Chapter 16

Talli returned to the school with the collar, but couldn’t find Dusk for a while. It wasn’t until the whistle blew for the gathering at the entrance of the illusion realm that this guy appeared behind her at some point.

“Stop running around.”

Talli held Dusk in place and fastened the metal buckle of the collar.

Dusk seemed a little impatient, pressing his paw against Talli’s hand, subtly trying to push her away.

Talli wasn’t in a good mood either. She kept thinking about what Ryan had said.

She had initially thought that the shattered gemstone was the result of a combination of Mustafa’s attack and the collapse of the building.

But Ryan’s words made her reconsider.

Both the girl and the beast had their own thoughts.

Talli’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft cry, almost like a sob.

“Tal… Talli!!”

The girl fluttered over like a butterfly. Upon seeing Talli safe and sound in the crowd, her eyes turned red.

Theresa jogged up to her, wiping her eyes. “You’re okay, that’s such a relief!! Yesterday was all my fault, if it weren’t for me…”

When a beautiful woman cried, no one could say a word of reproach. Even though some of the students didn’t know Talli, no one didn’t know Theresa. No matter what she had done wrong, seeing her cry so pitifully made everyone want to comfort her.

Because of her, the peaceful surroundings that Talli had enjoyed were now filled with a crowd of people. The noise and chatter only made her already chaotic thoughts even more disordered.

“….”

She bent slightly, letting Dusk jump to the ground, and looked around. Once she confirmed that none of the male leads were nearby, she finally sighed in relief.

She had to keep her distance from the female protagonist, otherwise, she’d always end up in trouble.

Thinking this, Talli just casually said, “It’s fine,” and lifted her foot to leave.

Theresa, sniffling, watched the girl walk away, showing a disappointed and regretful expression, but ultimately fell silent.

This made the group feel even more sympathy for her, and they cast reproachful looks at Talli.

Talli didn’t mind, she actually noticed that after this incident, Mustafa had been temporarily detained by the academy, so he couldn’t enter the illusion realm with Theresa.

This was different from the original plot.

Thinking back, this wasn’t the first time the story had deviated.

The last time, Theresa, who had gotten lost, was sent home by Carl, leaving Mustafa alone at the magic beast market. But later, he was still presented as a return gift to Theresa at the Dust Cleansing Feast.

It seemed that even if the plot faced slight twists, it would still eventually lead to the same outcome.

Whether Mustafa went to the illusion realm or not didn’t matter. What was important was that Theresa would definitely enter the Abyss in the illusion realm and meet the Lord of the Abyss.

If she wanted to avoid danger, the most important thing was to stay away from the path Theresa chose.

The academy offers a total of seventeen illusion realm routes. Some of the routes may overlap at certain points, but not entirely. The seventeen routes are divided into sixteen different regions, waiting for the academy’s students to explore, either individually or in teams.

Magic beasts, magical plants, temples, mechanisms…

It’s both danger and opportunity.

Because it was clear that the route chosen by Theresa would definitely lead to the Abyss, Talli kept a close eye on her during the selection process and ultimately chose the route that was farthest from Theresa.

Carl, naturally, chose to protect his sister.

One by one, many people approached Theresa to ask about teaming up. Carl selected some capable individuals for her, while others left feeling dejected and disappointed.

In contrast, Talli’s side was quiet and empty.

Some people who didn’t know her, after selecting the same route, tried to approach her to ask if she wanted to team up, but after being “informed” about her background by the well-meaning people around, they quickly avoided her.

Talli was quite content with this.

She stood in place, moving her wrist to make sure everything she had prepared was intact. Just as she was about to leave, a young man parted the crowd and walked toward her.

“…Would you like to join our team?” Carl tilted his head, gesturing with his thumb at the large team behind him.

Almost the entire grade of people who weren’t averse to socializing and were strong gathered together, with tall postures, luxurious equipment, and striking appearances.

If this were a story from a heroic novel, this would be the typical protagonist group setup.

In the midst of the crowd, a sparkling blonde-haired girl also looked over at Talli, smiling slightly, her gaze a mix of avoidance and concern.

“No need.”

Talli glanced at them briefly before coldly rejecting the offer.

Are you kidding? Teaming up with the female lead? Does she have a death wish?

“…”

Carl said, “No one will make fun of you.”

He thought she was worried about other people’s strange looks.

“I said no need.”

Talli turned her head, “I have teammates. You don’t need to worry.”

“Teammates?” Carl immediately responded, incredulously, “You’ve been standing here alone for more than ten minutes. Where are your teammates?”

“Here.”

Talli kicked the little fox at her feet with the tip of her shoe. The fox seemed momentarily stunned and paused. “It’s called Dusk.”

“…Are you really going to do this?”

Carl looked down at the blue shadow, “I thought you were just being impulsive that day.”

After a moment of silence, he casually dropped a sentence:

“Do whatever you want.”

Then he turned around and left.

“……”

Talli stared blankly at Carl’s retreating figure.

Rather than adjusting to work with unfamiliar people, Talli preferred to go solo. She wasn’t used to teaming up with others. If the academy were a primitive jungle, she’d be the lone wolf in it.

Carl walked over and shook his head at Theresa, saying something to her. The latter lowered her head in disappointment.

In the shade of the trees, the sunset filtered through the gaps in the leaves, slowly fading. The vast space, once bustling, gradually became quiet, and Dusk was drawing to an end.

The lingering warmth was gradually fading from the ground.

The evening breeze had a slight chill to it, and Talli was glad she had wrapped herself in a large shawl. She shivered slightly, patted her cheek, and stood in the long line. When it was her turn, she tightened the sliding mechanism of the wrist dart on her arm and extended her left hand.

The barrier, like ripples in the water, gently wrapped around her fingertips, slowly spreading across the back of her hand.

“……Dusk,”

She didn’t look down, but she knew it was by her side.

“Stay close to me.”

Talli didn’t come to the illusion realm without a purpose.

In addition to temporarily evading the surveillance of the Fred family and honing her skills, she had also read in a book that there were many ancient temples left behind in the illusion realm.

Normally, these places were protected by magic arrays and were only open to noble children at times like this.

At first, Talli couldn’t distinguish between a temple and a shrine when she arrived.

Later, she learned from the books she read in the library tower that temples were buildings used to worship gods before they fell, often maintained and repaired with magic. Shrines, in comparison, were more like administrative institutions.

An administrative institution with more political than religious significance. Within it was a strict hierarchy, where every clergy member worked in their position, receiving a fixed salary each month, helping to maintain the royal family’s rule.

For example, the priest that Ryan served under was in a higher position within this hierarchy, like an heir.

However, as one god after another fell, the temples gradually disappeared from the public eye. In their place rose magnificent shrines, towering in splendor.

If the vortex at the center of Talli’s world existed since ancient times, then the temple would be a place she must visit.

The sky had darkened.

Talli wasn’t very good with directions, and in unfamiliar places, especially at night, she didn’t like wandering around.

She found a flat spot, started a campfire, sat down, and hugged her knees, silently nibbling on the dry food she had brought with her.

When she looked up, the little fox was sitting across from her, leisurely watching her, its tail gently sweeping the ground.

Talli stared at it for a few seconds before sighing. She rummaged through her bag, and despite the small size of the pouch, she managed to pull out a can of magical freeze-dried porridge. She hung the tin over the campfire to heat it, and soon, the porridge was steaming with white vapor, making bubbling sounds.

The aroma was overwhelming.

“That’s a bit too much,” Talli said as she took the porridge off the fire. “You’re a magic beast, yet you can’t catch a rabbit on your own and still need your master to prepare food for you.”

She scooped out a small portion for Dusk: “I didn’t bring much, so I can only give you this much. If you want more, go catch your own rabbit when the sun comes up tomorrow.”

Dusk ate elegantly, seemingly not bothered by her words at all. As for Talli, she felt much warmer from the hot porridge.

With the campfire, wild beasts typically wouldn’t come near. However, strangely, all night long, small creatures relentlessly approached Talli. They seemed to be drawn to something near her. One after another, they came, and within twenty minutes, Talli heard rustling noises beside her. Most of them were rabbits or deer, and in the early hours, a few wild boars stumbled over in confusion, crashing around.

By dawn, when the sun rose.

A small mountain of prey had already piled up beside the extinguished campfire.

She looked at the curled-up fox by the ashes, which appeared soft, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of doubt about the world.

“Talli!!”

At the end of the path, someone emerged from the dense forest, her eyes widened with surprise as she ran toward her, “I didn’t expect to run into you!!”

Talli froze for a moment when she heard the voice, then looked up and realized it was the curly-haired girl from that day.

… What was her name again?

“Your face looks terrible!”

The girl looked at Talli’s face and immediately showed a worried expression. “What happened?”

“I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Talli rubbed her face.

She hadn’t slept at all.

The girl assumed Talli had been on night watch alone and didn’t think much of it. However, when she saw the pile of small prey nearby, her mouth dropped open in shock. “Ta-Talli… did you… did you catch all these?”

“Yeah.”

Dusk was disturbed by the noise and woke up, irritatedly twitching its pointed ears, still drowsy, and lifting one red eye.

“You’re incredible—”

The girl seemed stunned by the sight, standing still, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Janie, what are you doing over there?”

A rustling sound of leaves and footsteps echoed as several figures emerged from the forest path.

“You all, come over here and look at Talli’s prey!” Janie heard the shout and snapped back to reality. She turned to yell behind her, “—I’ve never seen so much prey in my life!”

“Do you like it, Janie?”

Talli, with two dark circles under her eyes and holding a slight feeling of guilt for not remembering her name, said, “You can pick two pieces of prey to take with you.”

“Re-really?”

The curly-haired girl was so excited she stammered, “To be honest, I’m not very good at hunting, and the food I ate last night was just some biscuits they gave me…”

“That’s fine.”

Talli said, “I can’t carry this much by myself anyway.”

She would only be in the Illusion Realm for about a week. There was no way she’d stay here forever, and she, along with Dusk, wouldn’t be able to consume all of it.

“Then, thank you…”

Janie smiled gratefully and was about to step forward.

Suddenly, a long sword sheath blocked her path.

It turned out that Janie’s teammates had arrived.

“Hey, I said…”

One of the brown-haired noble youths sneered. Although he was speaking to Janie, his gaze blatantly shifted to Talli.

“You’re actually willing to accept something a country bumpkin gave you? Aren’t you afraid of catching some disease?”