Chapter 552: Troublesome Contract

「What are you going to do after this?」

After picking up the student and faculty handbooks at some sort of general affairs office and getting everything she needed for her classes, Inez asked her where she wanted to go next.

She told us that we already had visited all the places we needed to go to today, and if there was anywhere we wanted to go, she would take us there.

So, we decided to take a look around with Inez’s guidance at the places we were interested in.

Our first destination was a snowy hill, which was unique among the various facilities in the academy.

「Whoaah」

「Woof woof!」

There was white snow all over the place, and it got steeper and steeper as it went straight to the center. It looked like a snowy mountain or a ski slope, wasn’t it?

「This place is used to train hikers on a snowy mountain and basic combat training in snow」

「Can I go up?」

「I think it’s okay for now」

「Urushi, let’s go」

「Woof!」

Immediately after Inez gave her permission, Fran and Urushi ran into the snowfield. It wasn’t the first time that Fran and Urushi had experienced snow. It had even fallen in the Plains of the Demon Wolf after all.

I guess she was just excited by the strange sight of the snowy area while everything around it was normal.

The snow was as soft as if it had just fallen because it even got Fran’s legs buried up to her knees.

I thought they were collecting the snow that had fallen during the winter and cooling it down to prevent it from melting, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

If I’m not mistaken, the snow in this area should be harder than that. Especially in the hill part, it should’ve been compressed like a block of ice. Just like the snow that had been collected in one place during snow removal and would then stay there for a long time, it should’ve been hardened.

Fran and Urushi then returned to Inez, probably satisfied after running around until they were covered in snow. Then Fran asked her somewhat excitedly.

「How do you make this?」

「They used ice and snow magic and other techniques to maintain it」

「I see」

It seems that every day, they created new snow with magic. So, when the snow hardens, they’ll melt it back into water, which was then turned into snow again.

「But it’s only possible during this time of the year」

As expected, it would be difficult to maintain it in the summer. So, it was possible to make it only in this season when the outside temperature was not so high.

In the summer, they use it as a small mountain with deep bushes to train hikers.

After that, we looked around at the rocky hill, lakes, marshes, and other training grounds that were mainly used for practice. Many of the places were apparently maintained by magicians and spirits.

「I’ve shown you most of the training grounds we have in this academy. But do you have any place you still want to go to? The sun is about to set after all」

「Nn… Where’s Zelos Reed?」

「I’m sorry, I’ve been told to not guide you to his place today. However, once things have settled down, you can meet him with the condition that he’s with the Director」

「…Okay」

Well, of course, there’s no way they would let her see him the day after she almost killed him. Fran seemed to understand that she had asked the impossible, so she didn’t seem to be so depressed.

「Then, how about Romio?」

「It would be quite difficult to let you go there too. As he was asleep right now」

With that said, I thought he was getting sick because of the evil spirit. But that doesn’t seem to be the only reason why Romio was asleep

「I can’t meet him?」

「Yeah…」

Huh? Why did Inez sound strangely lackluster?

「I’m sorry. It’s a lie that the boy named Romio is asleep. He was already awake by the time Fran came to the staff room」

「?? Why would you lie about that?」

「I’ve been told to not let Fran-dono meet the boy named Romio」

「What do you mean?」

「The truth is, he’s scared of you, Fran-dono…」

The incident where Fran attacked Zelos Reed was still fresh. It was not only Zelos Reed who had his head almost cut open and the unlucky students who were hit by Fran’s killing intent that was affected.

There was one more person who had been severely injured. That was Romio, who was connected to Zelos Reed by a special ability.

Weena Rhyn had also told us before that Zelos Reed and Romio were in a quite troublesome situation where if one of them gets hurt, the other would too.

And if Fran hurt Zelos Reed then…

Fran looked a little shocked and opened her mouth.

「Did Romio get hurt too?」

「Yes… However, he didn’t suffer the same injury as Zelos Reed, but only a tenth of it. However, he is just a three-year-old child」

Even a slight scratch would be a serious injury for a child that young.

「Is Romio okay?」

「His injury was treated immediately. However, he seemed to understand who had caused the injuries」

So that was why he was so scared of Fran. Apparently, she thought that Fran would be upset if she found out that she had indirectly almost killed Romio as well, so she was trying to hide that fact.

However, since she had said that she wanted to see Romio, she must have told the truth. If she misrepresented it properly, she would have said, “You’ll be allowed to see him at a later date”.

「…I’m leaving for today」

「Understood」

When Fran muttered this with her shoulders slumped, Inez walked her to the main gate with a worried look on her face. With a face like this, she must look like her appropriate age.

「I’ve heard about your situation. But I don’t know what will happen to Romio, so it is best for you to not worry too much about it」

「Thank you」

Even as she replied, Fran’s face did not clear up. The fact that she had almost killed a three-year-old was making her feel depressed.

『Well, it’s a good thing that we didn’t kill him. So, let’s be happy with that for now』

「Nn…」

「Woof」

「Thank you, Urushi」

Fran’s face regained its light slightly as Urushi licked her hand flippantly. However, this made her revenge against Zelos Reed more distant, or rather, more difficult.

She couldn’t even hurt him anymore unless Weena Rhyn dispelled the contract between him and Romio. All it would take was for Fran to become enraged again and hurt him, and Romio could be killed.

It’s just like what Weena Rhyn had told us before that it was quite a troublesome situation.

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