“Why are you here?”
“They said you were still down there… So I came back in, but suddenly ran into those things.”
“…And so you just cut them all down?”
“Mhmm.”
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No.”
Although she was covered in blood, thankfully there were no visible injuries.
She was holding a sword in her hand.
It didn’t look like an ordinary sword. A warm, white light was swirling around it.
That’s a holy sword, isn’t it?
Judging by its appearance, it seemed it hadn’t fully manifested.
If it had, there wouldn’t have been anything left of the chimera’s body.
Most likely, because there were quite a few eyes watching, she had restrained herself.
Ren absolutely hated letting others know she was a Hero.
…There must have been plenty of regular weapons lying around nearby.
Even so, the fact that she had gone as far as to draw the holy sword for my sake left me with a strange feeling.
It meant she must have been really worried about me.
“Sorry for making you worry.”
“It’s fine. As long as you’re not hurt, that’s all that matters.”
“…Is that so.”
Ren casually wiped the blood off her sword.
But there were so many bloodstains on her body that it was harder to find a clean spot.
Even the clothes that had once shown off her beauty were now stained crimson.
“Ain, let’s get out of here first.”
“Wait, Ren. If we go out that way, we’ll stand out too much. Just by looking, it’s obvious you forced your way in past the employees, isn’t it?”
“…Mhmm. I knocked them all out before coming in.”
“I figured as much.”
If we tried to head straight for the entrance now, we would definitely run into the staff stationed upstairs.
Honestly, we could just beat them all up and leave if we wanted, but with Ren here too, I wanted to avoid any more unnecessary conflict.
It was troublesome, too.
We can always clean this place up later.
My hesitation was brief, and I made a decision right away.
“So, how are we supposed to get out? Is there another exit around here?”
“Just wait a moment.”
I closed my eyes, focused my mind, and once again drew up my mana.
This time, I gathered even more.
It was a higher-level spell compared to the wind magic I had used earlier.
The ancients had called it “transfer magic”.
Nowadays, people simply called it “teleportation”.
Depending on the conditions, it was said to require at least seventh-circle proficiency, boasting an extremely high level of difficulty.
Before, I wouldn’t even have dared to attempt it… but now, I should be fine.
Even so, I had to keep the conditions as minimal as possible.
The destination was the backyard of the black market. As close as possible from here and somewhere with little foot traffic.
I reconstructed the standard teleportation magic circle in my own way.
As efficiently as possible.
Wooong—
A blue magic circle appeared beneath Ren’s and my feet.
“…Ain? This is…”
“Just close your eyes for a moment.”
Before long, the magic circle was complete.
The patterns glowing with blue light flared brightly.
.
.
.
—Crackle.
When the shimmer of light faded,
We were no longer where we had been moments ago but at the outskirts of the black market.
The teleportation had succeeded.
…It worked. Though it was insanely exhausting.
Almost all the mana that had been gathered in my heart drained away in an instant.
I staggered for a moment from the dizziness, but fortunately, it was bearable.
“…Ain. So you don’t just use aura, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m a magic swordsman, after all.”
“I was really surprised at how well you handled magic. If Ron saw this, he’d be shocked too.”
…Ron, huh?
If it was him, he had probably already reached the sixth circle by now.
Of course, he was a playable character.
His growth speed was on a completely different level compared to mine.
“Should we call it a day here?”
“…Mhmm, let’s do that.”
We were both a mess.
Just by looking at each other’s faces, it was obvious how much fatigue had built up.
Even though there weren’t any visible injuries, the chimeras Ren had fought weren’t exactly weak opponents.
That’s why Ren, though a bit reluctant, agreed as well.
“Ah, wait a second.”
“…..?”
Ren tilted her head in confusion at my call.
Although my mana was running dangerously low, there was still one spell I could cast right now.
“Clean.”
I squeezed out the remaining mana as I spoke the activation word.
A wave of light enveloped both Ren and me, flashing brightly.
As the light faded, the dirtied clothes we wore became completely clean.
“…We’re clean now.”
“If we walked back to the dorm looking like that, everyone would stare at us. We need at least this much.”
“Mhmm, you’re right. Thanks, Ain.”
“Sure. Then, I’ll head off first, okay?”
It had been an unplanned outing,
But there had been more than a few unexpected gains.
The fatigue was overwhelming, but even so, a smile naturally formed on my face.
After waving goodbye to Ren, I slowly started walking away.
The weekend still wasn’t over.
Tomorrow, I would need to take care of the preliminary work I hadn’t managed to do today.
For now, I should head back quickly and get some rest.
***
“Alright. Then, I’ll go ahead, okay?”
“……..”
Ain waved at Ren as he walked farther away.
Ren simply stood there absentmindedly, staring after him.
Before long, Ain’s figure completely disappeared from sight.
But for some reason, Ren’s gaze lingered on the spot where he had vanished.
…She felt reluctant.
The thought came to her suddenly.
That was how much she had enjoyed spending time with Ain today.
Enough to momentarily forget the dreadful memories that had seeped into her life until now.
And something about it feels familiar.
It was the first time.
It had to be the first.
This kind of warm time and these unfamiliar emotions were definitely a first for her.
And yet, somehow, they felt familiar.
The fun she had today.
The sparring session before that.
…No, maybe it had started from the moment their eyes first met at the training ground.
…Have I met Ain somewhere before?
Ren tilted her head and tried to think.
…But no matter how much she pondered, nothing came to mind.
Rather, the more she tried to think deeply about Ain, the more splitting headaches rushed in.
It was a strange phenomenon.
“There you are, Ren.”
She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of someone calling her.
The voice was so obvious and familiar that Ren spoke before she even turned her head fully.
“…Ron? You’re back earlier than I expected. You said it might take quite a while.”
“I managed to get the item more easily than I thought. …Another problem came up, though.”
“Another problem?”
Ron’s expression looked extremely serious as he spoke.
It was rare to see Ron make that kind of face.
Surely—
“By the way, Ren. Why are you alone? Didn’t you say you were going to hang out with that guy Ain today?”
“Mhmm. I did. We just parted ways a moment ago.”
“…I see. I guess I’m a little late.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. …More importantly, Ren, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
With a grave expression, Ron began to talk about the “other problem”.
She had already sensed it from his face, but hearing it directly made it even more devastating.
The light feelings that had soared sky-high came crashing down in an instant.
“…It seems like that guy has found our location.”
Ren’s expression instantly turned cold and hard.
***
The rest of the weekend flew by in the blink of an eye.
I completed preliminary surveys and groundwork and managed to acquire several useful items as well.
At this rate, the next episode should pass without much trouble.
And so, the weekend came to an end.
Finally, it was time to head back to the academy.
As I entered the classroom, Kiana welcomed me warmly.
It felt like it had been ages since I last had a conversation with Kiana.
She had grumbled, saying she was upset that I hadn’t hung out with her over the first weekend.
…She had made plenty of other friends, so why was she only acting this way toward me?
Was it because I was the first friend she made at the academy?
A small laugh slipped out.
And perhaps thinking I was mocking her, she immediately retaliated.
…It hurt like hell, but even so, this was one of the few peaceful moments in my life.
I considered it a brief moment of respite before the next episode began.
.
.
.
—Or so I thought, but apparently, even thinking that had been a flag.
At the time, I had no way of knowing the countless hardships I was about to endure today.
Time passed, and morning classes finally began.
It was my second week at the academy, but for this subject, today was the first class.
Among the subjects I had registered for, this was the only course from the administrative department.
History.
It was a course about the history of the Empire and the history of the continent that had existed even before then.
Apparently, we would be learning about various other things too, but to be honest, I wasn’t interested at all.
It wasn’t like I had chosen this course out of any real desire to study history.
But even putting all that aside,
There was an unexpected challenge waiting for me in this very class.
Someone I had met just a few days ago….someone who, right now, was the most awkward presence here by far.
…In the game, I never once saw the princess taking the history course.
Sitting just a short distance away from me was the princess, Hela Leonherit.
It felt like only yesterday that she had been apologizing to me over and over again.
And yet, here we were, attending the same class not long after.
The chair I sat in felt like a seat of thorns, it was so uncomfortable.
The strangely persistent gaze I kept feeling was also incredibly burdensome.
But the real problem was that it wasn’t just one gaze.
…Well, I did expect we’d start sticking together from today, after all.
There had been a few variables, sure.
Still, the fact remained that the first episode had proceeded without issue.
It was a development that had to happen no matter what.
It must have been around this time.
The moment when one of the playable characters made their entrance into the academy.
Because of the princess’s kidnapping incident, her life had been threatened.
The royal family had agreed to let the academy send escorts for her protection.
And standing beside Hela was someone very familiar.
The very person who had escorted me to the academy…. and the one who had stood in my way even in my dreams.
…Adele, your gaze is way too sharp.
She was glaring at me like she was ready to kill me.
Her gaze, along with another pair of eyes, stabbed at my side like needles.
…It was, truly, an unbearably uncomfortable situation.
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