If You Forget, Come Find Me

The heavy thud of footsteps echoed in my ears. When I turned my head, someone from my hometown was sprinting toward me with a desperate expression.

“Sua Noona?”

Na Sua didn’t answer. She simply crashed into me, wrapping her arms around me in a fierce hug. She was a little shorter than Cheon Mari, so her face pressed into my shoulder.

“Huh?”

The arm I’d been using to hold Shannon dropped away. I was stunned, then embarrassed, but when I thought about everything I’d just been through, her reaction made perfect sense.

With the same hand that had been patting Shannon moments ago, I gently stroked Na Sua’s back. You’re alive. It’s okay. I’m fine. I kept repeating the words.

Only then did Na Sua slowly lift her head. The way her narrowed eyes glistened with unshed tears was breathtakingly beautiful. I reached up and brushed her tears away with my fingers.

Unfortunately, my hand was still covered in blood, so I only managed to smear it across her face.

“Ah, damn…”

“Hic…”

I comforted her anyway. The blood on her eyes wasn’t my fault.

While we were still locked in that embrace, I tilted my head slightly and caught sight of a dragon tail standing straight up like a flagpole. Shannon had frozen solid in shock.

If something like that scared her, just how much of a coward was this girl? It seemed the type of person whose stats got cut in half the moment they stepped into a dark area in the game never really changed.

I let out a small sigh and gently pried Na Sua off me. Her eyes were curved downward in a sad arc. I carefully turned her gaze to the side.

What she saw was Shannon.

Na Sua’s expression shifted to mild confusion, then her eyes widened as she stared intently at the dragon girl.

“H-hello…”

A lagging dragon. I hadn’t expected her to get this nervous just from being looked at by a stranger.

“Shannon, this is my close friend and older sister, Na Sua. Sua Noona, this is Shannon. We met while escaping. We’re both examinees.”

A nice, friendly introduction.

Na Sua seemed to ponder something for a moment before stepping toward Shannon. She reached out and gently stroked the girl’s head. The gesture looked affectionate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at first glance, yet there was an unmistakable chill beneath it.

“So you were an examinee. Those horns and that tail… You’re Irish?”

“Y-yes! I’m Shannon, a mage from the Water School!”

“Water School, hmm. Then if you pass the academy entrance exam, we’ll be seeing quite a lot of each other.”

“Huh?”

Na Sua moved the hand that had been patting Shannon’s head to her own chest. She pulled a business card from the pocket there and showed it.

It wasn’t an academy professor’s card. It was one she’d had made back when she was assisting her politician parents. Since it was written in Korean, Shannon couldn’t read a single word.

“Starting next year, I’ll be taking up the position of Ice Magic Professor at Palaestra Academy. The Water School is closely related to the Ice School, so we’ll run into each other often, won’t we?”

“Uh… ah…”

It made sense. The Ice School had branched off from the Water School, and Water School mages frequently learned Ice School spells as well. Therefore, the mage Shannon and the professor Na Sua would naturally cross paths often during lectures.

It was a logical argument. Yet Shannon stared at the claim as if it were a death threat.

It was true that Na Sua was a prospective professor. Still, if I had been in Shannon’s position, I would have demanded proof first.

“P-Professor?!”

“Not yet, so let’s drop the ‘Professor’ for now, shall we?”

Na Sua placed both hands on Shannon’s shoulders and leaned in slightly.

“Oh, and I don’t give out good grades for flattery, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“U-uhhh…”

Shannon was suddenly stuttering so badly she could barely speak. Na Sua wasn’t that frightening of a person, but the poor dragon looked absolutely terrified.

“Well, anyway… It’s fine if I take Sian with me, right?”

“That’s, uh, I.D…”

“Perfect. Glad we’re on the same page.”

Shannon neither nodded nor shook her head. She simply stood there, shoulders hunched, looking utterly pitiful.

Afterward, Na Sua took a few steps back and returned to my side. Her eyes sparkled with pure, innocent joy, as if saying we could finally go somewhere safe and rest.

The problem was I couldn’t just leave Shannon behind. I had made a promise before dragging her all the way here. I needed to keep it.

She had probably followed me this far precisely because of that promise.

I looked around, borrowed a notepad and pen from a nearby officer, scribbled down my SNS handle, and handed it to her.

“Cyan_1120?”

“Contact me here once you make it back. If you pass, we’ll meet at the academy. If you don’t, I’ll still take you out for a meal.”

She could have asked whether I was worried about my wallet, but after running a business with Cheon Mari, my finances were comfortably padded. I had more than enough to treat one person generously.

So I made her promise not to lose the note.

“If you forget, come find me after you pass the academy.”

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly backed away, pulled along by Na Sua’s hand as if to say our next meeting would be a long time coming.

“…Yes!”

Then a thought struck me. At the very least, I should thank her properly.

I reversed direction, grabbing Na Sua’s arm and walking back to Shannon. I smiled softly and touched her pale cheek.

“Anyway, thank you so much for today. Your magic really saved us. We would’ve been in serious trouble without you!”

I gave her shoulder one last pat. That was it.

My feet turned back toward our original path. I waved as if saying goodbye.

I wouldn’t be heading straight home; there was cleanup and investigation to deal with. Still, parting ways here was better for both of us. It would save time, especially since every country seemed to be handling this chaos separately.

“…Thank you for saving…”

I heard something in the middle, but it was swallowed by the noise. When I glanced back through the crowd, it looked like she had stopped speaking mid-sentence.

There was no need to ask. I simply continued on my way.

A cough came from beside me. I turned to see Na Sua wearing an adorably pouty expression.

“Noona, did I make some huge mistake?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

She clearly had a complaint but was trying to hide it. Bottling it up wouldn’t do any good.

While walking through the crowd, I gently pulled my hand free. Then I grabbed Na Sua’s thighs and back and lifted her into a princess carry.

“E-eh?! Kyaa!”

“Sua Noona. I might be dense and not notice these things, but please forgive me for the sake of my face, okay?”

Because I had lifted her so abruptly, she pounded on my chest, demanding to be put down. I ignored her and kept walking, holding her close as if to soothe her emotions.

Eventually she fell silent, her face turning bright red. This trick had been incredibly effective ever since her first year of high school whenever she got angry.

Of course, some people might find it embarrassing, but who cared about the stares? If it calmed her down, that was all that mattered.

“I’m not mad anymore…! Sian, hurry, put me down…!”

Even so, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gazes weren’t something we could completely ignore. This wasn’t a normal crowd. These were people who were injured, being reinforced, or distributing supplies.

In the end, I carefully set her back on her feet. Na Sua lightly smacked my back in embarrassment. Seeing her do it with those narrowed eyes was actually kind of cute.

Honestly, this was exactly why I could tease her like a real older sister.

I linked arms with Na Sua, who truly felt like family, and immediately ran toward Cheon Mari, who was currently arguing with the police.

“Huh? Uwaaa!! Sua Unniiiii! Siannnnn! Please do something about these cops─!!!”

I quickly grabbed her head and pulled her away. The wail of a cat-possessed regressor echoed across the area.

Anyway, the massive incident finally seemed to be over. I had survived.

There was one piece of bad news.

It wasn’t terrorism.

In hindsight, that should have been obvious. The scale of what had happened was far closer to an undeclared military operation than an act of terror.

Yet calling it a simple military operation felt wrong too. If it had been, the incident should have been limited to a single region. This time, that clearly wasn’t the case.

The 10th October Offensive.

It had been mentioned in the game, but since I couldn’t remember the exact timing, I had simply stored it away in the back of my mind. A global event that could reasonably be called a quasi-war had begun.

Naturally, the Palaestra Academy terror attack was only an extremely small part of the whole thing. No wonder Cheon Mari hadn’t known the full details of the incident. Even after several days, there was still no sign of things calming down.

There wouldn’t be nuclear war or the end of the world anytime soon, but the future of a mere examinee had become terrifyingly uncertain.