In the Mountains of Mirnabith, within the safe zone—

  Hulim stared at the tiny, fluttering figure of Little Semiris in front of her, her mind still reeling.

  "Um... You’re Semiris, right? Why did you turn into this size? And why are you here?"

  "Nope~!"

  Little Semiris circled around Hulim, her voice light and cheerful.

  "Little Semiris is just Little Semiris—not Semiris~!"

  "???"

  "It’s like this! Little Semiris is a clone made by Semiris. I can act independently while the main body’s consciousness is asleep!"

  "So Little Semiris is just Little Semiris~!"

  Oh, I see—sort of...

  The creature in front of her, a miniature version of Semiris, was created by the real Semiris.

  "Then why is Little Semiris here?"

  "Because of Semiris’ order! I came down to find Hulim~!"

  "Semiris’ order?"

  "Yep~! Let me explain... "

  Even though Little Semiris’ tone was a bit odd, Hulim managed to understand why she’d come.

  For some reason, Semiris couldn’t leave Tiramshuin.

  But she’d encountered a dilemma, so she’d created an autonomous clone—Little Semiris—and sent her down to the mortal realm to help.

  However, something went wrong during the deployment.

  Due to some interference from Hulim, Little Semiris couldn’t lock onto her exact location.

  As a result, she’d wandered the mortal realm for over two months before finally finding Hulim...

  "Aww, Little Semiris almost thought she’d never find Hulim~!"

  "Every time I could only locate the general area, but not you yourself. Especially the past half-month—I felt like you were right nearby, but I just couldn’t find you~!"

  "Luckily, I sensed Hulim’s mana just now, and Little Semiris finally succeeded~!"

  "......Thank you, Little Semiris. If you hadn’t shown up in time, I couldn’t have driven that giant dragon away."

  "You’re welcome! Little Semiris is here specifically to help Hulim! Hmm——"

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  Little Semiris suddenly stared straight at Hulim.

  "Little Semiris? What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with me?"

  "Nope~! But Hulim hasn’t recovered enough to use Tier 3 Magic yet. The trigger condition for the mission Semiris assigned hasn’t been met."

  "So after thinking about it, Little Semiris’ current main task is to help Hulim recover quickly~!"

  "Mission? What mission? Did Semiris tell you to do something?"

  "Yep! Semiris instructed Little Semiris to assist Hulim in obtaining something in the Mountains of Mirnabith~!"

  "What thing?"

  "The Seven Luminaries~!"

  "The Seven Luminaries??? What’s that?"

  "The Seven Luminaries are just the Seven Luminaries~!"

  Hulim: "......"

  ......

  In the Underground Metropolis, inside the Tower of Ages—

  "This magic circle is quite ancient! The writing from that era might be hard for Hulim to understand, but it’s okay! Little Semiris will help you!"

  The palm-sized Little Semiris was explaining the knowledge recorded in the tower to Hulim.

  Though she was a bit flighty,

  she shared Semiris’ memories—allowing her to easily decipher the writing from every ancient epoch, as well as understand the principles behind these magics and magic circles.

  With her help, Hulim no longer needed to spend time deciphering texts.

  Before, relying solely on herself, she couldn’t guarantee complete accuracy. Many undecipherable or partially understandable passages had to be abandoned.

  Now, Hulim didn’t have to worry about mistakes. She could learn the true effects of every magic and magic circle, and choose only those that truly suited her.

  In the end, her speed of learning the tower’s knowledge increased drastically...

  "Hey, Little Semiris—can you tell me how Semiris got full-element affinity?"

  During a break from studying, Hulim sat on the windowsill of one of the tower’s floors, gazing at the dimly lit metropolis below, and asked the question that had lingered in her mind for a long time.

  She’d asked Semiris before, but been brushed off.

  Maybe Little Semiris would answer...

  "Aww~! Was there such a thing?"

  "......?"

  "Of course there was! Didn’t Semiris tell me that herself a long time ago?"

  "Um——"

  Little Semiris looked confused.

  After thinking hard for a while,

  "Sorry, Little Semiris doesn’t have that memory. Maybe Semiris sealed it away. If it’s something else, Little Semiris can tell you~!"

  "I see......"

  Hulim didn’t press further.

  If Semiris had sealed that memory, it must not have been a happy one for her......

  ......

  A few days after Little Semiris joined Hulim—

  "......Wings of Wind."

  Whoosh~!

  Beside the glowing mana pool,

  green light erupted from Hulim’s back, and her body began to float into the air.

  "Great job! Hulim has recovered enough to use Rank C Magic~!"

  Little Semiris cheered, flying circles around Hulim.

  "This is all thanks to you, Little Semiris."

  Hulim landed back on the ground and dispelled the Wings of Wind.

  "Without the magic circle you provided, I wouldn’t have recovered so quickly."

  Little Semiris had also brought a special magic circle with her.

  This circle could gather surrounding mana particles and regulate their activity.

  Every time Hulim soaked in the mana pool, Little Semiris would activate the circle. Since the pool’s mana concentration was already high, no additional gathering was needed.

  Its main function was to temper the naturally chaotic high-concentration mana into something gentler.

  This allowed Hulim to stay in the pool longer, drastically boosting her body’s recovery rate...

  "Hehe! It’s no big deal! More importantly, Hulim has finally recovered to Rank C! Now it’s time for Little Semiris and Hulim to complete the mission~!"

  ......

  Hulim and Little Semiris returned to the surface once more.

  "Little Semiris, where is the thing you mentioned? Will it be far?"

  "Don’t worry, Hulim! The Seven Luminaries are sealed deep inside the Mountains of Mirnabith. It’s not too far from here—won’t take Little Semiris and Hulim long~!"

  Little Semiris replied confidently.

  "Plus, Hulim and Little Semiris can take a shortcut! We can avoid all those annoying guys along the way~!"

  A shortcut?

  Is there such a thing?

  As Hulim and Little Semiris chatted while walking toward the location Little Semiris had indicated—

  Whoosh——!

  A familiar flapping sound echoed.

  "......That guy—he’s still here!"