episode_0154

Ethan, who I had forgotten about, joined us on time, so there were two people heading to the mountain.

Ethan’s skills were flawless and he was trustworthy, so there was no hesitation in including him in the group.

Estelle and Cairn looked at Ethan, who suddenly appeared, with suspicion at first, but soon nodded after recognizing his identity.

I knew very well that the warrior of the Ten Swords, Tougi, would be of great help.

So, Ethan and I parted ways with Estelle and Cairn and started heading toward the mountain.

Of course, the journey was not smooth.

Sigh!

Crunch… … !

“There are so many of these that it’s annoying.”

Ethan frowned as he swung his sword and cut down another monster.

Entering the academy, we encountered our frequent monsters heading towards the mountains.

So much so that after dealing with the monster and walking a few steps, the monster appears again.

Of course, if you do your best to avoid it, you can minimize the battle as much as possible.

Since you don’t know what will happen in the mountains, it would be a good idea in theory to avoid fights as much as possible and conserve power.

However, we didn’t make that choice.

The intention was to reduce the number of monsters even a little to prevent danger to others.

I don’t know if it will be of great help or not, but if we clear out the monsters even a little, it may result in a few people’s lives being saved.

As for having to consume stamina or magic power, I honestly wasn’t too worried.

For me and Ethan, monsters of this level are not worthy of fighting.

Anyway, I was in the midst of steadily advancing against monsters.

“But, is it okay to go straight like this?”

Suddenly, Ethan asked that question.

“What does that mean all of a sudden?”

Not being able to understand his intention, I asked Ethan back with a puzzled look.

“No. I heard your friends are in here too.”

Ethan said with an unusually serious expression.

“… … .”

To those words, I couldn’t respond right away and just kept my mouth shut.

The situation was somewhat urgent, and there was no time to talk slowly, but Estelle spoke during the conversation.

That means Mary, Rachel, Ira, Jack, Alexis, Cedric, etc. remain at the academy.

When I heard the news, I couldn’t help but worry.

It was because of the fact that they were in this situation, in a situation where the academy was in danger.

Although the armies of both empires are dealing with monsters, the number of monsters roaming around inside the academy is no joke.

Moreover, among them, there are even disaster-level monsters that the military has not been able to stop.

In a situation like this, there was no way I wouldn’t be worried about their safety.

Ethan is asking this now.

Are you okay with not having to go rescue them?

After remaining silent for a while and just swinging my sword, I finally opened my mouth and spoke.

“… It can’t be helped.”

Pretending to be peaceful in his own way.

To be honest, I wanted to ensure their safety first before heading to the mountain.

But, that wasn’t possible.

It was clear that something was happening on that mountain, and I had a strong intuition that I couldn’t let it go.

If we leave the mountain like this and go to rescue them, something uncontrollable may happen.

Therefore, I couldn’t go to save them.

There was nothing I could do but trust them and believe that they would be safe.

“… Well, if you say so.”

After hearing my answer, Ethan looked at me blankly, then nodded with a calm expression.

So, that topic never came up again.

From then on, we went through the monsters as before, and although it took quite some time, we were able to reach the mountain.

however.

It didn’t happen that we entered the mountain straight away.

At the beginning of the mountain, in front of a curtain that I couldn’t see inside, I had to stop.

“… Wade, you… ?”

Because a familiar face was standing in front of the mountain.

***

“… Wade, you… ?”

Red eyes reminiscent of roses.

And flaming hair, like those eyes.

An atmosphere overflowing with elegance and fascinating curves that any man can’t help but be drawn to.

That woman.

A woman with a familiar face to me.

He was looking in this direction with wide-open, shaking eyes as if he couldn’t believe it.

Perhaps my eyes weren’t that different either.

I also looked at her somewhat blankly.

I soon got over my surprise and slowly opened my mouth.

“… It’s been a while, Rachel.”

The identity of the woman I met in front of the mountain was Rachel.

I met her after a long time, and she stood before my eyes looking a little different.

In fact, the external appearance was not much different from the last time I saw it.

Is it just that the hair got a little longer?

However.

There was a big difference in the atmosphere from back then.

What should I say?

The overall atmosphere felt cold.

From the beginning, she had an aura that made it difficult to approach her because of her unique elegance, but the current aura even had the feeling of not allowing any approach at all.

Did a lot happen to her while I was away?

With that thought in mind, let me just look at her.

Rachel looked at me blankly with trembling eyes.

“… No, that can’t be possible.”

I said that to myself and shook my head.

“Now I’m even seeing hallucinations.”

Then, he lowered his head with a bitter smile that even felt pitiful.

“… No, it’s possible that this space itself is causing hallucinations… … .”

However, soon after, he lifted his head again and began to look around with sharp eyes.

“… … .”

I just looked at this unpredictable behavior with a somewhat dumbfounded look on my face.

“… Hey, just looking at him, he seems to be under some strange illusion, right?”

Ethan spoke quietly from behind.

“… … .”

I didn’t say much, but I agreed with his opinion.

It seemed like Rachel couldn’t believe the situation I was in front of.

So, I thought about it for a while.

“… It’s not a hallucination.”

I spoke to her again.

“… … .”

At those words, Rachel’s gaze returned to me again.

however.

“… He even speaks in accordance with my change in perception. It’s an elaborate hallucination. But I don’t feel any magical effect that causes hallucinations… … .”

Rachel didn’t believe me and muttered something strange to herself again.

“… Um.”

Seeing that, I wondered what to do about this situation.

I might be able to break her illusion if I used a little drastic action, but the hesitation in my heart prevented me from taking such action.

In that way, I hesitate, unable to move forward.

“Hey.”

Ethan stepped forward with an annoyed look on his face.

“This guy isn’t hallucinating, he’s alive and well, so stop.”

At the same time as he spoke, Ethan released magical power, revealing his presence to the fullest.

To reassure Rachel that it wasn’t a hallucination.

Ten swords.

Rachel opened her eyes wide and looked at Ethan at the presence radiating from the warrior who had reached that great level.

“… Dugui… ?”

Rachel had met Ethan with me before.

That’s why I immediately recognized that face.

Ethan’s overwhelming presence and the pressure of magical power touching his skin were difficult to accurately create through hallucination.

Furthermore, Rachel is a wizard with outstanding talent.

There was no way I didn’t know that the magical power I was feeling right now was real.

in other words.

“Then… really… … ?”

Rachel’s eyes, free from the illusion, slowly returned to me.

Looking straight into those eyes.

I said, smiling a little awkwardly.

“… How have you been?”

“… … !!”

Rachel’s eyes widened.

The eyes are already so big, they couldn’t be any bigger.

“Wade… sir… … .”

Rachel looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

He started taking steps towards me.

One step. One step.

As if I still doubt whether this scene is an illusion.

With extremely careful movements.

I looked at her with a complicated smile.

From her reaction, I could sense that she was quite worried about me.

I felt sorry and thankful at the same time, but if I were to ask you why, I felt more sorry.

So I couldn’t approach her on my own and had no choice but to stand at a distance.

Meanwhile, Rachel slowly, little by little, approached me.

Soon, it was so close that I could touch it if I stretched out my hand.

“Wade… !”

Calling my name, Rachel jumped towards me with a bit of force.

As if he wanted to hug me.

However.

As a result, her actions did not go as planned.

A person suddenly appeared and ran into my arms at lightning speed before she could hug me.

“… Huh?”

Rachel, who lost the player, looked puzzled.

At that situation, I looked down with a slightly bitter smile.

To be exact, a woman with water-colored hair burying her face in my arms.

“… It’s been a while, Mr. Aira. ”

The woman’s identity was none other than Ira.