#59
“Huh?”
“That’s what I mean. Listening to your voice and all that. Is there something different about me?”
At my sincere question, the sword couldn’t say anything. If only it had a face, I could see what expression it was making. I really regretted that.
“Did something really happen today?”
Yes, it did. I didn’t even touch the Clum used in the magic, but just briefly encountering it gave me a strange feeling in my body. I thought it was just my imagination and ignored it, but at the seminar, the protection magic suddenly went berserk. There’s no evidence it was my fault, but what happened in the garden kept bothering me.
I had directly touched the Clum that Yaksi prepared before, so why was this time different? Why didn’t I have any reaction to the Clum Yaksi prepared, yet today I somehow affected a Clum I couldn’t even see? No, was I really the one who made the magic go berserk in the first place?
I didn’t know anything for certain, and since there was no one to tell me, I couldn’t ask out loud. It was all just assumptions. Besides, going around shouting “Was I the one who caused this incident?” would only make me look like an attention-seeking adolescent boy, or worse, catch the Duke’s eye and hasten my path to becoming a sacrifice.
So the best I could do was ask the sword, which might lie to me.
“You are you. Andelion.”
“No, that’s not what I’m asking.”
I know that I am Andelion.
Despite having memories of a past life, my identity was firmly established as Andelion. It was thanks to Kara, who stayed by my side during difficult times in my childhood. I was trying to fulfill the dreams I had in my past life as Andelion. I wasn’t denying who I am now. Kara was the one who helped me with that.
So my identity is very solid and won’t be shaken by this incident. What I wanted to ask about was this body. My unknown powers, possibilities, potential. Or dangers. I thought this was just an ordinary body, but maybe it wasn’t.
“Today, I think the magic went berserk because of me. I heard it was magic using Clum. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I felt something strange before it went out of control.”
“Clum? Wait, did you touch the Clum?”
“No. I think there was magic set up somewhere in the garden I accidentally wandered into, but I didn’t directly see or touch it.”
I told everything honestly. The sword can’t communicate with the Duke anyway. Even if it could, how could it relay messages to the Duke while in front of me? It was impossible. If there was some separate means for it to talk to the Duke, it might be dangerous if the Duke found out that I had noticed I was different from ordinary people. But even if that happened, my body was currently at school. I wasn’t at the Duke’s mansion, so I had more means of escape.
I could probably get help somehow by either escaping or explaining everything to Persis. I had just learned that Persis, whom I thought hated and avoided me, was actually struggling, unable to get closer or further away from me.
There’s a way to overcome anything. So it was right to take action now. I held the sword’s hilt tightly, waiting for its response.
“Andelion.”
The sword called my name. It felt almost like it was taking a small breath.
“You’re just an ordinary child. Really. I guarantee it. So don’t worry about anything.”
Strange. The sword’s seemingly simple words pierced my heart. Suddenly I felt like I had said something unnecessary. Should I not have told the sword? Should I not have brought this up directly? A surge of anxiety welled up.
I knew the sword might tell the Duke. I should have been well aware of that risk, but my heart was gripped by inexplicable worry and began to tremble slightly.
“Don’t worry. Understand?”
I couldn’t give the sword any answer. I wanted to say that it wasn’t possible not to worry, but I couldn’t move my mouth. I could only grip the hilt a little tighter with both hands.
***
Click, click.
An unpleasant sound echoed each time he bit his fingernails. But he didn’t care and continued to bite until the nails dug into the tips of his fingers. His eyes were fixed on the broken stone fragments.
Even in the dark room, only the stone shone brightly, illuminating his face hidden by the robe. Though no one was watching, he was completely wrapped in a black robe as if worried his face might be exposed.
“Strange.”
After chewing his nails for a while, he picked up the stone fragment on the table and rolled it around in his palm. The warmth that remained without disappearing was transmitted to his palm.
Bending one finger to touch the stone, he let out a small groan. He seemed to be troubled, unable to find an answer no matter how much he thought about it.
The stone fragment in his palm was a piece of the Clum he had touched yesterday. He had expected some different reaction, but even he hadn’t anticipated the incident occurring in this form.
Just as he had been rolling the Clum for quite some time, the communication artifact he was holding began to ring with a noisy sound. This artifact, small enough to fit in one hand, wouldn’t ring unless it was for something special. Given that someone was contacting him at this late hour, something urgent must have happened.
He adjusted his voice, set aside the stone fragment, and received the communication.
“What is it?”
[I apologize for the late hour. I was wondering if you could visit the temple in the palace tomorrow?]
“The temple?”
[Yes. It seems something strange has happened to ‘that thing.’]
The moment the other person said ‘that thing,’ his face stiffened slightly. He soon pretended nothing was wrong, nodded, and answered the person on the other end.
“Ah, yes. I understand. I’ll leave as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow.”
[Thank you. I’ll be waiting then.]
The light that had brightened from the artifact faded away.
A smile of satisfaction spread across his face, hidden by the robe. Though he couldn’t know for certain yet, he felt that something was being solved. Now he just needed to combine the various scattered clues.
He tightly gripped the stone fragment he had set aside. The stones, squeezed in his grasp as if about to break, emitted hot heat within his palm.
***
My steps toward the classroom were heavy. The worry that had started yesterday had tormented me all night. After our conversation ended yesterday, the sword hadn’t said anything until this morning. It didn’t even answer when I said I was leaving. I was concerned that it might be upset.
Moreover, Yutis still hadn’t come to school today. The Duke must have assigned him work to investigate what happened yesterday. I had only thought it was uncomfortable to be with him, but now that Yutis wasn’t around, I felt awkward and even a bit lonely. It’s frightening how one gets used to things.
“Uh…”
As soon as I entered the classroom for my first class of the day, Demon Research, I saw the word “Canceled” written across the blackboard. Yaksi seemed to have suddenly canceled today’s class due to some urgent matter.
Why today of all days? There was an ominous atmosphere with both Yutis and Yaksi gone. I couldn’t just stay in the empty classroom, so I quietly left.
It’s complicated. I thought my path was clearly defined and everything would work out as I planned, but everything is tangled. No matter how I look at it, I couldn’t find the flow of the game’s main story anywhere. In the original work, there were significant clues related to demons, but they were only this explicitly revealed when the Duke offered Andelion as a sacrifice.
My worries were deepening to the point where I could only sigh. The fortunate thing was that at least Iria and Persis were progressing in a good direction. At this stage, they just needed to become that close.
Through various events coming up, Iria would come to see Persis as a special person, and Persis would gradually fall for Iria. Originally, I had planned to watch as an observer, but Iria had told me she wanted to be friends, and I had also reconciled with Persis. This way, maybe I could connect the two more directly.
For all this to be possible, I first needed to solve the mystery related to my body. The sword said I was ordinary, but my anxiety wouldn’t disappear.
Moreover, something similar to what happened at the seminar could happen anywhere because of me. I didn’t want to put other people in danger, not just Iria and Persis. Perhaps it was fortunate that Yutis was away on business.
With these thoughts, I found myself near the training ground. It seemed there was currently a swordsmanship class inside. There was a class that Iria definitely took in the game, and one of them was swordsmanship.
Realizing belatedly that Iria was nearby, I was about to move away when I heard a familiar voice from a distance.
“What do you think you can do? You haven’t learned anything. You and us are different from the start.”
This familiar voice definitely belonged to Karn, the noble boy who had bullied the commoner student before. And the person he was talking to like that was…
“If we’re different from the start, I’m curious how great you are? Show me? How great are you?”
It was Iria.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
