As I Recall
As far as I knew, the Salenium Saga was always a game centered on the "heroine."
The protagonist, Erhan, gets swept up in a massive story spanning all the way to graduation, alongside the heroine and his other companions. No matter how many times he faces despair and setbacks, he never gives up and keeps pushing forward. Watching him rise with sword in hand, no matter how dire the situation, urging his comrades onward—it made me feel like I had to grab a shield and sword instead of a keyboard and mouse.
It was a game with that kind of charm, one worth throwing my youth into without regret.
And even Erhan, being human, sometimes crumbled under adversity or fell into deeper despair than anyone. That's when the heroine was there by his side—watching him unwaveringly, comforting him, and sometimes scolding him harshly enough to make him stand again.
The Salenium Saga featured countless heroines, each with entirely different personalities, traits, and hidden backstories. Erhan chooses one and sticks with her to the end, ultimately winning her heart in the ending. That was the standard way to clear the game, which made the "heroine" the most important element.
She determined the route and served as the key to the conclusion. Without a heroine, no matter what you did, you couldn't see the ending. Even beating the final boss wouldn't trigger it. The normal route ending—with the academy castle backdrop and the line at the bottom of the screen, [And so they all lived happily ever after. END.]—simply wouldn't appear.
In any case, to clear this damn game, even making an extra female student with no fixed "ending" your heroine was the bare minimum to get an ending.
For extra heroines without individual routes, maxing out affection was enough to unlock the ending. But for "heroines" with their own endings, you had to listen to their troubles and complete the "prerequisite quests" they presented to unlock their routes.
However, those were mostly "side stories" that branched off the main path. And there were characters designed so that advancing the main story would inevitably open their route prerequisite quests—commonly called the "main waifus." Specifically, the Knight Department among the freshmen.
The title heroine gracing the main cover: the Ebnis route.
The starting point of that "Ebnis" route—what amounted to it, anyway—was the freshman duel episode that Kalen had mentioned earlier.
This episode was one of the most crucial branching points. It was a forced victory event for Erhan, and more importantly, his victory unlocked the "Ebnis route."
That's why I had no choice but to pay attention. Which route the protagonist chose and what ending he raced toward was pretty important to me too.
But in an event where Ebnis was supposed to lose no matter what... she won.
This meant one thing: "Ebnis's heroine route unlock flag was utterly destroyed."
The character "Ebnis," molded from the start as a heroine, had twisted away from her role as a "heroine" entirely.
With the route flag completely shattered, there'd be no reason for Ebnis to take any interest in Erhan in future events. Even if she took a hit from him in a later duel, it would lead to reflections on her own weakness and lack of training—not to "interest or affection" toward Erhan.
In short, things were royally screwed up.
Why had that happened? What cursed bastard had ignited her motivation like that...?
At the same time, a certain line flashed through my mind.
‘—This time, when you return to the family, I'll crush you so thoroughly with my own power that you'll never rise again, and then I'll show you by becoming the marquis myself.’
"Hah..."
I got it. It was me.
Yeah, it was me.
But what could I do about it now? What was done was done—it was the law of the world. I'd only acted to survive.
If Erhan wasn't taking the easiest, most standard "Ebnis" route, I'd have to watch and see which heroine he'd bond with next. Depending on the route, the actions I'd need to take might change.
"...Adrian, are you okay? You look pale. If you're not feeling well, should we go to the infirmary?"
"Have I worried you? My apologies. I'm truly fine."
"...But you haven't touched your food, Adrian."
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked around. The familiar sight of the communal cafeteria spread out before me. Come to think of it, this was during lunch.
My untouched steak sat there, knife still away, and I gazed at the girl in front of me.
Reina von Wolfgang, looking at me with worried eyes.
I'd gotten lost in thought and let too much time pass. Time to get to the point.
"Reina. Reina von Wolfgang."
"Adrian? Calling me like that so suddenly..."
"Regarding this incident, you're already convinced of the culprit's identity."
Her hand, gracefully slicing her steak, froze.
"Because you know no one else in this academy has both the motive and the ability to pull it off but 'him.'"
Her jade-green eyes turned to me.
"Is the guy you chose doing well?"
"Adrian."
Reina fell silent for a moment. She set down her utensils and asked sharply.
"...Just how much do you know?"
Instead of answering, I pulled a paper from my pocket and handed it over.
"This is...?"
"Information I've compiled and summarized. Take a look."
Reina unfolded it right there and scanned it quickly, then looked at me with a puzzled expression.
......Reina von Wolfgang already had her influence spread throughout the academy like roots, making her adept at gathering and managing information on the internal dynamics. Every piece here was cross-verified and genuine, so it wouldn't be strange if she already knew more about the culprit.
She rolled the paper up, tucked it into her uniform, and met my eyes.
A brief silence passed.
She spoke first.
"...I won't ask where it came from. You wouldn't answer even if I did, right? And pressing you would just make things awkward between us."
She probably already knew who the culprit was. But she seemed puzzled how I—lacking sources or underlings—had obtained this intel.
"......"
"But I'm warning you sincerely: don't ever do something like that again. Throwing yourself into danger to investigate is life-threatening. I told you last time, didn't I? Please worry about yourself a little too. Because you're my fiancé. Got it?"
Reina glared at me, cheeks puffed out. It looked like she'd keep that face all day unless I agreed, so I promised I would.
"Hmph."
......Seemed like there was a misunderstanding, but denying it probably wouldn't help.
"Now eat your steak. No, that one's gone cold and it'll taste bad. I'll order you a fresh one."
"No need. Since I haven't touched it, I'll—"
A new dish arrived before I could finish.
"Eat. I won't say another word until you've had at least one bite."
And Reina watched until I picked up my knife, cut into the steak, and took a bite before she spoke again.
"The reason I put Erhan out front was... after seeing his unusual abilities in that duel with Lycanslope... and having someone check him out, I learned he's got a upright, kind heart that always tries to help others."
Hm. Fair point.
"You know it too, Adrian. Normal people at Salenium with that kind of talent and ability don't help others. Friends, comrades, lovers... they're all competitors in a way. But that boy doesn't. He helps others as naturally as breathing, you could say. That's what caught my eye. I guarantee you, that kid's going places."
"What's in it for you by pushing him forward?"
"A connection between a future powerhouse and the Wolfgang family."
She held up a finger and looked at me.
"He's already vice-captain of the freshman Knight Department, right? A commoner with no solid backing—we need to turn him into one of ours early."
......Fair enough. By the final act, he really does become the "hero" and "warrior," so Reina's instincts were spot on.
"What if he figures out it was you?"
"No chance. I've set it up so that later, when he senses something off, he'll trace the info back to the source."
In the original story, Erhan never realized the info came from Reina. So this time, she was preemptively revealing the source to draw him in first?
No, what a terrifying woman.
Come to think of it, Reina von Wolfgang was also the main heroine of the Magic Department route.
If Ebnis was the honest-but-tsundere classmate type, Reina was the supportive big-sister figure who led, nurtured, and backed Erhan into becoming a grand magus hero—making sure he had to.
I stared absently at her humming while cutting her steak with her knife, then glanced at my reflection in the juice glass.
......Act 1, Chapter 2 of the main story. Subtitle: "Tracking the Culprit."
In truth, the framework of Act 1 Chapter 2 had Erhan running all over the academy to track down the "Monster Summoning Incident" culprit and expose them.
But gathering info inevitably gave hints for the boss fight in Chapter 3. Like an extra character who approaches with, "Watch out! I saw a robed guy in the open lot behind the central district suddenly cast mid-tier ice magic!" Quite blatant hints.
This was a game mechanic to prep players for the boss... but.
Playing Chapter 2 as "Erhan" multiple times raised questions about the info drops. They were so step-by-step, detailed, and specific. As if someone had planned for Erhan to inevitably realize Melwood Elion was the culprit and put a spotlight on him.
"......You've done well so far, Reina. Let's set the decisive battle for next Saturday. I'd appreciate aligning the schedule that way."
"......"
And in this academy, when it came to information prowess, wasn't there just this one person sitting in front of me?
"......Well, I figured you already knew, Adrian."
She said that and nodded.
"Got it. Your words are never wrong, so I'll keep that in mind."
Perfect. Next Saturday: the final boss battle of Act 1.
No one could be allowed to die.
‘Then I need to gather the others.’
With flags shattered for not just one or two—like Lumen Ribens and the rest—I'd have to personally tip them off to reinsert them all.
No other way. Time to move fast.
"Ah, Adrian, by any chance..."
Reina grabbed me. She started to say something, saw my eyes, and nodded.
"This is really out of the blue, but... after everything's done... c-could we go to the self-study room together? Just the two of us?"
"Of course."
"It's a promise! A promise! Stamp it! Pinky swear!"
Reina beamed as she said that.