#35
Persis, who had walked over slowly, blocked my path. I could hardly believe the broad back that suddenly obscured my vision. When he used to stand in front of me as a child, he only looked cute.
“What is going on here?”
“What’s going on? The Young Master followed us out without saying anything, and I was just trying to help because it was too dangerous.”
Yaksi answered Persis’s question. Help, right. She had noticed the magic cast on the sword and was approaching to investigate. If Persis had arrived even a little later, the magic on the sword might have been dispelled. I had nearly been in a situation where I could have been accused of being an agent who received power from demons.
“I mean, why is Ana here?”
At Persis’s words, I unconsciously swallowed hard. He seemed displeased that I was here. Rikin, who had been nearby, quickly approached me. Persis turned toward me and glared sharply at the approaching Rikin. His gaze was so sharp that I was startled, even though it wasn’t directed at me.
“It was me. I brought him.”
“What were you thinking…”
Persis, who was about to shout in anger, took a breath and calmed the emotions that had risen to the top of his head. Then he turned his gaze to me, standing next to Rikin.
I thought Persis’s eyes looking at me were very transparent. This meant there was no emotion contained in his eyes. Those eyes, without the slightest fluctuation, painfully pierced my heart. It was as if they were telling me how far the distance between us had grown.
Since I had already seen what I needed to see, there was no need to stay any longer.
“I’ll be going now. Sorry for the disturbance.”
“Ana!”
I heard Rikin calling from behind, but I didn’t look back. It was better to retreat now. If I had stayed there any longer, Yaksi might have discovered the existence of the sword. I left the open crime scene and walked through the dark passage.
Earlier, it had been easy to navigate because of the magic Yaksi was holding, but now I had no other means to light my way.
I would reach the end if I kept walking cautiously. My feet, which had moved quickly in the illuminated areas, gradually slowed down. If I rushed here, I might fall by mistake.
“Are you okay?”
The sword, which had been quiet until now, spoke to me.
“Yes. I’m fine. And you?”
“Haah, that woman is no ordinary person. She’s really something.”
“Woman?”
“The magician, I mean. She would have noticed right away if I had sent a message.”
I thought it was a man, but it seems she had cast a voice modulation spell. Judging by the robe she wore, she seemed to want to hide her gender.
To think she would have noticed just from a message. She was certainly different, befitting a court magician. If Persis hadn’t appeared then, it could have been really serious.
“After we get a bit further away from them, I’ll use a spell to light the way. Just go slowly for now.”
“No, I can do it myself…”
Just as I was about to use magic, a small light flying from behind illuminated my path. Could Yaksi have followed me here? Startled, I turned around. There, I saw Persis, slightly out of breath as if he had rushed here.
“Uh…”
“Why are you walking in the dark? It’s dangerous.”
Persis approaching while saying this somehow felt unfamiliar. He walked past me as I stood there blankly. It was the same back I had seen earlier.
I thought I had become somewhat used to it, but perhaps it was just my own delusion. His back, visible through the dim light, felt so unfamiliar that it made me feel strange. I slowly followed Persis, who was walking ahead. He must have followed me because he was worried about me going alone.
Indeed, Persis’s kind nature hadn’t gone anywhere. He couldn’t leave someone in difficulty alone.
I looked at Persis walking ahead without saying anything. With each step I took with him, questions I wanted to ask him piled up.
How had he been all this time? Were there any difficulties? I occasionally heard news through Rikin, but was his body alright? Why had he come here? Were there any hardships in palace life? Were the palace employees being overprotective?
The small prince who used to run around recklessly had grown up so splendidly. It was inevitable that I wanted to know what had happened during my absence.
Finally reaching the end, Persis pushed against the dead-end wall. Then the basement that Rikin and I had descended to earlier came into view.
“Go now.”
At Persis’s words, I slipped into the basement.
“Thank you.”
I gave a light bow to Persis, who had brought me this far. Then his face, which had been looking at me, suddenly crumpled. What was it that displeased him so much again? Being only familiar with Persis who always smiled brightly or burst into tears, I found it hard to adjust to this face.
“Stop doing dangerous things.”
Persis’s monotone words struck deeply into my heart.
“Please, just stay still. Understand?”
After saying that, Persis turned away from me and walked back toward the dark passage. As his receding figure grew smaller, the open wall closed with a loud noise. Until then, I stood there like a person rooted to the spot.
The breath coming from my mouth was very cold. My body wasn’t even shivering, so why was it so cold? Only then did I realize why Persis’s back had seemed unfamiliar when I reunited with him yesterday. Unconsciously, I had been expecting the childlike figure from the grown-up Persis.
I had believed that there must have been some special reason why he had distanced himself from me. That that child wouldn’t have let go of my hand.
But it seems he didn’t view me favorably.
This is a good thing. Since I shouldn’t be close to Persis, I should think of this as a really good thing, but…
“Now, who does that bastard think he is, ordering someone around!!”
Hearing the sword’s message filling my head, laughter involuntarily escaped me.
“He’s the prince. He can say things like that.”
“Just because he’s a prince, he can do anything!? The nerve!!”
I tapped the handle a few times as if soothing the excited sword. This calmed the sword’s snorting message a bit.
“Ah, I thought he was decent, but he’s not.”
“Don’t call him ‘that.'”
“Don’t hang around with someone like that. Got it?”
“I wasn’t planning to anyway.”
Despite my response, the sword, still not appeased, listed why it disliked Persis. I silently nodded, listening to each word. When the sword was this excited, it was better to listen without arguing.
I walked on, listening to the sword’s continued criticism of Persis.
* * *
The students at this school are basically assigned to separate classes, and within those classes, they receive education divided into class-specific subjects and elective subjects.
In the story, Persis and Iria first met during an elective class. Even without my interference, their meeting shouldn’t go awry, but thinking I should at least check how it would unfold, I planned to include some classes that both of them would attend in my schedule.
According to the game’s flow, Iria is currently still before moving on to Persis’s story. This meant she would experience several main events and events with other characters. When the game starts, it continues from this scene after Iria’s brief narration.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Yaksi, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher.”
These were the homeroom teacher’s greeting words. I blankly stared at the magician standing at the podium. She had her face tightly wrapped in a robe.
First of all, it was great news that I was in the same class as Iria. When I was first assigned to Class 2, which included Iria, I don’t know how many times I jumped on the spot. That was truly a good thing.
However, I don’t understand why Yaksi, not the teacher who was originally supposed to be in charge of this class, is standing at the podium.
As I thought before, this person was a character who had never appeared in the original school setting.
“I look forward to working with you all this year.”
Yaksi’s modulated voice was heard. Somehow, I felt her eyes reached me. A chill ran down my spine, and I unconsciously gulped. Even though I wasn’t wearing the sword at my waist, I found myself instinctively fumbling for it.
Is this what they call the butterfly effect? Perhaps Yaksi was appointed to this school due to the incident at the entrance ceremony. Since I left the sword behind, there shouldn’t be anything that would put me in danger. Nevertheless, I couldn’t keep looking at Yaksi and lowered my head.
“Today, you need to decide on your elective subjects.”
Saying this, Yaksi tapped the papers she had placed on the desk. Instantly, the papers spread out and fell one by one onto the students’ desks.
“You’ll have to study hard for a year, so choose carefully.”
It sounded like a warning that she wouldn’t let it slide if we didn’t study diligently.
NOTE: Andelion initially thought Yaksi was male before learning about the voice modulation spell. The text states “I thought it was a man, but it seems she had cast a voice modulation spell.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
