Ch.110110. Charlotte Ashelt (4)

Inside the Tembris Club Room.

Junon, who had experienced the novel pain of having his hair pulled for the first time in his life, smoothed down his disheveled hair while explaining the whole situation.

Two facts had come to light: those who sensed defeat had tucked their tails and fled, and the prejudice and preconceptions that had insisted she would definitely go berserk had been completely shattered.

“So… I really didn’t…”

“I told you. I took measures before you could go berserk.”

Nothing had happened during the moment her eyes were closed.

While the reality that approached Charlotte, who had only wanted to remain in her dreams, wasn’t as sweet as those dreams, it wasn’t bitter either.

Her voice naturally became choked with emotion, but sadly, no sound could emerge from her throat filled with moisture.

She couldn’t deny that Junon deserved the most credit for changing the outcome.

It was undoubtedly he who had taken this difficult first step and peeled away a layer of fear.

But she couldn’t speak. Not even to express her gratitude.

Despite this, the boy two years her senior solemnly gazed at Charlotte without saying a word.

“Really, really… mmph…”

What more could be said here?

He didn’t know what emotions the girl was feeling as she forcibly tried to open her mouth to speak.

No one with any sense would thoughtlessly make jokes when seeing tears in someone’s eyes. Instead,

“…You should cry when you want to cry. Holding it in only makes it harder.”

He tried to stop her from suppressing the emotions that were about to burst forth.

He wanted to make this tiny girl, still far from adulthood, release all the grief and torment she had endured.

Though it might seem somewhat intrusive, this was sincere advice from someone who had experienced something similar.

“You can let it all out now. It’s been hard, hasn’t it?”

“Huu… hic…!”

The first comfort.

The first comfort she had received in an isolated society where no one could understand or empathize with her.

Finally, she drew out her resentment from the deepest part of herself against the powerful wave that surged in.

For some unknown reason, that small body was gradually burrowing toward the only man who had comforted her.

─────.

Sobs spread throughout the club room.

A small clenched fist clutched at his collar as if crying out, and a rough, coarse hand touched her back with unprecedented gentleness.

Without a doubt, there were no monsters in this place right now.

There was only an injured child and a senior who could understand such a young child.

***

By the time Charlotte’s eyes had turned red and swollen after pouring out all her pent-up emotions to Junon without saying a word.

Outside, the other members were waiting as Junon had asked them to.

“Hey, everyone!”

Even Goden, who had arrived last after hearing the news, reached the Tembris team room, completing the team’s assembly.

At his booming voice that matched his large build, Senia put her index finger to her lips.

“Shh. Lower your voice, Goden.”

“Oh… r-right.”

“We’re trying to hear what those two are saying… so please understand, even if it’s awkward.”

After Michelle added this explanation, Goden nodded with an “Oh” expression, as if finally understanding.

There must be a reason why Junon asked them to wait outside, but those waiting naturally grew impatient.

How did he manage to break down that solid wall and carry Charlotte back?

Everyone couldn’t help but be curious after seeing Charlotte, who had built such an impenetrable barrier, being carried in by Junon.

“…”

“How is it, Senia? Can you hear anything?”

“Our team room seems to have excellent soundproofing.”

She meant that she couldn’t hear anything no matter how hard she pressed her ear against the door.

“At least we won’t have problems with poor soundproofing. That’s a good thing.”

“What’s good about it, Michelle! I’m dying of curiosity!”

“Still, eavesdropping isn’t right, Aris.”

Though Michelle pointed this out, human curiosity doesn’t disappear so easily.

Especially for Aris, who had been most excited about having a cute junior girl join the team.

After pacing back and forth with quick steps while groaning continuously, Aris finally couldn’t overcome her own personality and headed toward the club room.

“I can’t take it anymore!!”

“Wh-what? Wait, Aris, *cough*!”

“That idiot, really!”

Using smoke magic to blur their vision, she immediately arrived at the club room.

Junon, who had only intended to have a conversation anyway, hadn’t bothered to lock the door, and behind the door that swung open was a scene that could easily lead to misunderstandings.

“Aris? Haah… I told you not to come in until I came out.”

“Huh…”

Far from heeding Junon’s words, Aris let out a sigh as if dumbfounded.

The swollen, reddened eyes that contrasted with her blue irises made it look like Junon had made Charlotte cry.

And, not long after…

“You terrible bastard!!!”

“W-what’s this all of a sudden?! Aaagh! Hey! Talk instead of hitting me!!”

“You made a girl cry? And such a small, cute one… You deserve to be hit… You deserve to be hit harder!!!”

“What nonsense are you spouting?! Argh!”

Aris unleashed her stinging hand on Junon without restraint.

Until the other members arrived at the club room to stop Aris.

What happened afterward?

Aris, who had caused a commotion and left several red handprints on someone’s back, approached Charlotte, telling her it was okay and not to cry.

The girl who had wanted to mature suddenly transformed into a child unfamiliar with adults and hid behind the boy who had comforted her.

That was the beginning of her dependence.

***

The distant reminiscence is cut off when the burning red sunset loses its embers and welcomes the star-like seeds of night, bringing her back to the present.

The girl’s eyes are moist, just like back then.

Just before the reminiscence ended, the voice imprinted in her mind was from the same person as before.

-‘Well… I solved it by sedating you with that drug, but even if you did go berserk, the people in this team could definitely stop you.’

For a while, she followed behind him, the one who had carried her then. She wondered why she had been so wary and afraid of the team members she now got along with so well.

After that incident, she undertook grueling training to try to prevent magical outbursts.

And she depended on them. With the conviction that they could stop her even if she went berserk someday.

Looking back now, that was an incredibly foolish and complacent belief.

This dependence had grown so large that she hadn’t even thought about finding a solution on her own, and when pushed to the edge, she had spewed such harsh words out of fear that someone weaker than her might get hurt.

She doesn’t know why she only realized this now, but she doesn’t overlook the fact that it was also her own doing.

These tears were flowing from guilt, not fear.

As Charlotte sits there, footsteps approach her once again.

There’s no intention to hide in these footsteps. They come closer with a steady tread, and soon they reach the girl who had been lowering her head and wiping away tears.

“You’re crying here again, Charlotte.”

“…Senior?”

Her blue eyes tremble, unable to hide her surprise.

How did he come here? No. This isn’t the time to think about that.

Charlotte hurriedly wiped away the tears she had been shedding alone. Then,

“I told you before that you should cry when you need to.”

Junon responded as if answering Charlotte’s last words, when she had tried to brush him off.

“You remember everything but haven’t changed at all. Seriously…”

…Remember.

He definitely said “remember.” And even “you remember everything too”…?

That means…

“Could it be, you knew…”

“Yes. I knew everything when I came. Otherwise, how would I have found this place?”

“That can’t be…”

Ironically, the place where Charlotte had been secretly crying alone was the Academy walkway.

A common, ordinary walkway in the Academy.

But for the two of them, it was a path with a different meaning.

The place where he from before the regression and she from her memories first synchronized, where they first sought change,

A place that intersected as precious memories for one person and memories that had to be forgotten for another.

A walkway with nothing special about it that couldn’t be recognized unless one recalled the situation at that time, but a path that was specially imprinted on just the two of them.

With this, Charlotte’s eyes once again begin to overflow with tears that surge from within.

“Senior… I, I…”

“That’s enough, just cry for now. Cry your heart out like back then, and we’ll talk slowly afterward. Okay?”

Why was nothing different from back then?

Even though she wanted to honestly express what she wanted to say, it felt like her throat was completely filled with waves.

She just wanted to say she was sorry for the words she had hurled out of fear, blaming others.

Again.

This time too.

Crying came before expressing gratitude.

“Senior… Senior…!!”

He could tell her she was being childish for a grown girl.

He could criticize her for having the audacity to say such things.

He could even reproach her for being bound to repeat the same mistakes.

Right now, she just wanted to be held in those reliable, warm arms.

She wanted those rough hands to pat her back.

She wanted to feel like her crying face was hidden and sheltered.

And this time…

“I’m not going anywhere. Not until you’ve cried it all out. So take your time and let it all out.”

-Without regret.

She didn’t want to regret.

***

How endlessly Charlotte had cried.

It’s fortunate this walkway isn’t very popular at the Academy, or someone might have thought I made her cry.

‘At least she seems to have calmed down a bit.’

Just like before the regression, her eyes are red and swollen. She’s still sniffling, but it seems she’s poured everything out to her heart’s content.

After the sniffling voice paused briefly and she blew her nose with a sniff, she seemed to clear her messy voice a few times before finally speaking.

“I’m sorry, Senior. I’m really sorry.”

Those were Charlotte’s first words after she stopped crying.