51: Nina's Quest

Nina's Quest

"L-Let's do it tonight!" Nina said after snapping out of her daze.1

"Tonight? Where do you plan on doing the ritual?" Miss Camille asked.

"We can do it at my home. I have a large basement there, and my mother is also there," she said.

Miss Camille pondered for a moment before shaking her head and speaking, "No, we'll do the ritual here."

"What? Here? In the academy? Isn't that very risky?" Leo asked her with a surprised look on his face.

"Yes, but we have facilities here that can prevent mana disturbance. Activating something like resurrection magic will definitely cause a powerful mana disturbance to occur, and if something like that happens in the middle of the city, the place will be flooded with police in minutes."

Nina Wraith couldn't argue with Miss Camille about her reasoning, so she agreed, "Okay, but I will have to move my mother's corpse."

"You can do that by yourself. We'll meet you behind the school library at midnight." Miss Camille said.

Nina Wraith didn't linger there and immediately went back home to prepare.

"Are we seriously going to do this tonight? I don't think I am mentally prepared…" Leo sighed.

After all, they were messing with the dead, something he never imagined he would be doing.

"Honestly, the sooner we get this over with the better."

"What should we do until then?"

"You can do whatever you want. I am also going to make some preparations. I cannot trust Nina to do this all by herself."

Miss Camille disappeared shortly after, leaving Leo by himself.

And since there was nothing else to do, he decided to just go home.

When he reached the old dorm, Leo found Hank standing right outside his room.

"Hank? Do you need something from me?" He asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to let you know about the investigation regarding your missing package. Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do. The person who delivered your package insisted that he had handed the stuff to you, and without any leads to the person who might have impersonated you, it's simply impossible to find the culprit."

"I see… Well, that's fine. I only wanted the package because I needed some clothes, but now that I acquired some money, I don't need the package anymore. Thank you for your efforts." Leo said.

"Alright. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

Once Hank left, Leo returned to his room.

'Where's Lilith? It's awfully quiet here without her.' He thought to himself as he laid on the bed without anything to do.

Out of boredom, Leo decided to look through the Artifact Shop again to see if he'd missed anything.

A few hours later, Leo could see a figure appearing from the wall through the corner of his eyes, causing him to turn his head.

"Huh? Leo? You're back already."

It was Lilith, and she was surprised to see him back so early.

"Yeah, we decided to come back to finish Nina's Quest."

"Oh? Does that mean you're finally going to resurrect her mother?" She asked in a curious voice, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"Yes, we're going to do it tonight."

"Tonight? That's quicker than I anticipated, but that's fine too. I can't wait to see you use resurrection magic," she smiled.

Leo raised an eyebrow and proceeded to ponder in silence.

"What's wrong, Leo?" She asked him a moment later.

"Hey… If I really manage to resurrect Nina's mother… Do you want me to resurrect you as well? I'm sure you've thought about coming back from the dead many times, right?"

Lilith's eyes widened after hearing his question.

After a moment of silence, she smiled and said in a calm voice, "Leo, I really appreciate your thoughts, but it will take a lot more than resurrection magic to bring me back from the dead. In fact, I'm not dead, so resurrection magic wouldn't work on me."

"Oh, right… You're just a soul."

"Just a soul, indeed. If you want to help me, you'll need to create a whole new body for me, and then you'll also need to attach my soul to that body. This is something that requires a tremendous amount of mana and talent to achieve."

"I see… Well, if I somehow reach that level in the future and we're still friends by then, I will help you." He smiled.

"What do you mean 'if we're still friends by then'?! Of course we'll be friends! We'll be friends forever!" She frowned in a cute manner.

"Even if you say that, nothing lasts forever, especially something as frail as friendship." A bittersweet smile appeared on Leo's face as he spoke, almost as though he'd recalled something painful.

"Leo…"

"Anyways, want to hear about my adventures in the Wilderness? I actually explored a labyrinth for the first time yesterday." Leo suddenly changed the topic.

"What?! Really?! Tell me about it!" Lilith's face immediately became filled with thrill.

He nodded and proceeded to tell her about his experience in the labyrinth until it was time for dinner.

When he arrived at the cafeteria, it was almost completely empty. There were so few students in the place that they could be counted with two hands.

After dinner, Leo returned to his room, where he continued to talk with Lilith until it was almost midnight.

"I guess it's about time I start heading to the library to meet up with Miss Camille and Nina. I hope nothing goes wrong…" He sighed as he got off the bed.

"Why would you say that? I wouldn't be surprised if you just jinxed yourself with those words."

After leaving the dorm, Leo made his way to the library while trying his best to avoid being seen by people.

Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the library, where Nina was already waiting for him.

"Where's Miss Camille?" She asked him.

"I don't know, but she should be here soon." He shrugged.

Sure enough, Miss Camille showed up a few minutes later.

"Are you two ready?" She asked them.

"Yes." They both nodded with serious looks on their faces.

"Then let's head to the facility. Follow me."

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