Time Healer Ceres

“If you grant me the rights to sell Ethel, I will devote myself to—”

“What are you saying, Count Alise?! Do you really think your family can manage something of that scale? A business like this should go to a house like ours!”

“You have some nerve saying that! Our family’s distribution network is far larger than yours!”

“What’s wrong with all of you?! His Excellency already said he intends to entrust Ethel to House Alise! Were none of you listening?!”

At some point, the discussion had turned into a battle over who would gain exclusive control of Ethel. Oblivious to the fact that the golden goose already had an owner, the nobles continued to bicker with greed shining in their eyes.

“Haah...”

“Sigh...”

Watching the nobles argue among themselves, Emperor Devrica and Crown Prince Aseraian let out quiet sighs in unison.

Meanwhile, Kainel, the very person who had thrown the hall into chaos, already lost interest and turned his attention elsewhere.

He didn’t so much as glance at the nobles shouting over one another, as if the scene had nothing to do with him. The Emperor and Crown Prince could only shake their heads.

Their alliance truly was paper-thin. They had expected it to crack sooner or later, but seeing it fall apart this easily was laughable.

Well, it only proved just how valuable the Ethel mineral really was.

Knock knock!

“Your Highness!”

The doors to the conference hall burst open. Aseraian’s aide hurried inside.

The noisy room instantly fell silent. The aide approached the Crown Prince before speaking in a lowered voice.

“There has been a report of a Black Forest appearing.”

“A Black Forest? Where?”

Has it appeared inside the capital again?

“It’s near the Imperial Academy.”

“The Academy?”

As soon as Aseraian heard those words, his expression hardened. Of all places, it had to appear near the Academy.

“Th-The Academy?!”

“M-My son is there!”

Several nobles immediately went pale. They were the ones whose children attended the Academy.

Without waiting for another word, they hurriedly rose from their seats and rushed out of the hall. They intended to head straight for the Academy even if they had to mobilize their private troops.

“How many soldiers are stationed at the Academy?”

“They should be strong enough to handle a C-Rank Black Forest without much trouble, however...”

At Aseraian’s hesitant reply, the Emperor then turned to the aide, asking about the rank of the Black Forest that had appeared.

Black Forests were classified according to the demonic energy released by the monsters inside them. By measuring that energy, it was possible to determine the forest’s rank.

“It is A-Rank.”

“A-Rank?!”

The expressions of everyone in the conference hall froze. A-Rank Black Forest was an extremely rare disaster, something that only appeared once every few years at most.

And now, that Black Forest had emerged where children were gathered.

“Send the troops immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Once the Emperor gave the order, Aseraian rose from his seat. They needed to move as quickly as possible if they wanted to keep the damage to a minimum.

“It will be pointless even if you go.”

Just as Aseraian was about to leave, a voice stopped him.

“What do you mean?”

Kainel Persia.

At his quiet remark, Aseraian’s expression became stiff.

“Are you saying we should just abandon those children?”

For the first time since the meeting began, Aseraian raised his voice.

“By the time you get there, it will already be over.”

“What?”

Did he mean everyone was already dead?

Aseraian gritted his teeth as he glared at Grand Duke Persia. Even an A-Rank Black Forest couldn’t reduce an entire area to ruins in such a short time. That was exactly why they needed to go.

As long as there was one person left alive inside, it was their duty to save them.

Kainel didn’t look away from the hostility directed at him. Ridiculous as it was... he didn’t dislike it.

“I agree. He’s a lot better than those fools with dust for brains. Some people enjoy every privilege while shrugging off all responsibility, but at least that one has his head on straight.”

For a brief moment, Kainel could almost hear Artia’s amused laughter echoing in his ears.

Silently agreeing with the friend who now existed only in memory, Kainel added with unusual patience,

“I mean the Black Forest has most likely already been taken care of.”

Kainel rose from his seat as well. It seemed today’s meeting wouldn’t continue any further.

“What are you talking about...?”

Already been taken care of?

Aseraian and the others stared at him in confusion, but Kainel just left the room without another word.

***

[Grrrr...]

“What the hell is that?”

“I-I don’t know.”

The Academy guards could only stand frozen as they stared at the monsters approaching them.

They were giants.

Creatures well over five meters tall lumbered toward them in groups. Their bodies resembled humans, but the enormous single eye covering half their faces made them look grotesque. Sharp fangs jutted from their mouths, enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

The instant the soldiers met those massive crimson eyes, their thoughts went blank. All that remained was the desperate urge to run.

“What are those things...?”

Even the captain of the guards, who prided himself on his experience dealing with Black Forests, felt his mind descend into confusion.

He had never seen monsters like these before. He didn’t know their weaknesses or how to fight them either.

At this point, all they could do was face them head-on.

Boom! Boom!

The ground shook violently with every step the giants took. The tremors shattered the soldiers’ morale.

[Grrrr...]

“U-Uaaagh!”

Some soldiers crumbled when they saw the giants’ blood-red eyes, screaming as they fled.

“C-Captain...”

“...Prepare for battle.”

Matthew, captain of the Academy guards, was trembling just as much as everyone else. But he couldn’t run away. If they abandoned this place, the children inside the building would lose their lives as well.

Shing!

Matthew drew his sword. Before anyone else could move, he rushed forward first.

His men were already frozen with fear, struggling to even take a single step. In this situation, expecting them to attack first was impossible.

[KRAAAAGH!]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“—!”

However, when the giant at the front roared and charged toward him, Matthew instinctively faltered. The pressure it gave off up close was overwhelming.

“Urgh...!”

Gritting his teeth, Matthew swung his sword. Even a small wound would be enough.

However, the giant’s fist was faster. A large hand came crashing down toward him.

Am I going to die like this?

Matthew could only stare in a daze at the giant’s fist descending toward him. His body refused to move under the crushing terror.

Twitch.

[Grrr...?]

Just as the giant was about to crush him, it suddenly stopped. As though sensing something strange, the giant turned its head around.

At that very moment—

Slash!

The giant was sliced cleanly in half.

Thud...

The two halves of the giant’s body crashed heavily onto the ground. Even as it died, it never realized what had killed it.

“Geez, all kinds of freaks are crawling out today.”

A low voice drifted through the air. Still frozen in place, Matthew turned toward the source of the voice.

Someone was standing behind the fallen giant. It was too dark to see clearly, but the figure looked like an Academy student.

A student?

For a second, Matthew wondered if he was seeing things. But the clothes he caught a glimpse of were unmistakably an Academy uniform.

A strange black sword rested in the student’s hand, making it obvious who had cut the giant down.

“To think an A-Rank monster would appear right in the middle of the capital.”

Clicking her tongue, Ceres looked down at the giant’s corpse and lowered her sword.

When she realized a Black Forest had appeared, she immediately set out to find Antonian and Julia.

Logically, the right choice was to head straight for the boss monster. Defeating the boss was the fastest way to destroy a Black Forest.

However, instead of heading toward the boss, Ceres made her way toward the building where her younger siblings were.

Why would she go after the boss before confirming her siblings were safe? What if something happened to them while she was gone? Who would take responsibility for that?

That was why she headed for Julia’s classroom first. Out of the two, Julia was both the youngest and the weakest.

Still, when Ceres came across soldiers being attacked along the way, she couldn’t just ignore them and move on.

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