"Shion-sama, do you know them?"
The woman who looked like a maid asked the silver-haired woman called Shion.
"Hmm… acquaintances, I suppose. Wait a second. If these kids are here, does that mean—"
"Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!"
While my thoughts were frozen from the rapid developments, Carol suddenly screamed and charged at the silver-haired woman.
The silver-haired woman easily blocked it with her staff.
"That was sudden… Hm? You're… Inglet…?"
The silver-haired woman muttered after seeing Carol's face up close.
"Shion-sama!"
Seeing Carol attack, the people around the silver-haired woman turned killing intent toward her.
(Carol…!)
I was scared, but this wasn't the time to say that.
I had to help Carol!
Just as I forced my trembling legs to move and gripped my spear—
"Everyone, stand down. I'll handle this child myself."
While calmly dealing with Carol's repeated dagger swings, the silver-haired woman instructed her companions.
As I tried to circle behind the silver-haired woman to flank her, countless ice thorns erupted from the ground.
Surprised by the suddenness, but their speed was slow enough… I managed to react and dodge.
Sophia seemed to have been targeted too—we were both obstructed.
"Sorry for attacking out of nowhere. I don't intend to harm any of you. Don't worry—I won't do anything terrible."
The silver-haired woman spoke to us while fending off Carol's attacks, smiling gently.
That smile somehow resembled the reassuring ones Master gave us.
(Why…? She was the one leading the group that tried to kill us half a year ago…!?)
For a moment, that smile made me feel at ease.
Sophia seemed to feel the same—her expression was conflicted.
"How dare you do that to them! I won't forgive you!! If I don't do what you say, Rogue and Sophia will die!!"
At Carol's loud cry, I snapped back to reality.
She was shouting other things too, but her words were incoherent.
"…Calm down. I've neutralized both of them. Even if you don't do what we say, your comrades won't die."
"Shut up! Just release them from the ice! If I do this, they'll beat me again! I don't want to hurt anymore!!"
"Carol…"
The current Carol was painful to watch.
Master had vaguely told me that Carol had suffered abuse in the past.
Those twins were probably involved in that abuse.
Seeing them had triggered her trauma, and she was terrified.
…I never realized it had nested so deeply inside her.
She was always the mood-maker—sometimes acting silly—but she never did anything that made us uncomfortable.
Being around her felt comfortable.
But now, I understood a little.
In a way, that cheerfulness was her way of protecting herself.
I had only seen her surface.
The silver-haired woman took advantage of a brief opening to create distance from Carol.
Was she about to use magic!?
"Don't run! If I help those two, they might praise me! They might smile at me! So I'll help them!"
Carol shouted while closing in on the silver-haired woman at the fastest speed I'd ever seen from her—even without my support magic.
In contrast, the silver-haired woman—wearing a resolved expression—released the staff in her hand.
It vanished into thin air.
Why store it in a storage magic tool now?
Carol thrust her dagger toward the silver-haired woman's chest.
The silver-haired woman accepted it—without resistance.
Then she wrapped both arms around Carol's body—the one who had stabbed her.
It wasn't restraint. It was unmistakably an embrace.
"…It's okay. No one here will hurt you. I know you can't trust me after what we did half a year ago. If it'll satisfy you, feel free to stab me as many times as you want. So please—just calm down once."
From Carol's perspective, she couldn't see it—but the silver-haired woman was dripping cold sweat from her forehead, grimacing in intense pain.
Yet even so, she spoke gently to Carol while softly stroking her head.
The merciless woman from half a year ago was nowhere to be seen.
Which one was the real her…?
"…Shion-sama—!?"
The man who had appeared with the silver-haired woman cried out—then, in the next instant, the tips of ice thorns growing from the ground pressed against his throat.
"I told you not to interfere, didn't I?"
The silver-haired woman spoke.
This was a world apart from the ice thorns she had directed at us earlier.
If she had attacked us seriously back then, we would have been skewered before even noticing.
A shudder ran through me at that realization.
"—Ah… I'm… sorry…"
Perhaps touched by the silver-haired woman's kindness, Carol had regained some composure.
Then—trembling in voice and body—she pulled away from the silver-haired woman, apologizing repeatedly for what she'd done.
The silver-haired woman's white-based clothing was dyed bright red around her chest.
It was clearly a fatal wound.
"Yes, I'm not angry—so it's okay. Considering what we did to you half a year ago, this much doesn't even begin to atone. More importantly—I'm glad you've calmed down."
Despite being in obvious agony, the silver-haired woman smiled at Carol.
"Um… ah, recovery magic…!"
When Carol tried to cast recovery magic on her, the woman stopped her.
"Thank you. But it's fine. I have an ability… similar to yours."
As she spoke, the woman stood up—her wound vanishing completely in the next instant.
Not just the wound—her clothing was restored too.
The scene of Carol stabbing her moments ago now seemed like an illusion—no trace remained.
"Now then… I think we can finally talk."
While Carol—and the rest of us—were stunned by the sight, the silver-haired woman turned back to us and spoke.
"…Talk?"
I asked cautiously.
"Yes. First—I'm truly sorry for what we did to you half a year ago. I know an apology won't earn forgiveness, but please let me apologize."
The silver-haired woman bowed deeply.
She was so different from when we last met that I was bewildered.
"…Is that all you wanted to say?"
"No—the real topic starts now. I have just one question I'd like you to answer. Since you're all here, that means Orun is—"
Mid-sentence, the silver-haired woman suddenly turned around.
"—!?"
"…What is that?"
From far away—at the foot of the distant mountains—something black shot straight up from the ground into the sky.
Even from this distance, it was clearly visible—which meant it must be incredibly thick.
"That mana… no mistake. So Orun really is here…!"
The silver-haired woman muttered urgently.
"Change of plans, you three! I'm heading to the battlefield. You two take the restrained Inglets and go!"
The silver-haired woman rapidly instructed the three who had appeared with her.
"Shion-sama—I'll assist you too. A long-distance leap like that will be too taxing for you alone."
"Thank you, Telshe. Then I'll count on you. You two—take the Inglets as I said earlier. And don't lay a hand on those kids—keep that in mind."
""Understood.""
After hearing the remaining two's reply, the silver-haired woman nodded once and closed her eyes—concentrating.
She seemed to be constructing a spell formula.
What kind of spell required such intense focus from someone who could spam high-level magic so casually?
"You should leave this territory too. Even I won't be able to hold back much against him—and I can't predict how things will turn out."
Opening her closed eyes, the silver-haired woman spoke to us.
Then—as the maid moved close to her—
"All right—let's go."
"Yes. Ready anytime."
"—[Space Leap + Chain]…!"
With those final words, the silver-haired woman and the maid vanished from the spot.
Things had been so chaotic I could barely keep up—but had things finally calmed down?
Still dazed, I moved toward Carol—who remained slumped on the ground in a stupor.
Sophia hurried to her side too.
"…Carol, are you okay?"
Sophia—reaching her first—spoke gently.
"—Hii! Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm sorry for not listening…! I'll apologize. I'll apologize, so please… don't hit me…!"
Noticing our approach, Carol curled up, trembling and apologizing repeatedly.
"—! No one's going to hit you. You were just trying to protect us, right? There's no way we'd hit someone for that. Neither Rogue nor I are angry. Thank you for trying to protect us, Carol."
Sophia spoke softly while gently hugging the trembling girl.
At Sophia's words and embrace, Carol seemed to regain a bit of calm—repeating "I'm sorry" while tears streamed down her face.
I… was searching for words to say to Carol.
I'd never imagined seeing her in this state.
What was the right thing to say?
How could I reassure her…?
"Carol…"
Just as I found my voice to speak to her—
"[White Mage] aaaah! How dare you trap me in ice aaaah!!"
With the sound of ice shattering, the boy trapped inside burst out—screaming furiously.
Gone was the drawn-out, joking tone from before—he was completely enraged.
"—!?"
Then a warm breeze passed by—and suddenly all strength drained from my body, forcing me to my knees and hands on the ground.
"What the…?"
Desperately lifting my face toward where the ice had been—
There, the girl—who must have escaped the ice at the same moment—stood with the silver-haired woman (now slumped on the ground) and the remaining two companions she had arrived with. She was cutting them down with a long-bladed sword.
"No [White Mage] around. I'd heard the rumors, but she really is so fast I can't even sense her. If that monster's gone somewhere else, this is our chance. Let's finish our job quickly and withdraw."
Despite having just killed two people, the girl spoke casually—as if it were nothing.
"Big sis got to vent some stress by killing those two, so she's fine—but what about my frustration?"
The boy—whose demeanor had completely changed from earlier—asked the girl coldly.
"Who knows. —Oh, look—there's a perfect one right there."
Answering his question dismissively, the girl seemed to remember something and looked at Carol—muttering something ominous.
"…Ah, right. Wow~ She's in the perfect spot. What a good little sister—thinking of her brother."
Understanding the meaning behind the girl's words, the boy approached us slowly—dark smile on his face.
"…Ah… aaah…"
Watching the boy draw closer, Carol trembled.
"Stop! What are you planning to do!"
I glared at the boy and shouted.
"Shut up. This is private sibling bonding time—so just watch quietly. Well, even if you try to interfere, you can't move anyway thanks to my debuff."
Ignoring my shout completely, the boy continued closing the distance.
This loss of strength—was a debuff?
Debuffs were among the most difficult types of magic.
For him to apply it to everyone present right after escaping the ice—ordinary people couldn't do that.
I understood now—this boy was an extraordinarily skilled enchanter.
But even so—knowing Carol was about to be hurt—I couldn't just stand by!
(If this is a debuff…! —Master, lend me your strength!)
I fought back against the total loss of strength and muddled thoughts with sheer willpower.
"…[All-Status Up]!"
Somehow managing to construct the spell formula, I cast the buff on myself to counter the debuff.
"You buffed yourself? Hahaha! That's pointless effort. My debuff isn't something you can just cancel with a buff!"
The boy mocked my attempt.
And just as he said—even with [All-Status Up], my legs still trembled—I could barely stand.
"Hahaha! Shaking like a baby deer—how pathetic! …I can't believe Caroline is worth that much effort."
The boy laughed mockingly, then spoke coldly—saying Carol wasn't worth it.
"That's not true…! Carol is my comrade! She's irreplaceable—more important than anything!"
The words burst out naturally—I shouted them while desperately continuing to construct another spell formula.
This one had such insane difficulty I'd never succeeded even once before.
But if not now—when?!
Enduring the splitting headache, I somehow completed the formula and poured mana into it.
Then—I activated the magic Master had taught me.
"—[Double Layering]!"