I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 185: An Elven Ambush!?

The aircraft lurched, then rose.

Not smoothly, not gracefully, but with raw, mechanical force as the rotors roared to life and the entire hull trembled like a dragon shaking itself awake.

WHUP-WHUP-WHUP-WHUP—

The ramp snapped shut beneath us with a heavy clang, sealing the cabin as steam hissed violently through the pipes lining the walls, the pressure shifting and my stomach dropping for a brief moment as the ground beneath us gave way.

Through the window, the academy shrank rapidly, buildings turning into shapes, shapes into patterns, until soon it was just a blur beneath a sea of clouds.

"—Hah."

Marcellus leaned back into his seat, gripping the armrest just a little tighter than he probably intended. "...This feels different than using flying discs."

Julius smirked faintly, repeating his previous words.

"Afraid of heights?"

"I said shut up."

The aircraft tilted slightly, adjusting its angle as the rotors shifted position. The hum of the engines deepened, faint indicator lights flickering along the panels embedded in the walls.

I exhaled slowly.

Yeah... this was different from modern flight—more violent, more alive.

Beside me, Evelina remained still, but her fingers had curled lightly around my sleeve again. Not tight, just enough.

"You alright?" I murmured.

"Loud noises aren’t exactly a sign of perfect engineering," she replied calmly, eyes fixed on the window, "...especially when they involve falling from the sky."

"That’s fair."

The aircraft shuddered again, then steadied. The vibration lessened, the roar evened out.

We had reached cruising altitude.

A few minutes passed before the tension in the cabin eased. The crew moved more freely now, no longer bracing themselves against the walls, while one of the engineers adjusted the control valves and gauges, stabilizing the flow of power running through the plane.

The soft overhead lights flickered once, then settled.

"Altitude stabilized," a crew member called out.

"Good," another replied. "Maintain rotation speed. We don’t want to drift near the western currents."

Western currents?

Noted.

I leaned back slightly, letting the steady rhythm of the engines lull me into something almost hypnotic.

WHUP! WHUP! WHUP!

The sound was less aggressive now, more controlled.

Time slipped by in a dull, uneventful calm as we crossed the sky, at least, until someone noticed that something was wrong.

"Oi."

Marcellus’s voice cut through the calm.

I glanced over.

He was staring out the window, expression less irritated than before, this time more... focused.

"...Look."

I followed his gaze.

At first, I didn’t see it. Then, far below, beyond the thinning clouds, there was movement, and it wasn’t subtle. It was the opposite.

Something massive, cutting through the sky at a distance.

"...A wyvern?" Julius muttered.

"No," Evelina said quietly, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Too large... and the wings are wrong."

The creature shifted again, its silhouette briefly etched against the sunlight, wings vast and powerful, beating in steady, majestic strokes. Feathers, not scales, caught the light as it glided, far more controlled and graceful than any wyvern’s erratic flight.

That easily made dragons or any other scaled flying fantasy creature go out of the window.

But...

I think I had a vague clue what it could be.

"...That’s not something you see near the capital," Marcellus said, voice low.

A crew member nearby stiffened. "...Stay seated," he said immediately. "We’ve got it handled."

Another engineer moved to reinforce the outer hull, the riveted plates along the aircraft’s frame rattling softly as additional supports locked into place.

The tension in the cabin returned, but quieter this time, controlled and professional.

"Steam and Runic Team, stand by!"

A power‑armored soldier stepped up to the sealed exit of the aircraft. Behind him, a line of mages waited in formation, each one ready to feed power into the suits and keep them aloft, while others stood by to stabilize the plane for a mid‑air deployment.

"Preparations complete! Defense squad ready to deploy!"

"Roger!" the pilot called from the cockpit, pulling a lever as the aircraft’s doors rumbled open.

The soldiers leapt out into the open sky. The pipes along their armor howled, venting bursts of steam and wind magic that caught them and held them aloft, while the support mages bound them with tethering spells to make sure no one drifted too far from the aircraft.

"Coast is clear!" one soldier shouted, and the others fanned out, scanning the surrounding air for any sign of trouble.

"We’re still way too deep in kingdom territory for something like this to show up," Marcellus muttered, still watching through the window.

"I don’t like it. What’s your take?" Julius turned to us, wanting our opinion.

"Isn’t it obvious?" I said.

"Obvious?" Evelina frowned. The feathers we’d seen ruled out a lot of creatures, but there were still plenty that fit the shape of something huge and winged.

"It’s an elven scout."

"Pfft..." Marcellus snorted. "An elven scout? This deep in human territory? They’d be blown out of the sky long before they got this far."

"Believe whatever helps you sleep at night," I replied, folding my arms.

Evelina, however, only looked more intrigued. "Are you sure?"

"It’s the most obvious answer," I said.

And I wasn’t just guessing.

[Photographic Memory]

The novel had already explained how this could happen. There was no way it was anything else—it had to be an elven scout that somehow slipped past the kingdom’s militarized, magic‑reinforced borders.

Well... whatever, it shouldn’t be a problem for now. As long as this situation still follows the novel’s original plot. It shouldn’t attack.

BOOM!

Well... I guess not!

"What was that?!"

The pilot shouted into the receiver, trying to reach the soldiers flying just outside the aircraft.

"Elven magic! We’re under attack from all sides!"

"We’ll be saturating the sky with gunfire! Commence emergency landing!"

"Aghh! I’ve been hit! They’ve got archers!"

"Archers this high up?!"

"They’re elves, for fuck’s sake! Don’t argue physics now!"

The shouting was enough to make it obvious that sitting still was a terrible idea. We all scrambled to our feet and, the moment we did—

BANG!

A fireball slammed into the hull, making the entire aircraft jolt and throwing us off balance. But none of us were amateurs when it came to combat.

This was nothing. For now.

[Light Manipulation]

[Dark Manipulation]

[Black Flame Manipulation]

"T-The hell is that?!" Marcellus’s eyes widened at the sight of my strange element.

"Jealous!?"

"Not the time, you two!" Julius and Evelina snapped in unison as we moved into position near the aircraft’s exit.

Outside, the threat became clear: an entire elven flying squad, riding giant eagles, had surrounded us, their ranks bristling with archers and mages.