Chapter 128

“Hey! Come back!”

“Mmm! There are so many monsters over there!”

Watching Tia gracefully leap over buildings as if flying, everyone was mesmerized.

It looked dangerous but beautiful.

It was like witnessing a skilled dancer performing a sword dance.

“I’m not scared anymore!”

Tia confidently roamed around, defeating monsters and repeatedly carrying children to safety.

Now that she knew they were fake, there was nothing to fear.

At least Tia thought so.

“Phew…! Are there none left on this side?”

Tia smiled proudly as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

She was really lucky to get a chance to retake the test that she had flunked due to panicking and crying last time.

By the way, this test felt incredibly realistic, almost like a real situation.

As Tia tilted her head, wondering if it was really necessary to go this far, a monster silently approached from behind, aiming for Tia’s nape.

“Tiamat! Get down!”

“Mmm?”

What a frustrating fellow.

If he said that, she should quickly get down instead of just standing there.

Nikolai gritted his teeth and lunged toward Tia.

Pushed by Nikolai, Tia stumbled backward, and the monster’s jaws just barely grazed her neck.

Only then did Tia notice the monster and throw a punch.

The monster exploded with a bang, scattering flesh everywhere.

“Mmm? What is the prince doing here?”

“You foolish girl!”

Nikolai scowled as he grabbed Tia by the collar.

Looking up at Nikolai, who was sitting on her, Tia was utterly confused.

This was so frustrating.

Nikolai was so irritated that he was choked with anger.

“What are you doing so recklessly! At this rate, you’ll get killed!”

“It’s fine! Tia is strong!”

At first, she thought he was scolding her for jumping over buildings.

But seeing Nikolai’s expression grow even darker, Tia realized that wasn’t it.

Why in the world was Nikolai so angry?

“It’s not about being strong! Didn’t you almost get harmed by a monster just now?!”

“I appreciate you saving me, prince. But this is all a test. There’s no need to be so worked up…”

“This isn’t a test! Wake up! This is all reality!”

“Mmm…?”

Nikolai, who was completely agitated, shouted.

Only then did all the mysteries unravel.

Tia’s signs had felt strange after all.

Could it be that she thought all of this was a test?

She was so astounded that she could barely speak.

“This is… all…”

Only then did Tia begin to see clearly.

Things that had appeared blurry before started coming into focus.

As Tia looked around carefully and attentively, her mouth slowly opened.

Blood and body parts scattered all over the ground.

The monster corpse, which had only a head and no sign of the rest of its body.

And when she examined the bright red blood smeared on her clothes, Tia’s pupils dilated.

“Mmm?! What is this!”

It wasn’t all fake.

It wasn’t a test; it was real.

It was so hard to accept the reality.

Tia soon shook her head and pouted, tears welling up in her eyes.

But in the end, no tears came out.

Only a tightness in her throat and her vision narrowing.

She thought she was no longer afraid.

But the magic stretching from all directions instantly revived the terror within her.

It dug up the memories of the day she had sat crouched and cried in the test room.

She felt scared, and she thought she wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“Have you come to your senses? Now let’s go back!”

“How? How do we go back? Tia’s legs won’t move…”

“You’ve been fighting just fine this whole time!”

“I… I don’t know… I just don’t know how I did it earlier…”

Hugging tight.

Terrified, Tia grabbed anything nearby.

Unfortunately for Nikolai, who was caught in her grasp, he found himself stuck and wriggling uselessly.

“Mmm, mmhuh…”

“The monsters are coming! Let go right now!”

“No!”

“We’ll all die at this rate!”

“I don’t care!”

They couldn’t communicate at all.

Tia had entered a full panic state.

No one would have imagined that the girl who had just moments ago been happily bursting monsters would end up like this.

Nikolai literally became powerless.

In the meantime, hearing this noise, monsters began to gather one by one.

Before long, monsters surrounded and prepared to pounce on them, but Tia didn’t budge.

Tia trembled as if she would start crying any moment.

“Let go of me! If you want to die, do it alone! I’m meant to lead this country!”

“No! Don’t let go, Nikolai!”

“Who are you?!”

At that moment, someone shouted, and Nikolai snapped, getting angry.

It seemed Alexander had just rushed over, panting, as he called out from a distance.

“Don’t let go!”

Does he want me to die here now?

That lunatic priestess had no monsters around her, so it was clear she could say such nonsense.

“Listen well, Nikolai! Make Tia cry!”

“Stop with the nonsense and save me! Hurry!”

“It’s too far away, so it’ll be late! If you want to live, make Tia cry, Nikolai!”

With monsters coming from all directions, Nikolai’s face turned pale.

‘Even if she’s a crazy priestess, there’s a reason she’s emphasizing that twice!’

He had no idea what the reason was, but he needed to make Tia cry right now.

That was the only way to survive.

Nikolai hugged the sobbing Tia tightly, without noticing the monsters charging at them.

Then he gently patted her back…

“Mmmmmm!”

Unable to hold it any longer, Tia finally burst into tears.

Her wailing reached a pitch that threatened to burst Nikolai’s eardrums.

Then he felt something softly thudding against his back.

The sensation wasn’t one of claws and teeth tearing him apart; it was far too gentle.

However, he lacked the courage to open his eyes to check, so Nikolai just held Tia tightly and trembled.

“You can open your eyes now, Nikolai.”

It was around the time Tia’s crying subsided, like background music.

Nikolai, hearing Alexander’s words, slightly opened his eyes and was taken aback.

The black haze that filled the surroundings had vanished completely.

“Kang…”

“A puppy?”

Instead, fluffy fur balls littered around Tia and Nikolai.

At first, he thought he was seeing a dog, but upon closer inspection of the orange fur and long snout, it was unmistakably a fox.

As he wondered why these foxes lay sprawled around Tia and Nikolai as if dead, Nikolai arrived at a bizarre conclusion.

“These foxes were the monsters…?”

The monsters that had charged at Tia and Nikolai.

The magic that had suddenly vanished the moment Tia cried.

And the gentle sensation that had brushed against Nikolai’s back.

From all of this, he could only reach one conclusion.

For some reason, the monsters had lost the magic they were wrapped in and transformed into ordinary animals.

Now that he looked at them, they resembled the creatures that had glowed red and growled amidst the magic earlier.

“Now let go of me. It’s all over.”

“Mmmmmm!”

“This is maddening…”

Even then, Tia, who couldn’t stop crying, shook her head while clinging tightly to Nikolai.

Nikolai sighed deeply and patted Tia’s back.

There had never been a more exhausting day than today.

.

.

.

“Why is there never a quiet day?!”

Is this school really a prestigious academy?

Honestly, I had such doubts.

With phoenixes flying around the campus, fights breaking out every day, and monsters appearing, is this really a prestigious institution?

I even began to wonder if the author who created this world had set the standard for prestigious schools based on the frequency of incidents and accidents.

“The floor is going to break. Could you not stomp around?”

“Do you think that will help…?”

“Schwarz said no one is hurt and Tia is fine. So let’s just wait comfortably.”

“I can’t wait comfortably!”

Indeed, the Duke did say that.

He had predicted it with whatever powers he had; Tia was fine, so just wait at the villa.

The current scene was chaotic enough that if either Leopard or I went, it would become even more disorderly.

Even so, to just sit idle while there’s a ruckus with monsters breaking loose in the school my daughter attends…

Just hearing that made me feel anxious about the day or even reconsider how strange it was for Leopard to be lounging on the sofa, yawning as if everything was alright.

“Ah, I guess you still don’t know.”

“What now?”

“Do you know what bloodline Tia was born into?”

“Regardless of how strong my child is, worrying is unavoidable!”

“Monsters should be no problem for Tia… Hmm, no.”

Leopard gave a sheepish smile and swallowed his words.

What’s so frustrating…?

By the way, hadn’t the situation calmed down yet? Shouldn’t we be sending the children home soon?

What on earth is taking so long?

I was starting to get anxious.

I really wanted to see Tia’s face again.

At that moment, my ears picked up the faint sound of vibrations.

“Dragania carriage sound!”

“What? You can distinguish that?”

Holding onto my skirt, I hurriedly exited the villa and headed toward the main gate.

Just in time, I saw a carriage belonging to Dragania come to a stop right in front of the main gate.

That was the carriage Tia took to and from school.

Soon, the carriage door opened, and the adorable creature I had been eagerly waiting for jumped out.

“Kang!”

“Hehehehe!”

“Kurrr! Heh!”

“Mom! I’m back!”

“Ahhhh! What is that?!”

However, the problem was that she was accompanied by a rather unwelcome group of fluffy creatures.

Seeing not just one or two foxes, but a whole bunch pouring out of the carriage almost made me faint.

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