The Beginning of Obsession
The beginning of her obsession came with a Bang!
Sabina kicked open the door to the quiet headmaster’s office. After finishing her reprimand of the professors, she had finally returned to the Academy.
“Those damn professors…”
Still not fully vented, Sabina spat out a curse as she dropped heavily into her chair. Her anger had many causes, but the greatest was that every ounce of responsibility ultimately rolled back onto her. She had stepped away under the pretext of lecturing the faculty to escape the concentrated stares for even a short while, yet the complaints kept pouring in from every direction. It was annoying, infuriating, and in some ways unfair, but she could not deny her own complacency. No matter what anyone said, the Academy’s highest administrator was the headmaster—Sabina.
“Sigh… I couldn’t stop the terror attack, the professors are useless, I can’t find my savior… Nothing goes right…”
A deep sigh laced with irritation and lament escaped her. Even so, one person kept rising in her mind—the man she desperately wanted to meet again. When she had been floundering alone in the darkness, he had appeared like a mirage and vanished like a phantom. She had never seen his face, never learned his name, and had barely caught the sound of his voice, yet that alone had planted something mysterious deep inside her chest.
Where in the world was the man who still made her heart ache every time she remembered him?
Sabina pressed both hands firmly against the chest she usually complained was pointlessly large.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
It was not as violent as the moment right after he had left, but she could clearly feel her heart pounding. Still, it was not enough. Sabina wanted to experience that exact heartbeat and the sweet ache in her chest once more. To do so, she had to find him again.
She pushed her lips out in a pout. She had asked his name out of gratitude and even made her own inquiries, yet he never appeared. To ignore her sincere goodwill like that… The more she thought about it, the less she liked him, though she tried to console herself. Her expression remained thoroughly sulky. Even as a Transcendent, the fact that nothing went her way struck her with painful bitterness.
“Forget it… Well, time will pass. We’ll meet eventually.”
Since she believed the Academy lay in the palm of her hand, Sabina was certain the day would come.
Time to handle those piled-up complaint letters… Hm?
Just as she was ending her brief rest and preparing to work, something caught her eye. She waved her hand through the air at once. The barrier that had enveloped the entire headmaster’s office instantly shrank until it was small enough to rest on her palm.
“…It’s been modified once?”
As a Transcendent versed in barriers, Sabina identified the change at a glance. The moment she realized an intruder had entered, her eyes sharpened.
Ssssss…
Her transcendent gaze swept across every inch of the office, distinguishing every alteration that had occurred in her absence. Soon she confirmed that one precious sheet of paper was missing.
“…How dare they!”
In a rage, Sabina slammed her fist down on the desk.
Craaaack…!
Cracks spider-webbed across the desk and through the countless layered barriers covering the office. Her will had surged outward in all directions, scattering the power that should have been focused solely on the desk. The single sheet containing the characteristics of the savior she absolutely had to find had clearly been stolen by an intruder. It was her mistake for failing to secure it properly before she left to lecture the professors.
Sabina swallowed her fury and drew a long breath.
Whew… Calm down. I just have to catch the intruder.
The changes she had spotted were not limited to the missing paper. That had simply been the most obvious, so she had noticed it first. Slightly shifted objects and lingering traces of the visitor remained as well. Every clue to the intruder’s identity had been erased, but she paid it no mind.
It’s fine. I can simply read the history…
No matter what anyone said, Sabina was a Transcendent. She could learn who had visited the headmaster’s office by reading history itself. Just as the now-composed Sabina slowly reached for the flow of time—
“What is this…?”
A small note lying on the desk caught her eye. It definitely had not been there a moment ago. Tilting her head, she picked it up.
“……Ah……”
After reading the words written on it, Sabina froze solid. In the office where time itself seemed to have stopped, she placed a hand over her heart and felt its rhythm steadily quicken.
Thump. Thump!
A strange yet pleasant emotion she had thought would be difficult to feel again began to surge through her. Unwilling to let it slip away, Sabina read the note once more.
Don’t look for me.
It was a tiny note with only those few short words. There were no special markings, no way to tell who had written it—nothing remarkable at all. Yet Sabina instinctively knew its source. The indifferent yet somehow gentle tone hidden in the brief sentence… the faint, fragrant scent that clung to the paper, one she had smelled only once in her entire life… In her mind rose the image of a single man.
The man who had saved her from crisis and then vanished without a trace. Her savior, the one to whom she owed a debt that must be repaid…!
It was unmistakably him.
Yet the excitement that strange emotion had stirred lasted only a moment. Recalling the note’s content, her heart sank like a flame abruptly extinguished.
He… doesn’t want me looking for him?
Considering the connection between those words and the stolen paper containing his information, she could only reach that conclusion. Suddenly Sabina felt deeply depressed. She had only wanted to repay the man who had helped her; why was he avoiding her so stubbornly? She was the one in the position of debtor, yet for some reason the realization left her slightly hurt.
She stared at the note in silence, then carefully folded it and slipped it gently into her bosom. Though her face still wore a thoroughly discontented expression, she did not forget to layer several small barriers over it, as though determined to treasure the note above all else.
She did not like it, but if he did not want to be found, she would respect his wish.
He is my savior, after all…
Sabina did not want to earn her savior’s dislike. But her longing to see him was equally powerful. She had no particular desire to uncover his identity or secrets. She simply wanted to meet him once, person to person. Therefore she made a promise to herself: she would not actively seek him out as the note instructed. However, if they should happen to cross paths by chance one day, she would absolutely not pretend not to know him. That, she believed, was the only way to respect him while still forging a connection.
Proud of her own maturity, Sabina smiled with a fluttering heart. At that moment she did not realize her eyes had already changed—transformed into a sticky, obsessive gaze.
As usual, after wandering around outside I returned to the dormitory and noticed something strange.
Hm? It’s not here today?
The headmaster’s important notice that always annoyed me no matter how many times I tore it down had not been posted. Had she finally found the person she had been searching for so desperately?
Deciding it was no big deal, I opened the dormitory’s front door to enter.
Or rather, I tried to.
“It has been a while, sir. I trust you have been well?”
“…Why so suddenly…?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing… Have you been well too, Yulia?”
If only Yulia had not suddenly appeared right in front of me. The arrival of a completely unexpected person. Moreover, there was no sign of Arie, who always accompanied her. The woman who constantly declared herself the Saintess’s escort and seemed to take considerable pride in that duty had come to see me alone for the first time.
Most surprising of all was the simple fact that Yulia had sought me out directly. The authority I had placed was clearly still functioning; anyone affected by it would normally become confused about my very existence. Yet perhaps because she had spent so long at Arie’s side, she seemed to have pierced straight through that power, if only for a moment, and reached me.
“Yes, I have been well.”
Watching Yulia answer with an utterly innocent face, I could only sigh inwardly.
For some reason, it feels like my authority is getting more pathetic with each passing day…?