Silent Witch

As Monica's familiar, Nero mainly spent his daytime strolling around the school grounds.

Of course, as an excellent familiar, he did not just sit idly and bask in the sun lazily. While studying humans by secretly listening to the class outside the window, he was also keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious in the vicinity of the second prince.

Particularly since Monica had told him that outsiders would be coming and going today, he was even putting more effort into keeping Felix's surroundings than usual.

…well, since that prince has a contracted spirit, I doubt anything will happen to him.

With his good sensing at mana, Nero had noticed that the white lizard was always in Felix's pocket. It was probably a high-ranking water spirit.

Speaking of contracted spirit, according to the magic class he's been secretly listening to lately, making a contract with a spirit can only be done by an advanced magician or above…

Then, does that prince a magician?

It's best to ask Monica directly about this kind of thing. After all, she was a magician who stood at the peak of the kingdom, one of the Seven Sages. It may not seem like it, but when it comes to magic knowledge, not many people can match Monica.

As he was thinking that he should ask Monica to teach him about the contract with the spirits, something caught Nero's senses.

Nero's whiskers twitched, then he focused on his attention.

It was a weak mana reaction. Since this school taught practical magic, it was not surprising to detect a mana reaction.

But its location was incongruous.

is that a warehouse? They're moving something in.

In the large warehouse on the west side of the school, a number of employees of the supplier were coming and going, bringing in wooden crates. With his good nose, Nero immediately noticed that the contents inside were some kind of gunpowder.

Monica said the stuff they're bringing in were materials for the festival… Do humans use gunpowder for festivals? Are they going to do some construction work?

The sight of the crates being carried in was a bit of a mystery to Nero, who has never seen fireworks before.

The person supervising the people loading the crates was the second prince, the target of the escort. Next to him stood a droopy eyes person with a bad personality.

The prince and Droopy Eyes were unaware that there's a mana reaction in the warehouse… or so seems like that.

Nero had noticed it immediately because of his keen sense of mana, but apparently, humans weren't like that.

It made him recalled what Monica had mentioned before. In order for humans to detect mana, they need to use a specialized spell for sensing, or something like that.

…I have a bad feeling about this.

Nero jumped down from the tree and ran to the east gate where Monica was.

＊ ＊ ＊

When Monica headed for her designated place at the east gate after the class finished, the suppliers were already bringing in the materials. And Cyril was giving instructions to the suppliers near the east warehouse.

As Monica rushed over to him, struggling to overcome her slow pace, Cyril raised his eyebrows and yelled, ‘So slow!!'.

"Lord, Cyril… I-I apologize… for being laaa-cough cough!"

Due to her lack of physical strength, having only run this far made Monica unable to catch her breath.

Aware of Monica's lack of physicality, Cyril stared down at Monica, who was breathing heavily, rubbed his forehead with his finger.

"Hurry up and adjust your unbecoming breathing. The materials have only just been brought in. It probably won't be finished soon."

"Y-Yesh…"

"Also, the person in charge of stage design should be here today to check on the materials…"

Cyril then looked around and saw a figure coming towards him from the school building.

"Looks like she's here."

Turning her eyes to where Cyril was looking, Monica blinked her eyes.

The one who was coming towards them was a lively-looking girl with light brown hair tied up into a single knot—It was Casey.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Our design director got into an argument with the historical research club… Since it won't be over for a while, I came here on behalf of her. I'm Casey Groove from the second year."

"Since it will only be counting the quantity, even you're the represent, it won't be a problem."

"Yes, I look forward to working with you! You too, Monica!"

When Casey called out to her, Monica nodded her head.

In truth, Monica was relieved to see Casey here since she couldn't talk properly to someone she had never met before.

As a shy person, Monica has no trouble in work that related to numbers, no matter how much work there is, but when it comes to reporting, giving instructions, and other tasks that require interpersonal skills, it only makes the difficulty level rises quickly.

As Monica patting her chest relieved at Casey's arrival, Cyril gave her instructions.

"I will inform the suppliers where to store the materials. Treasurer Norton, you will check the list to see if there are any omissions."

"U-Understood."

As Monica nodded, Casey patted her on the shoulder.

"I'll help Monica. Maybe we can check the materials together while at it."

"T-Thank you."

Casey smiled pleasantly, "You're welcome," and picked up the list.

When Casey saw the names and quantities of the materials lined up, she retracted her pleasant smile. Her cheeks were slightly tensed.

"…wow… these numbers… are… so jam-packed…"

Monica was strangely excited to see all the numbers lined up in a condensed, but apparently, most people are not. Casey was no exception, and with a weary look on her face, she held out the list to Monica.

"I will do the actual counting. So can I ask you to verify it on the list?"

"Okay!"

Matching the data was Monica's forte.

Casey handed Monica the list with a wry smile and ran over to the materials already brought in.

Most of the woods brought in were already processed. Some were thin boards, some were sticks, and some were already assembled into some form. All of them were probably things that will be used on stage.

Casey will be counting the type and number of woods, and Monica will verify it against the list.

After repeating the process for a while, Monica suddenly looked up. There was no trace of Casey in her line of sight.

"…Huh? Casey?"

Monica turned her head from the list and looked for Casey. Then, from the other side of the wood ahead, ‘Over here!' she heard Casey's voice. Apparently, the woods had obscured Casey's figure from her sight.

The back of the warehouse had been mostly checked, so it might be better if she moved herself a little closer to the entrance.

While Monica was walking towards Casey with the list in her hand… she heard something snapped.

…what is that?

The very next moment, the woods, which had been tied with ropes and placed vertically, tilted diagonally.

The rope that held the wood in place was broken off in the middle.

"Monica, over here!"

Casey was standing just in the direction of the falling wood. And she was unaware that the wood was falling towards her.

"Watch out!"

Cyril, who had been giving instructions outside the warehouse, shouted briefly and began chanting a spell in rapid succession. Perhaps he was trying to help Casey by casting a spell. But the wood was already looming over Casey's head. Using chanting won't work in time.

—Right, if he uses chanting.

Please make it in time!

But Monica quickly invoked her wind with her no chant spell.

By calculating the position of the wood and the angle at which it will fall, Monica was able to slightly shift the position at which the wood will fall with minimal force.

"Kyaaaah!?"

The sound of rattling wood toppling over coincided with Casey's scream.

A cold sweat ran down Monica's back.

Did I make it in time?

"Treasurer Norton! Miss Casey! Are you alright!?"

Cyril's expression changed as he rushed over to the two. Monica nodded stiffly and went over to Casey on shaky legs.

Slumped on the floor, there were no visible injuries to Casey. The wood all toppled down away from Casey's body, just as Monica had calculated. But her face was completely pale as she's shaking.

"A-Are you okay…?"

Monica addressed her, and Casey nodded without words in trembling.

"You two, you're not hurt, are you!?"

Cyril came running up to us and looked at Monica and Casey alternately to see if they were injured.

Needless to say for Monica, Casey was not injured. Still, Cyril ordered them to go to the infirmary, just to be safe.

"I'll take charge of this place. In some cases, I may need to press the supplier for the cause of this accident. You two should rest in the infirmary."

"O-Okay."

Monica reached out to the slumped Casey and asked, "Can you stand up?'.

Casey nodded once, took Monica's hand, and stood up staggeringly.

Monica bit her lip as she looked at the rope that had been bundling the wood, took Casey's hand, and walked away.