A Strange Reunion
She's a strange one. That was what Julia thought.
Their reunion had been nothing more than coincidence. She had been sitting in her quarters that night when she suddenly sensed a flow of mana. Even from a distance, she could tell at once that the movement was artificial. The moment she detected it, Julia slipped out of her lodging without telling Iona. It had been a reflexive action born of curiosity. After all, this place called the Academy was nothing but boring to her.
Perhaps something there might relieve even a fraction of that boredom. With that thought, she left her quarters and headed in the direction where the mana had come from.
And there, she reunited with him.
The peculiar man who had stared at her earlier that day with eyes whose meaning she could not fathom.
The man looked quite flustered, as if he hadn't expected her to come. It was obvious without asking that the mana she had sensed was connected to him. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for him to be in a place like this at such an hour.
Yet Julia did not press him about it. She hadn't come here because she was interested in the mana itself. She had simply come on the off chance that something interesting might be waiting.
And the moment she saw the man's face, her interest sparked.
It wasn't just the look in his eyes from earlier that day. Even now, it was the same. Countless emotions swirled in the gaze fixed on her, as if she couldn't begin to guess what he was thinking. Just watching that was enough to ease a bit of her boredom.
That might have been why she spoke to him first.
But then, suddenly, the man asked,
It was a strange question. Julia rarely spoke and wasn't used to normal conversation, but even she could tell this wasn't an ordinary thing to ask. Happiness? It wasn't the sort of thing you suddenly asked someone you'd only just met.
If it had been someone she had no interest in, Julia would have simply ignored it.
But for some reason, she found herself seriously considering the man's words. She didn't know why. Maybe she was simply sick of her tedious Academy life. Or perhaps her curiosity toward the man ran deeper than she realized.
Even as she felt strange for acting so unlike herself, Julia thought: Am I happy right now?
Emotions had never been all that familiar to her. From the moment she was born, her feelings had always been faint. Because of that, she didn't truly understand happiness. She didn't know exactly what could be called happiness.
But if someone asked whether she liked her current life, the answer was no.
The position of Saintess—one everyone looked up to, one that earned the world's respect, one where she could do anything she wanted. It was a seat many would covet, but not her.
It had never been something she wanted in the first place. She had simply ended up connected to the Goddess Church, and somehow become a Saintess. She had never once wished to be one. She had only chosen to use the title because, as Alice said, the background of a Saintess would help with her revenge.
Even now, she barely felt any real awareness that she was a Saintess. She simply did what had to be done.
Julia had her answer. She was not happy right now. Probably.
"…Why?"
At that moment, the man asked again.
It was, without question, a bizarre thing to ask. But once again, Julia did not ignore the man's question. She sank into thought.
Why wasn't she happy?
Was it because she disliked being a Saintess? That wasn't it. She had no real awareness of the role, and while it was true she didn't care for the position, that had little to do with happiness. She didn't think she'd be happy in any other role either. Even if she became the Emperor of the Empire, she doubted it would bring her happiness.
Then why wasn't she happy?
No—had she ever been happy in the first place?
As Julia pondered, a question rose in her mind. And then she found the answer.
Yes. There had been a time when she was happy.
She still remembered those days clearly. The two years they had all spent together in the forest. Back then, she had been happy.
When her thoughts reached that point, Julia finally understood.
She understood why she wasn't happy now.
The man looked as if he didn't understand her answer. He asked why she didn't simply request the Church to find it for her. As a Saintess, couldn't she obtain anything she wanted?
Julia shook her head.
That was impossible. The being who had given her happiness no longer existed in this world.
Gunter.
The reason those two years in the forest had been happy was because he had been there. And the reason she wasn't happy now was because he was gone.
The man who had saved her, who had changed her life. The man who had ultimately died to save her.
Julia knew. Though her heart wanted to deny it, her mind understood. She knew that Gunter was dead. That she would never meet him again.
Not even a Saintess—who stood at the pinnacle of the Goddess Church—nor the Emperor, the greatest authority on the continent, could bring back the dead. She would never see Gunter again.
When her thoughts reached that point, Julia suddenly realized something.
Perhaps happiness would never exist in her life again. After all, the only one who could give her happiness no longer existed in this world.
She simply mulled over that cruel realization with calm detachment. It wasn't something that should have been accepted so easily, yet her reaction remained indifferent. It didn't matter all that much.
Even if she could no longer feel happiness. From that day onward, her life had held only one purpose anyway.
To avenge Gunter.
She hadn't thought about what would come after. She felt no hunger, no greed, no desire for anything. She had no will to live at all. She was a human whose natural human desires had been suppressed. A human who moved solely on the fuel of revenge.
That was the woman called Julia Librel.
Even if she now knew that happiness would never exist in her future, nothing would change. That was why she remained utterly calm.
But then—
"……?"
For some reason, the man's expression was far from ordinary. His eyes kept trembling, as if he were holding back tears. The face that looked at her seemed both deeply angry and unbearably sad.
…Why?
Why was the man making such a sorrowful expression? It wasn't even his business. It was just the affairs of a stranger he'd met only recently.
As expected…
…He's a strange person.
He really was strange.
What was peculiar, however, was that her impression didn't end there. In fact, if one were to nitpick, the very fact that she had continued this conversation and answered his questions so obediently was already strange and unprecedented.
If she had to name the cause, it would be interest. At first, it must have begun with curiosity about this man. And now, another reason had been added.
Curiosity about herself.
Why did she feel such strong interest toward this man? She wanted to know.
That must have been why she asked.
"…Pardon?"
She had asked for the man's name.
The 'Knight of the Lake' incident ended without any major issues.
Although they had received my help, Elion and his party had successfully defeated the knight's ghost. It seemed they had even submitted a proper report. I kept hearing their names being mentioned around campus.
Things are going smoothly.
It was progressing rather favorably. Elion was growing steadily, and Bellad, who had been a source of anxiety, wasn't showing any suspicious movements. Everything was going well.
That didn't mean there weren't any concerns.
The unknown energy the Knight of the Lake had emitted. It looked remarkably similar to the aura given off by the cat-like monster during the 'Masked Attacker Incident.' There had to be some connection between the two.
In other words, it was the work of the same culprit.
Someone in this Academy had tampered with both the monster and the knight. That was what I believed.
In truth, it was something I had suspected for a while. Although I'd given up on identifying the culprit right away because there were simply too many suspects, I hadn't let the matter drop completely.
Through Velka or by gathering information myself, I had been steadily narrowing down the list of candidates.
The problem was—
There are still far too many left.
Even after eliminating quite a few, the remaining suspects were still overwhelming.
…My head hurts.
And that wasn't the only issue demanding my attention. There was something even more important.
The restriction placed on this body. I needed to figure out how to break it.
More precisely, what exactly the one who had put me into this body wanted.
At first, I thought they had reincarnated me into this body to keep the story progressing smoothly. But if that were the case, there would be no reason to place such a restriction on me.
What on earth did that person want?
I was lost in thought when—
The surroundings suddenly grew noisy. It didn't feel like the usual chatter. The commotion was too intense to ignore.
Naturally, I lifted my head.
"……!"
I was startled.
I couldn't help it. Julia had appeared before me at some point and was quietly staring at me.