The wind chains that were flying towards Leo veered off in all directions.
Chelsea's eyes widened.
'What, what is this! What on earth is happening!'
The turbulent air currents around Leo had thrown the wind chain's attack trajectory off course.
Leo pointed at Chelsea with his finger.
"Wind Bolt."
"W-Wind Shield…!"
Boom-!
"Kyaa!"
Chelsea was sent flying backwards.
Leo quickly approached her.
"Wind Sword!"
Chelsea, in a hurry, used a close-range attack spell and swung a wind blade at Leo.
Whoosh-!
But the wind that suddenly enveloped Leo lifted him gently into the air.
Leo, who had entrusted his body to the flow of the wind, was completely unaffected by Chelsea's wind magic.
Chelsea's eyes widened in surprise.
'So this is wind magic?'
The idea of surrounding one's body with wind to deflect wind magic was something Chelsea could never have thought of.
It was simply too audacious a method.
"Wind Sword."
In the meantime, Leo had also completed his incantation.
Leo's wind blade reached Chelsea's neck.
Chelsea gritted her teeth.
Complete defeat.
All the students in the class had expressions of disbelief.
Leo had not used any martial arts as a knight.
He had subdued Chelsea purely with wind magic.
"What do you think was the reason for the victory and defeat?"
In response to Halind's question, Chelsea could not answer and bowed her head deeply.
"What do you think?"
"……."
Halind asked the other students in the class, but no one could answer.
No one could believe this situation.
"Judging by pure magical prowess, Chelsea Rwalin is by no means inferior to Leo Flaub. In a duel using only wind magic, Leo Flaub would normally not be a match for Chelsea Rwalin. If it were a fight to the death, Leo Flaub would have lost."
Halind crossed his arms.
"But in a contest of skill, Leo Flaub won. The deciding factor was the difference in understanding and application of wind magic."
Everyone focused on Halind's story.
"You, as students of Lumer, tend to concentrate on acquiring new powers, whether it's more powerful techniques for knights, higher-level spells for mages, or summoning higher-level familiars for summoners. Even before you can fully utilize the powers you already have."
Halind looked at the students in the class.
"Because of this, you tend to be engrossed in acquiring new powers. That's why a situation like this just happened."
The students, who had seen Chelsea, the best in the class, subdued by Leo, could not argue.
Chelsea, who usually followed Leo closely, was shocked to lose in a field she was confident in.
A few students tried to console Chelsea, but she could not easily shake off the shock.
"Leo, can't you talk to her a bit?"
Nella, with a troubled expression, suggested, and Leo approached Chelsea.
"Chelsea."
"Uh-huh."
"Want to go get some good food for dinner?"
'Hey! Is she a kid! She'll be fine with food!'
'Oh, come on! What is he good at besides studying and training!'
The boys in the class had exasperated expressions.
Chelsea, the youngest in the class, was treated like a little sister by the boys and subtly taken care of.
"Good food?"
But Chelsea's eyes sparkled as if she was intrigued.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Anything you want."
"Wow!"
"……."
"……."
The boys in the class had dumbfounded expressions as they saw Chelsea smile brightly.
"Should we have tried to lure her with food too?"
Taid scratched his head, and Kal had a look of disdain.
"Would that fox have been swayed by food… Gah!"
"Uh? Kal? What did you say? Can you repeat that?"
Before he knew it, Chelsea was stepping on Kal's foot.
"Why do all the students in this class coddle her like this!"
Kal, holding his foot and rolling on the ground, made Chelsea smile.
"Because she's cute?"
"Not at all cute!"
***
Leo entered the Fairy Forest.
[This is the Fairy Forest... the former homeland of our fairies.]
Kirian, floating in the air, muttered solemnly before wrapping himself up.
[It's cold! I'm going back!]
Thud-!
[Why did you hit me!]
"Is this all you can say when you see the sanctuary of the fairies?"
[I don't like the cold!]
Leo clicked his tongue and stepped into the Fairy Forest.
"Kirian, there's something I need you to do."
[Something I need to do?]
Kirian hesitated.
Then he put on a smug expression.
[Leo, it seems you finally recognize my true worth. Alright, as your contractor, I'll do what you ask. What do you want me to do, oh noble Fairy Prince?]
Although he grumbled, Kirian was secretly looking forward to what his first request as a contractor would be.
"Go pick some herbs in the forest and gather them."
Leo threw a leather bag for the herbs to Kirian.
[I am a noble Fairy Prince! Are you asking me to do such a trivial task?]
"Will you do it or not?"
[Of course not!]
Kirian, who had thrown the leather bag to the ground and snorted, was soon hit with the leather bag.
A short while later.
Kirian, who had been hit with the leather bag, was flying around the air, gathering herbs.
Leo, who had offloaded the task to Kirian, entered the deeper parts of the Fairy Forest to investigate.
'After the Age of Catastrophe, it was said that the northern regions, which were once warm, became cold.'
The ice elementals, which originally had their domain in the east, had migrated en masse to the north and changed their territory.
Fairies, who dislike the cold, had no choice but to leave their homeland and find new territories.
'Since the fairies left, monsters began to appear here one day.'
And even now, they have not been completely driven out.
'Is there something that generates monsters here?'
Monsters can occur naturally, but they can also be artificially created by Tartaros.
The latter seemed to be the case here.
[Leo! Look! I've gathered so many!]
"Huh? Wow, that's impressive. Well done."
Leo was impressed.
Kirian, true to his fairy nature, had gathered a large amount of high-quality herbs in a short time.
[Heh, it's nothing to this body.]
Kirian, who had been reluctant at first, seemed pleased with the praise and put on a smug expression.
Leo put the herb bag into a subspace.
Kirian sat on Leo's shoulder.
A short while later, Leo stopped at a certain point.
[What? Why did you stop?]
"It's an illusion spell."
Kirian was surprised at Leo's words.
[This is the magic of the Fairy King, isn't it? But it doesn't seem to be your father's magic?]
'The magic of the former Fairy King, Glawin.'
The Fairy King during the Age of Catastrophe.
For Kirian, it was the magic of a fairy who was like a grandfather.
'The magic has only been active for about 100 years.'
Leo, gauging the flow of magic, felt puzzled.
The magic of Glawin, who had passed away at least a few thousand years ago, had only been activated 100 years ago.
He stroked his chin, carefully deciphering the type of magic.
'Given that this is the Fairy Forest, it wouldn't be strange if there were a few magical runes left by the former generation... but...'
"Kirian, when were you expelled from Fairy Land?"
[100 years ago.]
'The power to activate the magic is Kirian's wings. Why would someone use Kirian's power to activate a protective spell in a place where no fairies remain?'
Kirian could have his power stripped as a form of punishment, but there was no reason to use his son's power to activate a barrier spell.
'Does this mean there's something worth protecting inside?'
While Leo was pondering the illusion spell, a sound was heard.
Clank- Clank- Sssss-!
A metallic grinding sound echoed.
Kirian covered his nose with his finger.
[Ugh-! What is that stench?]
"It's an undead."
Leo frowned at the appearance of the hooded undead.
The undead laughed lowly, seeing Leo's reaction.
"Why is a human in the territory of the elves?"
"You seem less strange than an undead being here."
"Heh! Impudent! This place has been under the influence of Tartaros for a long time."
[This is our fairy sanctuary! What nonsense!]
"Fairies? Are there fairies as weak as you?"
[What are you talking about, you stinking corpse!]
Crackle-!
Kirian, enveloped in silver magic, charged at the undead.
"No!"
The undead hurriedly tried to defend against the sudden attack.
Boom-!
But Kirian was faster and slammed into the undead.
[Ha! A weakling like you is nothing!]
Kirian, who had shattered the undead in one blow, looked triumphant.
"Are you really a fairy, using brute force like that?"
[As long as it's effective, that's all that matters!]
Indeed, the source of a fairy's power is life force, making them the natural nemesis of the undead, who possess the power of death.
[How about this! The power of this body!]
Kirian, boasting as he circled in the air, was pointed to by Leo.
"Look behind you."
[What? Behind?]
Rumble-!
"Even if you're a low-level fairy, you're still a fairy, it seems."
[Keh-! You stink and are so stubborn!]
Kirian, pretending to vomit, mocked the undead.
"Even your speech is so vulgar, fairy!"
A deep red light flashed from within the hood, and a deep red greatsword materialized in the undead's hand.