Vrrr—!
“…Ah, it’s already that time.”
Feeling a vibration from her pocket, Ren lifted her head to check the time.
Evening was already approaching.
“What was that sound just now?”
“Time flies when I’m training. It’s a magic tool Ron gave me, telling me to be better about keeping appointments.”
“…Ron?”
“My twin sibling. We always have dinner together at this time.”
“…….”
With those words, she got up from her seat.
But for some reason, her feet felt unusually heavy today.
Realizing the reason, she turned around with a sense of anticipation and asked him a question.
“Ain, do you want to have dinner with us?”
“No.”
“…Why?”
Unlike before, his response came immediately. It was sharp and unwavering.
For some reason, that made her feel a little down.
When she looked at him, he seemed lost in thought and was wearing an odd expression.
“…I have something to take care of in the evening.”
“……I see.”
She forced herself to suppress the small pout that was forming on her lips and turned away, pushing her disappointment aside.
And then, as if to confirm once more, she asked him again.
“You’re coming tomorrow too, right?”
“Mhmm.”
“You have to, okay?”
“I said I will.”
Only after hearing his answer again did she finally feel relieved enough to leave.
.
.
.
Ain… Ain…
Ren kept repeating his name in her mind.
The more she said it, the more a smile crept onto her lips.
This is strange.
For the first time in her life, she had approached a stranger and spoken to them first.
Even if she had needed a sparring partner, was she really the type to ask a complete stranger for such a thing?
But the moment she faced him, all those doubts became meaningless.
She had only met him for the first time today.
And yet, just looking at his face made her heart race, and learning his name sent a surge of emotion through her.
It was a completely different feeling from anything she had ever experienced before.
…Did I fall for him at first sight?
The thought crossed her mind for a brief moment, but she quickly shook her head.
It felt similar to that kind of emotion, yet somehow, it was different.
As if she had finally found something precious she had lost—
“Ren.”
At that moment, a familiar voice broke through her thoughts.
Only then did she realize she had stopped walking. She turned toward the owner of the voice.
“Hey, Ron.”
“…Haah. You’re late. I even gave you a magic tool so you wouldn’t be.”
With a sigh, Ron closed the magic book he had been reading and got up from his seat.
He was a boy with the same ash-gray hair as hers.
Someone who had once seemed like he would be playful forever, yet now, he was a full-fledged adult.
The clumsy boy from the past was nowhere to be seen.
“Ren, you’ve been so absentminded lately.”
“You’re just too mature now. You were more fun when we were kids.”
“You still think I’m a little kid?”
“Mhmm.”
“…Tch. I can’t even smack you for that.”
“You can hit me if you want. It won’t hurt anyway.”
A mage’s physical attacks were no different from a gentle tap.
Knowing that all too well, Ron let his raised fist drop back down.
“…Anyway. What made you late?”
“Sorry. I had a sparring match, so my usual training ended later than expected.”
“A sparring match? With who?”
“A guy I met for the first time today. His name is Ain—”
Flinch.
Ron’s footsteps came to a halt as he walked alongside me.
And then, a question flew at me without hesitation.
“What did you just say? Who did you spar with?”
“…Huh? I had a match with someone named Ain.”
“…….”
Every time she mentioned the name Ain, Ron’s brow furrowed.
She titled her head at his reaction and asked,
“Do you know him?”
“…No?”
“Then why do you look like that?”
Ever since joining the Mage Tower, exhaustion had dulled Ron’s expressions, making his face less expressive.
Yet now, he was showing such a serious reaction.
Ren was sure she had seen that exact expression on him before.
…When was it?
Her memory felt hazy, like static clouding an old recording.
As she struggled to recall the distant memory, Ron stepped back to her side and resumed walking next to her.
His expression had returned to normal as well.
“…I must’ve mistaken him for someone else because the name sounded too familiar. It’s nothing.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm. Come on, let’s just go eat.”
With those final words, Ron took the lead and started walking ahead.
Because of that, Ren couldn’t see his face.
A face that had turned cold. So cold it could be described as icy.
When he thought of the person Ren had just mentioned, Ron’s sharp gaze glinted dangerously.
***
…I’m exhausted.
I was always tired, but today, my body felt especially heavy.
Resting my head against my desk, I tapped my stiff lower back a few times.
I barely managed to suppress the overwhelming urge to lie down and forced myself to focus on the professor’s voice.
A lecture was in progress at the front of the room.
Right now, I was in the Basic Magic class.
Along with the Basic Swordsmanship Class, it was one of the most popular subjects at Ella Academy.
…As expected of a basic class. There’s nothing new to learn.
Still, since I had at least set foot in the realm of mages, a class of this level wasn’t particularly beneficial.
Just like with swordsmanship, I needed to move up to a more advanced class.
As I twirled my pen, I went over my plans once more.
I already checked most of the locations yesterday.
Back when I played the game, there had been an element called random events.
Alongside the main episodes, they made up a significant portion of the incidents that occurred in this world.
Like the name suggested, they were unpredictable events that could happen anywhere at random times.
After my sparring match with Ren, I had wandered around various locations in the evening and conducted a hasty preliminary investigation.
I needed to verify the event locations that had appeared in the game.
It had been a bit reckless, considering the short amount of time I had, but this was something I couldn’t afford to skip.
Unlike main episodes whose timelines were set, random events were unpredictable and, in many ways, dangerously ambiguous.
More than anything, far too many playable characters, along with key and supporting figures, ended up dead after getting caught up in them.
Depending on the state of certain characters, multiple random events could even occur at the same time.
It was, in essence, a shitty system that dictated the game’s difficulty.
The ones I need to be most cautious about are the Saintess and Hero-related random events…
I racked my brain, pulling out every bit of knowledge I could, and jotted them down.
I had barely written a few, yet the paper was already filled with dense writing, making me sigh instinctively.
Once again, I found myself thinking just how messed up this world was.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s class. Great work, everyone~”
I had been so focused on writing that, before I knew it, the lecture had ended.
I stopped my pen and rose from my seat.
I’d finish the rest after lunch—
Or so I had been thinking at that moment.
“Ain. It is you, right?”
“……?”
At the sound of someone calling my name, I instinctively turned my head.
And there, standing before me, was a familiar-looking boy with ashen-gray hair. He was looking in my direction.
Ron Eisel. Ren’s twin sibling and a playable character.
“Let’s talk for a moment. Come with me.”
“…Why should I?”
I instinctively expressed my refusal, trying my best to ignore him.
But after hearing what he said next, it became impossible to just walk away.
“Are you planning to run away again without saying a word?”
“…….”
“…It’s about Ren. So, just give me a bit of your time.”
In the end, I had no choice but to comply with his request.
.
.
.
.
.
“This should be far enough.”
Once we arrived at a nearly deserted location, Ron came to a stop.
Then he gathered his mana and cast a spell.
Wooong!
A single ripple.
At the same time, the entire atmosphere shifted dramatically.
Even the faint ambient noises that had been present vanished, leaving behind complete silence.
Spatial distortion magic with multi-casting… He really is a monster.
And on top of that, it was chantless.
At that level, he’d probably reach the seventh-circle before long.
Seeing such overwhelming talent left me speechless, and for a moment, memories of the past surfaced.
I recalled the days when I first taught him the basics of magic theory. Back when he was still inexperienced in many ways.
The mischievous boy from those days had vanished without a trace and was replaced by a refined noble with sharp, piercing eyes.
After becoming the Magic Tower Master’s disciple, he had matured noticeably, and his entire demeanor had changed significantly.
“You can speak comfortably now. Nothing we say here will leak outside.”
“…Is that so.”
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence settled between us.
Now that we were face-to-face, I found it difficult to be the first to speak.
As expected, this is a bit uncomfortable.
My relationship with Ron felt distinctly different from that of other playable characters.
The biggest reason was that my past plans had gone awry.
After all, his archenemy was still alive.
“Ain, do you remember the last thing I said to you three years ago?”
Ron broke the silence and was the first to speak.
At his unexpected question, I had no trouble recalling the memory.
“…‘The next time we meet, make sure to ask me for help’?”
“You remember well.”
Ron leaned against a tree and continued speaking.
“I already knew that you were deliberately making Ren hate you.”
“……”
“I also know what you did at the cathedral that day. And what happened three years ago.”
I silently listened to his words.
There was an indescribable emotion in his voice, which trembled ever so slightly.
“But after all that… is this really the result?”
“……”
“You ended up hurting yourself, and in the end, Ren started losing her memories.”
The surrounding mana surged violently.
As if reflecting Ron’s emotions, a fierce wind swept through the area.
“You shouldered everything on your own, while I, her own family couldn’t do anything for her.”
And so—
Ron pushed himself off the tree and lowered his head toward me in earnest plea.
“…Please, this time, let me help too. I’m begging you.”
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