“…..I’m tired.”
I rubbed my heavy eyelids and yawned.
As I opened my heavy eyes, I noticed the well-organized dormitory room.
Looking at the clock, it was 7 a.m.
I wasn’t used to waking up at this hour, as I tended to sleep in.
‘…..I guess I have to go to school.’
I never thought I would have to wake up early to go to school at this age.
But now, there were many things I had to do.
There was no time to be lazy.
“….Let’s get up.”
I forced myself to rise from the bed and dragged my body to the bathroom.
…
“Hello, Sera.”
“Hi, Iris.”
I greeted Iris, who had a bright smile.
Did touching my heart really have that much of an effect?
Or had meeting her every weekend been a great comfort?
Seeing her back to her cheerful self filled me with relief.
I could let go of some of my worries about Iris now.
As I was exchanging greetings with Iris and preparing for my first class, someone tapped my shoulder.
When I turned around, it was Ariel.
Perhaps she hadn’t slept well, as her face seemed more weary than yesterday.
“Hi, Ariel. Did you sleep well?”
When I greeted her, she blushed slightly and handed me something.
“I read all of it, Sera.”
“Oh.”
What she handed me was a notebook I had created for her yesterday.
I put the notebook back in my bag and asked her, “How was it? Did it help you?”
Ariel gave me a somewhat awkward smile and replied.
“Um… not really? I read it all, but I couldn’t understand it well.”
“Ah… I see.”
I felt a bit disappointed by her words.
It seems studying through writing alone has its limits.
“So… what if you let me teach you directly like yesterday?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah… if you’re okay with it…?”
I thought for a moment about her words.
It shouldn’t be impossible, right?
Now that Ariel is my friend too.
I had received help from her in many ways, so it’s only fair to return the favor.
I smiled at her and said, “Sure. What don’t you understand?”
Ariel’s eyes lit up for a moment before she pressed closely next to me and said.
“Well, you know how girls help each other wash when they bathe? I’m not sure how far we should wash each other. Could you maybe show me in practice?”
For some reason, her words seemed to come out faster as if she were excited.
Bathing, huh.
There definitely was a bathroom within the academy facilities.
I’m not really the type to enjoy going out to wash.
But if Ariel wanted it, I didn’t think it would be a problem.
“How about we go take a bath together this week?”
“Sure!”
Ariel responded with a bright smile.
Seeing her like that, I muttered to myself.
“Should I bring Iris with us?”
After all, they would eventually join the hero party together. Spending time in the bath to build camaraderie wouldn’t be a bad idea.
But Ariel seemed to have a look that suggested she wasn’t keen on that.
“Is it really necessary? I think it’d be embarrassing to learn with someone else present…”
“Really…?”
“Yeah. Just the two of us, Sera.”
There was a slight sense of rejection in her words.
I felt a little uneasy with Ariel’s sticky voice.
But I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal and was about to reply when suddenly.
“Everyone, attention.”
A man with red hair clapped a few times to get everyone’s attention.
The students instantly stopped talking and looked at him.
“Today, we will have a practical duel with Class A.”
A murmur spread through the class at his words.
“Class A…?”
“All of a sudden?”
“Isn’t that the class with the hero?”
“Hmm…”
“As the chairman said, such events will frequently occur in the academy. However, they are all for your benefit, so just follow along without any complaints.”
In response to his words, the students started to nod, one by one.
The man seemed to notice the students’ tightness and continued speaking.
“It’s just a duel, so there’s no chance of serious injury. Just do your best.”
Finishing his speech, the red-haired teacher, Calvin, scanned the entire class with a calm gaze as he left the door.
“If I see a student slacking off, you’d better be ready.”
After leaving those words, Calvin exited the classroom.
Once he vanished, the classroom became even more chaotic.
Some were nervously settling down their bodies.
Others were raising their voices as if excited.
Amidst the various reactions from the students, Ariel looked at me with bright eyes as if she was looking forward to it.
“Sera. Did you hear? We’re dueling with Class A!!”
“Yeah, I heard.”
Actually, I already knew about it.
It was a rivalry between classes at the start of the semester.
In the original, it was a pivotal moment for Robin and Ariel.
Ariel, who usually wanted to test her strength against the hero, challenged Robin to a duel.
Unfortunately, she lost by a narrow margin and saw Robin as a rival, sparking her interest in him.
And that interest eventually blossomed into love over time.
But right now, the situation was different.
“I really want to fight Lily at least once! Hehe… I’m so excited!”
Right. Robin was no longer a hero.
So there wouldn’t be an event that would bring Robin and Ariel together.
‘…The original story keeps changing.’
I felt a bit overwhelmed but it was fine.
Although many things have changed from the original story, the overarching structure was still intact.
After a long night of thinking things through, I concluded what I could accomplish within a month.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult task, so even someone like me could manage it.
This duel would be the first step of my plans.
First, I need to assess the strength of the hero… or rather, Lily.
I needed to figure out whether she was weaker or stronger than Robin in the original, and by how much their powers differed.
I took a deep breath, calming my nervous body.
‘…It’s okay. Right now, I’m not Hera.’
Clenching my fists, I steadied my mind.
Now…
It was time to face my sister, Lily.
…
The training ground, spacious enough to be called a large arena, was filled with the sound of murmuring students.
“Students from Class A and Class B, please gather in the center!”
Calvin’s voice made the students gradually move inward.
“Hehe… This should be fun.”
Ariel, full of excitement and anticipation.
“I hope no one gets hurt…”
Iris was still worrying about others.
“…..”
And behind them,
I stood staring at one spot.
“Huh? Sera, who are you looking at so intently?”
Ariel shifted her gaze in the direction I was looking and found someone, grinning while saying.
“Hehe. Are you interested in the hero too?”
“……”
I couldn’t respond to her remark.
My entire focus was on the girl in my line of sight.
“….Lily…”
A girl, happily chatting with her classmates from the same class.
With slightly darker hair than Iris, yet still resembling a beautiful moon, she had silver hair.
Underneath that, a flawless white face and amethyst-colored eyes that shone.
Much more matured than when I last saw her, yet still exceedingly beautiful and lovely—my sister.
My heart raced as if it was about to burst.
My eyes felt prickly, ready to spill tears at any moment.
Complicated emotions that words couldn’t express swirled inside me.
But the strongest of those feelings was undoubtedly nostalgia.
‘….You’ve been doing well. I’m relieved.’
A huge sense of relief washed over me, accompanied by a slight bittersweetness.
Was it because I was staring so intently?
Lily seemed to notice my gaze, turning her head toward me, even though there was plenty of distance.
When our violet eyes met, it felt like my heart dropped to the floor.
“…..”
But Lily glanced at me for a moment, then quickly turned back to chat with her friends.
“….Huh.”
I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and sighed deeply.
Of course, she wouldn’t recognize me.
Because Sephir’s ability didn’t just change appearances.
The unique qualities of each person’s mana.
If the level was high enough, one could even recognize people through their mana.
However, Sephir’s disguise technique also included the ability to mix impurities into an individual’s mana, changing it to a different form of mana.
It literally allows one to transform into a completely different person.
It wasn’t just a question of recognition.
“Sera, are you okay?”
Noticing my expression was off, Iris placed her hand on my forehead.
“I’m fine, Iris. Just lost in thought for a moment.”
“If you’re in pain, please tell me anytime. I want to help you.”
“….Yeah.”
‘It’s okay. Right now I’m not Hera.’
So there was no need to be afraid.
As a student of Regis Academy, I would approach Lily under the name Sera.
Contact with Lily was essential for my plan to unfold.
“Everyone, gather around me!”
While I was mulling over all these thoughts, Professor Calvin’s loud voice called the students together.
At his call, students began to gather around him one by one.
Lily also stood up and walked toward Calvin.
Standing between Lily and Calvin, I could only stare blankly at Lily as she approached.
I didn’t want to take my eyes off her face.
I wanted to look longer.
My sister, who wouldn’t hurt even if I put her in my eyes.
The one I had missed so much.
Yet, I couldn’t approach her because I was scared to look her in the eyes.
Memories of family.
…
A significant amount of time had passed, and I had been able to somewhat set aside my feelings for her.
So I thought I could endure and get through just by facing her directly.
But being this close to her made it overwhelming just to hold back my tears.
One step. Another step.
Lily was drawing closer to me.
My heart raced in sync with her approach.
And just as she was about to stand right in front of me.
“…..”
As if nothing had happened, Lily coldly walked past me.
‘…Yeah. That would be it.’
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to calm my confused emotions.
I quelled the unspeakable bittersweetness as I followed behind Lily toward Calvin with Iris and Ariel.
Determined to fulfill my plans to make everyone happy.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.