47. End of Summer (4)
At long last, the monsoon season of the Hawol Plains, which had been so unusually long that it felt as though it might never end, was finally beginning to reach its final stretch.
Now, every morning, one could enjoy the warm sunlight pouring down, and outside the window, the cries of cicadas and the chirping of sparrows had begun to return as well.
And since the end of the monsoon season in the Hawol Plains also meant that the end of summer had arrived, the merchants would finally be able to breathe again in relief.
“……Wow.”
At Lotus Inn, the place known as the heart of the plains, I greeted the morning and stared blankly out at the Hawol Plains spread beyond the window.
Even a single rainbow was mysterious and beautiful, but across those vast Hawol Plains, there were dozens of rainbows decorating the clouds.
That was the greatest spectacle in the world, a sight that could only be seen in the Hawol Plains.
“Pretty……”
The Hawol Plains themselves were already beautiful enough, but with dozens of rainbows woven together and stretching endlessly across the sky……
it was truly more than human language could fully capture.
Knock knock—
While I was standing there absentmindedly admiring the view, there came a knock at the door.
“Yes. Come in.”
With a polite word of excuse, the door opened, and waiters in suits came in pushing a luxurious hotel cart of the sort one would only expect to see in a high-end hotel.
“We have prepared breakfast.”
“Ah… yes……”
It was rather burdensome.
I wasn’t the sort of person who deserved this kind of treatment. Whether they understood my discomfort or not, they courteously set the meal on the table and quickly disappeared.
Since it was morning, it was not some absurdly extravagant feast. There was soup made from truffle or something like it, soft, moist bread that looked as though it might be softer than clouds, sandwiches, and the like.
Still, though it looked like a simple meal, perhaps because it was high-class after all, the taste was on another level.
“……It is good, though.”
As I slowly spooned up the soup, I recalled what had happened before.
A week ago—when I had been trapped in the past ten years ago—the one who appeared like a miracle and pulled me out was Zeliel.
Why had she appeared?
I still didn’t really know the reason, but the important point was that she had saved me and wanted me to stay here for the rest of the vacation.
Her reason was that once school started, we wouldn’t be able to see each other often……
To be honest, I didn’t really understand it.
What did it matter whether we saw each other often or not? It wasn’t as though we were all that close. Well…… I had saved Zeliel’s father before, but I had also been promised fair compensation for that.
No matter how I thought about it, I still didn’t get it.
Once I had finished eating, the waiters came back again and asked whether the food had been to my taste and whether the meal had been comfortable, then even brewed the coffee for me themselves. It looked like if I said no, they might slam their heads against the floor, so I just said it was fine.
“Phew……”
After sending them away, I was finally able to catch my breath, and only then did I check the time.
Today was Saturday. And next Monday, Stella would begin classes again.
Which also meant it was about time for me to head back.
After returning to the present, I stayed at Lotus Inn for a week, and every day I had lunch and dinner with Zeliel.
Unfortunately, she said she could not spare any more time than that, so eating together was apparently the most we could do.
Though I wasn’t sure exactly what was supposed to be unfortunate about that.
“……You’re leaving now?”
Zeliel always maintained that stiff, expressionless look. I didn’t know whether she was only like that with me or whether she acted the same way with everyone else, but her face looked so severe that sometimes I wished she would smile.
“I can’t exactly commute to school from here.”
I cut into my meat and answered casually, and Zeliel lightly bit her lip.
“I see…….”
“Well, I can always come visit once in a while.”
I hated awkward atmospheres. If two people sat silently through an entire meal, it was bound to get uncomfortable, so I usually kept talking nonstop. Every time I did, Zeliel would do no more than respond with a faint smile.
Was she just naturally quiet?
Or did she dislike talking?
After a long while of me speaking all by myself, she finally opened her mouth.
“Recently…… I started a project.”
“A project?”
She held out a folder for me to see. On it, written in large letters, were the words [Sharing of Love].
“This is…?”
“I thought I’d start with something small.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, had we talked about something related to this before?
I had also thought it would be good if the Starcloud Merchant Company pushed forward proper welfare programs, and I had been waiting for a chance to bring it up. But I hadn’t expected Zeliel to have already started before I even got around to asking.
But……
“Small?”
It was not small at all.
I could tell just from skimming the papers. There was talk of implementing a seven-layer auditing system so donation money would not leak elsewhere, international disaster relief, policies to support volunteers, and all sorts of things—everything was incredibly systematic, planned, and full-scale.
“I’m going to start with hunger relief first. After that, I’ll introduce disaster aid and an emergency support system for households in crisis.”
“R-right…… I see.”
Even that alone already seemed amazing enough, but apparently she was still not satisfied.
“More people than I expected needed my help.”
Of course they did.
Among all the misfortunes they suffered, financial problems would often be the biggest.
“But…… I still can’t know in full detail who needs help, and where.”
Even information networks had limits.
This was a world where information traveled more slowly than on Earth, while disasters and catastrophes occurred far more frequently, so that problem would naturally be even worse.
“That’s……”
“I’m going to establish a foundation.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to set up branches of the People’s Sharing Foundation all over the world. So that there won’t be any place my eyes and hands cannot reach.”
It felt as though the scale was growing bigger and bigger.
“It may be small…… but at the very least, I should begin my atonement like this. Once I finish all my current work, I intend to go around personally as well.”
Zeliel.
She had truly come to feel the emotion called guilt, and she wanted to atone for it with her own hands.
That……
was the most ideal conclusion I could have imagined, so I couldn’t help but smile.
Zeliel, that broken-souled sociopath who, for her own profit, could have driven all humanity in the world to ruin, had changed enough to feel guilt and even establish a charitable foundation of her own.
Of course, that would not completely wash away the sins she had committed.
But I decided to focus on the fact that from now on, she would do good.
If she went on to do as many good deeds as she had once done evil ones—or even more than that—
then the world would surely change because of her.
“That’s admirable.”
So,
because I no longer felt uncomfortable facing Zeliel, I could smile at her openly.
“Ah……”
When I smiled, she smiled too.
Not the mask of a smile dragged up by force for the sake of appearances, but a genuine smile.
When she smiled so brightly, perhaps because she had originally possessed the beauty of a heroine-class girl to begin with, she looked far prettier.
I truly thought it was fortunate that Zeliel had come to understand emotions.
On the way back to Stella Academy, I took the train. I had ended up talking with Zeliel until late in the evening, so the direct airship to Stella had already stopped running.
There was nothing for it but to take a train to one of the satellite cities of the magic city Arcanium, then board an airship departing nearby.
A train journey.
It wasn’t bad.
The Hawol Plains were beautiful to begin with, but sometimes I wanted to enjoy this kind of leisure too.
Looking back, ever since I fell into Aether World, I had lived an awfully busy life.
Without a moment to rest, I had kept running around with goals in mind—Main Episodes, the Twelve Divine Months, Divine Beasts, all of it—and thanks to that, I had been able to form many ties.
But it wasn’t enough.
I pulled a white crystal orb from my backpack.
The reward item I had received for completing this episode.
[498 Witch’s Crystal Orb]
If one were to name a representative growth-boosting item, the Wheel of Dawn would certainly come to mind, but I had already used it up like a consumable before, so I could never obtain it again.
But while the Wheel of Dawn was stable, it had the drawback of only allowing very slight growth over a long period of time.
On top of that, because I had a Mana Leakage Body, its efficiency for me was abysmally low, so I hadn’t particularly liked it even back when I played the game.
This Witch’s Crystal Orb, however, was a little different.
It was risky, but it allowed one to aim for a major leap all at once.
This was reality, and I only had one life, so I wasn’t going to do anything too insane……
but even if it was a little dangerous, I needed to grow faster.
‘While I’ve been running all over the place, Ma Yuseong has probably powered up another level……’
Of course, no matter how monstrous Ma Yuseong was, even he could not do something absurd like reaching 5-Class in his first year.
But during summer vacation, he would come back with something called experience.
According to the original game’s story, Ma Yuseong in first year possessed tremendous strength, but lacked experience, which was why he was said to be roughly equal to Hae Wonryang.
So if someone like him started to see Hae Wonryang as a rival and gained experience on top of that?
That would create a truly terrifying monster.
Of course, if handled well, Ma Yuseong could stand on the side of good, so that would definitely be a positive thing……
The problem was that it wouldn’t only be Ma Yuseong. The other protagonists would also have experienced tremendous growth during summer vacation, while I alone would be stuck in place.
If I wanted to intervene in future episodes and play a proper role in them, I needed to level up more quickly.
‘What was the episode right after summer vacation again?’
If I remembered correctly, several episodes would occur simultaneously, and the player could only choose one of them.
And the one that had been especially popular was, as expected……
‘the urban legend one, wasn’t it?’
I thought it over for a moment.
In the game, you could only choose one episode and proceed with it, but in reality, would there really be such a convenient function?
Of course not.
Most likely, every episode that could appear would emerge all at once.
And I would definitely have to play a major role there too, so I would need to use this Witch’s Crystal Orb and—
Clunk! Bang!
“Ugh?!”
While I was holding the crystal and thinking, a violent shock suddenly struck the train, and my body was thrown forward.
Thanks to my superhuman physique, I reacted quickly and didn’t get badly hurt, but I dropped the Witch’s Crystal onto the floor.
“Damn……”
When I raised my head with difficulty and looked out the window,
everything was pitch-black.
“What the… a tunnel……?”
—No.
A phantom voice, as if someone were hammering a sound directly into my mind.
Realizing it was telepathy, I immediately pulled out Terriphon and activated the sword, but no proper light came from it.
‘Damn……!’
Right, Terriphon had been damaged during my battle with Isaac Morf. I still wasn’t skilled enough to manifest a sword using another staff, but I hurriedly pulled out a temporary one anyway and ran into the train corridor.
There,
someone draped in a black robe stood motionless, looking at me.
Though their head was covered by the robe, there was nothing where a face should have been.
Only emptiness.
As though the head had been deliberately cut away.
—Who are you?
He—or she—asked me that.
“……I think that’s my line.”
What was this? Who was this? Out of nowhere?
As I reached toward my waist, thinking who I could possibly encounter on a train like this and trying to put on my Jikbakguri Glasses, he stretched out his hand toward me.
—Stop.
“Ugh…!”
My hand wouldn’t move.
Damn it. If I couldn’t put on the glasses, I wouldn’t be able to identify him.
—I will ask again. Who are you? And why do you possess the Witch’s Crystal?
“What……?”
The Witch’s Crystal might be an item……
but the moment it appeared in reality, it became a real, existing object.
Just like the Jikbakguri Glasses I was using now.
Which meant, in other words,
that it would inevitably draw the attention of those who knew of the existence of witches—beings who had completely vanished from this world.
‘Damn it, you idiot……’
Why hadn’t I thought that far ahead?
That had been shortsighted of me.
Back in the game, even if I casually took out an item and put it away again, a minor event like this never happened.
—……You are not answering.
Seeing me sunk in thought, he seemed to take it as a refusal to answer and spread out both hands.
—But that is fine. You need not answer.
“What do you mean by—”
—I am a Witch Hunter.
At those utterly unexpected words, my eyes widened, and the black-robed figure pulled out a staff and summoned a giant black scythe.
—And you, who possess the crystal…… must surely be a witch.
After saying that, he swung the black scythe.
A strike aimed straight for my neck without the slightest error.
[Read only on MugenCodex.]
