The Library
The next morning.
True to the day before, Cecil was waiting at the dormitory's main gate.
"I told you, you don't have to come."
"Why not? We're gonna see each other anyway, so meeting up sooner is better, right?"
"It makes me feel bad. That's why."
Did she think I'd be comfortable leaving a girl standing outside?
No matter how early I got up, it was always around eight, and if I stepped out at the wrong time and we missed each other, she'd be the one left waiting, just like I'd said before.
"Hmph. Still, isn't it nice having a pretty girl like me waiting for you from the morning?"
"There you go again, talking nonsense."
Of course, admitting that was a whole different matter.
"So what are we gonna do for fun today?"
"You come all the way to the Academy and all you can think about is having fun?"
"Well, it's not like there are any lectures. Oh, right. Two of today's classes got canceled."
"Huh? Weren't they both first-period classes?"
I quickly scanned the schedule I'd memorized.
Precision Crafting and Introduction to Enchantment Theory.
Both were indeed supposed to be their first sessions.
"I mean, they probably just did introductions and not much else. Depends on the professor, I guess?"
"True. Wasn't really anything substantial anyway."
That made sense.
Professors were people too. They probably thought the same as us — if we're not saying anything important, why not just skip it?
The only difference was that they had the power to actually do it.
"Anyway! So I've got nothing to do, right?"
"Well, I—"
"Bail said she got her allowance from her sponsor and wants to go buy some clothes, so—"
"I have plans! I've got plans!"
"…Huh?"
I'd been quietly listening to Cecil, but the moment she mentioned clothes shopping, I reacted before I could stop myself.
The last time I'd gone down to the village, I'd seen Luke — the head of a household — turned into Ipril's dress-up doll.
The look on his face had been so utterly wretched and pitiful that I couldn't bear to witness it with my own two eyes.
"Plans? What kind?"
But Cecil, either sensing something was off or wondering if I had other friends besides her, frowned slightly and pressed.
I quickly grabbed the first name that came to mind.
"I mean, uh! My roommate! I said I'd go somewhere with my roommate. So I can't go to the clothes shop. Yeah. I'll call you when I'm done, okay?"
"…Will it take long?"
Her voice sounded like she was just asking to confirm the facts.
But the way she hesitated, glanced at the ground, then peeked at me with those dark eyes…
Snap!
No way.
Get a grip, Jeden.
"Tch. Didn't work."
"Anyway. Sorry, but today's a bit difficult."
"Well, can't be helped. It's not like you had a prior commitment. You're still eating with me, right? You don't have any money anyway. Your work-study doesn't start until next week."
"That's probably true. It's nine now."
"Alright then. I'll be off?"
"Yeah."
I managed to send Cecil off and headed back up to my room.
It was time to make an unreasonable request to the roommate I'd met for the first time yesterday.
"So, are you asking me out on a date?"
My roommate's first words were a bit sharp.
"What the— No, that's not it. I'm just saying we should hang out for a bit."
I hadn't told Sion everything.
Just that I had some free time and wanted him to come along.
I didn't mention Cecil or the clothes shop.
Sion, as always, narrowed his eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth in an unreadable expression.
Of course.
The thoughts hidden behind that sinister smile were quite different from what Jeden imagined.
But dragging this out any longer would just make things awkward. The sharp-tongued girl he'd sent away would be coming back.
Sion, as he had for years, spoke in a cheerful, high-pitched tone.
"Sure. The Academy's library has quite a reputation, I've heard. How about we go there?"
"Oh? Sounds good. Do they have history books?"
"That's hardly a rare genre."
Thankfully, he didn't seem to suspect anything.
Though with someone like him, I couldn't be sure.
"Let's just change and head out."
First, let's move.
As for the library, Sion himself was quite interested.
Of course. It was the lore book of his favorite game. No way he'd hate it.
"What's wrong, Jeden? You'll strain your neck."
"Huh? Oh. Nothing. Let's go in."
The entrance to the Academy library.
I was literally standing there, dumbfounded, staring at the building's exterior.
The library was, first of all, huge. Freaking huge.
The biggest I'd ever seen in my life. I'd never been to the Imperial Palace, but I was sure it rivaled it.
If I'd come here with Cecil, I'd probably have been gaping at it for ages.
I tapped my student ID card against the reader and stepped inside, and the interior — even more magnificent than the outside — unfolded before my eyes, too vast to take in all at once.
"This is… impressive."
Sion murmured in admiration as well.
"Amazing, the Academy."
The internal structure, spread across three floors, was unlike anything I'd ever seen.
The first floor held a counter, shelves packed with books, and a fair number of tables and chairs.
From the second to the third floor, the space was carved out like a donut, leaving only enough room along the building's edge for three people to pass side by side, with the entire center open.
The ceiling, too high to even estimate, filled my field of vision, giving me a strange sense of liberation.
The variety of books seemed vast as well.
Practical texts, magic, history… history?
"Ah."
Right.
I came to read books.
I'd been so stunned by the grandeur that I'd momentarily forgotten.
"Then let's meet back at this table."
"Yeah."
Before I could even answer, Sion was already dashing up to the second floor.
He must have had a specific book in mind.
I brought back a few books related to the Empire's history, and Sion was already there, reading.
Without bothering him, I sat down across from him and opened the topmost book.
The Creator God gave birth to the world….
'Too far back.'
The ancient tribes, who passed down the primordial source known as the Elements… these are called the Ancient Races….
'This is interesting, but later.'
Thus, the purest malice was born. The Demon King was born.
'Just a bit more.'
Imperial Year 131. The Demon King's rise.
'Here.'
The Demon King was a being who stood above even the demons, who were the ruling race at the time, and was called the Lord of All Evil.
No one knows the reason for the Demon King's rise, but it simply came into existence one day, and from that day, it began its invasion of human territory.
With the Demon King's rise, monsters — once only slightly stronger than beasts — became impossible for humans to overcome. In the harsh environment of the time, humanity was helpless.
Countless lives were extinguished.
There was endless despair.
Three years passed.
Numerous new species of monsters appeared, and most of the old species, through repeated evolution and extinction, became nearly unrecognizable.
They grew stronger, more cunning, more vicious.
That was the evolution of those who served evil.
But.
They were not the only ones who sought progress.
Humanity, barely holding back the invasion, did not meet its end even after three years. In that time, it had ceaselessly developed.
They gathered the exceptional individuals who had grown by using all that hardship and adversity as stepping stones, and formed a single party.
These would later be called the Hero's Party.
The Great Saintess Maria.
The Nameless Sage.
The Silent Ode.
The Child of the Forest, Silphia.
The Hero of Reversal, Luke.
They eventually reached the Demon King. They sealed him, and were hailed as heroes.
This war would later be called the Great Human-Demon War.
…I closed the book and muttered.
"This is…."
Not great.
The story was interesting, but it didn't feel like a history book at all.
…Well, did it even matter?
It wasn't like I'd picked it up to study.
I opened a book from the pile that focused on the Great Human-Demon War.
The Demon King was an unprecedented powerhouse who had reached the 10th Realm.
The realm where one wields the world itself.
Among them, the 10th Realm is not merely about twisting or enforcing rules, but becoming a world in oneself — a complete existence.
In other words, the Hero's Party fought and triumphed against a being from another world.
Of course, the process was not smooth.
The Great Saintess Maria expended all her life force to heal the Hero Luke, who had been mortally wounded by the Demon King, and died.
The Nameless Sage, as the price for creating an opening against the Demon King, could never use magic again.
The Silent Ode suffered a critical knee injury and withdrew from the front lines.
The Child of the Forest, Silphia, transformed herself into a part of nature to become the conduit for the Demon King's seal.
The Hero Luke's holy sword no longer shone with light.
What history records is only victory.
That is not a lie.
The Demon King was sealed, the Hero's Party was still revered as heroes, and they were given the best possible rewards.
But that does not account for what they lost.
Therefore, we were defeated.
We won because we defeated the Demon King, but we lost because we lost our heroes.
And….
Tap, tap.
I felt a tapping on my sleeve and looked up.
Sion was pointing at his watch.
12:23.
Lunchtime.
"Ah."
I felt a twinge of regret.
I'd wanted to read about the warriors who defended the nation, mentioned in the dean's speech.
But I'd gotten distracted by the mention of my own family.
Well, nothing I could do about it. I'd have to come back another time.
Come to think of it, The Hero of Reversal? Was he really that impressive?
"Shall we go eat?"
"Yeah. You wanna come? She'd probably like that."
"I'd be happy to."
First, let's eat.
Cecil gets extremely sensitive when she's hungry.
Hysterical, even.
Oh.
One more thing.
The books I'd picked up weren't from the history section, but from a section of… opinion pieces? Something like that.
No wonder they felt off.
A little while later.
As he was eating with Jeden, Cecil, and Bail, Sion felt a sudden chill and looked around.
"Ah."
And then he realized.
He had become the oblivious friend who tagged along while his friend was on a date with his almost-girlfriend.
Caught up in the excitement of hanging out with a character from the game, he'd failed to notice.
