Maou Reijou no Kyouiku Gakari - Chapter 32: The Mysterious Fifth Lady.

The Mysterious Fifth Lady.

“Femu! Are you okay?!”

I approached Femu immediately.

She was wearing a robe and was looking at me with her head tilted to the side.

She didn’t seem to understand why I was so panicked.

“Femu!”

The three sisters, with Isuna leading the way, also came running in late.

“Are you okay!? Are you hurt?!”

As soon as Isuna reached her side, she began to check on her safety by running her hands all over her body.

Her body was not injured, not even a slight scorch mark on her large robe.

“Thank God~!”

Perhaps relieved that her sister was not injured, Isuna collapsed in a heap on the spot.

“I know you’re always on the lookout for God… but I would have never even imagined you of coming out of a place like this….”

San said, concerned about Isuna, who almost seriously injured her sister.

Her gaze was on the bushes from which Femu came out.

“It’s my fault. I should have made sure more about the place carefully…”

I thought about it while reflecting on my own failings.

I thought I had confirmed that no one was there, yet at the end, Femu was there.

Was there some fault from my side or….

I remembered what had happened earlier.

Isuna’s magic disappeared just before it hit Femu.

At first, I thought that there might have been some mistake in Isuna’s magic, but even so, the way it disappeared was inexplicable.

The fact that it didn’t get caught in my detection might have something to do with it.

“Hmm? Huh?”

While I was pondering for a moment, the girl in that distinctive full-body robe was gone.

“Where did Femu go?”

“Femu would have gone that way…”

Fia pointed in the direction of the mansion on the other side of the square.

“I-In that short period of time?!”

Despite all that had happened, she was walking around without any signs of being particularly perturbed.

“You guys can continue on your own this morning. I’m going to check on Femu some more.”

After saying this, I left the three of them behind and rushed to Femu.

I wondered what that mysterious phenomenon was all about, and if she might know something about it.

I crossed the square and followed her as she turned the corner of a building.

“Huh? Where did she go?”

I followed her around the corner and then lost sight of her.

At that walking speed, she couldn’t have gone very far…

I looked around and immediately spotted her back.

“When did she get there?”

I followed her little back as she walked into the shadows of the building again.

“…Huh?”

When I turned a corner, I again lost sight of her.

I looked around, and this time I spotted her wandering among the flowerbeds a short distance away.

I chased after her.

I again lost sight of her.

Found her.

Chased her.

It repeated several times.

“Fi… finally caught up…”

I thought she was just walking.

She was like a ghost, going that way and then this way.

I put my hands on my knees and breathed heavily.

When was the last time I felt so drained, both physically and mentally?

Femu was looking at me with a tilted head.

“Are you sure you were okay earlier?”

Femu gave a small shake of her head.

It didn’t look like she was holding back or lying, as there was no actual tear on her robe or anything that looked like that.

“Well, then I’m glad…”

Before asking about that mysterious phenomenon of the disappearance of magic, I began with some light chit-chat.

“So what were you doing over there? Went for a walk?”

Femu denied it with a small shake of her head from side to side.

“No? Then what were you doing?”

The other side of the square was just covered with trees, not a place where anything in particular was going on.

It would be easy to imagine San playing in the woods, but it was hard to imagine what this obviously inactive child was doing in such a place.

“…Books.”

A faint, cute voice echoed from the other side of the cloth that completely covered her head.

“Books? You’ve been reading?”

When I asked back, Femu shook her head in a small, slightly embarrassed manner.

Come to think of it, the first document given to me stated that this girl liked to read.

It was hard to say it was a good thing, because I often saw her reading ahead in her textbook by herself, even during class.

“Wow, reading. Perhaps a nice place to read a book?”

“…Quiet place.”

Again, a faint voice muttered this.

I wouldn’t say who, but there were indeed a few noisy people on the premises.

Perhaps the indoor space was not so suitable for quiet reading.

“I see. So what kind of books are you reading?”

I did a fair amount of reading, too.

If we could find something in common, it might be a good opportunity to get to know this shy young lady.

However, Femu was too shy to answer me, just fidgeting with the hand part of her robe.

Just as I began to wonder if she was reading such a strange book, Femu pulled out a book from inside her robe.

“I-It’s…!”

The cover of the book surprised me.