*Puff*
Smoke lingered in the air as Kiera sat alone, gazing at the forest stretching beyond her estate. In the distance, she could see the damage caused by the fire started by her aunt, with many of the trees burnt beyond recognition.
She sat there in silence while enjoying the cigarette in her grasp.
…Or at least, she tried.
“This tastes like shit.”
Pulling the cigarette away from her mouth, Kiera frowned.
Since when did cigarettes taste this bad?
“Nah, maybe it’s just me.”
She took another drag, but…
“Ukh.”
It still tasted like shit.
“What the…?”
Kiera took a look at the cigarette in her hand for a good moment before eventually clicking her tongue and tossing it away.
“Ah, whatever.”
Perhaps it was just a low-quality cigarette. It could also be that it was expired, but could cigarettes expire?
No, it would make no sense, considering that she had recently bought them.
Swindled?
Was she swindled?
“I’ll fucking kill—”
“Are you sure you should be littering?”
It was then that Kiera heard the sound of a familiar voice as they sat next to her.
She frowned and looked to her right.
“Are you just going to sit here without asking?”
“May I sit?”
“No.”
“…I’ll still sit.”
“Tsk.”
Clicking her tongue, Kiera reached for her cigarette box, her fingers brushing against another one before she hesitated. She stared at the cigarettes for a moment, then closed her eyes and put them away.
“Not going to take them?”
“…They’ve expired.”
“Is that so?”
“If I say they are, they are.”
Kiera made a face and leaned back on the bench. She tried to focus on the view before her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to take in the scenery.
In actuality, there was something that had been gnawing at her for quite a while.
It was regarding the mirror…
She hadn’t actually been fully honest with Julien. In fact, she wasn’t actually completely clueless about where it was.
In fact, she knew exactly where it was.
It was just that…
‘I’m not even sure if it’s the real thing.’
Whatever the piece of junk hiding in her dorm was, it was no artifact, she was sure of that much. Not only that but it was also broken.
That was why she was so hesitant about bringing it up.
Because…
She didn’t want to give him any false hopes.
But seeing everything that had happened, she understood that there was no point in hiding it anymore.
Pursing her lips, she finally spoke,
“Hey…”
“Hm?”
“…Regarding the mirro—”
“Ah, don’t worry about it.”
Julien waved his hand, cutting her off.
“I already resolved the problem. I don’t really need it anymore.”
“But—”
“I’m more worried about Aoife.”
Julien promptly cut her off again, bringing up a completely different topic. Kiera tried to argue again, but Julien spoke before she could get her point out.
“You, of all people, should know how Aoife is. If we tell her that the guards she sent to help us were actually spies from another organization, there’s no doubt she’d try something. I feel like that might be problematic.”
Kiera blinked her eyes, her mind drifting towards Aoife.
He had a point.
“But wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
“Would it be?”
Julien slowly turned his head to look at her.
“If the organization is capable of planting spies within the Megrail family itself, do you really think it would be wise to tell her about the situation?”
“Ah.”
Kiera had a sudden look of understanding. She hadn’t put much thought into the situation. There were too many things for her to think about than this.
In that sense, it was a good thing that she hadn’t talked to Aoife yet.
“But still. Don’t you think that she might have people that she could tell?”
“Even if she does, it would still make her a target. I’m sure that whatever this organization is, they must have eyes everywhere. Exposing this to Aoife would only bring about more danger.”
“Then should we just ignore it?”
“….For now, yes.”
Kiera’s brows knitted tightly, clearly not fully on board with his words, but it didn’t seem like Julien cared much about her opinion or how she felt.
“You’ve seen what they’re capable of. If even your aunt was enslaved by them and nearly taken out by a mere squad, you should understand just how powerful they truly are. For now, the best decision would be to do nothing and just get stronger.”
Julien paused, his eyes staring straight at her.
“…Just like now. You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
“I did?”
“Didn’t we beat a few high ranks?”
“Yes, but…”
“No, but. We did it.”
Julien stood up from the bench, casually yawning while mumbling something like, ‘Ah, I should probably get some sleep. Didn’t get enough sleep.’
Squinting his eyes, Julien looked at the distant forest before turning away.
“It’s true that you wouldn’t have been able to defeat it without my help or your aunt’s, but it’s also undeniable that neither of us could have won without you. That… new power of yours.”
Julien paused, giving her a quick look before heading away.
“…It’s pretty impressive. If you hadn’t been so scared of your own powers, you probably could’ve been the Black Star at the start of the year. Not that it matters now—I’m ahead of you anyway.”
“Huh?”
What sort of nonsense…?
“It’s true. I’m a lot stronger than you.”
“That, but…”
Kiera felt her lip twitch.
Was he flaunting his strength?
“I’ll keep investigating the organization. In your current state, if you try to do the same, you’ll probably just be a burden. If you really want to continue, then at least try to keep up with me. Otherwise…”
Julien didn’t finish his words, but the meaning was clear.
Kiera’s nose scrunched up as she watched him slowly walk away, his steps and back carefree.
It was only after he disappeared from sight that Kiera lowered her head, staring at her hands. As she did, her crimson eyes flickered faintly, and a dark film began to creep slowly over her arms.
Clenching and unclenching her fists, she watched as the dark film gradually faded away. With a quiet sigh, she leaned back against the bench once more.
“You think I don’t know…?”
Staring at the clear blue sky above, Kiera felt a cool breeze brush past her.
Swoosh!
As her platinum hair swayed in the breeze, she thought about the date and closed her eyes, letting the cool air wash over her.
Spring…
Maybe I’m starting to get why you liked it so much.
It’s not so bad.
***
The next few days passed by in a blur.
After the interrogation, several high-ranked inquisitors were dispatched to investigate the premises. During those days, we were confined to the estate. Their initial intention was to keep us there longer, but that simply wasn’t an option.
With Amell present—and the same being true for Caius—the inquisitors had no choice but to release us without much delay.
Aoife also played a big part in that.
All in all, we still managed to make it back to the Academy in time.
“Haa, it’s only been a week, and yet it feels like I’ve been gone for over a month. I hope that we won’t have to go out anymore.”
Arriving at the Academy entrance, Evelyn dropped her bag to the ground and took a deep breath. Judging by her expression, she looked extremely glad to be back.
‘It’s not like you did anything during the time we were in Kiera’s place…’
In fact, Kiera and I were the only ones who suffered in those times. Just thinking about it made me depressed.
‘…At least I’ve managed to resolve one big issue and acquired the mirror.’
One could argue that the trip wasn’t fruitless. Not only did I acquire the mirror, but I also managed to resolve one of my biggest problems.
With the danger of Julien seizing control of this body no longer looming, I could finally focus entirely on my quests and training.
Well, hopefully.
Up until now, I never actually managed to get enough time to just purely focus on training.
‘No, that’s not quite right.’
I did get a chance back at the Evenus Estate, but that was about it. There were still many things I needed to focus on—like my emotive control. I had neglected my training in that area for too long, and it was in serious need of refinement.
I still had the cube with me and used it quite often to train, but there was still a lot to be desired.
‘When I have some time, I should get in touch with Professor Hevenhart.’
It had been a while since I had last talked to her.
“Oh, look. The Academy finally looks like it’s back to how it used to be.”
As Evelyn had pointed out, the Academy was indeed different from how we had last left it. The facilities were no longer in ruins, and the once-missing greenery had been fully restored to its former state.
Cadets appeared all around the premises, walking and talking as though nothing had previously happened.
In general, the vibe of the Academy looked to be the same as it once was when I first entered.
It was a refreshing sight to some extent.
But…
‘For how long will I be able to enjoy this sight?’
I hoped it would last at least a week or two. Yes, that would be enough. I knew that soon enough, a quest would come—either pulling me away from the Academy again or demanding a major part of my attention.
By then, I wouldn’t be able to focus on relaxing and training.
I would once again be thrust into a situation where I’d have to rack my brain over and over in an attempt to figure out the meaning behind whatever vision I was going to experience.
Just the thought made my head ache.
However, that very thought made me want to cherish the little time I had left before something inevitably happened. With that in mind, I excused myself from the others and made my way to my room.
The first thing I did upon arriving at my room was lie on the bed and close my eyes.
“For now, I’ll get some sleep. Classes should start in two days so I have time to rest. In the meantime, I should rest and prepare for the inevitable quest that is going to come.”
I was both excited and annoyed.
Excited by the prospect of growing stronger again, but annoyed at the fact that I wouldn’t have any time for myself.
‘Well, it’s not like I have to follow the quests…’
I wasn’t exactly being forced into completing them. I could neglect them if I wanted, but the reward was too good to give up on.
Not only that, but the consequences of failing the quest were something I didn’t even want to consider—even though I wasn’t entirely sure what they did.
By now, my life was tied with the quests.
This was especially so after realizing that I had now completed 73% of the game progression.
I was now only 27% away from reaching the end.
‘I wonder what will happen when that happens…’
Would I be able to find out where Noel is, or will something else happen?
I wasn’t sure, but I was going to find out soon enough.
“Yeah, soon…”
Taking a deep breath, I slowly sank into my sleep.
At that moment, I prepared to get as much rest as possible before the inevitable quest arrived. However… that quest never came.
Even as six months passed, a new quest never arrived.
By the end of the year, a lot of things had changed.
I managed to reach the sixth tier before anyone else, becoming the Black Star once again.
I also managed to refine my control over my Emotive Magic while sharpening my existing skills.
And..
I also received a marriage proposal.