***

Through a now-calmed mind and extremely swollen eyes, Sylvia could barely make out the figure of Max beating up Theodore, whose hands were impaled on the cave's wall by a spear.

BAM—!

"HAHAHAH! SO YOU'RE A HALFLING ALL ALONG HUH? THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING!"

Max kicked Theodore's face again.

BAM—!

"YOU USED YOUR FILTHY HALFLING MAGIC TO SEDUCE LADY SYLVIA! OF COURSE! HOW COULD I EVER BE INFERIOR TO THE LIKES OF YOU!?"

Max then twisted his spear, causing even more damage to Theodore's hand. He then raised his fist up and punched Theodore's abdomen repeatedly.

Spurt—! BAM—! BAM—! BAM—! BAM—!...

Theodore, who had been knocked unconscious unconscious as soon as Max's spear hit him, wasn't able to even defend himself at all.

BAM—! THUD—!

With another punch, Theodore's body fell to the ground. His hands, which were impaled by spears just mere moments ago, were torn apart.

Seeing this, Max picked his spear up again, flourished it to sweep away Theodore's blood. He was about to thrust it into Theodore's body when suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Tch!", Max clicked his tongue. "I can't do anything with you around, huh?"

SWOOOOOOSH—! Crack—! THUD—!...

Sylvia didn't know what Max was talking about nor did she know what he was doing. However, she didn't need to, as Max elaborated his actions to absolutely no one soon after.

"Now that all the Capture crystals are gone, I'll have no problem doing whatever I want kehahahaha!"

KRIEEEEEEEEEEE—!

A horrible screeching sound rang out as Max dragged his spear, along with Theodore, towards where Sylvia was.

"Watch closely, my dear Sylvia", he said as he threw Theodore to the ground and positioned his spear above him. "I'll deliver justice to this perverted Halfling!"

"D- nt k..l hi m!", Sylvia struggled to speak, but what came out of her mouth was an unintelligible mess. After all, considering that all of the damage that her throat had taken, it was a miracle that she wasn't dead on the spot.

"Don't worry, lady Sylvia", Max laughed. "I know you're excited to see him get killed, but you need not to strain yourself to cheer for me"

'I- I have to stop Max somehow!'

Although Theodore was the one who pummeled her, threw out insults at her, and almost killed her just moment ago, she didn't care, as it was just a part of the fight in her mind.

Furthermore—

'It's my fault... it's all my fault...'

—It was her selfishness that led to the fight, and it was also her selfishness that led to the current predicament that was befalling Theodore.

'N- No ! I can't let it happen again! Not to someone like Theodore!'

As such, it was her duty and responsibility to stop Max.

Seeing that Max's spear was inching closer and closer to Theodore's throat, Sylvia's mind went into overdrive.

She considered using the [Ice spears] that she didn't have the chance to use in the fight earlier, but she quickly swatted that idea away, as she had lost her mana connection with the spears as soon as she switched to using Aether.

'Another way... another way... Ah!'

There was only one thing she could do.

Sylvia forced her trembling and mangled body up, and mustered up the remaining of her strength to throw herself on top of Theodore's body.

"W- What!?"

This caught Max off-guard. 

However, he was still able to react in time, as he altered the direction of his attack at the last second, making the spear only thrusting into Sylvia's legs instead of her body.

"A....h!"

"GODDAMMIT!", Max shouted. "HOW DARE YOU USE YOUR FILTHY HALFLING MAGIC ON LADY SYLVIA EVEN WHEN SHE'S IN THIS STATE?"

Spurt—!

Ripping his spear out of Sylvia's legs with complete disregard to her pain, Max alternated his gaze between his blood-stained spear and the hole in Sylvia's legs.

"W- What...? I, Max Vermillion, attacked my future wife?"

Clutching his own head in despair, Max glared at Theodore with bloodshot eyes through the gaps between his fingers.

"UNFORGIVABLE!", he pointed his spear to Theodore's head. "YOU FILTHY HALFLING MADE ME HARM LADY SYLVIA! DIE!"

WOOOOOOOSH—!

Max's spear split through the air, and flew towards Theodore's unprotected head.

Seeing this, Sylvia tried to move her body up to cover his head with her own body, but—

'W- What!? Why can't I...! M- Move! MOVE! MOVE!'

—She couldn't move an inch. And every time she tried to, agonizing pain coursed through her entire being.

Thus, all she could do was to struggle despite the pain and watch in hopelessness as the spear moved closer and closer to Theodore.

Time seemingly stopped for Sylvia as the spear was mere milliseconds away from killing Theodore.

'W- Why...? My selfishness killed yet another one again'

'I'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm sorryI'm I'm sorr—'

<[Void skewer]>

CLANG—!

Sylvia stared with widened eyes as Max's spear was intercepted by a pitch-black lance made of pure Void mana.

Max widened his eyes too, albeit with anger instead of bewilderment and relief like Sylvia.

"What!? Who dares interru—"

Not letting Max finished his sentence, a voice rang out from the figure who was standing at the entrance of the room.

"Arise, Archenas!"

A huge Void beast resembling a spider suddenly manifested from Max's shadow.

It towered over him, and its one and only eye stared at him like it was piercing through his very soul.

BAM—! THUD—!

Without even able to react with surprise, Max was already knocked unconscious by the Void beast's long limbs.

Tok—Tok—Tok—Tok—Tok—!

Rapid footsteps rang out as the figure approached Sylvia and Theodore with haste. 

"Good job, Archenas! You can come back now"

With a satisfied growl, the beast melted into the figure - Krista's shadow.

Krista then turned towards Sylvia and Theodore, but she widened her eyes in horror as she observed the extent of their injuries.

"Oh god! You guys looks like you've just gone out of a meat grinder!"

Despite the snarky remark, however, Sylvia's Eyes told her that Krista was extremely worried and nervous.

In fact, her nervousness only faded slightly once she had fed Theodore and Sylvia Recovery potions and confirmed that their conditions were stabilized.

"Amelia must have gotten out of the dungeon by now", Krista muttered. "I guess it's best to get them to other healers in Avaron"

She then alternated her gaze between Sylvia, Theodore, and... Max, albeit with extreme reluctance.

"Right... I can't carry them alone. Arise, Archenas!"

The Void beast appeared from the shadows yet again.

"Sorry Archenas!", Krista clasped her hands together. "I'll need you to bring Theodore and... whoever that guy is out of here"

Scowling in annoyance as it was summoned again after such a short time, the Void beast eventually moved towards Theodore and Max, and then placed them onto its back.

"Thanks! I'll treat you some Goblins once this is over"

Krista then turned to Sylvia and carried her on her back.

As they were walking towards the Exit, which had just been thawed, Sylvia reflected on her earlier actions.

"S o   rr y...", she lets out a barely audible and intelligible groan as her sad gaze rested on Theodore.

Krista somehow picked up on what Sylvia was trying to say, and patted her head with a warm gaze. "Don't worry too much, Sylvia. Although I don't know what you did, I'm sure brother won't take it to heart"

"Re...  al... ly?", Sylvia looked hopeful.

Krista, who could now be titled as an expert in translating unintelligible speech, smiled reassuringly. However, her next words weren't even half as reassuring as her smile.

"Well... maybe?", she shrugged her shoulders. "He seems to tolerate certain people much more than others... and it just so happens that most of those people are beautiful girls... like you are! So I guess you're good?"

Of course, Krista didn't know that the people she was referring to were the main characters of the novel.

Blissfully unaware of that fact, Krista stopped in her track for a split second as if she realized something disturbing and turned towards Sylvia.

"Say, Sylvia, have you always been this expressive?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Stares—!

"O- Okay then, I guess I'm just imagining things"

This little exchange wasn't so useless, however, as Sylvia recalled why she forced Theodore into fighting her in the first place.

"S ...t a... t-u s"

=====

Name: Sylvia Ecertold

Race: Dragon (Part-angel)

Rank: D

Strength: D+

Agility: D+

Stamina: E+

Intelligent: D

Mana capacity: C-

Profession: Ice mage (Lv.7)

--

Affinities:

[Perfect - Ice magic]

[Extreme - Star magic]

[High - Water magic]

[Low - Lightning magic]

[Low - Time magic]

[Low - Space magic]

--

Skills:

[SS - Authorities]

The user can infuse Mana into her throat to let out a voice that carries certain <Authorities>.

[S - Magic Eyes of emotions]

The innate skill of Estellare/Sylvia Ecertold. This skill <passively> makes the user's facial expression of emotions 'infectious'. When in high-stress situations, the user can use the skill <actively>, directing the 'infection' of emotion into herself, effectively raising her power up to a major rank at maximum. However, the skill may be entirely deactivated for a varying period of time if used beyond its limits.

[S - Polymorph]

Innate skill of every pure-blooded dragons. Allows the user to turn into his/her own counterpart of most other sentient races.

[A - Mana sense (Superior)]

The user is granted a sense of Mana superior to most lifeforms

--

Battle arts:

-NONE-

=====

Sylvia broke through 2 minors rank, achieving <D> rank right after her fight against Theodore.

However, she didn't care one bit about it. Instead, her attention was entirely focused on the smaller blue screen that had just manifested itself.

'O- One month...?'

Tears of happiness trickled down her cheeks as she read the screen. After all, this was the longest penalty time she had ever gotten.

'I- I can be normal for 1 whole month? Hic...'

"Huh Sylvia? Why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere?"

Instead of answering Krista's questions, Sylvia teared up even more as she looked at Theodore with a grateful gaze.

'Thank you...'

But upon realizing the extent of his injuries again, Sylvia bit her lower lip in self-condemnation.

"...A.. nd... s- so.. rr.. y..."

***

Half a day had passed since the dungeon incident ended, and I was sitting in the infirmary room, alone.

'Haaah... this is what happens when I don't try to make friends...'

Well, now that I think about it, I wasn't exactly alone in this room, as there was also Lyra, who was sitting on the blanket.

Ignoring Lyra for now, I thought back to my fight with Sylvia.

Even though I had attained the third movement of [V - World splitter] in the middle of the fight, I also probably gained the ire of Sylvia, the future Duchess.

As such, I was currently mulling over my life choices like a middle-aged man.

Waking me up from my thoughts, however, was Lyra's voice in my head.

|Sorry...|

(...)

|...|

CLANK—!

-Oi Theodore!

(...)

|...|

(...Sure)

-...What the fuck are you doing with that bird?

|Huh, you accepted it that easily? But it's my fault that y—|

(Stop, Lyra), I sighed at the gray raven in front of me. (It's my fault for abusing my skills too much)

In fact, if I hadn't used [F - Emotionless] that much in the past, maybe the results would have been totally different.

Seeing that Lyra was still in a depressed mood, I sighed yet again and patted her head.

(Alright then, it's both our faults. As such, let's compensate each other)

-Is he actually mad?

|Huh?|

(Let's see... how about you help me once when I asks for it, and I'll get Vihar an actual believer)

|...|

(So?)

|...Sure. But how are you going to convert someone if you're looking like a mummy?|, Lyra said as she pecked my bandages.

Seeing that Lyra had somewhat returned to her normal self I chuckled and reached out for her.

However—

"THEODORE GRAY!"

—A loud sound interrupted me.

Frowning in frustration, I turned to the source of the shout, which I had just identified to be Ria. "Why are you so loud!"

"Because you kept ignoring me!", she seemed just as, if not more annoyed than I was.

"I see, but... since when did you get in my room?"

Crossing her arms, Ria spoke. "First off, this is the infirmary, not your room. And to answer your question, I just got here a few minutes ago, but..."

She then turned her gaze towards Lyra. "You kept... staring at that bird"

"It's a raven", I narrowed my eyes.

"Whatever, it's still creepy however you see it"

"..."

"Enough of that, I'll finish what I'm here to do, and you can be... intimate with the bird again", Ria said as she reached into her pockets.

She then pulled out a basket of fruit, one which definitely didn't fit into those small pockets of her.

'Do they make Spatial pants now? No, more importantly, who the fuck even invented that?'

Unaware of my thoughts, Ria placed the basket on the table next to my bed.

"Amelia and Raun sent you this as a get-well gift", she then looked at the basket with a longing gaze before reluctantly continuing. "I've eaten some of the fruits as delivery fees. Amelia had already consented to it s- so don't you dare t- tell her this, okay?"

As soon as I heard her words, I scanned the basket.

The fruits were arranged in such a way that made the basket look full, but if you looked closely, you could tell that the actual quantity of fruit wouldn't even fill half of the basket.

If Ria hadn't told me that she had eaten some of it, I wouldn't have noticed it. As such, I wasn't exactly sure why she basically confessed to stealing my get-well gift.

'Well, it's not like I'll actually eat it anyways'

I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of fruits after all.

As I was thinking about that, however, Ria's face suddenly turned serious and she stared into my... eyes?

'...Wait!'

I didn't have my sunglasses on right now. As such, anyone could tell that my pupils were vertical with just a glance.

Widening my eyes in realization, I quickly hid under my blanket.

"Pffft! HAHAHA!", Ria laughed. "It's obvious that you're a Halfling, why are you even hiding?"

Sighing in frustration, I slowly got out of the blanket.

"I'm sorry for killing you without your consent. Now tell me, what do you want?"

Staring at me with a puzzled look for a few seconds, Ria humphed upon realizing what I was implying. "What kind of phoenix do you think I am? I'm not so petty as to blackmail you with that just because you killed me!"

Hearing this, I sighed in relief. 

"Well... if you really want me to blackmail you, then so be it!"

Before I could even answer, Ria continued with a serious tone. "Krista told the professors that the reason why you and Sylvia were so injured is that you guys had to fight multiple <Armored ant royal knights> at the same time"

"However", she stared deep into my eyes. "I know full well that the ant royal knights were all dead. I burnt their corpses into fine ash in the tree's belly after all"

Pulling in a chair and finally sitting down, she continued. "So tell me, Theodore Gray. What. Happened?"

"..."

"Keeping silent huh?", Ria sighed. "Well, I can vaguely guess what happened anyways. Sylvia probably fought you"

"!"

"No need to act that surprised. The second Exit was frozen solid with Ice for a good 15 minutes, and I'd be an idiot to not notice that Sylvia had been expressing her emotions freely after getting out of the dungeon all battered up alongside with you. She told me about how to temporarily disable her Eyes after all"

"..."

"Anyways, I'll g—"

CLANK—!

Suddenly, the door swung open, revealing someone who I really didn't want to confront, at least not right now.

'...Why is she here?'