Monday, the next day.
The first class was Meditation. The meditation instructor walked in, about to start the session, when suddenly they noticed an empty seat.
"Where's Mier? Why isn't he here?"
Mier's friend quickly replied, "Mier had something happen and was sent to the infirmary to recover. He'll be back at school this afternoon."
The meditation instructor frowned, "What happened?"
"I'm not sure about the details, but he said it's nothing serious."
"Did he ask for leave?"
"He already asked Ms. Alina for leave."
"That's good. Let's begin today's meditation class…"
"..."
Hilia glanced at Mier's seat in confusion, and sure enough, it was empty—he really didn't show up for class.
"No wonder it's so quiet today."
What happened to him?
Hilia wasn't quite sure.
After class ended, the other students were also curious about what had happened to Mier.
Someone seemed to know a bit of inside information and spread it to the others. Soon, the news reached Hilia as well.
"I heard Mier went nuts for some reason and ran off to report the upperclassmen's flying competition to the Law Enforcement Team instructor. As a result, all the upperclassmen who participated were arrested. Later, when they found out it was Mier who ratted them out, they beat him up yesterday—almost beat him to death."
Hilia was stunned.
"Does he have a death wish?"
Suddenly, Hilia thought of something and asked Rose in her Spiritual Space, "Lord Rose, did you already know he was the snitch?"
Rose smiled faintly: "I didn't know."
Yeah, right. I don't believe you.
Of course, Hilia didn't believe her.
Because back then, at the start, Rose didn't use Spiritual Power to control her flight. She let Hilia fly freely until she passed through the Law Enforcement Team's blockade, and only then did she make her race forward with the Flying Broom.
That was obviously in anticipation of a move from the Law Enforcement Team. How could she have been prepared if she hadn't known in advance?
Hilia suddenly remembered there was another person flying slowly during the competition. "The one who didn't speed up during the race—was that Mier?"
"No," Rose shook her head.
"Then who?"
"Mier's older brother."
Hilia suddenly understood: "So that's it! Mier's brother was in the contest, and Mier reported to the Law Enforcement Team so that all the other contestants would get arrested, making it easier for his brother to win first place."
"That's all wrong: both the sequence and the conclusion." Rose laughed. "Mier snitched first, and then his brother signed up to compete."
"Huh? Why?"
Hilia was puzzled. Suddenly, she caught sight of Anarce and a crazy idea struck her.
"Could it be… he knew I was entering, so he reported it to the teachers?"
Rose smiled and said nothing.
"Is that really it?"
Hilia immediately felt disgusted.
This was an attempt to make her lose the qualification to be Holy Daughter.
Damn Mier.
Damn Doris!
...
Noon.
Near the main gate of Divine Magic Academy, Hilia gently landed her Flying Broom.
"Are we leaving school?"
She asked Rose.
"No need."
Rose gave her a loop route.
"Just follow this route for a lap—no need to go to the Forbidden Forest."
"Okay."
If Magic Puppets weren't so limited in how far they could travel from their operator before losing connection, Rose would've gone to investigate herself by now.
The distance between a Magic Puppet and its operator depends on the operator's Spiritual Power and control ability.
With Hilia's Spiritual Power, the theoretical maximum was 1,000 meters, but realistically, she couldn't stably control it past 100 meters.
Of course, there are disconnect prevention runes inscribed into Magic Puppets. If a certain distance is exceeded, the Heart of the Magic Puppet senses the weakening connection, issues an alert to the operator, and then tries to retrace its path and return.
If everything fails, it'll attempt to send an astrolabe signal before entering hibernation, waiting for the operator to wake it up later.
Or, if a "home" is set, the Magic Puppet will attempt to return home.
Rose had tried sending the Magic Puppet far away from Hilia, and discovered that the puppet's distance didn't affect his own scan range—it only limited the puppet's own detection. Rose's Spiritual scan still centered on Hilia herself.
As Hilia circled the Divine Magic Academy on her broom, Rose's Spiritual Power was at full throttle, scanning the surroundings again and again.
Though limited by Hilia's Spiritual Power, the scan range was pretty small.
"Within a few hundred meters of the academy… I wonder if I can find any clues…"
Rose couldn't guarantee it.
But if there was anything to find, he was sure to spot it.
The Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association heretics—he had seen them when Hilia escorted one to the Holy Court. Rose knew all about the unique traces they left behind.
According to the Holy Court, it's called 'corruption.' In Rose's view, that's special Abyssal magic power.
The Abyss exists in this world too, but it's the paradise of the defeated. Back when he played the game, the Abyss was only a mid-level crisis—no one even made it to the late game.
"Would the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association really dare make a move around the school?" Hilia also voiced her doubts.
"Depends on how bold the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association wants to be. If they have big enough ambitions, not only the academy—hell, they'd even dare bomb the Holy Court headquarters."
Of course, whether they'd actually pull it off is another story.
"Bomb the Holy Court headquarters? That's impossible…"
"Nothing's impossible."
Since we're talking about a cult that worships an Evil God—but not even a real Evil God, just their own made-up version—nothing they do would be that surprising.
"Eh? Hilia?"
While talking to Rose, Hilia suddenly heard someone call her name.
She turned her head and saw Alina with some school mentors by the academy wall.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Alina."
"What are you doing here?" Alina flew over on her Flying Broom and asked.
"I just had lunch and I'm taking a walk, practicing my flying."
"Really?" Alina looked Hilia up and down, then glanced down and spotted the Magic Puppet following her. She exclaimed in surprise, "You managed to make your Magic Puppet?"
Hilia nodded shyly. "Yeah, I just finished it yesterday."
There hadn't been any Alina classes this morning, so she hadn't known Hilia finished her Magic Puppet.
Now, seeing it, her interest was piqued—she landed beside the Magic Puppet and examined it closely.
"Hmm?"
She scrutinized the Magic Puppet.
What's going on?
Did she just imagine that the Magic Puppet glanced at her?
Alina was puzzled. She reached out to touch the puppet's body.
Huh? The Magic Puppet seemed rather displeased?
A trick of the mind?
That thought flashed through Alina's mind, but she was soon drawn to the markings inscribed on the puppet.
These runes look like basic runes, but they are even more elegant than the basic puppet runes—transmitting and using Magic Power with greater efficiency and simpler complexity.
Alina suddenly looked up. "Hilia, did you engrave the runes on this puppet yourself?"
"Yeah, I learned these runes from books. Is there something wrong?"
"Are you… sure?"
"…I'm sure, though I made a few… small changes."