"No matter what type of burden I may carry, it shouldn't be any heavier than the weight the princess carries."
"While it's definitely necessary to pay attention to politics and social problems, why don't you try putting your mind at ease? This isn't a place where the royal family needs to establish authority over everything… it's just Sylvania Academy."
Ed Rothstaylor's words suddenly came to mind.
Though she could easily see into the hearts of others, very rarely had she had the experience of someone else taking a look into hers. This was why she couldn't easily forget it.
His blunt matter-of-fact words that he indifferently told the princess.
She thought she still had a long way to go…
But she once again set her mind straight.
"This is the situation right now."
A first-year named Ayla completely summarized the situation to them.
Their temporary meeting place was the Student Square at 11:30 PM.
This meant it had already been nearly two hours since the catastrophe had occurred.
The square was packed with students who were trapped by Velosfer's barrier.
They collected all sorts of junk lying around and created a barricade around the fountain in the middle, blocking the entrance from the north, south, east, and west. Although crude, it provided them cover, at the very least, and blocked the spirits scattered about from coming in.
"There was no way this massive barrier would last this long. It'll be discovered quickly and help will come from the outside. Once they notice it, the professors will surely come to help."
The crowd nodded their heads at Ayla's words.
Princess Pheonia became the head of their temporary base, as voluntarily decided amongst the students.
The most important thing in a crisis like this was a person who could take charge and control the situation. A person with legitimate authority and power who could control such a chaotic situation.
Needless to say, Princess Pheonia was the best person for the role in their current situation. No one could question her authority.
There were a total of 57 students gathered in the Student Square.
This was largely attributed to Taylor Mclore, a freshman in the Combat Department. He plowed his way through the hordes of spirits occupying the academic district and acted as a messenger so that all the students could gather in one place.
The result was more than half of the remaining students in the district were gathered together.
The students who could be considered the core of the group were having a meeting at the center of the camp.
These were The Benevolent Princess Pheonia, The Golden Daughter Lortelle, The Spear from Nature Ziggs, Head Escort Claire, Failed Swordmaster Taylor, Companion Ayla, Nosy Alvira, Gloomy Klebias…
They were freely discussing the countermeasures they could take as they sat on the floor, while others leaned against the barricade, or modestly stood around. All the while, Princess Pheonia was at the center of it all.
"Just like I said a while ago, I believe we should enter the Student Center even if it was just us."
That was Taylor, who was covered in wounds due to making his way through hordes of spirits to gather everyone.
He was standing up with that body full of small cuts and wounds, clearly stating his stance.
"We shouldn't wait for outside support. That barrier was purposefully made to stall help. There may be a large number of casualties if Glaskan gets summoned as Ayla said."
Coming from Ayla, who was well-versed in spirit-type magic, and Taylor, who ran around the whole scene… this information was shocking.
The spiritual skill covering the night sky was magic used to summon the highest dark spirit Glaskan.
There were only a few students in Sylvania with a good enough Spirit Resonance to be able to summon a spirit like that.
Using the process of elimination, the culprit was probably the second-year star student Janica Faylover.
"Princess Pheonia, I disagree with this plan. The most important thing here is the princess's safety. To act conservatively, the princess shouldn't be allowed to leave this base."
Of course, Head Escort Claire only thought about Princess Pheonia's safety.
"People outside the barrier will notice soon enough. It should be resolved quickly once the Imperial Guard station and the professors take action."
"A barrier cast by a high-ranking dark spirit cannot be easily removed unless broken by force. And to be honest, I'm not sure if they will make it in time. I'm not sure if Headmaster Obel will personally come, since you know he tends to be away often."
Claire's words were rebutted by the Alchemy Department's first-year star student, Nosy Alvira. She was an alchemist with a tomboy appearance.
"Hmmm~ I agree with Taylor. Above all, if all the students of this quality were to work together, while it might be too much to take down Glaskan, don't you think we would be able to at least defeat a high-ranking dark spirit like Velosfer? Hmmm~ Honestly, do you guys not have the confidence at all?"
"So, you want us to breakthrough… over there…? Eeek… Nope…"
A male student with dark circles around his eyes called Gloomy Klebias pointed towards the Student Center.
The Fluid Spirits and low-ranking spirits scattered about the academic district weren't that dangerous. If all the students here stuck together, then it should be 100% safe.
But the situation at the Student Center was completely different.
That was where the owner of all these spirits was located, Janica Faylover. There should be two or three times the amount of all sorts of mid-ranking spirits and even a spiritual beast standing guard.
"You want us to push through all the mid-ranking spirits, defeat them, enter the building, and then stop Janica? Is… is that even possible? That probably isn't even everything! There are also two high-ranking spirits inside! The high-ranking fire spirit Takan and the high-ranking dark spirit Velosfer."
Everyone fell silent at Klebias's words.
They had all seen the power of a high-ranking spirit during the Join Combat Practice class. Takan was a giant fire-lizard that wrapped around the top of Training Hall and let out a roar.
Even Lortelle, who was one of the students Professor Glast recognized and assigned to Class A, was completely overpowered without being able to put up a fight.
What's even worse was that this Takan was more powerful than before since all the spirits in the area were affected by Velosfer's Berserk magic. And Takan was no exception to that.
"I won't commit suicide like that! I won't!"
"Please calm down, Klebias."
"…I'm sorry, Princess Pheonia."
Klebias bowed his head at Princess Pheonia's words.
However, the words Klebias said had already affected the morale of the students around, making them feel despair.
The 57 students in their small camp were wary of the situation. Their conversation could be heard by everyone, and she couldn't have anyone continue making such discouraging comments in this situation.
"Even if she is the top student among the second-years, isn't she a bit too strong? She already manifested this many spirits, can she even still summon Glaskan?"
Ayla was the one to answer Lortelle's question.
"Most of the power actually comes from Velosfer. Janica is just a medium to express that power. That's why all Elementalists make sure to always have a clear mind so as not to be consumed by a dark spirit."
Princess Pheonia already knew what Ayla explained.
Originally referred to as the natural enemy of an Elementalist, a dark spirit had an enormous amount of power but would never follow the will of an Elementalist.
Rather, they were like demons who ruled over Elementalists and made them move according to their will.
"But nobody knows how Velosfer ended up taking control of Janica, who is more familiar with Spiritual Studies than anyone else. She would definitely have known the dangers of a dark spirit better than anyone else."
"That's not important right now."
The Spear from Nature Ziggs, who was sitting in a corner, responded to Ayla.
"Isn't the important thing to do now to figure out our course of action?"
A serious and dignified voice. The boy had long hair coming down just to his neck. He spoke indifferently, yet clearly.
"And the only person who can decide is… Princess Pheonia."
Silence filled the air once again at Ziggs's words.
More than 50 students turned their eyes toward Princess Pheonia. Meanwhile, Head Escort Claire's worried gaze stung the princess's back.
She understood that the most important thing for Claire was her safety. However, sitting around and waiting for help wasn't the princess's style.
"Let's enter the Student Center. If, by chance, we encounter anything different from what we expected, we will retreat."
The students had a divided response.
Head Escort Claire and Gloomy Klebias, as well as the students who had a more conservative view, let out a heavy sigh. While the more proactive students let out a smile.
"However, there is no need for all the students to enter. Rushing in together will only increase the number of injuries. The right thing to do is to only enter with the people who are capable of taking care of themselves."
A regular student would get swept away by a mid-ranking spirit, let alone a high-ranking spirit. There was no reason to take everyone.
"Everyone here, including my Head Escort Claire, the top students from each grade and department, as well as the Class A students, will all go. That's because your skills have already been verified."
"Then that means there is no reason for the princess to go?"
"No, I will also be accompanying them."Claire's face instantly became serious, like a flash of lightning. But Princess Pheonia shook her head."It would be absurd not to go to the front lines when I am the one giving orders.""Princess, your body is not just your property. As a member of the royal knights, I have no choice but to stop you.""Don't worry, Claire. I haven't been neglecting my magic training. Also, Taylor and Ayla, please accompany us as well. The two of you have walked around the outskirts of the Student Center while trying to search for students, so you probably somewhat already know the internal situation."
And with that, the subjugation team members were decided. Sadly, none of the upperclassmen students were there. Except for Claire, who was an adult, everyone else was a first-year.
However, each member of the team was a powerful student. The first-years had an unusual amount of strong students in the first place. Even though it was unfortunate that Lazy Lucy was nowhere to be found, even the upperclassmen wouldn't have been much better than this lineup they already had.
"We will enter in an hour. Everyone, please finish your preparations. And also, prepare your heart."Everyone nodded their heads at the princess's words.