Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Let's Go, Luna Grace
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The owner of the pink hair was Luna.
I'd immediately thought of her upon seeing such a rare hair color from the start. It was just that the situation didn't make any sense.
For some reason, she was dressed in a drab exploration outfit similar to the ones Adelin and I were wearing.
Which meant she wasn't here just for a stroll.
My eyes naturally drifted to her hand.
Special shards each emitted a bright glow matching their elemental color.
Just like the light shining from her hand right now.
From the looks of things, she'd clearly beaten us to the punch and snagged the [Nebula].
'Why is she here?'
She was someone who never showed her face at the academy no matter how hard you looked for her, so what was her reason for popping up at this exact timing?
At the very least, it was clear that the schedule I'd meticulously planned was shattered on the very first day.
Finders keepers when it came to unclaimed items.
'This is awkward.'
If it had been any other student, I could have at least asked nicely or tried to borrow it.
But Luna was the exception.
I couldn't demand it from this self-imposed outsider who'd spent the entire semester thoroughly isolating me—no, the whole academy.
Especially since it wasn't even for my own use.
'How the hell did she find this place?'
Even players with the St. Light Mine map had a hard time locating this cave.
Adelin, a former recon squad member, had been impressed by its location.
And there were no signs of anyone else having been here in the meantime. How?
"You... what are you doing in a place like this?"
"Ah... uh..."
Luna's cheeks flushed bright red in an instant.
Her flushed cheeks were clearly visible even in the dark cave, to the point where it was surprising a person's face could turn that shade.
I'd meant to grill her on the details, but my momentum fizzled out.
'Right... come to think of it...'
I promptly pulled out Renee.
During the entrance exam, even though I'd barely exchanged words with her, Luna's favorability level had been 3.
That made her avoidance of me throughout the semester even more baffling.
From my experience so far, a favorability level of 3 meant the other person would approach you first.
And smiling, no less!
With that in mind, I figured I'd measure her favorability again.
Curious if anything had changed.
But then.
"D-don't do that...!!"
"Huh?"
The moment I aimed Renee at her, Luna waved her hands frantically as if they had motors attached.
She couldn't possibly know what I was doing.
Maybe she mistook it for an attack.
No matter how item-obsessed I was, I had no intention of turning robber.
Since it wasn't anything malicious, I went ahead with the measurement anyway.
[Luna Grace]
[Favorability Level: 4]
'......What are you?'
Mine, who'd rolled through life-and-death ordeals with me for two straight months, was at level 4.
Favorability level 4 was the realm of trust.
This meant she trusted me on Mine's level right now.
What the hell had we even done together?
"Um, over there..."
"Yeah?"
"P-put that away... it feels... weird..."
Well, in that case.
I tucked Renee back into my pocket and began observing Luna intently.
This was the first time I'd observed her this closely.
In the original story, Luna was a bright, cheerful mood-maker type of character. The exact opposite of Cecilia.
But what about the Luna in front of me now?
Eyes darting like a pendulum.
Deep dark circles under her eyes.
Fidgeting hands and feet that couldn't stay still.
Upon closer inspection, there were small scars visible on her skin peeking through the gaps in her exploration gear.
A completely different atmosphere from the original.
It vaguely reminded me of something.
What was it we called people like this?
There was definitely a term for it.
'Come to think of it...'
Favorability 4. The timing of snagging the [Nebula].
Avoiding me all semester.
The unstable eye contact and foot-shuffling expression.
From Luna's current state, I drew one perfectly logical conclusion.
'The Luna in this world is a stalker.'
Complete with a menhera streak to boot.
At this point, the personality change from the original character itself wasn't that important.
When tsunderes turned into megaderes and genders flipped, it wasn't particularly surprising for a my-pace character to become a menhera stalker.
What mattered was 'how' she'd changed. Even minor shifts could be major variables for me.
Looking back, I'd surprisingly been pretty popular.
Even back when half my body was covered in scars, strangers might have judged me on looks, but the seniors I dealt with daily had doted on me.
Sure, I had skills and results, so it wasn't easy to badmouth me.
In that sense, there was one heroine I'd never met in my childhood.
That was Luna Grace.
But saying we never met was only from my perspective.
Thinking about Alicia's case, maybe I'd met Luna too, and just didn't know it.
Childhood encounters with the heroines had been enough to completely reshape their personalities.
Just look at Cecilia—there wasn't a trace of her original self left, even if you scrubbed your eyes raw.
What if Luna had heard tales of my exploits somewhere in her childhood and developed unhealthy feelings for me as a result?
Of course, it could be speculation.
But assuming she was a stalker made everything fit perfectly.
Why she'd avoided me?
Fear of her crimes being exposed.
Why her favorability was so high?
Because she's a stalker.
Why she'd gotten here before us?
She'd been tailing Adelin and me in secret.
As a mage, she'd probably used some spell or other.
Chills.
Her room might be plastered not with dolls, but with covert photos of me.
The world was infuriating.
Why had it turned the girl into this state?
Maybe the one who really needed counseling was her.
Wait.
On second thought, whether she was a stalker or not wasn't the important thing right now.
My schedule was in tatters, but if Luna cooperated, maybe I could still patch it together?
Worth asking, just in case.
"Hey, Luna."
I asked in as gentle a voice as possible.
"Could you hand over that shard to me? It's not for me—someone who needs it asked."
Luna's shoulders trembled, and she clutched the [Nebula] tightly to her nonexistent chest before shaking her head vigorously.
"Ah, uh... N-no... I refuse...!"
What was this? This déjà vu.
Hadn't this happened on the first day of the semester too?
The sense of emptiness from my second zero-confession hit harder than the regret of losing the [Nebula].
Yeah. As a mage, she probably couldn't give up the [Nebula] no matter what.
'Whew... fine. Nebula on hold for now.'
That was when it happened.
"Th-then I'll be going...!"
Luna prepared to bolt as if her business was done.
I glanced at Adelin, but she just shrugged, showing no intention of stepping in.
Hold on. Was letting her go like this the right move?
If my hypothesis was correct and she was a stalker, sending her off now meant letting her tail my every move from here on out.
That could lead to her preempting every item and intel from the shipwreck, the church outpost—everything.
In that case...
"Wait."
"Eek...?"
Where do you think you're going.
'Wouldn't it be better to keep her close so she can't act suspiciously?'
Besides, I knew nothing about this 'current' version of her, who was completely different from the original.
"You know me, right? Halibal Belder from your class."
"Y-yes... y-yeah..."
Viktor Grace, who I might end up clashing with later.
To naturally make contact with him and gather intel, it was best to keep his daughter Luna on my side... or at least within my sight.
That might even give me a chance to check the [Nebula]'s abilities. I'd just verify the special power and give it back.
"I asked earlier. What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Tr-traveling..."
"Traveling, huh... same as us?"
Adelin's presence right beside me was a stroke of luck.
She was an instructor of sorts. She might even help guide this delinquent girl onto the straight and narrow.
"The instructor and I are traveling too right now. Well, it's more like training than a vacation, honestly."
"..."
"If you're planning to wander around for a bit too, how about tagging along with us?"
"Y-yes...?"
I dangled the bait right in front of Luna like hooking it on a fishing line.
'What'll it be? Keep secretly stalking me the hard way, or join up legally?'
Before I knew it, I'd extended my open palm toward her.
A stalking victim's hand offered in companionship to the stalker.
She wouldn't be able to resist.
'Let's go, Luna Grace.'
As expected, Luna's eyes shook wildly as she stared at my palm.
⁎⁎⁎
Luna's heart had been pounding like crazy for a while now.
She remembered coming here with 'him' to get the [Nebula].
She'd moved the moment vacation started because she absolutely couldn't let the current Halibal learn about the [Nebula]'s power.
Yet the Halibal who was supposed to visit much later had shown up on the first day of break, with Adelin in tow no less.
She'd hidden in a hurry, but couldn't evade Adelin's senses.
'Please don't tell anyone else about me...'
'No plans to. I'm just an instructor right now. No reason to spread that you're moving as the princess's sword, not as a student.'
Luna had already coordinated with Adelin right after the feast on the day of the bishop fight.
So when Luna jumped out from behind the pillar, Adelin had looked like she'd messed up.
But the water was spilled.
More importantly than Adelin's slip-up, the bigger issue was that he—Hibal Belder—was looking straight at her.
"You... what are you doing in a place like this?"
How long had it been since she'd heard his voice this close?
Under Halibal's piercing gaze, Luna's mind filled only with the urge to run away right now.
Running was easy.
Just channel mana and vanish into the shadows like always. Keep acting like she had been.
But.
'Wait.'
That one phrase nailed her feet to the spot.
When she came to, the man she'd tried so hard not to get involved with in this life was holding out his hand to her.
A rough, calloused hand. Thick fingers bearing the marks of relentless training everywhere.
The moment she looked down at it, her mind went blank.
That's why she'd tried to flee quickly.
'No.'
She'd sworn not to get entangled with him.
That staying away was how she'd protect him. She'd drilled that into herself thousands of times.
Yet.
The hand before her eyes was identical to 'his hand' in her memories.
The rough hand that had helped her up when she collapsed exhausted from dungeon clears.
The warm hand that had patted her head, saying she'd done well after completing a commission.
She'd tried to forget them all.
Yet here he was again.
Holding out his hand to her.
"If you don't want to, no helping it. See you at the academy."
His voice, as if he were leaving, shook the reason she'd barely clung to.
A long-forgotten desire blazed up like wildfire.
'...Greedy girl.'
Had she always been this ugly?
How could the desire to 'be by his side' outweigh the wish to 'protect him'?
'...Just this vacation.'
By the time desire reared its head, her resolve was already set.
An excuse to herself.
'Sticking close lets me stop him from doing dangerous stuff. Yeah. That might be better for protecting him.'
In the end, Luna couldn't overcome her desire.
She slowly raised her left hand—the one not clutching the [Nebula], still trembling.
And gingerly.
She placed her small hand lightly atop his rough palm.
"......I'll g-go."
Unable to meet his eyes.
"Let me... come... with you..."