“Look, a person has gone missing!”

Hila first went to the student council to report the news of Riley’s disappearance. The first-year representative of the student council spoke as if it was very regrettable.

“Are you sure she really disappeared? Couldn’t she just want to be alone for a while or have some business to attend to?”

“She disappeared suddenly while we were walking! She just vanished!”

“Do you think that sounds reasonable or makes sense? Besides, Riley Eadalin… She had a bad reputation even among her classmates. It seemed she didn’t fit in with the crowd and was quite isolated, so she might have intentionally avoided the welcome party if she felt uncomfortable.”

“If she didn’t want to attend, she wouldn’t have come this far! And she was enjoying it so much!”

If a Horizon student has disappeared, shouldn’t the Horizon student council take action?

Hila couldn’t understand their passive attitude.

“Hey freshman, why don’t you ask the city guards for help instead of doing this here?”

“…I tried, they told me to go back and wait for now, but they seemed very annoyed. They didn’t seem to take it seriously. It’s obvious they won’t even properly look for her.”

“…Regrettably, we can’t all mobilize for one individual’s deviation. Besides, the welcome party is ongoing now. We might do that for young children, but we can’t move just because one grown adult has disappeared. We have a duty to responsibly and safely conclude the welcome party for the majority, not just one person.”

“…”

“I understand you’re worried about your friend, but calm down and think rationally. A grown adult wouldn’t be unable to take care of themselves, and in this safe city of Luratt! Especially on that walking path, which is a tourist attraction with many people! The possibility of her disappearing and getting involved in a crime or accident there is low.”

Hila couldn’t argue back. She couldn’t be certain if Riley was really in danger.

‘But Riley isn’t the type to disappear without saying anything…’

“I understand, I’ll look for her on my own.”

Hila left the hotel without looking back.

She had gone to the student council just in case… but their prioritizing the enjoyment of the majority over a possible emergency situation left her feeling drained.

It was disheartening that neither the city guards nor the student council seemed to take this matter seriously.

Just as she was feeling lost,

A familiar man caught Hila’s eye. A man smoking a cigar in a secluded spot behind the hotel. A man with distinct features even in the darkness. The senior who had been looking for Riley and had helped at the pub earlier!

‘That person will believe me!’

Hila ran straight to the man.

“Excuse me!”

“What is it?”

“Riley has disappeared! Please help!”

Startled by Hila’s words, the man dropped the cigar he was smoking and stamped it out.

“What nonsense is that?”

“She suddenly disappeared while we were walking on the trail. She just vanished… Something must have happened, but no one believes me.”

“…Are you sure she disappeared? She didn’t just go somewhere on her own?”

“No, she was right next to me… and then she was just gone without a trace.”

He sighed, rubbing his forehead as if he had expected this.

“I told her to be careful.”

“…What do you mean? Do you know something?”

“I don’t know, but there were always people lying in wait around that kid. Whether they were enemies or people protecting her, I’m not sure. Today there were a few more mixed in besides the usual ones I saw.”

“…So there were people constantly hovering around Riley?”

“That walking trail, is it the one I know? The one right near here?”

“Yes, that’s right. Are you going to help?”

“Should I just leave it be?”

“Then let’s go! I’ll guide you!”

“No, you stay here.”

“?”

“If something has gone wrong, her husband will come here. You stay here, wait for him, then guide him to where Riley disappeared.”

“…Husband? What do you mean…”

“I’m going ahead then.”

Van disappeared in an instant without looking back.

Left alone, Hila leaned against the wall, clutching her head.

‘…Husband?’

The shock of Riley’s disappearance was compounded by the fact that Riley had a husband. Hila couldn’t move from her spot for a long time.

As it got dark, the eerie atmosphere of the forest intensified.

The forest area, which was dark even in broad daylight, became pitch black when night fell. Truly nothing could be seen. Not hands, not feet, not even the clothes one was wearing. The fact that the field of vision had turned completely black was scary enough, but what was even more terrifying was that strange howling sounds began to be heard.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

After darkness fell, the sense of time became even duller. It was impossible to tell if a long time had really passed or if one minute felt as long as an hour.

Perhaps it had been a misjudgment to think she could be rescued in an hour or two. Should she move now to find an exit? But it had become too dark for that.

Moreover, the sounds of wild beasts could be heard, making her too scared to move carelessly.

‘If only I could use magic…’

She had learned how to use magic from Arpeggio many times and had tried to perform it, but not once had she succeeded in casting magic.

According to Arpeggio, magic consisted of complex formulas, so to use magic freely, one first had to master the basic formulas.

However, even after mastering the essential formulas, it didn’t lead to actually casting magic. Even Arpeggio didn’t know why the magic wasn’t activating.

‘Should I try?’

She already knew the formula for spatial movement magic from what Arpeggio had taught her.

Of course, it would be impossible to move long distances, but

‘Wouldn’t it be possible to at least escape to the top of this tree?’

“Don’t ever use magic alone if you can help it. Your core has been blocked for a long time, so your condition is unstable. There’s a high risk of going berserk. Unless there’s someone beside you who can control you, try to refrain from using magic as much as possible.”

She recalled what Arpeggio had said before.

She should extremely refrain from recklessly trying to use magic alone. If magic went berserk, it meant her body could explode into pieces.

If by any chance she used magic here and went berserk… it would truly be a dog’s death.

But she couldn’t just stay still here either. Whether dying at the hands of enemies who might be hiding somewhere, or being mauled to death by the wild beasts living here. Isn’t dying the same either way?

In any case, long-distance teleportation magic was out of the question, and in a situation where she didn’t know where this place was, she might end up teleporting to an even deeper and stranger place. But if it was to the top of a tree, couldn’t she at least protect herself from the beasts making those eerie howling sounds?

Yes, let’s try it.

Just as she made up her mind and got up,

“Grrrr.”

A strange howl was heard very close by.

Moreover, golden eyes flashed in the darkness. The bloodshot eyes flickering with a fierce light were clearly not human. The killing intent sent chills down her spine, freezing her body. Her eyes, now adjusted to the darkness, could make out a very faint shape.

That form was too huge to be human, and its structure was different to begin with.

It wasn’t an ordinary wild beast. It was too big, even for that. It was large enough to easily trample a person and have room to spare.

‘Could it be a mabeast…’

She remembered Hila saying that mabeasts inhabited the restricted areas. While walking on the trail, she had seen high wire fences surrounding the restricted areas, but could it be that this place was beyond those fences?

“Grrrr…”

She could feel the mabeast slowly closing the distance.

The distance was so close that if she turned to run, it was obvious her nape would be torn off immediately. It was also impossible to subdue such a huge mabeast the size of a house by force.

The only thing left was magic, but

‘I, I don’t know any attack magic…’

If magic was something that could just pop out as desired according to the situation, she wouldn’t be in this predicament. Riley backed away cautiously and picked up a stone. Perhaps because her hands were drenched in sweat, the stone felt slippery.

It wasn’t out of the thought that this mere stone could eliminate the house-sized mabeast, but just holding onto something made her feel a little more at ease.

Riley felt like a powerless beast. Is this how animals feel when being led to the slaughterhouse? The helplessness and sense of loss from desperately wanting to live, wanting to do something, but being unable to do anything, drained her strength. She couldn’t even think of throwing the stone in her hand.

Her body was frozen with fear, unable to move. She needed to do something, anything… The eeriness of death made her hair stand on end.

At the moment the mabeast made a move to pounce, Riley closed her eyes, realizing there was nothing more she could do.

Right then.

“You idiot, what are you doing! Now!”

Whoosh− An incredible heat surged up. The charging mabeast was engulfed in a pillar of fire and began to burn.

Black smoke and an acrid smell filled the air. The intense heat made it feel like her skin would burn. Riley opened her eyes in surprise. Only then could she see the form of the mabeast that had been hidden in darkness.

Always protruding upwards were snow-white fangs, a huge body covered in long blue fur, a tail swinging in all directions with heavy, dull thuds.

As she stood dazed, watching the burning mabeast, a man picked her up.

“What are you doing standing there in a daze! You should use magic or do something!”

Ah, the nameless man.

Though they never formally introduced themselves, his face was familiar from the help she had received multiple times.

Riley felt very glad at his appearance.

“How did you get here?”

To Riley’s question, he replied while jumping upwards,

“Let’s get out of here first. Other mabeasts will likely gather here soon.”

Thus, they escaped to the treetop.

The trees here were so tall that the ground below seemed dizzyingly far. Even the huge mabeasts looked small from this height.

“Um, well, so, what should I call you…”

“Van.”

“…Pardon?”

“Van Klaf, my name.”

“…You’re finally telling me your name.”

“Hah… I have a feeling you’re going to keep being a nuisance in the future.”

Van felt frustrated looking at Riley’s innocent face. He wondered what to do with this hopeless case.

He covered his face with his hands and let out a deep sigh.

“How did you end up here again?”

“I don’t know either, I just found myself here when I came to my senses.”

“…What about the guys guarding you?”

“Guards?”

‘Does this fool not even know about the shadows the Tower Master placed around her?’

Well, ordinary people wouldn’t know about the existence of shadows.

“…Forget it, let’s drop it.”

“What about you? How did you know I was here?”

“Your friend was causing quite a commotion. Apparently, she was going around telling everyone you disappeared, but no one would listen to her.”

“…Ah.”

Hila must have been shocked too. Yes, of course she would have been surprised if a person suddenly disappeared. Riley felt grateful that Hila had run around so hard for her sake, but also sorry.

She came here to enjoy herself, and was looking forward to the welcome party more than anyone, but I ruined it.

“…I guess it became the worst welcome party because of me.”

“You’re worried about your friend even in this situation?”

“Hila was really looking forward to the welcome party. She has a personality that enjoys socializing with people, and she’s also very sensitive, so she must have been very shocked.”

“Worry about yourself. This situation isn’t something to take lightly.”

“That’s true.”

“Didn’t you see any suspicious people?”

“No, not really. At first, I thought it might be the work of enemies targeting me. I thought there might be enemies lying in wait for me somewhere here, but that wasn’t the case either. I was alone the whole time. Maybe it’s like last time, a prank by the Horizon students? To give me a hard time.”

“No matter how ignorant those guys are, they wouldn’t do such a crazy thing. This is a mabeast habitat. Why would they transport you here unless they were determined to kill you? Besides, if it were their doing… would your shadows just stand by?”

“My shadows?”

“Yes, the shadows you don’t even know exist. Anyway, it’s not them.”

“Then someone who wants to take my life sent me here to be eaten by mabeasts.”

“Rather than targeting your life, they might have taken you hostage to target your husband’s life.”

At Van’s words, Riley’s face turned pale.

‘That’s right, Givnen was definitely attacked here… So they knew I was the person Givnen would marry…?’

“If the news of your disappearance has reached Blestidge, your husband will soon come here. Though it might take quite a while.”

“We can’t let him come here. He’s sick, he hasn’t fully recovered yet… We need to get out before he comes here.”

“Do you have a way?”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me?”

“I thought you might know a way out since you came all the way here.”

Riley expected Van to provide a solution to this situation. However, Van clicked his tongue while looking at Riley and pushed her forehead with his index finger.

“It’s no use looking at me like that.”

“…Why not?”

“This isn’t just an ordinary place. During the day it might be different, but at night, mabeasts and all sorts of magical plants with mana disrupt the flow of mana. And that’s not all. They constantly absorb mana. If you use magic, you’ll suffer from much more severe mana consumption than usual. So even if you try to use spatial movement magic now, there’s a high chance the coordinates will be set to a strange place and you’ll end up somewhere weird. It might be easy to come here, but it’s not the same when trying to leave. To get out, we’ll have to wait at least until daybreak. When dawn breaks, both the mabeasts and magical plants will enter a dormant state.”

“Ah…”

“And.”

“?”

“Logically speaking, would the person who moved you here just leave you?”

Van’s eyes suddenly turned cold. Then he muttered in a low voice.

“They’re probably watching us from somewhere around here. And wouldn’t I be an annoying obstacle that suddenly appeared?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud bang echoed and the branch began to shake. Soon, as the center of gravity shifted sideways, the world turned upside down and with a floating sensation in their feet, their bodies began to fall downwards.

The trunk of the giant tree had been cut clean through and was collapsing.