"Master Julian, how long must I stay in here?"
Among the cacophony of noises, her usual quiet voice now echoed urgently.
"Until the bugs feel full and stop eating, I suppose?"
In short, it wouldn't be brief.
Emma looked at the swarm surrounding her. She seemed to be terrified by how much mana she would need to exhaust to satiate them all.
"… I'll try my best to endure."
Gnaw, gnaw.
With those words, the bugs closed in tightly, leaving no gaps for light to escape. They swarmed.
Then, a sound was heard.
Click, click.
Clear footsteps. A woman's silhouette appeared.
"Why are you here?"
"I came because I was worried about Miss Emma. Master, you are too much. Throwing Miss Emma away without any explanation."
A woman in a long robe, the magic instructor Lisa.
"The insects aren't just consuming magic power, right?"
She pointed to the very thin threads attached to the bodies of the insects, indicating that a continuous activity was happening in real-time on those thin lines.
"The magic power consumed by the insects through Miss Emma is being channeled to you, Master. In other words, no matter how much magic power Miss Emma extracts, she cannot satiate the insects."
Oh, as expected of a magic instructor with a sharp eye, even though she was quite talkative.
"Yes, you're right. No matter how much magic power Emma extracts, she can't escape from there. She'll probably realize that soon enough."
"And tormenting her with words of hope… let's see… ugh! It's really disgusting, isn't it? Miss Emma is in there, right? If it were me, I would've run away immediately… wait, the state of the insects…."
Lisa squinted her eyes and focused. Soon, she let out a hollow laugh as if in disbelief.
"Master… you added another trial on top of extracting magic power?"
I responded to her question.
"Of course, naturally."
I smiled faintly.
---
Something was wrong.
No matter how much magic power Emma extracted to create a barrier for the insects to feed on, they did not stop their feeding.
No, that wasn't all.
"The speed at which they're eating is getting faster…."
The rate of consumption of the magic power that was protecting her was excessively fast compared to the beginning.
Emma was fervently pouring out her magic power. It had been several hours since she first noticed something was wrong.
Despite having no alternative, she continued to squeeze out her magic power, but she was nearing her limit.
Without even a moment to wipe the sweat running down her entire body, Emma urgently manipulated her mana.
With the pain and dizziness in her head, she felt like she could lose consciousness at any moment, but she squeezed out every bit of mana from deep within her.
When she checked the duration four months ago, she could absorb mana floating in the air around her, but this time, the insects did not allow that.
Only the mana she possessed. That was the only means of survival.
"Urgh…!"
It was difficult to breathe as if her throat was blocked. She tried to expand her body forcibly, but it didn't feel like the air was filling her lungs.
She felt nauseous.
The agony boiling inside made her want to vomit everything clean.
She wanted to give up.
Considering how long she had endured; it was a long time for someone as pathetic as herself.
From some point, such weak thoughts began to fill her mind. She tried to suppress them with both hands, but like the insects, they showed no signs of stopping.
Yet Emma did not stop releasing her magic power. The task she had to do now was to carry out the order given by her master.
If she didn't follow it properly, she wouldn't be worth the 100 gold she was bought for.
She increased the intensity. The insects moved away again as a strong light emanated, reflecting her will.
The insects distanced themselves due to the thickened layer. Good, if she kept this up, she could endure longer….
Thud.
Her forehead hit the ground.
She had been maintaining a state of exertion but having exhausted all her strength in an extreme situation, all her magic power was depleted.
"This won't do… like this…."
Emma had no strength left to move her fingers. The most she could do was turn her head to the side, glued to the ground.
She couldn't even close her eyelids that were drooping as she watched the insects approaching through the narrow gap.
Was this the end?
That fleeting thought didn't come as despairing to Emma. Rather, it seemed sweet, as if taking a bite of that thought would make everything blissful.
She could see the people she missed.
Her past flickered before her eyes. The happiest moments of her life before meeting her second mother. At the same time, the beloved faces and the terrible day emerged.
"…"
Her memories continued to flow. Recently, astonishing events happened one after another. All because of one person, yet everything changed with his light steps.
She didn't mind dying like this. Living was a series of pains, and there were more hard times than good ones.
But two beings wouldn't easily let go of her fragile heart.
Her second mother, who would be left alone.
Despite all the hardships, she took in an orphan like herself, who was on the verge of collapse from hunger, with no place to go.
The mother who raised her to this point.
And another person, surprisingly, was that man who had suddenly appeared recently.
Though he was arrogant and cold, he was the first to believe in her worth.
Disappointing someone like him by dying so futilely would probably make him very disappointed. That was what held Emma back.
Yes, she had to live.
She couldn't die like this.
She tried to muster strength in her trembling muscles. Even with slight trembling, she had to exert maximum strength.
"Ma… ma…."
Emma called out to him, who would be waiting above. Her throat quivered accordingly.
"Master…."
"Miss Emma has been talking in her sleep for a while. Well, she would be out of her mind after exhausting all her magic power."
"It was a good opportunity to check Emma's current state and forcibly increase her magic capacity, so we have to bear with this."
"You're still cold, Master. Or rather… you rescued her just before she was completely covered by the insects, so perhaps you're actually kind?"
"Stop your needless chatter and move her properly. We'll be very busy from tomorrow, so she needs to be restored to her original state."
Lisa stopped talking and used magic to levitate Emma. She would take her to the room and help restore her magic power. It wouldn't take long for her to recover.
Once she did, Emma would have taken another step forward from this training.
⎯So far, everything was perfect.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that everything was progressing as planned. But there should be no complacency. The real moment of change began now.
The upcoming trials would transform Emma completely. Forcing a moment that would've taken much longer to come would have significant repercussions.
But it didn't matter.
Any task required bearing the risk that matched the reward. The greater the reward, the higher the risk. Therefore, achieving it made it all the more valuable.
I approached the levitating Emma. Her fair skin was distinct.
I brushed the hair off her sleeping face and tucked it behind her ear. It was the face of an innocent girl, unaware of what lied ahead.
"Sleep well."
And greeted the morning.
—The basic preparations were complete, so you should show a more transformed self. As your audience, I was waiting for it. Did you understand?
Cowardly Emma.