“Yuna, from now on, you have to come with me every time I go to the workshop, okay?”
“What’s this? Are you confessing to me?”
“I’m begging you.”
“Oh, so you’re begging for love.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I know, right?”
That level of positive spin to things was almost admirable…
How could she be so shameless?
And to say that to someone who was already engaged without hesitation—
At this point, it honestly felt like I was committing adultery.
But what could I do?
After experiencing Yuna’s protection once, I couldn’t even consider any other bodyguard.
She’s not just strong…. she was more discreet than anyone.
There was no more comfortable protection than this.
“But if I act as your bodyguard, what will you do for me?”
“What do you want?”
“Honestly, nothing in particular. You’re the one who needs me, right? You just really want me by your side, don’t you?”
“……”
“Okay then, say out loud what you just implied a moment ago.”
“Huh?”
“Hurry.”
You said you didn’t want anything!
But now you want me to say a line dripping with desperate longing?!
“…Yuna, I need you. I really want you by my side.”
“Puhihi, alright.”
No, this really feels like I’m having an affair.
Like I’m slowly opening the door to a space where no one else should be allowed.
I’m being invaded.
Yuna was invading me.
“If you’re going to go that far, I guess I have no choice. I’ll stay by your side, Johan.”
“……”
“You’re supposed to say thank you.”
“…Thank you.”
“Mhmm!”
Yuna smiled sweetly.
***
Thanks to Yuna’s presence, there were no more obstacles to my research in the alchemy workshop.
No, well…just when it seemed like an obstacle might arise…
“You’ll die if you keep that up, you know? Puhihi!”
Yuna took care of it swiftly.
Senior Jabir who had been sneakily trying to hit me on the back of the head during my research had his neck snapped cleanly, and Professor Georg’s body went flying through the air.
“What the hell are you doing, meddling in our business?!”
Professor Georg exploded in frustration.
“Then let me ask you, Professor. What right do you have to knock Johan out and force him to sign university admission papers? Should I tell the Headmistress about this?”
“Ack—I’m sorry! I was wrong.”
Instant shutdown.
Even Professor Georg had to grovel in front of the cradle’s supreme authority.
Power makes threats effective, after all.
If I had said that, he would’ve stabbed the syringe into my neck without a second thought.
But with someone around who can stop him cold sober, even Professor Georg and Senior Jabir have no choice but to behave.
“But it felt so natural I forgot to ask. Who are you?”
Senior Jabir, whose neck had been twisted into a grotesque angle by Yuna and was now lying collapsed in a bizarre position, asked the question.
The fact that he could still move in that condition… truly, this place is something else.
Creepy and terrifying.
“Oh, right. I’m Yuna. Johan’s girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend? I know this might be rude, but… what part of him do you even like?”
“That’s very rude, Senior.”
And she wasn’t talking about herself. She was talking about me.
So that’s how he really saw me all this time?
With that warm smile while always looking out for me….I thought Senior was a nice guy.
“I guess it’s the fact that he’s too weak to resist, no matter what I do to him?”
You like me because of that…?
The reason was so chilling, the entire room froze.
“…Have a nice relationship.”
What do you mean, nice?
“Well, this is the Cradle. Nothing strange about a kid turning out twisted like that. Ah, young love,”
Professor Georg took it a step further.
It was incredibly frustrating how much I could relate to the reason she gave. The thing was, Yuna hadn’t even come from the Cradle.
Still, if it were the Cradle, it wouldn’t be surprising for someone like her to exist.
“So from now on, if anyone bullies Johan, I’ll break their neck. If he’s going to be bullied, it has to be by me.”
“Wow, there’s really no arguing with that.”
“Professor, I think you’ll have to give up. If her mind is twisted to that extent, there’s no telling what she might do.”
True madness that cured fake madness.
Whatever the process, I was able to free myself from the fear of another entrance exam.
Partly because the two of them gave up… but probably more because I had buried fear under an even greater fear.
Today, I had seen a new side of Yuna.
That side was…
“Puhihihi!”
…sadism.
***
As research on the new transcendent syndrome treatment progressed at an incredible pace, the vacation came to an end and the second semester began.
I had worked all throughout the break.
I had thrown myself into research and made regular visits to Emily to check on the progress.
Through Cattleya, I kept an eye on the movements of the Hereticus Marquisate and stayed in contact with Jeff and Melana.
I’d go to the library, open a book, and wait for Ariel.
Except for the occasional time when Yuna claimed she was bored and dragged me outside against my will, that was basically how I spent each day.
Living like that, the vacation felt ridiculously short.
“This makes no sense.”
Give me back my break.
“Johan, what’s with the gloomy face? The new semester has started. You should go and see everyone!”
“What’s the point in seeing them? I don’t even know their names.”
They went out of their way to exclude me and refused to tell me their names, after all.
***
Well, I couldn’t exactly argue if someone said the things I’d done at the start of the semester were coming back to bite me like a boomerang.
Since I couldn’t keep up with the other students, I had no intention of getting close to them either…
Still, it was hard not to feel left out every now and then.
“Hurry up!”
“Yuna, stop pulling me. What’s the point of rushing? Nothing good ever comes of it…”
“Who knows? You never know until you check it out.”
“Is something going on?”
“Mhmm! Even though it’s break time, the Cradle felt too empty, so I looked into it, and turns out something interesting is happening.”
“A terrorist attack?”
“Geez, don’t say it like that. Makes it sound like the only thing that ever happens in the Cradle is terrorism.”
Well, what else is there?
Isn’t the Cradle’s entire identity based on having a fully booked schedule of terrorist incidents 365 days a year?
“And besides, you shouldn’t call that kind of thing interesting.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
That was a slip of the tongue.
It was only lucky Yuna was the one listening. If someone else had heard that, they might’ve grabbed me by the collar.
How many people had already suffered because of those attacks?
“Sometimes, I think you’re more sensible than I am.”
“I know.
***
It happened when Yuna dragged me along by the hand and we arrived at Class F like we usually did.
The classroom was noisy, and there was something posted by the door.
“Class reassignment notice? Due to the unavoidable decrease in student numbers over the past year, we’ve consolidated classes?”
That wasn’t in the game.
I couldn’t even begin to guess where this snowball had started rolling.
If I had to take a wild guess, maybe it was the large-scale attack by the Under Chain?
The scars left by the Great Sage Faust seemed to have been pretty severe.
“Oh, I’m in Class D? Wait, hang on. Class D is doing the role of Class F now? So nothing actually changed for me?”
“Pretty much.”
“Ha! That’s kind of a harsh evaluation. I’m a high-level talent now. I can even use advanced illusion magic.”
“You want to go complain?”
“No.”
Not enough to actually complain about it.
I didn’t care which class I ended up in.
It wasn’t like learning one advanced spell suddenly meant I could take on other students head-on and win.
As long as it wasn’t Class S, I didn’t really care.
“But why are you in Class D? You were keeping your grades right in the middle. Wouldn’t that normally land you in Class C?”
“Beats me. Why do you think?”
I’d had a feeling she was up to something from the way she acted like she knew something this morning. Now it seemed clear she’d done something.
At most, it was probably manipulating things so she’d end up in the same class as me…
“Does the Headmistress know?”
“I got her permission.”
“Then it’s fine.”
As long as it wasn’t something that got her on the bad side of the most powerful person in the Cradle, it didn’t matter.
Besides, this girl would’ve barged into our class even if she’d been assigned somewhere else.
Maybe that was even factored into the decision when they were assigning classes…
“Ugh, when are we supposed to pack up now?”
The classroom that was about to become vacant.
Students began collecting the belongings they had left behind during the break in the classroom where we’d made so many memories over the semester.
Some had a lot to take, like books or training uniforms. Others only had little things, like decorations from the top of their desks.
After the chaos of Class F died down, we made our way to Class D, the new center of chaos.
“It’s even more chaotic here.”
“That’s right.”
Unlike Class F, which was becoming completely vacant, Class D was now a mix of students from different classes, and the result was far more chaotic.
There were students packing up their things, others unpacking theirs into the newly emptied spaces.
And then there were the ones stuck waiting outside the classroom, holding armfuls of belongings because they hadn’t gotten a turn yet.
“Hmm?”
And in the middle of it all—
There was a student wearing a hood pulled low over their face, looking suspicious no matter how you saw it.
What the heck? I wasn’t the type to memorize everyone’s face, but I was pretty sure I’d never seen someone like that before.
“Yuna.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know who that person is?”
“Who?”
“Over there, look. The person with a hood pulled over who looks suspicious no matter how you look at them.”
“Oh, you’re right. Who could that be?”
“Someone you don’t know?”
“Mhmm. Actually, I didn’t even notice them until you pointed it out, Johan. They must be pretty skilled. But why are they in Class D?”
Does that mean they’re so skilled even Yuna didn’t notice them?
That’s unsettling.
A strange sense of unease crept down my spine.
“Oh, now that I think about it, I heard they were bringing in people from outside this time.”
“From outside? You don’t mean new students, so… transfer students?”
“Mhmm. And the fact they’re transferring in as second years probably means they’re actually good. But who around our age could be that skilled?”
“Who knows… More than that, I just hope they don’t cause any trouble. Or if they do, I hope it’s somewhere I’m not.”
In any case, if someone’s coming in from the outside, they definitely had to be approved by the Headmistress first.
“Should I check into it?”
“No, it’s fine. We don’t need to get involved. It’ll all come out soon enough.”
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
Whoever that person was, someone will start asking questions eventually.
We just have to wait and see when that happens.
***
Once the commotion died down and the new homeroom professor arrived in the schoolyard, I managed to get a sense of the situation.
Roughly speaking, half the students in Class D were top-performing first years.
In a way, the evaluation of the class was even worse than when we were still Class F.
Now we were being directly compared to the first years.
And the atmosphere among the first years wasn’t great either.
Since they’d been near the top of their class, their noses were in the air.
Still, maybe they weren’t happy about being placed in second-year Class D.
Guess they don’t know their place.
“Looks like there are five transfer students. And I even recognize one of the faces.”
“Hmm?”
The transfer students hadn’t entered the classroom yet.
Maybe because they were from outside, they were planning to introduce them separately.
“All right, quiet down. Settle down, everyone.”
That’s when a voice rang out, silencing the noise.
The homeroom professor standing in the schoolyard was the same one who had previously been in charge of Class E.
“I’m sure all of you are feeling a bit confused. I’ll give you a quick rundown of the announcements.”
The professor’s explanation was simple:
1. Olga Hermod swept away the parasites that had been eating away at the cradle.
2. With the number of students greatly reduced, some were moved up to new classes, and others were brought in from outside.
3. Now it’s time for introductions.
Nothing too unexpected.
The only surprising part was that the Headmistress had finally drawn her sword for real.
“Let’s start from the left, shall we?”
There was only a moment of hesitation before the introductions began under the professor’s lead.
Naturally, the ones drawing attention were the transfer students.
The four who had already introduced themselves were all people we could have predicted.
Those who had made names for themselves as mercenaries in the snowy northern regions, or ones who had awakened their talents late.
Some were intellectuals already affiliated with academic societies.
And among them—
“Hello, big brother Johan.”
“Emily? You’re one of the transfer students?”
Emily walked over with quick steps and took a seat near me as she introduced herself.
“His Majesty the Emperor issued an order, so here I am.”
“His Majesty?”
Even if she kept her identity as Ex Machina hidden, Emily was undeniably talented.
Still, the fact that she was selected under the Emperor’s influence left a bad taste.
If that’s the case, the one we’ve been watching might also be someone planted by the imperial family.
If so, not even Olga Hermod would’ve had a say in it.
“Did you get a look at the others?”
“No.”
“You didn’t talk to them?”
“They didn’t talk to me.”
“…I see.”
Maybe I was expecting too much from Emily.
This girl almost never speaks first unless someone approaches her. The time she spoke to me first had just been an exception.
“So you’re saying you don’t know who that person is either?”
“Who do you mean?”
“That one over there with the hood over their head. Isn’t it way too obvious how suspicious they look?”
“Are they suspicious?”
Ah, I asked the wrong person.
She was suspicious herself by nature, so even someone looking blatantly suspicious wouldn’t strike her as odd.
In the end, we got nothing. All we could do was wait for the hooded student to reveal themselves.
And after the long, overly academic (and self-important) introductions of the previous transfer students, it was finally the hooded student’s turn.
“All right, last student.”
“Yes.”
From the moment I heard the voice, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
This voice… I’ve heard it before. But who could it be?
“Hello.”
And then, the owner of that familiar voice pulled back the hood that had been hiding their face the entire time and spoke.
Hair like melted gold.
Blue eyes that sparkled like gemstones.
“Huh…?”
The moment I saw that face, it was as if the world fell silent.
Like a bomb had gone off nearby. My ears rang and my vision narrowed.
“My name is Alice.”
I thought I had let go of the past.
I thought I had moved on, taken a step forward, away from all lingering regrets.
I was wrong.
The remnants of the past hadn’t disappeared. They were still holding me back.
As if to say… there’s no escape for you.
Leave a Reply