episode_0005

“Huh? Wait a minute…!” For the first time in my life, I felt an uncomfortably close distance with a girl. Unconsciously, I stumbled over my words and my body stiffened.

As someone who rode the path of middle school to high school to college in my past life, being embraced by a girl, especially my favorite character, was an unfamiliar situation.

“Uh, um, well… are you okay?”

Even though I managed to regain my composure and called out to Yerena, all I received in return was a cold silence.

Caught between a confused mind and a worried heart, unable to move recklessly, Elin, after checking on Yerena’s condition, spoke up.

“She just fainted from exhaustion, so there’s no need to worry.”

Elin gently laid Yerena on a chair in the corner. Taking out a key from her pocket, Elin turned to me and said, “She should wake up in about three hours. Can you do me a favor and keep an eye on her? She’s still young. Although she’s a mark bearer, she should be fine for now, but pushing her too hard isn’t good in the long run.”

“What about you, teacher?”

“I have a lot of things to attend to. It’s the beginning of the semester, so I have quite a bit to do.”

Unconsciously, my face stiffened at Elin’s words.

Wait, teacher? If you leave me alone with Yerena right now, I feel like I’ll die of awkwardness… This conversation with Yerena was just a brief exchange, only happening when she fell over or before a duel. Is it right for me, who managed to defeat the proud Yerena, to be left alone with her…?

Even though the original Yerena from the third year didn’t hold a grudge over losing a duel, the young Yerena here now was not in the original work.

Whether Elin knew what was going on inside me in real-time or not, she smiled slyly while taking out a key from Yerena’s pocket.

“Don’t be too disappointed. Once the midterms are over, I might have some time to spare to watch your swordsmanship.”

Private lessons from a swordmaster. I was a student from a different swordsmanship department who couldn’t even buy a chance to live with millions, but my expression didn’t reflect that.

“…Thank you.”

“Haha, as expected, Si-an has an interesting side. Well then, goodbye.”

With just those words, Elin left the training hall.

Instantly, silence filled the room. Amidst the rhythmic sound of Yerena’s breathing, I looked around to dispel the awkward atmosphere.

Undoubtedly, spending time alone with your favorite character would be a dream come true for gamers worldwide. However, at this moment, it seemed like I had accumulated a lot of negative feelings from Yerena.

Trying to practice swordsmanship now would not be effective due to my troubled mind. I wanted to find something else to do.

“Oh.”

And then, a fallen longsword caught my eye on the ground.

The handle bore countless marks of effort. I cautiously picked up the sword, which exuded a sharpness contrasting with the worn handle, as if it had just been made.

Even someone ignorant about swords would proclaim it a masterpiece. As I held the sword, I carefully placed it near Yerena’s head.

At that moment, Yerena, who had been sleeping soundly without a sound, began to toss and turn.

“Uh…?”

“Ugh… I shouldn’t let go of the sword…”

Despite my confusion and trembling body, Yerena, unconsciously clutching the longsword, began to stir, searching around with a pained expression, like a castaway in search of something to rely on in the water.

“Yerena? Are you okay?”

“Uh…”

Even when I asked with a bewildered voice, all I received in return was a pained groan. What should I do in a situation like this? Maybe I should have held onto Teacher Elin a little longer…

Between the in-game Yerena who acted according to the program and the real Yerena with emotions, there was a gap that I had not recognized.

And that gap was unfamiliar to the transmigrator who viewed the world based on the original work.

And then, as I was lost in confusion, Yerena’s hand finally reached her head. Unconsciously hugging the longsword, Yerena, in that position, fell back asleep.

In an instant, her expression became peaceful, her rough breathing calming down. As if the sword was as precious as life itself. No, even more precious than life.

“Ugh…”

With an out-of-place cute whimper, Yerena’s body slowly relaxed.

Was she dreaming a good dream? With her sharp eyes slightly softened, she smiled faintly with a comfortable expression.

“Phew…”

Only then could I breathe a sigh of relief.

In [Arcana Academy], Yerena was the Ice Princess herself.

The reason I fell for Yerena Frost was the scene where she sentenced the devil worshippers to death with a calm voice, unleashing a blizzard.

However, the Yerena in front of me now was just a seventeen-year-old girl more mature than others.

Perhaps that was why. Suddenly, I found myself wanting to know more about Yerena.

Not the expressionless top student from the game, but Yerena Frost who could laugh and cry. I became curious about the story of the girl living in this place.

“…”

Originally, I had no desire to heavily intervene in the original story.

After all, the game could be cleared even without a protagonist, just with the heroines. I was in a position where it didn’t matter as long as I protected myself.

“Although I thought so…?”

Seeing Yerena in that state, I couldn’t help but feel that even the Yerena I thought of as just a heroine was ultimately a girl.

And the other heroines. And the extras. People living in this world with emotions like Yerena.

The privilege to change a predetermined fate belonged only to the transmigrator.

With that privilege, I could prevent the bad endings of the characters. I could save students who were dying in various events.

If I knew someone was going to die and did nothing, then as the desks of my classmates emptied one by one, it would feel like it was all my fault, just like in my past life. I didn’t want to regret it like I did in my past life.

Quietly, I watched Yerena, organizing my thoughts.

. . .

Yerena regained consciousness at eight o’clock.

She seemed to have skipped a meal yesterday, so it was about time to wake her up. I heard the girl’s groaning beside me.

“Uh…”

“Are you awake?”

“Hm…?”

Yerena’s gaze, somewhat dazed, landed on me. After briefly examining her posture, her trembling eyes met mine.

“Huh?”

“Uh… I didn’t see anything…?”

Yerena’s face turned as red as a ripe persimmon.

Quickly regaining her composure and putting on her usual expressionless face, she still couldn’t seem to focus properly, unlike her usual confident self.

“…”

“…”

Her eyes, filled with complex emotions, couldn’t seem to focus properly, unlike her usual confident self.

“Uh, Si-an student?”

It took a bit of time for Yerena to return to her usual self. An emotionless expression that didn’t convey any feelings.

And then, little by little, the situation that I had forgotten due to what happened earlier started to come back to me.

From the first encounter, Yerena had her eyes on me. This was our first meeting after the duel, and I wondered what Yerena thought of me.

“Uh, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to look…”

“Stop. I’m not here to scold you.”

Yerena’s voice cut through my words sharply. Slowly fixing her disheveled clothes, she said, “More importantly, you came at the right time.”

Yerena took out a longsword and a shortsword from the sword rack. She strapped the longsword to her waist and threw the shortsword to me.

As I received the sword, Yerena knelt in front of me with her usual indifferent expression.

“Teach me how to wield a sword.”

“…Huh?”

In response to Yerena’s unexpected request, my voice unconsciously faltered.

Now that the game had become reality, I had anticipated that Yerena’s actions would differ from the original Yerena.

But this was too different…!

A scream that couldn’t find its way out weakly lingered in my mouth. Teaching Yerena now could only harm her, not help her.

“If money is what you want, I can give you as much as you want.”

“I’m sorry.”

Objectively, Yerena was a step above me in simple sword skills.

Yet, I was able to defeat Yerena because she had only faced demons. It was a lack of experience, not skill.

Teaching Yerena in this situation? It would only be harmful to her.

“Instead, I can spar with you every morning.”

“In that case…!”

“Promise me one thing.”

Raising my index finger, I interrupted Yerena.

Honestly, I didn’t know if it was right for me, who didn’t know much about Yerena, to interfere in her life. But there were things that needed to be addressed, things that had to be pointed out.

“Don’t swing your sword recklessly like you did today. If a friend who practices with you gets hurt, it will hurt me too.”

With that said, I reached out my hand to Yerena.

“Promise me?”