episode_0090

Chapter 90: Companions

My mind went blank for a moment, and I froze. I desperately gathered my emotions and frowned.

“You too? What’s the reason?”

“Reason?”

“Yes. You just met Skadia, so you must know the rumors are false.”

“To be precise, only the rape incident and the rumor that Ruan was the culprit are false. The rumor that the masked assailant with silver eyes is a Possessor isn’t.”

“…”

I was speechless.

Deborah was right. Only part of the rumor had been proven false; the truth of the rest had not yet been determined.

But knowing that and being certain were two different things.

I probed Deborah’s thoughts without admitting my identity.

“Alright. Let’s say that rumor is true. Still, the culprit could have been disguised, right? There wouldn’t be any proof it was me?”

“That’s right. But there’s other proof.”

“Other proof?”

“Yes. My eyes.”

Deborah pointed to her eyes with her index finger.

Her transparent violet eyes sometimes sparkled like jewels, emitting a radiant glow.

They resembled stars in the night sky.

I understood Deborah’s meaning.

“…The fact that my future isn’t visible is proof I’m a Possessor?”

“Yes. In fact, when I first met Ruan, what I saw wasn’t Ruan’s future, but my own. I saw the scene where I was being assaulted. That’s why I was calm in the cave. I already knew. It was just a feeling of, ‘It’s finally here.’”

“Haa… So?”

“After that, I was curious. Why wasn’t your future visible? So I tested it a bit. I took out my lenses and observed other people. Then, without exception, I could see their futures. Even priests blessed by the gods couldn’t escape my eyes. Of course, a few individuals might be able to counter it.”

Deborah’s foresight possesses the power to read the heavens’ movements through the blessing of starlight.

In other words, powerful individuals who have reached Level 400 or higher, capable of interfering with fate itself, can escape Deborah’s foresight.

Of course, high-ranking clerics can also completely block it using divine authority.

But I don’t fall into either of those categories.

“Still, I don’t understand. Just from that, you think I’m a Possessor?”

“Because it’s the most definite proof. Ruan, my foresight sees the future. That applies to anyone who touches the realm of the stars that blessed me. So, for my foresight not to work, it means you’ve come from outside the realm of the stars. Am I wrong?”

“…”

There was no room for further excuses.

If she was this certain, anything I said would be meaningless, and I didn’t want to desperately deny it either.

Letting out a long sigh, I finally admitted that Deborah’s guess was correct.

“That’s right. As you said, I’m a Possessor.”

“As expected!”

“So, what will you do now? Are you going to report me to the church?”

I wondered what the Saintess’s reaction would be when she learned my identity.

As I momentarily pictured an unarrived future in my mind, Deborah shook her head.

“No? Why would I? I wouldn’t do that.”

“Really? What if I help the Dark Cult and plunge this world into darkness?”

“That can’t be!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because the Ruan I know isn’t that kind of person. I only believe what I’ve seen!”

There was no wavering in Deborah’s eyes.

Unswayed by public opinion and rumors, she looked at me squarely, for who I was.

That firm belief and trust pushed away the anxiety that had settled deep in my heart. A warm feeling made me smile.

‘I’ll fall for her at this rate.’

Perhaps I already had.

I suppressed my impudently pounding heart and pretended as if nothing was wrong.

“Then why bother revealing that you knew? If you weren’t going to do anything anyway, you could have just kept it a secret.”

At my question, Deborah nervously clasped her hands together, fidgeting, and then brought up her reason.

“…There’s something I want to ask.”

“Something you want to ask?”

“Yes. I heard Possessors know the future. Is that true?”

“…I know about major events.”

Too much had already changed from the game, so I wasn’t sure if the subsequent developments would be the same, but even excluding that, I knew a lot.

At the very least, events planned before the Possessors appeared would remain unchanged.

“Then… do you know about my future?”

“Yes. What do you want to ask?”

“For example, about my surroundings. That is, about my Teacher-nim…”

So that’s what she wanted to ask?

Reading Deborah’s true intentions at once, I cut her off mid-sentence.

“I know. About Roxana Sprause dying in the future.”

“Ah… you know. You really do know the future.”

Deborah’s eyes trembled.

Relief. Expectation. Joy. Sadness.

Various emotions crossed her expression.

Because the idea that she, born with foresight, would never be truly understood, was now shattered.

I was the only one with whom she could share the worry she had carried in her heart for over ten years.

She struggled to suppress her surging emotions and asked in detail.

“Do you know the exact timing? When… and from what incident my Teacher-nim dies?”

“…Approximately. But so much has already changed that the timing could differ greatly. Of course, even so, it would still be at least next autumn.”

“Autumn… so only a year left.”

As it was an event involving Roxana’s death, everyone involved was formidable.

No less than three Apostles would be mobilized, along with countless others below them. To overturn the situation, one would need to be at least Level 300 or higher.

However, reaching that level in just one year was logically impossible.

Having finished her calculations, Deborah made a firm decision.

“Then we’ll have to evacuate my Teacher-nim at that time.”

There’s a saying: if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.

It means that enjoying something comfortably is more helpful for problem-solving than agonizingly searching for solutions.

But conversely, this means that if you can avoid it, you absolutely must.

Since she roughly knew when the incident would occur, Deborah intended to persuade Roxana to avoid getting involved altogether.

However, this was a mistaken idea.

“Deborah. That’s meaningless.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because you’ll have to face it someday. This isn’t just an incident limited to Roxana. It’s a matter that concerns the fate of the continent. So, even if you avoid it now, it will come back as a greater calamity later.”

Next autumn would be after Cain and Verdan Roosevelt’s deaths, when the Dark Cult invades the depths.

At that time, conflicts with the Dark Cult would be intensifying in earnest, and it would be a huge problem for someone of Roxana’s standing to flee solely for her own preservation.

She could even be branded a betrayer of humanity, not just receive criticism.

Hearing the explanation, Deborah despaired.

“That’s impossible. Then I have no choice but to let my Teacher-nim die? Is that her fate? Am I… just supposed to stand by and watch?”

The helplessness of being unable to do anything even when a loved one is in mortal danger makes a person despair.

Watching her precarious, as if about to crumble, I grinned and grasped her shoulder.

“We have to stop it.”

“…How?”

“Somehow. One year? That’s plenty. Just trust me.”

“Ruan…”

Facing my confident expression, the darkness slowly receded from Deborah’s face.

Her eyes sparkled with hope.

“Can Ruan really do it?”

“I said so. Speaking of which, are you free this weekend?”

“This weekend?”

“Yes. Both days. There’s somewhere we need to go together.”

Since my identity as a Possessor was already revealed, and I needed to save Roxana, it seemed best to accelerate Deborah’s growth.

With the vast amount of information in my head, that much would be incredibly easy.

Deborah’s face softly flushed at my suggestion.

It was so surprising that I wondered if she was truly the same person who had been despairing moments ago.

“Surely, we’re not staying overnight?”

“We would, wouldn’t we? Why, don’t you want to?”

“Th-that… we’re not doing anything strange, right?”

Her sidelong glance was cute.

A sudden surge of mischievousness made me whisper irritatingly close to her ear.

“What do you mean by ‘strange’?”

“Th-that, that thing. That.”

“What ‘that’?”

I shrugged my shoulders with an innocent expression, and Deborah’s face turned crimson all the way to her neck as she opened her mouth slightly.

“Ugh… Se-sex…”

“What? Sex? You want to have sex with me?”

When I intentionally asked with a strong, emphasized pronunciation, Deborah desperately shook her head.

“N-no! It’s not like that!”

“Then why would you think that? Of course, we’d have separate rooms. Though, if you wanted to, we could sleep together.”

If a beautiful girl like Deborah offered herself, I’d be willing to screw her a thousand, ten thousand times.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

“I said no! Besides, Ruan, you shouldn’t do that! Do you want to get scolded by Teacher-nim?”

“Teacher-nim?”

“Yes! If you keep doing that, I’ll tell her!”

Was Deborah an extreme Teacher-nim fan?

The way she mentioned Roxana at every turn showed how much she relied on her.

I quickly backed away.

“Hey, calm down. Calm down. I was just joking. Anyway, there’s somewhere we need to go this weekend, so clear your schedule. Got it?”

“Just try doing anything strange. I won’t let you get away with it.”

“Alright. I won’t lay a hand on you. Then I’ll head off first. See you tomorrow!”

Leaving my greeting, I exited the girls’ dormitory without waiting for Deborah’s reply.

I walked along the path, lost in a strange sentiment.

‘From now on, I’ll be with Deborah?’

I couldn’t have imagined it when we first met, but somehow we’d become this close. To the point of sharing each other’s sole secrets.

What kind of things would we experience together from now on?

*

On Saturday lunchtime, three hours after leaving the academy, Deborah and I finally arrived at our destination.

We were surrounded by bushes on all sides, with a transparent lake behind us. It was so charming that if we weren’t here to clear a dungeon, I’d want to go camping.

Pushing aside a large rock revealed an entrance.

“Is this it?”

“Yes. It’s the Hermit Mage’s dungeon.”

Inside, there were illusionary magic traps and familiars resistant to various types of magic.

For Deborah, it was practically a counter, but precisely because of that, there was no better place to break her limits.

Deborah would grow here today.

“First, let’s have lunch before we go in.”

“Okay. Let’s go to the lake.”

We moved the rock back to cover the entrance, then sat down near the lake and began our lunch.

The gently blowing breeze was cool.

“Ruan, can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“What kind of world was the one Ruan lived in?”

I picked up a side dish from my lunchbox and looked at Deborah. Her violet eyes, full of goodwill, reflected my bleak face.

“It was a world without magic.”

“No magic?”

“Yes. Maybe I just didn’t know, but most people weren’t even aware that magic existed. No one could feel mana itself.”

“Really? How do you live without mana?”

Deborah tilted her head.

On the continent of Repentia, mana was the very substance that made up the world. To her, building a civilization without utilizing it was no different from creating something out of nothing.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that mana was the combination of oil and electricity from Earth.

In fact, it should be considered even more crucial.

“Instead of magic, it was a world where something called science developed.”

“Science?”

“Yes. It was about establishing all phenomena that exist in the world as theories. And using those theories, we caused phenomena to occur as desired. That’s how civilization developed.”

“That’s amazing. Why doesn’t the continent of Repentia have such technology?”

“Because there’s no need for it, of course.”

If everything could be done with mana, why bother exploring science? It would just be arrogance and a waste of time to look elsewhere when they haven’t even mastered mana itself.

I picked up a side dish and took a bite.

But as if she still had questions, Deborah asked an additional one.

“How did you end up coming to this world from there?”

“…Why are you curious about that?”

“Because I want to know Ruan better. Is that not allowed?”

I fell silent for a moment.

‘This is dangerous.’

Deborah’s goodwill was so welcome and pleasant that I dared to wish for more.

I was growing more and more attached to her.

I silently chewed and swallowed my side dish, then stood up.

“…Let’s go. It’s about time we started on the dungeon.”

“Ah! Are you ignoring me now? Answer me quickly.”

“No.”

“That’s unfair! Do you know how much Teacher-nim teased me because of you? It was hard keeping it a secret!”

If a disciple who usually holed up in the magic tower and rarely went out was absent for two days, it was only natural for a teacher to be suspicious.

Of course, she would have grilled her with questions.

Seeing her truly aggrieved expression, I decided to give her a chance.

“Then you tell me first.”

“Me? What are you curious about? I’ll answer everything!”

Deborah seemed so interested in me that she was ready to say anything.

I asked something she absolutely couldn’t say.

“Have you ever masturbated since we had sex?”

“Wh-what did you say? Why would you be curious about that? I can’t tell you that! Ask something else!”

Judging by her reaction, it seemed she had.

I heard at the training camp that she’d never masturbated in her life, so it seemed our sex had awakened her libido.

I feigned a disappointed expression and turned my back.

“What? You won’t answer? You’re just the same.”

“That’s different from this! Ruan? Ruan!!”

Then, ignoring Deborah’s words, I moved towards the dungeon.

And so, the conquest began.