On the fourth day of the school trip, the schedule was split between a morning tour and an afternoon hands-on activity.

The morning tour was essentially a cultural heritage sightseeing trip.

The afternoon activity was similar to the third day’s schedule, where each group had to tackle their own assignments.

The students were mostly left to form their own groups, naturally gravitating towards their friends.

This was true for Shin Haeryeong’s group as well.

Shin Haeryeong, Bae Jaeho, Liz, and Kim Ina.

The four of them, all members of the same club (though they hadn’t really done any activities yet), ended up in the same group.

Haeryeong thought it was a pretty good group, considering it was formed based on friendships.

Jaeho was more knowledgeable about magic circles than she was, and Ina, despite her laid-back attitude, wasn’t a fool.

And Liz was just Liz.

In fact, they had managed to solve the third day’s “hidden object” task faster than even the top students in their grade.

The problem arose on the morning of the fourth day.

Jaeho claimed he was sick and decided to rest at the lodging.

He didn’t seem that sick, though.

In the end, Haeryeong’s group was left with just Liz and Ina.

Having only three members might pose a problem for completing the task…

“Is our group going to be okay?”

Liz was still Liz, and Ina lacked initiative.

It dawned on Haeryeong that their group had seemed competent mainly because of Jaeho.

“Is this the fallacy of averages?”

Jaeho’s presence had masked the shortcomings of the others.

The reason this was a problem was simple.

After the morning tour, the afternoon task began.

It was a test to escape from a mountain surrounded by a barrier…

“Where are we…?”

…and Haeryeong’s group had magnificently lost their way.

Getting lost during a school trip—what an experience.

“What a wonderful adventure…”

Haeryeong sighed.

“How did it come to this?”

To escape, they needed to find the weakest point of the barrier and break through it.

Since it was a training exercise to prepare for being trapped by dark wizards’ barriers, it wasn’t designed to be easy.

They started off well.

Being a dragon, Liz’s instincts were quite sharp.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Liz found the weakest point of the barrier.

With the weak spot identified, all that was left was to escape.

Whether they dispelled the barrier with magic or used a portal spell, it didn’t matter, though the former was generally easier.

While the barrier of a real dark wizard might be different, this test’s barrier wasn’t particularly complex.

Haeryeong was confident.

She could break through a barrier of this level with ease.

It was just a matter of being a little cautious.

Yes, just a little cautious.

“…I should have drawn both magic circles myself.”

But it was a group task, so shouldn’t they solve it together?

…That thought was the beginning of their troubles.

There were two magic circles needed to dispel the barrier.

She drew one and left the other to the two of them…

The two hastily activated their half-finished magic circle.

As a result, the barrier was strengthened, trapping the three of them in the twisted space of the mountain.

Well, that could happen.

Activating an incomplete magic circle impulsively and twisting the barrier to trap themselves?

It was possible.

“But seriously, where’s their sense of urgency?”

She had definitely yelled at them, “If you’re going to do that, just stay still!”

But to actually just follow along quietly was too much.

They had no sense of urgency whatsoever.

“How long has it been?”

“Um~ about three hours?”

“Really? That’s a long time! Are we stuck here?”

“No way.”

“Should we at least look for food? There are a lot of mushrooms over there.”

Listening to their chatter made Haeryeong rub her forehead.

Who was responsible for this mess?

“Haeryeong, do you have anything to eat?”

“No.”

Liz flinched at Haeryeong’s sharp tone.

“Uh… Haeryeong.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you mad?”

“Yeah.”

Even someone as carefree as Liz couldn’t help but notice.

Ignoring Haeryeong’s instruction to call her before activating the magic circle, this time, she couldn’t just laugh it off.

“Why are you being so hard on our Liz!”

“…”

“Why are you glaring at me like that…”

Kim Ina, too, tried to joke but ended up swallowing her words.

For the same reason as Liz.

After three hours of wandering, Haeryeong’s eyes clearly said, “Don’t mess with me.”

Haeryeong was trying to detect mana to find a way out of the barrier.

Following her, the other two just watched her mood.

The three of them continued their trek for quite a while.

“Sigh…”

Four hours in.

The teachers, who said they’d come to rescue them if they didn’t get out, were nowhere to be seen.

“Is time twisted or something?”

That couldn’t be.

How could time be twisted when they were using spatial magic?

Unless someone had cast a time-themed spell on the barrier…

“That can’t be.”

In the last open class, Jaesang had demonstrated time-themed magic, but only Damian had noticed.

Everyone else, including Haeryeong, still thought time-themed magic was purely theoretical.

“Haeryeong.”

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Seeing Liz’s hesitant expression, Haeryeong sighed.

She didn’t like seeing her friend so unsure.

“…Could you help me find a way out? Ina, too.”

“Got it!”

Maybe because Haeryeong had calmed down a bit, Liz seemed quite happy with the request.

“So, what should we do?”

“It’s similar to before.”

Even though the barrier was twisted and the magic was messed up, there had to be a weak spot.

With Liz’s keen senses, she might find it quickly.

“Alright! Leave it to me!”

Liz took the lead.

She looked around, sniffing the air like a wild animal.

“Um~?”

As she sniffed, Liz suddenly started making snuffling noises in one direction, as if something was off.

“What’s wrong? Did you find something strange?”

“Um~ Haeryeong, would black mana be used in spatial magic?”

“Usually not.”

“Right?”

Liz continued, focusing on the scent.

“Then why do I smell black mana?”

“…What?”

Haeryeong knew Liz could smell black mana.

During the dragon incident, Liz had run off, saying she smelled black mana, leaving Haeryeong behind.

So if Liz said she smelled black mana, it was probably true.

“…Hide.”

Kim Ina and Liz, about to ask why, also noticed something and quickly hid behind a tree.

Kim Ina and Haeryeong began whispering in hushed tones.

“What did we see…?”

“Shh. They’ll hear us.”

Haeryeong peeked out.

A black figure.

That’s the only way to describe the enormous, grotesque thing standing there.

***

On the fourth day of the school trip.

The first thing Jaesang did after leaving the lodging was to set up a barrier in the nearby mountain.

It was for the afternoon’s hands-on activity.

Despite the series of incidents during the trip, the morning of the fourth day was unusually uneventful.

“Isn’t this how it should be?”

Jaesang found the thought oddly satisfying.

The rare peace was quite welcome.

All that was left was to monitor the students inside the barrier.

“Hmm. They’re doing well.”

The first-year students, grouped in fours, were handling the task without much trouble.

The task was simply to find the weak spot in the barrier and escape.

“Jaesang, it’s impressive. Designing a barrier so that those in the same place don’t meet each other.”

The principal praised him.

Though all the first-years were inside the barrier Jaesang created, they weren’t encountering each other.

The magic was designed to twist in real-time based on the students’ movements.

“Thank you.”

“Really, without you, today’s schedule would have been just this test.”

Originally, the escape task would have taken the whole day.

But thanks to Jaesang’s magic design, they could test multiple groups simultaneously, allowing them to allocate only the afternoon of the fourth day.

“Then I’ll go handle other matters. Please keep an eye on the barrier.”

“Yes, have a good day.”

With the principal gone, Jaesang and the other teachers continued to monitor the inside of the barrier.

“Those kids…”

Then he noticed Haeryeong’s group.

He had expected them to be among the top, but for some reason, they were stuck in the deepest part of the barrier.

“Wait.”

Jaesang’s eyebrows furrowed.

He saw a familiar silhouette in the space where Haeryeong’s group was.

“A black figure?”

The dimensional portal in this mountain had already been closed.

Could another portal have appeared in the meantime?

But now wasn’t the time to figure out why.

“Just when things were going smoothly.”

If there was a black figure, there could be a dark wizard.

With that thought, Jaesang stood up.

***

The moment she saw the black figure.

Haeryeong immediately summoned Hayang, creating a temporary shield.

Her bond with the spirit had grown stronger, allowing for speed and size incomparable to before.

“…If only Sally were here, it would be even better.”

Ina grumbled, but anyway.

“Does anyone know what that is?”

“I do! I’ve seen it before!”

“Okay, Liz.”

“I was chased by one in the mountains.”

“When?”

“Uh… three days ago?”

“…That was the first day of the trip, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah!”

Haeryeong couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief.

That was the time she was supposed to be locked in her room.

As expected, Liz had gone off on her own again.

“Last time, it attacked us out of nowhere.”

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t friendly towards humans.

Shin Haeryeong glanced at the dark figure and asked, “So, what do we do about it? It hasn’t shown any aggression towards us yet.”

“Hmm~ Running away… might be tough. It’s incredibly fast.”

Liz sifted through her memories. The dark figure was even faster than she was, and she was a dragon. There was no way Shin Haeryeong and Kim Ina could outrun it.

“If this ice barrier disappears, it might attack us, and we can’t escape, right?”

“Exactly.”

Shin Haeryeong pondered for a moment. The best option might be to maintain the barrier as it was.

‘No, that’s not it.’

No one had come to rescue them in the past four hours. They couldn’t stay under the ice without food indefinitely.

‘Maybe we can handle one of them?’

A creature they’d never seen before. It had to be from another world.

Shin Haeryeong had never fought an otherworldly creature before. But she wasn’t alone, and with a solid plan, it might just be possible.

‘Let’s do this.’

They couldn’t keep the barrier up for hours on end. With a deep sigh, Shin Haeryeong began arranging items on the dirt floor.

“Okay, this leaf represents us. We’re inside the ice barrier. And over here.”

She pulled a lip balm from her pocket and placed it on the ground.

“This is the dark figure.”

Drawing lines in the dirt with her finger, she continued her explanation.

“I’m not exactly sure what it is, but a three-person strategy should work.”

A three-person strategy. One person distracts, another supports, and the last prepares a massive spell—a basic tactic for fighting otherworldly creatures.

Lee Jaesang had drilled this into them during class, so Shin Haeryeong knew it well. If they’d paid attention in class, she wouldn’t need to lay it all out like this, but…

Kim Ina hadn’t attended Lee Jaesang’s classes, and Liz… well, Liz was still Liz, so she probably didn’t know.

“Ooh, so I just need to be the distraction?”

“Yes, Liz. I’m counting on you.”

It pained her to give her friend the most dangerous task, but Liz was undoubtedly the fastest among them. Comparing human and dragon physical abilities was absurd to begin with.

“And Ina, can you prepare something big?”

“Oh, what’s this? Haeryeong’s trusting me with the most important part?”

“You can barely use the support spells.”

“I choose not to use them! I didn’t learn them on purpose!”

“Right. Exactly.”

Seeing that both of them understood, Shin Haeryeong stopped explaining.

“Any questions so far?”

“Um~ I have one!”

Liz raised her hand, signaling she had a question. Shin Haeryeong hesitated for a moment, knowing Liz’s questions were rarely straightforward. But she couldn’t just ignore her.

“…What’s your question?”

“So, this is our little isolated area, and this is the dark figure we saw earlier, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay~ Then what’s this?”

Liz pointed to a small stone on the ground. Just a regular stone. It wasn’t something Shin Haeryeong had placed.

“…That’s just a real stone.”

“Aha!”

‘…Are we really going to be okay?’

Watching Liz scratch her head with a bright smile, Shin Haeryeong couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety.