Far too violent. The rule was supposed to be that the Lady was the one dishing out the scares, but this was a complete lack of decorum.
Using the breached entrance, the enemy—Saya Kuromizu—stepped into the Ghost Classroom.
The Lady snapped her fingers on instinct. The Monster Diggy that had been rolling on the ground vanished.
"This is…"
"Lucia, stay on guard. I'll take point."
Lucia, Saya, and the grotesque being Saya led. If there was such a thing as an irregular, this was it.
To think there was a human out there capable of prying open that entrance.
But now that things had come to this, there was no use complaining. Fortunately, aside from those two, the rest of the investigation team was still dithering at the threshold of the Ghost Classroom.
Before anyone else could interfere, the Lady snapped her fingers once more.
The door slammed shut with tremendous force, cutting off Saya and her companion from the rest of the investigation team.
Then, the Lady immediately deleted the connection that had existed between the Ghost Classroom and Classroom 66 of the academy.
This door could never be used again. But then again, Saya would never be able to force it open a second time either. After all, she had destroyed the door itself.
Either way, this Ghost Classroom had spread too far. The Lady had been planning to erase it soon anyway, so no real loss.
And besides, this place was the Treasure Hall—Star God's Miniature Garden.
They might think they had infiltrated cleverly, but this place—so to speak—was the Lady's own belly.
"! Saya—the other side of the door—"
"It's been cut off. Lucia, be careful!"
Lucia shouted. Beyond the door they had just smashed through, the scene that greeted them was no longer the school building where Lucia and the others had been standing.
Zebuldia Magic Academy at night.
But no time had elapsed.
Unlike the outside world, there were no students or teachers here.
It mimicked the outside world yet was fundamentally different—an otherworldly academy, and the Lady's hunting ground.
This was the Imperial Capital's hidden side: the Treasure Hall—Star God's Miniature Garden, created by the Star God so that He might come to know fear.
Glaring into the darkness, Lucia spat out: "…Worst case scenario."
The Lady wholeheartedly agreed. But they were the ones who had set foot in this Treasure Hall.
Lucia's eyes locked onto the Lady for the first time.
The biggest problem was Saya, the woman who had pried open the gate to this otherworld, but Lucia herself looked like quite the handful too.
The Lady could see the power radiating from her.
She was probably a cut above the Hugh who had shaken Monster Diggy's confidence. An entirely different league from the students they had been snatching up until now.
Lucia's eyes couldn't quite decide whether the Lady was friend or foe—because the Lady was wearing a Zebuldia Magic Academy uniform.
But playing the ally wouldn't work. Saya had previously seen her in that same appearance outside.
Both of them were troublesome opponents. But if they could discover what these objects of fear truly feared, the Star God's return would surely draw much closer.
With that in mind, the Lady smiled—a declaration of war, of sorts. As a first move, she let thick, bloody tears stream down her face.
If the Lady's information was correct, these were just girls—they should at least let out a scream at the sight of this.
Unfortunately, almost no one who had come here had actually been frightened by it—but— "!?"
Lucia's eyes went wide, her expression going rigid. At this unexpected reaction, the Lady couldn't help but adopt a blank face.
Saya hadn't so much as twitched an eyebrow, not a shred of emotion breaking through, yet the Lady could feel powerful waves of emotion coming from Lucia.
The very thing the Lady lived for—the emotion of fear.
Could it be that Lucia wasn't as strong as the Lady had imagined?
Tentatively, the Lady reached a hand toward Lucia. As Lucia flinched, the Lady tilted her head and asked in a frail little voice: "Big sister… did you come… to save me?"
"!?"
"Look out, Lucia!!!"
"!?"
Saya was really too much of a nuisance. Right at the moment the Lady felt the best response she'd had since she'd started her abductions, the grotesque being following Saya lunged at her.
Fortunately, only about three of them had slipped into the Treasure Hall, but they were far too troublesome.
At the Lady—who appeared as a helpless young girl—the humanoid aberration raised its arm high and swung down with full force.
What on earth was this creature? The Lady dodged backward on reflex, and a shadowy human fist passed barely inches from her eyes.
The fist continued straight into the classroom wall, piercing through it with ease. Cracks spread a moment later, and the wall crumbled apart.
The Lady could do nothing but stare in disbelief at the monster that had torn through the reinforced wall like tissue paper.
Saya spoke with a puzzled expression: "Her power… has it gone up…?"
"!? Why did you bring something like this, big sister!?"
The Lady let out an involuntary shriek.
This Treasure Hall existed for the observation of fear. You weren't supposed to bring in something that scared even the Lady herself.
A being like this would have even Monster Diggy running for its life.
From the aberrant creature came a strange, rustling sound. Like sand sifting and falling. She would have loved to use it as a model example of terror.
And there were three of them. There would be more outside. If it were just Lucia, the Lady would have been thrilled, but this was the absolute worst.
No good. Despite having such wonderful guests, she had no choice but to flee.
The Lady raised both arms high, dripping with blood as she staggered toward Lucia.
"Bi-i-i-g siste-e-e-r!"
"!"
She was scared. She hadn't screamed, but she was scared of me!
But between the retreating Lucia and the Lady, Saya inserted herself. In her hand, she now held a metal baton—when had she drawn it?
Saya showed no emotion upon seeing the Lady.
No—to be precise, there was one.
Irritation. Without a word, Saya swung the baton at the blood-soaked Lady in a clean, unhesitating arc.
This Treasure Hall was the Lady's home ground. Most attacks wouldn't work.
But she knew instinctively.
That baton would definitely—inflict devastating damage on the Lady.
"!?"
The power that had interfered with the Ghost Classroom door with bare hands. That same power was being channeled into the baton.
Just before the baton struck, the Lady barely managed to disperse her existence.
The baton sliced through empty air. A faint pain coursed through the Lady.
She couldn't believe it. She had scattered her form to escape, yet even a glancing blow dealt damage— Saya glanced around warily, clicked her tongue, and stowed the baton.
"Tch… got away. Was so close to finishing her."
She needed to get Saya out of here as quickly as possible.
This was wrong. Her world wasn't supposed to have knights who fought monsters, or women with bizarre abilities barging in.
All the Lady needed were people like Lucia—people who would properly, genuinely fear her.
Dispersing her body was the last resort. In this state, nearly all attacks would pass through her, but she would lose most of her power for a while.
But if she hadn't gone that far, Saya would surely have annihilated her completely.
Before fleeing, the Lady managed to bring her consciousness close to Lucia's ear and whispered: "Goodbye, kind big sister."
"!"
"There—!!!"
Lucia trembled. Instantly, Saya swept the baton past Lucia's ear.
Severe pain surged through the Lady. Pain was a warning signal—this attack was almost certainly accumulating as damage, whether large or small.
This was the worst. Truly the worst. The Lady fled the scene, shedding invisible tears all the while.
§ § § "Ehhh!? A Level 8 Hunter was here!?"
Luke's anguished cry echoed through the third floor of the Beginning Footprint Clan House, in the alchemy laboratory.
At this, Citry added with a wry smile: "I double-checked afterward, and to be precise, it seems to be a provisional Level 9. Looks like Kai passed it along."
"Damn it! I wanted to slice her up too… Why is the timing always like this!?"
"Mm… perhaps your daily conduct?"
"My daily conduct…"
At the Master's utterly tactless remark, Tino—who had been gulping down potions—couldn't help but grimace slightly.
The unprecedented mock battle that had erupted without warning in the underground training grounds had come to a rousing conclusion.
Saya Kuromizu was strong. And her strength wasn't simply an extension of what normal Hunters were capable of.
An ability to manipulate something that could neither be seen nor touched—no one had ever seen or heard of anything like it. If Big Sis, with her extraordinary insight honed from her days as a Thief, hadn't noticed it, no one else would have.
Recently, Tino had developed a sense that their own abilities had been growing, but this experience drove home just how green they still were. The difference was surely one of mindset.
Big Sis, who had been adventuring alongside the Master for so long, surely had a different level of awareness from Tino, who only occasionally had the Thousand Trials dropped on them.
Tino had never met a Level 9 Hunter before, but was Level 9 really that much of a thing?
Closing their eyes, what came to mind was what Saya had been about to unleash at the end.
Even without looking directly into Saya's eyes, the sheer abnormal atmosphere had been palpable. If Tino's instincts were correct, that was something that should never see the light of day.
Of course, Saya probably had it under control, but still…
In the end, the mock battle's conclusion had been muddled by the fact that Big Sis and Citry had jumped in too, turning it into a massive free-for-all before they were called away, and it ended in a wash.
After Big Sis and Citry joined in, Saya had shifted to evasive tactics, but if there was one thing the mock battle had revealed, it was this: even when facing that many opponents simultaneously, Saya had come out of it completely unscathed.
Well, she had been dodging, so she was still below the Master who just stood there taking hits in silence…
"But it was a good thing Luke didn't come, wasn't it? It would've been a bit much for Saya…"
"Luke's slashing attacks fly, so yeah… against someone seeing them for the first time, it'd be seriously rough."
The slashing attack Luke had mastered in Yggdrasil really didn't look like conventional swordsmanship at all.
Just how high was Luke aiming?
"Hey, couldn't we get her back for another round? Should I ask Kai? It's not fair—Riz and the others get to fight a Level 9…"
"She didn't actually get cut. And it's your own fault for not being there, Luke."
Luke was the same as always, apparently. For the record, Luke had been absent because he'd gone off to train.
Even Big Sis, who never skipped daily practice, would go shopping in her spare time, but Luke had absolutely none of that. Way too stoic.
"Oh, by the way, Citry, you didn't use your gas during the mock battle."
"I pretty much had Saya's ability figured out by then. She's definitely strong, but if it came down to it, there were plenty of ways to handle it. Besides, there were a lot of clan members around, so I didn't think gas was necessary."
"It's devastating if it lands, but super weak against ambushes, huh, Saya? I'm sure she's got countermeasures by now, though."
Indeed, Saya's personal combat ability didn't seem all that different from Tino's.
She probably had combat power on par with Tino, who had been training specifically for close-quarters fighting, but factoring in her certified level, that was quite low. Even her ability-based defenses could potentially be bypassed—not just by Tino, but by Big Sis's lightning-fast attacks. Citry's gas and Lucia's magic would have their chances too.
But in reality, Saya had survived on the battlefield long enough to reach Level 9. Tino shuddered as they spoke: "She must have a trump card… or maybe she can summon something even stronger…"
"You can't exactly produce casualties in a mock battle, and on the battlefield she'd look even more formidable, wouldn't she?"
"I-I see…"
Citry was right. In a mock battle like this, sure, but trying to deal with the 'rustling' in a chaotic melee was impossible.
Maybe future mock battles should be avoided. Whatever Saya had been about to summon at the end—even the unseen operatives from the national organization had been under enough pressure from it that they could barely breathe.
Big Sis had devised a method to counter it by looking at Saya's reflection in her eyes, but that technique could easily be shut down by Saya's own countermeasures. Close your eyes and the reflected image meant nothing—and the ability had still activated in that state too.
"Tino, what a great experience that was… man…"
"Ah, thank you, Luke…"
Luke spoke with undisguised frustration.
Indeed, this mock battle had probably been a great learning experience. Finding a safe mock battle against a Level 9 was extremely rare. It was all surely by the Master's design.
And so, Citry said to Luke, who still couldn't hide his bitterness: "Well, an opportunity may come soon. If you're free, why not help Lucia out? Saya might be there too."
"!! Lucia!! But she said she wanted to handle her requests solo for now, right? I don't wanna get in her way…"
Luke actually had a brake on him!?
As Luke crossed his arms with a troubled expression, Citry swirled the freshly brewed potion in her flask and said: "Her mind might have changed by now. This case seems to involve the type of thing Lucia isn't good with."
"? There's a type of thing Lucia isn't good with?"
Lucia was a Mage who excelled in both intellect and appearance, both literary and martial, who had been invited to Zebuldia Magic Academy and even awarded the epithet "Myriad Forms at Will."
Mages were generally versatile, but her power—forged by studying the Master's magic tome and developing numerous original spells—stood out even among other Mages. She had contracts with spirits, and her reputation was excellent.
As far as Tino knew, Lucia had no weaknesses—but the wide-eyed Tino was met with an amused explanation from Big Sis: "Ah, the type of thing Lucia isn't good with. Lucia, you see… she doesn't like ghosts."
"Ghost…s?"
"Ghost stories, things like that—she's apparently been afraid of them for a long time. I love them, personally."
At these unexpected words, Tino was momentarily confused.
Ghosts. Spirits. Even now, during the golden age of Hunters, when real mysteries could be found everywhere, ghost stories remained enduringly popular as entertainment. Tino had heard a few themselves.
But Lucia was always fighting high-level Monsters and Phantoms—some of them grotesque-looking—and it was a matter of life and death—yet she was afraid of ghosts?
What even was a ghost, anyway?
Just the other day, at the church in the Imperial Capital, the "Marin's Wail" attached to the cursed item they'd fought had been humanoid—basically a ghost. Lucia had been right there at the church, joining everyone in the attack.
And Citry's cheerful smile… she must have teased Lucia about it mercilessly. She just hadn't done it where Tino could see.
"Yeah, I hate 'em too, ghosts. Can't cut 'em… well, I cut 'em, but still."
"She can handle it when there's a bunch of people around, though. And Lucia is pretty competitive, so…"
Luke seemed fine with it…
But to think Lucia had that kind of weakness… Even in a panic, Lucia seemed like the type to just fire off spells without missing a beat.
Tino had heard rumors about the supernatural disappearances too, and yeah, it was pretty ghost-story-ish. Tino had lived in the Imperial Capital their whole life, but this was the first time those kinds of rumors had spread this far.
"It looks like Saya was called in for the same case, so if you went together, you might run into her."
"Hmm. Think we could get a mock battle in?"
"In some ways, Luke himself is more like a ghost story than any actual ghost…"
In certain circles, he was feared more than ghost stories, Luke.
Especially since he had a tendency to just start cutting anyone who was holding a sword—the feelings directed at him by swordsmen and knights were considerable.
But Citry's Kirukilu was probably scarier than ghost stories too…
"But, she hasn't actually asked me to help yet…"
"It'd be rude to butt in on Lucia's work, I suppose. But I did look into it a bit, and it seems like a pretty interesting case—wouldn't hurt to be prepared?"
"…I wanna cut a Level 9."
"I want to fight one more time too. Next time, I'm definitely killing whatever Saya summons."
"I'd like to examine Saya's eyes up close, too."
Lucia… are you okay? If you want, I can help!
Tino decided to push Big Sis and the others out of their mind for now and simply pray for Lucia's safety.