Chapter 64
"Gasp, a way!"
"There's the great purification sorcerer of the north who helped hatch the spirit beast, right?"
"......"
"Of course that person could purify it if they entered that subspace, yeah?"
"I, I dunno......"
"Daaaang it! We gotta find where that person is! Are they still in our castle? They haven't left, right? Darn it!"
Iri wanted to tell Seraphin seriously.
They're right here, Seraphin.
That person. Right here.
Seraphin was now muttering like Jekyll and Hyde.
"No, wait. Even that person might not be able to do it. Seraphin, maybe only I can do it!"
"......"
"No, no. That person might figure out a way!"
As Seraphin wailed, various worries floated around in Iri's head.
A few plans formed and vanished.
*'Just me and Cookie alone would be tough!'*
But in the end, Iri found a way.
A method that was perfect except for *just one* thing!
* * *
Meanwhile, Declan Ortejo had arrived at the northern plains.
He closed his eyes while examining the dead crow corpses, then opened them again.
"Does that mean the magi appeared suddenly?"
"Yes, that's correct."
After finishing his conversation with the villagers, Declan had gathered all their testimonies.
"One day, out of nowhere, a flock of mad crows appeared!"
The moment he heard all their accounts, his expression twisted.
*'An eerie sense of déjà vu.'*
It was similar to the time Olivia died.
"A flock of mad crows suddenly swarmed Lady Olivia! She nearly got swept away."
Crows again?
A flock of crows appearing suddenly from the sky.
People eroded by magi, afflicted with Magi Stasis Syndrome.
Everything resembled Olivia's incident too closely.
Declan muttered with a twisted smirk.
"Why, after five years, is something like this happening again all of a sudden?"
Raspin stayed silent.
Declan frowned, staring at the darkened soil.
"Repeated coincidences can't be coincidences, right?"
Raspin's face paled. As if wanting to ask if there was a force deliberately spreading magi in the north.
"We can't be certain of anything yet. Stay calm."
Declan scanned the ground again, where all the monster crows had vanished, leaving only magi.
After a short while, something caught his eye: a silver whistle.
The pristine whistle looked artificially placed, as if someone had deliberately dropped it there.
Raspin said in wonder.
"Wow, this is a crow-calling whistle. They don't use these much anymore. Totally old-school design."
"......Is it?"
"Yes."
Declan picked it up and examined it closely, then let out a scoff.
"Crow-calling, huh...... Does that mean someone herded the flock all the way here?"
"Could be, or not. Maybe someone dropped it by accident, or on purpose."
"For now, it points to the possibility of someone deliberately spreading magi. Right?"
Unlike the one who'd told him to stay calm, he muttered a curse.
"Giving hints to piss me off."
No way they'd leave it this blatantly.
Veins bulged on his neck, and he ground his teeth so hard his jaw clenched.
Right then, as Raspin pocketed the whistle as evidence.
"Shall we investigate the nearby villages?"
"......Yeah."
But strangely, unlike usual, a sharp pain tugged at the nape of his neck, as if someone was about to smack the back of his head.
"D-DecLan-nim? Why the sudden change?"
"Nothing."
He didn't know how to explain the intuition.
"Just feels like someone's about to cause trouble."
A father's hunch is always powerful.
Right now, the children—no, the 'self-proclaimed child heroes'—were causing a massive incident.
* * *
That afternoon.
Iri suddenly summoned Seraphin.
Seraphin, who had been moping, scurried to Iri's room.
But Iri wasn't there.
Instead, five boys had gathered in Iri's bedroom.
"What? Aren't you guys the seasoned instructors I saw at Iri's powerful...... uh, m-mental training session?"
Iri's friends rescued from the Magic Tower.
The monster hybrids Sual, Belze, Lirid, Dinan, plus Karhen from earlier.
"Why are you here?"
"Lady Iri summoned us!"
"XX so exciting, no, XX very exciting."
"What?"
"I don't know either, for some reason."
As Sual, Belze, Lirid, and Dinan chimed in, even greater doubt filled Seraphin's mind.
*'What the heck? Is this kid up to something?'*
As if to resolve his doubts.
Iri appeared, wearing a pure white veil over her head.
"Everyone, hiya!"
Seraphin immediately blurted out.
"Why'd you call us?"
"I called you 'cause I got important stuff to say-mida!"
Iri spoke very smartly, just as planned with Cookie.
"Everyone, listen to me real good from now on-mida."
In truth, the basis of Iri's 'White Knight Order Rescue Plan' was this.
[‘The World's Strongest Hero’ Iri's Purification Status Window!]
2-star: Light ‘Tree’
■■□□□
[Special Ability!]
-Can imbue 1-star purification power into a specific ‘entity’.
*'Imbue purification power into a specific ‘entity’ and hand it over!'*
But she absolutely needed others' help for the handing over part.
*'Because I can't approach directly!'*
The problem was that Iri was currently hiding her powers.
To get their help, she had to reveal she was the great purification sorcerer.
But the elder had told her not to reveal her identity.
After brainstorming with Cookie, Iri decided on a new direction.
It was none other than......
"I, I just met the great purification sorcerer-mida."
Seraphin tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"J-Just now. That person told us how to save the White Knight Order-mida!"
Seraphin's eyes widened instantly.
"Whoa, really? Th-that person? But how'd you meet them?"
Iri tossed out the excuse she'd barely squeezed out for Seraphin.
"......Just walking in the hall and bumped into 'em-mida. They even waved hi-mida."
Cookie sent a sigh via telepathy.
[You think this'll work? Would anyone fall for that?]
But Iri was a child.
Her brain wouldn't roll any other ideas.
Iri stared at Seraphin, super tense.
Seraphin fixed his trembling gaze on Iri.
"Wow! Amazing! I walk the halls training every day—why don't they appear to me?"
Seraphin was an idiot.
A pretty tremendous one, too......
As Seraphin's words ended, the other monster hybrid boys whispered.
"Totally XX cool, right?"
"If Lady Iri who found us met them, makes sense!"
Iri felt a bit confused, but was relieved things were going according to plan.
"Th-Then, do you know what mission that person left for us?! Everyone!"
"Wh-what is it?"
Seraphin's ears perked up.
Iri recited 'adult-like words' just as Cookie taught her.
"That person wants our 7 Musketeers' heroic deeds and gave each of us a ‘mission’-mida!"
"Ooo......!"
"Ooooo!"
"B-But what's 'samyeong'?"
Adult words were hard for not just Iri, but other kids too.
Iri explained in kid language.
"It means exactly what we gotta do-mida!"
