Alice, who arrived a little late, collapsed with a pale face when she saw Milia's completely changed appearance.

  "Terrible... She's been completely turned into stone by some kind of magic...!"

  "Where is she! Where are you! Dammit! Turn Milia back! Turn her back!"

  I looked around and shouted in anger, but naturally, there was no reply from the Masked Woman.

  "Shit!"

  With nowhere to vent my emotions, I slammed my fist against a nearby tree with all my might. The tree shook violently, and small birds flew away.

  But there is no time to grieve. There are things to do before grieving. I told Alice.

  "Let's find a way to turn her back somehow! Milia is still alive!"

  I propose it as if telling myself too. Although her whole body is petrified, her body remains as it is without being shattered. It hasn't been decided that she died yet. There might be a way to restore her.

  As long as there is a possibility to save her, don't give up.

  "Yes! She is absolutely alive!"

  Alice's voice was trembling. But her eyes haven't given up. She must share the same feelings as me.

  "We can't do anything here. Let's hurry to Sacris. First, let's consult Inea-sensei!"

  "Right!"

  Alice looked up at the sky and called her beloved bird loudly.

  "Please! Aln! Come here right now!"

  Then she took a deep breath and blew a loud whistle. The high-pitched sound spread as if soaking into the trees of the forest.

  Reliable Aln responded immediately to his master's desperate call. He flew in hurriedly from a distance and landed quickly right next to her.

  I loaded Milia, who had turned into stone, paying utmost attention not to accidentally break her. During the movement, I hold her firmly from behind around the stomach area so she doesn't fall from the sky.

  Since she has become quite heavy as stone, it would be better to stay as a man, who has natural physical strength and [Qi Reinforcement].

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Hurry to Sacris at full speed!"

  To Alice's order, Aln cries powerfully as if saying "Leave it to me." Completely different from the leisurely flying style to enjoy the sky trip on the way there, he dashes through the sky with a flight like a bullet.

  Before we knew it, we escaped the Great Forest in just a short time and drove it far beyond the field of vision.

  For a while after starting to fly, we were silent the whole time. We just didn't feel like talking about anything to each other. However, if I kept looking at Milia in front of me silently, I felt like I would be depressed by making only bad predictions. Finally, I speak to Alice.

  "How long will it take to arrive?"

  "Since it's early morning now, I think we'll arrive past noon."

  With just that, we fall silent again. A heavy atmosphere drifts. Suddenly I became curious. What happened to the other two while I was fighting the Flame Dragon.

  I am worried about everyone's safety. I hesitated after all, but I couldn't help asking in the end.

  "In the end, how did it go over there?"

  Alice looked down painfully.

  "I was too busy to confirm who was killed, but probably dozens of people died. The exercise is canceled immediately. The school will probably be closed for a while..."

  "I see..."

  The fun scene of the card tournament revives in my mind. I can never meet someone who was in there again. I felt even more depressed, and this time I couldn't say anything anymore.

  Before long, we came to the area where we were about to pass the midpoint of the journey. I noticed that something terrible was happening on the ground.

  "Alice. Look down."

  Alice's face, looking down as I told her, turned pale in the blink of an eye.

  "No way... It's a mess!"

  What spread below our eyes was a scene where the railway tracks were blown up in several places and were torn to pieces. It is the only road connecting Sacris and Orclock at high speed.

  "Who did such a thing..."

  While saying it, I had a guess. It must be the masked group. There is no other guy who does such a thing, nor anyone who can do it.

  Since they even reached out to us in the Great Forest, it would be an easy task to do sabotage work here on the way as well.

  But even if it is unmistakably them, there was something that didn't sit right. If they do something conspicuous like blowing up a railway, naturally they will be greatly alerted. The development where the capital's military forces are called in later will be unavoidable.

  Until now, the masked group should have moved more secretly so as never to catch the eye of the Central Government.

  Then why, now of all times—?

  No way. I hit upon a terrifying possibility.

  With that state of the tracks, recovery will take a while. During that time, communication between Sacris and other towns will be almost completely cut off. What if that "while" is enough?

  If the enemy's aim is to isolate Sacris only for the time being, so as not to be disturbed in accomplishing something. Thinking about it, there is a Joint Military Exercise in the capital right now. If they want to cut off transportation and reduce the hostile forces for them, this timing was optimal.

  If the aim is anyway to eliminate obstacles, it makes sense that they seriously targeted us now after all this time. The unidentified "Plan" advocated by the masked group might be much closer to completion than I thought.

  I stared in the direction of the destination not yet visible.

  What on earth is about to happen in Sacris...?