Homecoming
Besia was convinced the necklace was the reason I'd shaken off the aftereffects of resurrection so quickly — why my body was already knitting itself back together.
"That necklace is completely broken, isn't it? You're already up and walking around like nothing happened? If I wore it for a few days, I could probably get moving again too."
"Want to take it, then?"
"...Don't even joke about that."
She treated the Origin of the Star around my neck as if it were the thread my life hung from. To me it was nothing more than a useful relic. How this particular misunderstanding had taken root, I couldn't say. Still, it was a far better cover than having anyone discover I was Immortal. And the Origin of the Star was a powerful relic in its own right — more than enough to stand in for the dagger.
When I judged the time was right, I told her.
"I'm going home now."
"W-what?"
Besia, who had been diligently working her way through a slice of cake, froze. She was so startled that cream was smeared all over her mouth.
"Don't look so surprised. This isn't my house, and I was never going to live here forever."
"Well, yeah, but... you're leaving already?"
It was a little early, I supposed. I'd only been here three days. She'd probably expected me to stay at least another two weeks.
"I have a home to go back to. There's no reason to linger here."
"You're not even fully recovered."
"I can get treated at the family estate. Why wouldn't I?"
I gave a small laugh at the disappointment on her face and ruffled her hair. Disappointed, huh. When was the last time I'd felt something like that?
"My family is just as worried about me as you are."
"W-well, yeah... like Bishop Revega."
Mentioning family made her take a step back. Of course, this was all about keeping to a schedule. The Academy entrance exam was about to begin.
"...You said you were going to the Academy, right?"
I'd asked the bishop for an Academy recommendation, so he must have mentioned it to her.
"That's right."
"I'm going to the Academy too, so I'll see you there."
"...In your condition?"
Besia bristled.
"I know my own body better than anyone! I'll transfer in midway, so you just try failing that entrance exam."
"A mid-year transfer? Isn't that just using the bishop to sneak in through a back door?"
"Back door? Excuse you. I'm taking the exam fair and square, so remember that!"
She was so confident about it. I offered just this much:
"Don't push yourself too hard."
"...Okay."
Holy Power that rivaled a Saintess's. Her relationship with Bishop Revega. The Origin of the Star I'd received. If I ran the numbers, Besia getting hurt from overexerting herself would be a net loss. That was why I'd said it — but both her cheeks flushed red. I had no idea why.
"A-anyway! We'll see each other at the Academy!"
"We will."
"We can go to a café together, yeah? Eat something delicious."
"If that's what you want."
And then the time came. I'd been comfortable at the church, but I had to go back. Thankfully, the bishop had even reserved a teleportation magic circle for me.
The moment of farewell. Besia, who usually wore a patient's gown, had dressed properly in her priestess robes and come out looking neat to see me off. Bishop Revega stood beside her.
My original clothes had vanished without a trace from the moment I was kidnapped, so I'd had to buy new ones. The bishop had those tailored for me as well — a noble's attire that fit reasonably well. I couldn't help but be grateful for Bishop Revega's thoughtfulness.
I could at least promise her this much. If Besia ever found herself in danger again, I would save her.
But at the same time, a question lingered. I still couldn't recall Bishop Revega from my memories. Not recognizing one of the major figures meant one of two things: he'd died before I escaped slavery, or he'd been demoted to some miserably low station. Either way, the worst-case scenario. I'd have to keep an eye on it.
Besia smirked when she saw me standing at the church entrance.
"Hmm~ You actually look pretty decent when you dress up."
"Is that so?"
"See you later. And don't go getting all depressed if you fail the Academy exam."
I chuckled at what amounted to a curse. Me? Fail? I was a giant who'd wandered into a children's brawl.
Bishop Revega brought out the dagger. In a way, it was something that ought to have been sealed away in the church immediately — but since it was mine, he'd been holding onto it temporarily. Another kindness from the bishop.
"...Use it only in emergencies, I beg you."
"I will."
And with that, a brief farewell. Like in the past, there was nothing around me. But what had been empty was filling in, little by little. It felt a little less hollow.
After riding the teleportation magic circle, I arrived in a city near the Briten Barony. Even so, there was no way a teleportation circle would have coordinates marked for some obscure rural backwater, so I'd been sent to the nearest city.
And I saw a lot of familiar faces. I hadn't expected all of them to come.
"Oppaaaaaaa!!!!"
A bomb dropped from the very first second. Ariel body-slammed into me.
"Waaah, you're okay, right? You're okay?"
"I'm fine, so calm down."
"You scared me so much, waaah!"
Behind her, my brother approached.
"Thank goodness."
After those two words, he clapped me on the shoulder. In the past, Ardel had carved himself to the bone to join the Golden Knights, all to find me after I disappeared. The order that guarded the capital — a key post where information poured in — so he'd believed he could find me that way. Just one word, one gesture, but I knew how worried he'd been, how hard he'd run himself ragged.
Behind them were Father and Caron. Caron was already crying on the spot. Do all women really cry this much? At this rate I was going to develop a stereotype.
"Hic, Young Ma...ster... Thank goodness. Hic. I couldn't do anything... not a thing, back then..."
"All you needed to do was believe I'd come back."
She didn't need a lot of comfort. The greatest comfort I could give them was the fact that I'd returned.
And last, Father.
"Thank you for coming back. And I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
"...I knew who was responsible, and I couldn't do a thing."
The other party was the Executioners — the hands and feet of the royal family. A humble barony couldn't possibly resist them.
"You did the right thing."
If he'd resisted, it would have been even worse. The family would have been crushed under overwhelming force.
"Sometimes doing nothing is the better judgment."
"...You're right."
The reunion with my family was complete. The moment I truly felt I'd come home. The moment I thought the emptiness was almost entirely filled.
I felt fear as well.
When the day came that I recovered every last emotion — when I knew joy and sorrow, laughter and pleasure, in full — the past in which I had been steeped in madness, in which I had killed and destroyed everything, would become a terrible nightmare.
So I set it aside for now. After everything was finished. Yes — after I killed the Demon King. That would be where the curse ended. The end of the madness that had ruled my entire life. That was how I would close it.
Some time passed. I'd fully recovered from the aftereffects of resurrection, my body back in perfect condition, and I was making use of various magics through the Origin of the Star. All that remained was the carriage that would take me to the Academy.
"Are you truly set on going?"
"I am."
A brief conversation in the family head's study. Father was worried.
"The kingdom's situation is dire. The Demon King's army to the north, and even the royal family — no one knows what they're thinking. On top of that, this is the year the Hero of this generation enrolls at the Academy."
A crisis within a crisis. Attending the Academy at a time like this might be quite dangerous. And it was, in fact. From the Hero's enrollment until her graduation, the Academy produced a historically unprecedented number of casualties. People even wondered if the Academy itself might collapse. Come to think of it, hadn't there been casualties starting from the entrance exam?
But what else could I do. I had to go. I had to go if I wanted to help the Hero and kill the Demon King. I couldn't kill the Demon King with my own hands, so I had no choice.
"Even so, I intend to go."
"...If that's your will, then so be it."
Father eventually conceded. He was worried about me, but for a noble, attending the Academy was inevitable. Those who didn't go were treated as half-nobles. So I had no choice but to go.
When I stepped out of the study, Ariel was peeking her head around the corner again. The moment she saw me, she popped out like a mole bursting from the ground.
"Oppa! You're not going to the Academy, right?!"
"No, I am."
"You can't! Dad promised me he wouldn't send you!"
When had Father made a promise like that? And yet his desire not to stand in his child's way must have won out, and he'd given permission. Of course, if he'd tried to stop me, I would have slipped away in the night.
"Don't goooo..."
Drag, drag, drag. Ardel let out a deep sigh as he watched Ariel clinging to my clothes, being hauled along the floor, and said to me,
"The Academy isn't anything special. Make some good friends, do as you're told, work hard, and before you know it everything will be over."
"Is that so?"
"Except for special places like Class 1, there's no real reason a noble would have to risk their life. You couldn't get in there even if you wanted to, anyway."
I winced inwardly. I fully intended to get into Class 1 — but even if it was dangerous, what did that matter to me? I couldn't die.
Beyond that, my brother told me all sorts of things. Even though I'd regressed, I'd never attended the Academy, so it was worth listening to. Starting with the dormitories, the factional infighting that began in adolescence. It was a gathering place for noble children, so political maneuvering was practically a given — the jockeying around the high nobles of ducal and marquis houses, and the bullying that spawned from it.
"As long as you don't take it too badly, you won't get bullied. I used to worry about that, but the you of now won't have that problem."
If I were still the frail version of myself from the past, I'd have been helpless and taken it all. Conversely, during the period of madness, I might have torn someone's limbs off. I wouldn't kill anyone now, at least. I just wouldn't kill them.
"...Just keep it moderate. I won't worry too much."
"See you later."
"Yeah. Make sure you come home for the break."
And Ariel, still teary-faced, whined.
"Waaah, don't goooo."
"Anyone watching would think I was heading off to my death."
I finally peeled Ariel off my clothes and arrived at the carriage departing for the Academy. Caron was waiting in front of it. She would accompany me as my personal maid, but she couldn't enter the Academy with me. Only high nobles and royalty were permitted to keep servants as students. If I passed the exam, Caron would have to go back alone. Even so, she served me gladly.
"We'll be departing now."
Caron boarded the carriage with me once again. Behind us, Ariel still couldn't let go, and I could see her cursing me from the distance.
"Fail the exam and come back home!"
"Pfft."
"...I don't get it."
Caron couldn't hold it in and laughed. I couldn't quite understand it. I had to go anyway — what was the point of trying to stop me? Besides, I wasn't going to fail.
As if she'd read my thoughts, Caron spoke up in Ariel's defense.
"It's because the young miss truly loves you, Young Master."
"It's not like we'll never see each other again."
"You will be apart for a while, though."
"...True."
Other people's feelings were something I could come to understand in time.
The Academy wasn't far. The carriage rolled on. Day after day we camped under the open sky, ate tasteless meals, and watched the same routines spin past like a wheel. And still the carriage pressed forward.
Dirt roads gave way to cobblestone. Merchant caravans and travelers heading the same direction came into view. We spent a night in a city, restocked what the journey required, and drove on — until a city larger than any I had seen besides the capital itself rose before us.
The end of one journey, and the beginning of another.
"...The Academy."
A magnificent building standing at the heart of the city. An educational institution so renowned that people crossed national borders just to enroll. A long line stretched in front of the Academy, and at its center, the entrance exam registration was underway.