Damage control

Within Jade Academy, under the barrier raised by the headmaster Vendro'in and in his office, surrounded by The Elite Royal Guard, Bjorki Em'raldio raised a teacup to her mouth and took a sip only to frown, clearly dissatisfied.

"Umm… I know that a state of emergency was declared and all, but isn't it too much to make tea with a healing potion…? Whatever is going on, it cannot be that dangerous."

"...pardon…?"

Bjorki complained, putting down the teacup and taking one of the guards by surprise.

"This tea. The leaves were soaked in a healing potion."

"N-no, they weren't…?"

The girl pointed out at the liquid within the cup, confusing the Guard, who shook his head at the statement.

"They weren't, right…?"

The Guard then looked over his shoulder and asked his comrade who was the one to prepare the beverage after the youngest princess of the Emeraldios Empire began to complain about dry throat.

"Of course not. Why waste a health potion on a healthy individual? Your Highness, I guess the peculiar taste must be the quality of the tea leaves they had on hand."

"But that's the Northern black tea that Lord Vendro-in likes. It's not supposed to have medicinal taste…"

The other Guard rolled his eyes and declared, but he was corrected by the headmaster's secretary, who was pulled into the office and pointed out from the corner she occupied.

"..."

"I got this."

After a moment of awkward silence, a female Elite Guard raised her hand and stepped forward, grabbing Bjorki's cup and drinking from it.

"Hnn…?"

Her eyes immediately widened, and her brows shot up even before she let out a surprised voice and sloshed the liquid inside her mouth.

"Yeah, no. The princess is definitely in the right. This is tea made with a healing potion instead of regular water."

"HUH?!"

The female Guard swallowed the liquid and declared, causing the office to be filled with shocked gasps.

The Guard who originally made the tea hurried over to the container he heated the water in and raised its lid, unleashing a tiny cloud of steam with a characteristic aroma of a health potion…

"...that is the color of a health potion… But it was water when I filled it from the tap…"

He stared inside the container for a few seconds only to straighten his back and declare while showing it off to the others before motioning towards the door out of the office.

"Is… this perhaps an artifact created by Lord Vendor'in…?"

"While he is at the pinnacle of the Empire mages, I assure you that Lord Vendo'in has almost no interest in alchemy. Not to mention, he wouldn't stop bragging about creating an artifact that could turn plain water into a health potion."

"Fair."

The female Guard inquired, getting a clear enough answer from the troubled secretary to make the others nod in understanding.

"...could this phenomenon be related to that pillar of light from before…?"

"Well, that golden light wasn't a sign of explosion of the teleportation array, so… there is a chance, I guess…?"

"Not our field of expertise."

"Yeah. No kidding."

The Elite Guards began to murmur amongst each other, exchanging ideas.

"..."

…and ignoring Bjorki, who has been pouting since a while back, very bothered about not being the center of attention even though she was the most important person there…

*KSHHHH*

[To all citizens and visitors. Today, a Demon General appeared within Jade City walls. It was discovered, intercepted, and eliminated by the Chosen Champion of the goddess Perseverance, Zane, without causing any harm to the people of the city. Afterward, a Super-scale city-wide spell, Perseverance Grace, was cast by Saintess Elita, supported by the Choir of Deacons of Blessing, in order to purify the land and get rid of any potential traces of the abhorrent demonic energy. You surely experience the side-effects of the spell as all previously mana-less liquids within its effective range have been blessed and filled with Perseverance power. Praise be the goddess Perseverance, her chosen champion, the Saintess, and all of her faithful servants.]

*KSHHHH*

Without any prior warning, a crackling sound of static filled everyone's ears and a message from the Cardinals of the church of the goddess Perseverance was transmitted to everyone within the Jade City.

Conveniently, it answered the question that bothered the people in the office of the Jade Academy's headmaster, but it also made things far more… bewildering.

"...I did hear that Lord Zane was close to level 130, but to think that he was able to actually defeat a Demon General before it could harm any civilians…"

After a while, one of the Guards breathed out, breaking the silence.

"Between him and that female inquisitor, who do you think would be stronger?"

"...that's a good question… I'd say probably Lord Zane. That inquisitor might be a member of Seven Authorities, who are supposed to be like the strongest anti-demon living weapons, but I haven't heard about any of them defeating a Demon General."

The topic shifted a bit and the conversation got reignited in a much more light-hearted atmosphere as everyone expected an order to return to their usual posts to arrive any moment.

"Personally, I'm more impressed with that outrageous spell. Super-scale? City-wide?? Excuse me, but was I the only one who had no idea our side had anything like that at our disposal? Turns out the Saintess and her Choir are nothing to scoff at either."

The female Guard sighed before stretching and looking around her comrades.

"They're constantly in the shadow of Lord Zane and his group's achievements. I bet some people weren't even aware that a new Saintess was appointed after so many years with the title vacant. Bad timing, since the Champion of the goddess wasn't appointed in decades and made that much more of an impact. It's difficult for her and her group to show their worth, but you're right. Today, they certainly did surprise everyone."

Another Guard nodded in agreement.

All of them were blissfully unaware that there was a big lie mixed in with the truth in the Church's statement.

"...so, can I return to the classroom? Or at least my room? Or at least call Mag or contact Grandpa?"

Bjorki whined, reminding others about her presence.