episode_0059

The group that left Lakenwood headed to the Academy on a peaceful journey, just like before.

It wasn’t that there were no small issues in the process, but Ethan stepped in and solved them every time, so there was no time for the group to feel uncomfortable.

After running steadily for several days.

“I have to go now.”

The day came when I had to say goodbye to Ethan.

From the beginning, we took the same route because we were going in the same direction.

And now the paths diverge.

Because Ethan’s destination wasn’t Perdion.

“Thank you so much.”

I bowed my head towards Ethan.

Although it was an unexpected meeting, and even though we had a lot of fights, I owed him a lot.

I received a sword, received help in dealing with an unexpected rift, and most of all, I grew a lot through sparring with him.

Being able to mix swords with martial arts of similar level is a very valuable experience.

In my case, I have never had the opportunity to work with a martial artist of the same level, but I was finally able to gain that experience through Ethan.

And through that sparring, I gained a lot of enlightenment, corrected my mistakes, and developed.

Perhaps, if you compare me before vacation with me now, there will be a big difference.

Not only that, Ethan even gave me a lot of advice.

Starting from what I need to pay attention to, to my own tips, tricks, and small techniques.

So, I owe him a lot.

“ done. What is so unfamiliar?”

Ethan responded to my thanks by waving his hands.

Even that annoying look was truly Ethan-like.

Then, Ethan suddenly looked at me blankly.

“… I don’t usually like saying things like this.”

“… … ?”

What kind of story are you trying to bring up by exposing something so unusual?

I looked at him with puzzled eyes.

Ethan, who received my gaze, seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then opened his mouth.

“When I look at you, I sometimes think that fate may exist.”

“… What nonsense is that?”

What do you mean when you suddenly break up?

Moreover, as he said, the word fate was a word that did not fit well with a person named Ethan.

“I know it’s bullshit. But, there are times when I suddenly have that thought.”

Scratching his head with a puzzled expression, he continued.

“Sometimes in life, there are times when you suddenly feel that fate may really exist, right? The more your skills develop, the higher your level. More often, more clearly.”

Even though he said it was bullshit, and despite his embarrassed expression, his eyes were quite serious.

… If you think about it, it’s not like there aren’t any parts that resonate with you.

Because there were times when I felt that way too.

To be honest, I think the strong intuition I feel after reaching the level of consciousness is also somewhat similar to the fate that Ethan spoke about.

“They say that special people are born with a special destiny. then… … .”

Ethan’s eyes shined heavily.

“You have more special talent than anyone else, so weren’t you born with a more special destiny than anyone else?”

“… … .”

It was a bit embarrassing to hear in front of me, but I couldn’t react the way I normally would.

It’s not that I’m not, but if you think about it, I’m probably a more special person than anyone else in this world.

Because we are not originally from this world, but from another world.

From that perspective, I thought that my existence may already be on a special trend than anyone else.

“So, be careful. The more special the thing called fate, the more severe the twists and turns.”

The current Ethan’s usual light self was nowhere to be seen, and he looked more like an enlightened ascetic than a warrior.

“… You’re making people anxious for no reason.”

I said grumblingly.

“… Well, I’m just saying this because I’m worried. In the spirit of acting a little more carefully.”

At my grumbling, Ethan’s mood returned to normal.

“… Well, I understand.”

When he says something like that seriously, it’s difficult to grit his teeth and deny it until the end, or to cover it up with a smile.

That’s why I nodded hesitantly.

Ethan looked at me and nodded heavily, then turned his gaze to look at the group behind me.

“ Take care of yourselves too.”

In that concise greeting.

“Goodbye!”

“ was thankful… … .”

“… I will send my regards to Master.”

The group said goodbye to him in their own way.

He looked at those greetings with a dull look in his eyes, and finally his gaze returned to me.

“Take care of yourself. If anything happens, I will help you as much as I can, so please contact me.”

“… Yes.”

“Then, let’s go.”

After saying a quiet goodbye, he finally turned around and started walking.

I stood still and looked at his back.

The back gets smaller and smaller, until it becomes invisible.

***

After parting ways with Ethan, we set out on the road again.

In the form of reversing the path we took when coming.

A few days had passed since I broke up with Ethan, and more than ten days had passed since I left Lakenwood.

“I see it!”

We are back.

To Perdion, and to the Academy.

***

“This body has arrived!”

Two days after returning to the academy and unpacking in the dormitory.

A familiar face appeared in the dormitory.

“… Looking at your face, it looks like there’s no need to ask how you’re doing.”

When I met Jack again after dozens of days, he looked noticeably brighter than when I saw him before.

From skin to complexion, it was completely different from what I saw before vacation.

Jack heard me and smiled.

“Does it look like that?”

“uh.”

He said he was going to do nothing and rest, and it seems like it really went as planned.

“Then you… You don’t look good?”

Jack, who was grinning like that, suddenly looked at my face closely.

“… … .”

Me too, my original plan was to rest a lot during the vacation.

However, that plan went awry from the day the vacation started.

As I found an unexpected companion.

It didn’t end there, but a series of unexpected situations occurred, and I ended up fighting a disaster-level monster.

In the end, I regained my daily life, but that daily life was not very comfortable.

I don’t know why, but the atmosphere between the group members often became strange, and I had to keep an eye on them.

It wasn’t very uncomfortable, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

To put it simply:

I’m exhausted.

“… Well, various things happened.”

However, I couldn’t reveal all the details, so I just vaguely explained it.

“… hmm. That’s right.”

Although he didn’t say much, Jack seemed to have noticed something in my expression, looked at me with a strangely sympathetic expression, and then nodded.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“… That’s right.”

Although it was a very uneventful vacation, it ended safely without any major problems.

Rather than complaining about the past, it would be better to be thankful for those things.

Whisper─

Jack threw away his luggage and laid down on the bed.

“… Academy life will begin again tomorrow.”

As they said, the second semester of the academy starts tomorrow.

The break called vacation is over and a new semester begins again.

“Boring daily life will begin again.”

Jack spoke in a voice that clearly seemed to have lost strength.

Boring daily life.

For Jack, that’s probably not wrong.

It doesn’t seem like Jack himself enjoys life at the academy much, and it doesn’t mean that Jack’s life at the academy is very eventful.

The second semester, which starts tomorrow, is likely to be a truly boring routine for Jack.

However, I did not agree with that.

My second semester will most likely not be boring.

maybe… No, it was clear that it would definitely be busier than the first semester.

Because we have to prepare to stop the manipulation that will take place at the academy.

There is a high probability that a busy and troublesome daily life will continue.

“… … .”

Just thinking about it made me feel bothered, but I couldn’t help it.

I closed my eyes, hoping that things would go as planned.

And then the second semester began.

***

The second semester started like that and went by at a fast pace.

In the midst of the normal first semester days of listening to lectures, training, and participating in clubs, a new routine was added.

The routine is to prepare to prevent disturbances within the academy.

First, I established a base for information within the academy and sought out colleagues.

Information was essential to prevent and prevent tricks that would occur at the Academy, and colleagues were also essential to obtain that information and to prepare for the unexpected.

I shared my intentions with people I trusted and asked for help.

The first companions I chose were the people I traveled with during vacation.

Rachel, Ira, Estelle, Alexis, Cedric, and Mary.

They already knew about my skills and felt that they could trust my personality, so they told me their thoughts.

Not everything, just the parts that can be said.

There are people who are planning a war, and there is a high probability that an incident will occur at the academy as a means of doing so.

Fortunately, my companions believed me.

There were some people who showed mixed reactions, but thanks to Estelle and Alexis’s support of my words, I was able to persuade them all.

Perhaps they knew in advance that there were people who wanted war because of their location.

Thanks to that, I was able to get help from my companions.

They are all people who cannot be compared to me in terms of their base, and just looking at the aspect of obtaining information, they are all better than me.

Especially when it came to Estelle, she helped me a lot with her tremendous power and background.

The group of people I asked for help was not the only group.

Besides that, I got a helper.

Like Jack, Professor Urth, and Professor Patrick.

Jack had wider feet than me and had a good ear for rumors, so I thought he would be of great help and asked for his help.

Although Jack was puzzled as to why I was suddenly interested in things at the Academy, he ended up helping me without even asking why.

I told my story to Urt and Patrick.

There may be subversive movements within the academy, so cooperation is needed in this regard.

The two professors accepted my proposal more willingly than I expected.

We decided to step forward and provide internal information and keep suspicious movements within the Academy in check.

To be honest, I knew that the two professors had upright character, but I didn’t think they would just accept it.

However, the two professors very readily accepted my proposal.

Maybe the two professors’ impressions on me weren’t that bad.

Whatever the reason, I created a number of assistants within the academy and laid the foundation for it.

Not satisfied with that, I also looked outside the academy, namely at Ferdion.

Perdion is one of the largest cities on the continent.

Naturally, a lot of people and money gather there.

And where money gathers, people seeking that money also gather.

Whenever I had time, I went out to Perdion, made deals with the information merchants there, and built connections and a foundation by getting involved in the back alleys of Perdion.

In order to enter the academy, you have no choice but to go through Ferdion, and in the process, even the slightest bit of information is bound to be leaked.

I gathered such information using intelligence organizations and back alleys, and also checked the external situation from time to time.

So I was as prepared as I could be.

After going that far, everything would have been in vain if the thing I was worried about didn’t happen, but fortunately or unfortunately, that future never came.

As soon as I laid a foundation, big and small things started happening inside the academy.

To prevent those incidents, to prevent the embers of war from forming, I ran in all directions and prevented many accidents.

There were a few times when I was slow to notice and almost got into trouble, but I somehow managed to resolve it with the help of people around me.

In return, I inevitably became visible within the academy, but that was unavoidable.

And, I wasn’t the only one who experienced changes as time passed.

Others around me also faced change.

First, Rachel.

Rachel officially became Professor Patrick’s student and entered the Magic Tower in the Sky.

This news caused a huge stir in the Academy.

The Magic Tower of the Sky itself is basically a place that only accepts talented people, and among them, Patrick, who is considered a genius and is known to have an unusually strict view of things, has officially taken in students.

In fact, it was no different from saying that Patrick and the Magic Tower of the Sky had chosen Rachel to be the next executive.

It was all thanks to Rachel’s magical skills, which had grown explosively in the second semester.

Rachel, who originally boasted outstanding skills in the magic department, entered the second semester and her skills improved at an incredible rate, as if her talent had blossomed, and she eventually became the head of the magic department.

Patrick, who noticed Rachel’s progress and talent, took her on as his student.

And, that wasn’t the only shocking news.

If the previous news was from the magic department, this one was from the combat department.

In the sparring match with Cedric, Aira finally won.

In fact, Cedric, who was leading alone with a huge distance from the second place, finally caught up.

It was because Aira had improved beyond recognition.

Cedric also grew quickly, but Ira achieved remarkable growth, as if she had changed as a person.

The results were finally revealed in Dalian.

Of course, that didn’t mean that Ira was completely ahead of Cedric.

Cedric and Aira continued their senior fight, trading wins and losses after that.

However, the defeat of the dominant genius had a significant impact within the academy, and the academy was turned upside down.

Also, although it did not cause a stir like the previous two news, there were changes for others as well.

Estelle eliminated the poisonous forces that were eating away at the empire and solidified its foundation.

From what I heard, it was said that even Prince Lee had been pushed into a corner. He said that if things continue like this, it is possible to purge under perfect justification.

Alexis began to formally exercise his authority as Prince of Wolfron.

It was not a desire for power, but the purpose was to keep in check the forces that wanted war within Wolfron and the forces that induced chaos.

In return, he received the glare of other candidates for the throne, but Alexis did not seem to care much.

Mary also improved a lot.

My magic skills have improved a lot, and my friendships have expanded further.

And in the process, two of the original male leads became more attracted to Mary.

It seemed like he didn’t even notice.

As each person went through changes, time passed.

Finally, my first year at the academy came to an end.

After another vacation there, I became a second year student.

Senior Runia, who should have graduated, proudly repeated the grade.

The person himself revealed the fact with a smile, without any trace of shame, and I harbored a suspicion in my heart that perhaps Senior Runia might have repeated a grade more than once.

… Anyway, when I became a second year student, it meant that a new first year student was entering the academy.

Should we really call it an academy?

Cairn’s younger brother, the prince of Elbrent, the daughter of the Duke of Wolfron who seems to have followed Alexis, and the princess of the Kingdom of Levelon, to which the Bluenoa family belongs.

New juniors with outstanding backgrounds have entered the academy.

And in proportion to that, my workload naturally increased.

But even in that situation, I somehow managed to resolve the situation.

There were several crises, but we somehow managed to overcome them.

Anyway, despite experiencing such things, my daily life continued.

No matter how busy I was running around in the background or how big of an incident I got caught up in, in the end, my daily life continued steadily.

Around this time I had hope.

If things continue like this, if I’m with my friends, I think we’ll be able to prevent whatever happens and finally reach a peaceful ending.

However, in conclusion.

That was a very hasty hope.

My daily life.

“Catch it! That’s the prince’s killer!”

“It is Wade Heblon, the murderer of the prince!”

All too suddenly, it collapsed to pieces.