Manufactured Emotion

My body instinctively swung the spear at the approaching danger.

The fireball, surging with magic power, exploded with a tremendous roar.

Kwaaaaaang――!!!

As if intending to press the attack, magic flew through the rising dust.

I quickly tilted my upper body, but my reaction was slow because I had lost my balance. My left arm was pushed back, and I felt a great impact.

The artifact absorbing the impact turned red, signaling danger.

If I took any more impact, I’d be eliminated immediately.

I quickly took out the seeds I had filled my pocket with, infused them with magic power, and threw them forward.

The flying fireball exploded against the giant beanstalk that had grown.

Kwang―!

Several explosions were heard in succession. My vision was limited due to the rising dust and the burning beanstalk.

―――!

The arena floor began to collapse from the massive impact.

At the same time, I felt the space on both sides of me ripple.

The manifestation of magic power.

The moment I felt it, I instinctively ran forward.

Kwaaaaaang――!

The walls that suddenly appeared on either side collided and collapsed with a roar.

Kung! Kung! Kung!

Ignoring the sound behind me, I ran forward toward the traces of the spell I could see through the dust.

The floor I was stepping on suddenly shot upward, and my body soared into the air.

Through the dust, I saw Ellie aiming her staff at me in the air.

With one corner of her mouth twisted up, Ellie, who looked at me with strange eyes, swung her staff without delay.

A giant stone fist made of magic flew toward me.

But I didn’t give up.

Because I said I would do my best.

I forcibly twisted my body in the air. I heard a cracking sound from somewhere in my body from the recoil, but all my nerves were focused on Ellie.

Swaeeeeek―!

I gathered the remaining magic power and threw the spear.

Kwaaaa――!

The stone fist shattered, and the Spear of Destruction surged toward Ellie without losing momentum.

The red light, destroying everything in its path, was fired at Ellie.

But Ellie reacted even to that.

A purple lightning mass that appeared with sparks in the air caught the Spear of Destruction in mid-air.

After landing on the ground, I gritted my teeth and ran toward Ellie as a last resort.

Ellie pointed her staff at me with a bright smile.

A huge impact struck my chest. I belatedly heard a sound like beating a drum in my ears.

As my body rolled backward across the arena floor, I finally heard the audience’s rough cheers.

-The top student of the first grade is…! Ellie of the Magic Department!!!

A hollow laugh leaked out between my teeth along with the excited announcer’s voice.

I couldn’t reach it.

Effort, talent, anything.

It was the expected result, but my mouth was bitter.

“…Shibal.”

My hollow curse was scattered without reaching anyone in the audience’s enthusiastic cheers.

***

“The awards ceremony will be held immediately after the 4th grade finals, so please wait in the waiting room.”

I nodded silently at the staff member’s words.

The floor, which had been echoing with the audience’s cheers, was quiet, as the 2nd grade finals seemed to be in preparation.

I ran a hand over my face and leaned back in my chair.

I once again realized my inferior talent, buried under the fraudulent magic of space magic.

Space magic and the Spear of Destruction.

Without these two, I’m still below average.

I find myself strangely ridiculous.

Even though I knew the result, it’s hard to accept easily.

It seems that a small expectation was hidden in a corner of my heart.

– Kkeuek

I reflexively turned my head at the sound of the door opening and met eyes with obsidian eyes.

“Ross.”

Ellie, who closed the waiting room door and came straight to me, had a faint smile on her face.

I pretended to be nonchalant and said in a calm voice.

“You worked hard.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Saying that with a smile, Ellie, who sat close enough for our clothes to brush, looked at me silently for a moment.

Black eyes resembling beautiful obsidian.

I couldn’t help but avoid the strange heat in those eyes.

“Ross, you were really amazing today. I couldn’t find any trace of the Ross from a year ago….”

“I lost without even attacking once.”

I heard a stifled laugh at my sighing words.

“But if it was the previous you, you would have been knocked out with one spell. This is a huge improvement. You became the vice-chief of Transcendence Academy in just one year. The villagers will all be surprised, right?”

I nodded weakly at Ellie’s words.

I’m still a freshman, and there are many ways to grow. The Lycan’s training, which is the reward for the bet, is also waiting for me….

In the first place, when I participated in the duel. Since the ultimate goal was vice-chief, there’s no need to be depressed anymore. Because something more important remains.

I didn’t rush and organized what I was going to say in my head once again. At the same time, I braced myself for the worst.

Ellie’s words overtook me just before my lips parted.

“Ross, there’s something I’m worried about.”

“Huh?”

My momentum broken, I turned my head in embarrassment with a stupid voice and met her eyes. Ellie smiled prettily and leaned slightly toward me.

“Why didn’t you use that magic?”

“Magic?”

“I’m talking about the magic you used in the village.”

A strange look observes my expression. I felt like my mouth was drying up at the emotion, whether it was suspicion or curiosity.

“I was constantly keeping you in check in case you used that magic.”

“There was a reason why I couldn’t use it.”

“Heuung, I see.”

Making a nasal sound, Ellie put her shoulder against mine. I flinched as if I had been burned by the warmth felt through the clothes.

Ellie, narrowing her eyes slightly at my reaction and giving me an attractive eye smile, said in a playful voice.

“I thought you weren’t using it on purpose to let me win.”

“There’s no way.”

When I let out a short laugh, Ellie twitched her lips and said.

“Why~? You used to do that often. You took the punishment for me, and you got scolded instead of me for what I did wrong.”

“Did I?”

Because it was a memory that didn’t appear in the novel, I had no choice but to answer in a calm voice.

“Yeah, you did…. I don’t know if you remember, but from then on, I thought Ross was really nice.”

It felt like those words were thorns piercing my heart. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of expression Ellie would make when she found out about Ross’s true nature.

A sinister thought comes to mind from a corner of my heart.

Do I really have to tell her that I deliberately told hyung that I liked you so that he would reject your confession?

If only I keep my mouth shut, Roel and Ellie won’t know anything.

If I just deceive Roel and connect with Ellie like this….

I hit my thigh with my fist. Reason returned to me from the tingling pain.

I almost lost my reason again due to my possessiveness towards Ellie. Even though I had made that resolution and determination, I was shaken by Ellie in front of me.

Although it’s a manufactured emotion that remained in Ross without memories, I still haven’t let it go.

Surprised by my sudden action, Ellie tilted her head and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

I sighed and said to Ellie, who had a worried look on her face.

“I have a confession to make to you.”

The moment I spoke, I felt a throbbing in my heart. Was it preparing for the shock in advance?

“…A confession?”

I spat out the words that came to my mind to the bewildered Ellie as if pouring them out.

“I’m not as nice as you think. I wanted to keep you by my side, so I told hyung that I liked you over and over again. I thought that if I said that, hyung would definitely reject your confession because of his personality. Because he wasn’t the type of hyung who would take away his younger brother’s favorite childhood friend.”

Ellie took her shoulder away from mine. I felt like something was collapsing in my heart from the warmth that was falling away.

For some reason, I had a premonition of an inexplicable sense of loss.

“No, no way….”

Ellie put her hand to her mouth with a shocked face.

“It’s true. I wanted to possess you as my own. You were the only person who was nice to me, and you were the person who made me feel warm.”

I lowered my head with a voice full of guilt.

I didn’t have the confidence to meet her eyes. I was afraid to meet Ellie’s eyes, who felt betrayed by me.

Ellie was silent for a long time. I felt suffocated by the silence that filled the waiting room.

If I hadn’t heard the announcer’s shout announcing the start of the duel from outside the arena along with the audience’s fierce cheers, I might have suffocated.

After a long time, Ellie said as if squeezing out her voice.

“Now…?”

The words I heard in my ear were so different from what I expected that my head turned white.

I thought about her cursing me and resenting me. I expected her to unleash her hardships on me, but what Ellie said was not like that.

So I had no choice but to raise my head and look at Ellie with a blank gaze. My head had turned white, so I couldn’t give a proper answer.

Ellie, who couldn’t say anything, shone her obsidian eyes and asked again.

“Do you still want to possess me now?”