Chapter 130
The line was rapidly shortening.
Solia didn’t answer my question for quite some time.
Oh, I think I heard her mutter something.
“Should I… or shouldn’t I…”
Solia awkwardly leaned against my back.
Thanks to that, I realized something.
Shadows can be heavy.
“…!”
Oh, wait a minute.
“What’s the matter?”
Adela, who didn’t know what was going on, turned her head, curious.
I couldn’t exactly tell her that I was carrying Solia on my back, so I just waved my hand, saying it was nothing.
But what should I do about this?
It’d be easy if it were just a regular piggyback ride!
The problem was that I couldn’t make it obvious, so I had to straighten my back as much as possible, which was hell.
Solia was uncomfortable in that position too, so it felt like she was just clinging to my neck.
“W-Wait!”
Ugh.
My neck almost got twisted backward just now!
I told her not to pull like that!
“…”
Solia didn’t respond.
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to walk a few more steps in this awkward posture.
“If you’re going to get a piggyback ride, at least do it properly.”
Still no answer.
“You’re sulking, aren’t you?”
She was probably annoyed that I asked if shadows were heavy, and even more annoyed that I actually found them heavy.
Silence usually means yes. That must be it.
“You’re upset because I said you were heavy, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
I finally heard her voice.
I couldn’t see her face, but her drooping shadow mumbled in a grumpy tone.
“I’m not talking because I’m not supposed to talk. I’m not sulking. Definitely not.”
“You’re speaking faster than usual.”
“Definitely not.”
“If you’re not, then get on properly.”
“…”
After a moment of hesitation, Solia adjusted her position.
If she was hanging onto my neck earlier, this time she properly wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
It was much more comfortable this way than in the awkward posture before.
And one more thing.
“Kloshti!”
I called Kloshti.
“Caw!”
The little one, who had grown quite a bit, clung to my shoulder.
Honestly, if someone saw me walking around bent over, it would look strange, so I had no choice but to carry Kloshti.
Now, to others, it might seem like I’m just a devoted tamer carrying a Ptera.
That’s right.
I’m carrying both a Ptera and a shadow.
The shadow of a future great mage, the soon-to-be master of light magic.
Stagger.
“…Are you okay?”
Solia whispered in my ear.
“Yeah, totally.”
Honestly, it got a bit tougher once Kloshti joined in, but there were too many eyes on us.
If I dropped Solia here, she’d be seen instantly.
The line had shortened almost to the front.
If the staff hadn’t called out, I might have just stood there dazed.
“Next student, please show your ID!”
“I’m Han Siha.”
“Oh wow, that dragon looks heavy.”
“It’s a Ptera…”
“I’ll issue an ID for the dragon as well! What’s its name?”
“Basilus!”
“And the white one?”
The clerk, fascinated by the dragon, had her eyes shining.
She excitedly chatted, and Kloshti started hanging onto my neck.
“The name’s Kloshti!”
“Basilus and Kloshti, here’s your ID. Oh, and the dragon speaks well too. You’re really cute.”
Just a moment ago, she was hurrying people along to get their IDs faster!
The clerk, charmed by Basilus’ sparkling eyes, forgot about her work.
The hand that had been quickly issuing IDs stopped midair.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
“Where did you get the dragon? Did you raise it at home?”
“Ugh…”
“How did you teach it to speak? It’s really good.”
“Ugh…”
Please stop.
“If it’s too heavy, I can hold the white dragon for you.”
“No, just stamp my ID and move aside, please.”
The clerk blinked in surprise.
“Oh… Okay.”
She handed over the ID with a sulky expression.
She looked hurt, probably disappointed that I turned her down after she finally got to talk.
I felt bad, but I have to survive too!
“See you later, Basilus’ friend!”
Basilus’ friend, my foot.
I snatched the ID and hurried along.
It wasn’t just that it was heavy; we were also running out of time.
The academic conference building was crowded with people.
There were people everywhere in this place.
I needed to find somewhere to leave Solia.
First, let’s run.
“Hyaaah!”
Struggling.
With Kloshti clinging to my neck and the silent shadow on my back, I quickly picked up the pace.
No, wait a second.
Why are you still on my back?
You little rascal, you can fly, but you’re hitching a ride for free!
“Kloshti, get off! Now!”
“Tweet?”
“I said, get off!”
* * *
“Agh, my back.”
“Already at that age?”
“My bones are starting to ache.”
Lee Han burst into laughter, clearly finding my words ridiculous.
That brat… He just casually waltzed in without knowing a thing.
Did I mention I ran all the way here carrying both a Ptera and a shadow?
“Kloshti.”
“Tweet?”
“No ice cream for you.”
“…!”
“No frozen candy either.”
“Tweet tweet!”
Kloshti, feeling hurt, was banging his head against the wall, whimpering softly.
“Tweet… Tweet… Tweet….”
Basilus tried to comfort him.
By force.
Thwack.
“Tweet!”
“Hey, they’re fighting!” Lee Han exclaimed in surprise as he quickly separated Basilus and Kloshti.
Thank goodness, because I really didn’t have the strength to do anything.
“He… choked me.”
“What on earth happened?”
“Shadows are heavier than you’d think….”
“What does that even mean?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Anyway, it was a relief we didn’t get caught.
I was a bit sloppy, but it seems the staff was too dumb to notice.
Just a carefree gate attendant who loves dragons, that’s the vibe I got.
With such lax security, it’s no wonder dark mages managed to infiltrate.
“But when is Seymour going to show up?”
Solia and Seymour had disappeared into the crowd as soon as Solia’s ten-minute limit expired.
Solia probably went with Adela to get into the dorms.
As for Seymour…
Crash.
He burst in, breaking through the window.
“Is he coming in by rope?”
A dramatic entrance, rejecting normalcy.
It reminded me of Lee Han, and I frowned.
Crash.
“Why don’t you just destroy the whole place?”
“Oh, sorry, sorry.”
Seymour grinned sheepishly, picking up a crushed biscuit he had stepped on.
“I guess I’ll eat this later.”
Lee Han shook his head in resignation.
“You’re here now, that’s what matters. Let’s start discussing.”
Lee Han gestured for Seymour to join him as they headed toward the first-floor library.
“We need to plan for tomorrow.”
* * *
“We’ve all gathered safely.”
At my words, Solia nodded vigorously.
In truth, Seymour and Solia had the hardest time.
They both took a significant risk by coming here, despite not being allowed entry.
This place is already bustling with students, so blending in without drawing attention was relatively easy.
As Lee Han said, it was time to make plans for what’s next.
“We managed to get in. Now we need to discuss our next steps.”
We all knew one thing for certain.
Something was going to happen at the Labyrinthian Guild’s academic conference, and it was likely tied to dark mages.
Our goal was to prevent it and protect the cubes.
Though the details were unclear, everyone knew the gist.
I have one cube with me.
The other two are hidden in a safe that Lee Han and I know about.
We don’t know which one will be targeted yet.
But if something happens at the conference, it’s likely aimed at us.
This suggests that they still don’t know the location of the cubes.
They might target us to find out where they are, or they could specifically come after me.
“It’s safer if we stick together,” Lee Han said, voicing the same thought I had.
“Outside of the dorms, the six of us should stay together.”
“What about in the Labyrinth?”
Solia and Seymour can’t enter since they don’t have entry passes.
Theoretically, that is.
“You already gave us the answer,” I said, looking at Solia.
“Me?”
Solia blinked, confused.
Her shadow transformation.
It was a cheat code I hadn’t even considered.
“We’ll do the same thing as when we came in.”
Originally, we would have had to eliminate two people early and steal their entry passes—a difficult and risky plan.
Though this method would almost certainly get us caught before the conference ended, we didn’t come here to win any awards.
Even if we get caught cheating, it won’t be a huge problem.
“As long as you can stay hidden, there won’t be any issues.”
“What if we get caught?”
“If we didn’t get caught coming in, we won’t get caught this time either.”
All you need is an entry pass to get in.
There aren’t any extra security checks, and this method was proven in the original story.
Entering through the main gate is the hard part, but once inside, security isn’t that tight.
Even Archant, who specializes in stealth, must have gotten in easily.
Solia nodded in agreement with my explanation.
Yoon Haul, watching in amazement, gaped at me.
“How do you know this place so well on your first visit? You’re amazing, Han Siha.”
“Oh, that’s because I specialize in this kind of… mmph.”
I quickly stopped Seymour from running his mouth.
“You… You’re really good at sneaking around…!”
How long are you going to keep bringing up that time you stole from the safe in front of my house?
It’s my money thirty years from now, anyway!
Seymour shut up under my fierce glare.
Yoon Haul, misunderstanding the situation, grinned and rested his chin on his hand, giving me an obvious look.
“Yeah, you definitely are sharp. You must be a genius!”
That much was fine.
“You’re a face genius too….”
“Ugh!”
I didn’t see that one coming.
I almost spat out my coffee.
“Hey, give me a warning next time! You surprised me!”
“Why are you surprised if it’s true?”
“I’m more surprised by how confident you are.”
Yoon Haul didn’t seem to notice the sour expressions on Seymour and Lee Han’s faces.
“Oh, well…”
Even Basilus looked serious.
I mentally declared a seven-day cheese fast.
Seymour quickly changed the subject.
“So, the plan is for the two of us to sneak in and follow everyone into the Labyrinth, right?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“We’ll stick together to avoid any trouble.”
“Even inside the Labyrinth, it’d be best to stick together in pairs. Something could happen in there too.”
“I heard they split people up when they enter.”
“We’ll have to find each other once we’re inside.”
Luckily, we have Adela, who’s specialized in detecting magic.
I’m not sure if she can detect people instead of landscapes, but with her high magical sensitivity, it might be possible.
“I’ll try to gather everyone.”
And we also have Lee Han, who’s got that protagonist buff, so he’s good at pretty much everything.
“Help them out with that.”
“And if something goes wrong, we’ll send out a distress signal.”
We considered all possible scenarios, not knowing what might happen.
“The sky should be visible even inside the Labyrinth.”
“You’re suggesting we shoot a signal into the ceiling?”
“That could work.”
We spent a long time discussing, trying to come up with the best and safest methods.
Some ideas were ones I already knew, while others were new to me.
I think we’re as prepared as we can be.
I just hope the changes in our team’s composition turn out to be a good variable.
I was so on edge about Archant possibly showing up at the dorm that I didn’t get a wink of sleep.
But even so, the sun still rises.
The morning of the conference dawned.
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