DID YOU KNOW? YOU CAN NOW READ THREE TO SIX CHAPTERS AHEAD. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR THE LINK.
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Freedom Academy was an educational institution loosely affiliated with the Free Guild in Englassia. In addition to functioning as an ordinary school where children could receive a proper education, the academy also offered specialized adventurer courses for members of the Free Guild, allowing aspiring adventurers to develop the skills and knowledge they would need before venturing into the wider world.
Of course, at the moment, the most important thing about the academy had little to do with its usual curriculum.
A certain group of children from another world were currently studying there.
And within Class S, something had just gone terribly wrong.
"Argh!"
"Chloe!"
Four of the five otherworlders immediately panicked as Chloe Aubert suddenly screamed, her small body convulsing violently before she collapsed to the floor. The suddenness of it left the others frozen for only a moment before they rushed toward her, their earlier lessons and whatever they had been discussing completely forgotten.
Tiss, their teacher, reacted just as quickly. She rushed toward Chloe and dropped down beside the trembling girl, carefully placing a hand against her as she tried to determine what was happening. "Chloe! Are you alright? Just breathe and try to stay still. Kenta, go get the healers!"
Kenta looked horrified as he stared at Chloe's pale face, watching helplessly as her body continued to tremble and spasm. "Y-yes!" he stammered before immediately turning around and sprinting out of the classroom.
Alice knelt beside Chloe and desperately reached for her hand, only to recoil slightly at how cold it felt. "Teacher, what's wrong with her?" she cried, her voice trembling with fear. "She's so cold!"
Tiss shook her head, her expression becoming increasingly troubled as she pressed one hand against Chloe's forehead. A soft peach-coloured glow spread from her palm, bathing the girl's face in gentle light as she attempted to use her magic to determine the source of the problem.
"I don't know." Tiss's brow furrowed deeply. "I can't understand what my magic is telling me."
The response only made Alice more frightened.
Behind the two girls, Gale and Ryota remained close, their expressions filled with concern as they stared down at Chloe. Neither seemed to know what they could possibly do to help, and the helplessness of simply standing there while their friend appeared to be suffering was almost unbearable.
"What should we do?" Gale asked, his voice low but tense.
"I don't know," Ryota admitted, his eyes never leaving Chloe. "Just stay with her until the healers arrive."
Before anyone could do anything else, however, Chloe suddenly spoke.
"Nothing."
Her voice was raspy and strangely weak, yet the sudden sound of it caused everyone to freeze.
Chloe slowly pushed herself up from the floor.
Alice's eyes widened.
Tiss stared at her in disbelief.
Only moments earlier, Chloe had looked as though she were on the verge of death, yet she was now standing on her own two feet as though whatever had afflicted her had simply vanished.
"Chloe..." Alice immediately threw her arms around her friend, hugging her tightly as tears welled up in her eyes. "What happened? Don't scare us like that again!"
Chloe remained in Alice's embrace as the others quickly gathered around her, each of them looking at her with varying degrees of fear and confusion. Tiss carefully examined Chloe again, checking her breathing and pulse while the peach-coloured glow of her magic continued to flicker faintly across her hands.
"Chloe, can you hear me properly?" Tiss asked, her voice gentler now. "Are you feeling any pain? Dizziness? Nausea? Anything at all that feels unusual?"
Alice pulled back just enough to look Chloe directly in the eyes, wiping hurriedly at the tears on her cheeks. "You were shaking so badly, and you were freezing! We thought something was seriously wrong with you!"
Gale stepped closer, his worried expression refusing to disappear. "You just collapsed out of nowhere. One second you were fine, and the next you were screaming and shaking on the floor. What happened to you?"
Ryota nodded anxiously. "Yeah, and then you suddenly got back up like nothing happened." He glanced toward Tiss before looking back at Chloe. "Did you feel something? Did something hurt?"
The sound of hurried footsteps could already be heard approaching from the hallway as Kenta returned with the healers.
Everyone's attention remained fixed on Chloe.
Tiss gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever happened, you don't have to be afraid," she assured her. "Just tell us what you felt, Chloe. What happened?"
However, Tiss wasn't prepared for what she saw the moment Chloe looked directly into her eyes.
Those blue eyes seemed to hold an impossible amount of weight behind them, as though they were no longer the eyes of the young girl Tiss had come to know. The colour itself appeared deeper than it should have been, swallowing the light around them and drawing everything toward an endless, inky abyss.
Tiss felt her breath catch in her throat.
For one brief moment, she couldn't move. She couldn't even think. She had never felt so small in her entire life.
It was as though she were standing before something incomprehensibly vast, something that had simply chosen to wear the appearance of a little girl.
"I'm here!" Kenta's voice suddenly broke through the strange atmosphere.
Tiss blinked.
Behind Kenta, two retired adventurers entered the classroom. They were experienced enough to possess healing magic, and Kenta had clearly dragged them here as quickly as he could.
"I brought them."
Tiss's attention shifted toward the newcomers.
The moment her gaze left Chloe, the strange sensation disappeared.
She looked back.
Nothing.
The overwhelming presence was gone..It was as though it had never existed in the first place.
Chloe simply stood there, looking exhausted and deeply sad, her shoulders slightly lowered and her expression carrying a weariness that seemed completely out of place on such a young girl.
Tiss stared at her. "...Chloe?"
"It's not too late." Chloe whispered.
Tiss's eyes widened. "What was that?" She leaned closer, trying to make sure she had heard correctly.
The two retired adventurers had already knelt beside Chloe, their hands beginning to glow with healing magic as they prepared to examine her. Soft light spread across the floor, illuminating Chloe's small figure as they attempted to determine what had caused her sudden collapse.
"I have to find Rimuru." Chloe's voice was quiet, but there was absolute certainty behind it.
Before Tiss could ask what she meant, a brilliant blue magic circle suddenly appeared beneath Chloe's feet.
"What..?"
The classroom was instantly flooded with blue light.
The two retired adventurers were caught completely off guard as the sudden surge of energy washed over them, forcing them backward until both of them landed heavily on their backsides.
Kenta threw an arm over his eyes.
Alice gasped.
Gale and Ryota instinctively stepped backward.
The blue light grew brighter. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished.
Silence descended over the classroom.
Where Chloe had been standing only moments earlier, a young woman now stood.
She was dressed in a striking white cape dress worn over a long-sleeved black shirt, the layered fabric giving her appearance an almost regal quality. A black corset was fitted over the dress, emphasizing her waist, while a separate black waist cape hung around her hips and moved gently with her movements.
Her appearance was familiar. Yet at the same time, it was completely different.
"What?" Kenta gasped, his mouth falling open.
Alice stared at the young woman for several seconds, her eyes widening with uncertainty. "Chloe?"
Gale's jaw practically dropped. "Wait, for real?" He pointed toward the woman. "That's Chloe?"
"No way." Ryota stared in open amazement, looking between the young woman and the spot where Chloe had been standing moments earlier. "What just happened?"
The young woman slowly looked around the classroom.
Her eyes passed over Kenta.
Then Alice.
Then Gale.
Then Ryota.
Finally, they settled upon Tiss.
There was something different about her gaze now.
Something strangely mature.
"Chloe" looked at her teacher for several seconds before speaking. "Please, teacher."
Her voice was still Chloe's, yet there was a weight behind it that hadn't been there before.."Prepare for a trip to Tempest immediately."
Tiss stared at her in confusion. "Tempest?".She took a step forward. "What are you..."
Before she could finish the question, Chloe vanished. There was no flash of light this time.
One moment she was standing there. The next, there was nothing.
Tiss stood frozen in place, her mouth slightly open as she stared at the empty space where her student had been. "...Why?"