Ch.367367. Memories Flowing Upstream (1)

When did it begin? My life had fallen into a regular pattern.

After being granted readmission to Levrant Academy, my schedule became precisely structured. While part of it was due to being conscious of lecture times as a professor, the main reason was something else entirely.

Just as the human body has its own biorhythm—sleeping at night and waking during the day—I too had certain times when things would happen.

‘Hmm…’

I checked my wristwatch again, but indeed, the time had long since passed.

‘She’s unusually late today.’

Yes. Though not an official appointment, seeing her arrive without fail every day was part of my daily schedule.

Ever since I became a professor rather than a student at the Academy, Renias has appeared without missing a single day, clutching a lunchbox filled with delicious food.

Her arrival times varied. Most frequently, she’d come during the middle of my lectures. Some days she’d arrive a bit earlier, other days slightly later.

Of course, sometimes she’d appear right after I started teaching, and occasionally she’d come so early you might mistake her for a student attending the lecture.

These varying times were likely due to her health management. By now, whenever I saw Renias entering through the back door, I simply acknowledged her presence with a mental “ah, she’s here” and continued on.

The common thread was that she always arrived at least 10 minutes before the lecture ended. And after I finished teaching, as lunch or snack time approached, we would spread out a mat and enjoy a picnic-style meal from her lunchbox.

But today, it seemed this routine would be broken.

I hadn’t idly mentioned she was late—I kept glancing at my watch while conducting the lecture, but Renias still hadn’t shown herself even though the class was nearly over.

‘Did something happen?’

She had never been this late unless something significant had occurred.

Hmm. I’d heard Maria was planning to increase the intensity of her health regimen, so perhaps that was the reason.

At any rate, about five minutes remained until the end of the lecture. I tried to convince myself it was fine that Renias, who typically arrived at least 10 minutes before the end, hadn’t shown up yet.

…However.

“Professor, please have this.”

“Hmm? Why are you giving me this?”

“Well, you’ve been looking rather grim for a while now. I was worried something might be troubling you…”

The students’ gazes felt somehow different.

I wondered what my expression looked like and glanced at a mirror.

‘I don’t think it’s that obvious.’

True, I felt a bit empty, but surely it wasn’t that noticeable? It’s normal for routines to be disrupted occasionally. I should just respond that they must be mistaken.

“That’s all for today’s lecture. Everyone should work out the spell formulas on your own. I’ll be checking whether you copied or not.”

—Yes, Professor.

I guess she’s not coming today.

The remaining five minutes passed in an instant, and the lecture ended. Since she hadn’t arrived by now, I had to assume Renias wouldn’t be showing up.

If Maria had indeed increased the intensity of her health regimen, I should be happy about that. I gathered my teaching materials and left the classroom.

“Ah. Come to think of it. With Renias absent today, I have some free time?”

The emptiness was stark compared to how this time was usually filled.

“In that case, I should probably check on some things today.”

It’s always right to prepare, even a little, for what lies ahead. So, this is just preliminary research to prevent unfortunate incidents.

However…

“Hey, about Professor Junon. He’s upset because she didn’t come today, right?”

“I thought so too.”

“See?! I knew it!”

“It’s obvious, so what’s the point of pretending you’ve discovered something?”

“Ugh…”

“Let’s just leave him be. It’s unusual, but it’s nice to see him like this.”

“That’s true. Our class president is so smart!”

“The class president is always right!”

“…Stop it, all of you.”

Apparently, my body and mind were not in sync, because years later, Kiara, the class president, would recall that during this time, the intervals between my glances at the clock grew increasingly shorter, becoming noticeably more frequent as the lecture neared its end.

***

After finishing his lecture, Junon left Levrant Academy and headed toward the street filled with shops.

His purposeful stride stopped at a rather special store.

“This amount won’t be enough, sir.”

“How much more do I need?”

“Well…”

When the shopkeeper told him the price, Junon couldn’t help but click his tongue.

“It’s an expensive item, but that’s because it’s quite popular. Usually only nobles can afford to purchase something like this.”

“Hmm. I suspected as much.”

Finding an item that perfectly suited his taste wasn’t easy. He knew the price wasn’t unreasonable and was roughly aware of its value.

‘Still… even if I advance several months’ worth of salary, it would be difficult.’

An Academy professor’s salary wasn’t particularly meager, but what could he do? The item was far beyond his current means. Even if he saved up, he would need to work diligently for several months and might even need to increase his teaching load.

While increasing his working hours or number of lectures was possible, it would be quite challenging in reality.

Not for external reasons, but internal ones.

Perhaps what he needed right now was compromise, Junon thought as he left the street empty-handed.

With a troubled expression, he turned his steps back, only to find a visitor waiting in his office.

“Brother, where have you been all this time…”

“Cain?”

Cain appeared to be sweating profusely, as if he had been running urgently.

“What brings you here?”

There was no reason for Cain, who had voluntarily repeated a year when Lumia was readmitted, to seek him out regarding lectures. Unless something had happened with Tembris, he wouldn’t have any reason to visit.

“I hope… this isn’t related to me?”

“Ahem…”

But his guess seemed eerily accurate, as Cain cleared his throat awkwardly.

Pressing his temples, Junon asked:

“…What happened?”

“Well, you see…”

And so Cain had to honestly reveal everything that had been happening with the Tembris party.

As he listened to the events that had unfolded at Tembris, Junon’s expression gradually soured, and by the time Cain finished, he was holding the back of his neck rather than his temples.

“Senior Senia probably suspects the masterminds behind this are…”

“The professors, I assume.”

“Oh, you’re exactly right. How did you…”

“…In my position, it’s not hard to figure out.”

Those people—at first they subtly enticed him with talk of Academy affiliation, and now they had planted this bomb.

Each one of them was meticulous. The warnings about potentially troublesome entanglements with the media or guilds, the question of whether he wanted to live as an unemployed dropout without a career path, the pointed remark about whether he wanted to receive help from Renias, and finally the suggestion to maintain his affiliation by taking an early graduation and accepting a professorship at the Academy.

It was all part of a carefully prepared plan with no room for evasion.

While he wondered why it had to be Tembris, they were deeply connected… and so this situation had arisen.

Nothing to be done about it.

“Where is Renias now?”

“In the Tembris reception room. Lumia is still with her.”

“Sigh. I see. So we still have some time.”

“Brother?”

As Cain watched Junon retie his shoelaces with curiosity,

“I have somewhere I need to go urgently. Could you tell Renias to wait for me here?”

Junon handed him a note and left first.

As he had no intention of hiding anything, the note wasn’t folded, and since he’d asked for it to be delivered with a request to wait, the note contained a location.

Ah, Cain understood in that moment.

***

Normally, this would have been the time to spread out a mat and enjoy an unseasonable summer picnic for two. But the schedule had drastically changed.

This major schedule change occurred while seeking certain means at the Tembris party room.

Renias, all dressed up, still seemed unsure of what had changed as she looked in the mirror with uncertainty.

“Alright, Senior Renias, shall we go now?”

“Huh? Go where?”

“I told you earlier. To meet Senior Junon.”

“Ah… yes. That’s right.”

Usually, one would be excited at the thought of meeting their boyfriend, but now worry seemed to take precedence.

“Wait, but do you know where he is?”

“His lecture should be over by now. But I sent Cain ahead to arrange a meeting place for you two.”

“I, I see… umm…”

“Here you go. You can find your way there, right?”

“I’m not directionally challenged! I can find it just fine.”

Seeing that Renias still seemed quite tense, Lumia played a small prank to help her relax.

Finally, she seemed to return to her usual self—lively and cheerful.

‘See? How pretty you look when you’re not nervous?’

Lumia handed Renias her only luggage, telling her to go get a definitive answer from Junon.

But then.

As soon as she received the luggage, Renias’s expression changed.

“Oh no, oh no…!”

“Senior Renias? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“I can’t believe I just realized this now…!”

Junon never went to the academy cafeteria during lunch hours.

That’s because he was supposed to eat the lunchbox Renias made! She always brought him lunch and personally fed him, even strictly instructing him not to set foot in the cafeteria.

So because she had gone to the party room instead of the lecture hall, the lunchbox she had prepared this morning was still there—meaning he had gone hungry today.

Although she was carrying the lunchbox she’d planned to eat for lunch herself, what good was that now? It would be cold by now.

The good news was that she would be meeting Junon soon, but…

‘I’m doomed. There’s no time to make anything!’

She felt she should prepare something, but if she did, the dinner hour would quickly pass too.

“I, I need to go now, Lumia!”

“Ah, Senior!”

Lumia’s voice rang out, warning that she might fall if she ran like that, but it didn’t reach Renias’s ears.

All she needed now was to arrive as quickly as possible. To fill Junon’s empty stomach—empty because of her—concerns about falling didn’t even register.

‘There he is!’

Fortunately, the meeting place wasn’t far, and Renias was able to find Junon quickly.

However, she found herself captivated by his profile as he gazed at the rising moon. His black hair, illuminated by the soft moonlight and street lamps, gave off a completely different impression than usual, and his neat formal attire stood out, making the girl’s heart begin to race.

While she was admiring how handsome her boyfriend was—had he always been this dashing?—Renias shook her head, reminding herself there was no time for this, and started running again.

Junon was only about twenty meters away, so there was no need to hurry so much. But strangely, Renias’s footsteps became even more urgent.

As a result of running unnecessarily on a distance she could have covered quickly at a normal pace…

“Ah…!”

The girl’s foot caught on a stone she hadn’t noticed.

Her balance disrupted, she should have fallen face-first onto the ground, but…

“Whoa. You shouldn’t run like that.”

As if he would let that happen.

In a brief moment, Junon rushed over and caught the falling Renias with perfect timing.

Thanks to him, Renias landed safely in his arms, which were filled with firm muscles.

But her surprise and joy were momentary. Renias quickly slipped out of his embrace and grabbed Junon’s arm, pulling him along.

“I’m sorry, honey. You must be starving because of me… I’ll make something for you right away, so let’s hurry!”

In her urgency to fill his stomach as soon as possible, she had no time to be happy or act coy as she usually would.

Watching Renias intently, Junon suddenly took off his coat.

“Reni. Just a moment.”

“Hm?”

*flutter*

Her snow-white skin, gleaming in the moonlight, was now covered by the black coat.

At the same time, Renias’s pupils gradually dilated.

“It’s fine to eat a little later. Shall we walk for a while?”

The gentleness and tenderness in his gesture of covering her with his coat hadn’t changed one bit.