Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: End Time Scenario (1)
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Staring blankly for a moment, my face crumpled into a frown.
The reality of the rumor Professor Yuria had mentioned was right before my eyes.
A freshman who threw his life on the line for the cadet he liked.
It was clear the rumor had spread in that vein.
“No.”
I had to correct the misunderstanding.
So I opened my mouth.
“Ah…”
But in the end, I couldn’t utter a single word.
The path the cadets had made for me.
At the end of it, I saw a familiar face.
A little girl who looked like she would faint any second, flustered by the sudden situation.
Shaking her head.
Emma, whose eyes met mine, desperately gestured with her head.
It seemed to mean that this situation had unfolded against her will.
“…”
I pondered for a moment.
I could guarantee that correcting this misunderstanding, here and now, would be a pretty terrible experience for a girl at such a sensitive age.
From my perspective, it was just correcting a distorted rumor, but she wouldn’t be able to escape the embarrassment.
“Hah.”
A sigh escaped me on its own.
In truth, the answer had been decided from the start.
In times like these, a head-on approach was the only answer.
I took a step forward.
Without a word, I passed through the path the cadets had created.
“To risk his life for the woman he loves!”
“My, how romantic.”
“He’s a man of pure love, a rare sight in this day and age!”
As I passed them, a stream of cringeworthy words poured out.
My pace quickened without me realizing.
Right now, there was nothing to do but get past the cadets as quickly as possible.
I steeled my heart and closed my ears.
Don’t listen, don’t stop, just keep going.
That’s what I decided, and what I intended to do.
However.
“The Cradle’s greatest lover boy!”
That title, which made blood rush to my face just hearing it, momentarily slowed my steps.
I forced myself to pull it together.
I quickened my pace once more.
I took in the face of the cadet who had uttered the title—one so embarrassing it felt like an insult—and seared it into my mind.
“Awesome! Lover boy!”
Angelo, that clueless classmate of mine, was the culprit.
Watching him cheer for me with a wide grin, I made a vow.
I would definitely repay this insult later.
For now, getting through this tunnel of chaos and shame created by the cadets was the priority.
I hurried my steps even more.
And so, I finally reached the end of the dreadful tunnel.
But alas.
I had forgotten one important fact.
“Whoo!”
“They look good together!”
By the time I realized that fact, I was standing face-to-face with Emma, who had been forcibly pushed forward by the cadets.
She was the final gate of this dreadful tunnel.
“Ah…”
“Hm.”
Her body flinched as our eyes met.
Her pupils trembled as if in an earthquake.
“…Sorry.”
Emma apologized to me.
The emotions packed into that short apology were so complex that I didn’t even feel like blaming her.
Not that I had intended to in the first place.
This wasn’t a situation she had wanted, and there was nothing she could do about it now.
When you got down to it, she was a victim, just like me.
“What’s there to apologize for? As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters.”
Roughly translated, it meant I would take the heat for the rumor, so she shouldn’t get involved.
Understanding my words, Emma’s eyes widened.
That was a relief.
My intention had been properly conveyed.
The problem was the other guys.
“He said as long as she’s okay!”
“Does that mean he’d risk his life anytime, as long as she’s okay?!”
A new rumor was being generated in real time.
“Is this love?”
“This is love!”
I tried my best to pretend I didn’t hear them.
I had already resolved to carry the weight of everything (?).
Anyway, these kinds of rumors tend to die down quickly if the people involved don’t react much.
Ignoring them was better than overreacting to every little thing.
“Anyway, you must have been really surprised, so get some rest.”
“…I’m sorry. And thank you.”
“Enough with the thanks.”
“Still…”
I gave a dismissive wave of my hand and walked past Emma.
“Ahh. Sweet, so sweet!”
“Spring has come to the Cradle!”
The words coming from behind me went in one ear and out the other.
Yum-yum-yum.
As soon as I opened the door to my dorm, the Mandragora seedling greeted me.
I had been worried it might have withered and died while I was away, but it looked healthy, which was a relief.
I took a quick shower and flopped onto my bed.
Then, I began to organize the events from the lower world in my mind.
First, it was clear that there were people targeting the Cradle.
I had a rough idea.
Mages.
Only mages were capable of controlling and commanding monsters.
Alright, then another question.
If it was mages, then which ones?
It wasn’t the Red Tower mages.
The prideful Red Mages wouldn’t scheme in such a manner.
It wasn’t the Black Tower either.
If the Black Mages had been involved, they would have mobilized the undead, not monsters like wyverns or harpies.
That left only one possibility.
“Is it the Blue Mages again?”
There was no one else but the Blue Tower.
“What on earth are the Blue Mages thinking?”
Causing a commotion left and right like this was by no means a wise move.
Moreover, it was only recently that the Imperial family had begun investigating the Blue Tower due to the chimeras that attacked the western city.
Now was the time to lay low, not to stir up trouble.
But instead of hunkering down, the Blue Tower had attacked the Cradle.
The Imperial family alone was a difficult enemy to handle, yet they had created another formidable foe in the Cradle.
I couldn’t fathom their intentions.
I pondered over and over.
What was the Blue Tower thinking, causing such an incident?
No matter how much I thought, no answer came.
Besides, it wasn’t something I needed to worry about in the first place.
Professor Yuria had said it.
The Cradle's own investigation team, composed of experts in tracking and interrogation, and graduates active throughout the Empire had begun to move.
On top of that, the Gaznae family had stepped in.
If the Blue Tower was behind this, as I suspected, they would pay a heavy price for it.
So there was no need for me to worry about it.
That was right. It definitely was, but…
“Something’s strange.”
I just couldn’t shake the thought.
In my past life, the Cradle had no influence on the Great War.
That was because it disappeared before the war even began.
In my past life, all sorts of rumors circulated about the cadets and staff of the Cradle, who had vanished without a trace.
But the truth was never revealed, right up to the moment I died.
Only after I became a cadet of the Cradle and ascended to the satellite city did I learn the reason.
The Cradle of Stars fell long before the Great War began.
Until now, I had simply considered it a catastrophe caused by an ancient legacy reaching the end of its lifespan.
But after this incident, the thought occurred to me that the Cradle's fall might have been intentionally caused by someone.
And that someone was likely the same insider who had leaked the cadets' descent information to the outside in this recent attack.
That was my conclusion.
In the past, I would have kept this conclusion to myself.
But not now.
I turned on my terminal and looked for the bulletin board.
“Let’s see. Where is the anonymous board?”
Among the functions within the terminal used by cadets and staff was the ability to post anonymously.
I had already confirmed the absolute guarantee of anonymity through Professor Yuria multiple times.
She had said something about how everyone, staff included, were inheritors of the Old Empire's legacy, so using its functions as-is, with limitations, was the best they could do for now.
“Found it.”
I began to write a post on the anonymous board, set apart within the Starstream bulletin board.
At first, I planned to end the post by simply writing down my personal theory that the Blue Tower was involved in this incident.
But my mind changed midway.
“It’s anonymous anyway.”
Right then and there, I began to write down the things I knew—events that had already happened in my past life but had not yet occurred in this one, things that would happen before long.
It was a rather long process, encompassing my entire past life.
“Hmm. This should be about right.”
After a long while, I finished my work and reread the post one more time.
“I survived for over ten years in an apocalypse like this?”
Looking back at the events of my past life, all laid out like this, it was a mess of epic proportions.
And that was just from writing down the major incidents I knew of.
“Hmm…”
As I was writing, I frowned at a sense of unease.
When viewed separately, they seemed like mere coincidental events, but when listed together, things I hadn't seen before began to appear.
“…Is this all a coincidence?”
The series of events leading to ruin felt somehow unnatural.
At this rate, it was as if everyone had happily joined hands and agreed to turn this world into a dumpster fire.
It was definitely a problem worth taking the time to think about.
But for now, the priority was to post the article I had painstakingly written for everyone to see.
And since I was posting it, I hoped as many people as possible would see it.
Fortunately, among the things the stars of the Fringe Constellation had taught me was a lesson for just such an occasion.
“The title should be as provocative as possible…”
After some thought, I began to tap on the terminal again.
[The Empire Will Be Utterly Destroyed Within Five Years]
Even on a board that guaranteed anonymity, there was no one with the gall to so openly deny the Empire's future.
At this point, wouldn't people read it, if only for its sheer irreverence?
If it were me, I would read it just to see what kind of crazy nonsense was written.
-Post this article?
Just as I was about to post it, I hesitated for a moment.
A post filled with content as irreverent as its title.
Was it really okay to post something like this?
This was enough to make all the mentioned families join forces to find the poster. I didn't know about the other families, but the Imperial family would undoubtedly dispatch an investigation team to catch the subversive element.
My post dealt with that sensitive of a topic.
But the hesitation was brief.
“Yeah. It’s anonymous anyway.”
I pressed confirm.
-Your post has been registered.
After confirming the post was successfully registered, I watched the board’s atmosphere for a while, checking the reactions.
But the response was not what I expected.
The view count was rising quickly, but not a single comment was being left.
“Was the post too irreverent?”
Certainly, with a title and content so full of disrespect, people might feel burdened to leave a comment.
Whatever the reason, the reaction was lackluster.
“Ah. This is a bust.”
I was disappointed.
Of course, it wasn't that I was hoping to bury the bizarre hero's tale spreading about me with the shallow calculation of covering one rumor with another.
Really.
As someone who had hoped that my anonymous post would at least make someone more vigilant, the result was disappointing.
I suppose I was too greedy.
Still, I felt a sense of relief.
Having poured out the gloomy future that was soon to come, which I had kept to myself all this time, I even felt a sense of catharsis.
I turned off the terminal screen, lay down on the bed, and closed my eyes.
I had slept all day in the lower world, so sleep did not come easily.
In the end, I finally fell asleep after tossing and turning for a long time.
And while I was asleep, the Cradle was turned upside down.