Mistress Of The Evil Forest

A-A 2: Never-ending troubles.

Through turbulent times across the planet, Astra Academy will always be an excellent place for young talents to hone their skills and become the next pillars of the world.

This is the founder of the academy's promise to the world.

Indeed, the academy has maintained its role for as long as it exists. Even today, it stands as the best in the world, surpassing many of the same caliber because of a simple fact—they have straight priorities.

Education is number one, followed by the students' safety.

The first one has always been adequately preserved; however, the second priority nowadays is questionable, at best.

Sitting inside a restaurant with a lake view near the hotel where the students are staying, Claudia Heisenberg is deep in her thoughts. For whatever reason, the past few months for the academy have been filled with trouble after trouble.

As an educator, she also wants her students to grow up safely and happily, yet the goddess hasn't seemed to agree with her recently. Right before coming to Neveah, she had a talk with the little principal, and it basically went like this:

Claudia: ''Any idea why it happened?''

The principal: ''No idea.''

Claudia: ''...''

The principal: ''...''

Claudia sighs. It is a good thing that the imperial family sent many knights to reinforce the security, and they, the freshmen, at least, are in Neveah, the nest of the strongest holy knights.

Nothing unpleasant will happen.

Claudia nods lightly and lifts her teacup. As she is about to take a sip, the door to the private room bursts open, revealing an anxious staff member.

''H-Head professor!''

''What happened?'''

Claudia immediately puts down her teacup and walks over to him. She suddenly has a bad premonition. 

''T-The saintess has gone missing!''

''What?!'' Claudia exclaims. ''How?? This is Neveah!''

''Even if you ask that...''

''Tch! Tell me her last sighting.''

''At the moment, information suggests that she was last seen roaming the city last night.'' The staff replies. ''Just earlier this morning, she was reported missing by her maid.''

''Any other clue?''

''There is none.''

Claudia frustratingly massages her temples, trying to process this bombshell properly.

''Wait, what happened to her escort knights?''

''They have been found unconscious and scattered across the city.''

''Tch... At least we know that someone capable is aiming at her.''

Although this is indeed Neveah, Luxia is still an academy student. If something were to happen to her, they would have to shoulder some of the responsibility. More than that, however, Claudia and pretty much everybody else consider Luxia a precious talent. Even if she is a little quirky, no one really hates her.

In any case, she doesn't deserve this.

With all of that in mind, the academy staff, holy knights, imperial knights, priests, students, and even the residents—the whole city begins to move with the sole goal of finding the missing saintess.

Meanwhile, in a room underneath the main church.

Five people can be seen standing, gazing at the scene in front of them. It is exceptionally bright in here, though it doesn't affect them much. One has his eyes closed all day, while the other four are strong enough to ignore these kinds of inconveniences.

''...Have we still not found her?''

Archbishop Vincent turns around and asks softly; a hint of restlessness can be heard in his voice. In response, a female Wings member closes her eyes and begins to use her long-distance communication skills.

''Not yet, archbishop.'' She replies, shaking her head.

''I see... To think they would target my daughter...'' Vincent lets out a sigh.

For so long, they have been cautious of forces that can intervene in their plan. Everything was perfect until this moment. For one reason or another, someone has decided to target the saintess, perhaps knowing that she is Vincent's weakness.

The first suspect is the opposite side of Vincent's ideals itself, but he doesn't have the time to interrogate all of them. Furthermore, they simply don't have the capabilities. Considering this plan has never been leaked out of Neveah, this means that the perpetrator's objection is different. 

However, it can very well be that they know Vincent's plan somehow. There is nothing impossible in this world, especially for the Maker of Miracles himself. In the first place, They have even chosen the timeframe where Vincent rests after a long time to execute the kidnapping, which can be a sign showing just how much they know about him.

''An almost prophetic course of action...'' Vincent mumbles. ''...Miss G, hm.''

AEN-088 has never malfunctioned, which means the two girls whose thoughts Vincent couldn't read had some type of protection methods prepared. They can only do that if they know what he is capable of. Moreover, Miss G's thoughts also couldn't be read by Luxia.

Considering everything... It is trivially easy to assume that one of those two is Miss G.

''...Venus, Mercury.'' Vincent calls the two female members. ''Keep an eye on Amelia Luminous and her white-feathered maid. If they show any suspicious sign, capture them at once.''

'''' Roger! ''''

The time is nigh. Tonight is when a new god descends onto this planet. 

''I can't let anyone ruin it...''

Vincent places his hand on the enormous golden egg before him and murmurs. 

The room is eerily quiet, a total contrast to the chaos at the ground level.

As time passes by without any meaningful results, everybody starts to grow restless. There is simply no trace of Luxia anywhere within the city, and if somebody were to go past the gates that lead outside, the guards would have been notified. It is as if... She was teleported away.

An image of a mysterious female figure immediately flashes in their minds, but they quickly shake it off. Miss G would never do things such as kidnapping an innocent person... Maybe.

In the end, the search operation continues throughout the day into the night, with many already assuming the worst. However, the majority still has hope. On the top of a building sits a fierce-looking woman who is trying to catch her breath.

As a person who can sense mana decently well, Claudia has been running around while concentrating on her senses for the whole day. She sits there with dead eyes, glaring at the starry sky as if blaming god for this ordeal.

''...''

The cold breeze passes by, providing Claudia with something to lessen her burning flame. When she is enjoying it to the fullest, a sense of uneasiness washes her whole being once again.

''This...''

''!!''

Right after that, a mana blast of unimaginable magnitude sweeps her body, making her knees go weak and her mind involuntarily cower. Shakily, Claudia, and everyone else turn their head toward the source.

There, at the main church, a beautifully crafted and enormous golden magic circle can be seen spinning above the building, shining brighter than the stars and the moon.

The earth rumbles. The sky shakes.

Everybody present can feel it—something terrible is coming. Their senses seem as though they have been paralyzed by the insane waves of mana, leaving only a hazy image of the scene behind.

GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!!!!!!!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, a magnificent beast—a golden dragon pokes its head out of the magic circle.