Ch.109109. Charlotte Ashlet (3)

Jet-black hair, like the night sky, fluttered in the air as a man who had just applied medicine to his wound-covered body stood before her.

That was the first sight Charlotte saw when she had tightly closed her eyes.

Junon, who was about to say something, exhaled deeply and, forcing himself to remain calm, asked a single question.

“Ah, right. I might be misunderstanding, so let me ask just one thing. What did she do to you guys?”

“What did she do? Tsk, tsk, you’re quite late with the news.”

One person stepped forward, sneering before answering the question.

Charlotte couldn’t say a word as they proudly recited how a friend had received a 16-week injury diagnosis because of her magical outburst.

“…Is that all?”

“What else do you need? Thanks to that girl, my friend can’t even walk!”

“As expected of a commoner, there’s nothing in that head of yours. There’s always a reason why some people remain at the bottom, even in an academy environment.”

“Besides, it’s only natural to preemptively break the power of someone who might go berserk and turn into a monster at any moment.”

Unlike before, these familiar words echoed throughout the space.

Countless pointing fingers and jeers from others. And surely, the one who heard this before her eyes would send a look of contempt.

However, as Charlotte once again tightly closed her eyes, preparing to hear words of condemnation, a completely different scene unfolded before her.

“Cut that bullshit, you bastards!!!!”

He raised his veins in anger toward those jeering from the opposite side, and immediately shouted as he charged at them.

In the place that instantly turned into chaos, the small hands that had been covering the girl’s ears slowly came down.

And then, engraving just one word in her mind, she asked herself numerous questions.

Why? What’s your reason for going this far?

I might cause another magical outburst and slash at your back while you’re facing them.

You might end up with a broken limb like that person, or worse, become disabled.

How can you make such a judgment?

Unable to distinguish between magical beast and human… yes, a monster.

A monster who caused a magical beast transformation might target your life. And you’re saying you’ll help someone like me?

She couldn’t understand. It was impossible to comprehend.

Junon’s intentions were completely beyond Charlotte’s grasp.

While Charlotte was in confusion, Junon, unable to withstand the power of the majority, began charging in with his bare body.

“Oh no, not again! I should go get any professor…”

“No, don’t. Don’t call anyone.”

“What…?”

“With this many people, two individuals are enough to handle. Why are you making such a fuss?”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

“At most, it’s just one vanguard who can only block without weapons and that one. Calling a professor now would be like us running away with our tails between our legs. You understand what I mean, right?”

They intend to deal with the two outcasts here.

As always, through force.

***

In the end, Junon was pushed back. Even trying to resolve it with hand-to-hand combat, it wasn’t difficult for the majority to push one person away, and he had to continue defending again.

No matter how solid a barrier is, when the arm that builds it falls, the barrier’s power is exhausted.

The same goes for a shield made of magical power. The moment Junon’s magic runs out, spells will inevitably strike him and the person behind him.

Considering this, what’s immediately needed is another force.

“How long are you going to sit there? Get up!”

Junon shouted in frustration. His voice rose that much because she was foolishly sitting there without properly dealing with the opponent’s attacks.

Some time had passed since then, but he hadn’t forgotten her articulate speech and how she had silenced those who tried to cross the line with her skills.

So why on earth was she just sitting there like that? For Junon, who had clearly seen Charlotte’s abilities during the beginning-of-semester evaluation, it was frustrating.

“Do you want to just sit there after hearing such things?! Just get up and give them a proper taste of that ice magic you used back then!”

“…I can’t do that anymore.”

“What?”

“I said I can’t. Because I don’t know when I might go berserk again…”

If she uses magic to face them, she might lose consciousness like before.

And then she would emit that murky magical energy again and harm people, possibly becoming no different from a human-shaped magical beast.

When it’s obvious that she might go berserk again, asking her to use magic?

It was impossible.

She didn’t want to feel that unpleasant sensation of causing trouble again with her own hands.

To such a Charlotte, Junon struck right at the core. And very deeply at that.

“Why, is it because you’re being called a monster? Are you afraid that if you use magic and go berserk, you’ll rampage again like before?”

As he pinpointed exactly what she feared, Charlotte, in a surge of emotion, shouted.

“Yes, I’m too scared to use it! I’m afraid that if I carelessly use magic now, I might completely lose myself this time!”

Does he know that terrifying sensation of losing oneself and becoming a monster?

What about the feeling of not knowing what you’ve done even as your consciousness gradually fades away?

The shock of being told that everything ended after you rampaged like a monster was an indescribable pain.

“I don’t mind being called a monster. That’s just words. But what if I carelessly handle magic and actually become a monster? Then there’s no turning back!!!”

“…So. You’re just going to sit there and let those guys beat you up?”

“That’s better! I… I can’t anymore…”

What more is needed? Isn’t that enough?

If one can choose the lesser evil before the worst happens, isn’t that sufficient?

But for someone who always yearned to rise from the bottom, maintaining the status quo was like a deadly poison.

“Then are you going to live your whole life being called a monster? Why don’t you think about changing it yourself?”

“That’s…”

“If you were really okay with being called a monster, you wouldn’t have put your hands over your ears!! If you were, your face wouldn’t be showing resentment and frustration like now, but you would have trampled those guys without any expression!! Isn’t that right?!”

As Junon said, Charlotte’s tear-stained face was overflowing with indescribable emotions.

He couldn’t fully understand her feelings or know her pain. But having experienced frustration many times himself, he could sense Charlotte’s state.

He hadn’t experienced the same thing. But he had lived a life as filled with solitude as hers.

“You know, unlike you, I’m a commoner, not a noble, and I can’t even use magic that can scratch a magical beast.”

He had never received any expectations from the world, only countless pointing fingers.

For someone who had no talent whatsoever, frustration was familiar, and despair widened its scope day by day.

Nevertheless, he stood up.

“But I know one thing well. If I don’t do anything now, I won’t change. If you don’t want to hear that kind of nonsense anymore, you need to get up right now.”

That statement about not changing struck deep.

To remain like this, possibly becoming a monster, trembling with anxiety, and receiving people’s pointing fingers.

Not jealousy or envy, but criticism and blame. The backbiting and slander that classmates secretly spread. Gazes full of distrust and anxiety.

“Are you planning to just watch all that from this spot for the rest of your life?”

…Just watch from this spot? Such a thing…

“I… don’t… want…”

She didn’t want it. Being pointed at as a woman wearing the shell of a monster. The rumors that she would someday become a magical beast. This terrible solitude where she couldn’t talk normally with any person.

“I don’t want such things…!!”

She wanted to throw it all away.

It was the moment when Charlotte’s true feelings, which she had been swallowing down thinking she would become more mature, were revealed.

The pus and discharge that had accumulated without being released now had a chance to escape.

“Then you have to start from the beginning. With these good spectators, it would be perfect to prove it to those guys.”

“Prove…?”

“Yes. Show them directly that you won’t go berserk even if you use magic with your own hands! That you won’t cause a magical outburst when dealing with the likes of them!”

Thus, the girl’s firm resolve begins with the metallic scent of blood as she bites her lip.

The boy slowly pushes that small back that is taking its first step to shake off fear.

“Their magic will stop soon. It takes time to develop, so rampage to your heart’s content then. I’ll block everything that comes your way.”

Towards the path of victory called change.

So, what was the full story of the commotion that occurred on a certain walkway?

A girl was rebuked and sharply responded to remarks that were no different from insults. That will be the fact known later.

However, it’s also clear that Charlotte had to draw a lot of magical power to face that many numbers with just two people.

“Ugh…!”

As a sign of approaching the verge of an outburst, murky magical power rises from Charlotte, and her consciousness gradually loosens and begins to break.

But she doesn’t go berserk.

“Just sleep for now.”

“Y-you…”

“Don’t worry, you won’t go berserk or anything. I guarantee it.”

Because this time, the reason her eyes closed was not an outburst, but sleep.

***

Although it didn’t take long for her closed eyes to open again, the girl had a dream.

It was such a sweet dream. In that dream, she had returned to the daily life she once had, so she never wanted to wake up.

But she had to return to reality.

When all the figures that appeared in the dream shook their heads and gradually moved away, her eyes were moist.

As the girl began to return to reality, the first thing that reached her was quite a few sensations.

A softness as if leaning against something. At the same time, shallow vibrations felt throughout her body at regular intervals. A mysterious touch tickling her face and a warm temperature.

These were things she had never felt before.

As she tried to open her eyes, flinching at this strange sensation, a man’s voice came.

“Ah, you’re awake?”

Realizing only now that she was being carried on his back, she responded with a naturally flustered reaction to the black-haired man who answered as if he had been waiting. The usual pedantic maturity and composure she tried to maintain were nowhere to be found.

“W-what’s going on…! Explain quickly!”

“Whoa, hey Charlotte! It’s dangerous if you move, so stay still for a bit! Um, first of all, you didn’t go berserk because of the magic stabilizer, and, uh? I also appropriately used a sleeping herb… Ouch ouch ouch!!”

“E-enough! I don’t need explanations, just put me down. Right now!”

“Aaagh! I understand, so could you please let go of my hair?!”