It was a deep night with the moon shrouded by clouds.
A group was wandering through the serene forest.
About twenty people.
They were armed with swords and shields. And at the center of the group was Noa, the black-haired girl, clutching a book adorned with talismans.
‘Ugh, how did it come to this?’
Just an hour ago, Noa was in the library.
She had teamed up with Ivella to fend off a clone of the White Wolf and protected the librarian, Ervan. Of course, half of the reading room had been destroyed in the process.
‘Then….’
She met Professor Ethan outside the library.
After evacuating the new students, he immediately requested Noa and Ivella’s cooperation, and once Ivella agreed, they set off with Ethan.
Ethan was sharp.
He quickly realized that the source of the current attack was in the Eastern Forest. So, he gathered people and headed for the woods.
Noa was one of them.
That was fine up to this point. With the White Wolf unleashed, there was no option but to hunt it down.
‘But…’
Ulan and Delia were missing.
This fact weighed on her mind. But just as she felt a bit anxious, Noa quickly embraced hope.
‘They should be here soon, right?’
The White Wolf’s attacks were targeting the areas around the Eastern Forest.
And most of the buildings nearby were occupied by new students.
They were probably realizing the situation and heading towards the forest by now.
‘Then, it’s fine.’
Even if they weren’t together right now, they just needed to regroup before fighting the White Wolf. While harboring such hopes, she was lost in thought.
Thud! Thump!
Noa felt herself being nudged to the side.
The reason was simple. Someone had been bumping into her shoulder repeatedly. Just who was it? Noa glared at the person persistently pushing against her.
It was an unexpected face.
“Ivella?”
“……?!”
As soon as she called the name, Ivella’s shoulders shook violently.
She looked completely startled. Noa was taken aback by how much her reaction exceeded her expectation.
“S-Sorry! I didn’t think you’d be that surprised.”
“Ugh, uuhh.”
Just by calling her name.
Ivella made whimpering noises and clung tightly to Noa’s arm. Smart as she was, Noa quickly grasped the situation.
“Do you… fear ghosts or something?”
“……Ghosts can’t be harmed by swords.”
That was true.
However, the reason for her fear was slightly unusual. Noa couldn’t help but chuckle at the unexpected response.
“It’s okay. We have a sorceress here. What’s there to worry about?”
“……What does that have to do with ghosts?”
“It matters! Because sorceresses deal with spirit-like things called magic spirits.”
Which meant she could handle ghosts.
Of course, Noa intended it as a comforting remark, but it seemed Ivella took it a bit differently.
“W-Wait, does that mean you also…?”
“Yep. Every talisman attached to this book is filled with magic spirits.”
Controlling magic spirits was a piece of cake.
So even if ghosts appeared, Noa could handle it. That’s what she wanted to say. But Ivella’s reaction was different.
Rustle!
Ivella backed away from Noa.
Somehow, her complexion looked pale. It seemed she was misinterpreting something. Noa gave a sheepish grin.
‘Surprisingly, she has a human side.’
The Ivella from the original work wasn’t this multilayered. She was always masked and slaughtering enemies like a machine.
Just as she was feeling a fresh perspective on Ivella.
Rustle!
A bush right in front of them began to shake.
Ivella jumped back in surprise.
Then Ethan and the other guards abruptly halted in formation. They readied themselves for a potential ambush. But what appeared was a large group of people.
“Professor Arnoff?”
Even Ethan recognized who it was.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
“Captain Roen? What are you doing here…?”
Roen Philoud, the captain of the Arsen Guard.
After a sudden encounter, Ethan and Roen exchanged tales of what had happened and why they had come to the forest.
“I see. Following the source of magic…”
“We did the same. We followed the wolves that attacked the library and ended up here.”
As they were sharing information, Noa’s eyes sparkled. She spotted a familiar face among Roen’s group. The silver-haired girl who was lazily yawning.
‘So Delia came too!’
With this, their party now had three name-brand members.
Though it was a shame Ulan wasn’t with them, this was enough for taking on the White Wolf.
‘But why is Silfi here?’
Silfi Rudrik.
She was presumed to have some kind of connection with the White Wolf, who belonged to Rudrik’s faction. Noa eyed Silfi suspiciously.
Just at that moment.
Silfi suddenly spoke up.
“That way! I think I saw a giant wolf deep in there!”
“Hmm? A giant wolf?”
“Ah, it’s actually…”
Not knowing the circumstances, Roen conveyed what he heard from Silfi to Ethan.
There’s a giant wolf deeper in the forest, one that creates all kinds of wolves using mist.
The moment Noa heard this.
Her eyes narrowed.
‘…Silfi knows about the White Wolf.’
And quite precisely, too.
Noa recalled her previous guess from the reading room.
Silfi Rudrik belonged to the Desert Order cult and likely enrolled at the academy to tame the White Wolf.
Of course, where she was from didn’t matter. But she couldn’t ignore the goal. Given her own aims, they were in direct opposition.
‘The White Wolf should not be tamed.’
It absolutely needed to be hunted down.
Only then could hidden rewards be obtained.
Especially since the heart of the White Wolf held immense value as a magic core. If used properly, it could double one’s magic capacity.
‘And the soul has its uses too.’
If they extracted the soul of the White Wolf to command it, Noa could rise to a whole new level as a sorceress. She would be able to use even more powerful sorcery.
So, she had no plans of yielding.
When Noa’s eyes sparkled with determination.
“Let’s move again!”
The party resumed forward.
In the direction Silfi pointed.
How long had they been walking? They encountered distinct scenes at intervals. Massive stakes jutting out of the ground and rolling around.
“What are these stakes…?”
“It seems something was sealed here.”
Ethan deduced immediately what the stakes signified. He turned back, realizing something “dangerous” was released from its seal.
After a while.
The group arrived at the heart of the forest.
What soon came into view was the entrance to the cave. A fearsome power emanated from inside.
Roen immediately frowned.
“…There’s enormous magic energy.”
“What could possibly be inside…?”
Ethan nodded in agreement.
As they said, powerful magic was spilling out from inside the cave, making every hair on their bodies stand on end.
But that didn’t mean they could just leave it be.
Following Roen’s orders, the party moved stealthily to set up an encirclement.
“When I signal, approach slowly.”
Roen, at the front, began to take steps.
With that as a signal, the party gradually closed the distance.
But in that moment.
A tremendous noise erupted from within the cave.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
It sounded like something was being smashed. At the sudden noise, everyone in the party froze.
After a considerable duration.
The thunderous sound started to quiet down. And so did something else.
“The magic energy…!”
It was rapidly fading away.
An incomprehensible phenomenon. But before she could dwell on it, Roen quickly regained his composure. Investigating the cave would resolve it soon enough.
So just as he was about to give the order to advance again.
Thud! Thud!
The dirt pile at the entrance of the cave trembled.
As if something was about to emerge from within.
“All units, stand by.”
Noticing something strange, Roen gripped his sword.
It wasn’t just him. At the back, Delia immediately gathered her mage energy, and Noa raised a talisman into the air.
Swoosh!
Ivella half-drew her sword.
The tension in the battlefield was palpable.
As they involuntarily swallowed hard, the dirt pile finally collapsed completely.
And then, moments later.
The party’s minds went blank.
“……Huh?”
Only one reason. The identity of the figure that emerged from the cave was someone they never expected.
A man wielding an axe in each hand.
A barbarian completely stripped of his shirt. And in the academy, there was only one person who looked like that.
“U-Ulan?!”
Noa gasped in surprise.
“What are you doing here…?”
Ivella was equally taken aback.
The other party members reacted with surprise as well. Just when everyone was frozen in shock, the one who regained composure the quickest stepped forward.
“…Ulan Bator.”
The man striding boldly forward was Roen Philoud, the captain of the guard.
“I heard you were suspended and under confinement in the dormitory. Why are you here?”
With a piercing gaze, he posed his question.
It wasn’t a hard question to answer. So, Ulan intended to respond casually.
But in that moment.
“Ulan!”
Someone suddenly broke in.
It was Silfi.
“H-Have you seen a huge wolf inside? It has white fur and is massive!”
Her expression was anxious and desperate.
Ulan nodded affirmatively.
“I saw it.”
“What about that wolf…?”
“I handled it.”
“……Huh?”
The statement of having taken it out was not a lie.
As a beast, the White Wolf was no longer there.
Facing a dumbfounded Silfi, Ulan pointed toward the cave.
“If you don’t believe me, go look inside.”
They would all understand when they saw the White Wolf in its spirit form.
As soon as he finished speaking, Silfi immediately charged forward. She wasn’t the only one. Noa hurriedly followed behind.
Roen shouted a warning, but the two girls didn’t care. Each was rooting around the cave with their respective purposes in mind.
But nothing emerged.
There were only traces left of a gigantic presence radiating strong magical energy.
“I can’t believe it, can it really be…?”
The White Wolf, hidden in the mist, was one of the legendary beasts from an ancient desert. When it dies, it doesn’t leave a corpse behind, but vanishes like mist, which is why it’s called the “Mist Wolf.”
And now.
In the cave, only the trace of the White Wolf remained, with the corpse completely gone. This signified that Ulan’s words were indeed true.
“Ha, hahaha. Aha!”
It was all over. Everything was lost!
The empty laughter of one who had resigned echoed hollowly in the cave. Just then, Noa hastily confirmed this scene.
There was not only no corpse but also no magic core.
Alarmed, she bolted out of the cave.
Then she shouted towards Ulan.
“Ulan! Did you see a magic core?!”
“I didn’t see one.”
“Just in case, what about the thing you smashed…?”
“That could have happened.”
With that ambiguous response,
Noa collapsed to the ground.
As if she had just heard some shocking news. It was understandable. She had missed out on a hidden reward right in front of her.
Noa and Silfi.
On the day the two girls despaired.
The sudden incident of the wolves attacking the academy concluded just like that.
10.
After confirming the hunt of the White Wolf.
Ulan briefly explained what he had experienced since the mist appeared at the entrance of the cave.
However, as the story dragged on, he omitted the part about the spirit form of the White Wolf and the Axe of Devouring, Gula. It was becoming too bothersome.
“That’s all I experienced.”
He concluded with the tale of having fought and won against the giant wolf in the cave.
No one raised any questions about this fact.
“…I see.”
Roen nodded.
From his reaction, it seemed he understood to some extent.
“For now, I understand. Then let’s return to the guard and continue the investigation there.”
Roen stood up.
But the way he looked at Ulan was certainly not friendly.
It was hardly surprising.
To Roen, Ulan was a troublesome brat who broke the rules like it was second nature and made trouble every time.
“However, it’s clear that you have made a mistake by violating the suspension. So according to the school rules, I will take you back to the guard.”
No sooner had Roen finished speaking than a few guards approached with thick ropes in hand. Seeing this, Ulan immediately spoke up.
“I didn’t break any rules.”
“Just admit it. The very fact that you are here means you broke the rules.”
“No, I just….”
He was hungry because meals were scarce, and he had come to the forest next to the dormitory to gather some fruits.
If he had broken any rules, it was merely running into others right after coming out of the cave.
But that was unavoidable.
They were the ones who came looking for the cave, which is why they met.
Just as he was trying to explain the situation.
Someone suddenly jumped into the conversation.
With a firm voice.
A girl stepped in between to protect Ulan.
It was Ivella Elea’ad. Roen frowned at her sudden appearance.
“And who are you…?”
“Ulan is a strong expert. So he must have sensed the wolf’s presence before anyone else and came to handle it.”
With a confident voice, Ivella defended Ulan.
“To prevent a larger disaster.”
After finishing her response, she turned this way and smiled brightly. As if asking, ‘Isn’t that right?’
Of course, that wasn’t true at all.
Ulan simply stared at her blankly.
‘I think there’s been a misunderstanding….’
However, he didn’t particularly rebut that. The reason was simple. Her explanation sounded more plausible than any lengthy explanation he could give.
“But that’s just speculation….”
“I think so too.”
Just as Roen was about to counter.
A new ally appeared. A silver-haired girl fluttering a cloak that symbolized a mage.
It was Delia Arpen.
“If it’s Ulan, I’m sure that’s the case.”
Belief gleamed in her golden eyes.
Of course, Ulan had a bewildered expression. But once again, he remained silent.
‘I don’t know why, but…’
He clearly sensed that Ivella and Delia were doing this for him.
With the two actively defending him, Ulan wore a strange expression.
‘It feels peculiar.’
In his previous life, the position he held was always the forefront, protecting his companions by fighting.
But now it was different.
It was a scene where he was being protected in turn by his former companions. The situation itself felt unfamiliar and somewhat awkward, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
As he quietly observed this.
Roen’s voice came again.
“Sigh, I understand the desire to protect your friend. But the fact remains that he broke the rules.”
With a sigh, Roen came forward.
He carried some intimidating force with him.
“So, I’m afraid I will have to take you with me. If you continue to interfere, you may find yourselves in trouble too…”
“That’s not fair, is it?”
Suddenly cutting him off was the appearance of a new figure.
As the new troublemaker entered, Roen frowned. He was starting to get irritated.
But just for a moment, once he recognized the identity of the newcomer, his expression hardened.
“…Professor Arnoff.”
Ethan Arnoff.
The professor in charge of Weaponry and one of the people behind Ulan. He stepped in to interject between Ulan and Roen.
“Is it really necessary to bind him with ropes when he hasn’t committed any serious crimes?”
“He violated the rules.”
“Yes, I acknowledge that. But this situation isn’t something Ulan caused. On the contrary, he’s more like the one who resolved the issue.”
Ethan’s words held merit.
Ulan had indeed aided in resolving the troubles. Considering that, arresting him was absurd.
“Yet, he still broke the rules…!”
However, Roen’s perspective was different.
No matter how much help he provided in resolving the problem, breaking the rules was undeniably a mistake. Thus, it should be viewed separately.
This was a sort of stubbornness and belief he held as the captain of the guard. But this time, he had chosen the wrong opponent.
“I think you’re mistaken.”
A chilling voice brushed against his ears.
Ethan continued with his dry expression.
“The suspension imposed on Ulan was by the Inspectorate. Thus, any punishment for breaking it is the responsibility of the Inspectorate, not the guard.”
“…….”
Roen was instantly taken aback.
This was a warning. A warning not to overstep his bounds.
Moments later, regaining his composure, Roen bit his lip slightly and nodded.
“……Understood. Let’s go with that.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Ethan smiled.
“Since it’s getting late, let’s conduct a detailed investigation tomorrow. If it must happen today, I’ll have five inspectors accompany the guard.”
“No, the guard will withdraw from this matter. Please investigate the events of today internally and send a summary to us later.”
“Haha, then we will both find it convenient.”
After completing the bizarre verbal duel.
Roen turned away, his face stoic. After a while, as he walked away, Ethan approached Ulan and patted him on the shoulder.
“You did well. Now everyone should return to their dormitories.”
This meant the situation had been settled for now.
However, Ivella and Delia showed no sign of leaving. They were still concerned about something regarding Ulan.
“Um, Professor, I have a question regarding Ulan’s punishment.”
“Suspension is a bit too long.”
Delia remarked, sounding disgruntled.
At that, Ethan chuckled lightly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll convene a committee first thing in the morning to rectify any punishment.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes, and the punishment for today will also be treated simply as a letter of reflection, so don’t worry about it.”
A letter of reflection. At those words, Ulan’s expression turned stern.
Understandably. Ulan had always struggled with writing. In his past life, he often relied on Ivella to help him write letters to his faction.
So he earnestly asked.
“…Wouldn’t it be better to just go to the guard instead?”
“Haha, don’t joke.”
But it wasn’t a joke.
Ulan repeated that he’d rather go to the guard, but what returned was only Ethan’s laughter.
“Fall back! Everyone fall back!”
“All are to return to the academy!”
As soon as the order to withdraw was given.
The party gathered the dazed Noa and Silfi and returned to the academy.
And just like that, everyone disappeared.
The forest was enveloped in a tranquil silence.
However, that silence was short-lived. Suddenly, a faint mist rolled in front of the cave. In no time at all, it took the shape of a wolf.
A white wolf with crimson eyes.
It was the Mist Wolf.
[…….]
The Mist Wolf silently gazed outside the forest.
To be precise, at the place where the people had vanished.
The wolf stared fixedly at that spot before reverting back into mist. Then, with the night wind, it began its quiet journey toward where Ulan had disappeared.
Chapter 16. Why are you here?
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/darkmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
