From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 615 Unseen by the Light of Day
Using the faint light emitted by the fluorescent mushrooms in the underground cave, the little elephant Kuntoli found a comfortable spot for his head on the adventure backpack.

The blanket that was originally inside was lent to a blind dwarf old woman, leaving a large empty space in Professor Doom's adventure backpack and reducing its comfort as a cushion. However, the little elephant was still happy to be able to help someone who needed help more.

The blind dwarf old woman is a special inspector of the Kanaburi City Council, the kind of special inspector who cracks down on corrupt officials, and the kind of person the little elephant admires most.

When the middle-aged demon Resca and the little elephant found her backstage, she was hiding alone in a dark, dark storage room, sternly rebuking the two who had made the noise, showing no fear whatsoever.

This is what Little Elephant admires most about her: a blind old woman who can act braver than a big guy like him. If he had shown even a little courage at the Langdostro Military Academy, perhaps he wouldn't have been expelled...

But if that were the case, he wouldn't be able to befriend Instructor Chenyu and discover the lost city of Zantafa of the Elephant Clan under his guidance!

Besides, he's now a "brave little elephant," as personally certified by Kanaburi's special inspector.

The little elephant dipped his quill into the inkwell (he'd taken it from his own student satchel, though Professor Doom's adventure backpack contained similar items, even chalk to leave a mark along the way, and tiny glass marbles to trip enemies on smooth surfaces), preparing to continue his work—recording firsthand historical materials of Glalieon. If it could return to Stryhaven, perhaps it would be placed in the Hall of Fame, for many students and professors to study!
Kanaburi was the name of the city beneath their feet, while Grallion was the name of the world, and between these two regional names lay the holy war kingdom of Montevi. The little elephant had checked the spelling several times to make sure he was recording the correct firsthand history.

"Montiv, the Kingdom of Holy War, is a northern country bordering the World's Tragedy."

"The so-called World's Lament is a huge wound torn open in the material plane by demons. Many of the demons that appeared in Kanaburi came to the material plane from the abyss through this wound. As the country that is closest to the World's Lament in physical distance, Montevi became the country where all the holy warriors of Grallion gathered."

"And where I am, Kanaburi, is the starting point of this bloody war between the Crusaders and the demons. It is said that the goddess Iomede set up a protective stone seal along the battle line to counter the demons' teleportation abilities. This is why Kanaburi was able to survive four Holy Wars and stand near the World's Tragedy for nearly two hundred years."

"Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, the protective stone against the demons has become ineffective. The demons and cultists have taken control of the city, and the civilians have been displaced. The entire city, and even the entire protective stone defense line, is in grave danger."

A cough came from the darkness. The baby elephant used its trunk to pick up a fluorescent mushroom and held it towards the source of the sound. The underground was dark and cold, but it was the only way to escape the cultists' encirclement. Fortunately, the theater had been built for over a hundred years, and its operators had embezzled a large sum of money for repairs (the old dwarf woman had come to audit the theater's accounts). This allowed the few civilians trapped inside to find a huge rift leading to the underground world and escape the cultists' encirclement.

Yes, this squad is almost entirely composed of civilians. Apart from the middle-aged demon Resca, only the little elephant Quintorli has received some military training.

Therefore, the entire team was formed around the two of them, creating a civilian escape group.

Their target was the Iron Guard's Ambition Tavern, a safe location pointed out by Resca, a spy from the Divine Eagle Guard (city guards serving the Crusaders, which Little Quinn decided to note down in his journal).

The fluorescent mushroom that had left the rock face didn't seem to last long. Before the little elephant had even filled a page, its light was already fading, and it wasn't enough for the little elephant to see who was coughing.

He was a little worried about the blind old dwarf, whose eyes had been blinded by cultists in the theater; when they found her, the bandages used to bandage her wounds were still bleeding. It wouldn't be a good thing if she got sick in the cold, damp underground cave.

The baby elephant used its trunk to pluck another fluorescent mushroom from its head and shone the light on the spot where the cough had come from. It saw a remarkably smooth and delicate face. This reassured the baby elephant considerably; the dwarf grandmother certainly didn't have such smooth skin.

The baby elephant looked at it carefully again and realized that it belonged to a new recruit of the Crusades.

Just as Resca and the little elephant led the civilians out of the theater and into the underground world, they encountered another Crusader squad that had escaped from Cannabri into the underground. Although this squad consisted entirely of warriors, they had actually only been training for less than a few months and were not even qualified to receive ranks.

The leading sergeant did not intend to go with Resca to the Iron Guard Ambition Tavern to support the commander of the Divine Eagle Guard. Instead, he decided to lead these new recruits to survive underground until all the demons on the surface left.

Like Resca, the sergeant made a difficult decision. Whether it was breaking through the demons in Kanaburi to reach the besieged tavern, or surviving in the dark underworld on meager resources and polluted water, neither was easy.

The little elephant felt it couldn't criticize the sergeant's choice, and could only silently wish them good luck.

However, the recruits led by the sergeant were all enthusiastic young men who were willing to contribute their strength to the Crusade even without supplies and weapons.

Several new recruits volunteered to join Elephant and Resca's team to escort the civilians to the Iron Guardian's Ambition Tavern.

The sergeant did not refuse; instead, he pointed them in the right direction—cross the underground river, pass through the city’s sewers, and reach the old cemetery in Kanaburi, where they could return to the surface.

The baby elephant gently pulled the recruit's cloak with its trunk, then sat back down in its sleeping bag and continued its mission with its adventure backpack.

Even after a whole day had passed, he still knew very little about this unfamiliar world, and apart from some place names, he knew nothing else.

Fortunately, he was able to draw a simple map based on his experience and the cartographic skills he had learned, recording the route he had taken.

As long as a theater can be found as a reference point, this map is sufficient to fill in the missing underground section of the Cannaburi City Hall.

Suppressing a slight smile that peeked out from between his teeth, the little elephant dried his quill, tucked it into the leather cover of his journal, and drifted off to sleep.

Although this world is dangerous, the little elephant has gained a long-lost sense of fulfillment by helping others. It would be even better if these texts could be brought back to Strehaven.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Damn it! I knew this road wouldn't be smooth sailing!" Resca cursed under his breath, spitting at the moss beside him.

Blocking the path of the civilian team was a gigantic subterranean creature, resembling a lizard magnified many times over. But probably no one wanted to test whether it was herbivorous or carnivorous.

To cross the underground river ahead, the team must first descend to the riverbank. But the giant lizard is blocking their path.

“We’ll probably need a decoy to get through…” Resca’s sinister gaze swept over the civilians. He had said before they set off that no one could stand idly by in this operation; only by contributing to the team could the team protect him in times of personal danger.

It's brutal, but also very efficient.

Xiao Kun had learned many similar cases in Dean Pag's war ethics class. There is no victory without sacrifice, and those who are unwilling to sacrifice will soon drag their troops into a dead end.

But in textbooks, those who sacrifice for the group are all soldiers! Their current team is nothing more than a rabble composed of unofficial agents of the Divine Eagle Guard (that is, thieves), ungraduated mage apprentices, unarmed recruits, a blind special inspector, a miller with several missing fingers, and a lead violinist who can't even kill a chicken. How can they expect someone to step forward and sacrifice themselves? Fortunately, before Resca officially assigned the task, the little elephant used the fluorescent mushroom held above its head to illuminate a large, dark rock.

"Look!" the little elephant patted Resca on the shoulder. "If we can push that rock down the slope, it'll be enough to give that big lizard a hard time!"

"Are you sure you can move it?" After seeing the baby elephant nod, Resca drew a dagger from his waist, one of their few weapons. "Then you'll need someone who can both distract it and dodge the big rocks in time."

“Oh…the risk is too high…” The little elephant understood what Resca meant, nervously clenched his fingers, and made up his mind that if Resca got into trouble, he would use magic to help him.

Among the intelligence we had previously gathered, there was one piece of information that Little Elephant hadn't noted down in his journal: a script about Patriarch Cannabri, which described how Patriarch Hurren killed a demon with a longsword and flames.

However, when the violinist saw the script in the little elephant's hand, it provided another piece of information that caught people's attention—Patriarch Hurren was conducting a witch hunt in Kanaburi.

Everyone says that Patriarch Hurren burned many cultists to death with iron nails and fire, but the city protected by the Guardian Stone still fell to the cultists and demons.

Therefore, before figuring out how the city's residents actually treated magic, Xiao Kun thought it best to be careful and hide the fact that he was a mage.

But if you absolutely have to use it, you can't hesitate.

“The risk is indeed high, but the reward is also great…” Resca looked at the crowbar in the little elephant’s hand, convinced that he could push the big rock down the slope. “We don’t have many weapons, so we must not abandon any of our combat-capable comrades. However, I doubt how effective those wooden props brought from the theater will be… Both methods require taking risks, but yours is clearly stronger.”

“If I die, Quintori. Or if it comes to the point where I have to be abandoned…” Resca pulled a letter he kept close to his body from his jacket pocket. “Give this to the commander of Iron Guard Ambition, Tilabard, or some other commander. Can you guarantee it?”

The baby elephant nervously curled its trunk: "You won't die..."

“Promise me, Quintor,” the demon agent repeated solemnly, “this concerns the lives of everyone in that makeshift base.”

"I promise." As he said this, the little elephant suddenly felt the adventure backpack on his shoulder get even heavier.

Damn it, it must have gotten damp from the ground last night.

“Very good.” Resca watched as the little elephant tucked the letter into his journal, then nodded silently. “Let’s get started!”

The dark, demonic creatures are not conspicuous underground, but unfortunately, the giant lizards can clearly see the underground world without relying on light sources.

They hadn't noticed them before simply because they hadn't expected their prey to appear overhead.

Even with the baby elephant's ears, which are several times better than a normal human's, it didn't hear the sound of Resca landing. But the giant lizard that was strolling by the dark river immediately raised its head and charged towards the middle-aged demon.

"Hey! Come and chase me, you big oaf!" Resca stomped his feet and jumped around, making a huge commotion by the underground river.

Without hesitation, the baby elephant inserted the tip of the crowbar under the rock, placed a log on top as a fulcrum, and pressed down with all its might.

Elephants are indeed born warriors. The baby elephant felt almost no resistance as the boulder bounced off, crashing hard into the rock wall and continuing downwards at a speed far exceeding everyone's expectations.

"Damn it!" Resca cursed. The boulder wasn't moving along the path he expected; instead, it was heading straight for the direction he was trying to avoid. If he jumped back as he had planned, he would definitely be hit squarely by the rock. If he stayed still, he would be bitten to death by the fanged giant lizard.

Resca knew what he had to do: he had to dodge when the giant lizard couldn't stop, so that its charge path would coincide with the path of the falling boulder.

Now! Resca lunged to the side, plunging directly into the icy, dark river.

The monitor lizard's scaly head was obviously not as hard as the stone, and it was smashed into a puddle of mush, leaving only its limbs and tail, which were still flailing about, in a moment of disbelief.

"Resca!" The little elephant rushed to the riverbank and shouted towards the spot where the demon had entered the water.

"The rope!" A series of bubbles rose from the surging underground river, and Resca stretched out his hands to slap the water's surface, letting his head emerge.

Yes! A rope!

Professor Doom put a rope in his adventure backpack!

The baby elephant immediately threw the long rope into the water, where it landed right next to Resca's head.

Unfortunately, the current in the underground river was too fast, and the demon could not reach it even after several attempts; instead, the rope ran out of length.

Seeing no hope of rescue, the demon foe slapped the water's surface with both hands again, letting his head emerge: "You promised me, Kun!"

"Don't give up! Resca!" Little Kun tossed the rope to his companion and frantically searched his backpack for anything usable. Suddenly, his fingers touched a metal box.

He took it out and opened it. Inside were twelve neatly arranged cookies, all of them animals in different shapes.

Professor Doom's Transfiguration Cookies!

"Give me a fish, give me a fish!"

So the last thing the demon thief saw in the underground river was the densely packed, serrated teeth of the ferocious shark.

(End of this chapter)