Tilea's Worries

**TITLE -- Episode 39: "Miless and Ortissio’s Reunion (Part One)"**

Miless dashed up the staircase with the peacefully sleeping girl in her arms, her staff gripped tightly in her right hand as she scanned the area around her. Her priority was clear: eliminate Elizabeth. If she was scheming something, it needed to be crushed along with her plans. If her plan was already in progress, Miless had to act fast.

Of course, there was also the matter of protecting this girl, and Ti—ah, it seemed things wouldn’t go that smoothly. Miless’s heightened senses picked up a response from her scan: three people positioned at the top of the staircase. Just lookouts—most likely stationed there by Ebeanz in case anything unexpected happened while he tortured someone below.

The scan indicated steady heartbeats from each of the three, showing no signs of heightened alertness. They were relaxed, even lazy. Despite the commotion below, they showed no concern. Complete amateurs, utterly oblivious to the brewing storm.

Miless reached the room in an instant, swiftly dispatched the three guards upon entry, and assessed the next obstacle.

Outside the room, she detected a group of thirty individuals moving in a tightly coordinated manner—no gap in their formation. This was clearly Elizabeth’s elite guard, coming to investigate the disruption. Their approach was cautious, but they were moving swiftly, fully prepared for combat. How had they caught wind of this so quickly? It hadn’t been long since she’d defeated Ebeanz.

Then it clicked—she’d triggered the magic-suppressing barrier not once, but twice. The first time, they may have assumed it was another of Ebeanz’s sadistic games. But twice? That would certainly rouse suspicion. Either the dual trigger had been their agreed signal for an emergency, or they’d anticipated foul play and sent reinforcements. Whatever the reason, these were no ordinary guards. Carelessness was not an option.

But first, Miless had to eliminate the three sentries in this room. Two stood near the exit door to the right, while the third was positioned at the far end of the room. Their magical energy levels registered at eleven hundred, three thousand, and thirteen hundred. Nothing that warranted elaborate planning—she’d take them out in one swift attack.

Cradling the girl in one arm, she sprang into action, quickly entering the room. Just as her scan had shown, the three guards were positioned exactly where expected. Without hesitation, she unleashed her shadow magic. Three shadow arrows shot from her fingertips, each piercing the foreheads of the men. They barely registered what had hit them before collapsing in a foam-mouthed stupor, their consciousnesses forcefully severed by the spell.

After laying the girl down in a corner, Miless prepared for the next task.

The larger group would arrive at the room in about seven seconds. While they were no mere grunts, she didn’t intend to drag this out.

Wrapping herself in an aura of shadow magic, Miless felt the dark energy spread through her body. With this shadow armor, only a force surpassing an average of seven million krons could penetrate her defenses. Moreover, her reaction time and agility were amplified far beyond human limits, giving her both superior defense and attack.

Footsteps grew louder as they neared the door. The group came to a halt right outside.

They were here.

“Hut!” came a shout as the door swung open, and Miless lunged forward into the fray. Her staff struck the nearest man in the head, knocking him out cold.

“What the—? She’s too fast!” gasped another guard to her right.

Without missing a beat, Miless launched a second strike, incapacitating the astonished man. When a third guard tried to start a chant, she swiftly moved behind him and took him down with a chokehold.

One after another, she moved through the group, downing them with a fluid precision that made it look like a deadly dance.

By the time she reached the twenty-seventh guard, she back-kicked an advancing enemy and performed a backstep.

And finally, for the twenty-eighth—

“This ends now!”

She swung her fist at his face, but it missed as another man intervened, blocking her strike with a well-placed kick. He showed no signs of fear—an experienced fighter.

This interference left her with two men still standing, with one of them being in a league of his own.

Gathering intel, Miless initiated a scan on the man before her.

**Target: Sebastian Arlando.**  

Household steward and head of Elizabeth’s guard.

So, this was the infamous “Machina,” a man reputed for his unflinching loyalty to Elizabeth and for executing his duties with machine-like precision.

Sebastian gave a subtle nod to the remaining guard, who slipped behind her. They were trying to box her in.

“Answer me one thing,” Sebastian spoke, his sharp gaze locked on her, unyielding in his stance. In his right hand, his battle-axe gleamed menacingly.

“What is it?” she replied.

“What happened to Ebeanz?”

“He’s dead.”

“I see.”

“You didn’t already know? You sensed the disturbance.”

“I did. But you only knocked out my men, so I wondered.”

“Ebeanz deserved death. In truth, it wouldn’t have been wrong to kill all of you.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I try to avoid unnecessary death. That is my god’s teaching.”

“Mercy for your enemies, then? I don’t know any such teaching in the Arkdas faith. Must be a god of heresy?”

“If you insult my god, I’ll see you cursed down to the seventh generation.”

“Not at all,” he replied coolly. “I was merely impressed. A god with such… kindness.”

“Yes, the highest god there is. Would you care to join?”

“No, I’ll pass. That scripture doesn’t belong on the battlefield. Kindness is a killer here.”

Sebastian raised his battle-axe, shifting into a battle-ready stance.

“Final warning—flee, and I’ll spare you,” she said.

“Persuasion is wasted here.”

“You’ll die.”

“Perhaps. But battles are fickle things, aren’t they?”

“…I’m done warning you. Elizabeth’s atrocities—you’re her chief enforcer, so you bear the blame. Therefore, I will kill you.”

“You mean that?”

“Yes. It’s well within my power.”

“I know it is. After all, you dismantled the magic-sealing barrier alone.”

“That’s all?”

“That barrier was crafted by the magic empire Xenoa itself. It’s impossible to deactivate without the authorized key. Yet you disabled it. It’s monstrous.”

“Then why do this?”

“I’ve been through countless close calls. I can feel it—I can defeat you now. If I don’t, this chance won’t come again!”

Sebastian roared, sending shockwaves through the air.

This guy—he’d been suppressing his magic all along. It was far higher than it appeared—possibly even over ten thousand.

She briefly considered doing a more detailed scan but dismissed it. There was no need; no opponent could withstand dark magic.

She pointed her staff at Sebastian, but in response, he lowered his stance and charged forward, swinging his axe in a diagonal strike.

Fast, sleek, panther-like.

But it was nothing beyond her capacity.

“Dark Staff, show me your power!”

What?! No shadow arrow emerged!

She tried to halt Sebastian’s approach, but her dark magic had fizzled.

Damn, why—?

There was no time to ponder. His battle-axe was now dangerously close.

“Then water magic, Freeze!”

Her water spell froze the ground beneath Sebastian’s feet, immobilizing him briefly. But Freeze was a weak spell; at most, it could buy her a few seconds.

She used the time to investigate why her dark magic had failed.

Initiating a self-diagnosis—

**[Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert!]**

An emergency signal suddenly blasted through her mind, repeating incessantly.

What was happening?

Damn, her shadow armor was melting away.

**[Alert! Alert! Entering power-saving mode!]**

Power-saving mode? No choice but to analyze quickly.

Starting self-diagnosis!

**System scan…**

**Muscle composition…**  

**Skeletal structure…**  

**Internal magic reserves…**

What?! Her internal magic reserves were depleting rapidly—thirty percent, twenty, fifteen… dropping fast.

If this continued, she’d run dry in no time. But why?

She launched a deeper analysis, activating her task manager.

**AtrioSide.exe… Memory 33.6444K**  

**dme.exe… Memory 22.6222K**  

**ieplore… Memory 143.434K**  

**shadow.steck… Memory 6549.232M**  

**grown.body… Memory 348.234K**

What?! One process was consuming massive amounts of magic memory.

This was the culprit.

“Return the terefar! Return, Dark Staff!”

In a flash, Miless had dispelled the dark staff, letting it vanish from her grasp. Panting, she felt the danger recede but knew the urgency remained. That staff had drained her magic reserves simply by being equipped, not to mention the enormous dark magic she’d unleashed—especially the grand spell, which had undoubtedly impacted her body. A power like that was way beyond her usual capacity; her own magic reserves couldn’t have sustained it.

Why, then, was she able to cast it at all?

*Rapid thought processing…*

…

*Analysis complete.*

Ah, so that was it. The staff itself had magic stored within it. Timu-chan had infused it with magic initially, but now that energy was gone. From this point forward, she’d have to rely solely on her own reserves.

That meant no more dark magic for a while.

Now, she had to defeat Sebastian without any of it. Focusing, she began calculating her approach—

**[EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!]**

What? Another one?

**[Emergency! Magic reserves have fallen below 10%. Switching from power-saving mode to rest mode!]**

*Rest mode?* Even returning the staff had cost a considerable amount. Her magic was now effectively drained, pushing her into an enforced rest mode—a complete system shutdown to prevent damage from the aftereffects of overusing dark magic. According to her calculations, she had precisely two minutes and forty-seven seconds until her switch flipped off.

Could she handle the remaining enemies in time?

One of them was Sebastian, Elizabeth’s head guard and an experienced warrior. Without dark magic, he’d be a challenging foe.

And her body wasn’t in great shape either. Thinking it over, she knew:

Physical exhaustion.  

Fatigue.  

Nausea.  

Heart palpitations.  

An overwhelming need for sleep.  

Muscle weakness.  

Potential memory loss…

Memory loss, triggered by the overload on her brain, would be the worst. It was putting about seven hundred decilitres of pressure on her brainstem. Across her brain, this load was minimal, but she’d lose memories from the last ten minutes or so.

If the switch shut off, she’d lose even the memories of how she got here.

Could she handle this situation if she lost all those memories?

Impossible. With her abilities restricted, she couldn’t beat Sebastian.

Sebastian roared and charged forward with his axe.

Magic reserves: 0.04321…

Practically zero. She couldn’t use magic. Would hand-to-hand combat work? He had a physical advantage in strength, agility, and overall power by a factor of 3.74.

Activating full-speed thought processing mode!

*Searching for solutions…*

…

…

There it was—a single option.

She’d have to stall for time, dodge Sebastian’s attacks, and take out the remaining guard. And then… hope reinforcements arrived in time.

"Where’s the doll? Where are you?” came a loud, familiar voice from down the hall.

Ortissio! Reinforcements had arrived.

He would be able to handle Sebastian. After all, Ortissio was…

“Take this!” Sebastian charged straight at her, preparing his signature move—a high-speed cleaving strike with his battle axe at a forty-five-degree angle. Miless ducked, narrowly dodging the deadly weapon as it whizzed past her face.

Close call. She had to keep her focus.

Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five seconds…

Four seconds…

“This is the end!” Sebastian feinted, following up with a magically enhanced punch. Miless evaded it, only for Sebastian to launch a swift kick, throwing in multiple feints and surprises, his finishing move.

Of course, she’d read his attack.

Impact angle: right, forty-five degrees. Impact time on left side of face: 2.13 seconds. Solution: cartwheel left at a thirty-degree angle to avoid it.

“You little pest!” Sebastian snarled.

Zero seconds.

Time was up.

“Ortissio! Now!” she yelled.

Ortissio burst through the door, barreling into Sebastian and sending him flying across the room. And just like that, Miless’s time was up. She felt her inner switch flick off.

Ah, her strength was leaving her. All the magic and power she’d used was now sinking deep within her.

This was the end.

Her body and spirit weren’t yet equipped to wield this level of power. Someday, she’d retrieve it, on the day she could wield it with conviction.

For now, it was a temporary farewell.

In her heart, she swore to her beloved dark god, Trefarre.

*Forced Off Mode engaged…*

She collapsed to the floor like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

…

…

“Ugh…” she groaned, slowly coming to.

Where was she? Her head felt hazy, foggy, as though her thoughts couldn’t take shape.

“What was I doing…?”

She glanced at the markings on her arms and legs.

“Oh! What about Ebeanz?”

Hadn’t he been about to torture her? She recalled that horrible… wait, her body felt fine.

She looked over her arms and legs; they bore only faint pen markings, evenly spaced. Not a scratch, not a bruise anywhere.

So the punishment hadn’t happened. She sighed in relief, her shoulders relaxing.

But… how did she get out of that situation? As humiliating as it was to admit, the power gap between her and Ebeanz had been massive. What had happened after that?

There was a massive gap in her memory.

And an overwhelming tiredness.

It was all she could do not to lie down and give in to the desire for sleep. That familiar sensation…

Oh! It was magical exhaustion. She’d felt it a few times as a young trainee after particularly intense training sessions.

So that meant… she’d really fought against Ebeanz? Had she pushed herself to the point of erasing her own memory just to beat him?

The thought of descending those stairs to check made her stomach turn. She’d had enough of that nightmare.

“Doll! Hey, doll!” Ortissio’s booming voice interrupted her.

So loud. Couldn’t she have a moment’s peace?

“Doll, stay with me! I came to save you!”

So, Ortissio had come to her aid. And behind him was… wait, that was the old steward, Sebastian.

Sebastian suddenly lurched forward, his battle axe raised as he prepared to strike Ortissio.

Danger!

She instinctively raised her hand to fire a magic blast, but—

No! Her strength gave out.

Oh no, she’d forgotten.

She had magical exhaustion. Forcing herself to use magic in this state could cause spasms, breathing issues—even death. It was something all magic students were trained to avoid, to always monitor their reserves.

What a rookie mistake. She should’ve known better.

Her chest tightened, her breathing became shallow. She needed to warn Ortissio!

“A… a… a…”

“What’s this? Are you so moved? Of course, you’re Camilla-sama’s doll. I wouldn’t let you be neglected. You did well,” he said, utterly oblivious.

“No, it’s… it’s…” she tried to choke out the words, but her body was wracked with spasms, preventing her from pointing.

“What is it? Are you trembling with emotion? Yes, indeed, you did well for a frail thing, risking your life for this mission. Your loyalty is noted. Continue in such a manner.”

“N-no, it’s… ugh…” she gasped. “H-he’s…”

Come on, Ortissio, turn around!

She tried every means—gesturing with her hands, her legs, even her chin—to get him to look behind him, but he didn’t notice.

The entire time, Sebastian inched closer and closer, slowly closing in on Ortissio.

She tried to steady herself, breathe, focus. If magic was out, she could still use *Flow* to stabilize her body, just like they’d learned in class. It helped cure the panic that came with magic depletion.

*Inhale, deep breath.*

Her spasms ceased, and she could speak.

“Ortissio-san, behind you!”

“What’s with the shouting? What’s behind me?”

Ortissio turned around just as Sebastian’s axe swung down in a lethal arc.

Too late; there was no way he’d make it in time.

Sebastian grinned wickedly as the blade neared.

Was Ortissio really about to be struck down?