Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Distorted Happy Ending
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“Ah.”
Aria lets out a single word with a thudding breath. That short but intense, sigh-laden voice carried a multitude of emotions.
“Most of the souls didn’t enter repose, did they?”
Already knowing she’d been caught, Aria bit her lip hard and asked. I nodded calmly.
“Yeah.”
The answer needed to be short.
Right now, I was interrogating her, admonishing her, but also.
I needed to gauge how much Aria, who had entered the second round, knew about me.
“People didn’t notice, but the departed did.”
Her mistake in not realizing the departed were watching her, since she couldn’t see them.
“When you think about it, it’s obvious. I must have been too excited seeing you, Professor.”
Bluntly admitting her own foolishness, Aria flashed a bright smile. I approached her, summoned blue mana in my hand, and swept it over hers once.
[Kieeaaaaah!]
[Deusuuuuu!]
“Noisy pests.”
At my gesture, the evil spirits fled straight into the academy’s main building. Their wailing hurt my ears and made conversation difficult, so I chased them off.
“Hehe, you’re always the same, Professor.”
“…….”
Aria looked up at me with hazy, ecstatic eyes. That gaze was burdensome, but I endured it for now and asked.
“Why did you awaken the academy’s souls again? Did you use the Spirit Stone?”
“Wow! You already knew about the Spirit Stone? Actually, the precise name is Remegaton.”
Aria pulled a small black gem from her pocket.
The unique item Remegaton, which I’d seen a few times in the game.
It was one of the forbidden objects that made the Griffin Kingdom tremble at black magic—something whose very existence was unknown to anyone but high nobles or royalty.
“The high and mighty might tremble in fear, but it’s not really that scary from the start. It’s the stone a child got after summoning a demon to see their dead mother.”
Giggling, Aria snatched my wrist. The speed was tremendous; I couldn’t even react.
“Here.”
She carefully placed the object in my palm.
“I was just waiting for the right moment to give it to you, but since you already know everything, I can hand it over without hesitation.”
“You’re giving this... to me?”
“Yes. If you use the Remegaton, you’ll become several times stronger than you are now.”
“…….”
The weighty energy emanating from my palm was anything but ordinary.
Not the numerical stat boosts or added effects I’d seen in the game.
It carried a subtle aura perceptible only through sensation.
“I have so many other things I want to give you, but I’ll gather them little by little! You’ll be shocked by what you see.”
Watching the delighted, giggling Aria, I furrowed my brow and asked.
“Don’t change the subject. Why did you terrorize the academy?”
“Oh, right! It’s the same reason I gave you the Remegaton. I wanted you to become much stronger, Professor.”
“…….”
Vitality began to fade from the girl’s black pupils. Like a machine without an owner, executing only pre-programmed actions.
A kind of madness glinted in her eyes and spilling words.
“The basic necromancy spellbook I got you arrived safely, right? It was pretty hard to obtain, actually.”
“…….”
“I stole it from the home of an incredibly skilled necromancer and gave it to you.”
That explains it.
Even for a black-market dealer selling goods on the down-low, having a necromancy book at just the right timing seemed too perfect.
‘That was Aria’s intention too.’
I was a bit surprised, but my expression didn’t change. Aria continued.
“I figured with evil spirits in the academy, you’d look for necromancy books, so I prepared ahead. Then, use magic on those evil spirits right away in real combat!”
Clap!
Slapping her palms together, Aria shrugged happily.
“The perfect blend of theory and practice! You know it too, Professor. Your necromancy got way stronger from this academy incident.”
“…….”
“Of course, now everyone knows you’re a necromancer, but don’t worry. I have a way to fix that.”
“…….”
“So it’s fine. Just keep getting stronger until you can protect yourself...!”
“Guilt.”
I cut off Aria’s words, which seemed like they’d go on forever. I repeated my initial question.
“Don’t you feel any guilt?”
No one suffered physical injuries, but plenty had mental trauma and shock.
On top of that, souls at rest were forcibly awakened and turned into evil spirits.
No matter how you looked at it, it was closer to evil than good.
“Huh?”
Aria stared at me blankly, as if the question was unexpected. Then, in a cold voice, she said.
“Professor, everyone values their own life most, right? You’d know that best.”
I didn’t answer, just looked down at her. I stared straight into her unfocused, clouded eyes.
“So don’t think about anything else.”
Aria shot her hands out like arrows. Her grip on both my wrists was strong enough that I couldn’t shake her off carelessly.
If we fought now, I’d lose every time.
The protagonist of the second round, who had witnessed the world’s end once, was more overwhelming than I’d thought.
“You only need to think about yourself, Professor. No matter what happens, survive tenaciously, endure, and stay by my side.”
Her hands clenched as if to prevent me from going anywhere, crushing my wrists.
But I looked down at her impassively and asked.
“I can see what feelings you held for me in your previous life.”
“Huh? You already knew it’s the second round? As expected of you, Professor! I thought convincing you about that would be the hardest part.”
“Since you’re saying all this, it means I died in the previous round.”
“……I don’t want to remember. Please don’t say it, Professor.”
Aria’s expression darkened noticeably, but I ignored it and asked.
“Then I have one question.”
“Yes, ask anything. I’ll tell you everything I can.”
Without hesitation.
“What did I say right before dying?”
“…….”
This was personal curiosity—and I needed to know what conclusion first-round me had reached amid countless experiences.
If it were me, knowing Aria might reach the second round, I’d have prepared last words helpful to my second-round self.
“I didn’t hear the full last words. The situation was too urgent.”
“Even a short version is fine.”
“You said…….”
Aria’s eyes trembled as if she didn’t want to recall that moment. She took a deep breath and opened her heavy mouth.
“……You said, ‘If you have a next time, then.’”
If you have a next time, then?
“I couldn’t hear the rest because it was so chaotic…… But maybe you foresaw the second round!”
“Yeah.”
Of course.
It was fortunate I learned this is the second round now.
But I could roughly guess what first-round me wanted to say.
Aria, the protagonist who should utter fancy words of friendship and love, leading the world with outstanding leadership.
Considering her current state, and.
That it was a natural last message for second-round me, the only one I could leave.
It was words for me, not Aria.
Therefore.
“Aria, if you have a next time. Then.”
I easily guessed and voiced the answer I would have given.
“Don’t look for me.”
Wasn’t it something like that?
“Huh?”
Aria’s eyes trembled again. Panicking, she released my wrists and stepped back.
“W-what are you saying, Professor? That’s too much of a joke.”
I was the one who spoke the last words.
Hearing the same voice, the same person say it, seemed to hit Aria hard.
“It’s just a guess. If it were me, I’d have made sure second-round you didn’t approach me.”
“W-what do you mean! That can’t be! You! My professor wouldn’t try to distance yourself from me!”
“…….”
“Don’t say weird things. I really wanted to meet you. I only realized after you sacrificed yourself for me until the very end.”
Aria reached out and approached me. Tears streaming, she tried to hug me.
“You were my world, Professor. So don’t say things like…….”
Thud.
My hand pushed her away.
“Aria Rias.”
The girl who was pure, upright, beautiful, and full of love.
“You’re broken.”
The protagonist meant to save the world was utterly shattered.
And it was because of the intensely chaotic, complex emotions tangled under the name of affection.
“B-broken? Me? No! This... this is love!”
“…….”
“You’ll understand soon enough, Professor! Once you spend time with me……!”
“Enough.”
I pressed my eyes with my hand. My head throbbed from the sudden fatigue.
“Don’t show any more ugliness.”
“Ah…….”
Shocked, Aria bit her lip and clutched the hem of her uniform skirt with both hands.
‘She must have broken after I died, from the sense of loss.’
No matter what, I wouldn’t have stood by knowing Aria’s state.
‘Putting off the ending route for now.’
The priority now is restoring Aria to her original self.
Seeing this game’s perfect happy ending is impossible with her like this.
There’s no point in it being the second round like this.
‘If it stays this way.’
Even in the second round, no happy ending awaits anyone.