“Water pulse!”

  A single magic circle appeared in front of Alexa’s wand, and in seconds, a barrage of powerful water-based spells fell on the incoming monsters. While Wilhelm and Adele dealt with the minotaurs in seconds using his powerful glyph spells while she covered him with her fire magic, Alexa and the adventurers cleared a path forward.

  Each wave of monsters was vanquished rather quickly by the adventurers, supported by Alexa’s occasional spellcasting. The water pulses she sent were something she had already studied quite deeply earlier, so all she truly needed to do was to use their formulas and visualize them while using her 2nd magic circle.

  It was quite easy!

  But, unfortunately, at the moment, she couldn’t try ice-type spells yet, because she hadn’t practiced using multiple magic circles at once. All she could do was to separately use her 1st and 2nd magic circles based on her enemies.

  Plant-type monsters like the vines that attempted to slow or attack them were best reduced to cinders using fire magic, while a lot of the rock-like golems (or monsters?) were something Alexa hit with water pulses, which weakened their structure, sometimes even causing them to crack if she fired enough of it.

  Halfway through though, she was running out of mana for both her 1st and 2nd magic circles. They were practically cruising through the opposition though, as the knight adventurer and the boy mage were quite good at fighting side-by-side, while their cleric dealt with anyone who got injured.

  Still, Alexa tried to get a few more potshots of her water magic spells, just to train herself a bit and get a little bit more XP. Unfortunately, by the time she felt her mana exhaustion catching up on her, she hadn’t levelled up yet.

  “Oh come on!” Alexa cursed, annoyed and quite dizzy. “I just wanted to get it to level 3—”

  “That’s for next time, Lady Alexa!”

  “Eep!”

  After Adele ran ahead of Wilhelm, Alexa felt herself being picked up by the man. She quickly blushed, flustered as she was carried like a ragdoll—and not even in a princess carry type (damn the peasant!)—while Wilhelm ran to catch up with the adventurers.

  “W-wilhelm!” Alexa called out, as a dozen paper glyphs flew out of his spellbook, then he withdrew it into his coat. “I can still run!”

  “No you don’t.”

  “You dare doubt me?”

  “Yes.”

  Alexa heard the sound of blasts coming from what most likely was Wilhelm’s paper glyphs, and she lowered her head, watching as the floor sped past her vision.

  “Fine. I want…to sleep,” Alexa suddenly said. “If you’re going to insist on carrying me like this, then own up to it, peasant. Bring me elegantly to my fine carriage please.”

  “I’m gonna drop you once we reach the entrance.”

  “Is that how a knight acts?”

  “Do I look like a knight to you?”

  “Grr, you see that I’m tired and winded. Why can’t you just say yes?”

  “You denied that when I picked you up.”

  Alexa smiled.

  “Because I have the right to do whatever I want.”

  “...Your boundless arrogance really is unending, huh?”

  “Hey, you two!” the knight adventurer shouted, turning his back. “Double time! Get Her Highness out of here, and we’ll conduct a rearguard action.”

  Wilhelm ran past the trio, nodding.

  “Stay safe, you three!” Then, he turned to Alexa, who had already fallen asleep from mana exhaustion. “Wait, you’re serious?!”

  With a groan, he took a quick turn to the left, and soon, they got out of the dungeon.

  +++

  “Yum…it’s so good…” Alexa smiled widely after taking a spoonful of ice cream, her cheeks turned rosy. “I can’t believe the adventurer’s guild here makes such nice things!”

  They were now in a private dining room in the guild hall, eating in isolation as they indulged in Arlen’s finest delicacies.

  As Alexa sped up eating her ice cream—very much in an unladylike manner—Adele enjoyed the skewers on her plate.

  “Are you inviting Phoebe later?” Adele curiously asked.

  “Of course. We’re going to absolutely celebrate,” Alexa excitedly said, crossing her arms with a grin. “I’ve just gained my 2nd magic circle, right after dealing with our problems and raising my popularity with the people. Why, of course, this is the perfect time to call a tea party.”

  “She’s probably going to take until tomorrow before she can reach the Monile Palace—”

  “No, not really,” Alexa’s pink eyes glowed a bit.

  “Hey, Phoebe, I know you can hear me,” Alexa smiled. “If you’re free, come visit me at the palace for a tea party tonight. I just finished my formation ritual!”

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  “Uhh, can she even reply to that?” Adele asked, bewildered, as Alexa deactivated her skill.

  “Nope, but this is how I communicate with her,” Alexa said, nodding. “I’ve memorized her manaheart signature, so I can pinpoint her using my skill wherever she is and talk to her.”

  “But she can’t talk back?”

  “Unfortunately, Wilhelm is a total jerk who refuses to use his ability for anything but military purposes.”

  “My, what a waste.”

  “Truly a waste, yes.”

  “Ahem, ignoring the fact that I’m suddenly taking stray hits out of nowhere, are you two done?” Wilhelm suddenly appeared near their table, his face bored.

  “Not yet. Give us twenty more minutes.” Alexa waved him off.

  “Twenty more minutes? I can scarf that chow in three minutes,” Wilhelm grumbled.

  “Please, I have cake and shaved ice to go through,” Alexa smiled, staring at the colorful array of desserts she ordered for herself. “I’m afraid I can’t just eat this too callously.”

  “You were going through that ice cream fast earlier,” Wilhelm pointed out, before snorting. “Until you started talking to Adele.”

  “Fine. Give us ten minutes,” Alexa relented. “On the other hand, how are the adventurers?”

  “They’re all fine. They said they’re proud to serve you,” Wilhelm looked away. “Oh, yeah, and ‘thanks for the pay too’, they said.”

  “That sounds lovely,” Alexa nodded. “I’ll meet them after this again to give them more of my personal thanks as well.”

  “I see,” Wilhelm was about to walk away, when suddenly, Alexa pulled his wrist from behind.

  He turned and looked down at Alexa.

  “What is it?”

  “Thanks,” Alexa beamed a bit, this time. “I would have been in slight danger if you didn’t pick me up earlier, so thanks for carrying me to safety, and letting me nap a bit.”

  His face softened, before turning back to neutral.

  “Your…welcome,” he let out a tired breath. “But don’t expect another time where I have to carry you in public asleep.”

  “Why, isn’t it an honor to princess carry a princess?” Adele teased.

  “W-wait, he did what?” Alexa turned red, turning to Adele. “He said he tossed me like a log when we reached the entrance. And I know this jerk will absolutely never treat a lady properly.”

  “He’s a dirty liar,” Adele replied.

  Alexa turned to Wilhelm, and he turned his back on the two, lazily waving his hand.

  “I’m out, you’re both quite dull,” Wilhelm said, and Alexa angrily pointed her finger at him.

  “Peasant, you’re just embarrassed so you’re running away!” Then, he walked out of the room, ignoring Alexa as she crossed her arms. “Hmph. I don’t get why he acts that way.”

  “To be fair, I doubt he gets you either, Lady Alexa.”

  +++

  “Wait…why is he…?”

  “Lady Alexa,” Phoebe bowed, embarrassed. “Apologies, but while I was healing people in a nearby town, Sir Manfred met me, and well…he wanted to talk to you.”

  “Headmaster?”

  The old man, the administrator of the Grand Academy, walked forward to Alexa. While most of the staff of the Grand Academy escaped that day when Perlenstadt was attacked, Headmaster Olston apparently worked with Alfred to close the main entrances in the academy to slow down the demons.

  While doing it, a fight broke out, and the two were separated. The fact that the old man survived was partly a miracle, as Defense Forces troopers found him later on barely clinging to life, at least according to official reports.

  Still…that won’t change things…

  Alexa hadn’t confronted Headmaster Olston yet, but she doubted he was some lone honorable guy. He seemed like he purposefully allowed certain things to happen under his watch, not to mention it was partly he who brought Wilhelm and Phoebe under one institution.

  He’s very suspicious.

  “Your Highness,” the Headmaster bowed in front of Alexa. “It’s good to meet you again. It seems that as I predicted, you’ve grown well after befriending Her Holiness.”

  “U-um,” Phoebe’s cheeks reddened, stammering. “Sir Manfred, you don’t need to refer to me that way. I’m still…not used to it.”

  “Oh, is that so? But the pope himself officially ordained you as a saint, did he not?”

  “Y-yes but that’s beside the point—”

  “Ahem,” Alexa cleared her throat, interrupting the two. “Why are you here, Headmaster Olston?”

  “Forgive me, I was distracted. I am here to invite you again into the Grand Academy. You see, while Perlenstadt is still being rebuilt, the Grand Academy is now nearly finished in its reconstruction.”

  “That’s good news then.”

  “But, the wounds inflicted by the battle on our institution’s reputation are still great. While many nobles don’t blame us for what happened, they are, of course, reasonably apprehensive about sending their sons and daughters back into Perlenstadt,” the man gloomily looked at Alexa. “Surely, you’ll understand, this is unacceptable.”

  Alexa crossed her arms, tilting her head.

  “Oh? Why so?”

  “Because the Grand Academy is one of the institutions that kept Perlenstadt alive. Without it, how will the Imperial Capital, as the center of the Empire, recover?”

  “You make a good point.”

  Alexa looked to her side, still skeptical of this guy. And she had the right to be quite skeptical! The investigations about the Battle of Perlenstadt were still ongoing, being conducted by Alfred and the Royal Guard.

  Headmaster Olston and many members of the Defense Forces, including Wilhelm, were subject to these covert investigations, though Alexa doubted that they didn’t knew they were being investigated. Most likely, cheeky Wilhelm was simply silent about it because he knew he had already covered up most of his tracks.

  And the same was most likely the same for Headmaster Olston. He was a powerful archmage after all. Even if he retired to serve in the Grand Academy, it wouldn’t change the fact that he was a powerful figure who would be hard to unmask.

  Is he baiting me again into a trap?

  “I…I’m going to the Grand Academy, Lady Alexa,” Phoebe blurted from the side. “Sir Manfred told me that there is still much that they can teach me after all, and if I want to become useful against the Demon Horde, learning there is the best for me.”

  “Are you sure?” Don’t trust him easily.

  “Of course,” Phoebe smiled, both innocent and confident.

  Then, Alexa sighed. She supposed that with Phoebe in the academy, should another incident occur, they would have the literal saintess on site to deal with it.

  Besides…I need to court all the nobles to my side to beat Henry.

  That, and study magic further.

  He wants to use me to attract the students back to the Grand Academy, doesn’t he? In that case, I’ll use him too, all while investigating him.

  “Alright,” Alexa turned to Manfred. “Headmaster Olston, how long will it take before the Grand Academy reopens?”

  “Give us a month, Your Highness, and I swear—it shall be as vibrant and prestigious as the day we lost it.”

  “I see. Then I’ll join in,” Alexa smiled. “But for now,” Alexa then pulled Phoebe. “We have a tea party to indulge in.”

  “L-lady Alexa—” Phoebe squeaked, before Alexa bolted in the halls of the Monile Palace while towing the saint.

  “Later, Headmaster! If you want a drink, go ask my butler. Have a good evening!”