Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: 2. Secret of the Central Entrance
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My room in the family estate, returned to after so long. The maid left after saying she'd call me once dinner was ready.
I hadn't expected a warm welcome, but the cold reception was certainly fitting for the North.
"Hoo."
Thanks to the room's heating, the breath clouds that had been escaping my mouth earlier vanished.
"The coldest season, huh."
Even in Northsweden, infamous for its harsh winters, February marked the start of the Crystal Frost.
It was the period when the cold, unable to breach the towering mountains surrounding the North, froze solid and trapped itself.
From February into March, the ground itself would be frozen solid, impossible to plant anything in.
I'd come at the worst possible time. Not intentionally, of course.
They must have heard I was coming ahead of time, as the room was neatly tidied.
I headed toward the desk and chair set up for handling estate management tasks.
The chair enveloped my body in cozy warmth.
Leaning back, I closed my eyes for a moment and sank into thought.
The game I'd entered was called Retry. It wasn't just about endlessly challenging yourself.
It tied into the ending as well.
This game's ending was nothing but a bad end.
On the first playthrough, that is.
To see the proper ending, you had to go into the second playthrough. That's what this game demanded.
I remembered it getting a lot of flak for being a ploy by the developers to pad playtime.
'The important thing is that I've ended up in that kind of game.'
Where does a second playthrough exist in real life?
In the end, the only conclusion ahead for this world was a bad end.
To prevent it, I'd headed to Robern Academy, the game's setting, but three months after getting hired, I'd gotten caught in a scheme by my fiancée, Erika Bright, and ended up fired.
'My plans have gone seriously off the rails.'
Erika was a key figure in the story progression, one of the protagonist's allies enrolling this year.
A woman with a kind heart, overflowing with consideration and love.
'And that Erika betrayed me.'
The disgust she'd shown me right up to the very end had stabbed deeper into my chest than expected.
I'd thought her personality in the game made betrayal impossible, so I'd trusted her completely.
'Maybe I shouldn't think of it purely as a game.'
Having learned that lesson to the bone, I closed my eyes and calmly interlaced my fingers.
If I couldn't help the protagonist right by her side at the academy anymore, there was no helping it.
I'd have to assist from the outside, make sure she could reach the ending.
Only a second playthrough could avert the continent's doom. But since no such thing existed in this world...
I, who knew everything, had to act to stop this world's end.
"There are plenty of ways to help from outside."
The game ramped up external activities in the latter half, rivaling the academy events.
When I first heard about the dismissal, I'd even thought it was for the best.
Dealing with the academy's ghosts had me waking up in the dead of night every day, which was exhausting.
'That became the problem.'
That was exactly why I'd been dismissed from the academy.
Because I could see ghosts, I'd been resolving their grudges or warding off evil spirits, but the academy saw it as bizarre behavior.
Professors testified I was a heretic or demon worshiper, student complaints piled up, and I got fired.
'It couldn't be helped.'
Evil spirits tormenting academy people were right in front of my eyes; I couldn't just stand by.
The academy couldn't fall apart before the protagonist even enrolled.
And seeing students suffer from those spirits felt like looking at my past self.
I'd fought the evil spirits as best I could for their sake.
But the result was this.
Mental patient.
Heretic.
Demon worshiper.
No big reaction.
They were all things I'd heard at least once back in school, so it felt anticlimactic.
Even in a different world, people think alike.
"Come to think of it, it was weird."
Even without me doing anything, the protagonist would enroll and live fine at the academy.
That's how it went in the game.
There were short episodes about evil spirits, but nothing crucial.
There were too many ghosts to ignore, but on the flip side, no one else could see them.
I'd made a fuss alone and ended up like this. A hollow laugh escaped me.
"Dinner is ready."
The maid's voice from outside snapped me out of my thoughts.
I started toward the dining hall, but the door opened, and the maid wheeled in a cart laden with food.
"What does this mean?"
Bringing the food here meant I was to eat separately in my room, not with the family.
Frowning, I asked. The maid, visibly terrified, bowed her head deeply and answered.
"Th-the family head ordered it this way. Young Master Deus is to remain in this room from now on and live here."
"My brother?"
My parents had both passed, and the current family head was Darius Verdi—my brother.
"Also, Young Master Deus is forbidden from all contact with the outside."
Watching the maid bow her head again, I couldn't help clicking my tongue.
'Rumors have already spread this far.'
Word that the Verdi family's second son, dismissed from the academy, was actually a demon-worshipping freak had reached Northsweden.
"Where's my brother? I want to speak to him directly."
I couldn't live confined like this, so I planned to argue, but that wasn't possible.
"Th-the family head is currently away on deployment to deal with barbarians crossing the Northsweden Mountains."
My brow furrowed even more, and the maid flinched in panic, speaking hurriedly.
"A-after you finish eating, I'll come clear the dishes!"
"......"
The maid scurried out. I slowly approached the door, hand on the knob, and felt intense mana.
Darius's strong will to truly lock me away and keep me like livestock.
He'd confined his ignorant younger brother early on to prevent him from becoming a thorn in the Verdi family's side.
As family head, I respected the choice. In a situation where the whole family could be branded demon worshipers, he'd swiftly cut off just the problematic brother to contain it.
'But I can't sit still.'
The protagonist was enrolling at the academy this year.
I needed to quickly build a foundation to help her.
Ignoring the food, I clasped my hands behind my back and slowly walked to the window.
It was a day when Northsweden's eternally white, blue-tinged, sorrow-laden cold winds blew fiercely.
* * *
"Professor Verdi has been dismissed for inappropriate conduct and speech. As such, the lectures he was assigned have been canceled. Students who enrolled in those classes, please visit the Academic Affairs Support Team at your earliest convenience."
"Hm?"
"The lecture names are—"
Maylin couldn't help but panic at the sudden announcement.
The professor handling 'Mana Harmony Aptitude' and 'Correlation Between Souls and Mana,' which she'd signed up for, was none other than Professor Verdi.
"What the hell? And dismissed?"
Not just fired—dismissed sounded seriously grave.
"Damn it! I just set my schedule perfectly!"
Maylin, a second-year, had meticulously planned her timetable—unlike her first year—and grinned in satisfaction just yesterday.
And now this crap?
"So freaking annoying."
She'd heard weird rumors about Professor Verdi. That he'd wander the academy corridors at dawn, talking to someone.
Or paste strange scraps of paper on walls and pray.
Or warn students about something weird attached to their backs.
She knew rumors of him being a heretic were rampant, but she hadn't expected such a sudden dismissal.
"Ugh! So annoying."
Spitting curses, Maylin shoved her hand deep into her robe pocket.
At least it was before the semester started—maybe that was a silver lining?
Staying in the dorms even during break meant she'd heard the news quickly, which was lucky.
"Academic Affairs Support Team..."
She headed to the first floor, dragging her feet down the stairs.
'They better not shove me into some random leftover class.'
She planned to watch how the academy handled it. In cases like this, they should squeeze her into another class at the same time slot.
If they tried cramming her into some weird subject just because spots were full...
Sulking as she descended the central staircase to the first floor, Maylin's eyes locked on one person.
"Hmm?"
A man stood tall in the central entrance.
He looked like the embodiment of "menacing."
A dark navy aura swirled thickly around him, warping the space nearby.
And most strikingly.
'His right hand is missing?'
Yet he wore a sword on his left hip—an odd sight.
Drawing it like that must be super inconvenient.
Instinctively, Maylin knew he wasn't ordinary.
As she glanced around to check if anyone else was there.
Thud.
Her foot hit the first-floor corridor.
[!]
The man, who'd had his back turned, twisted his body and charged straight at her.
Screech! Screech!
A fierce gust of wind blew.
Overwhelmed by the tidal wave of killing intent, Maylin fell on her butt and scrambled back.
The man, sword drawn, confirmed it, then slowly sheathed it and returned to his spot.
If the sword had been on his right hip instead, drawable instantly, she'd definitely be dead.
Maylin was certain of that, but more importantly.
"Sk-skull?"
The man's face was a skinless skull, with only flame-like blue eyes remaining.
An undead in the academy?
Sweating coldly, Maylin's face flushed red. Realizing it wasn't just cold sweat, she covered it with both hands.