༺ To My Dear Benefactor (1) ༻
The faint smell of earth was in the air. It was a damp smell.
Gloomy rain clouds cast a thick shroud over the academy. Thunder rumbled, and raindrops pelted down.
Just then, I went under the hospital porch.
I lifted my head, wiped my damp glasses, and headed towards the entrance.
“Oh? Senior Isaac!”
Then, someone leaving the academy hospital recognized me and approached me.
A first-year male student with grayish-blue hair and a sly look. It was Abel Carnedas.
He came up to me all of a sudden, smiling broadly.
“Wow! To think I’d meet a celebrity here! You remember me, right?!”
“From the joint practical evaluation, correct?”
“Ha, truly, such memory is befitting of an honor student from the Magic Department! It’s an honor that you would remember someone like me!”
What’s with him and this cringey flattery?
“I heard you defeated the Priestess! The rumor has even spread to the Knight Department! It was really surprising to hear! Isaac from the Magic Department overpowered the Priestess with the power of the Nine-tailed Fox purely based on his combat sense. Wow. Just how extraordinary must the person I’ve faced be?!”
“Uh, right. Thanks…”
I laughed awkwardly. It was a bit too much, but I already knew Abel’s personality, so it didn’t bother me much.
Then, Abel seemed to remember something suddenly, his eyes sparkled, and he bowed respectfully.
“Oh, I almost forgot! Greetings to you respected senior, Isaac! I’m Abel Carnedas, a first-year in the Knight Department. My sister is your classmate.”
“Ciel Carnedas?”
“Yes, that’s right! You know her!”
Abel lifted his head and gave a sly smile.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})His cheerful voice and manner were in stark contrast to Ciel Carnedas.
She always carried a pillow around, living as though merely being alive was sufficient reason to keep going.
“Where are you headed?”
“My mentee is hospitalized, so I came to visit.”
“Ah, you mean Princess Snow White. I came to see a friend. Haha.”
After the duel evaluation in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, a visit to the academy hospital would reveal Roanna, who was hospitalized because of her duel.
Currently Abel’s friend, Roanna was a female student in the Knight Department who would eventually become his lover.
So, I wasn’t at all curious why Abel had stopped by the academy hospital. I think I wouldn’t have been curious even if I hadn’t known.
Soon, Abel scratched his head as if he had just remembered something and gave an awkward laugh.
“Oops, it seems I’ve held you up too long… Sorry about that. Anyway, it was exceedingly pleasant to see you, Senior Isaac!”
“It’s okay. I was glad to see you too.”
“I’m glad to hear that! Haha. May I greet you again next time?”
“Anytime.”
I answered with a smile. Abel exclaimed, “Oooh!” and seemed overjoyed as if he was about to jump.
This…
I inwardly understood why guys like Tristan always had followers around them.
Abel was quite dramatic, but the flattery definitely felt good. I couldn’t help but puff my chest out a bit.
“Thank you! Please go safely!”
“Yeah, take care on your way.”
Abel passed by me with a bright smile, intending to leave.
Just in case, I decided to say something.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})“Abel.”
“Yes!”
Before Abel left the shelter of the building’s porch…
I looked at him and said…
“Take care of yourself.”
“…?”
Abel just stared at me blankly, as if he wasn’t sure what I meant.
“Huh…? Ah, yes! Understood!”
It seemed he took my words as a simple, “Take care.”
“Then!”
Abel then conjured a [Flame Curtain] around himself to move forward through the rain.
“…”
I smiled. It was clear at a glance what that sly guy was thinking.
It seemed Abel secretly wanted to fight me.
He was eager to fight and win against me somehow. How could I not notice his competitive spirit?
The time he competed against me during the joint practical evaluation must have left a clear mark on him, turning into motivation for his growth.
“He’ll probably cling to me for a while.”
Of course, I had no intention whatsoever of opening up to someone who hid their true intentions like that.
The reason I lied to Kaya about being strong against demons since the first year, was because I didn’t want to hand over my weaknesses to others, to place them in hands beyond my control. I had to be cautious.
If I was like this even toward those I care about, imagine how it would be with someone like Abel. If he came close, I’d just draw a line appropriately and respond with a sociable smile.
With those thoughts in mind, I entered the academy hospital.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Upon entering White’s private room, Merlin was the first to greet me. We bowed to each other in greeting.
“White!”
“Senior Isaac!”
As I waved with a smile, White welcomed me with open arms.
So cute.
I sat beside the bed. While creating [Frostfire] with my fingers and repeated light training exercises, I taught White some lessons.
Next to us was a plate of clumsily cut fruit done by Merlin. However, White didn’t eat a single piece and focused entirely on her studies.
So, when I handed over a piece of fruit with a fork, White, without taking her eyes off the book, simply stuck out her mouth and bit into the fruit eagerly.
Fortunately, White’s spirit was not broken by the duel with the Priestess Miya. She knew she had her shortcomings and was prepared to move on from the defeat. The fact that I had utterly defeated Miya also played a part.
If anything, it was Miya who was mentally shaken.
She must have considered herself the top genius in this world, yet she was unilaterally defeated by someone like me despite a significant difference in mana. A loss to monsters like Luce, Dorothy, or Alice wouldn’t have been nearly as significant.
Moreover, while she didn’t summon the Nine-tailed Fox against me, the fact that she even considered invoking the Nine-tailed Fox’s summoning circle… must have severely wounded her pride.
‘But it’s quiet.’
For some reason, Miya was silent. Eerily quiet.
The situation was different from ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱. In the game, Ian Fairytale had beaten Miya, but he had to receive healing magic for several days due to severe burns all over his body.
Perhaps for that reason, Miya was merely annoyed and refrained from causing any further harm to Ian. After all, he was already sufficiently injured.
But I defeated Miya cleanly without a single injury. Given her personality, she would have sought revenge, yet her excessive silence was puzzling.
Of course, even if it was puzzling, using [Clairvoyance] to check on Miya for such a reason wouldn’t be a good idea.
Even if not to the extent of Cheshire, Mae also had a keen sense for detecting gazes.
The reason Miya could deal with all sorts of assassination plots with ease, reigning like a tyrant in Horan, was largely due to the Nine-tailed Fox.
So, let’s refrain from using [Clairvoyance] against her unless absolutely necessary.
The next scenario of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ was 「Act 8, The Priestess of the Red Lotus」
A demon was hidden within Miya’s shadow.
It seemed [Demon Detection] didn’t work since it had already integrated with the shadow in the form of mana. Only when it reveals itself would [Demon Detection] function properly.
‘But by then, it would be too late.’
The shadow demon had a unique skill called ‘Total Plunder.’
When Miya had absorbed the power of the Nine-tailed Fox, reaching the pinnacle of her power.
The shadow demon would infest Miya and steal her power, due to possessing dark mana as well, it became an entity far superior to Miya.
In the end, the ‘Shadow Priestess’ wielding the power of the Nine-tailed Fox became the final boss of Act 8.
“Right, how’s the watch? You always carry it in your pocket, don’t you?”
“Ah, this? Yes, it’s fine. I kept it in a magic pouch.”
White rummaged through the magic pouch she carried and pulled out a platinum pocket watch.
When she opened the lid, the still hands of the watch were immediately noticeable.
“I’ve been using storage magic on it since I dropped it. You remembered…”
White was speaking with a smile, but her expression hardened as she looked at the watch.
“…Huh?”
The face of the pocket watch was originally designed to resemble the universe, captivating those who saw it with its vivid beauty.
However, for some reason, the Milky Way and starlight were fading, and a dark blackness was encroaching on part of the face.
“Why is this happening…?”
“What’s wrong, White?”
“The watch… It wasn’t like this until recently… Could it be because I put it in the magic pouch?”
White stuttered, seemingly flustered.
‘As expected.’
I had anticipated it would come to this.
White’s pocket watch was originally meant to suddenly stop during Semester 2 Year 2.
So, the reason why the watch stopped prematurely remained unknown.
However, seeing darkness encroach on the face of the watch like that made one thing clear.
The final boss of Semester 1 Year 3, ‘Mephisto the Contractor,’ who was also the agent of the Evil God, was already on the move.
The darkness invading the face of the pocket watch signified the gradual unleashing of a demon stronger than the Floating Island, it was a process of loosening the reins that bound it.
The demon was a mystery surpassing the 9-star level of world destruction, a demon that transcends even Providence. ‘The Abyss.’
Reflecting on the information from ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, at this rate, there was a high chance that The Abyss would appear during Semester 2 Year 2.
‘Then, I must…’
What should I do?
“Senior Isaac? What are you thinking about?”
Lost in thought for a moment, White and Merlin looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
I shook my head as if to say it was nothing.
“Just wondering about the watch. I know a master craftsman in the market who’s good at repairing watches. Let’s go see him later.”
“Ah, that’s… Thank you for the offer, but it’s okay. I don’t really want to get it repaired.”
“Why?”
White gazed at the pocket watch with a distant look on her face.
“It was a gift from my mother. If it’s not completely broken, I’d rather no one else touch it.”
“I see.”
White had survived numerous assassination attempts from her mother.
The only motive for her mother’s murder attempts was out of jealousy for her daughter’s beauty. White was well aware of that ridiculous fact.
But the platinum pocket watch held a very special meaning to White. It was the only gift she had received from her mother.
It was the only clue that allowed her to barely believe that there was even a speck of love from her mother towards her.
She probably never imagined that the watch could bring a fate worse than death.
The bad ending 「Eternity」. It was the worst ending that the pocket watch could bring if things went wrong.
White’s mother didn’t love her daughter at all. She only wished for her daughter’s misery out of sheer jealousy.
Only I and Mephisto knew this fact.
“Well… I never thought it would stay fine forever. Everything loses its shine with time, after all. It’s okay.”
White let out an awkward laugh and put the pocket watch back into her magic pouch.
“…”
Merlin and I looked at White with half-open eyes.
White looked back at us quickly, puzzled.
“Why are you both looking at me like that…?”
“No, just… It seemed like quite the atmospheric thing to say, especially coming from Princess White.”
It really didn’t fit her usual crybaby image.
“Ah, ehehe. Maybe I’ve grown a bit since coming to the academy.”
White smiled contentedly.
Since Merlin responded on my behalf, I held back from saying anything. It felt awkward to chime in.
“White, here.”
“Ah. Woah.”
I deliberately offered her a piece of fruit with a fork, wearing a subtle smile.
Without hesitation, White brought the fruit I offered into her mouth.
