"The headmaster of the school sent out an invitation to his student, but he ignored Lotus and did not seem conflicted when she did not appear. Not only that, but the headmaster we met did not seem to be facing any physical ailment." Trein hesitated, "Oh no. You can't be saying that..."
"The current headmaster is a fraud." Rook frowned.
Peony sighed, "Yes. When I found my master, he asked me to keep an eye out for his student that he couldn't see during that incident."
Malleus sighed, "I see now. However, instead of taking your anger out on me for destroying the flowers, shouldn't you be directing your anger on Rollo? After all, he is the student you were tasked to look for, is he not?"
"Rollo?" Riddle's eyes widen in surprise, "Him?"
Peony snickered, "You've gotten more attentive, huh? That's right. I cannot explain much. However, let's just put it simply that he has a serious case file on his record. Oh and before you start thinking its a criminal record, this is his first crime. The record labeled him as the victim."
"What happened?" Deuce hesitated.
Peony smirked, "Well, if I tell you everything, you might end up become faint hearted right? So, I certainly can't share the content with you. Besides, things like this is considered private information that cannot be shared. Instead, how are you going to stop him? In case you forgot, I have something to deal with now that someone decided to lose their temper and expose his abilities just now."
"It's honestly quite frightening how stubborn you are." Malleus shook his head in defeat, "But I take it that you won't be going after Rollo anymore?"
"Of course not. Just make sure you don't kick him too badly before I do." She smiled coldly.
"Women are scary." Ruggie shuddered before glancing over to the dead flowers, "Well that makes dealing with 'em way easier. If our esteemed companion here just unleashes one of his absurdly powerful spells... He could make all the firelotuses in town wilt at once, right?"
"Sounds easy enough to me!" Grim chimmed in eagerly.
"You can't be serious..." Peony muttered in disbelief and glanced over to Malleus, "How have you not told them?"
"Told what?" Yuu tilted his head in confusion.
Malleus hesitated, "I'm afraid that's not feasible. Unfortunately, most of my power was absorbed during our initial encounter with the flowers in the lecture hall."
"WHAT?!"
"Are you all right, sir?!" Sebek's once furious expression towards the newcomers was now stricken with immense concern as he cried out.
"I'm not under any great strain, but it will take longer than usual for me to cast spells." Malleus reassured them as he explained, "When we fell into the waterway, I tried to safeguard Yuu, as my friend can't use magic... But I couldn't control my magic as normal—I couldn't even levitate as I usually can. It will take some time for me to recover. My power alone won't be enough to eliminate the firelotuses in the city as things stand."
"Makes sense. Those flowers aggroed Malleus right away in the lecture hall." Idia sighed.
"Yes. It's only because he's Malleus that he's still standing right now." Azul concluded, "Any other mage would've long since been sucked dry if that many flowers had got them at once."
"Those wretched plants' impertinence knows no bounds...!" Sebek growled only to receive a glare from Peony and was thus forced to stay quiet much to his confusion!
"It might not be feasible with just Malleus, but what if we all combined our magic?" Silver asked.
"Who, us? Are you srs?" Idia groaned, "Okay, uh, lemme give you a metaphor. If Malleus's magical power is a 25-meter pool... Each of ours would be a water bottle-no, not even that. We'd be a bottle cap's worth. The rest of us combined couldn't reach half his power. Pooling our magic for some fancy combo attack? Please. We're a drop in the bucket compared to him."
"I wouldn't describe my power THAT generously." Malleus hesitated.
"No, he's right! You possess immense power, Malleus. We could never hold a candle to you!" Sebek declared with great pride.
"This isn't a competition, but the point does stand." Riddle looked at him disapprovingly.
"Like he said earlier, you are only still standing because of how immense your mana pool is." Peony huffed, "Moreover, Rollo will be a target by these guys hiding else where because of these flowers."
"What do you mean?" Yuu spoke up in confusion.
"The main difference between a magician and cultivator is not just their practices, but how they absorb mana and how their body relies on it." She explained, "Magicians without mana will remain in a coma. However, we rely on mana to extend our lifespan and nourish our body. That's how we don't feel hunger. However, without mana, we only return to being a regular human if we are lucky. Otherwise, we die on the spot. Since it is like this, these guys will love nothing more than to make Rollo their next target."
"So, you want us to go save him too." Azul grumbled.
"Then I guess we gotta stick to weeding 'em the old-fashioned way and then stop him before they get to him." Epel sighed.
"Out of the question. It was hard enough to clear the ones around here" Jamil shook his head with a reluctant look, "We couldn't cover the whole city. We'd never be able to keep up with how fast they spread that way. The flowers would swarm us in a second. It'd be like laying out a banquet for them."
"Then what else can we do...?" Epel muttered.
"Oh, what if we burn them without using magic? That'd take care of 'em fast, right?" Deuce added excitedly.
"Deuce, you know how far they've spread throughout the town." Ruggie sighed, "If we set them on fire, the flames will spread and burn down the whole city. That'd be just as bad!"
"Oh, right..." Deuce hesitated.
"Can't we ask Night Raven College and others outside the city for help?" Silver suggested.
"There are still unconscious students in the lecture hall, you know. Their magic is being sapped as we speak." Trein shook his head.
"Not to mention, those more magicians means more target and the starving flower will just go after more food source. Thus, you will be completing Rollo's goal for him." She pointed out.
"If we don't act fast, the flowers will drain them of their magic completely and they'll never regain it." Trein added, "Judging by how rapidly I could feel my own power being drained...we have hours at most. We can't afford to wait for help.
We cannot allow one man's nonsense to deprive those young students of their futures. We have to do something."
"I dunno, I mean, I personally couldn't care less what happens to the Royal Sword guys..." Ruggie hesitated.
"Yeah, they kinda brought it on themselves. We could just go home right now." Idia grumbled.
"YOU FOOLS. Don't you realize why you're still even standing?! It's because Royal Sword Academy students sacrificed themselves so you could make it out unscathed! To think that you would turn your backs on them so easily... I... I..." Trein scolded them only to tear up, "Oh, where did I go wrong in teaching you? I've always espoused the importance of decorum, and yet..."
"Whoa... Trein's cryin'." Grim muttered nervously as he clung to
Yuu's pants.
"Dude. Apologize to him, Ruggie." Idia urged Ruggie nervously.
"Wait, me?! What you said was way worse!" Ruggie glared at him.
"You're both terrible." Jamil shook his head in disappointment.
"There are many victims left unconscious, with the flowers indiscriminately draining their magic." Rook spoke up, "Right now the blooms are still within the city limits, but they will spread further before long."
"And when that happens, they'll endanger those we care about." Silver muttered, "Professor Trein's right. It falls to us to wipe out the firelotuses."
"Yes, I suppose so." Azul sighed, "While I also don't care about anyone from Royal Sword Academy... I can't stand the notion of leaving a debt unpaid."
"Oh, so the Royal Sword Academy was the one who saved everyone here? I was wondering how all of Night Raven College students got out safely." Peony noted in surprise as she recalled those two.
"Okay, fair. It'd bug me a ton if those sparkly normies saved us and we didn't even it up." Idia grumbled much to Azul's surprise.
But before he could question Idia's intentions, Deuce spoke up in agreement, "You're totally right, Azul. You gotta pay back debts in kind!"
"Th-That's the spirit." Azul smiled deciding it was probably just his imagination, "The last thing I need is them invoicing us for medical expenses because they saved us. Besides, gentlemen—think about it. We could have a whole BEVY of mages in our debt! How could we possibly let such a golden opportunity slip through our fingers?!"
"Here we go with Azul's bizarre idea that it's okay to take an L if you get some kinda dub out of it. That's not a healthy mindset, you know!" Idia pointed out to Azul with dismay.
"Bizarre? I resent that. I only do this sort of thing when I expect an ample return. It's called an investment." Azul sneered.
"It's oddly reassuring how your priorities never change, Azul." Riddle grumbled in disappointment.
"I share all of your sentiments. I haven't the slightest intention of walking way from this affair." Malleus huffed in disdain, "I won't be satisfied until I can strike down Rollo Flamme for deceiving me."
"ABSOLUTELY!" Sebek decleared, "I couldn't possibly leave this city until he grovels before you and begs your forgiveness, my liege!"
Silver nodded his head, "Agreed. We need to teach Rollo that what he's doing isn't right. So let's put our heads together and think of a plan to save everyone."
""Save"..." Yuu hesitated, "Something about that word is nagging me... Yet, I can't think of anything..."
"Hm? What's up, Yuu?" Grim tilted his head in confusion
"Heh heh heh. I take it you've connected the dots as well, Yuu?" Azul smiled, "You're all making this much harder than it needs to be. The fastest way to eradicate the firelotuses is to inundate them with magic until they wilt. But as we've established, our group doesn't have the power to do that on our own. So we'll just use an alternate power source."