episode_0018

Upon entering the assigned dorm room, a girl with long, silvery hair cascading past her shoulders and a pure, innocent appearance was unpacking her luggage.

This girl seemed to be the roommate I’d be living with. She was so pretty that I found myself admiring her without realizing it. Upon hearing the compliment, the girl’s face flushed. She seemed quite shy.

‘Wait, if I just blurt out “pretty” to someone I’m meeting for the first time, won’t she think I’m strange?’

Oh, I messed up. Now that I think about it, it might come across as rude to comment on someone’s appearance the first time you meet them.

I should apologize first.

“Hey, I mean, if that upset you, I’m sorry.”

Upon hearing my words, a mix of surprise and shyness crossed the girl’s face. She then gave a slight smile and replied.

“It’s okay! What you said earlier was a compliment, right? Thank you!”

“Are you really okay? Your reaction seemed a bit off after I said that.”

“No! I wasn’t upset. It’s just… I was a little surprised to hear something like that so suddenly. But it didn’t seem like you meant anything bad by it, right?”

“Exactly! Thanks for understanding!”

The girl’s reaction wasn’t bad. See, you really should apologize first if something happens.

The girl smiled brightly.

“I’m fine, but please don’t suddenly tell other people they’re pretty or handsome. Some people might get angry, thinking you’re making fun of them when you comment freely on their appearance. Oh! Again, I was perfectly fine. Don’t take it too much to heart.”

“No, you’re right. I’ll be careful.”

That’s right, there are some people in the world who don’t take compliments as compliments.

After the short conversation, an awkward silence fell between the girl and me. I felt like I should say more, but I didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

What do people usually say in situations like this? ‘The weather is so nice?’ Or ‘Have you eaten?’

This is weird. The girl also seemed to be hesitating, unable to open her mouth.

Right, they said to use questions to keep a conversation going.

I cleared my throat.

“Uhm, so, you’re also moving into the dorms? A freshman?”

“…Yes, that’s right! I just enrolled at Polaris this year. Are you also a freshman?”

“Wow? Really? That’s amazing! Yeah! I’m a freshman too. Nice to meet you! I’m Violet. Violet D. Ruzilin. What about you?”

My middle name had a strange pronunciation, so I just left it out. Plus, it looks cool, right? A ‘D’ in the middle of my name. It feels like I’ve become part of a legendary clan.

In response to my question, the girl replied with a smile that bloomed like a fresh flower.

“So it was true that they assign classmates to the same room? Nice to meet you, Ruzilin-ssi! I’m Daphne Grace!”

Her large, sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Wait a minute, Daph… what? That name sounds familiar somehow.

“Um? My hearing is actually a little poor. Could you tell me your name again?”

“It’s Daphne Grace. Are you perhaps curious about the spelling of my name?… Ruzilin-ssi? Are you feeling unwell? Your expression…”

I forced my stiff face to relax into a bright expression.

As if sensing my strange discomfort, Daphne looked at me with a worried expression.

“You’re not sick, are you?”

“No. I’m not sick. I’m healthy! Hehe…”

It was a lie.

The moment I heard her name, I felt a slight dizziness. I stumbled as I tried to step back.

“I’m just going to the restroom for a moment!”

I burst into the restroom.

-Splash!

Rinsing my face with cold water finally cleared my head a bit.

I realized that a person can get dizzy when they’re too surprised.

‘To meet her here…?’

As I recalled the girl’s identity, my head spun.

Daphne Grace.

A beautiful girl with pure, gentle looks, blue eyes, and waist-length hair with a side braid.

A woman who habitually uses polite speech.

She is a character of significant importance in the story.

And she has a rather special relationship with ‘me’.

She is murdered by ‘me’.

More precisely, she dies at the hands of the future ‘me’, the Witch of Immeasurable Power, four to five years from now.

If she had just been killed, I might have simply cursed the “wicked woman,” but the cinematic cutscene depicting her death in the game was quite shocking.

————————————————————— -Haha… Look at yourself, Scholar. Your principles, those worm-like creatures you tried to protect, did you truly uphold anything? In the end, it was all futile. Like a snowman in the spring breeze, like dew in the sunlight, you will crumble into dust without a trace. Stop your meaningless struggles and conform to reality. -…Where is Daphne? -Ah, that ‘Saintess of Salvation’? That girl who was yelling ‘Run, Scholar-nim!’ as you fled with your tail between your legs? Perhaps… are you talking about this? (Blackout. A heavy object thuds and rolls across the floor. After a moment, the screen brightens.) -…..! -You held out for quite a while, but it still ended up like this, didn’t it? How ridiculous to struggle so much to save mere worms, ahahahaha! ————————————————————-

When the Obsidian Legion’s terror attacks occurred, she personally stepped forward to protect people. And she sacrificed herself to protect the wounded protagonist, the Scholar.

Her sacrifice is repaid by her severed head rolling across the cold floor.

But could there be such an absurd coincidence? I never expected to meet the Saintess here.

‘Saintess’ is the nickname given to her due to her altruistic deeds. And I am the witch who slays people.

The future perpetrator and victim meeting as dorm roommates, what kind of joke is this?

“Oh, my head aches…”

Among the released characters, there are several from Polaris Academy.

So, I had considered the possibility of running into them to some extent, but I never imagined meeting that girl here.

To think Daphne was from Polaris Academy.

“Sigh… I don’t know.”

I decided to just accept it.

Who knows what other bizarre things I might experience in the future; if I worry about every single one, my head will ache.

I straightened my clothes and quietly exited the restroom, where worried blue eyes were waiting for me.

“May I just check on you for a moment?”

Daphne cautiously approached.

“Huh…? What?”

“When facing a new environment, people sometimes experience symptoms like headaches or dizziness due to psychological anxiety. I was wondering if Ruzilin-ssi might be experiencing something similar. May I take a look…?”

Her face became serious, and she leaned in close to my face, beginning to examine it.

As Daphne’s soft touch carefully approached, I unconsciously accepted it. Kindness emanated from her every action.

Her hands cupped my palm and wrist, then gently stroked my forehead.

“Mmm…? How does it look?”

“Indeed, your body temperature is normal, and your pulse is normal. It seems you’re just a little tense from being in a new environment. Please wait a moment.”

From her hand resting on the crown of my head, a warm, bright, light green magical energy spread.

Wow, this feels really warm and good. If she kept shining this light and stroking my head, I wonder if I’d even fall asleep easily.

“Oh… I feel a bit better… What is this?”

“It’s nothing extraordinary. I merely used my unique ability for a moment to release a subtle wave of magical energy that stabilizes emotions. How do you feel? Have you improved?”

“Wow. That’s amazing. I feel better! Thank you.”

The dizziness in my head had completely disappeared.

As expected, Daphne seems to be the kind person I remember. And unique abilities specialized in healing aren’t that common either.

Right, I am me. Let’s not fuss unnecessarily about a future that might not even happen.

-My stomach rumbled…

Suddenly, I felt hungry. Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten lunch yet.

“Thanks for the treatment earlier! You said your name was Daphne, right? Aren’t you hungry? Let’s grab something to eat together!”

“If Ruzilin-ssi is fine with it, then I don’t mind. It’s already time for lunch, after all… But, are there any places to eat inside Polaris Academy?”

“No idea!”

“Huh…?”

I opened the brochure distributed to incoming freshmen at the dorm.

“There’s a map here, so let’s just try to find something!”

I stepped out of the dorm with light footsteps.

Daphne stuttered, “Oh? Oh?” and then hurried after me. There’s a certain fun in finding these things yourself.

“Adventure starts now!”

A short while later, we were munching on sandwiches in the Polaris Academy cafeteria.

“The sandwiches here are really delicious! And the price is good too. I think it would be good to eat lunch here once classes start.”

“Chomp… chomp… mmm… Right. Except for all the cucumber pickles.”

The sandwiches here are generously portioned and come with a drink. Yet they only cost 300 credits. It would have been perfect if it weren’t for the pickles.

I disassembled my sandwich and removed all the cucumber pickles.

“It seems Ruzilin-ssi doesn’t like cucumbers.”

“Of course not. Cucumbers are the most useless vegetable in the world… But Daphne, why do you keep using polite language with me?”

“My way of speaking, you mean? I’ve been talking like this since I was little, so it’s become a habit that’s hard to break now. It’s not bothering you, is it? If so, I could try to change it right away…”

“No, it’s not that I dislike it. I’m just curious! We’re around the same age, after all.”

Actually, if you only consider mental age, I’m almost ten years older than Daphne. Though age hasn’t been that important since I became a beautiful girl.

And so, we happily finished our meal and returned to the dorm.

Soon, classes would begin.

***

It was truly a leisurely time for several days.

Aside from going to the academy’s uniform shop to pick up my uniform and buying some small daily necessities, all I did was lounge around the dorm. I wondered why they took my measurements at the lab, and it turned out to be for the uniform.

Fortunately, after submitting some documents, they guided me well. When I entered the uniform shop and stated my name, they immediately brought it to me. I heard it was a uniform with some sort of protective function, truly befitting a school from a game.

In the meantime, I examined Polaris Academy. It was to contrast it with the ruins from the game in my memory.

‘It’s almost identical! There’s a possibility of finding materials or items.’

The conclusion was that it was ‘almost identical to the place I knew,’ except that the students had been replaced by ghouls.

Polaris Comprehensive Academy boasts a size equivalent to three or four average universities combined.

Furthermore, behind the campus, there’s a mountain covered in a vast forest and a lake. Entry is currently restricted, but since it will open when classes begin, I’ll have to sneak in to collect materials and confirm the locations of treasure chests.

They say weak magical beasts have been released into the mountain for training purposes. This is a clear case of safety complacency, typical of a fantasy setting. There was even a dedicated dungeon.

What would they do if the dungeon burst open and magical beasts poured out?

‘What a strange world.’

The world of the Crimson Scholar, at best, is dominated by a ‘manly spirit,’ and at worst, by a ‘madman’s spirit.’

Lustrum is located on the continent where the most gates opened during the First Dimensional Grand Invasion. Due to the impact at that time, large and small otherworldly dungeons and gates leading to them still remain. It can be seen as a sort of frontline.

The reason for concentrating Awakener training institutions in such a place, according to the lore, is to prepare for a second invasion.

It’s like they’re building a military academy right on the armistice line [implying an incredibly foolish and dangerous plan].

Not only that, but it’s like they’ve built a national defense research lab and a tank factory there too. As expected of a copycat game made by someone with no military experience, the setting is shoddy.

“Ruzilin-ssi, hurry! The entrance ceremony is about to begin!”

In the distance, Daphne was waving her hand and calling out to me.

It was the first day of September, the start of classes and the entrance ceremony. Polaris Academy was filled with students returning from their break.

‘How come I don’t see any parents?’

For an entrance ceremony, only students, staff, and what looked like teachers filled the area in front of the grand auditorium where the event was to begin. Looking closely, everyone was parting ways at the entrance, as if it were a military enlistment center and not an actual entrance ceremony.

In the game, at Aegis Academy or Vesperia Prime Academy, parents would come along and even take pictures. It seems the culture is different here.

“Hurry up~”

At Daphne’s urging, I stopped looking around and quickly walked over.

A crowd was gathered in front of the enormous auditorium building, which featured distinct Gothic Revival arched structures and pointed spires.

I checked inside my pocket.

The 2-star alloy hammer, which had come with me from the lab, was sleeping in my inner pocket.

‘In a world like this, it’s practically a given that strange monsters or villains crash entrance ceremonies, right?’

If anything happens, I’ll smash the window with this and escape with Daphne.