When We Meet Next Time

A short time passed, and it became the Millennium War Victory Commemoration Day, the last day of the holiday period.

Since academy classes would resume from tomorrow, it was time to return to Gransen.

I planned to have breakfast with my family, Riel, and even Emilia, then take a carriage to Littlelake.

Just like when we came, we planned to return to Gransen by taking a train from Littlelake.

“Um… is it really okay for me to be here?”

Emilia asked my father with a respectful expression, bowing her head.

The answer to her question came not from my father but from my mother.

“We received help during this incident, and you’re a friend of my son and Riel, aren’t you? Please feel comfortable.”

“Y-yes!!”

Though Emilia had started speaking more comfortably to Riel and me since yesterday, it was understandable that she would be tense in front of the Count and Countess who ruled this region.

“Kyo, is your body alright?”

“They were just light wounds. Are you okay, Father?”

While I was leading the refugees, my father had led the knights and soldiers in battle against about a thousand magical beasts rushing toward the fortress.

Though there were many casualties, they somehow managed to defend the fortress, and my father also sustained an injury to his right arm.

“The doctor said I need to rest for a while. Well, fortunately, it doesn’t affect my daily life.”

My mother answered with a sigh.

Because there were so many magical beasts, people had been hired for the cleanup of the magical beast corpses, which was still ongoing.

The fortunate thing was that the horde of magical beasts seemed to have ended with that one instance, as there was no trace of magical beasts in the surrounding area.

So carriage services resumed from today, and we were able to return to Gransen.

“Please take this opportunity to rest for a few days. Father has always been busy…”

“Haha, I was already thinking of doing that. Your mother has agreed to help with the work, so it should be fine.”

“Haha…”

Honestly, I swallowed the thought that when it comes to paperwork, Mother is better at it than Father…

After the meal, we came out to the carriage station located outside the fortress to board a carriage.

While the reserved carriage was preparing to depart, I exchanged farewell greetings with my family.

“Father, Mother. I’ll be going now.”

“Alright, be careful with your body, as the atmosphere has been unsettling lately.”

My father waved his hand slightly, and my mother came up, hugged me, and whispered quietly.

“When you brought another girl, I thought ‘what kind of boy is this?’…”

“…Ah…hahaha…”

“But Riel is really a good girl. If anything happens, make sure to protect her.”

“……Yes, absolutely.”

After separating from my mother, I went to Asta and Kino.

“Asta, take care. Let’s have our sparring match next time.”

“Yes. I’ll be looking forward to it, Brother.”

“Kino, um… don’t go too far ahead…”

“…? I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

…Because if you overdo it too much, the wound that comes later will be very deep…

Inside the carriage.

Just like when we came, Riel and Emilia were chatting, and I was sitting quietly listening to their conversation.

Perhaps because it was the first time for both of them to have a friend, or a female friend, their conversation was quite lengthy.

My gaze went to the two of them.

Riel’s expression looked quite bright, and Emilia was wearing her hat again to hide her ears.

When leaving the north, it would be a natural decision, as she might become a target of demi-human discrimination again.

“Kyo, is your body okay?”

“I told you it’s fine. Look, the healing magic and medicine worked well, and the wounds have almost healed completely.”

I showed Riel the well-healed wound on my arm.

It was the result of fundamental treatment using medicine, combined with healing magic that promoted the healing process.

Of course, deeper wounds would take a few days, but minor cuts or abrasions heal cleanly in a day.

“But I’m really glad, Kyo s… Kyo. When you returned to the fortress, your body was covered in wounds, and I thought I was too late…”

“No. It’s true that I was in danger, but thanks to you, reinforcements came quickly. Thank you very much.”

“Y-yes…”

Although we told her to speak comfortably, Emilia still used polite speech with me.

I didn’t touch on it, thinking it was just her personality, but it seems she has at least progressed to the point of removing the honorific after my name.

“Passengers! We will soon arrive at Littlelake!”

The voice of the coachman shouting from the front was heard.

At the station in Littlelake, several trains going to and from the northern part of the kingdom were lined up.

Having purchased tickets for the train to Gransen, I was walking to where Riel and Emilia were waiting.

“…Ah.”

Suddenly, a surprised voice came from behind me.

A woman’s voice, one that I knew well.

“Um… excuse me…”

I thought about ignoring it, but since the voice contained such desperation, I sighed and turned around.

Blue hair that had grown a bit longer and was disheveled, a face that had become quite thin and pale, but it was still a face I recognized.

Liliana Edwin, my former fiancée.

“Kyo… sir.”

“Lady Edwin. It’s been a while.”

Hearing my words, Liliana’s pale face looked up at my face.

Her complexion was bad enough to be concerning, if our relationship hadn’t been awkward.

“But I heard you were under probation, why are you in Littlelake?”

“Well… that is…”

“I thought you would return to the academy if your probation had been lifted.”

Liliana, who had been quietly silent, seemed to take a breath and then spoke.

“I’ve… quit the academy.”

“…I see.”

Honestly, I was surprised.

According to my mother’s stories and Baron Edwin’s letters, Liliana had been quite obsessive about attending the academy.

For me, who had roughly guessed the reason to be because of Allen, it was unexpected that Liliana had finally quit the academy.

“I’m going to enter the Magic Tower.”

“The Magic Tower… so your reason for coming to Littlelake is…”

“Yes. I’m planning to go to the ‘White Magic Tower’ located in the north.”

The White Magic Tower located in the middle of the northern snowfield.

It’s a women’s magic tower that is very reluctant to admit men, and its internal regulations are quite strict.

The education there is also quite harsh, and due to the nature of magic towers, she probably won’t be able to leave for several years.

“So… um…”

“Please speak.”

“I probably won’t be able to leave the Magic Tower for several years.”

“I imagine so.”

Of course, Liliana does have talent for magic.

If she properly nurtures that talent, she might be able to come out in about 3 years, but if not, she might have to stay in the Magic Tower for as long as 10 years.

She would have to spend most of her youth confined in a stuffy tower.

“So, um… I wanted to apologize…”

“……”

So that was it.

“Before entering the Magic Tower… I wanted to apologize once more, so I was waiting.”

“……”

“Since once I enter, I won’t be able to come out for several years… even if it’s not accepted, I wanted to at least apologize before that…”

Liliana’s head bowed deeply.

So deeply that the hat she was wearing fell to the ground.

“I’m truly sorry. I caused you great pain with my self-righteousness… I’m really… sorry.”

Honestly, I don’t know what to say.

At first, I was just bitter about being betrayed, and then even my interest disappeared.

But given how strangely the current situation has turned out, I couldn’t even tell what Liliana’s true feelings were.

The only certainty was that it was way too late to return to how things were.

But there was one thing I wanted to make clear.

“I’d like to ask you one thing.”

“…Please go ahead.”

“May I ask why you fell for Allen Ludwig?”

Perplexity appeared on Liliana’s face.

It might be an inconsiderate question.

But to establish a course of action regarding him in the future, I needed to be certain.

“…Honestly, I don’t know.”

Liliana first opened her mouth and said that.

“Honestly, I had no interest in him at all. Just ‘he’s quite handsome’… that’s about it. Even if his father was a knight, he was still a commoner… I thought we would never be related.”

Liliana’s face was almost on the verge of tears.

“Outside the academy, I received help from him a few times. Even then, I just felt normal gratitude… but after receiving help several times, before I knew it, my eyes kept going to him… I found myself being drawn to him.”

Even that help was merely trivial assistance like picking up a dropped item or catching her when she was about to fall.

But Liliana said that the small gratitude she felt there somehow grew immensely over time.

As I remained silent after hearing Liliana’s words, she paused briefly and then spoke again.

“But… now I don’t know.”

“…You don’t know?”

“Yes. I definitely have an awareness that I liked him. To the extent that I wanted to give up everything… But now I really don’t know…”

Liliana closed her eyes and clutched her head.

“I was confused and scared to the point where I couldn’t distinguish whether that was really my heart, whether that was really me…”

“……”

“So… honestly speaking, I don’t want to think about him anymore.”

“I see, I asked an unnecessary question. I apologize.”

“N-no, it was a question you had every right to ask.”

At that moment, I felt as if someone was calling my name from behind.

Looking carefully, I saw Riel waving her hand and calling me from a distance behind.

“…It seems both you and I should go our separate ways now.”

“…Yes.”

Liliana bowed her head again with another apology and a farewell greeting, and I turned around.

As Riel was waving her hand towards me, I also raised my hand to respond.

…Yes, this should be enough.

It’s time for me to give an answer that I’ve settled on.

“When you go to the Magic Tower, a life several times harder than the academy will be waiting for you.”

“…I imagine so. I’m prepared for it.”

“Well, with your talent that even my father acknowledged, you should be able to come out in a few years.”

“……”

I moved my footsteps to go to Riel.

I waved my hand lightly to Liliana and left that place.

“Well then, do your best at the Magic Tower. I hope when we meet next time, we can see each other as friends. …Lili.”

“Yes, Kyo.”

With Liliana’s voice, which seemed somewhat more spirited, behind me, I walked towards Riel.