Boom! Crash!

‘Oh dear, save me!’

I was caught between the golem and Deborah, feeling crushed like a shrimp.

I pressed myself against the wall, watching the two of them fight.

Deborah’s attacks quickly lost accuracy. In her haste, she was recklessly throwing magic around.

“Deborah, calm down! Don’t get excited, take a deep breath, look around, and attack carefully!”

It was a plea not to accidentally attack me.

But when the golem deflected Deborah’s magic, her rationality went flying with it…

“Damn it, hit! Just hit already!”

Flash―.

Deborah’s wild attacks missed, and the golem swung its thick arm towards her.

‘This is driving me crazy!’

I hurriedly ran and pulled Deborah back.

The golem narrowly missed her spot with its fist.

Phew, almost died…

“Watch out!”

Before I could even catch my breath, Deborah pushed me aside and launched magic at the golem.

Boom!

“I did it…!”

The largest and most spectacular spell I’d seen hit the golem, shattering it into pieces of dirt.

Well done, Deborah.

But…

“Did you see? I defeated it! Now let’s get out of here…!”

Deborah, who was bouncing with excitement, turned to me and gasped.

She noticed me lying on the floor only now, losing consciousness.

For the record, it was because Deborah pushed me too hard, causing my head to hit the maze wall.

Was she trying to assassinate me…?

“No! Sister!”

But fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Seeing her calling me sister with tears brimming in her eyes.

“Don’t die! Is anyone there? Help! Someone is dying!”

Deborah cried out as she sobbed.

Her figure blurred as my vision faded.

And so, I lost consciousness.

* * *

The maze had a return-to-start structure.

The entrance and exit were the same, so upon exiting, you would immediately see the two mages and a bondservant.

The three waited in silence for Shailyn and Deborah to emerge.

They exchanged no words at all.

“It should be ending soon…”

Mage Jeron murmured quietly while checking the clock.

The tightly closed door opened, and two women appeared through the thick fog.

The relief of passing within time was brief.

“Sniff, call a doctor, sob, call a doctor!”

Deborah, struggling to carry Shailyn, shouted, making the three faces turn grim.

The first to move was Carl.

“Master!”

He darted out and took Shailyn from Deborah.

Her limp, unconscious body felt too light to be real.

“What happened! Why is Miss Sharofe like this?”

Chester asked urgently.

Even though the maze test was difficult, it was never meant for someone to be carried out like this.

“Well, sniff, we were fighting a golem… Why did you put something so dangerous in the maze? Even if you intended to make the test hard, this is too much. We almost died!”

Deborah, wiping her tears with her sleeve, glared at Chester.

Chester’s face momentarily turned cold.

“A golem, you say. There was a golem inside?”

“Yes! It wasn’t an illusion, it was a real golem! Attacking people!”

Chester closed his eyes gently. He had never placed a golem in the maze.

He only used moderate illusions to avoid any casualties by mistake.

He wiped his face with his palm and looked at Jeron.

“What happened, Jeron?”

“…I’m sorry, Master. There must have been a mistake during yesterday’s inspection. It’s my fault.”

“Does apologizing fix…!”

Chester was about to lash out but managed to hold back seeing his subordinate’s guilt-ridden face.

Scolding Jeron wouldn’t change anything at this point.

“We need to return to the Duke’s residence immediately! Where’s the carriage?”

Deborah, with tears streaming down her face, looked around for the carriage.

Carl, holding Shailyn, silently searched for the carriage.

Chester could only watch them leave.

* * *

When Shailyn returned unconscious, the Duke of Diart was in chaos.

While the physician examined Shailyn, Deborah clutched her hand tightly, mumbling through tears.

“I’m sorry, sister. Don’t die. I’ll tell you what I thought when I first saw you. I thought you were incredibly pretty…”

Even though she was in a huffy mood when she first saw Shailyn, her impression was strong.

Despite not being extravagantly adorned, she was dazzling, and her neat, sharp face was the type Deborah liked.

But admitting it honestly was difficult due to her pride.

She also resented Benjamin for accepting Shailyn without her consent.

“Deborah!”

At that moment, Benjamin burst into the room, opening the door roughly.

Having heard the full story, he looked extremely angry.

“Deborah! What did I tell you? Magic is dangerous! Why didn’t you listen to me…!”

“Are you blaming me now? If you hadn’t blocked my path, this wouldn’t have happened today!”

“What? Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”

The atmosphere between father and daughter turned tense.

Dain, who had followed his father in, instinctively tried to step back but stopped when he met the physician’s pleading gaze.

Right, I shouldn’t leave now…

“If it weren’t for that magic, our family wouldn’t be like this!”

“You’re right. But do you know? It’s because of you that I’m like this!”

No, this isn’t right…

Suppressing his desire to escape, Dain mustered the courage to mediate between his father and sister.

“Both of you, calm down and maybe take a break from each other—.”

“Stay out of it, Dain.”

“Brother, you stay out of it.”

“……”

He suddenly felt like lying down and pretending to faint next to Shailyn.

Stop the family discord. Stop the scolding. Stop the backtalk.

Stop fighting with innocent people nearby…

“What exactly are you so dissatisfied with, Deborah?”

“Do you really not know? Have you ever tried to genuinely listen to me?”

Deborah sharply retorted to Benjamin, who was pounding his chest.

“Sister Shailyn asked me too. Why do I like magic? Do I really want to do it?”

“……”

“When I said I wanted to, she willingly went with me into the dangerous maze! Have you ever done that for me?”

Benjamin was at a loss for words.

Of course not. He always blocked her under the guise of protection.

“You just want me to live the way you want, because it’s easier for you!”

With Deborah’s near-crying words, a heavy silence fell.

The physician, due to the serious atmosphere, couldn’t bring himself to say that Shailyn had only fainted briefly and would wake up soon.

As a result.

While everyone was watching the sniffling Deborah and the dazed Benjamin.

“Ah…”

Shailyn let out a small groan and slowly opened her eyes.

Holding her throbbing head, she looked around.

Deborah and Benjamin were confronting each other.

In one corner, the physician and Dain were huddled together.

It was clearly not a normal atmosphere.

‘Ah, I woke up at the wrong time, didn’t I?’

Quickly assessing the situation, she closed her eyes again.

“Ah, my head.”

Pretending to faint once more.

“Sister!”

“Ugh.”

…Or tried to.

If only Deborah, who had started calling her sister naturally at some point, hadn’t hugged her almost like a body slam.

“Sister, are you okay? I was so worried you were going to die!”

“…Yeah, I see.”

“I’m sorry for speaking harshly before. I apologize for being mean too.”

Deborah tightened her arms around Shailyn’s neck.

“Okay, Deborah. But…”

Feeling like she was being strangled, Shailyn spoke with difficulty.

“I can’t breathe, could you let go…?”

“Oh? Ah, sorry! Come over here and check on her.”

At Deborah’s request, the physician approached to examine Shailyn again.

“Fortunately, it’s just a mild concussion, no major injuries. Avoid strenuous activities and rest for a few days.”

“Is she okay apart from her head?”

“Yes, young duke. I checked thoroughly, so don’t worry.”

Finally, Dain sighed in relief and lightly patted Shailyn’s shoulder with a smile.

“You heard that, Shailyn? Just rest in your room for now.”

“Yeah, like brother said, don’t do anything and just lie down. I’ll come visit every day so you won’t be bored.”

Deborah held Shailyn’s hand tightly.

The suddenly narrowed distance felt a bit unfamiliar, so Shailyn rolled her eyes and smiled.

Suddenly, behind Deborah, she saw Benjamin with his shoulders drooped and a dark expression.