“Where are Sid and Allen?”

“They are hiding in the annex.”

“Then if I use the teleport stone to go back and forth between the annex and the student council room, wouldn’t that solve it?”

“That’s a good idea, but the problem is……”

Noah slowly turned his head.

“Huh? Is there anything I can help with? Just say the word.”

At the end of that gaze was Oliver, who was smiling particularly broadly.

“……This place won’t work for now.”

Nod.

“Freshman, how long have we known each other, and you don’t trust me? I’m disappointed.”

Nigel ignored Oliver’s words and opened her mouth again.

“This place won’t work for now. Hah…… If we could just grab any professor and tell them, it would’ve been solved right away, but since it’s before the semester starts, no one is here.”

“That’s right! The reason it became a lawless zone is because the professors aren’t here. Everyone’s excited because days like this don’t come often.”

Noah also spoke without reacting to Oliver’s words.

“Then where would be good to go?”

“I have a few places in mind…… but I shouldn’t say it here for now.”

Noah and Nigel’s distrustful gazes turned towards Oliver.

Oliver shrugged as if it didn’t matter.

Creeak.

As soon as the door closed, Oliver grinned and took out a communication stone.

[This is the timeline separator]

Nigel and Noah left the student council room and settled behind the clock tower.

“Noah, what do you think is the most important thing in this plan?”

Noah smiled at Nigel, who was now naturally calling him by name.

“Why are you just grinning? Didn’t you hear me?”

At that moment, Nigel’s magic could be felt coming in.

Since Noah gave up on Amolio, the frequency of Nigel’s contact with him had increased significantly.

Sometimes, whether intentionally or by mistake, she would release a lot of magic.

Noah, who was in no position to be picky, didn’t even think of, no, didn’t even dare to reject Nigel’s contact now.

However, seeing Nigel’s strong will to solve even a little of her magic deficiency through those actions, he swallowed his bitter and longing feelings and opened his mouth.

“You asked what’s the most important thing, right? Wouldn’t it be the teleport stone? With this, we can go anywhere on campus. When I experimented with Allen before, the teleport stone works as long as it touches the owner’s body.”

“Right, I thought so at first too. But the problem with escaping using the teleport stone is that there are too many people to deal with, and we don’t know how many are stationed where. Also, it’s troublesome that not only us but the other side has teleport stones too.”

“……Ah! How about using Allen’s magical tool to hide our appearance like before? If you just tell me what it looks like, I can quickly bring it from the dormitory.”

Nigel quickly shook her head.

“That’s impossible. That only works under normal circumstances. Given the current situation where the Swordsmanship, Magic, and Politics departments are all searching with their eyes blazing, they must have anticipated that we would use magical tools.”

“Then the most important thing is…… the evacuation site, right?”

Finally, Nigel’s head lowered.

“So I have conditions for the candidate sites I’ve thought of. It has to be a place that no one would think of as a candidate site, or rather, a place no one would even expect.”

“Does such a place even exist in the academy? The seniors must know better hiding places than us.”

“Fortunately, there are two places that meet this condition.”

Nigel held out her fist. Then, slightly frowning, she extended her index finger.

“First, the principal’s office.”

Indeed, it was a place no one would recognize as a candidate site.

No matter how urgent the situation, Nigel would be the only student in Sienna who would come up with the idea of barging into the principal’s office.

“Hmm…… While I agree with Nigel’s opinion that it’s an excellent candidate site, if there’s another option, I’d rather not go there.”

Nigel greatly relieved at Noah’s words.

She thought Noah had been slowly cooked by Widrun, who always seemed to look for Noah Beselion whenever he met her, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

“Then there’s only one place left. Whether it’s unfortunate or fortunate, it’s very close to where Allen and Sid are.”

“That’s fortunate! Let’s stop by the annex and go there right away. Where is it?”

Nigel silently pointed her extended index finger towards the ground.

At that moment, Noah’s whole body froze as if time had stopped.

“……No way.”

“No way.”

Nigel answered, avoiding Noah’s gaze.

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, large letters began to appear in the clear blue sky.

[10 department points to the student who finds Nigel Ars first.

−Sienna Student Council]

And from far away, frivolous laughter could be heard coming from the student council room.

“……They’re really something, aren’t they?”

Nigel, who had already taken out the teleport stone from her bosom, held out her hand to Noah.

Noah, alternately looking at the writing in the air and Nigel’s hand, reluctantly grabbed Nigel’s hand.

“Teleport, annex.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Sid…… Don’t you think it’s about time we can go out?”

“Have you lost your mind, Evans? Did you already forget about signing the confidentiality agreement in the principal’s office? If we get caught by the seniors and end up mentioning that person while spilling about the auction house under threats, we’ll be disobeying His Majesty the Emperor’s orders.”

“I know that, but…… my legs are at their limit now.”

Allen whispered pitifully while massaging his legs.

“……”

Sid wanted to refute Allen’s words, but he couldn’t ignore the tingling signals from his own legs urging him to move quickly.

It had already been well over half an hour since Noah left the annex saying he would bring Nigel, and Sid had been crammed under the annex desk with Allen.

“Wait just a little longer. Beselion said he’d bring Ars. If it’s Ars, she’ll figure something out.”

“……Yeah.”

As their friends’ names were mentioned, determination settled in Allen’s eyes.

That’s when it happened.

Rustle rustle.

In the quiet annex where not even a mouse had passed, someone’s presence was felt.

Allen carefully closed his eyes and then opened them wide again.

“Na……! Mmph!”

Sid quickly stopped Allen from escaping from under the desk.

Allen, who was certain, struggled to get up, but Sid wouldn’t let go.

“Mmph mmph!”

Moreover, he tightly covered Allen’s mouth, preventing him from saying a word.

Sid’s strong loyalty to his future boss was even stronger than Allen had thought.

Nevertheless, the presence steadily drew closer, and Sid’s face grew darker until he finally squeezed his eyes shut.

Thump.

And the footsteps stopped in front of the desk where the two were hiding.

“……What are you two doing there?”

At the familiar voice, Sid’s strength drained away.

“Nigel! Noah!”

Allen, finally free, jumped up and rushed towards his friends.

“Ugh, aack!”

No, he tried to rush but fell to the floor, clutching his tingling legs.

Dry chuckles could be heard from various places.

Then, a hand with a ring on the little finger appeared in Sid’s view.

“You get up too.”

Sid took Nigel’s hand and stood up.

[This is the timeline separator]

“To think the student council would do such a thing……”

“Senior Oliver…… I trusted him!”

Sid and Allen, who had belatedly heard about the actions of Oliver and the student council, couldn’t hide their sense of betrayal.

“How long are you going to keep that up? We need to go now.”

At Nigel’s words, the group got up without a word and followed behind her.

“Nigel……? I’m curious, don’t we need to use the teleport stone?”

“No, it’s close from here.”

At those words, Noah’s face hardened.

“Um…… Ars, isn’t the closest place from the annex at least a 10-minute walk?”

“Huh? No, it’s not.”

Nigel said brightly with an artificial smile.

At those words, Sid, who was certain of the destination, almost tripped as his feet suddenly tangled.

Only Allen among the group moved his feet cheerfully, unaware of the destination.

“Um…… Is this really the destination you mentioned?”

Allen said, pointing at the dark stairs that were completely different from the bright annex classroom surrounded by windows on all sides, allowing light even without turning on the lights.

“Yes.”

“This isn’t a ‘place’ to hide, is it? I mean……”

Allen couldn’t continue speaking, overcome with shock.

There were numerous rumors in the academy about the long-unused basement of the annex.

That a magic department student had died after meddling with a cursed spell, that politics department students had been executed by the imperial knights while holding a rebel meeting, that one person never came out alive after two swordsmanship department students dueled with real swords.

Among these, the one that gained the most support from students was the magic department’s story.

Sid carefully opened his mouth.

“It, it’s so dark we can’t even enter, can we?”

Whoosh.

In an instant, Nigel created a large magical flame, brightly illuminating the surroundings.

“Let’s go.”

Realizing that the annex was the initial starting point where that magical flame had been active, Sid quietly moved his feet.

Allen also followed behind with a very sullen expression.

[This is the timeline separator]

It wasn’t for nothing that there were ominous rumors about the annex basement.

Nigel and the group went down and down the circular stairs, relying on, no, being threatened by the flame, not knowing when it would end, or if there really was an end.

After what felt like at least ten rounds of going in circles, Nigel stopped walking.

“Huh……?”

At Nigel’s trembling voice, everyone who had been looking only at the floor while walking raised their heads. And simultaneously, their eyes widened.

In front of the group was a door with pure white light seeping through.