T/N: Today I’d like to thank my repeat Cookie Donor, Diana! Thank you so much for the sweets~ ❤ Especially despite my long absence!!

In the end, I wasn’t able to obtain any more information about the wolf.

Well, not that I was planning to pry any further into the incident anyway. But…. it certainly makes you feel rather curious. No matter how dangerous they claim the situation to be, I can’t help but want to know more.

“Something Professor John said has been bothering me. You know how Spot Sickness has been running rampant in the Ravaal Kingdom? Well, apparently even magic can’t cure it,” Gilles says pensively.

“But Madi can, right?”

“Well, yeah. But Madi is considered a priceless medicinal herb. Normal people can’t even get their hands on it.”

“Hmm, then wouldn’t replication magic be the solution? They just need to produce enough Madi to quell the disease. Do you think this might have been their aim?”

“If it was, with the replication skill being unique to dark magic, why would they have the wolf aim for Liz Cather?”

“Hmm,” I muse for a moment, and then it hits me. “Wait…. So you think that the saintess’s magic might actually be able to cure Spot Sickness?” I ask Gilles more loudly than I had intended.

If that was their goal this entire time, then that means the Ravaal Kingdom knows exactly who Liz-san is.

“Not just a country, the saintess is supposedly going to save the whole world. If her powers are that groundbreaking, I think curing one disease is probably possible,” Gilles murmurs, a complicated expression surfacing on his face.

“Though, that’s still just my own speculation,” he amends as he looks up at me.

…..There’s no way that we can just hand Liz-san over to the Ravaal Kingdom. If we were to lose the saintess, this country will fall into an even worse state than it’s already in.

“Hmm, maybe I should just go?” I say quietly, thinking aloud to myself.

“Hah!?” Gilles exclaims. He’s looking at me with those eyes that say he can’t tell if I’ve finally gone off the deep end or not.

Whoops. I hadn’t meant to actually say that out loud.

But he must realize it too, right? How helpful I could be for them? Replication magic is a level 90 spell. I’m capable of using it.

There’s so many useless spells within the darkness attribute, but at least this one I can find a use for… Though I still have no idea what possessed the game creators to make replication a specialty of darkness magic.

But my traveling there wouldn’t be just some service trip; I’d like to be able to see Ravaal’s current state with my own eye. Like with the impoverished village, I doubt I’ll ever be able to truly understand their circumstances without experiencing it for myself.

The problem is that we’re not talking about a small neighboring village this time. This is a foreign country. The people that are allowed to cross Ravaal’s borders are limited, and I’d hardly be high on their acceptance list. Not only am I a woman, but I’m also a noble. There’s simply no way they’ll let me in….. I wonder if there’s a way to have them kidnap me in place of Liz-san?

“Alicia, what are you thinking about right now…?” Gilles asks narrowing his eyes at me suspiciously.

……What a sharp kid. If I actually told him what I was thinking about, he’d definitely be opposed.

“Nothing. I’m not thinking about anything,” I assure him with a large, hopefully innocent looking smile.

It doesn’t work. He’s still staring at me doubtfully.

“Really? …..You better not be thinking about anything weird right now.”

“Of course not. I know better than that.”

In my mind, I’m acting the picture of innocence, however Gilles still doesn’t look convinced…..

He doesn’t trust me, does he?

Not that he’s wrong. He’s absolutely right not to trust me.

And like that, with me continuing to smile for all I’m worth and with him continuing to watch me dubiously, the two of us head off toward the dining hall.

Why is the dining hall always so noisy?

And I’m not talking about noisy conversations. I just feel like every time I come here something troublesome is taking place.

For instance, today there’s a huge crowd of students gathering in front of it. Even for this school, isn’t this a bit too much? They’re even spilling out into the halls, just trying to get a look. I doubt even the train attendants at rush hour could have shoved them all inside. Plus, they’re all so packed together, I’m feeling hot just looking at them.

“Still want to go in?” Gilles asks, arching an eyebrow.

“Nope… I think I’m good for today,” I say immediately.

I have zero desire to fight my way through that wall of people just to get inside the dining hall. Besides, even if we make it through, I’m bound to get caught up into some bothersome fiasco once I’m inside.

It would be plain idiotic of me to walk into that mess willingly.

“Agreed.”

The two of us pretend we didn’t see anything and are turning to walk away when I hear someone shouting, “Oi! Alicia Williams is here!”

…..But I was just leaving…..

We’ve been here for two seconds. How did he even discover me so quickly? Does that guy like me or something?

“Could that be another scandal of yours going on?” Gilles asks, smirking up at me.

Why does he look so happy about the idea? Personally, I find it disconcerting to know that someone’s sullying my bad name without my direction nor knowledge. And can we not refer to it as a scandal?

“Celebrities live such hectic lives,” Gilles intones mock grandiosely.

“Gilles, you’re having fun with this, aren’t you?” I whisper, lightly glaring back at him.

“Well, yeah. I mean, every time something happens involving you, behind the scenes your popularity rises.”

“You know that I couldn’t care less about any of that. And I’m not aiming for popularity, I want infamy.”

“Okay, okay, let’s just drop it for now,” Gilles says placatingly. “So? Are we going in? Or do you still want to leave?”

Gilles, you brat…. Why are you looking at me like that? Like you’re testing me? Ugh, now it feels like I’ll be losing somehow if I don’t go in.

“I’m going,” I sniff and then stride straight towards the boisterous mass of students.

T/N: Hello, hello! It’s been so long! But my work schedule is back to normal since our month of breaks is finally over, and my eyes are finally healed enough after getting LASIK to stare at my computer screen for extended periods of time again, so I’m back! 😀 I know some of you might be disappointed that this is not technically a “new” chapter, but I’m planning to put up the next one in two days, so tune in again then for some fun, new Alicia moments!

What do you think? Should we celebrate my return with a poll? 😉 Let your creativity break loose! Bragging rights go to anyone who gets the scenario right, the funniest write-in, and the craziest write-in…. So do. Your. WORST! ;P (As it is just my opinion though, subjectivity in the awarding of bragging rights may apply.) As always, if you prefer to comment, I read those too~ Cast your vote in any way that you desire~