Every living being has an innate Mana source. As with everything else given by nature, some have more of that Mana, others less. This also applies to the human races. But even though everyone has Mana, that doesn't mean everyone can make use of it. In fact, in addition to the natural talent to manipulate the magic power, most magical practitioners have years of dedication behind them.

So did the former, reputedly strongest magic user in the world, Fran.

Even though she had already lost the ability to use her innate Mana, she could still sense when a massive amount of Mana was in motion around her. That was why all she could do, was to stare in awe at Rina who was chantlessly casting a large-area spell beneath the Demon-Spawning-Cloud.

As Rina's magic instructor, Fran already knew that her pupil's magical powers were exceptional. The ability to cast spells without chanting, the huge pool of Mana, the speed with which she could Mana and pour it out into the world, and of course the affinity with the Dark element. All this would undoubtedly place the young, red-haired lady at the very top of the power rankings of the Valkyria Kingdom, no, even in all of Yggildos including demons.

Yes, Fran was aware of all of this. But still, this was the first time, she had been able to watch a spell of this magnitude being cast. So, once again, she couldn't help but be thrilled as “Awesome” came naturally out of her mouth.

Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to be distracted, as she was supposed to be protecting Rina, who was completely defenceless from any potential danger at the moment. And as if on cue just as the elf managed to regain her composure, she noticed slight ruptures in the Mana inside the black cloud.

Despite that, Fran wasn't able to find any irregularities on the Demon-Spawning-Cloud at first. But as she watched it for a few seconds longer, she could feel her pulse increasing at an alarming rate. This was because the cloud was slowly moving towards Rina, who was concentrating on placing her gravity barrier on the ground.

Realising this, Fran reflexively reached out to pull Rina away but stopped halfway. It was just an absurd idea that prevented her from completing her action.

'What will happen if Rina comes into contact with it?'

Naturally, as someone who had spent her life researching everything concerning the demons and their impending invasion, Fran knew what would happen if anyone were to touch the cloud.

However, neither did she know why people lost their minds when they touched it nor did the people in these past cases have an affinity with the Dark element. So wouldn't it actually be beneficial for the world to try it out on Rina who had the Dark element? Besides, Rina is her pupil. So Fran would be in a prime seat to observe and draw conclusions, were she to sit still and let the scene in front of her play out.

Apart from all of that, Fran had found herself having some unsettling feelings over the last few days, especially last night. But now, she was convinced what those feelings were.

For as long as she could remember, she had dedicated herself to the betterment of the world. This might have made her feel a little lonely, especially when she had to watch the young women around her interact with each other for long periods of time. She might have wished for such a relationship for herself.

After all, apart from her friend Milia, Rina was the closest person to her. That was probably why she had grown too fond of the redhead and treated her too softly as a result.

But wasn't Rina supposed to be humanity's trump card against the demon invasion? So what was the point of indulging her? Wouldn't that just result in Rina developing a mindset too weak to stand up to the demons?

So, was it so for the sake of learning more about the Demon-Spawning-Cloud?

Or was it to harden Rina's mindset?

Or was she overcompensating for having been too lenient with her pupil in the past?

Or was it that Fran still couldn't accept that the young lady had perhaps become more important to her than she would have liked, more important than the world? So she wanted to prove the opposite by being particularly cruel to Rina?

Or was it simply out of panic as the Demon-Spawning-Cloud was still closing in on her and Rina's location?

Or was it perhaps a combination of all of the above?

So in the end, for whatever reason the elf could think of to satisfy her own mind, she refrained from pulling Rina away and just slowly backed away from the moving cloud and the still-concentrating girl.

With a blank mind, she dragged her body to a safer location a few dozens of metres away where Marianne was waiting.

Upon arrival, Fran ignored the brunette, who was throwing a ruckus about what the heck was going on, and simply turned to watch the scene unfold around the black cloud.

Her pupil was still crouching with both hands on the ground preparing the magical seal for the spell. It was obvious that the young woman was having a hard time as Fran could see even from this distance that Rina's shoulders were moving up and down rapidly with her heavy breathing.

However, as the cloud was still slowly closing in on Rina, said girl seemingly coming to a good stopping point for a short break looked up and around as if to search for her. When Rina's red eyes locked with her green ones, Fran panicked slightly as if a child had just been caught stealing so she shouted out to her pupil reflexively, albeit in a very weak voice.

“RINA!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?”

“HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF THERE!”

Fortunately for her (?!?!) it was already too late for the redhead to react as the Demon-Spawning-Cloud was already within touching distance. So, a split second later, the mist came in contact with her.

One of the reasons Fran had given herself was to learn more about the Demon-Spawning-Cloud and whether its effects on a human would change if that human had an affinity to the Dark magic element. That was why she watched the scene in front of her with great interest... that's how it was supposed to be.

However, in reality, it was the complete opposite.

Instead of the curious and excited researcher's face, Fran often showed during her research, she only had a blank expression devoid of any emotion.

She just stood there motionless, watching as Rina, her supposed trump card, the one she was supposed to protect and polish until the demon invasion, quickly jumped up, only to fall to her knees again. Then the red-haired girl screamed at the top of her lungs, as if to fight off some immense pain, only to collapse a few seconds later.

Again, even though Fran was watching everything unfold in front of her, her brain wasn't truly registering what was happening. However, even though her mind was on something like autopilot, she was still able to grab Marianne and hold her back as she tried to run to Rina midway. After all, Fran didn't want the brunette, too, to touch the mist and thus go mad.

Luckily, it didn't take long for the entire Demon-Spawning-Cloud to disappear into Rina's body. Instead, Rina just lay lifeless in the same spot. Only then did Fran let go of Marianne who immediately sprinted towards Rina. A few seconds later, after a short contemplation, she too dragged her body to the location where her pupil was lying.

When Marianne reached Rina, she quickly checked her condition and breathed a sigh of relief when she found out that Rina was only unconscious. After all, she had seen a situation like this before, when Rina had sucked a Demon-Spawning-Cloud into her body. And back then, three years ago, Rina seemed to have come out of that situation rather unscathed, so Marianne thought, it would be the same this time.

So, when she was convinced, or at least managed to convince herself, that Rina would be all right, she glared questioningly at the supposed hero of the commoners who had just arrived.

However, as much as she would have loved to strangle and interrogate Fran, she was afraid of the elf's current unreadable and cold demeanour.

Fortunately, Fran's pale face regained its colour as soon as she saw Rina's condition. Then she crouched down as if to carry her pupil, only to be stopped by Marianne's sharp voice.

“I'll do it.”

Though her voice was filled with irritation and contempt Fran just ignored it, stood up, and made her way back to the village where the inn was.

Marianne watched the elf for a few seconds before she picked up the redhead and followed. Fortunately, Rina was still as small and light as ever, so even though Marianne was a rather weak girl, she was confident that they would be able to reach the inn.

More than half an hour later, they did.

On entering the building they were greeted by the same old lady as the day before. Marianne initially intended to treat her like air as she did with all the other villagers she met on her way. However, that notion nearly changed when she noticed how the old hag smiled like a blooming flower when seeing the state of the girl on her back.

Like the rest of the villagers, this one, too, was obviously delighted to see Rina in such bad shape. Marianne was really tempted to open her mouth and verbally abuse this hateful woman in front of her, but as her reason told her not to, she managed to refrain from doing so.

So, after finally arriving at their allocated room and laying Rina down on a bed, she turned around and shot Fran a sharp glare.

“So, care to explain what that was supposed to be?”

Even though Marianne hadn't specified what she was talking about, they both knew exactly what she meant.

“That's for the sake of the world.”

Having said that, the usually composed and haughty elf only looked down, as if to avoid eye contact with the young and usually weak woman.

Then, after giving Marianne a clearly unsatisfactory answer, she muttered the same words again, this time in a quieter and weaker voice.

“That's for the sake of the world.”