"Hyaaaaaaaah!"
"Ngh...!"
Rest slid into the landing zone of the woman falling from the clock tower, but her momentum was tremendous.
Even if he activated body reinforcement to catch her, he wouldn't be able to absorb the impact, and both of them would end up with injuries far worse than mere fractures.
(In that case...
Quartet!
) Quadruple magic activation.
By casting multiple spells simultaneously, he would reduce the falling woman's momentum.
(First, [Wind Manipulation]... and then [Levitate]) He released wind from below toward the plummeting woman, reducing her momentum.
At the same time, he cast a spell to make objects float.
He wouldn't push them too hard. If he cranked the magical output too high, the impact would destroy her body.
(Just need to slow her momentum... and then, [Water Sphere], [Amplify]!)
He cast Water Sphere, a lower-tier water-attribute spell, along with Amplify, a spell that amplified the power of magic.
The mass of water swelled into a torrent large enough to envelop a human body, expanding outward with himself at its center.
"Whap...!?"
(Good... this should work...!)
The woman's body, its momentum reduced by the two spells, plunged into the water.
The water acted as a cushion, further dissipating the impact.
Rest, waiting underwater, caught her body as it had nearly lost all its momentum.
"Blub blub blub...!?"
(That worked. She doesn't seem hurt either.)
He managed to catch her with almost no impact. He immediately dispelled [Water Sphere] and drained the water away.
"Pwah!"
"Haa, haa... w-what just happened...!?"
The woman who emerged from the water, still cradled in Rest's arms, cried out in confusion.
Looking at her up close, she appeared to be around his age.
Short red hair, dressed in pants and a shirt—her soaked clothing clinging to her body, accentuating her shapely figure.
Her white shirt was turning transparent, nearly revealing her underwear—but immediately, Rest cast the [Drying] magic.
"Hyah!"
"There, that should do it... Are you alright, miss?"
"Hae... eh? Ah, who are you...?"
"I know this may seem forward, but I had to touch your body. Given the emergency circumstances, please forgive me."
He gently lowered the woman's body to the ground and gave a slight bow.
No matter the reason, he had soaked a woman completely and pressed their bodies together.
As a gentleman, it was only proper to offer a polite apology.
"Ah... right, I fell from the clock tower..."
"Well then, I'll be taking my leave."
He was curious about why this red-haired woman had fallen from the clock tower, but honestly, he didn't want to get involved.
With the entrance exam coming up, he decided not to even introduce himself and simply left.
"Ah, wait—!"
The woman called out to him, but Rest ignored her. He activated his body reinforcement and broke into a run.
"Wait! You're the one who saved me, aren't you?!"
"What—?!"
"Thank you! You really saved me!"
The woman caught up to Rest's side and expressed her gratitude.
Rest was using body reinforcement, yet the woman was running alongside him at the same speed.
(I know I'm not at full output, but keeping up with my speed... no, more than that...!)
What was more terrifying than her speed was the fact that she wasn't using any magic.
He couldn't sense any magical aura from her whatsoever.
In other words, she was matching Rest's speed using nothing but her natural physical ability.
(She caught up with pure leg strength alone... Is she some kind of monster?!)
"My name is Yuri Cattleya. Could you tell me yours?"
"...Rest. I don't have a surname. Just Rest."
"I see, Rest. Nice to meet you."
The red-haired woman with a short haircut — Yuri — jogged alongside him with a cheerful smile.
They were in the city, so she was holding back, but she was easily keeping pace at the speed of a moped.
Matching alongside him with the casual ease of a light jog, never short of breath, Rest felt a twinge of fear.
"Actually, I only just arrived in the royal capital a little while ago? I got lost, so I climbed the clock tower to get a look around... but I apparently slipped. You're my lifesaver. I'll definitely repay this debt."
"O-oh, is that so..."
He appreciated the thanks, but he wished she would stop following him.
Wincing at Yuri who continued trailing after him, Rest suddenly realized something.
The family name Yuri had mentioned earlier — Cattleya — that name rang a bell.
"Cattleya... Could you be related to House Cattleya?"
Marquis Cattleya.
He was the knight commander of the Royal Guard who served His Majesty the King.
While Marquis Rosemary was the head of the court magicians and stood at the top of the mages in the kingdom, Marquis Cattleya stood at the top of the knights.
He was one half of the duo known in the royal court as the "King's Twin Wings."
"Ah, well... my father is, um, that is..."
"...Why are you so flustered?"
"I-I-I'm not flustered at all! I am definitely not running away from home!"
"............"
It seems she's a runaway.
Making excuses, her eyes were darting everywhere.
(...If you want to hide your identity, maybe don't blurt out your family name? But would pointing that out mean I lose?)
"I see... So you're a runaway girl who's lost."
"No... Well, I am lost, but I'm not a runaway!"
"Okay, okay, I see... By the way, I have somewhere to be, so would it be alright if I took my leave here?"
Whatever the reason, he wanted no part of the trouble that came with associating with a knight commander's daughter, a marquis's young lady.
He had an important exam soon. He didn't want to get dragged into any more unnecessary trouble.
"Ah... I'm sorry about that. By the way, where are you heading?"
"...The Royal Academy. I have an entrance exam there."
"Royal Academy?"
Yuri blinked rapidly.
While this exchange was happening, they arrived in front of the school gates of the Royal Academy.
The academy, established by the royal family, was enclosed by a brick wall, and knights in full armor stood guard before the gate.
Beyond the gate stood a majestic, white building, and other young people who also appeared to be examinees were entering the school building.
"Oh, I've been helped again, haven't I!"
Yuri, beside him, raised her voice.
"As it happens, I was also planning to take this academy's entrance exam! Thanks to you, I've been saved again. Thank you so much!"
"....................Is that so."
After a long silence, Rest nodded with a complex, indescribable expression on his face.
(The daughter of the knight commander and young lady of House Cattleya is taking the exam under the commoner quota…?)
No matter how you looked at it, this reeked of trouble.
Yuri was smiling at him with a friendly, almost puppy-like warmth, and Rest couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.