Positive little sun, magical girl, I am awesome

Lucas was still in a daze when he left Chloe's house.

"Why, Chloe? Why do you suddenly want to go back to Ozler?"

Lucas recalled their previous conversation, and he tried to comfort the terrified Chloe: "I also want to go home, but right now, Goredia City is the safest place for us."

“So what? Our homeland is in trouble, shouldn’t we do our part?” Chloe said more and more seriously, “Your academy sends people there every year, which means Ozler is short-staffed. I can do something too—”

“I can’t let you go there right now!” Lucas flatly rejected her idea: “You can never imagine how dangerous those monsters are until you actually face them.”

Although he always resented the impact the Duke of Bessup's family had on the sea people, he now had to admit that if they had stayed by the sea back then, his whole family would have been wiped out long ago.

“Besides, do you know how much money Fred charged Lilith?” Lucas lowered his eyelids. “I can’t just walk away with you like this. I… I don’t want to keep owing you a favor.”

When Koro heard her husband's name, she finally quieted down, staring at him intently with her eyes that resembled Lucas's.

The sound of dripping water came from the bathroom, which had its door half-open. The house seemed to be flooded. Lucas felt uneasy in the eerie silence and got up as if to escape: "I'll go check if it's leaking."

"You can't bear to!"

Lucas stopped in his tracks: "What?"

Koro's voice rang out sharply from behind, almost cracking: "You can't bear to leave your classmates, you want to be with them, with humans!"

The siblings parted on bad terms again, and even after Chloe pushed him out of the house, Lucas still couldn't understand why his sister had suddenly become angry.

Raindrops began to fall again, and pedestrians hurried along the road. Lucas wiped his face blankly. He had come to say goodbye to Chloe and tell her about his idea of ​​dropping out of school, but the conversation had veered off course...

Koro had something on her mind, but she didn't want to talk to him about it... The boy dejectedly wrapped the rope he had brought around his arm section by section, trying to clear his mind with familiar movements, but his head, which had been traumatized by the principal, was still like it was stuffed with wet cotton, unable to turn or wring it out.

"Never mind," Lucas shook his head. "I'll wait until he comes back from his holiday internship. Right now, I should pack my bags and wait to meet up with my friends to hear about my holiday plans."

Lucas was surprised to find that his companions hadn't returned by dinnertime.

……

Lilith and the others went out on horseback this time.

They set off on a clear morning after the rain, their destination being Fantawild Town outside the city of Goredia.

In recent years, the city of Goredia has experienced rapid commercial prosperity, which has also benefited the surrounding towns and villages, making them gradually more prosperous. Fantawild Town, a warehouse area jointly built by several large merchants, is quite lively and has gradually formed a new market where you can buy almost anything.

Because Hannah was preparing to return to her hometown, she planned to buy a batch of grain to take back with her. Lilith also had a purpose in coming here. She approached the most famous timber merchant in Fantawild Town and bought all of his Shadow Ironwood.

Shadow Ironwood is a precious wood native to the Gaia Empire. Its wood is harder than iron and has a unique toughness. It is also inert to elemental fluctuations and is not easily affected by moisture or warping. It is an excellent material for storing magical items or potion ingredients. The original bookshelves of the Mirror Lake Grand Library were made of this wood.

The library was destroyed during the fight between the headmaster and Zephyrion, and Lilith made a promise to Mr. Simon that she would definitely take action.

The craftsmanship of the dwarven artisans in the city is undisputed, but Blackrock Dorm does not produce this kind of wood, so Lilith had to find a way herself. Fortunately, the new trading district of Fantastic Town saved Lilith a lot of trouble.

"Tsk tsk, Lilith has another little secret."

Gardner couldn't help but click his tongue as he watched Lilith spend a large sum of gold coins without batting an eye. The group of friends spent almost all their time together, so when Lilith suddenly started buying timber, he naturally wondered what this troublemaker had been up to in secret.

"No! Nothing at all!" Lilith laughed guiltily. "It's just a tiny little trouble. I've been too busy these past few days to tell you... Well, a dragon accidentally destroyed the great library under Mirror Lake, so I'm here to buy some indulgences for him."

"Oh—" Lulu suddenly realized, "So the sudden magical fluctuations at the ball that night actually came from beneath Mirror Lake?"

Lilith nodded: "That's right."

The mages had long since forgotten the chaos of the ball night, and were now chattering about the black dragon's movements. Jaina, in particular, was worried about Lilith: "What about Miss Leila...?"

Lilith gets a headache just thinking about it. She said helplessly, "I really can't find a solution to this, so I can only keep it from Leila for now."

After saying that, she put her hands together in prayer and said, "So everyone, you all know what to do, right?"

"Tch! I knew it! Lilith did have a little secret!"

Gardner, leaning on his sword, laughed even louder, but ultimately said nothing to scare Lilith, only demanding that she shut him up with a delicious meal.

Ian, who had been standing quietly to the side, raised his head and looked at Lilith with eyes as dark as a deep pool, but the latter had already jumped to Hannah's side.

"I'm done here, what about you, Hannah?" Lilith peeked at the notes in Hannah's hand.

"I'm almost done too." Hannah checked her shopping list one last time. Flour, rye, and salt almost filled her storage ring. Even if her hometown was really affected by the war and there was no harvest, this should be enough for her family to get through the difficult times.

With that, today's shopping was basically over. The group spent half a day strolling around Fantawild Town and having lunch. Usually, they were either in the training grounds or the spellcasting classroom. It had been a long time since they had experienced such a bustling, peaceful place away from the magical world.

So when it was time to mount the horses and return to the city, everyone was in a good mood. The roads were muddy and difficult to travel after the rain, but fortunately, there was lush greenery everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of soil, plants and horses. As the procession gradually grew longer, Lilith simply loosened the reins and let the horses move forward at their own pace, while she focused her attention on her side.

The black-haired boy rode beside her, his posture as upright as ever, but he was even more silent than usual.

"Ian, what's wrong?" Lilith leaned forward and asked in a low voice, sensing that her partner's emotions were somewhat unusual.

Meeting Lilith's questioning and concerned gaze, Ian's eyes glazed over. After a while, he managed a forced smile: "Perhaps it's because my partner has too many secrets that I always worry about not being able to keep up with her pace."

"..."

Lilith felt a surge of guilt. Although Ian was quiet, he was not a careless person. These days, she had been hiding more and more secrets. As a partner who was always observing each other on the training field and entrusted each other with their backs, how could Ian not sense it?

“I’m so sorry, Ian…” Lilith glanced at her friends behind her, who were laughing and joking, and said softly, “I admit, I’ve been hiding something, but…”

Ian rode closer, and asked dejectedly, "Is it because you feel I can't help?"

"No!" Lilith immediately denied. "I just haven't sorted things out yet. Can I wait until I've figured it out? Once I understand, I'll definitely tell you everything. You're my guardian, of course you can help!"

“…Hmm.” Ian listened obediently to Lilith’s explanation, then lowered his head and stroked the reins, seemingly lost in thought.

As the two horses rode side by side too close, Lilith's horse began to snort restlessly and start shaking its head. Ian sighed almost imperceptibly, bent down, leaned over, and picked up the reins that Lilith had dropped, holding them in his own hand while simultaneously urging his black horse to step back half a step.

Ian's horsemanship was excellent; his movements were fluid and beautiful. Lilith was about to praise him when she heard her guardian straighten up and ask softly:

"So, did you end up with Lucas that night at the ball?"

Lilith was stunned: "Huh?!"

Recalling Lucas's unconscious and battered appearance, she quickly waved her hands, "No, I just happened to be there—"

Just then, a gust of wind swept in from the front of the road, carrying a familiar yet nauseatingly sweet smell, thick and pungent, which made Lilith, with her keen sense of smell, momentarily lose her sense of smell. She saw that Ian in front of her was in the same state.

Lilith frowned and slowly straightened her back on horseback.

The road turned ahead, connecting to the main road to Goredia, but the once clear path home was now submerged by a slow-moving, overwhelming expanse of white.

The Knight of Light riding a white horse, the white-robed monk chanting on foot, and the milky-white mist that permeated the air, almost solidifying into a tangible substance… it was Dream Cardamom. In Shelley Town, she would smell this fragrance, a symbol of blessings of light, every week.

Church of Light...

Lilith's expression gradually hardened. What were they doing coming to Gretia in such a grand manner?