A Sweet Diversion
The important thing, I thought, was that I wanted to bring Julia some joy. It had been a spur-of-the-moment idea, but fortunately there was a place inside the Academy that might help me achieve that goal. As I had mentioned several times already, the Academy was vast. And because of that, it contained all sorts of spaces. Not only the obvious ones like classrooms and dormitories, but even areas with rather unusual purposes. There was an entire building dedicated solely to the students' entertainment.
Whether the upper echelons of the Empire who had built the Academy were surprisingly considerate, or whether they simply understood that education required stress relief as well, they had set aside a dedicated space for the students to unwind. In fact, they had allocated an entire building to the purpose. That was exactly where I was taking Julia.
I did not have a detailed plan. I simply let my body move as it wished.
“Hic…!”
The clerk let out a sharp breath, whether because of me or because of Julia. I bought what I had come for and immediately held it out to her.
“……?”
Julia looked at the item in my hand with a puzzled expression. Meeting her eyes directly, I said,
“Try it.”
The thing I had purchased was ice cream. This world was far more advanced than one might expect. While its level of civilization could not compare to the Earth I had once known, the development of magic had given it a technological sophistication quite different from the typical fantasy world one might imagine. Thanks to that, even something like ice cream could be bought easily on the market.
“……”
Julia stared at me, then at the ice cream, before finally accepting it. She brought it to her lips and took a bite.
“……!”
Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Her reaction was not dramatic on the surface, yet the fact that she did not stop eating told me she quite liked it. I watched her with a warm smile. The sight stirred a sense of nostalgia.
I remembered the day, ten years ago, when I first met Julia and the other children. After rescuing them, I had taken them to a villa and made stew. The children, who had been wary at first, had eventually eaten it with relish. Julia’s current expression was remarkably similar to the one she had worn back then. Ten years had passed, and she had grown so much that her appearance had changed greatly, yet the way she widened her eyes while eating something still looked incredibly cute to me.
Still, it was not only heartwarming. The fact that Julia reacted this way meant she was not accustomed to treats like this. As I had once said, a saintess could have anything she desired. While the Goddess Church did not pursue luxury, exceptions were made for the saintess. She could eat whatever food she wished. She should have been able to enjoy far more expensive and rare delicacies than something as simple as ice cream. Yet her reaction was that of someone unfamiliar with such things. At the very least, it did not seem she had encountered this kind of food often.
In the eight years since my death, what kind of life had Julia been living? I could not know for certain, but I was convinced it had been far from extravagant or luxurious. That realization saddened me, yet I did not let it show. Revealing my true identity was impossible right now, and displaying such a reaction would only make my impression on her strange. Instead, I focused on the present moment.
“Please, have some.”
After glancing at Julia eating her ice cream, I turned to the assistant priestess standing quietly behind her and offered her the second one.
“I am fine, thank you.”
Her refusal was calm but firm, both in voice and in expression. I did not back down either.
“I already bought it, so please eat it. I am not very good with sweet things.”
“…That is all right—”
“Then shall I throw it away?”
“…Understood.”
After a conversation that bordered on coercion, Iona accepted the ice cream I held out. She slowly took a bite.
“……”
Her reaction was quite different from Julia’s. Her eyes did not widen, and her expression did not change at all. She simply continued eating with a calm demeanor, which suggested she did not dislike the taste itself.
Once I confirmed that both of them had finished their ice cream, I said,
“Let us go, then.”
I headed toward the next shop. Although this was my first time coming here in person, I already knew the layout. I knew exactly which stores were where. That was only natural; I had visited this place countless times in the game. A route had already formed in my mind, so my steps did not hesitate.
. . .
“…I cannot eat any more.”
After visiting several shops, the assistant priestess spoke. Her expression remained composed, but it did not seem like a lie. There was no reason for her to lie, either. At that point, I checked on Julia.
“……”
Julia’s face was still expressionless, yet I could tell. A faint sense of satisfaction lingered on her features. It meant she was full. Swallowing a smile, I decided to lead them to our next destination.
As I had said, this place had been created for the students’ “entertainment.” While food could be considered part of entertainment in a broad sense, if that were all there was, there would have been no need to use the word “entertainment” at all. The place I guided Julia to next was a space dedicated to proper amusement.
“…Huh? S-Saintess…?”
“And… that is Kyle Berwen, is it not? Why are you here…?”
Even here, there were people who recognized us. In fact, most of them did.
“Welcome… huh…?”
The staff member at the counter looked visibly flustered upon seeing us. I paid it no mind and walked inside. Before long, an unusually lavish interior came into view.
“Ah! I really thought I could clear it this time!”
“Aaaagh!”
“One more round!”
Amid the splendid decor, people were experiencing the full range of emotions.
“……?”
A question appeared in Julia’s eyes. She probably did not understand what kind of place this was. Without immediately answering her unspoken question, I led her forward to a machine shaped like a cube. Strictly speaking, it was not a machine. It was an object created based on magic, so the proper term would be a “magical device.”
“……?”
Julia looked at me, silently asking what this thing was. Instead of answering, I inserted a coin into the device. A cheerful chime rang out, and a screen appeared on the magical device. On the screen stood a man holding a sword.
“……!”
Julia’s eyes widened slightly once more. Yes. The true identity of this magical device was an “arcade game machine.” Surprisingly, games existed in this world as well. Although they were not created through science like those on Earth, and their quality was vastly inferior, they still existed. Online functionality was out of the question, and from an Earthling’s perspective, the graphics were crude. If I had to compare, they were on a similar level to arcade games from several decades ago. Even so, it was undeniably a “game.”
I stood in front of the machine and began to play. The game’s concept was simple: control a character, defeat the monsters that appeared, and advance. Because the game was straightforward, it did not require any special controls. It only demanded the player’s reflexes and quick judgment. Fortunately, that was an area I was fairly confident in, so I progressed without difficulty. I felt as though I could keep going indefinitely if I wanted, but I stopped at an appropriate moment. Then I turned to look at Julia, who had been quietly watching me play from the side.
As expected, a faint spark of interest had appeared in her eyes.
“Would you like to try?”
At my question, she nodded. I stepped aside, and Julia took my place in front of the machine. She began to play just as I had. At first, she seemed awkward, which was understandable since she was clearly unfamiliar with such a device. However, as time passed, the awkwardness faded. Before long, she was playing the game quite naturally. In fact, she was playing it very easily.
“Whoa……”
“Was that game… really that easy?”
Voices of admiration came from the people watching us. Their reaction was not strange. The game’s difficulty was higher than it appeared. Although this world was fairly advanced, such machines were not common. Creating them required considerable technology and money. The reason these expensive devices were placed in the Academy was because they served a research purpose as well. They had been installed by the Academy’s magic department to conduct magical experiments and collect data. Because of that, the games here were not easy. If they were too simple, everyone would clear them, and data collection would become impossible. This game was the same. The early stages were manageable, but as time passed and stages progressed, the difficulty increased exponentially. Yet Julia was playing it with ease. In a way, that was only natural. What the game required was reaction speed and instantaneous judgment. As a swordmaster who had reached the pinnacle, Julia was undoubtedly superior to anyone else in the Academy in those two aspects.
In the end—
“She cleared it……”
“On her first try? That is impossible……”
Despite encountering the game for the first time, Julia cleared it on her very first attempt. And with plenty of room to spare.
“……”
She did not show any dramatic reaction, but I could tell. A sense of accomplishment had appeared in her eyes. Seeing that, a warm smile rose to my face.