launched at Casey was threatening enough to surely cut off her breath.

That was absolutely an attack Casey couldn't block. Marias herself knew that better than anyone.

Yet Casey had blocked it.

At this moment, Marias instinctively realized that some great change had come over Casey.

"You, don't tell me."

Casey withdrew her outstretched hand and gazed at the mysteriously stopped iceberg with a strange expression.

"So this is what it was."

For colour mages, enlightenment wasn't theoretical and experience-dependent like it was for ordinary mages.

Their enlightenment was closer to something instinctive.

They feel and realize the essence of the element they handle, and finally master it.

Casey's situation was exactly like that right now.

She, who had grown greatly once through her fight with James Moriarty during her immature days, was now riding another upward curve through this fight with her sister in this holy war.

"I understood it in my head. That ultimately, ice and water are all the same thing. But my heart was different, I guess. I was unconsciously thinking that the power my sister uses is superior to mine."

The decisive trigger that shattered that notion was the scent of water that had drifted from afar.

The deep parts of the distant ocean. The clear fragrance that could only be felt in the deep sea.

She realized too late that this was the same as what wafted from the iceberg Marias was using.

"In the end, it's all the same thing."

-Tap.

Casey's index finger touched the sharp tip of the iceberg.

The iceberg crumbled like sand from the tip and scattered across the floor with a rustling sound.

It was very finely ground ice particles.

Marias was quite surprised to see this scene.

Casey had not only interfered with her power but had begun to freely manipulate it with control.

"Like this."

When Casey waved her hand, the ice particles turned into water and then disappeared as if evaporating.

But they hadn't completely disappeared. They had simply become water vapor so fine it was hard to see with the naked eye.

"It can also be like this."

What had become water vapor gathered again in the air to become ice, and that melted into water.

Just by changing the molecular structure, water could become ice, and just by breaking down that structure, ice could become water.

Casey vibrated the molecules.

The violently shaking water soon bubbled and boiled, turning into hot water.

The power of Marias that Casey had thought was a superior version until now was actually the opposite.

Ice was, in the end, just one form that water possessed.

She had simply been looking at it with the wrong perspective, influenced by the pressure of having an older sister and emotions she'd held since childhood.

Her power had always been the same. What had changed was only the perspective with which she viewed it.

Casey felt like her self from a minute ago was foolish.

That's how people are.

At some point, they suddenly realize, grow, and change.

And looking at their past selves, they bitterly voice regrets, wondering why they were like that back then.

But that's what made them human.

People who could become better.

"Sister?"

Casey smiled as clearly as refreshing water.

For some reason, Marias thought her younger sister's smile was ominous.

"We have quite a lot to sort out, don't we?"

"Hmm. Little sister? This older sister is currently under mind control, you know."

"Don't worry. I wouldn't actually kill my sister, would I?"

Clearly, her body should have been under mind control and out of her control.

But Marias' body trembled with fear.

Rene pondered what she should do.

What should she do? And what could she do?

For someone as young as her, this battlefield was far too harsh an environment.

However, Rene had experienced many things so far. She had experienced events that could truly be called harsh compared to her peers.

And she had overcome them all.

Perhaps it was because of the courage that gave her? Rene held not just the thought, but the conviction that she could do it this time too.

It wasn't because she had awakened her power to see the future.

Nor was it because of her spatial magic power that could leap across continents if she set her mind to it.

Rene knew well that she couldn't do anything alone.

The reason she had been able to overcome all the difficulties so far wasn't because she was exceptionally outstanding.

It was simply because someone had helped her.

That she had just been lucky.

Rene had kept this fact deep in her heart from then until now.

That's why even now she could make various choices with an open mind.

The choice to ask Julia Plumhart for help.

"What are you talking about?"

"We can't fight among ourselves. You know too, right? That what we truly need to worry about is a different future."

"What exactly are you trying to do that you're asking for help?"

"I'm going to persuade them."

"Persuade?"

"Yes. That child who was the teacher's assistant, Sedina, right? I'm going to persuade her and the priestess sisters to stop fighting."

"Are you completely insane?"

"Can you help me?"

Julia closed her mouth.

She too was genuinely worried about Sedina. If there was a way to avoid fighting, that would be better.

She didn't want to experience losing someone precious anymore.

"The longer the choice is delayed, the more intense the fighting will become."

"...But how?"

"Right now they're not fighting each other because of the Cryptids. But in a little while, the number of Cryptids will decrease."

"What?"

"I can see it. Over there, a large beastman male is fighting with the monster that creates Cryptids. That's when the opportunity will come."

Julia neither doubted nor denied what Rene was saying.

Didn't she already know that Rene possessed the power to see the future when she entered her dreams?

"I'll try to persuade them then. This is also for everyone's sake."

"...Sigh. I don't know."

Even as Julia said this, she didn't object to Rene.

In the end, she had agreed to help.

Rene showed a faint smile at this.

"Hey."

"What."

"When the war is over, would you like to go somewhere fun? You, me, and that child called Sedina, all together. It would be nice if we became friends with each other."

"Tell me after everything's over."

It was a curt response, but since she knew it wasn't exactly a rejection, Rene nodded.

"It's now."

As Rene said, the number of Cryptid forces that had been surging like waves suddenly decreased.

Rene immediately grabbed Julia's hand and activated her familiar's power.

The familiar glowed and transported the two of them to another location, right between Sedina, who was catching her breath while blocking the Cryptid offensive, and the three priestesses.

"You!"

Sedina and the priestesses, who recognized Rene and Julia respectively, were startled.

Before questions about why they were here and how they got here could fly, Rene struck first.

"Please stop fighting. There's no need for us to fight among ourselves."

"What are you talking about!"

The one who reacted most intensely was Sedina.

Her eyes, filled with anger, glared at Rene.

"You came all the way here and even burned down the sacred tree, and you think we'll just let it go if you say that?! If you were going to say such things, you shouldn't have come at all!"

Sedina was right.

The priestesses also recognized this, so they were on high alert, not knowing when Sedina might attack.

It was Julia who stopped Sedina then.

"Sedina. Stop."

"Julia..."

"You know well that there's nothing to gain from fighting among ourselves here. And those priestesses and the saint are different from ordinary cult members. More precisely, they're from a different faction."

Thanks to Julia's persuasion, Sedina calmed her anger for now.

Sedina threw a look at Rene that said to go ahead and try.

Like Rene, who had experienced many things, Sedina too had experienced many things.

That's why she was at least willing to listen to what she had to say.

"Fighting among ourselves here would be a huge loss of power. Even if we don't join hands, we should at least avoid fighting."

"How can we trust you? That fake saint tried to kill the teacher from the start."

"That's not true. Sister Catherine only did that because she had business with Brother Heathcliff. That wasn't her true intention."

Sedina's eyebrows twitched slightly at the words "Brother Heathcliff," but she didn't react further.

"What are you sisters thinking of doing?"

Rene asked the priestesses.

The priestesses exchanged glances as if troubled but the range of choices they could make wasn't wide.

Above all, the eyes of Rene, who was looking at them and asking, were the same color as their eldest sister Catherine.

"Sedina. Let's go."

Julia grabbed and led Sedina away.

"Julia."

"You know too. That even the slightest help is precious to us right now."

Sedina bit her lips tightly. Julia's words weren't wrong.

She didn't like Rene, but she had to acknowledge the usefulness of her power in this situation at least.

"So, what should we do now?"

"We need to gather more people."

Rene said this while looking at the priestesses.

"And we need to save more people."

Alex saw people appearing from the sky along with light.

It was a faint and blurry afterimage, but not so much that he couldn't distinguish it.

Moreover, the warm energy seeping into his wound, from which life force was draining in real time, was telling him that this was not an illusion.

"This is...?"

Something warm filled his belly.

The warmth in his body circulated, and his pale lips and complexion returned to normal.

The excruciating abdominal pain that had felt merely distant disappeared.

Alex examined his belly with eyes that had regained focus.

The wound was gone.

Only the torn, blood-stained protective gear and exposed skin remained, proving that there had been a wound just moments ago.

Enya was equally surprised.

She, who had reached the threshold of despair thinking she couldn't save Alex, couldn't close her gaping mouth seeing Alex fully recovered from his wounds.

"A-Alex. You..."

"Am I alive?"

It was a priestess wearing a tiara who spoke to the confused Alex and Enya.

"You'll need to rest for a while."

It was what Priestess Hapinya, who had been treating wounded people in the rear, said.

"Since it was a wound made by holy power, the treatment is complete, but you've lost too much blood and your physical condition isn't good. Still, thanks to your strong body as a knight, there won't be any aftereffects, but immediate combat would be too much."

There wasn't just one priestess.

Remla, Janis, Anisha, Ariel, Lucia, Camilla, Sophia, and others, all the priestesses had gathered in one place.

It wasn't just priestesses.

From Verom, who had been fighting the priestesses, to Julia and Sedina.

It was Rene who had gathered them all in one place.

And it was Rene who had flown here again with spatial magic and saved him using the priestesses' power.

"What on earth is all this?"

Terina couldn't hide her bewilderment at the series of groups that had appeared by leaping through space.

"Huh? That kid is..."

Aidan's eyes widened as he recognized Rene.

"What? You know her?"

"She's a first-year Theon student who takes the same class as me."

"What? But why is she with the priestesses?"

"I don't really know either."

How should he put it?

Originally, Rene had been a student who stood out in various ways, but seeing her now, she definitely felt different from before.

Whether it was because of her awakening due to the Judgment Eye, or because of various events in the meantime, he didn't know.

But Rene had an invisible power that captivated the hearts of the people in this place.

Everyone's attention focused on Rene without anyone telling them to, as if it were natural.

Rene thought she knew why people's gazes had gathered on her.

Originally, Rene had already given off a unique atmosphere with her Judgment Eye power, but after something awakened in the castle just moments ago, Rene had completely awakened her Judgment Eye.

Even if she couldn't understand it with her head, she could know it with her heart.

That the source of this power had awakened, and that proper succession of power had thus been established.

At the same time, she had also come to handle spatial attribute magic, so the more perceptive and skilled someone was, the more they would instinctively feel that Rene was not an ordinary person.

In fact, Rene's contribution to gathering people here was significant.

The priestesses too were beings whose power originated from fragments of the saint, so Rene's words, which held the source of that power, had authority equivalent to that of a saint.

"Please listen to what I have to say."

Rene caught her breath and opened her mouth.

Then Alex raised his hand high.

"Look, I'm grateful that you saved me, and I'm sorry for suddenly interrupting the flow in this situation. But I believe there's still a problem we need to solve."

"...Right. There was something left."

Terina also nodded, agreeing with those words.

The ones who had brainwashed and controlled the Night Crawler Knights, including Enya, were not far away.

The cardinal and his escort.

They would have suffered considerable damage due to the forced breaking of the brainwashing by Aidan and Madeline’s fusion anti-magic, but they weren't completely neutralized.

No one knew what those guys might do if they regrouped while time was being wasted here.

But fortunately, what they were worried about didn't happen.

"Are you talking about those guys?"

At the voice coming from the air, everyone's gazes turned in that direction.

Black crows were flocking together, and above them stood a dark mage in the form of a young boy riding a large crow.

"I took care of them on the way here. They weren't in normal condition, so it was easy."

-Thud.

What Cravat threw on the ground as proof was a holy relic that appeared to have been used by the cardinal.