Shinka no Mi

While Kannazuki Karen and the others were being protected by Louise, Flora Redrant, Rachel Madan, and Irene Prime, the former F-Class members of the Barbador Magic Academy, were visiting the 【Forest of Sealed Magic】 in the Valsha Empire.

“Well, aren’t we there yet~?”

“Even if you say so~ …… There’s nothing I can do about it~”

“That’s right, but~! Hey, Irene, are you sure we’re in the right place!?”

In response to Flora’s words, Irene replied without changing her complexion.

“Of course. In this perfect and beautiful me, there can be no mistakes.”

“Apart from perfection, beauty doesn’t matter, right……”

“Are you an idiot?”

“Terrible!”

Although they were moving through the forest that each of them isn’t used to, since the three were trained to some extent, they still had enough room for such exchanges.

Rachel, who had been smiling bitterly at the interaction between the two, looked around the forest again.

“Even so …… there is such a place heh~. I never thought I couldn’t use magic in here ~”

“That’s right. I was wondering why Helen couldn’t use magic when she was originally so strong, but…… considering this location, it may have been largely due to the environment.”

While Flora followed Rachel’s words and looked around, Irene was the only one who kept a cool face.

“Surely, we can’t use magic in here, but that doesn’t matter much to us.”

“Eeh? Why?”

“Since I couldn’t use magic until I met Seiichi-sensei. It doesn’t matter if I can’t currently use it.”

“No, perhaps that’s the case, but …… look, you don’t want to end up not being able to use it after all the work you’ve put into it, right?”

“Now that we know how useful magic can be, I’m sure we’ll have trouble without it on a regular basis, but at the present time, this environment should be convenient for us. Our pursuers are probably just as incapable of using magic as we are.”

“Ah, I see! We’re used to having no magic, but that’s not the case over that side, right!”

Flora looks convinced by Irene’s words.

And then, Rachel looked back behind them, looking a little anxious.

“Bu,but~…… will we be able to escape properly~?”

“……I can’t say anything about that. I am advancing while exploring the surroundings with my skills, but the other party will probably assume that much ……”

Yes, Irene and her company were being chased by a group of people.

Originally, the three of them had to return to their hometown when the Barbador Magic Academy was sealed off by the Kaizer Empire, but their homeland had already been occupied by the Kaizer Empire, and it was apparent that they would be oppressed.

If they were civilians without powers, they might still have had other options, but since the three of them have some fighting skills, in addition, due to them having good looks, there was a high possibility that they would be taken directly to the Kaizer Empire, and do whatever they pleased with them.

Irene had anticipated this, and on her way back to her hometown, she met up with Flora and the others, and from the various information they’ve received, they’ve learned of the existence of the Valsha Empire and the Kingdom of Welmburg, which have not yet fallen into the hands of the Kaizer Empire, so they decided to go to the Valsha Empire, the closest place to their current location and Helen’s birthplace.

However, while Irene and her company were returning to their hometowns from the Barbador Magic Academy, they were in a state of being under actual surveillance under the guise of being safely delivered by the Kaizer Empire, so they escaped the surveillance and moved on, and as a result, the soldiers from the Kaizer Empire noticed them and chased after them.

“What will happen if they find us?”

“Of course, they would take us. I can also assume that they would make us to be in an unmovable state so that we can’t escape next time.”

“Uhee…… I don’t like that.”

“You’re taking it easy, but it’s a pretty dangerous situation, you know? This is how they would gather together beautiful girls, including myself. It’s very likely that the men’s carnal desires would be directed at us.”

“…… While complimenting your appearance in a casual manner, please don’t say scary things”

At Irene’s words, Flora had an indescribable expression on her face.

“Well, I understand our current situation, but are the two of you okay with your family and stuff? I’m originally an orphan, so it doesn’t matter to me, but~”

“My family is the kind of house that runs a dojo, so~…… I’m sure they’ll be fine if something happens to them~”

“Come to think of it, for someone so fluffy, Rachel was quite in the martial artist group ……”

“I have no problem with mine. They’re my parents, so they’ll be able to read my thoughts well and move perfectly.”

“After all, they are Irene’s parents, so they’re similar, heh……”

“Speaking of which, will they be able to hide us when we escape to the Valsha Empire~?”

“Ah, by the way …… Helen is our friend, but we don’t know if we can get protection from her country, right?”

Irene nodded at Rachel and Flora’s comments.

“That’s true. However, we don’t have a choice anyway. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to go to the Kingdom of Welmburg, but …… the Kaizer Empire will be looking out on us at the border, so it should be difficult.”

“Well, there’s no point in thinking about it here, we’ll just have to go for the time being.”

It was at that moment when Flora said so while sighing.

“Please stop!”

Unlike her usual fluffy atmosphere, Rachel raised a sharp voice of restraint.

When both Flora and Irene immediately raised their weapons at that sight, several men emerged from the forest.

“Oops, I tried to get close enough not to be spotted, but…… you noticed it well, don’t you?”

“……We were beaten ahead huh”

Emerging from the bushes of the forest, were the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire.

Each of the soldiers had their weapons ready, and had a vulgar smile on their faces.

“Too bad, huh? If you had been a little quicker, you might have escaped from us, but…… this is the end.”

When one of the soldiers told them, the other soldiers circled not only in the direction Irene and the others were moving, but also behind them, blocking their escape.

Irene and her friends held their weapons and was looking for an opening, but there was a big difference in experience between Irene and the others, who were originally just students, and the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, and it was very unlikely that they could escape.

“There’s no use in trying to escape, alright? Even if it was just an attempt, you’ve outsmarted us. Now that we’ve caught up with you here, we’re not going to let you imitate that escape”

“……”

“It’s good, that expression…… that face makes me want to violate you ……”

Another soldier opened his mouth as his smile deepened.

“Captain~. Why don’t we enjoy them first? I don’t know when they’ll come around if we take them anyway.”

“That’s right! Isn’t it okay to have that much side benefit? It’s not every day you get to see pretty women like this.”

“Hehe…… that’s also true. Then, why don’t we just catch them quickly, and enjoy ourselves?”

The Kaizer Empire is gradually narrowing its siege.

In this state, Irene and the others were trying to break through the situation while stiffening their bodies…… it was at that moment.

“――――Haaaaaahh!”

“Wha!? From where …… Gyaaaahh!”

From behind the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, another group of soldiers emerged and launched an attack straight away.

The Kaizer Empire’s side panicked due to the sudden attack, and Irene and the others were taken aback, but they immediately returned to their senses.

“Flora, Rachel!”

“Ye,yeah!”

“Yes~!”

The three of them readied their weapons and charged at the nearby soldiers, trying to get out of the siege.

“Sh*t! You’re just little brats, don’t get carried away!”

“Hah!”

Irene swiftly swung the scythe in her hand, and dealt with the soldiers’ attacks.

“I also won’t lose!”

“Me either……!”

Following Irene’s lead, Flora and Rachel were also dealing with the oncoming soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, and the Kaizer Empire came even closer, determined not to let them escape.

“You’re not getting awayyyyy!”

“Irene!?”

The Kaizer Empire soldier attacked from Irene’s blind spot, who was dealing with another soldier, so Irene was slow to react and could not defend herself in time.

Flora and others immediately tried to prevent the attack, but they would be unlikely to prevent it being in front of the other Kaizer Empire soldiers.

Just before the sword of the Kaizer Empire soldier touched Irene, something sharp flew from another location, preventing the attack on Irene.

“Wha!?”

“――――Don’t you dare mess with my acquaintances!”

The attack was made by Helen, the very woman Irene and the others were on their way to meet.

Helen stood as if to cover up Irene and the others, and faced the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire surrounding them.

“Helen! No matter how strong Helen is, going against a soldier is……!”

Flora had a lot of questions about why she was here, but she was more concerned about Helen’s actions.

The three of them here were well aware of Helen’s strength, but still, they didn’t think that she could take on a professional soldier as the opponent.

However……

“It’s alright”

“Eh?”

―――― From there, it was one-sided.

Helen quickly swung the daggers she held in both hands, and cut down the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire one after another.

Moreover, the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire were unable to catch up with Helen’s movement, and were literally defeated at their wit’s end.

“A,amazing……!”

“That power, how did you get it ……” ｆ𝓇𝘦ℯ𝙬𝑒𝐛n𝐨νe𝙡.c𝑜𝗺

The three of them forget to run away, and admire the growth of their classmate.

Then, as it was, Helen deafeated all the nearby soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, and then, the other group of attackers also finished off all the remaining soldiers.

There, the three of them realized that the attackers were the soldiers of the Valsha Empire, and that they had truly been saved.

The three of them sat there, finally able to catch their breath as the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire were defeated.

“We,we’re saveeed!”

“I was wondering what would happen ~……”

Helen, who had instructed the soldiers of the Valsha Empire to tie up the defeated soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, approached the three of them once again.

“Hey, why are you guys here?”

“Helen. It’s to see you.”

“Eh, to see me?”

To Helen’s surprise, Irene began to talk quietly about what they had been through.

◇◆◇

“……I see. You came here to escape from the Kaizer Empire, is it……”

After listening to all of her explanations, Helen let out a sigh of astonishment.

“I understand your reason, but no matter how I put it, it’s absurd. What were you going to do if I hadn’t shown up?”

“……I also guess that it couldn’t be helped. But, if we got closer to the Valsha Empire, as we fought the soldiers of the Kaizer Empire, I had predicted that the Valsha Empire would at least send out a reconnaissance team to detect that anomaly. I really wish we could have gotten here before they found us, but we’ve come this far so that we could get at least as close to the Valsha Empire as possible. The result was a success.”

Helen looked more and more amazed when Irene told her so with a cool face.

“Good grief…… you, really don’t change.”

“Of course. Besides, if we hadn’t escaped from the Kaizer Empire, we would have been in a terrible situation anyway. I am proud of this perfect beauty. It’s already a horrible act for me to speak of myself ……!”

“…… Really, you haven’t changed.”

In the face of Irene’s absolute confidence in herself as usual, Helen’s face pulled back.

Then, Flora asks with excitement.

“Oh, yeah! Was Helen that strong!? Ah, of course, I know you’ve been strong since you were at the academy, but it’s not more than that time!?”

“That’s right, isn’t it~…… in addition, the soldiers of the Valsha Empire also treat Helen-chan with reverence~……”

“Ah…… You know where I’m from, but you don’t know what my position is. I know it’s not something I should be talking about, but, I, am a princess of this country.”

““Eh?””

“Well, I’m the second princess, though.”

“I see…… that’s why the attitude of the soldiers is so polite towards you.”

Flora and Rachel were surprised by Helen’s confession, but Irene was the only one who nodded calmly.

“Nonono! Why is Irene so calm!? I thought that Blued was the only royalty in our class!”

“Well, like Blued, I have a commoner’s blood flowing in me, and I gave myself a different surname, so it was natural that you don’t know it. And, as for what made me so strong: …… well, it’s all thanks to Seiichi-sensei.”

“Eh, Seiichi-sensei!?”

The three of them widened their eyes at the name of someone they hadn’t expected.

“Yes. This country, is now free from the threat of the Kaizer Empire, but not long ago, this country was in danger. That was due to the state of war with the Kaizer Empire. In order to deal with it, I tried to gain strength by following Seiichi-sensei, but…… as a result of that, I joined the ranks of the 『Transcendents』, and before I could use my power for the country, Seiichi-sensei directly ended the war……”

“Sensei is absurd!?”

“As expected of Seiichi-sensei. He’s as perfect as I am.”

“No, it isn’t in the dimension of perfection anymore, you know!?”

“It’s usually unbelievable for one person alone to end a war, right~”

Rachel could only smile bitterly at Flora’s surprise.

That’s because it wasn’t something they would have normally believed, but just because the fact that Seiichi is the central character of the story here already changes the story a lot.

Helen let out a sigh again and smiled kindly.

“Nevertheless…… I’m glad that I was able to use my powers to help you guys.”

“Helen……!”

“So, you’ve fled to this country, but are your families okay with that?”

“The three of us are fine on that front.”

“Yes. Well, the safest place would be in Seiichi-sensei’s place, but …… this country has become stronger as well, so please don’t worry. I will protect all three of you.”

At Helen’s words, Irene and the others looked at each other and took a breather.

But the next moment, Helen grinned.

“However, I can’t just give you free protection…… I’m going to have you work properly, alright?”

“Uh…… ye~s”

“If it’s that much, then it can’t be helped~”

“Leave it to me. I’m sure I can do any job flawlessly. This perfect beautiful girl me……!”

In this way, Irene and her friends were safely protected by the Valsha Empire.