Myrla lay next to Kelton, staring up at the blue sky above as clouds slowly drifted by overhead. It had been a few hours since Eli, Sonia, and Cecil entered the sewers. They had said that they would regularly check back with the outside for updates and to give updates.

  However, that hadn’t even happened once. And soon, it would be sunset. Already, the edges of the horizon were starting to burn red. And when it was truly evening, that was when Myrla and Kelton were going to have to keep an eye out.

  But for now, they just lazily laid there as Eli’s summon guarded them, kneeling to the side.

  “They’re sure taking a while, aren’t they?” Kelton eventually said.

  Myrla fractionally nodded. “Mhm.”

  “I wonder what’s holding them up…”

  “Could be anything.”

  “Maybe they’re dead.”

  “Probably not.”

  “Then what else could be keeping them?”

  “Not sure.”

  The two of them continued to lay there in silence for another moment. Until, eventually, Kelton sat up and shook his head.

  “I really hope they aren’t, like, completing the assignment without us, you know?”

  “I really hope they are,” Myrla said, glancing up at her friend. “I really do not want to go into the sewers.”

  He gave her a flat stare. “...you’re really quite spoiled, aren’t you?”

  And she rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up, Kelton. I am not. It just stinks, alright?”

  ***

  Cecil slammed his dagger again and again onto the barrier blocking his path. Each hit made the cracks already formed on the white surface grow larger. However, the barrier was healing at the same time as it was breaking. So it was taking the elf forever to break through.

  If he were stronger, perhaps he could have already been back inside of the room. But Cecil was not really a close-quarters-combatant. He was not strong. His specialties lay in throwing projectiles, which wasn’t really going to help him get inside.

  Of course, he was a saint. And his miracle was supposed to be a huge boost to his strength— beyond any blessing or boon could give.

  But it only came to him at random. He couldn’t control it. Oftentimes, it happened when he didn’t even really need it.

  Work, you damn miracle, he thought as he slammed his dagger onto the barrier once again.

  Unfortunately, at this point, it wasn’t even needed. At least, not to break through. Because the crack forming on the white surface was already as large as the entrance to the room.

  The barrier couldn’t heal as fast as Cecil could break it. So with his next swing, the white wall barring his entrance into the room finally shattered like broken glass. When it did, the elf stumbled forward, collapsing to the floor inside of the room.

  Looking up, he called out to the white-haired boy, ready to back him up.

  “Eli—” Cecil started.

  But then he froze when he saw the scene inside of the room. He knelt there for a moment, his head spinning as he went slack-jawed. Behind him, Sonia ran up to join him, having heard the barrier shatter.

  “I’m sorry, Cecil, I couldn’t find my mother. I…” And Sonia paused, trailing off at what she saw inside of the room as well.

  The two students of the Holy Academy just stared for a long moment, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. After all, it was an utterly ridiculous scene.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  There lay Eli, against the wall, an ornate-looking lance in hand and his aura armor half-broken. Now that wasn’t too unexpected. But what had drawn both Sonia and Cecil’s shock was what lay across from him.

  It was the mawdrith. The greater demon that was supposed to be a Platinum Rank threat.

  And it was dead.

  Slain by the boy just across from it.

  “But how…?” Sonia eventually said, completely in shock.

  Cecil didn’t know how to respond to that. He just rose back to his feet and approached the white-haired boy.

  “Eli,” he called out.

  And Eli blinked as if he finally realized they were there.

  “Oh, hey guys,” he said as he picked himself up. “Don’t worry, I’m fine, just resting a little bit. That was a tougher fight than I thought it would be.”

  He came to a halt before both Sonia and Cecil who just stared at him. Neither of them knew what to say. So Eli just tilted his head quizzically at them.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  And Cecil just… sighed.

  ***

  As expected, both Sonia and Cecil had a lot of questions for me. They interrogated me, inundating me with questions about how I managed to kill a mawdrith by myself. But I managed to avoid giving a straight answer by just saying that I used magic.

  While they were evidently dissatisfied with my explanation, they knew they wouldn’t get more out of me. Because there really wasn’t anything else for me to say other than that.

  I didn’t use any tricks to bring down the mawdrith. I just fought it until I won. It was that simple.

  I did want to avoid telling them that I was Gold Rank now, though. Mostly because they would ask me when I became Gold Rank, and I still had yet to come up with a good story for it. Well, I could just say that I got it after the horde of demons were unleashed onto Albus, which was technically the truth.

  But then I’d have to lie about how I got it, which sounded exhausting.

  For now, I just moved the topic back to our assignment, turning my gaze back towards the rest of the room.

  “Well, I guess we’re done with our assignment now— most of the demonspawn here were killed during the battle with the mawdrith. So this means we should get an A.”

  “That’s…” Cecil looked at me, before sighing exasperatedly. “I can’t believe you’re still thinking about the assignment— I was worried about you. I thought you were sacrificing yourself to save us.”

  “Sacrificing myself?” I blinked back at the elf.

  “I thought you were trying to hold off the mawdrith so we could escape,” Cecil explained.

  “Oh.”

  That interpretation of what I was doing made me sound so selfless— like some kind of martyr. But what I was doing was quite the opposite of that. I was being selfish, trying to hog all the experience for myself.

  I shook my head as I gestured at the entrance to the room. “But there would’ve been no reason for me to sacrifice myself, because Ms Natalia is here. She’d just swoop in and save us if we needed her help.”

  “That’s…” Cecil hesitated, evidently forgetting about this fact. Probably too caught up in the moment.

  “Where is Ms Natalia anyway?” I asked, trying to shift topics.

  Both the black-haired girl and the elf exchanged a glance. They looked unsure of what to say. They opened their mouths to give a response, but they were interrupted.

  “I’m right here,” a voice said from the entrance to the room.

  Blinking, I looked past my two classmates towards the black-haired lady standing there like she had been here the entire time. It was quite impressive, honestly. I didn’t even realize she was here at all until she spoke up.

  She had been trailing quite far behind us since we entered the sewers, so I wasn’t even sure if she was nearby.

  Upon seeing Natalia, Sonia exclaimed and ran up to her. “There you are, mother! Where did you go? I couldn’t find you!”

  “I was here the entire time, Sonia.” Natalia smiled and nodded at her daughter. “You worry too much. I would have stepped in if things really got dire. That’s my job.”

  “But you—” Sonia began to protest.

  And Natalia stepped past her daughter, clapping her hands together as she nodded at us.

  “Anyway, good job on completing your assignment! With this, you can all head back now.” She just smiled as she faced us, before her gaze darkened. “But before we do that…”

  I narrowed my eyes, noticing the subtle change in her expression. Even though she was still smiling, there was a shift in the air around her. And with her piercing gaze, she looked towards me as she posed a simple question.

  “Isn’t there something you want to share with us, Eli of Velmond?”

  I paused when I heard that. Sonia and Cecil turned towards me, evidently confused. I took a step back as I just scratched the back of my head.

  “What are you talking about, Ms Natalia?” I asked, unsure of what she was talking about.

  However, I had an inkling of an idea of what it could be.

  That it was about my identity.

  And if that was what it was, I was going to be in trouble.

  But I didn’t do anything that could hint to me being the Bloodied Blade, I thought as I glanced from Cecil to Sonia to Natalia. So I should be fine.

  However, my attempts at reassuring myself was quickly washed away by what the Crimson Vale said next.

  “I know your secret, Eli of Velmond,” she said as she met my gaze. “So why don’t you go ahead and tell us what it is you’re keeping from us.”

  And hearing that, my blood ran cold.