We live at the base of Dragon Peak.
Mandragora…?
“Next is Sefina, huh.”
As I muttered that while we headed to the Dragon King’s Forest, Yufilia and Nina’s eyes lit up.
And they said cheerfully.
“I get it. With this flow, Sefina is the next one buried in the ground.”
“Well then, we’ll leave Sefina be for now and save the others.”
They both hugged me and tried to drag me into the bushes nearby.
“No no no, you two are just saying that so you can drag me into the bushes and play, right!?”
“Twins, restrain yourselves. I believe there’s meaning in overcoming these trials one by one.”
“That’s true,” I nodded, escaping from Yufilia and Nina’s grasp.
“The first was a trial to deepen our connection with spirits, and the second was a trial to understand the right relationship with spirits.”
Lord Reed isn’t he bringing in the people who should take each trial under the pretense of “kidnapping,” and arranging them appropriately?
And by everyone going through the trials in order, we’re filling in the knowledge and experiences that only I have, which everyone else lacks.
Thinking about it that way, if we skip Sefina, who was indicated next, and go to rescue the remaining Ruiseine and Laira, Sefina, left behind, might become an outlier and cause problems in the future.
“So, Yufi and Nina, let’s go help our sister, okay?”
“If Elnea-kun says so, then there’s no choice.”
“It can’t be helped since it’s for our cute little sister.”
“The twins, despite their complaints, care about Sefina, don’t they?”
“It goes without saying.”
And so, we eagerly headed towards the next trial, but.
We were to learn in the Dragon King’s Forest that things don’t always go as planned…
As we ventured deep into the, by even daytime, dim Dragon King’s Forest, severed heads silently floated past us.
“Kyaah!”
Yufilia and Nina screamed and clung to me.
“Ugh. You two, get a hold of yourselves. We can’t grasp the situation if we can’t see our surroundings, okay?”
I peeked my head out from between their ample chests and looked around.
And there!
A severed head silently passed through the undergrowth that had grown vigorously, trying not to miss the sunlight filtering through the trees.
“Are they ghosts!?”
Unlike the frightened Yufilia and Nina, Madrine, the Miko who often dealt with the deceased, tried to analyze the situation calmly.
And she gave up in an instant!
“Let’s pretend we saw none of this. Yufi, Nina, Elnea-kun. Come, let’s head somewhere else!”
“Serious Madrine has abandoned the trial!?”
But perhaps it couldn’t be helped.
Because…
Among the densely packed trees, countless severed heads were coming and going.
Not only that.
Severed heads floating lazily on the wind, severed heads hanging from tree branches like fruit, severed heads appearing and disappearing from the ground, and severed heads falling from the sky!
There were countless diverse and free-roaming severed heads around us!
“This is… this is too much…!”
Isn’t it creepy, I thought, and looked at the woman standing deep in the forest.
The woman who met my gaze gave a cool smile.
And she said.
“Welcome to the new trial grounds.”
That’s right.
Waiting for us in the depths of the Dragon King’s Forest was none other than Sefina!
“Wait, no, that’s not right, is it? Sefina was also “kidnapped” by Lord Reed, right?”
So why is the rescue target waiting for us, who came to rescue her!?
To my question, Sefina nonchalantly replied.
“I was bored just waiting here for Elnea-kun and the others, so I overcame the trial myself.”
“This person is too competent!”
Sefina said it so casually, but it’s an amazing feat.
This doesn’t seem like a trial given individually, but one that should be overcome together.
And Sefina broke through it all alone.
Lord Reed himself was a little surprised.
“Well then, shall we have Sefina explain the situation?”
Saying that, I pointed at the severed heads wandering around us.
Yufilia and Nina were still screaming with delight and clinging to me.
Madrine, looking a little confused, watched the severed heads flowing before her.
The severed heads around us, whether they emerged from the ground, floated in the air, or fell from the sky, were all just heads.
Given that countless of them were visible in our surroundings, it was, in a way, a terrifying sight.
However, if you calmly look around, the situation changes slightly.
Severed heads.
Up until now, I’ve broadly referred to them as “severed heads,” but in reality, there were severed heads of various appearances.
The most striking and terrifying are human severed heads, but next to a human severed head growing from the ground, there was a chicken’s severed head, fish severed heads rained from the sky, small animal severed heads grew like fruit on trees, and large animal severed heads floated in the air.
“That’s right. There are many severed heads of creatures other than humans too!”
“Elnea-kun, they’re still creepy just because they’re severed heads, you know?”
“Well, if you think about it calmly, Madrine’s words are correct, aren’t they?”
But this situation isn’t really about fear, is it?
Because, you see.
“Now, Yufi and Nina, you should both be serious. You’re pretending to be scared, but you’ve actually figured out the true identity of these severed heads, haven’t you?”
“Oh, you saw through us.”
“Oh, you noticed.”
“Muki, you twins are playing too much!”
Yufilia and Nina, who had been screaming and clinging to me, were actually playing.
And it’s only natural, because everyone had immediately understood from their “presence” that the severed heads around us were not something to fear.
“Fufufu. Before asking me for an explanation, Elnea-kun, haven’t you already reached the answer yourself? Then let me ask you instead. What is the true identity of these severed heads?”
When Sefina asked, I answered immediately.
“They’re all spirits!”
That’s right. The true identity of the severed heads was spirits manifesting only their upper halves!
“But why are the spirits playing such a game?”
Sefina’s lips curled as she addressed Madrine, who tilted her head.
“Madrine, the fact that you don’t understand that is proof you haven’t overcome this trial yet? Now, sisters, can you understand?”
Sefina smiled in the depths of the forest, provoking her twin sisters.
She’s as cool as ever!
Accepting her sister’s challenge, Yufilia and Nina finally let go of me.
“My sister is getting carried away.”
“My sister is getting too cocky.”
“Then, it’s punishment time!”
As they said in unison and tried to move simultaneously, I felt a chilling sensation envelop my entire body.
Instinctively, I moved to evade.
Yufilia and Nina, sensing something sensitive, also changed their course from charging at Sefina and took evasive action.
Right after that!
“Muki!”
Madrine, whose reaction was delayed, was buried in the ground!
“Again!? Am I the one again!?”
Madrine, puffing with anger, sank her body from the neck down into the ground and became another severed head.
“But it’s strange? I don’t feel any trace of the spirits using magic.”
“But it’s strange? I don’t sense any cooperation from the spirits towards Sefina.”
Yufilia and Nina, who had avoided becoming severed heads, tilted their heads in unison.
Indeed, in the previous trial, we had experienced that in order to use magic without commanding the spirits, it had to be an extension of play, not instructions or orders.
However, Sefina, who buried Madrine in the ground, showed no sign of cooperation with the spirits.
So how did she do it?
“I’m sure the meaning of this trial is to understand that and overcome it!”
“Elnea-kun, it’s not very impactful to say that while buried in the ground.”
“Kuh! Why! Why am I buried in the ground too!?”
Unfortunately, I had also become a severed head!
Or rather, that sensation that enveloped my entire body felt like it was aiming for me with all its might!
“You aimed, you aimed.”
“Was Ares-chan the culprit?”
What a thing.
Ares-chan, happily hopping around me, a severed head.
The spirits who came with us, drawn by her, also began to dance busily.
“Now, the real trial begins.”
“Sefina has completely become the examiner!”
Don’t underestimate Sefina.
I grunted, my head submerged in the ground.
“Sefina, it’s time for punishment.”
“Sefina, it’s time for a lecture.”
Yufilia and Nina, the only ones who escaped Sefina’s mysterious magic, took a stance without letting their guard down.
“Today, I will defeat my elder sisters.”
Sefina also seems very motivated.
“Hmm. I should escape quickly before I get caught up in this sisterly quarrel.”
The fun quarreling of the three sisters is a daily occurrence, and somehow the damage always ends up coming to me.
I need to get out of this situation quickly.
“However, Elnea-kun, what should I do?”
Madrine, buried with me, asked for help, looking troubled.
So, as a fellow victim, I offered advice based on my experience.
“Let’s see. I think this trial is a bit different from the previous ones, isn’t it?”
“Different, you say?”
“Although the spirits are involved in this trial, the difference between me and everyone else isn’t just related to spirits, is it? For example, before, I merged with the flow of the dragon veins and traveled to the Forbidden Territory with Alice, remember?”
“It’s an experience only Elnea-kun has had within the family, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. It was a very special experience, and a technique I couldn’t replicate myself.”
But, what if?
Even if I can’t replicate it, what about the spirits?
Spirits are not bound by the physical constraints of this world.
They can pass through building walls, or emerge from the ground.
“However, I don’t see a connection between merging with the flow of the dragon veins and being buried in the ground like this.”
“That’s right. Perhaps the fact that Madoleine and I are physically buried in the ground is unrelated to the dragon veins? But isn’t the existence of spirits going to be the key there?”
The technique of merging with the flow of the dragon veins and traveling was Eve of the Pegasus’s technique.
That’s why we cannot merge with the flow of the dragon veins on our own.
But what about the spirits, who live outside the laws of our world?
And Sefina is skilled in reading the flow of dragon veins and manipulating the techniques of others.
“Now, you can think about the rest for yourself? The time when they’re fighting is the best chance to escape.”
Yufilia and Nina attacked Sefina.
Sefina, while keeping her distance from her twin sisters, repeatedly tried to set something up.
However, with their wild instincts, Yufilia and Nina continued to evade Sefina’s schemes.
Using not only my head above ground but also my body buried underground, I tracked the all-encompassing sensation I had felt earlier.
“Found it. Here.”
And with a *poof*, I broke free from the ground.
“Elnea-kun!?”
Madrine, who was buried with me, looked up at me in surprise.
Sefina, too, who had been having a sisterly quarrel, turned to me in surprise.
“A lapse in judgment!”
“We won’t miss it!”
“Kyaa!”
And Yufilia and Nina seized on Sefina’s momentary lapse!
Holding hands, Yufilia and Nina placed their free hands on Sefina’s head.
Then, without any resistance, Sefina was buried in the ground.
“It’s Sefina’s severed head.”
The two, with arms crossed in front of their ample chests, declared victory.
Conversely, Sefina, buried from the neck down, scowled in frustration.
“Damn it. My sisters seem to have easily overcome this trial.”
“Of course. There’s nothing a sister can’t do that her little sister can.”
“We understood immediately after listening to Elnea-kun’s advice.”
It seems they listened to my words even while fighting, and had already figured out how to overcome the trial.
“Now, it’s just Madrine.”
“We’ll leave Madrine behind.”
“You twin girls, watch your mouths! You must not insult me, the shooting star!”
Yufilia and Nina teased Madrine, who puffed out her cheeks indignantly.
The surrounding spirits and severed heads also egged Madrine on.
“I have no choice. In that case, I’ll show you my true strength!”
Perhaps her competitive spirit ignited, Madrine’s expression became serious.
And in the next moment.
*Poof!* Madrine sprang out of the ground!
