A Destined Encounter (1)
Goden was certain of it. The person who had sent up that signal flair—a tactic seen only on an active battlefield—and the one who had held the line against the corrupted spirits had to be one and the same.
"Just looking at the newspapers and bulletin boards, anyone can tell how dire the situation was inside Alkaid Hall. It really was that bad, wasn't it?"
"You're not asking me to walk you through every miserable detail, are you?"
"Hey, that's not what I'm getting at. What matters is that someone was in there and managed to pull every single person out without a single casualty."
Under circumstances like that, most people would have succumbed to despair and thrown in the towel. Yet the outcome was the exact opposite: they had even descended to the third floor, rounded up the trapped spirit summoners, and brought them all out safely.
Unless someone had hauled their rock-bottom morale out of the abyss and shaken them awake, such a miracle would never have materialized.
In short: someone gifted in both martial prowess and strategic intellect, possessing the rare caliber of true leadership.
A person like that could fill the one glaring void in Tembris.
Goden swelled with eager anticipation, utterly convinced that the vacant Center position belonged to him.
"Come on, spill it! Huh? Who was it? Who is he?"
His soaring excitement turned into relentless badgering. But...
"You'd better not recruit him."
"...Huh?"
Senia shattered Goden's hopes with a single, unyielding blow.
"We already tried bringing him on once. And Erika fought tooth and nail against it."
"Wait... you mean the guy we're talking about is..."
"To give you one more piece of the puzzle: the guy himself said he has zero intention of joining any team. That should be enough for you to figure it out, right?"
"..."
On the day Tembris was formally promoted to an official academy team, that very name had come up.
The festive mood, buoyed by the festival and their newfound status, had crashed the instant that name was uttered.
As the team leader, Goden had no chance of forgetting.
"It was... that kid...?"
Goden smacked his lips in bitter regret. Watching his disappointment, Senia breathed an inward sigh of relief, assuming he had finally laid the matter to rest.
However... Goden's reaction took a sudden left turn.
"Wouldn't things go a little differently if I went to see him in person? Heh heh."
"What? Don't you dare—"
"I'll be right back!!"
"Hey, Goden!!"
Still clad in her loose patient gown and slippers, Senia dashed out after him, a single thought screaming in her mind: We're completely doomed.
A day in a hospital was undeniably tedious, given there was nothing to do.
Still, that tedium was made far more bearable thanks to a certain visitor.
Soft, rhythmic breathing drifted across the quiet room.
...She's out cold.
Only a little while ago, this gentle underclassman had been pacing back and forth in a frantic panic over whether he was injured. Now, her head rested against the edge of his mattress, completely sound asleep.
"Hehehe..."
When he brushed aside a stray lock of silver hair that had fallen across her cheek, she let out a strange, contented little murmur. Sleeping hunched over like that was bound to leave her neck and back aching.
Although Junon was technically admitted as a patient, he wasn't actually suffering from any severe wounds. Scooping Renias up gently, he lifted her onto the bed so she could rest comfortably.
Yet the moment he pulled the blanket over her and tried to pull his hand away...
"Don't... go..."
"..."
Renias reached out instinctively and caught his hand, pulling it tight against her. She hadn't woken up; it was purely sleep-talk. But why did her voice sound so heartbreakingly plaintive?
"Alright, alright. I'm not going anywhere."
"..."
As he held her hand again so she could rest in peace, the lingering tension smoothed away from her features, and she sank back into a steady, undisturbed slumber.
He could have written it off as nothing more than a bad dream, but suddenly a conversation from the past surfaced in his memory.
‘As Reni's longtime friend, I have a favor to ask. Please look after her so that poor child doesn't eat away at herself anymore.’
The earnest request Ophelia had made, speaking as though a dark, unseen weight resided deep within Renias's heart.
Seeing the girl's bright, animated expressions during the festival, Junon had wondered if the princess was merely overthinking things. Yet recently, a similar thought had nagged at him more than once.
Had this girl, who smiled so brightly wherever she went, ever once admitted that things were hard for her?
‘...Not once.’
Even now, as she clung to his hand like a lifeline, he realized this was the very first time he had ever seen such raw vulnerability on her face.
Remembering the princess's plea, a quiet suspicion took root: Renias, too, was simply putting on a brave face.
Pretending everything was fine while shouldering an unbearable burden all on her own.
"Mmmph..."
Still groggy with sleep, she rubbed her eyes, utterly oblivious to what she had just been doing.
"You awake?"
"Huh...? Sunbae...?"
"You can sleep a little longer if you want."
Renias gasped and scrambled off the bed in a wild fluster.
"Y-You shouldn't do that! You're the patient, Sunbae! Why was I sleeping here...? Ugh..."
"You looked so worn out, so I moved you onto the bed myself."
"Why would you do that, really...?! And I had to go and doze off like an idiot... Please, get back in bed right this second!"
A stray tuft of hair poked straight up like a frantic antenna as she pushed his back toward the mattress.
Even though she knew full well he wasn't seriously hurt, she was likely shoving him out of pure embarrassment at having been caught in such an undignified state.
Seeing her cheeks flare crimson made him want to tease her just a bit.
"So, did you sleep well? You were drooling, you know."
"I-I do not drool in my sleep?!"
"Really? Because judging by that white mark on the corner of your mouth, you were out cold and drooling away."
Renias froze, clapping a hand over her mouth before rubbing at it vigorously. Watching her scrub frantically in case there really was drool, it was obvious she wasn't entirely certain herself.
"Pfft, haha."
"Uuu... Sunbae...!"
"Alright, alright. I'll stop teasing."
Even after he gave in, Renias was so thoroughly mortified that she thumped his arm several times with both fists before finally letting it go.
Now that the mood had lightened, it felt like the right moment to clear the air.
"Sorry about before, Renias. I was trying to get a free ride back then, wasn't I?"
"Huh? About what?"
"Manifesting a Magic Armament. I asked you to teach me, remember? Looking back, buying you a single meal and expecting you to hand over the secret right away was pretty shameless of me."
"..."
"It won't happen again. It only holds real value if I struggle through it on my own, even if it takes a lot longer."
Renias stared at him with wide, round eyes for a blank second before bursting into bright laughter.
"Ahaha! What in the world? Were you still dwelling on that?"
"Well... yeah. You must have poured an incredible amount of effort into mastering it yourself."
"And here I was wondering what you were getting at! It wasn't anything like that at all."
Then what was it? He opened his mouth to ask, but looking at her radiant smile, with tiny tears of amusement gathering at the corners of her eyes, he didn't have the heart to douse that warmth.
I guess asking whether she had a nightmare will have to wait for another time, too.
For today, he would just let her laugh.
Come evening, a hospital ward generally quieted down, with all the chaos confined to the emergency wing. It was rare for loud noises to drift into the patient rooms.
Yet... footsteps and voices were drawing steadily closer through the quiet corridor.
And it seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed.
"It sounds like someone came to visit another room. They seem remarkably energetic."
The voices grew louder by the second.
The real issue was that this energetic visitor seemed to be headed straight for their door.
—Let's see, it should be right here!
—Hey! You're making a scene. I told you, let's just turn back!
—Just hold your horses. I'm gonna convince—
"—him myself!"
Sure enough, a massive bear of a man threw the door wide open. Behind him stood another person, pressing her fingers against her temples in utter agony.
...Why did bad premonitions always hit the bullseye?
"You're Junon, right? Great to meet you!"
Why on earth had Goden tracked down his hospital room?
Behind him, Senia pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture, silently mouthing two words: I'm sorry.
And just as Junon had anticipated, Goden didn't waste a single breath.
"Got any interest in joining our team?"
He was just as blunt and direct now as he had been in the past life. But in this timeline, Junon walked a completely different path.
"Nope. Not interested."
Besides, it was just about time for him to be discharged anyway.
Southeastern Grand Duchy, Mirpark Province.
Even under the thick shroud of night, this district burned with a light far brighter than the sun.
Yet the illumination here carried none of the warmth or purity of natural day.
"That's it! Take him down, Cain!!"
"What the hell are you doing, Jed?! Get back up! On your feet and protect my money!!"
Separated by towering black iron bars, the space was split into two entirely different worlds.
Inside raged a vicious, bloody brawl. Outside, voices swelled with roars of wild cheering and vulgar jeering as the audience indulged in their depraved entertainment.
The light banished the shadows only within the iron cage—a harsh glare cast solely to showcase the crimson spray of freshly spilled blood.
"Hah, hah..."
"Phoo... hah..."
Two young men gripped their blades once more.
Both honed swords reeked with the metallic stench of each other's blood, yet their eyes still hungered for more.
Bound by their respective shackles, they had no choice but to swing their weapons and cut the opponent down, even if it meant tearing their own bodies to shreds.
"Aaaargh!!"
"Ghk...!"
"Hell yeah!!"
"What was that?! Why can't you win a single goddamn match?!"
A single exchange settled the contest. Outside the cage, joy and despair fractured the crowd into two distinct factions, mirroring the outcome within.
"The victor of this match is Cain!! The payout is a solid one-point-six times!!"
"Yes!!"
"You useless piece of trash, Jed! Do you have any idea how much I put down on you?!"
The master of ceremonies stepped forward as staff dragged the loser away to administer rough first aid. Inside the blood-soaked bars, there was no true winner.
A hollow victory paid for in deep wounds; a meaningless defeat. In neither boy's eyes did a single flicker of life remain.
"Regrettably, that concludes tonight's matches in the Octagon! We extend our deepest gratitude to all of our esteemed patrons!"
"What the hell, MC?! What about the next fight?!"
"Give us more! I'm winning back everything I lost tonight before I leave!"
"Calm yourselves, please. While we are eternally grateful for the boundless passion of our noble guests, we must raise the stakes to truly satisfy your appetites, don't you agree?"
A rumble of anticipation rippled through the spectators.
"Starting tomorrow, the event you have all been waiting for will finally begin: the Grand Tournament!!"
A roar of deafening cheers rocked the hall.
And with that, another night in the Octagon drew to a close.
"Well now, Cain. You'll put on an even better show tomorrow, won't you?"
"..."
When Cain glared at the master of ceremonies with venom in his eyes, the man merely scoffed, treating him like an insignificant plaything.
"My, my. Looking at me like that hurts my feelings. I've been doing my part, scouring the markets for what you need."
"...!"
"Keep giving me that attitude, and I might just wash my hands of the whole thing. Good luck finding something that rare on your own."
"I'll fight!! I'll do whatever you want... so please, just keep your promise."
"Of course, of course. Don't you worry. Everyone goes wild over the fact that you're an academy student, so the advance funds are filling up nicely."
Tucked far away from the watchful eyes of the Grand Duke, this was an illicit den constructed solely for aristocratic amusement.
Every corrupt vice forbidden by the Grand Duchy—gambling, illicit narcotics, and black-market trades—thrived here, safe from surveillance.
And at the very pinnacle of this illegality was combat between men: a brutal spectator bloodsport sweetened by high-stakes wagering in an arena called the Octagon.
Cain had practically abandoned his academy life, grinding away in the dirt of the Octagon solely to earn enough to purchase a single item.
Just... how much longer until I can get my hands on it...?
During the academy's end-of-term evaluations, Lumia had been full of life and vigor. But soon after, she had fallen gravely ill.
To cure her ailment, he had been forced to step into the filth of the Octagon.
An ingredient that carried not only an astronomical price tag but absurd rarity. Hearing that the only viable channel to secure it ran through this underground network, he had had no choice but to sell his blood and blade.
"Ah."
"Whoa there. You alright?"
"...Yes."
Cain lifted his head, and his eyes fell upon a notable academy figure.
In the past... he had been famous in a rather notorious way. But now, he was renowned for entirely positive reasons.
"Watch where you're going next time. You were walking with your head down."
"Yes. My apologies."
Offering a brief apology, Cain simply continued along his way. But then, an odd sensation struck him.
Wait... this road is plenty wide. People don't normally bump into each other here...?
Puzzled, he turned around to look, but the person who had just brushed past him was nowhere to be seen.
"Was it... just my imagination?"
Yet it wouldn't be long before Cain realized it was anything but his imagination.
Only a few days later, he would come face-to-face once more with that very same black-haired senior.