Ch.162162. Broken Past (4)

I hadn’t expected Michelle to come looking for me this late at night, but now that she’s here, I can roughly guess what she wants to say.

That didn’t mean the words came out easily, though.

Both Michelle and I were being cautious.

‘At least this isn’t a conversation we should be having outside…’

But for any progress, we shouldn’t stay in this room either.

I immediately put on my coat.

“…? Are we going somewhere?”

“I’m feeling a bit feverish. I think it might be better to talk while getting some night air.”

“Hmm… alright then.”

The front door closed, and we found a suitable place to sit.

“So Aris didn’t voluntarily give up her position, right?”

“…Yeah. She wasn’t in any condition to teach.”

“So she looked to you and passed it on. Couldn’t be helped, I guess, since Aris suddenly left her post.”

Michelle then reluctantly brought up news about Aris.

“Aris disappeared today. The hospital said she only mentioned going for a short walk.”

“Hmm…”

So she used that as an excuse to go somewhere else. I’ll set that aside for now.

“She’s with Senia now, but her condition hasn’t improved. So…”

“You came to ask me questions since I was the last person to have contact with Aris before these symptoms appeared. Am I right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

She says she knocked on my door because she wanted to ask me something, but I don’t know much either.

“I don’t know much either. I was too busy helping Aris rescue the students.”

“So she wasn’t like this during the battle?”

“That’s right. There was no problem until we rescued the captured students and formed our battle formation. If that hadn’t worked, we might all be dead now.”

Of course, that was before.

There was that incident when Aris cried and asked for help, but that doesn’t seem particularly relevant right now.

It’s too far removed to explain such a sudden change.

“If I had to pinpoint when Aris changed, it would be around when you all arrived. She was fine before that.”

This must be the critical moment.

Even when I touched her shoulder, she felt pain but didn’t push me away. It must have been when she backed away from my hand.

“Really? Hmm, I wonder what… there must be a cause.”

“…”

A cause.

Could it be related to when she collapsed, saying she was useless?

Or perhaps her mindset changed while teaching the students?

‘No, that doesn’t make sense. There’s no evidence.’

Her burst firepower is almost on par with Michelle’s, so it wouldn’t be strange for her to show pride.

The same goes for any changes while teaching students. Even with her strong pride and tendency to flare up, she’s also sociable enough to form good relationships.

That means the cause must be something completely different.

I crossed my arms and tried to recall, but nothing definitive came to mind.

‘At most, all I know is that Aris forcibly drew out her magic to save the students…’

In such a situation, anyone would have acted the same way.

…Wait a minute.

‘…Anyone would have acted the same way?’

The more I think about it, this seems contradictory.

Given Aris’s personality, it’s not strange that she rushed in first. It was her class, so she might have received the news faster.

But in such a situation, wouldn’t one normally ask for help first?

Suddenly, I began to question Aris’s contradictory behavior.

‘If that’s the case.’

It would explain why she pushed herself too hard. And why she cried and belittled herself.

“Is there… anything else you know, even a little bit, that you could tell me?”

…Even a little.

Gulp, gulp.

I drank deeply from my water bottle, then carefully answered.

“I think… Aris might be avoiding me.”

“Avoiding you…? Does she have some trauma?”

“…”

I can’t directly apply Aris’s situation to Michelle, but this question is quite valid.

“Aris arrived at the Irobe region before I did. She was the first to make contact with the students.”

“Before you… I see. But why?”

“Think about it. If you were faced with a situation you couldn’t handle alone, and allies arrived, what would you do first?”

“Obviously, I’d ask for help, wouldn’t I?”

Yes. That’s exactly the blind spot.

“Aris… tried to rescue the students by herself at first. Even at the cost of her own body.”

“Huh…?”

Anyone in that situation would immediately ask for help.

They would share information about the trapped students and methods they’ve tried, looking for a solution together.

Even when dealing with troublesome named enemies in the past, Aris always followed this rule. She once chatted about how this was ingrained in her since her mercenary days.

But this time, despite being in the same situation, she didn’t ask for help.

“She… didn’t want to ask you for help?”

“At least initially.”

Yes. As if she absolutely refused to accept my help specifically.

Going a step further makes it clearer.

She hesitated to accept my help, startled and backed away at the sight of my hand. Then she left this region and headed back toward Levrant.

She’s completely avoiding me. Avoiding any involvement with me.

“But… why would Aris…? You only met during this faction war, you barely know each other…”

Michelle stumbled over her words, clearly confused.

‘That’s exactly the problem. There’s a secret that only you don’t know.’

I bit my lip, unable to say those words out loud.

‘That trembling face… I’ve seen it recently.’

Senia was like that.

I don’t know how it works, but she said she recalled parts of the past that only I remember.

It’s an absurd assumption, but what if Aris, like Senia, recalled parts of her past?

That would explain such a sudden change.

Looking more broadly, Charlotte crying in that street would also fit this pattern.

In other words, Aris is experiencing the same situation as Charlotte and Senia.

-‘…!’

I can still vividly see Aris’s eyes as she startled and avoided my hand.

‘If this state continues… it’s going to be troublesome.’

It’s impossible to explain this to Michelle, who has no inkling of what’s happening.

I’ll need to meet Aris directly.

***

Disheveled pink hair hangs down, covering her eyes.

The dark circles under her eyes are no longer from staying up late with a pen in hand.

She simply cannot sleep.

Aris has already spent a day in this state.

“I thought you finally fell asleep… but you’re awake again?”

Senia asks worriedly as she enters and locks the door.

Aris gives no response.

“I’ve already talked to Michelle, so let’s eat something. Open wide.”

“…”

A spoonful of rice porridge with steam rising gently.

She had prepared it so Aris could eat as soon as she woke up.

But Aris’s lips remain sealed.

Her empty eyes seem unfocused.

Clatter.

Senia puts down the spoon she was holding, sighing deeply.

‘If a whole day has passed with no improvement, time alone won’t solve this problem.’

With that, Senia makes a decision. To make a move.

Whoosh.

She throws aside the blanket that had been tightly wrapped around Aris’s body.

“Do you remember what I told you at the victory celebration after the Sheet Subjugation? In the banquet hall?”

Aris remains silent.

“I told you to go find him and apologize. That would be the most appropriate course of action.”

She answered her own question, determined to push the conversation forward.

Aris tries to cover her ears, but Senia grabs her hands to stop her.

But.

“Aris. I went through the same thing.”

Until now, she’s only heard Aris’s side of the story. That needs to change for progress to happen.

“If you attacked Juron directly with magic… I socially destroyed him.”

She dumped her burden on him.

A burden so large and heavy.

“In a critical situation, I disobeyed orders and deserted the battlefield. I even faked my death to do it.”

And he had to carry that burden.

His own burdens, and those of others.

He had to shoulder a weight that would have crushed most people.

“You can imagine what backlash Juron faced, right? Juron would have become the incompetent commander who lost a crucial member of the main force due to a reckless operation.”

But what’s more heartbreaking is…

“Yet that fool… he had already noticed I might desert. He prepared words, tucked notes and maps into the saddle, and even prepared the route I would use to escape.”

That he knew all along.

“…”

Finally, Aris’s shoulders begin to tremble.

Senia pushes back on Aris’s shoulders and advises her, looking at her tear-stained face.

“I don’t remember what happened after that. I can’t go back, and only Juron knows those memories. But I know what I need to do now.”

The past is already gone and cannot be changed.

But the future hasn’t arrived yet.

The present offers enough time until then.

More plainly than ever, Senia declares:

“I will do whatever it takes to prevent it. To ensure that kind man who called even someone like me a friend never goes through the same thing again.”

She will personally intervene to prevent the same outcome from repeating.

Once more, Senia offers the spoon to Aris’s lips.

“Eat. So we can change things ourselves.”

“…”

“Nothing will change if you stay frozen like this. He knows everything and has avoided returning to Tembris precisely to avoid repeating the same mistakes!”

He too has tried to change.

To avoid facing what might have been a bleak future again.

Finally, those eyes full of turbulent emotions turn toward her.

At last, focus returns to the eyes visible through the pink hair.

Slowly, like a caterpillar, she inches forward.

Eventually, Aris reaches her and opens her mouth as wide as possible to take in the porridge from the spoon, chewing thoroughly.

‘That’s right, Aris. You should only have to go through this experience once.’

Regardless of forgiveness, they cannot rely on Juron’s kindness to make their past disappear.

But they will not add any more burdens.

This is the last time.

The last time they will face a situation that repeats the mistakes of the past.

***

Tap.

Human footsteps touch an ancient ruin.

“I was told to come here, but what kind of judgment is this?”

But should this really be called a ruin?

Denis didn’t think so.

“I don’t understand why this is here. Is this not just an old ruin?”

There are no traces of humans.

But step a little further in, and there are traces of something else.

“…This is.”

Plague rats. Broken shields. Calix summoning circles.

And even the presence of Alcaide and clock hand formations.

Everything filling this place was something one would only see in temples.

Oracle.

The language of one who watches this world from an infinitely high place.

“A place… where divine power reaches? Here?”

And there, a pink clock hand was moving counterclockwise once again.

Covered in cracks.