Ch.19Pilot (2)

Tap, tap-.

The thin raindrops fall.

The dark sky gradually gets devoured by black clouds, and soon enough, rain begins to streak down.

Thin droplets mark the dry ground one by one.

The wet spots spread, covering the ground with moisture.

For spring rain, it’s quite fierce.

It looked like a downpour was coming.

People seek shelter from the unexpected rainfall.

But even in these falling raindrops, there was one girl wandering alone through the academy district.

“……”

A disheveled school uniform.

Between her rain-soaked pink hair, unfocused green eyes can be seen.

The girl was walking unsteadily.

Where is this place?

Where am I heading?

Crude fragments of questions swirl in her head… but they wash away with the rain as if they were never there.

The girl was simply placing one foot in front of the other to avoid collapsing.

Trudge, trudge-.

Her precarious steps are shrouded in emptiness.

As she staggers several times from intense fatigue, suddenly a cool voice whispers in her ear.

-How pathetic.

A scene from just a few hours ago flashes before her eyes.

A blue-haired girl standing in the center of the circular arena. Lezia was kneeling, looking up at her.

In those blue eyes, contempt clearly sparkled.

-To think someone with such meager skills was considered a ‘promising talent’… it’s not even funny.

She couldn’t do anything.

She was helplessly defeated.

Perhaps due to pressure, mistakes kept popping up.

Her summon didn’t respond to her call, and what little basic magic she managed was at a miserable level.

-You need to recognize your place.

-This place is for those who are qualified… not somewhere a mere commoner should aspire to.

Lezia bowed her head deeply.

She must have been scared.

Perhaps disgusted by such a pathetic sight, the blue-haired girl turned her back, leaving one last remark.

-Leave, outsider.

Those words hurt especially.

A sharp thorn pierces the girl’s lungs.

Her center of balance wavers precariously.

“……ah.”

Her vision turns hot.

A lukewarm line traces down her cold cheek.

“How stupid.”

The girl mutters as she wipes away her tears.

Worried someone might see, she hurriedly hides her vulnerable state.

She bites her lip firmly.

‘Perhaps.’

Perhaps she had been too naive.

She thought only good things would happen after entering the academy.

She thought she would settle her wandering life… make many friends her age and have fun.

But it seemed there was no place for her here either.

It was a familiar loneliness.

Though she didn’t want to cry, she couldn’t erase the sobs that escaped.

The thin raindrops grow thicker.

Before she knows it, it’s pouring down in a shower.

“Hic, uh… sniff…”

Swoosh!

Despite the heavy rain, the girl kept walking.

Constantly wiping away moisture that couldn’t be wiped away, she spits out bitter sorrow between her lips.

Was it because her vision was blurred by tears?

Lezia misstepped and fell in place.

Without a chance to resist, her pink hair became a mess.

Splash!

“Ugh…!”

She looked like a drowned rat.

Her pitiful steps continue her wandering.

As her legs grow numb and her tear-and-rain-soaked eyes begin to sting, suddenly the rain stops.

“…?”

No, actually it hasn’t stopped.

The sound of rain still remains in her ears, and wet droplets still splash at her feet.

Something was simply blocking the rain.

What could it be?

With that question, she raises her lowered head to see golden hair shining in her vision.

Those distinctive squinting eyes smile at her.

The boy was standing there holding an umbrella in both hands.

“…Young Master Snakus?”

Lezia mumbles blankly.

Despite her somewhat dazed response, the boy doesn’t mind.

“So here you are, Miss Lezia.”

“Why is Young Master in a place like this…?”

“Hehe.”

He simply answers.

“I came looking for a friend.”

Tap, tap, tap-.

Droplets fall from the edge of the kindly tilted umbrella.

The boy’s unexpected appearance and unexpected words left Lezia frozen for a moment.

***

“I came looking for a friend.”

I say with a faint smile.

Green eyes stare at me blankly.

As our gazes meet for a moment, a belated sense of relief washes over me like a wave.

‘Finally found her.’

I was worried because of the fierce rain.

I wondered if she might be crying somewhere strange… but fortunately, she was standing right where I remembered.

It seems things are still flowing according to the original work.

“Miss Lezia.”

“…Yes.”

“Shall we find shelter from the rain first?”

The girl answers weakly.

Her slender shoulders tremble as if cold.

The tear stains covered by rainwater add to her pitiful appearance.

She seemed to have complicated feelings.

Swoosh!

First, we need to escape this terrible weather.

I put the umbrella over the girl and move toward a nearby structure with a roof.

Fortunately, there was a carriage stop nearby.

“Perfect for taking shelter from the rain for a while.”

We sat side by side on the bench.

We didn’t say much.

Since she probably needed time to calm her crying, I simply maintained silence.

Pitter-patter!

The raindrops falling on the roof are quite noisy.

Thanks to that, even the sound of swallowing tears is drowned out.

No, actually they weren’t drowned out… but I decided to pretend I couldn’t hear them.

For our protagonist’s sake.

“”…””

After a while of continued silence.

It was none other than Lezia’s voice that broke the frozen stillness.

She seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

“I’m sorry, Young Master.”

However, that didn’t mean her tears had stopped.

Though she was turning her head away pretending otherwise, there were still wet lines on her cheeks.

I asked quietly.

“What are you sorry for?”

“You said we should go back together after the test… but I went off alone.”

“Yes, you did.”

“And you came looking for me. Even in this terrible weather, for hours…”

Her green pupils tremble sadly.

Dew forms on her eyelids. The sparkling light falls in drops, unable to bear its own weight.

“I, I never meant to burden you…! It’s just that, suddenly, I felt sick…”

“I see.”

“I, really…! Suddenly my mind went blank, and I, I couldn’t think of anything. I’m, I’m sorry.”

“Hmm.”

I smiled bitterly.

Even in this situation, she was desperately trying to be considerate—truly a response typical of Lezia.

A feeling of both pity and affection rises within me.

I quietly raise my hand.

And place it on the head of the girl who was rambling.

“Miss Lezia.”

“So I wasn’t trying to ignore you… Huh? Yes?”

Lezia is startled by the sudden touch.

After pausing with a smile, I calmly opened my mouth.

“You did well.”

“Pardon…?”

“The class placement test today. You really did well.”

At these unexpected words, the girl makes a dumbfounded expression.

She probably didn’t expect to hear this.

Following the disheveled pink hair, I slowly stroked the girl’s head.

Like comforting an injured child.

“I just wanted to tell you that.”

In the original work, no one comforted her.

A girl hated by the duke’s eldest daughter. Moreover, being a commoner, no one wanted to get close to her.

So Lezia cried alone.

Until the terrible downpour stopped.

-Outsider.

She had lived trembling in loneliness all her life.

Just when she finally ended her wandering and stepped into the world, what awaited Lezia was still solitude.

The girl sobbed for a long time, unable to endure.

‘I wanted to comfort you so many times.’

Of course, it might be mere pity.

Soon, good friends will appear by her side, and she’s destined to be loved by many.

By then, such meager encouragement might not be necessary.

But.

“It’s okay to falter a little. You’re just taking your first steps.”

Because it’s not that time yet.

Because right now, no one else will offer her warm comfort.

I wanted to stay by her side.

‘If it weren’t for your story… I would have lived as a loser long ago.’

This was a kind of repayment.

Since I endured a time full of despair through your story, now it was my turn to be a pillar.

I quietly recite.

“Everything will be alright.”

Lezia is staring at me silently.

The girl sitting in a daze.

As I wait for a response, suddenly moisture begins to gather in her eyes again.

Drop, drop, the tears fall.

“Oh dear.”

“…Huh?”

She belatedly realizes she’s crying.

Lezia hurriedly wipes her eyes, trying hard to put on a face that says she’s fine.

“Ah… this, this is nothing, just, just got some dust in my eye…”

“Miss Lezia.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really okay?”

“……”

Her lips close involuntarily.

It seems I hit the mark.

After stumbling for a while, the girl bows her head deeply and mutters.

“I’m… fine.”

“Really?”

“Really. Just a few months ago, when I was traveling alone, I wandered through deserts without a single person. Compared to then, this is nothing.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Well… the desert is lonely. There are no people.”

The desert is lonely.

The endless expanse of sand reminds one of the vast ocean.

Naturally, it was an environment where humans couldn’t live, or if they did, there would be very few.

Compared to the academy bustling with students…

“But Miss Lezia.”

Is that really so?

“One can be just as lonely among people.”

How many people there are doesn’t matter.

What matters is whether there’s someone you can lean on.

Most people can’t readily nod to this question.

This is why we suffer from endless loneliness despite living in a forest of people.

“Sometimes being among people… can be lonelier than the desert.”

“……”

Lezia didn’t deny it.

Is she agreeing?

Or is she just lost in thought?

A pitiful silence continues. I couldn’t tell what meaning was hidden behind it.

But her expression was sad.

I didn’t like that.

It hurt to see the protagonist so intimidated.

I wanted her to always shine brightly.

That’s what I was living for, after all.

“So I want to ask.”

“…Yes?”

“As I mentioned before… I sincerely hope Miss Lezia will become my friend.”

“Me…?”

She raises a question mark as if not understanding.

Tears still leaving their mark. I carefully wipe the girl’s cheek.

“If Miss Lezia would allow it.”

I may not be able to do anything great for her.

“But I’d like to ease at least some of your loneliness.”

Her slender shoulders tremble.

Her voice, hoarse from crying, carries a terrible question.

“…Why.”

The girl asks.

“Why… why are you doing all this for me?”

From our first meeting, I had been excessively kind.

During the entrance exam, I saved her from being bullied, and afterward, I was the only one who congratulated her on her admission.

At the academy, I accompanied her so she wouldn’t be bored.

Today, I comforted her heart, which was in shambles because of the class placement test.

And now…

“I don’t understand why someone like you would show interest in someone as unremarkable as me.”

I was volunteering to be the friend she had longed for.

It was a terribly sweet temptation.

Like the flickering tongue of a cunning snake.

There was something unsettling about the atmosphere, but the girl couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

“Why…”

“Well.”

I put my index finger to my lips and smile playfully.

“It’s a secret.”

The sound of rain is no longer heard.

What comes after the shower stops is sunlight peeking through the clouds.

The final question follows.

“What do you say, Miss Lezia? Will you allow me to come closer?”

Lezia bit her lip hard.

Following the warmly shining sunlight, the dew hanging in her eyes sparkles with beautiful light.

The girl stops crying.

Instead, she only smiles brightly.

“Yes…!”

A cheerful answer returns.

It seems she was regaining her spirits. This kind of expression suits Lezia after all.

I stood up from my seat, feeling satisfied.

“The rain has stopped. Shall we go back?”

“Yes, Young Master!”

“Haha, you can just call me by my name now? We’re friends, after all.”

“Ah… that’s still, difficult…”

“What a shame.”

Light conversation follows.

We walked on the sidewalk wet with rainwater.

“You don’t need to worry about today’s test. Miss Lezia will be placed in the top-tier class.”

“What? But, but I failed the test so badly…”

“Someone has recognized Miss Lezia’s potential. That person will probably resolve it.”

“Such a grateful thing… but how do you know about this?”

“That’s also a secret.”

“…That’s not fair.”

In two days, the regular academy schedule will begin.

The story of “The World as Seen by the Young Prince” that I remember will unfold.

My heart is dyed with excitement.

Various characters like Lezia, Sharlotte, Amelia, and others will meet in one classroom.

Since I’m in the top position, I’ll also be in the top-tier class.

‘The homeroom professor for the top-tier class… the name was definitely Cadel, right?’

I moved my feet, recalling the face I would soon see.

I was certain of it, but…

“Nice to meet you all. From today, I will be the homeroom teacher for the top-tier class for one year. I am the head professor, Selena Drunkard.”

Why the hell are you here?