With a satisfied smile on her face, Iris was left laughing as I returned to the dormitory room.
I was clutching my head and lamenting loudly.
‘Ah… I forgot to ask…’
During my time with the goddess, I had managed to gather various pieces of information.
I learned what kind of world this place was, why it diverged from the original novel, and what direction I should take moving forward.
Information I desperately needed.
But when it came down to it, I didn’t manage to ask the most important thing.
The reason Lily became a hero. In fact, that should have been my primary concern.
I got so distracted by the unbelievable stories about this world not being a fictional one and about seducing the Demon King that I completely forgot.
I briefly considered going back to ask, but for some reason, I felt it was impolite, so I gave up.
The goddess said I could come to her whenever I had questions, but I doubted she meant just an hour after our parting…
‘But I need to know…’
The hero is merely a representative of the goddess chosen by her. The reason she chose Lily over Robin, who was selected in the previous cycle, is something only the goddess would know.
After some contemplation, I decided to give up on finding out right away.
‘I can always ask later.’
As long as the temple and Iris are nearby, I can visit whenever I want… maybe this weekend.
I let out a short sigh and lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.
“Master, are you there?”
I opened my mouth to call for my master, but sadly, it turned into my own muttering as there was no response.
‘…She usually appears, but not this time.’
Well, she must have a busy schedule, after all. She can’t always be by my side.
Feeling disappointed, I rolled over on the bed suddenly recalling something.
‘What was I supposed to do…?’
The thought was just on the edge of my mind, blurry and unformed.
I definitely had a memory of making a promise to do something.
“Ah.”
As I groaned in frustration, I managed to piece it together.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t good news.
“I forgot.”
I remembered. I had promised to visit Ariel right after.
I glanced at the clock and noticed it was already late at night.
…I think I really should go out now.
*
“Hmm… this should be the right place, right?”
The dormitory in a different building from my room.
I stood hesitantly in front of the door, my feet stuck.
After a while of fumbling around, I glanced at the list next to the door.
– Ariel Dianneira
– Sia (Vacant)
Staring at Ariel’s name prominently displayed.
After confirming she was indeed here, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and knocked on the door.
But time passed, and the door remained silent, as quiet as ever.
Hopeful, I knocked once more. Still, no response.
“…..Is she not there?”
With that, I decided she wasn’t inside and thought to return tomorrow when I suddenly felt a chill from behind.
creeeeak
A spine-chilling sound, just like something out of a horror movie, echoed from the dorm room door.
On the other side of the opened door stood someone with violet hair resembling tulips, her expression eerily more vacant than before. It was Ariel, the former great magician of the hero party and now my friend.
“…Hello, Sera.”
“Um… Hello, Ariel.”
Suppressing the unexplained anxiety welling within me, I greeted her with a bright smile.
“Come on in.”
Ariel gazed silently at me for a moment before breaking into a soft smile and inviting me inside.
As I stepped into her room, it wasn’t as lavish as mine or Lily’s, but it exuded an ample sense of elegance.
“How’s your roommate?”
At my question, Ariel’s smile momentarily faltered before she quickly restored her cheerful demeanor.
“She moved to another room. Personal reasons.”
“Personal reasons?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure about the details myself.”
“Oh, I see…”
After hearing Ariel’s answer, I didn’t have any pressing questions.
If it’s personal, there’s nothing to be done. Maybe she was unwell or something.
Sitting down on the chair in front of the table, Ariel brought over a cup of tea and placed it in front of me.
“I’ve been waiting a long time, Sera.”
“…Sorry. I got caught up with other things.”
“Then can you finally explain everything?”
“Yeah.”
With a short affirmation, I took a deep breath.
As I pulled away the power of Sephir flowing through me, I felt a strange sensation when my brown hair slowly transformed back to black, and my body returned to its original form.
Once again, I had reverted to my true appearance.
Ariel stared at me in shock for a while.
“…Is that really you?”
“….Yeah.”
For some reason, I felt Ariel’s gaze intensify as she looked at me.
But I kept my composure and met her gaze with clear focus.
“I’m going to explain everything.”
*
How much time passed after that?
I told Ariel my story.
Of course, not everything.
I excluded the parts about being possessed and meeting the goddess to receive her blessing—things that would be hard for anyone to believe.
I explained who I was, that I came to the academy to confirm the connection I had with Lily, and that I was planning to stop the Demon King.
While this was also difficult to believe, Ariel listened to me calmly.
“So, you already know Lily?”
“Huh…?”
As I was speaking, Ariel interrupted me with her voice, and when I looked at her, her usually gentler violet eyes had captured my gaze like a spell.
“So that means you and Lily have grown close?”
“Yeah… she’s like a sister to me.”
Of course, our relationship had shifted a bit since then…
But there was no need to bring that up.
Upon hearing my words, Ariel glanced down at the ground, muttering to herself.
“…She didn’t switch sides.”
I was puzzled by Ariel’s ambiguous comment.
Muttering to herself for a moment, Ariel lifted her head and looked at me.
“What did you do with Iris yesterday?”
“Um… What?”
“You hurried off somewhere with Iris.”
“Ah… that…”
“Are you going to tell me again?”
For some reason, I sensed pressure in Ariel’s words.
I could feel the cold sweat trickling down my back as the weighted tension began to tighten around me.
‘….How am I supposed to tell her?’
I couldn’t understand why this vibrant, energetic Ariel was emitting such a heavy atmosphere, but I doubted she’d believe me if I told her the truth.
Not only had I learned from the goddess that this world was a second chance but that I became the goddess’s daughter and had to comfort Iris in the process?
I was lucky she didn’t think I was crazy.
“Uh… we just talked a bit.”
“…..”
Unable to confess the truth, I decided to make an excuse instead, but Ariel’s eyes grew colder after hearing my lies.
“Oh… Ariel?”
“…This isn’t good.”
Ariel started to move closer to me, her voice trembling.
I had no choice but to step back by the overwhelming rejection I felt from her.
“Are you avoiding me right now, Sera?”
“Ah… no, that’s not it…”
Just as I felt the heavy atmosphere peak to an unbearable degree, a voice echoed in my mind.
[This isn’t good, my disciple.]
The voice I recognized belonged to my master.
‘Master… are you here?’
[If we leave this as is, it will only lead to future troubles. Hand your body over to me.]
‘What? Suddenly?’
As I was confused by this unexpected arrival and strange words from my master, she continued.
[Just trust me once and hand it over. Can’t you see her state?]
Indeed, as my master said, Ariel’s state didn’t seem right.
Her words had drastically decreased, but above all, what struck me was the look in her eyes.
Where her gaze usually shone brightly with positivity, now it felt hollow and sunken.
‘…She doesn’t look good. But do you have a method, Master?’
[Yes. So hurry and hand it over.]
‘….Alright.’
I didn’t know what she was planning to do, but I resolved to follow my master’s advice for now.
My master wasn’t one to spout nonsense. She must have something in mind.
As her familiar hand reached into my consciousness, a heavy sensation enveloped me, and I soon found myself in my mental world.
[..Even though it’s the second time, I’m still not used to this.]
The voice permeated my surroundings, not emanating from my mouth.
It felt like drifting in a dream.
Looking around, just like last time, a giant screen appeared before me, showing the situation outside.
My body was under the master’s control, and directly in front of it stood Ariel.
And there, they were affectionately sharing a kiss.
[…..Huh?]
I rubbed my eyes several times to confirm what I saw, but the scene remained unchanged.
Even so, it was the same image.
chuup- chuup-
My body, expertly leading the kiss, and Ariel, blushing and wearing an expression of bliss.
I could only stare at the two in shock.
M-Master?
[What… what are you doing with my body?!!?!!?!!]
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