The Month of Light went into the Month of Fire, the Month of Water, the Month of Wind, and finally the Month of Earth. Together, they made one year on the continent.
Antohsa was enveloped in a tense atmosphere as soon as it became the Month of Earth...because the end-of-year exams were coming.
“O Spirits of Fire, grant me blazes to burn mine enemies away. Ignaria Sein!” Stella chanted in the corner of a garden.
I visualized the miracle Quinza had cast some time ago—the sky filling up with fireballs—but only about ten arose.
Stella crossed her arms and looked up. “The fireballs themselves are too small. Make them bigger...wait, not that big! Aaah, jeez, they fused together!”
We were mostly just practicing aligning our mental images. I didn’t understand the prayer, so I couldn’t cast miracles in their proper form. Whatever I did tended to create was different from what Stella wanted...so we discussed how to solve this. Our answer was daily practice after class.
Feena, who was nearby, tilted her head. “Um... Master Otaku. I have found it curious for some time now, but I must ask—do you not hear the voice of Stella’s heart?”
“Say what?!”
“Th-The voice of my heart?! No way am I letting Otaku hear that...!” Stella shouted with a fervent shake of her head.
“Feena, details,” I said.
“Um, normally, the guardian spirit within a staff is connected to the heart of the staff’s owner. If that were not the case, I would need to specify the number of walls I wanted each time I cast a miracle...”
Now that she mentioned it, it was true. Feena would always just say “iron wall,” singular, and yet multiple would come out.
“And Stella; do you not feel Master Otaku’s emotions?”
“I can tell he’s a pervert from what he says.”
Feena looked confused. “Could it be that there is no need for your hearts to connect since Master Otaku can speak...?”
Our pondering was interrupted by a sudden shriek.
Out of nowhere, a pitch-black wyvern appeared above the center of the garden. It was surrounded by what looked like older students.
“Oh no, a crow got the cursed food...!”
“That’s a grade three! First-years, get out of here!”
Apparently, they had accidentally let a crow eat some cursed food.
Some students began casting miracles, while others fled from the garden. The wyvern dodged the miracles and flapped its way up into the air.
“That’s dangerous,” Stella observed. “Letting an animal steal cursed food is no good.”
“Stella, let us depart as well. It is a blessing that we have older students capable of fighting a grade three here.”
“Right,” Stella said, nodding, but her eyes remained locked on the magibeast. It howled a roar that could shatter the heavens, then seemingly looked our way.
“Ngh!”
“Stella!” I shouted, feeling that something was off. That was when the wyvern came shooting in our direction, its sharp claws aiming for Stella...
“Eek!” cried Feena, rather than Stella.
Stella had used her abnormal reaction time to dodge the wyvern. She rolled on the ground, then murmured, “Wh-What in the heck?” as she looked up at the winged lizard in a daze.
“It’s not finished yet,” I said. The black wyvern spun like a tank and locked its sights on Stella once again. She had nowhere to hide.
I started to chant on reflex. “Deus e—”
I couldn’t even finish before I was suddenly enveloped in a white light.
What the...?!
I felt like all sound had evaporated. And in reality, every single student in the garden had stopped praying. Stella let out a little yelp. “The Goddess...?”
A sparkling phantom of the Goddess appeared. Her translucent arms enveloped me. It was an incredibly divine and mystical sight, but I knew the Goddess was Stella’s enemy.
What’re you planning, Goddess...?!
The Goddess turned her head and peered at me from up close.
“Kill Stella the Witch,” came a sweet, sensual whisper. She was smiling so close our foreheads were nearly bumping. And then she repeated herself in a quiet voice only I could hear, as if casting a curse. “Kill her kill her kill her kill her kill her kill her kill her kill her!”
“GAAAAH! DEUS EST MORS!”
I instinctively shot out a beam that pierced the Goddess’s face and hit the wyvern dead-on. It was flung back and collapsed. At that point, the Goddess vanished.
I panted heavily. That was close. The Goddess was so evil I was seeing red; if the wyvern weren’t so massive I might’ve missed. One wrong move and my idol would have perished...the worst possible result.
As I broke out into a cold sweat, I heard someone say, “It’s a miracle...” The students were circling Stella from afar, wearing stunned expressions.
“The Goddess appeared with an avatar of light... That was a miracle directly from the holy scriptures.”
“The Goddess slew the magibeast with her holy power!”
“Praise be! Let us pray in appreciation for our all-knowing, all-powerful Goddess of compassion!”
The students clasped their hands in prayer one after another. The atmosphere became solemn all at once.
“Stella...!” Feena rushed over. Stella was still sitting on the ground.
“That was the Goddess,” she said, her voice shaking. “She embraced my staff.”
“I saw the same thing. The Goddess protected you, Stella!” Feena exclaimed, taking Stella’s hand. “Let us pray. The Goddess is watching.”
Stella nodded and stood. The two girls took each other’s hands and closed their eyes. Stella whispered to herself as she prayed. “Oh Goddess, I thank you for protecting me.”
Don’t think you’ve fooled me, Goddess.
I glared up at the statue of the Goddess, which was built to look down over the garden. It felt as if she had just told me to my face that she wouldn’t miss any chance to kill Stella.