The serrated pouch slowly approaches. Fortunately, it’s not moving at a fast speed, but I’ll be devoured if it doesn’t stop soon.

I clenched my fists and shouted the first sentence that came to my mind, enunciating each word.

“Stop.”

No, this doesn’t feel right. I need to put more desperation into it.

“Stop!”

… It’s not working. In the moment it hesitated, the serrated pouch crawled to about twenty steps away from me.

I took a deep breath and shouted once more.

“Don’t move!”

Now it’s ten steps away. But there was still no sign of my command working. Now, it’s slowly getting dangerous.

“I said stop!”

It doesn’t stop. Now five steps, four steps, three steps.

‘Why isn’t my command working?’

I bit my lip. But I didn’t back down.

Get it together. There’s nowhere to retreat to. Right now, I’m the only one who can protect myself.

Now, one step away. A huge green mouth with sharp teeth opens right in front of my nose.

‘If I don’t stop it now, I’ll be swallowed by that mouth!’

My palms were drenched in cold sweat. My heart pounds as if it’s about to leap out of my throat at any moment.

Anxiety, impatience, and defiance swirl in my chest. Pressing down all of those feelings, I put all my strength into spitting out the words that are most vividly swirling in my head at this moment.

“Sit―!!”

In an instant, I had a feeling.

It was similar to the sensation I felt when I had just launched off a springboard, or when I jumped to break a wooden board suspended in the air during Taekwondo.

The conviction that I can clear this springboard, that I can perfectly split that wooden board in two.

And my premonition… always hits the mark.

Kwaaang―!

Just before the pointed teeth pierce the top of my head, the serrated pouch’s head violently smashes into the ground.

“… Urk.”

My fingertips start trembling. I could clearly feel it. What stopped this carnivorous monster was none other than my own power!

I slowly inhaled and exhaled. Excitement swirls at the crown of my head.

To the point that my cheek, which was grazed by the monster’s teeth when it collapsed, doesn’t hurt at all.

“Lady Shuria!”

“Oh no, our Topni!”

Romie and Sek, who were watching from beyond the glass wall, hurriedly ran out.

Romie checked my cheek, and Sek wailed as he fumbled over the serrated pouch sprawled on the ground.

“Lady Shuria, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Our Topni! Is it dead? Is it alive?”

I nodded my head a few times at Romie to indicate I was fine, then glared fiercely at Sek.

“I risked my life! I just returned from the brink of the underworld! Is the monster the issue right now?”

“Because I knew Lady Shuria wouldn’t die!”

Sek cried and stroked the sticky plant epidermis.

Hearing Sek’s words, I let some of my anger subside.

“You believed I would succeed?”

“No! Not exactly that, but Lady Shuria has multiple layers of protective magic cast on her, so I thought not even a single hair would be harmed.”

“… What, no? Nooo? You just said no? Not exactly that!?”

I immediately ran over and pounded this infuriating researcher’s stiffly clenched shoulders with my fists. Sek screams and rolls on the ground.

After finishing the punishment, Sek’s additional words caught my attention. I turned to look at Romie.

“But what’s this about protective magic? Did you cast it, Romie?”

“There was no need for that. His Majesty has already cast a tenfold protective magic on Lady Shuria.”

“… Tenfold protective magic?”

When did he cast that? Anyways, as expected of such a meticulous man.

I raised my hand and gently rubbed the cheek that the serrated pouch’s teeth had grazed earlier. Not a single drop of blood was on it.

It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt because of the excitement. I just wasn’t injured at all.

Then, even if I had failed to use my ability, forget dying, I wouldn’t have gotten a single scratch.

As if sensing my thoughts, Romie spoke.

“I deliberately didn’t tell you because I thought your desperation would decrease if you knew about the protective magic. Were you very scared?”

“No. I’m the one who said I would do it. As long as it succeeded, it’s fine. … It did succeed, right?”

In response to my anxiously filled question, Romie smiled with narrowed eyes.

“It succeeded. Now we just need to analyze the observation results. Good work.”

Thank goodness!

I thought that since I now know protective magic is cast on me, using the same method again would be ineffective.

Romie patted my shoulder.

“It’s already dawn. I’ll prepare a room, so go and rest now. The temporary mana control device has been put on the moonlight wolves, so it’s okay to be with them.”

“Then I’ll stay with our babies. Thank you for your consideration.”

Having finished talking with me, Romie now turned her head to Sek.

“Sek, thank you too for being here at this hour.”

“For us researchers and mages, this time is our prime~.”

“Haha, that’s true. Shall the Magic Tower handle the monster’s corpse?”

“No~, it’s still alive. It will die soon though. Before that, we need to extract everything we can. Collect the epidermis and secretions too.”

Sek spoke coldly.

I thought you loved plants. As expected, you’re also an unavoidable researcher.

It was a dawn that left me shaken in many ways, but the fluffy fur of our three moonlight wolves greatly helped stabilize my mind and body. Thanks to them, I was able to sleep soundly without tossing and turning.

I spent a peaceful morning playing with the moonlight wolves after a long time and brushing their fur.

While eating lunch like that and playing the spinning sushi game in my room, I got a call that the analysis of my ability was complete.

I immediately ran to Romie’s lab.

“Huh?”

In the lab, there was a welcome face besides Romie. It was none other than my beloved favorite, Aspeiran.

Hmm, and as a bonus, our research director Prom.

“Your Majesty! Greetings, Your Majesty!”

I ran to Aspeiran with excitement. But the atmosphere as he walked towards me was unusual.

I agilely changed direction, trusting my instincts, but unfortunately, Aspeiran grabbing both my arms was faster.

“Where are you running away to?”

“Ahhh! Why are you doing this!”

“Why am I doing this? Do those words make sense right now?”

Aspeiran’s eyes shone brightly with clear anger. He brought his sculpture-like face close to me.

“I heard everything. About what you did yesterday! Do you even use your brain? How dare you recklessly jump in front of a monster defenseless. Where did you throw away your fear!”

“Ah, it hurts!”

As I whimpered, Aspeiran’s body trembled and he relaxed his grip on my arms.

I quickly escaped from his grasp in that moment. The part about it hurting was actually a lie.

Before Aspeiran could grab me again, I hurriedly took shelter behind Prom.

Aspeiran shouted loudly.

“Shuria!”

“I won’t apologize and say I was wrong! I only did what I had to do. Even if I went back to that time, I would act the same way!”

“You!”

“Now, Your Majesty, please calm down. It wasn’t a situation as dangerous as you’re worrying. That’s why I also accepted her opinion.”

Romie hurriedly blocked Aspeiran’s way.

As I let out a sigh of relief at the timely extended helping hand, Prom, who was stiffly frozen while I clung to him, whispered.

“Why are you involving me?”

“Director, I heard everything. You defended me at the grand council meeting, right? I’m touched.”

“Wh-why are you suddenly bringing that up?”

“You’ve accepted me as part of the research family too, right? Thank you. I’m happy. So please protect me now too.”

“I can’t! I may be able to help against other humans, but not against His Majesty!”

Prom twisted his body vigorously to shake me off.

I hopped around to avoid falling and ended up body slamming right into Aspeiran’s abs, who had somehow approached me.

“Shuria…”

“Y-Your Majesty.”

Aspeiran quietly looked down at me. His eyes were still sharp, but his momentum had ebbed.

He sighed and stroked my cheek.

“Don’t do reckless things from now on.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Don’t do it.”

“Hmph.”

“What’s with the hmph?”

Aspeiran pinched my cheek.

My cheek hurt a bit, but thanks to that, Aspeiran’s chilly, hardened atmosphere seemed to have completely dissipated.

Romie lightly cleared her throat.

“Then, shall we start the explanation now?”

“… Alright.”

Aspeiran sat down. With my hand held by him, I naturally sat in the seat next to him.

Romie placed a round recording orb on the table. Light poured out from it, projecting a video on the wall. It was like a beam projector.

“This is a video taken with a mana observation recording orb. As you said, Your Majesty, when Lady Shuria used her ability, a strange mana wave was observed around her.”

It’s the video of when I gave the command to the serrated pouch. The moment the word ‘sit’ comes out, a golden mist envelops my entire body.

“This golden mist is mana. Moreover, it’s world mana with an immensely high density. It’s surrounding Lady Shuria.”

“World mana?”

“It refers to the mana that makes up this world. It’s not visible to the eye, but it’s dissolved in all of nature.”

Prom explained in a blunt tone in response to my question. Aspeiran tapped his forearm with his fingers.

“High-density world mana is surrounding Shuria… It’s not felt normally, so where did it come from? How was the mana level in that space when Shuria used her ability?”

“It was the same as usual. She didn’t gather the mana in the atmosphere. Really naturally… it suddenly revealed itself around Lady Shuria.”

I clenched and unclenched both fists as I examined various parts of my body. Mana is surrounding me?

‘I don’t really get it.’

Meanwhile, Romie continued her explanation.

“Monsters are very sensitive to mana and power. Dozens of times more than humans. The way the monsters we’ve seen so far feel favorable towards Lady Shuria and follow her is actually them submitting to the powerful world mana surrounding Lady Shuria, as we speculate.”

Romie tapped on the recording orb. Then, only the scene of me giving commands to the serrated pouch repeatedly played.

“And if you look here, as soon as Lady Shuria spits out the command, the mana stretches out towards the monster. Through this, we were able to confirm that the mana moves in response to Lady Shuria’s strong will.”

“Rather than controlling the monsters… the monsters are succumbing to Shuria’s will contained in the high-density world mana.”

“This phenomenon also seems to appear because monsters are sensitive to mana. It probably won’t work on people. Most people can’t even feel the presence of mana.”

“It’s amazing. Isn’t a transcendent the only one who can handle world mana?”

Prom said while scratching his head.

“Shuria isn’t even a mage, let alone a transcendent, so it’s as if the world mana naturally gathers around her and upholds her.”

“It’s certainly a peculiar phenomenon. Looks like a bit more research is needed. Well, anyways, this much is enough to explain Shuria’s ability to others. I’ll have to hold a grand council meeting by tomorrow.”

Aspeiran, who had been lost in thought while rubbing his chin, looked at me.

“Shuria, will you attend?”

It was an unexpected question. I opened my eyes wide.

“Wasn’t it obvious that I have to attend?”

“Do as you wish. But if you attend, don’t expect to see anything good. … It’s a meeting to decide how to deal with you, after all.”

“Ah…”

I couldn’t answer right away and glanced sideways. Romie was quietly looking at me. I tightly clenched my fists.