Chapter 302 : Side Story (4)
Chapter 302: Side Story (4)
“…You really are creepy beyond belief. Just watching you gives me goosebumps all over.”
Even when the mocking voice suddenly rang out, Berenistella showed no reaction at all.
Despite the blatantly indifferent attitude with which she ignored the remark, the owner of the voice did not seem discouraged in the slightest. Rather, she spoke again in an even sharper tone.
“So what, did you quit being a mage and decide to change careers into an assassin? It’s not like you only look at him once in a while—you’ve been staring at him every single day, all day long. At this rate, you might bore a hole straight through that kid’s body.”
The voice spoke with blatant sarcasm, well aware that ever since that incident happened to the man whom Berenistella had once taken as her disciple…
Ever since he had miraculously come back to life, she had watched his every movement without missing a single day, as though she were monitoring him.
“If the Eight Demon Lords found out someone like you was watching them, nobody would be able to stay sane.”
“…….”
“If you’re going to do this anyway, why not just shut your eyes and go talk to him? From the looks of it, he doesn’t resent you at all—if anything, he seems like he wants to see you.”
“…If he becomes entangled with me.”
Berenistella murmured quietly.
“That child will no longer be able to live the rest of his life… living a peaceful and ordinary life.”
“Huh?”
“Only now has that child finally escaped the fate that once bound him.”
She spoke while swallowing a sigh.
“…Yes, for once you actually said something sensible. A human who lives entangled with the Eight Demon Lords—how could they possibly endure the rest of their life with a sound mind? How could they ever live a normal life?”
“…….”
After finishing her words, Berenistella gazed quietly in Lian’s direction.
At that moment, Lian—who had fallen over while being hugged by Cecilia—was gently stroking her head, as though trying to comfort her silent sobbing.
Each time his hand moved across her hair, Cecilia pretended otherwise but tightened her arms around him even more.
Lian seemed not to notice, continuing to move his hand as if soothing her.
“…….”
Berenistella watched that scene with eyes filled with many emotions.
“So.”
The owner of the voice muttered as if she found the whole thing absurd.
“Then are you planning to live like someone who’s been forcibly rejected forever? Like a dog that lost its master—just watching from afar? Until that human lives the ordinary life you wanted for him and eventually dies of old age?”
“…….”
Even at the mocking remark, Berenistella showed no reaction.
Her attitude was so calm—almost as if she truly accepted that possibility—that the mocking voice itself became flustered.
“…Good heavens. You can’t be serious? You actually mean that?”
The voice spoke in disbelief.
“Foxes may be related to dogs, but even a dog raised by humans wouldn’t go that far. Just what in the world is an Eight Demon Lord like you thinking?”
“Human lifespans are short.”
Berenistella murmured softly.
“That obvious and cruel truth… you know it better than anyone. Even better than I do.”
“What does that suddenly have to do with—”
“…And since it was like slapping the cheek of a crying child, I intended to stay silent and say nothing.”
As she spoke, Berenistella glanced sideways and glared at the one who had been provoking her beside her.
“You, who bound the Empire and the world itself for three hundred years in pursuit of reviving your dead comrades—what right do you have to lecture me?”
“…Ugh.”
“If anything, you are far worse than I am, Arpentia.”
At Berenistella’s sharp remark, the owner of the voice—Arpentia—flinched and fell silent.
After all, she herself knew better than anyone that Berenistella’s words were completely true.
“Well then, since we’re already talking about it….”
Berenistella rose to her feet as if the timing were perfect. Arpentia immediately flinched.
“Take this opportunity, for I have something to question you about.”
“W-what is it…?”
Facing the faint aura she was emanating, Arpentia shrank slightly as she asked.
“How did you know that I had been watching that child all day long?”
“…….”
“Answer.”
Faced with her terrifying demeanor, Arpentia instinctively waved her hands.
Berenistella did not let her escape, spreading her aura wide and dense like a spider’s web as she spoke.
“If you intend to scheme something against that child—”
“That’s not it!”
Arpentia shouted hurriedly.
Berenistella withdrew her aura slightly as if to say then explain yourself. With a sigh, Arpentia finally began to speak quietly.
“…Fine. It’s not something worth dodging anyway, so I’ll just tell you the truth.”
Sighing again, she suddenly sat down heavily.
Then she looked toward the same place Berenistella had been watching—toward Lian.
In her sight, a woman from Garusol named Yuran was entering through the door, seeing the two people lying on the floor hugging each other, and shouting something with a bright red face.
Arpentia watched the flustered trio for a moment before speaking quietly.
“That child achieved the miracle I had wished for.”
The revival of the dead.
How many years had she devoted to it?
How many things had she sacrificed?
…It took three hundred years for her to realize that it had all been nothing more than a mirage—nothing more than her selfish desire.
“And that child finished what all of us… what we should have finished ourselves. Thinking about it now, Lady Anastasia probably knew all along that it would end this way. That child would bring the journey we all walked to its conclusion.”
Arpentia glanced toward Berenistella.
“And that you would walk that path with him as well.”
“That does not justify your actions of watching that child.”
“In other words, that child can be said to be the culmination of all our convictions and legacies.”
Arpentia said quietly.
“To watch the end of it… perhaps that is the last duty left to me, the final knight.”
“…….”
“…Nothing you’re worried about will ever happen. I swear it. I swear on my name—and on all of our names.”
Arpentia’s eyes shone clearly as she spoke.
The murky aura she had once shown at the auction house was nowhere to be found.
“I cannot stain our convictions and journey a second time with my own hands.”
“…What a trivial story.”
Berenistella gathered the aura she had spread out as if she had lost interest.
Arpentia, still seated a short distance away, silently watched the same place she did.
Lian.
Cecilia Everglenn.
Yuran.
The three of them were bickering among themselves when Professor Windy May arrived after finishing her work, making the situation even more chaotic.
“He’s gotten much weaker.”
At the offhand remark, Berenistella nodded.
“I know.”
“His Divine Power is still extremely pure, but the quantity has dropped a lot.”
“The one who had been watching over that child has now departed on a distant journey.”
Berenistella murmured.
“The power of the Brand has almost faded too.”
“That is only natural, now that it has served its purpose.”
“Hmm… well, he’s still quite capable, but compared to the first time we saw him, it’s hard to even compare.”
At Arpentia’s murmur, Berenistella suddenly snapped back.
“That child is still young.”
“Oh—uh, right.”
“And he has only recently been revived, so he has not properly recovered yet. Once his convalescence is complete, he will regain most of his former strength.”
“I mean—who said anything…? Why are you getting so angry? Don’t tell me you’re mad because I said your disciple got weaker?”
“Tch… you know nothing, yet you keep flapping your mouth.”
Instead of replying properly, Berenistella clicked her tongue loudly.
Even Arpentia was surprised by how openly displeased she looked.
“…He will grow stronger. That child’s talent is not poor. Moreover, his character is upright and proper. Without a doubt, he will leave his name in history.”
“He already seems like he might….”
Berenistella shifted her gaze slightly.
Her eyes were no longer on Lian but on Windy May.
The emotion in them was different from before.
Jealousy.
Envy.
And longing.
“That should have been my place.”
Arpentia suddenly muttered, imitating Berenistella’s tone.
Berenistella’s eyelids twitched.
“…….”
“My disciple! That smile should have been directed only at me—! Sorry.”
“You.”
Arpentia hurriedly apologized.
Berenistella’s eyes glared at her with frightening fury.
“You truly wish to die by my hand—”
“Wait, wait! I’m sorry! I really messed up!”
Arpentia apologized frantically.
She hadn’t expected Berenistella to react this strongly.
“If you know you have done wrong, then paying the price is only proper.”
But Berenistella showed no intention of forgiving her.
The aura slowly gathering in her hand was definitely not something to laugh off.
Am I really going to die?
Like this…?
Cold sweat ran down Arpentia’s back as a solution suddenly flashed through her mind.
In the past, her eyes had been clouded by stubborn obsession—but there was a reason she had once been praised as a sage.
“L-listen to me first! I had a reason for provoking you earlier! You can vent your anger if you want, but at least hear me out!”
“…Speak.”
“I’m worried about you!”
At Arpentia’s words, Berenistella snorted.
“Why not just admit that you too have fallen for my disciple like those children over there? What ridiculous lies you speak.”
“No—what I’m worried about is this world!”
Arpentia shouted.
“Don’t be arrogant, Berenistella. You say you’ll simply watch that child’s life until the day you die? Do you really think you can do that?”
“How dare you presume to judge—”
“Don’t get angry at me—ask yourself. You were the one who threw everything away and reversed time just to save that child. What guarantee do you have that you won’t do it again?”
Berenistella froze.
Seeing that, Arpentia continued.
“You don’t have to look far. Just look at me. Look at what I did. And yet you think… you think you won’t walk the same path as me?”
“…….”
“If that happens—if you reach the point where there is no turning back… and if your eyes become clouded like mine did… then what will happen?”
Arpentia sighed.
“Everything we did—and everything that child did—will become meaningless.”
“…Then.”
Berenistella murmured weakly.
“What exactly are you telling me to do? What am I supposed to….”
Arpentia leaned closer and whispered.
“…So.”
It sounded like the whisper of a devil offering temptation.
“I happen to know a good method.”
“Haa….”
Thinking back to the earlier commotion, a sigh escaped me without realizing it.
Still rubbing the throbbing back of my head, I tidied up the seat where I had been sitting.
Since I had repeated a year and returned to school, I couldn’t exactly skip class on the very first day.
After what was practically a plea from me, I barely managed to slip away like this.
Class with Windy May.
Training with Cecilia.
And even spiritual training with Yuran as a Sky Guide.
Thinking about it now, I realized just how recklessly I had been stretching myself in every direction.
Honestly, I wondered if there was even any need to keep pushing myself to grow stronger now.
…But I couldn’t just casually break the promises I had made with them.
“We will now begin class. Everyone, please take your seats.”
At the professor’s words from the platform, the noise in the classroom gradually subsided.
It was a professor I had never seen before—not in this life, nor even in my previous one.
I had heard that with the establishment of the Integrated Class, the academy had recruited many new staff members. He was probably one of those newly appointed instructors.
“Before discussing the upcoming class schedule, I would like to introduce some other students who will be attending class with us.”
The young professor cleared his throat.
“As many of you may already know, the Empire and the Demons… or rather, the Magic Kingdom, have recently formed a peace treaty and begun various exchanges. As part of that process, several individuals have come here to Arpentia Academy as exchange students.”
He raised a hand to quiet the murmuring before continuing firmly.
“I trust there are no foolish or narrow-minded individuals here, but I will state this clearly just in case. These people have come to Arpentia Academy as legitimate exchange students. That means they possess the same rights and qualifications as all of you. I sincerely hope no one behaves rashly.”
At his words, my eyes lit up slightly.
Exchange students from the Demons.
Yes… I clearly remembered.
‘The seventh… the last one.’
The final member of the Seven Heroes.
And the hero I had never personally met.
I remembered that person had once come here as a Demon exchange student.
‘In my previous life, the humans rejected them as a spy, while their own kind rejected them as a traitor.’
Of course, that was the era of war. Everyone suffered in their own way.
But that person’s situation had been especially tragic.
‘But.’
This time would be different.
No—there was no doubt it would be different.
I was certain.
‘…Maybe I should try talking to them.’
Just as I thought that, the classroom door opened and several men and women began entering one after another.
And then—
“…Huh?”
When I saw two of them, the sound escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
“I’m Arpen! Nice to meet you!”
The woman wearing a cheerful smile that was completely different from before was unmistakably Arpentia.
With her playful grin—and perhaps because of the beauty and voice typical of a mermaid—it seemed she had already won over most of the class.
But that wasn’t the only reason I was surprised.
Behind Arpentia…
“Be—Ber. No, I’m Berni….”
A woman fidgeting awkwardly while adjusting the mask that covered half her face.
She also seemed uncomfortable in the academy uniform, tugging nervously at the hem of the skirt.
It was like watching an adult forced to wear clothes meant for a child.
Looking at her, I murmured again without thinking.
“Master?”
…My reunion with my master was shocking in many ways.