Ch.7474. A Person Who Meets the Conditions

Going back in time a bit, we return to when Ludion fainted after being caught in the mana explosion.

Thud!

Ludion flew limply and crashed into a tree.

Celia and Alkine just stared blankly at the scene, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Only after seeing Ludion collapse unconscious on the ground did they finally come to their senses.

“Ludion?!”

“Celia! What on earth did you do?!”

“I don’t know! I was definitely maintaining it stably…”

Alkine, flustered, seemed to misunderstand that the explosion was Celia’s fault and began questioning her, but Celia could only respond with a genuinely confused expression.

In reality, Celia wasn’t at fault. Being skilled in mana manipulation, she had maintained the mana sphere in a precise and safe manner, making an explosion virtually impossible.

But what about the current situation? What was thought to be safe had suddenly twisted and exploded without giving them time to respond.

Fortunately, since the amount of mana contained in the sphere wasn’t large, the power of the explosion was also small. But that didn’t change the fact that she had blown Ludion away with her mana.

“What have I done…”

“C-calm down first. We need to check his condition first.”

Was it really something to worry about that much? The two approached the collapsed Ludion with pale faces.

They could hear him breathing quietly, indicating he had simply fainted.

Realizing this, both of them let out sighs of relief.

“Making people worry like that. He’s really such a ridiculous person.”

“…Wasn’t it your mana explosion that caused this?”

“What did I do? This happened because he touched it and it exploded. It’s not my fault.”

Celia, who just moments ago had been blaming herself with an expression like the world was ending, now spoke nonchalantly once safety was confirmed.

But looking closely, her hands were still trembling.

Seeing this, Alkine let out a small laugh.

‘There’s a reason they’re always together.’

Whether they were similar from the beginning or became similar from always being together.

The way she worried more than anyone inside while pretending not to was exactly like that man.

How did she know despite not having known him for long? When you receive help several times, you can’t help but notice.

That despite his calm appearance, he’s driven by an obsession not to fail.

It’s just that he seemed fine because he hadn’t failed so far.

…How much effort must he be putting in to maintain that lightness?

And why was she included in that effort?

‘Damn it. Here I go again.’

She was overcome with an urge to strongly embrace something.

She had felt this way before, but now with Ludion unconscious before her, the feeling was even stronger.

She tried to calm herself by clenching her fist tightly, but it didn’t have much effect.

Perhaps noticing her state, Celia approached with a cold gaze.

…It was a knowing look. She had seen how Celia treated those who tried to approach Ludion.

That such a gaze would be directed at her… well, she couldn’t say she hadn’t expected it.

After all, it seemed she had developed those same feelings.

“Alkine. I want to ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You like Ludion, don’t you?”

“…”

She couldn’t answer. But that became the answer.

Celia sighed deeply seeing this response.

But on the other hand, her expression suggested this was something she had been expecting.

Celia spoke first to Alkine, who stood there unable to say anything.

“…Well, that’s good. Since it’s come to this, let’s have the talk I was planning to have.”

“I didn’t expect we’d have time to talk like this.”

“Did you think I did?”

Celia’s actions and tone were all chilly.

She seemed to be trying to act as usual, but she was quite poor at hiding her emotions.

It couldn’t be helped. After all, she herself still hadn’t relaxed her clenched fist.

She just hoped… that this could be resolved through conversation.

For now, they decided to properly lay down Ludion who had collapsed on the ground.

They could have left him as he was, but he kept catching their eye and they couldn’t just leave him there.

“Alkine, could you hold him? And… support his head too.”

But what wind had blown? Celia, who would normally have taken the position first, gave up her spot.

When Alkine looked at her questioningly, she avoided her gaze and quietly revealed the reason.

“I still feel too guilty to look at his face.”

“Hmm.”

Despite brushing it off earlier, it seemed she still thought it was her fault.

Of course, she would know that Ludion wasn’t the type to blame others for something like this.

Still, it was inevitable to feel uncomfortable about it.

You know what? This was why Celia later did that crazy thing. She wanted to see Ludion’s usual reaction and be reassured.

It would be a lie to say there wasn’t some self-interest involved, but that was definitely the main reason.

Anyway, in the end, it was Alkine who ended up supporting Ludion’s head.

Celia glared at Alkine from time to time but couldn’t bring herself to approach.

Alkine smiled lightly at Celia’s behavior… then suddenly looked down at the sensation on her lap.

She saw Ludion’s face resting on her lap.

‘…Ah, this is quite…’

His face, strangely handsome despite his build, showed quite a bit of youthfulness when seen like this, and viewing him from a completely different angle than usual gave her an unusual feeling.

‘He always seemed so dependable, but seen like this, he’s just a male student my age.’

He had always felt distant. But seeing him like this, maybe he wasn’t as far away as she thought.

After all, he was someone who fainted from just this level of explosion.

‘Wait, come to think of it… fainting from that level of explosion is a bit strange.’

It was at most the power of a spell used by mid-upper tier second-year students.

No matter how sudden it was, it was strange that he, who wasn’t even a mage, had fainted.

‘That means…’

Perhaps he’s not actually that strong.

Maybe he just appears strong by utilizing his exceptional abilities to their limit.

‘No, isn’t that what being strong is?’

She wasn’t sure. Many thoughts were coming to mind, but they wouldn’t organize into a coherent whole.

Enough. What did her thoughts matter? He had saved her, and that was possible because he was strong.

‘Still… at this level, wouldn’t he need my help too?’

No one is perfect, but he’s someone who faints from this level of explosion.

She began to think that she could be of help by his side.

She began to think that she wanted to protect him from getting hurt.

…She began to think that she wanted to be by his side.

‘I must be crazy.’

[Current Favorability: 17/100]

[3 remaining until next reward.]

She had somewhat guessed since seeing those strange characters, but directly feeling her heart race like this was something else entirely.

She couldn’t deny it anymore. What she felt was clearly romantic affection.

Realizing this, his face, which already looked different, appeared even more different now.

This is… really…

“Excuse me. I didn’t tell you to stare like that. And why are you stroking his head?”

“Huh. Sorry.”

She quickly withdrew her hand that had moved without her realizing.

Seeing this, Celia seemed to notice something, furrowed her brow briefly, then asked with a deep sigh.

“Alkine, you’re already an important person in Ludion’s life. You’re aware of that, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve become that way too, haven’t you?”

“…Yes.”

She had just felt it moments ago. That this was an emotion she could do nothing about.

An emotion that would spring forth no matter how much she suppressed it.

Seeing Alkine nod, Celia seemed to contemplate something briefly before finally resolving to speak.

“You probably already know this, but I’ll tell you anyway. I like Ludion too. So much that I don’t know what to do with myself.”

She knew that.

It was also why Alkine couldn’t fully accept the favorability system even after seeing it with her own eyes.

Celia’s feelings were real.

She openly displayed them to the point of being famous within the academy, how could they be false?

Therefore, if Celia told her to give up, she was prepared to do so.

“But regardless of my feelings for Ludion, I’m glad that you’re becoming someone on Ludion’s side.”

Yet the words coming from her mouth were completely incomprehensible.

“As you’ll come to know, Ludion needs someone who believes in him by his side. And that someone needs to be capable.”

“He’s someone who solves everything alone and comes back. In that case, shouldn’t there at least be someone who simply believes in him?”

“But also someone who can be helpful normally and protect themselves so they don’t cause additional worry. I think that’s the minimum requirement to be by Ludion’s side.”

“And… as much as I hate to admit it… the Alkine I’ve seen meets those conditions.”

The words coming from her mouth were full of things that weren’t properly understood.

What was she supposed to come to know?

What was she supposed to believe in?

Simply listing conditions only added to the confusion.

“Alkine. What do you want right now?”

However, she could clearly answer Celia’s final question.

What she wanted right now. That was…

“I want time to talk with Ludion alone.”

It was a moment where she could convey her feelings.

Her feelings were still unorganized. She had no idea how to express them.

But she wanted to convey those messy feelings anyway.

To Alkine’s words, Celia…

“Then do so.”

She just nodded lightly with a bitter smile.