“Um… would you like to go eat together? W-what kind of food do you like?”
Iris, twisting her legs nervously, spoke to me.
“Or… do you have any hobbies you enjoy? I like doing anything together!!”
She seemed quite embarrassed, her face turning as red as a tomato. Still, she gathered her courage and continued to talk to me.
“It’s embarrassing… but… I’m so excited and happy…”
Then, she approached me, clasping my hands with both of hers, looking up at me with sparkling eyes.
“This is my first time dating someone… so I’m a bit clumsy, but…”
“……”
“Y-yeah! I’ll try my best!! So that you can be happy too!!”
Ah…
This is bad.
It seems like she’s completely misunderstanding things.
Iris thinks I’ve accepted her confession.
I obviously didn’t mean it that way.
‘…I guess I need to tell her.
Unlike in novels, Iris, smiling so brightly, was absolutely beautiful.
But still, this misunderstanding needs to be cleared up.
It’s for her sake after all.
“Iris.”
As I called her name, she responded with a bright smile.
“Yes…!! Please, tell me!!”
Feeling sorry for disappointing her joyful expression, I took a short breath, steadied myself, and spoke.
“I didn’t mean to say that we should date.”
“Uh..? Y-yes…?”
Her eyes widened at my words.
“What I meant was, I was only saying that I would accept an apology…”
“Ah…?”
For a moment, she looked stunned by my words. After some time, she grasped my hands trembling and asked back.
“S-So… did I misunderstand…?”
“….Yes. I’m sorry, Iris.”
“Ah…”
She stood still for a while, staring at me blankly.
I could see her sparkling blue eyes slowly becoming wet with tears.
“I-I’m sorry… I… I misunderstood…”
“Iris.”
“H-honestly… I’m the one who made a strange misunderstanding… Heh, I’m such an idiot…”
“…..”
“Ugh… Isn’t this weird…? Even though I’m a girl, I asked another girl out… heh heh…”
With her head bowed, she trembled, trying to hold back her tears.
Seeing her suppressing her sadness made my guilt pierce my heart even more.
“Iris, it’s not weird at all.”
“You don’t have to comfort me… I’m… I’m fine…”
She didn’t look fine at all.
For a moment, I instinctively thought about hugging her to comfort her,
But it felt like it would only poison the situation, so I remained silently in front of her.
After a while, Iris said,
“I-I’ll be going now!! I was happy to meet you!!”
She covered her eyes with both arms.
And turned around, starting to run off somewhere.
I could only stretch out my hand toward her in a daze.
“Ah…..”
…This is a big mess.
What am I going to do now…?
*
“Hah…”
Inside an inn near the academy.
I lay on the bed, letting out a deep sigh.
It had already been a day since I parted with Iris.
The guilt that kept tormenting me rendered me unable to do anything properly, and I was just wandering around.
“I didn’t come here to do this…”
I wiped my face and jumped up from the bed.
“First, I need to finish my tasks. Iris can wait.”
The reason I came here,
was because I heard rumors that the hero of the sacred sword was a woman.
Absurd as it sounded,
it was a rumor that spread throughout the place, and I thought I needed to check it out, leading me to the academy.
‘…Things definitely changed.’
If the hero of the sacred sword were really Robin as noted in the novels,
the incident that put Iris in danger wouldn’t have happened.
Either something happened to Robin,
or the hero really has changed as per the rumors.
Either way, it was an unwelcome tale.
Regardless, since the story changed because of me, I’d need to step up.
Putting aside the guilt weighing on my heart for a moment, I set off again for the academy.
*
“…Please enter.”
The guard at the main entrance opened the door with a blank expression.
“Thank you…”
I offered a meaningless greeting to the dazed guard.
‘Sorry…’
It was me who stole his focus.
The technique of Sephir that captivates people’s minds.
I didn’t want to use it, as it felt wrong,
but without it, I couldn’t enter the academy.
Over the past two years,
I didn’t just relax and do nothing.
With the power of Sephir that I’ve come to wield and the mana from Mari which somehow took root in my body,
I trained to master those abilities with their help.
Although I still couldn’t handle them perfectly,
the hypnotic technique that steals others’ minds,
the transformation technique that changes my appearance so no one could recognize me, and the stealth technique to conceal my presence.
My ability to control the night’s minions allowed for various applications.
After much training, I successfully became adept at using Sephir’s various techniques.
Having received Mari’s mana, I had gained some of a dragon’s physical abilities as well.
My body, which should have dissolved under Katrina’s poison, was intact because of that.
It was thanks to inheriting a dragon’s unique regenerative ability.
I asked Mari when she gave me such abilities, but
she evaded the question without giving a proper answer.
I had an idea of what it might be.
The blue potion Mari made me drink every day for two years.
It was probably because of that.
But well, it didn’t hurt to be healthy, so I didn’t push the issue further.
If anything, I should be thankful to Mari.
She remained an incredibly beautiful and dutiful daughter.
Wearing a new black robe,
I walked deeper into the academy, trying to conceal my presence as much as possible.
“Hmm… They said the biggest building would be this one…”
That must be it.
The grand and magnificent building before my eyes.
It looked like a place where someone extraordinary would reside.
As I approached the building,
I was blocked by a knight clad in heavy armor, quite different from the atmosphere of the guard at the entrance.
“Please state your business.”
With a serious tone, he looked down at me.
I took a short breath and pulled back my robe momentarily to show him my face.
“I want to enter… Will you let me?”
“……”
He stared at me blankly for a moment, then said,
“Go inside.”
He opened the door for me and kindly guided me in.
Covering my face with my robe again, I followed him in and up the stairs to the door.
The knight knocked on the door and said,
“Chairman, we have a visitor.”
Thus, a moment of silence fell before the door,
followed by the sound of a lock unlocking and the door opened on its own.
Inside, I saw multiple shelves stacked high with books and scattered papers adorned with numerous magic circles.
And sitting at a desk inside was an old man looking at me.
A member of the indomitable hero group who has reached the 8th circle of magic.
Chairman Darkhan.
He stared at me calmly as if trying to discern my identity.
His serious demeanor made me unconsciously swallow hard.
The man sat radiating an intimidating aura.
But I knew.
That old man’s appearance was a facade.
That was just an avatar.
The real one was surely watching me from somewhere.
“Who are you?”
After a prolonged silence, he called me in a low voice.
I maintained as calm a composure as I could and approached him.
“My name is Hera.”
I said confidently while keeping my expression as clear as possible.
“I’m the one who is going to save the academy.”
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