Chapter 26: Ally

Looking at Ron bowing his head and pleading, I let out a sigh while feeling conflicted.

I understood what he was feeling at that moment, which only made my hesitation grow.

…It’s better than being alone, I suppose.

Experiencing everything firsthand in this place, I had come to realize something.

The incidents that would occur at the academy from now on would be too much for me to handle alone.

If Ron were to join me as an ally, it would greatly aid my future endeavors.

However, I couldn’t readily accept his request.

It was a sort of compulsion. An ingrained habit.

If it’s something I can do alone, then I must do it alone. One person suffering is enough.

…It was a somewhat foolish and self-sacrificing mindset, but having lived my whole life this way, it wasn’t easy to change.

That was why I found it difficult to ask for help from others.

If someone got involved in what I was doing and things went wrong, the consequences could end up affecting them.

It was also a trauma born from past experiences.

More than anything, Ron was a playable character, just like Ren.

He too was in a state where death could come at any moment, just like the others.

If anything, I worried that helping me would only put him in greater danger.

After all, his archenemy was still alive.

I continued to stare at Ron who remained unmoving with his head still bowed.

…Was he planning to stay like that until I accepted?

After contemplating for a long time, I finally steeled myself and spoke.

“Hey.”

“……”

“I get it, so straighten your back already.”

“…Really?”

Ron lifted his bent waist. His face instantly brightened up.

It seemed even he hadn’t expected my answer.

“Haa… Well, yeah. Honestly, it’s tough for me to handle everything alone, and if you help, it’ll take some of the burden off my shoulders.”

“…Thank you, Ain. Really.”

“You probably already have a general idea, so I won’t go into too much detail. I appreciate your help, but always make sure to put your own life first.”

It had become exhausting to keep pushing him away, so in the end, I accepted his request.

“Yeah, I understand, Ain.”

“…By the way, since you came looking for me like this, I’m guessing Ren must’ve mentioned me.”

“As soon as we met yesterday, she told me she had sparred with you.”

“I figured as much.”

Judging by the look on her face when we parted ways, I had a feeling she’d run straight to him and talk about it.

Letting out another sigh, I recalled Ren from yesterday.

Ron who saw my reaction spoke again. His expression was tinged with bitterness.

“After sparring with you, Ren was really happy. It was different from before.”

“…Ron. You’ve been by her side this whole time, so you must know better than anyone, right? That Ren is gradually losing her memories of the past.”

“Yeah.”

A side effect of walking the path of a hero.

Her emotions gradually wearing away. The memories of her past slowly vanishing.

How must Ron have felt, being forced to watch that change from the sidelines?

It wasn’t something that needed to be put into words to be understood.

“But, Ain… ever since she met you, it’s like her emotions have started to return to how they used to be.”

“…….”

“What do you think is the reason?”

“I have no idea.”

I too found it puzzling, with no real guesses in mind.

Even in the game, whenever both of her side effects worsened, they only ever intensified. Never had I seen a case where one of them actually improved.

Still, I figured it was a small silver lining in an otherwise grim situation.

“Well, in any case, there’s no use dwelling on it right now. Since I’ve agreed to accept your help, let’s move on to the main topic.”

“Oh, right.”

“Ren’s condition is only going to get worse. If this keeps up, she might eventually turn into an emotionless machine, unable to remember anyone at all.”

“…I really don’t want that to happen.”

Ron furrowed his brows as if he had just imagined a grim future.

Like I said, once the side effects progressed that far, there would be no way to reverse them.

That was why, after much deliberation over the years, I had come up with two possible solutions.

“The first method is to defeat the Demon King as quickly as possible, just as the hero’s fate dictates.”

“Is that even possible? There’s barely any recorded information about him, even in the Magic Tower’s library.”

“…Honestly, I’m not too keen on this option either.”

Even in the game, no matter which route was taken, the Demon King’s existence was never confirmed.

Before he could even reappear in the mortal world, all the playable characters had already died.

To me, the Demon King who would eventually return was just as much an unknown entity.

No matter how I look at it, this method carries too much risk. Just because she’s a hero doesn’t guarantee she can defeat the Demon King.

On top of that, the chances of Ren facing the Demon King in time were extremely low.

We had no idea where he would be reborn in the first place, so it wasn’t like we could go searching for him ourselves.

In the end, the only viable option was the second method.

“The second method, which has a slightly higher chance of success… is for Ren to surpass the level of a Master.”

Master. A realm that those who wielded aura dreamed of reaching.

In terms of magic, it was comparable to an eighth or ninth-circle archmage.

The peak that a mortal body could possibly attain.

But to completely erase her side effects, she would need to rise even higher than that.

“Grandmaster.”

“…Ain. Are you serious? I’ve only ever heard rumors about that realm. Does it even truly exist?”

“They say that, in theory, a tenth-circle in magic is possible. There’s no reason it couldn’t exist.”

“That sounds ridiculously far-fetched…”

“It just shows how dire Ren’s situation is. It is desperate enough to cling to something like this.”

“..……”

The two of us looked at each other and let out a sigh at the same time.

The situation was anything but easy.

“…So, what exactly do you need me to do? I mean, it’s not like we can just turn Ren into a Grandmaster.”

“It’d be hard to offer direct help. But there is something you can do.”

I handed Ron a note.

Normally, I would have gathered these materials myself. But as the disciple of the Tower Master, Ron would have a much easier time acquiring them.

There was a magical tool I needed to create for Ren and the others to prepare for the events ahead.

“…These are all rare materials.”

“Do you think you can get them?”

“Well, it’s not impossible. I’ll try to get them as soon as I can.”

“Thanks.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you. After everything you’ve done for us…”

Ron’s gratitude made me chuckle.

I lightly tapped his shoulder, playing it off as if it was nothing.

“I did it because I wanted to, so don’t feel guilty.”

And I truly meant it.

***

After parting ways with Ron, I had lunch with Kiana. The afternoon classes passed by smoothly as if they were flowing water.

It was the last class of the week before the weekend.

In the afternoon, I had metallurgy and basic mana control.

And, of course, there were playable characters attending each class.

Out of the ten, only two male characters remained besides Ron.

…They’ve really changed a lot, haven’t they?

After both classes had ended, that thought crossed my mind.

Memories of my past connections with them remained in the past as well.

Now that they had matured and come to resemble their in-game illustrations perfectly, I often felt a strange mix of familiarity and unfamiliarity whenever I saw them.

Of course, they hadn’t noticed me at all during class, and I had no intention of drawing their attention either.

At the very least, those two, being playable characters, were in a more stable situation compared to the others.

There was no real need for me to reveal myself just yet.

Tap.

Lost in thought, I arrived at my destination.

Once all my classes were over, I stopped in front of a particular facility as planned.

This should be far enough.

Bzzzt—!

I gathered my mana.

I used magic to erase both my presence and appearance as I walked through the facility. Then I checked the location of my target.

The Magical Tool Research Lab… This is it.

Inside the large building, various research facilities from different departments were housed.

Among them, my objective was the private lab of a certain magical tool researcher.

This was the place where the magic tool responsible for the first main episode, the princess’s kidnapping, was located.

Luckily, the door’s unlocked.

Unlike the more restricted facilities, this one had an open corridor leading inside. As I passed through, a vast laboratory unfolded before me.

I took in the sight with admiration and looked around to see all sorts of magical tools scattered about. Many of which I had seen before in my magical tools class.

It seemed the researcher who used this space had little interest in cleaning.

Found it.

Fortunately, finding my target in the cluttered space was easy.

After all, the spatial transportation magical tool was absurdly large to begin with.

I approached the giant portal positioned at the center of the laboratory.

Its appearance was noticeably different from the gates I used when going to school.

A faint black light seeped out from the circular portal.

It had yet to be activated.

Let’s see…

I examined the magic circle located on the side of the portal.

In the game, the Fourth Prince had modified this magic circle to kidnap the princess.

Since I had taken on his role, I planned to use it as well.

Of course, I intended to make a few alterations.

First, I’ll need to rewrite these runes—

.

.

.

That was when it happened.

“…Uh, hello? Is anyone here…?”

A sudden voice from behind startled me, and I quickly turned my head.

Standing there was a girl with a familiar face.

…Hela? Why is she here at this hour…?!

Caught off guard by her unexpected appearance, I hastily stopped what I was doing and restored the magical tool to its original state.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to suspect anything and only tilted her head in confusion.

“That’s strange… I could’ve sworn I heard something. Did I imagine it?”

She glanced around again, checking for any signs of someone’s presence.

Thankfully, the invisibility magic kept me out of her sight.

Why is the princess here at this hour…?

This never happened in the game.