The West Forest Cabin (5)
Yulia had already heard the rumors.
On the day she was born, countless stars were said to have fallen over the imperial palace. The Star Princess.
The empire’s youngest princess, Shepia Evergreen.
The ‘next-generation hero’ the empire loved to trumpet.
Yulia’s interest was piqued.
“Princess.”
“…★”
“Haah… Shepia.”
“Yes! What is it, Yulia?”
“I would like to learn from you, if I may.”
Naturally, Yulia never once considered the possibility of losing. The rumors painted the princess as an eccentric troublemaker who stirred up endless chaos in the palace. There was no chance she could lose to someone like that—not when Yulia trained with the same sword every single day and had recently taken the head of a living monster. To her, sparring with Shepia was simply a way to prove her own worth.
And then—
Winner: Princess Shepia Evergreen
“Haah… haah… That really was a close one☆”
Yulia had lost.
Every sword strike she had polished through endless training was blocked by stellar magic. Even when she broke through, the princess dodged with movements and instincts too sharp to belong to someone dueling for the first time. After countless exchanges, their magics collided. Yulia’s blue power—strong enough to have severed a monster’s neck—lost to the starlight and was flung away.
Of course Shepia hadn’t escaped unscathed. Bruises covered her body and her magic was completely spent. Still, a loss was a loss, no matter how narrow the margin.
“Are you all right? The North really is something else… You were incredibly strong☆”
The shocking truth that she had lost to a peer in their very first fight. Even so, Yulia told herself it was possible. She took the hand Shepia offered. Unlike her own palm, rough with calluses, the princess’s hand was soft and warm.
“…Next time I won’t lose, Shepia.”
“Yeah☆ I’ll win next time too.”
She could simply win the next one. Defeat was a warrior’s lesson, and refusing to dwell on a single loss was the virtue of the North. When you fell, you stood back up. No mountain was too high if you kept climbing without surrender.
Because she was the genius the people of the North believed in.
Unfortunately, Yulia never did beat Shepia.
Being girls of similar age and standing—one a duke’s daughter, the other a princess—they met often and sparred even more frequently. Not once did Yulia emerge victorious.
“Whew, whoa☆ I really thought I was going to die that time…”
“Is this still not enough…”
“Here, take my hand. Let me help you up.”
No matter how many times she challenged her, Yulia could never overcome that tiny, insurmountable gap. She simply could not accept it. She trained every day. She had thrown herself onto the front lines with the resolve to die and earned distinguished service.
“Ah☆ A butterfly! Yulia, I’ll see you at dinner then.”
Yet she could not defeat a girl who lived in luxury inside the palace, chasing butterflies.
“So I… wasn’t a genius after all.”
Yulia remembered the feeling of Shepia’s hand that had just lifted her up again. It was still soft. Still warm. So different from her own hands, now harder and covered in scars.
She despised herself for feeling inferior to her friend, and little by little her heart began to crumble.
Time flowed on, and the day to enter the academy arrived.
“Congratulations, my lady. You have been assigned to S-class.”
The admissions examiner who had traveled all the way to the duchy had judged her worthy of S-class. The academy, famous for evaluating talent with ruthless strictness, had guaranteed her ability. For a brief moment Yulia felt relieved.
That relief did not last.
Because every other S-class student was a genuine monster.
“Ahaha☆ Everyone’s so strong!!”
Starting with her childhood friend Shepia.
“Pain is annoying, so let’s take it easy… yeah, easy.”
The prince of the Underground Kingdom, whose speed her eyes could not even follow.
“S-sorry! I still can’t control it properly!!”
The fairy kingdom’s princess who wielded untouchable wind magic.
“I’m counting on you all!”
The beast master who commanded divine beasts born from dreams—creatures that should not exist in reality.
“You are strong.”
A man whose raw power made one doubt he was human. A warrior of the Great Plains.
“Ahahahaha!!! So the empire has a hero like you! Excellent! Truly excellent! Please, make me burn even hotter!!!”
An amazoness girl from the jungle that belonged to neither empire nor alliance.
“The emotions you carry inside can become poison or fuel depending on how you use them. If you are unsure, paying a visit may prove a valuable experience.”
The student who had taken second place in the academy’s first test and spoke in riddles, and the F-class boy named Hint who had nearly deflected the student council president’s sword with his bare hands.
Yet the person who troubled Yulia’s heart more than anyone except Shepia was a girl who had only recently risen into S-class.
“Nice to meet you! Starting today I’m in S-class too. My name’s Stelle!”
A girl with a bouncy, star-like cheerfulness that reminded her of Shepia. Becoming friends with her had taken almost no time at all.
Stelle, the former F-class student who had tamed Skoll and Hati—the children of Fenrir, the great guardian divine beast of the entire North and ally of her ancestors. While Yulia had been stagnant for months, this girl had climbed from F-class to S-class in less than a month. And she had done it with Fenrir’s recognition and both of its children by her side.
『Indeed. While I remained stagnant, the sudden appearance of an F-class girl recognized by the northern divine beast must have been the source of my recent anxiety.』
“No. That’s not it. Rather…”
『Rather than that?』
Yulia’s hands trembled. Revealing her emotions even a little more deeply was far harder than she had imagined.
“I’m sorry. Today… let’s stop here.”
『Understood. I prefer receiving stories in portions rather than all at once anyway.』
The shadow nodded more readily than expected.
『Now that I’ve heard your story, I suppose I should offer a hint in return… Let me see. What would be good…』
Expectation flickered in Yulia’s eyes.
While pondering what to tell Yulia, Hint felt every piece of the puzzle finally click into place.
This is ultimately the gap between the game and reality.
In the game, even if Yulia obtained Fenrir’s blessing, she would simply react with a flat line of text: “Oh, I have received Lady Fenrir’s blessing.” But now that it was reality, the impact was entirely different. For a girl already suffering mentally because her slump had coincided with the academy entrance period, the sudden appearance of someone wrapped in the blessing of her family’s guardian divine beast must have been devastating.
I’m glad I intervened. This is not something Stelle can fix on her own.
In the original story, Stelle had comforted Yulia when she struggled because of Shepia. Now both Shepia and Stelle had become sources of pain. There was no easy solution. The important thing was to teach Yulia a path to “growth” without destroying the power balance inside S-class. If she became too strong she might monopolize every elixir and reward, leaving her overwhelmingly ahead of everyone else.
That was why he had suggested she rest yesterday. The first chapter was primarily about soothing an emotionally unstable Yulia. In the game, the more time you spent with her and the more you relieved her stress, the stronger she grew. But now that he knew Stelle herself was part of that stress, he would have to reduce the number of times the two of them went out together.
After all, what if the girl suddenly snapped and cut Stelle down?
Well, for this reward let’s go with that.
As he always said, the academy was full of hidden pieces—artifacts left behind by graduates for their juniors. The Frostwolf family, with its long and proud history, had produced many such graduates. Among those relics were several that would help Yulia. The first that came to mind was her exclusive weapon, but…
An exclusive weapon isn’t something I can obtain immediately.
Challenging the master of the academy’s glacial region right now would be tantamount to suicide. In that case, the safest choice was the hidden piece known as the Ice Pearl. It was a personal hidden piece that would moderately increase Yulia’s magical power. Of course, obtaining it meant rummaging through every seafood crate at the docks all night long, but…
『Tomorrow night, after all classes have ended, go to F-class.』
“F-class? Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it inside the main building.”
『It is an abandoned warehouse behind the school building. Follow the small path.』
“I see. So that’s where the classroom was. But why should I go there?”
『Ask the F-class student named Hint whether he has seen a “Blue Pearl” recently. He should know about it.』
“A blue pearl…?”
The meaningful words were still impossible for her to fully understand. Yulia bowed her head, dazed.
A short while later, as he watched Yulia leave the cabin, Hint got dressed as well.
“…Sigh. I’ll have to stay up all night and secure that Ice Pearl.”
Hint broke into a run toward the docks. He needed to find the pearl by tomorrow at the latest.
A rear courtyard far removed from the main school building. The path was so poorly maintained that weeds had swallowed it entirely; only by forcing one’s way forward could one reach this place. It was nothing more than an abandoned warehouse that someone had decided to call a classroom. The only proof it was a classroom at all was a sign neatly written in cursive that read 1-F.
Yulia frowned as she approached the F-class building. They were all students of the same academy. Was it truly acceptable to discriminate so harshly simply because their talents differed?
She knocked twice on the door in front of the classroom.
“Is anyone inside?”
There was no answer. After a moment the door creaked open and a boy appeared. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes—Hint clearly had not slept well.
“Oh. Yulia. What brings you here? If you’ve come to ask again how to become stronger, I’m afraid I have nothing left to say…”
“I apologize for visiting you with such a question while you were still bedridden. I was rather impatient last time. Today I have a different matter.”
“Ah, so you’ve come as a guest. Then please, come inside. It is rather shabby, though.”
“…Thank you for your hospitality.”
Honestly she did not want to step into the rundown classroom, but she was the one who needed the favor. Swallowing her reluctance, Yulia entered and stopped in shock.
“What… what is all this? Aren’t these practically S-class furnishings?”
“They are in fact furniture from S-class. I received them as a reward for the first test.”
“I see. Then I shall not stand on ceremony.”
“Please sit wherever you like. Ah, would you like some tea? We have every refreshment available in S-class.”
“My apologies, but the matter is somewhat urgent. Could we speak first?”
“Of course.”
Hint sat down across from her. Hiding her impatience as best she could, Yulia stated her business.
“Hint. Have you seen a blue pearl recently?”
“A blue pearl… It’s not that I have no idea at all.”
“Then could you possibly hand it over to me? I will pay whatever price you ask.”
A price. Come to think of it, he hadn’t considered that. Still, Yulia’s wealth was considerable, and there was no reason to refuse.
“If the compensation is sufficient, I have no reason not to give it to you.”
Hint reached into his pocket and pulled out the item he had spent all night running around the docks to obtain—the Ice Pearl.