150. Tell Me Your Wish (5)
150. Tell Me Your Wish (5)
Why had Bella made contact with me?
I couldn't for the life of me understand why this girl, who didn't even seem close to Elisa, would use her name to approach me.
The main villain of the library event—the one who would spread rumors about the Secret Archive, wait for it to open, and then try to steal what was inside.
Bella... ah, what was it? Arshe? Arre? Asher?
Oh, was it Asher? That was probably it.
Her house was a mid-ranking noble family of the Empire with ties to the royal family. Her sharp face practically made the words 'what a nasty-looking bitch' spring to mind, while her voluptuous figure might have appealed to some people, but there was very little about her that I found likable.
She was the familiar type who simply could not stand seeing anyone else succeed.
Her entire personality was bound up in inferiority and jealousy. She kept it tightly concealed beneath noble etiquette, but unlike the usual image of a 'rational' Wizard, she was excessively emotional.
The title "Witch" was a nickname that suited Bella far better than Elisa—who was just a bit gloomy despite her kind heart.
The basic premise of the library event was that Bella coveted something inside the Secret Archive, spread the rumors herself, and manipulated someone into opening the door so she could claim the top rank.
The sub-story was riddled with plot holes, but perhaps because it was treated as a minor event, it had still been reasonably well received.
Then again, even the main story had been full of holes, so I'd mostly shrugged it off... I wondered whether the True Ending DLC had filled any of them.
In any case, Shuri would most likely be the central figure in this sub-story because she was the Magic Department's top student. Wizards were an incurably curious lot, so she was bound to visit the Secret Archive at least once.
Bella's plan was to lie low with a surveillance artifact hidden near the Secret Archive entrance, waiting for that exact moment.
That way, she could follow them inside when the Secret Archive's door opened.
That meant I was going to have quite a lot to do.
First, I had to determine why Bella had approached me, then deliberately steer Elisa and Shuri toward the Secret Archive and have them clear the dungeon. After that, I would make sure the two of them obtained its hidden rewards and powered up.
Which meant I needed to prepare.
I needed to plant the idea in Shuri and Elisa's heads, be ready to follow and secretly guard them so they wouldn't get hurt, and prepare behind the scenes to prevent Bella from trying anything.
Elisa and Shuri might not be able to clear the Secret Archive, but given it was originally a place built for the purpose of fostering talented students, they'd likely manage it one way or another.
The key point was that I had to be able to control the situation completely.
That way, I could suppress any unexpected variable at any time.
Only then could I squeeze every last drop of value from the Secret Archive left behind by the nameless first principal—
...Should I really go that far? But that would be a bit—
"Yohan? Yohan~?"
A hand flapped frantically in front of my eyes like a freshly caught fish. Only then did I notice Millia, who had been trying to get my attention.
Had I been too lost in thought?
"What is it?"
"I'm done with my questions!"
"Alright. Wait a moment."
I approached Karina, who had been chatting with Elisa and Martina, and asked her to excuse us.
"It's about time we got moving."
"Ah, of course, Karina. I hope the rest of your classes pass peacefully as well."
Martina joined the group waiting for her with an elegant bow. After watching her retreating figure for a moment, I spoke to Karina, who looked to be in a better mood than usual.
"You did well in class today too."
"Thank you."
"Yohan, are you eating that red meat for lunch again today?"
"I'm thinking about it."
I'd tried every Korean dish sold in the cafeteria at least once, and I was just beginning to consider sampling more of the local food.
I liked Korean food, but there was nothing wrong with trying Western food once in a while.
"Mister, you really love food from that region. Nobody else ordered it because it looked so suspicious, but you ate it as though it were perfectly normal... Is it food from your hometown?"
"...Yeah. It's hometown food."
I gave a noncommittal answer. At times like this, my obscure origins came in handy. Even a vague answer was enough for people to reach their own conclusions. By now, Viola was probably thinking, 'So he came from somewhere far away.'
"I see."
"Hometown? I thought you said you couldn't remember your past, Yohan?"
"...The food brought back a few memories."
It was an awkward excuse, but thankfully, no one asked further. They likely considered my past something of an Achilles' heel.
"C-congratulations..."
"Congratulations. Even remembering a little means there's a chance you'll recover other memories, after all."
"Thank you, Karina."
I gripped the wheelchair handles and pulled it back from the lecture-hall desk with its familiar rhythmic rattle. At the routine signal, the others rose from their seats. It was time to go.
We headed straight for the cafeteria. Since we had arrived fairly early, it was still relatively quiet.
We needed to order as quickly as possible so we could get our food without being crushed by the crowd. We went straight to the counter, where the cashier, who had been staring blankly into space, gave us a tense smile as we approached.
"Welcome. What would you like today...?"
"I'll have the cream pasta!"
"Steak for me, please."
"I-I'll have the salad..."
"Is it okay if you only eat grass?"
Millia said, staring at Elisa with a look on her face that asked how a human could live on grass alone.
...Personally, I agreed with Millia, but girls that age naturally worried about their figures, so it wasn't strange. Then again, no one around me actually watched their diet that strictly.
"G-greasy food m-might make me g-gain weight, after all..."
Why was she looking at me when she said that? Never mind. I had my own lunch to decide on.
I seriously studied the menu. A few Korean dishes were scattered among the typical Western food. I was about to settle on a safe jeyuk rice bowl when someone tugged at my sleeve, making me look at Elisa.
"I-it wasn't me..."
I immediately looked down at my sleeve. When I saw who had tugged it, I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
"I'll have the same as Yohan, please."
"...Add two more orders of jeyuk rice bowl."
"Yes. Understood."
...Could she handle spicy food?
The jeyuk stir-fry here wasn't extremely hot, but it would still be quite spicy for someone who had never eaten spicy food before—
"It was a bit scary because it's red... but it's tastier than I thought!"
"Not spicy?"
It seemed like it would be.
"It's a little spicy, but I can manage with healing magic..."
A Saintess using Divine Magic just so she could eat spicy food. What a sight.
Still, if Karina was enjoying it, it didn't matter, but...
At the rare spectacle of a Saintess eating a jeyuk rice bowl, I stared at her blankly.
It felt strange that even the sight of her eating with red sauce around her mouth looked beautiful. She was so stunning that the mess almost made her look sexy.
Terrifying. Truly.
"Yohan, I want to try some too!"
"M-me too..."
"Mister. Can I try a bite, too?"
"...Go ahead."
I considered ordering another bowl.
Bombarded from every direction with requests for 'just one bite,' I held back tears and pushed my plate forward.
----------------------
"Why won't it open...?"
Was she simply not qualified after all?
In one corner of the library, Bella stood before the entrance to the Secret Archive she had discovered by chance, her brow furrowed. Together with her sharp features, she gave off an unapproachable air, but she paid no attention to it.
That was hardly important now.
"In the end, do I have no choice but to let someone else open it on my behalf...?"
Biting her lip, Bella glared at the door of the Secret Archive. It refused to open no matter what she tried. Discovering it had been meaningless if she could not get inside.
Bella knew perfectly well why the door wouldn't open.
'Why wasn't I qualified...?'
She had spent nineteen years being called a prodigy. She had never met anyone her age who could surpass her, yet now she was falling behind both a beastkin Wizard she had never even heard of and a gloomy female student. She could not accept it.
Her lips twisted with fury.
A red line traced down her chin.
A liquid—whether tears or blood, she could not tell—fell from the tip of her chin and bloomed a red flower on the floor.
But she did not even notice.
"With just this, I too could..."
She could become the 'best' again.
Only then did the girl, malice festering inside her, notice her injury and pull out a handkerchief to wipe her chin. The handkerchief became soaked with blood, but she didn't care.
What did a measly wound like this matter?
Her heart was already covered over with scabs.
"As I thought, it's best to throw out the bait myself, isn't it...?"
Bella's eyes narrowed venomously.
It was the look of someone who wouldn't hesitate to use any means to get what she wanted.