Chapter 8 - Are you okay, Lady Senephin?

No, Velkina had done nothing wrong. She had just been minding her own business, surveying the lake. I was the one who had tried to get involved, and now we were in an even more problematic situation than before. Really, I was the one who needed to be sorry for all the trouble I caused her.

I bit my lip. Okay, I told myself. Enough feeling sorry for myself. It was time to take action.

“Lady Velkina.”

“Ye-Yes?”

“I’ll use magic to freeze our surroundings, then I’ll break the ice right away. Once I do, don’t hesitate to move your limbs. Immediately swim to the shore as fast as you can, understand?”

“Oh, you thought of a way to escape! As expected of one of the Institute’s senior sorceresses!”

I just copied Lumins’ method, though.

“But, only me? What about Miss Senephin?”

That was the problem. My skills were only good enough to freeze and break the ice around one person, not the entire lake.

Only one could get out and run for help, while the other had to stay in the lake. Before that, I had to make sure to say what I wanted to say to Velkina first, in case anything goes wrong.

“I’ve been meaning to say this, but I want to apologize to you. I was jealous of your talent, so I started saying a lot of bad things about you.”

“Ah, no,” Velkina looked flustered, “I was in a situation where I might have made people misunderstand…”

“But that doesn’t mean Lady Velkina deserved to be insulted. Yesterday, I realized my errors and cried over it.”

“Ah…”

Velkina sounded touched. Phew, my act seemed to have worked. I had used my voice and my whole body to try to be as convincing as possible.

“So, I just want to apologize for what has happened between us, and if you forgive me, will you please call someone to help me once I get you out of here?”

“Of, of course! You’re not a bad person! I’ll run like death and get help!”

Nice, my apology was a success! Now Velkina will get out first!

I sighed with relief. All of this was nothing but a huge gamble, but I told myself it would be worth it in the end.

Leaving Velkina alone and risk her meeting Whitey? I would sooner freeze to death in the lake rather than let that happen.

“Then, I’ll get started. As soon as the ice breaks, go to the shore!”

“Yes!”

“I call you, the O coldness of ordeal that has permeated the water…”

I focused my mind and recited a spell in embarrassment, because the incantation made me feel like I was afflicted with Chunibyou syndrome 1 . Fortunately, I managed to complete the spell without any incident, and the waters surrounding us immediately froze over.

Once that was done, I immediately released a shock wave that shattered the ice around Velkina.

Normally, the sound did not transmit so clearly through water, but perhaps the use of magical power had allowed sound waves to travel more readily. A sharp noise echoed through the air, like glass cracking and fracturing into several pieces.

After she was freed from the lake’s clutches, Velkina climbed to shore without hesitating, as I had instructed. Even though her wet clothes were cumbersome to deal with, she managed to reach the promenade in no time.

She paused for a moment and turned to look at me. Her eyes locked with mine, and she nodded firmly. Then, she sped off toward the Institute at an incredibly fast pace.

***

“Haa, I’ve done all I can.”

After sending Velkina away, I sensed that the lake had grown angrier… Well, duh. Of course. I had used some destructive spells on the lake.

The invisible forces that had been binding my limbs no longer felt like thin threads. Instead, they gripped tightly at me and started to squeeze my body with increased force.

As I grit my teeth to bear the pain, I wondered if I was going to survive long enough for Velkina to return with help.

Our Lumins… the ultra-greatest, super amazing hero. My poor vocabulary was simply too insufficient to describe just how cool he is…