Chapter 107

There is someone in the Academy trying to harm Winter Winslet.

That in itself wasn’t all that surprising.

What was unexpected was that it was Shannon who brought it up.

Wasn’t she the one who, at one point, carried a death flag aimed at me?

So what exactly was she trying to tell me now?

As I quietly waited for her to continue, Shannon lowered her long eyebrows and said,

“You don’t seem very surprised.”

“It’s human nature to make enemies.”

“Even so, it’s not exactly normal for those enemies to go so far as to threaten your life. How can you stay so calm about it?”

“Because I already know who they are.”

Shannon widened her eyes.

“You know?”

“Of course.”

Because I can see death flags.

Living as Winter Winslet meant constantly facing people who might kill me at any time.

Unaware of that fact, Shannon furrowed her brow in disbelief.

“Then why are you letting them be? Don’t you think you should eliminate them before they become a threat to you?”

“I’m not a bloodthirsty murderer.”

If I had gone after everyone who raised a death flag against me and roasted them with magic one by one, the Academy would already be a sea of blood.

And you, Shannon, would have been among them…

The words nearly rose to my throat, but I held them back for now.

“Besides, I bear responsibility too.”

Winter Winslet was a notorious villain in Candela of Judgment.

There’s even a saying among fans of the series:

– If something bad happens at the Academy, guessing Winter Winslet is behind it gives you about a 50% chance of being right.

Given that kind of reputation, maybe someone like me who was deeply immersed in Candela of Judgment had simply come to accept it as natural that people would hate Winter Winslet.

Still, this was the first time I’d ever spoken about it aloud.

“Shannon Quinlivan, why are you bringing this up to me? No matter who wants to kill me, or what I choose to do about it, it has nothing to do with you.”

“I just wanted to know what you were thinking, Professor.”

Our eyes met.

Her gaze was unwavering, straight and firm, as if those transparent pupils were determined not to let me escape.

I had no choice but to answer her question.

“I don’t know what you think of me. But the man named Winter Winslet… is not the kind of person you could ever call good.”

That much, at least, was true.

No matter how many people I help, no matter how many times I save the world. What happened before I possessed this body doesn’t simply vanish.

“But from the moment I opened my eyes in this world, I’ve never once deceived myself. Every action I’ve taken was by my own choice.”

“That… that’s not a lie, is it?”

Meeting her gaze like a vow, I nodded.

Shannon called out to me.

“Professor.”

“Speak.”

“I heard a rumor… that you killed someone. Inside the Academy. A student you were teaching.”

“……”

“Is it true?”

I couldn’t answer that question.

Because I wasn’t the one who committed that act.

But I couldn’t deny it either.

Because I am Winter Winslet.

A sense of déjà vu swept over me.

It was just like when I realized Glenn Sherwood had died while I was tracking the traces of Caraphine production.

A vortex of responsibility and helplessness.

“Who did you hear that from?”

“So it is true.”

Shannon’s gaze narrowed.

Disappointment and sadness filled her eyes.

And perhaps it was just my imagination… but there was also a faint glimmer of hope.

Then, Shannon began to tell the story she’d heard from someone.

***

Room 201 of the Potter-Cavendish Hall.

It was there, at a gathering of Winter Winslet’s victims, that Luke Rousseau told Shannon about what had happened in the past.

“It was four years ago. The year Winter Winslet had just been appointed as a professor at the Academy. His popularity back then was tremendous. Everyone was excited…who wouldn’t be? A young genius mage, officially recognized as a 7th-class mage by Karaf, was going to teach us.”

“What made the students especially ecstatic was the rumor that Professor Winslet was passing down a cutting-edge Karaf training method said to drastically enhance one’s magical ability. He never revealed it in his regular lectures, but secretly handpicked a few talented students to teach it to.”

“And some of them actually saw remarkable results. Over the next six months, the students’ faith in Professor Winslet grew to something close to religious devotion.”

“But we were all deceived. How could we have known? The so-called ‘training method’ that Professor Winslet taught us was, in truth, a forbidden art that forcibly reconstructed a mage’s mana circuits.”

“Winter Winslet used us as test subjects to prove his own magical theory….knowing full well the risks of severe side effects and long-term damage.”

“And those side effects… began to show themselves half a year later. When the Academy finally realized the gravity of the situation, they suspended his classes but it was already too late.”

“Most of the students who had studied under Professor Winslet suffered irreversible damage to their mana circuits and became crippled. And among them… one student crossed a river from which there was no return.”

“She was my love. Right up to the end, she refused to believe that Professor Winslet had deceived her. She clung to false hope, denying reality, and continued that self-destructive training until eventually… her soul was completely erased. Nothing was left but the empty shell of my Diane…”

A terrible lie.

A lover’s tragic death.

That was Luke Rousseau’s reason for deciding to kill Professor Winslet. It was the fuel for his revenge.

***

Shannon never revealed Luke Rousseau’s name, not even at the end.

She assumed that if Professor Winslet remembered the events in question, then he would already know who sought his life.

“I wasn’t involved in that. So I’m not here to accuse you or to warn you about any danger.”

“Then what is it you want from me?”

“I want to know how you truly feel, Professor.”

Not the truth, but the sincerity behind it.

That’s what Shannon was asking for.

At that, Professor Winslet… let out a long, heavy sigh.

Then, letting the weight of it linger, he buried his face in his hands and dragged them slowly down his face in a dry wash.

To Shannon and Jacqueline, it was a wholly unexpected sight.

They had never once seen Professor Winslet show emotion like this before.

The Professor they knew was always someone who maintained perfect self-control.

Was it illness that had weakened him?

Or was it proof that he was truly filled with regret?

Perhaps the Professor Winslet they thought they knew had only ever been a facade.

A long silence followed, stretching time itself.

Only after enough time had passed for their lips to go dry did Professor Winslet finally speak.

“It’s true that such a thing happened in the past. I can’t deny that. But it was something that should never have happened. By the time I realized that… it was already far too late.”

“Are you saying you regret it?”

“I will never let something like that happen again. That’s my resolve.”

Shannon looked up at him.

His eyes shone cold as ice, but even in that frozen, distant palace, there must still be a human being living inside.

“I’m sorry for coming to you like this and questioning you so directly. And thank you for answering me, even though I was being rude. I promise I won’t trouble you about this again.”

Shannon stood and bowed deeply.

“Then I’ll see you in the next lecture, Professor.”

***

“Luke was wrong about the Professor after all.”

On the way back to the dormitory from Professor Winslet’s estate,

Jacqueline spoke up carefully.

“To me, the Professor looked like someone who was filled with deep regret.”

“Yeah, that’s how it seemed to me too.”

“If Professor Winslet were really as cruel as Luke described him, he wouldn’t have shown that kind of remorse.”

Shannon nodded silently.

More cautiously than before, Jacqueline voiced a possibility.

“What if what happened in the past was actually an accident?”

“But the Professor didn’t say anything like that.”

“The Professor we saw today isn’t the kind of person who makes excuses. Maybe he didn’t want to call it an accident because he didn’t want to lessen the weight of his own guilt.”

“If that’s how he feels, then I’ll respect it.”

“But nothing gets resolved that way.”

Jacqueline spoke as they walked beneath the sky, now fading into sunset.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“Made up your mind? About what?”

“I’m going to find Luke. And I’m going to tell him. About everything I saw and heard today.”

“You saw his face, didn’t you? That look in his eyes… it was the look of someone who’s already given up on everything. He won’t let go of his revenge.”

“We won’t know unless we try, right? At the very least……”

Jacqueline stopped walking and looked up at the sky.

“I don’t want to see the Professor get hurt. And I don’t want Luke to make a choice he can never take back. That kind of ending… only leaves both of them in pain.”

A strong wind blew past.

Jacqueline’s orange hair caught the light of the setting sun and shimmered brilliantly.

It was a color as beautiful as a burning flame.