Chapter 303 : Side Story (5)
Chapter 303: Side Story (5)
I wondered if this was what it felt like to be a cat chasing a mouse.
No, at least a cat would manage to grab the mouse or corner it somewhere.
In my situation, it felt more like someone casting a net in the middle of the night, trying to scoop up the moon reflected on the surface of the water.
“— Master!”
“…I am not your Master. No, I am not.”
“No, wait…! Just stop for a moment, Master!”
“I happen to be extremely busy with work, so I will be taking my leave now.”
“What… Master!”
I shouted and ran toward Berenistella, whom I had run into in a completely unexpected situation.
But she slipped away from me at great speed while spouting an absurd lie.
I chased after her until my breath rose up to my throat, but I could not catch her—nor could I even properly see the side of her face.
“I thought you said I wouldn’t get caught! You said if I wore a mask and a uniform no one would recognize me…!”
“That brat said it was a good idea—what good idea…!”
“I’m the idiot who actually agreed to it so easily…!”
If there was any gain at all, it was that while she was fleeing I happened to overhear her muttering complaints and insults at herself in disbelief.
But the only thing I could catch was her voice.
Once she decided she would escape, I could not even get close to her, even though we were in the same classroom.
At one point I must have been caught in some strange Ritual Sorcery she had used, because no matter how hard I ran or what I tried, I ended up returning to my original seat.
After struggling for quite some time, I finally turned my attention elsewhere.
To Arpentia.
But this side was hardly any easier.
Compared to the Eight Demon Lords she might appear less dazzling, but the name of a member of the Wolpen Knights was by no means empty.
“Lady Arpentia! Please spare me a moment. There is something I wish to discuss.”
“No thank you. And besides, it’s not appropriate for two strangers to act this casually with each other.”
“What are you—”
“If you want to go on a date with me, go ask my older sister, my older brothers, and my uncles for permission first. But even if they allow it, I think I’d die if I dated you, so I’ll decline on my side. My life is far too precious.”
“Please stop joking. More importantly, were you always like this?”
“My sisters, brothers, and uncles all said they liked this side of my personality. Do you have a problem with that?”
Arpentia spoke in a teasing tone as if she were gently provoking me, and avoided any real contact as though she had no intention of talking to me.
I managed to force my way closer somehow…
But as if she had been waiting for it, she suddenly rushed toward Professor Deiare who appeared around the corner and hugged her tightly.
“Dei! Perfect timing!”
“What is this—wh—?! Wait, could it be… Master?”
Professor Deiare also seemed completely unprepared for the situation and merely stammered as she looked at Arpentia clinging to her.
Arpentia immediately whispered something into Professor Deiare’s ear.
After listening, the flustered professor nodded as if she understood.
“I understand.”
With those words, Professor Deiare disappeared somewhere while holding Arpentia carefully in her arms.
Naturally, there was no way a human could win a race against a Centauros.
All I could do was stare blankly at their retreating figures.
“…This isn’t some kind of joke, is it?”
Faced with such an absurd situation, muttering those words was the only thing I could do.
My original plan to meet the seventh person had already slipped completely from my mind.
Or rather, by the time I finally remembered and looked around, the seventh had already disappeared long ago.
“Hah.”
When I came to my senses, I realized I had ended up looking like a complete fool, and I let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
……
Yes.
If nothing else, I could not allow that person to slip away right in front of me like this.
With that determination, I chased after Berenistella.
But I was blocked by Artemia, who stood firmly in front of the women’s dormitory.
She looked at me with a perfect and dignified smile—yet one that carried an equally powerful pressure.
In the end, I had no choice but to turn back with only a single step left between us.
“Haah.”
Overcome with a feeling I could not properly describe, I let out a deep sigh.
I had hoped to meet them again someday, but I had never imagined it would happen like this.
If Berenistella had broken her seclusion and revealed herself, then that would have been one thing—but what was the meaning of all this? It was as if she were simply toying with me.
And on top of that, Arpentia—whom I had not even expected—had appeared as well.
What in the world was going on?
Perhaps I would simply have to wait until they came to meet me.
We were both startled earlier, but surely we would not spend all the remaining days like today.
“…Should I go back?”
For now, I decided to return to my dormitory room.
No matter how I thought about it, speaking with those two today was impossible, and I also had other appointments with people.
“Hm?”
When I returned to the dormitory, I saw several letters placed on top of my desk.
There was still some time left before my appointment, so I decided to sit down and write replies.
As I flipped over the letter lying at the top, I suddenly froze.
“This…”
There was no way I could fail to recognize it.
It was Berenistella’s handwriting.
I immediately opened the letter.
Inside, there was only a single line written simply.
[Give me a little time.]
……
For a while, I read that short sentence over and over again.
Then I carefully folded the letter and placed it back on the desk.
The next letter bore a seal that looked unfamiliar yet strangely familiar.
A moment later I realized it resembled the emblem of Arpentia Academy.
[I will watch over you until the day you die.]
“Huh?”
The handwriting was elegant, but the contents were anything but ordinary.
“…What is this? A prank letter? Or some kind of threat?”
I read the contents again.
[Because you are our destination and our legacy.]
[A body of sand that cannot become platinum. This fleeting body, as fragile as a soap bubble, knows that one day it will scatter upon the winds among the clouds. Yet if this body can become a star that illuminates the path of those who travel onward beneath the dark night sky… if it can become a brief light that shines upon your future…]
[I will always illuminate your path.]
[May the stars of the night sky shine brightly upon the road you walk, and may the sand beneath your feet welcome you with warmth.]
“…What is this?”
The contents were utterly puzzling.
In the middle of it, there was even something that resembled a poem.
“This doesn’t seem like a prank letter…”
No matter how much I thought about it, I had no idea who could have sent it.
I wondered if it had been delivered by mistake, but at the top of the letter it clearly read:
“To Lian Gwendil.”
In the end, I abandoned my initial thought of tossing it aside and carefully folded the letter as well, placing it next to Berenistella’s letter.
“And then…”
The next one I picked up was Yuran’s letter.
What had started as an exchange of letters as part of our lessons—when we had agreed to teach each other the Imperial tongue and Garusol language—had long since become something like a daily routine.
It felt like a distant memory now, the day she had come to visit me while I was bedridden, carrying an armful of letters.
When she saw how weakened I was, she had dropped them with a clatter and silently shed large tears.
Now that her Imperial tongue had improved considerably, her letter was filled with everyday stories.
How difficult her life as an assistant still was.
But that she was learning a great deal from it and finding fulfillment.
And that she hoped I would begin my training again as a Sky Guide.
At the end of the thick letter, she had written:
[Lian. Your Garusol language skill good. Improving day by day. Sentences and grammar natural.]
I picked up my pen and immediately began writing a reply.
I wrote simple stories in return and told her that I also looked forward to resuming our training as Sky Guides together.
I also made sure to mention that I had received the Garusol herbs she had sent earlier.
When Professor Windy May saw them, she was extremely surprised and asked where in the world I had obtained something so precious.
As I finished the letter with words of gratitude—while worrying that I might have received something too valuable—I added one final line.
[Also, thank you for the compliment. Yuran, your Imperial tongue skill also good. Especially your use of metaphors excellent.]
Next was Cecilia’s letter.
It had started when she learned that Yuran and I exchanged letters and said she wanted to do the same.
Incidentally, when Taranis, the Spirit King of Fire, had muttered that there was no need to exchange letters when we would be seeing each other at the Academy every day anyway, Cecilia had simply shot him a sharp glance in silence.
“Let’s see.”
Cecilia’s letter began with very polite and courteous greetings.
Unlike Yuran’s, it only contained a brief inquiry about my well-being, so I wrote a reply greeting her as well and added that I looked forward to spending our time together at the Academy.
…At the end, there was a line saying that her father and older brother wanted to meet me.
That part worried me a little.
But since my own mother also wished to meet my friends someday, I convinced myself it was probably a similar sentiment and decided to let it pass.
“And finally…”
The last letter.
It was from the family—more precisely, from the Countess.
I carefully opened it.
As always, the contents began by expressing concern about my health.
……
After that day, many things had happened to the Gwendil Count family.
Originally, every member of the family could have been involved and punished with the harshest sentence.
But I had heard that Princess Velita had worked tirelessly to prevent that outcome.
Her goodwill had not ended there.
Instead of the Gwendil Count family being treated as the perpetrators, she had transformed them into victims.
Count Gwendil, the head of the family, had died at the hands of Cultists of the Evil God.
Quirian, the eldest son, had also fallen ill and died not long afterward.
As a result, Artiac, the second son, had unexpectedly inherited the family.
And the Countess, who had suddenly lost both husband and child, had developed an illness of the heart and gone into recuperation.
That was the story known to the public.
“…That’s a relief.”
After carefully reading the letter, I let out a small sigh of relief.
Fortunately, over the past year or so, the Countess seemed to have recovered considerably and moved past the memories of that day.
It could be inferred from the contents of the letter, and Artiac’s letters had also mentioned it from time to time.
“Dear…”
I slowly began writing my reply.
“…Mother.”
Unlike before, I addressed the letter not to the Countess, but to Mother.