Chapter 9: The First Letter (9)
Chapter 9: The First Letter (9)
That day, Seria left looking dejected.
It seemed to be an outcome she hadn't anticipated. After all, it was cold-hearted to flatly reject a junior who had swallowed her pride to ask a senior for guidance.
However, from my perspective, it was a perfectly rational decision.
Was I crazy? Objectively speaking, Seria was a better swordsman than I was, and there was nothing I could teach her.
There was nothing more foolish than wasting time on something meaningless. Had I been able to help, I might have spared some time out of loyalty to a fellow Academy student, but that wasn't the case.
Furthermore, our relationship wasn't close enough for me to go out of my way to scrutinize her form and find points to critique.
If I spent days with her, I might eventually pinpoint issues she hadn't noticed herself. But that would require far too much time.
I wasn't someone with enough leisure to sacrifice that much time for a junior I wasn't even close to. Well, technically I was a man of leisure, but it was clear as day that I’d rather spend that time with close friends like Reto or Celine.
Still, perhaps because I had rejected her so bluntly, I didn't feel entirely comfortable watching her leave.
The sight of Seria walking away with her shoulders slumped in disappointment—a stark contrast to her usual haughty and upright demeanor—made her look even more pitiful.
It was enough to make Reto and Celine criticize me.
"Hey, man... did you really have to reject her so flatly? You should have been a bit more indirect."
"Y-yeah, Ian. Even I think that was a bit much."
I expected that from Reto, but hearing it from Celine, who looked ready to get into a scrap with Seria just moments ago, left me speechless.
Looking back, I did feel I might have been a bit too harsh, but there was nothing to be done.
What’s said is said. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
"Forget it, it's already over. More importantly, let's go grab some food."
Since I, the person involved, took that stance, Reto and Celine couldn't scold me further. In fact, Celine seemed to decide upon reflection that this outcome was actually better, and she soon regained her beaming smile.
Only Reto remained, shaking his head with a haggard face. He lamented in a listless voice.
"No, I don't even have time for that... I'm busy as hell."
"Do you really have that many assignments?"
"That's just life in the Magic Department. I want to kill all the professors..."
Muttering such terrifying things like a typical Magic Department student in the middle of their busiest season, Reto let out a long sigh, his shoulders drooping.
"I have to stop by the Alchemy Department research building later, too. I don't have the energy to move another inch."
As he spoke, Reto began to steal glances at me. It was a transparent move that anyone could see through.
"Ah~ I wish someone could go in my place... Come to think of it, Ian, don't you have a liberal arts lecture near the Alchemy building?"
Celine looked like she was about to say something in disbelief, but I cut her off by readily agreeing to help my friend. Celine pouted, having lost her chance to speak.
"Fine, fine. I'll go for you, so go back and get some rest... Your eyes are sunken in."
At my sympathetic acceptance, Reto brightened up and pulled a piece of paper from his robe. He began to give me a brief explanation.
"Those are materials I need for my research, but I need help from the Alchemy students. The professor said he’d already informed a few students, so if you go to the Alchemy building before this evening, you should find them. Go see Emma."
"Emma?"
It was a familiar name. She was a third-year in the Alchemy Department; we weren't exactly best friends, but we were on good enough terms to enjoy some light banter.
The reason I tilted my head upon hearing the name was that it felt like I had heard it somewhere else recently.
My pondering didn't last long. I still had some time before I had to find Emma. I could think about it later. With that mindset, I simply nodded.
"Sure, don't worry. I'll deliver it."
*
And so, that afternoon, I stepped into the Alchemy Department research building.
The first-floor lobby was lined with all sorts of bizarre experimental tools. They seemed to be exhibits, but as a student of the Swordsmanship Department, I couldn't even begin to guess their purpose.
Looking at the note Reto gave me, the number '506' was written at the very top. It likely meant I needed to go to Room 506.
I climbed the stairs to the fifth floor and knocked on the door labeled '506.' Soon, a voice from inside called out, "Come in."
It was a familiar voice. Confident I was in the right place, I pushed the door open.
Inside, a woman with red hair and a gentle impression was staring at me with wide eyes, as if she hadn't expected me to visit.
I flashed a grin.
"Emma! It's been a while."
"...Ian? What are you doing here?"
At Emma's voice, which was a mix of surprise and delight, I took a seat at the reception table in the center of the lab.
I replied in a relaxed tone.
"Running an errand. Reto had a note he wanted me to give you. Said it was for some research?"
"Oh, ah! You mean Professor Adriana's lecture... Right, I see. Tell Reto to come by in three days when you see him."
Emma calmly took the note I handed her. Her green eyes slowly scanned the text, likely checking which materials she needed to prepare.
In the meantime, I looked around Emma's laboratory. Though it was likely provided by the school, an alchemist's lab always had a way of piquing one's curiosity.
Eyeballs preserved in flasks, mysterious silver powder, and demonic beast byproducts like claws and hearts.
Just imagining what kind of potions these items would be transformed into was entertaining. Of course, Emma had told me before that it was actually quite difficult work, requiring precise preparation based on complex formulas and theories.
But since imagination was free, I browsed the alchemist's lab with a light heart. By the time Emma finished reading the note, I asked how she had been.
"So, how have you been lately? I think the last time I saw you was last semester."
"Mm, same as always. Lately, I've been going back and forth to the forest. There are surprisingly many materials there."
The 'forest.' As soon as I heard that word, I felt a tickle in the back of my mind.
A sensation as if I were about to remember something. I tilted my head and asked.
"The forest? You mean the one to the south?"
"Yeah, the one where the Hunting Festival is held."
"Isn't it dangerous there? There must be wild beasts."
At my questioning tone, Emma let out a little giggle. She looked at me as if she had just heard a funny joke.
"Oh, you. The beasts in the forest rarely come out to the outskirts. The deeper you go, the more food there is. Everyone is so worried about the beasts that they don't even step foot in the forest, so it's great for me because there are plenty of materials."
"...Are you sure about that?"
Despite my lingering suspicion, Emma nodded firmly.
"Of course. Don't you know I come from a family of herbalists? I know the forest better than anyone. Ian, you act like you're not, but I guess you really are a noble young master after all."
I cleared my throat and looked away at Emma's remark.
I was merely the second son of a rural viscount, but that was still incomparable to someone from a commoner background like Emma.
The moment commoners entered the Academy, more than half of them received scholarships. Despite that, commoners made up only about a third of the student body.
Nobles didn't have to worry about making a living. They could just focus on training or studying all day. But for most commoners, it was different.
Except for the children of a few wealthy merchants, most commoners had to study and train while cutting back on sleep and meals. That was how they barely managed to enter the Academy.
No matter how much I had grown up under rigorous training, I had to defer to the commoner students in that regard.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I started making excuses.
"No, it's not like every commoner knows the forest well... You know it because you're an herbalist. It's not that I don't know the forest because I'm a noble."
At my voice, which was tinged with embarrassment, Emma giggled. It was a clear laugh that reflected her personality.
"Yes, I know. I just said it because you usually don't act like a noble at all. If I don't remind myself, I might forget that you're a noble, Ian."
"You can just forget it. It doesn't mean anything in the Academy anyway."
I replied dismissively to Emma's self-deprecating remark. However, I also knew that it wasn't such a simple matter.
Take me, for example—wasn't there already a widespread rumor that I had left Seria near-death?
This was partly because I, who was barely ranked in the lower-mid tier, had defeated the top student of the year, but also because a lower noble of the Empire had crushed the child of a high-ranking noble family.
While there was supposedly no discrimination based on status within the Academy, the world outside was different. Once they graduated, commoners returned to being commoners, and nobles returned to being nobles.
Since Emma was brilliant enough to enter the Academy despite being an herbalist's daughter, she likely knew my words were just meant to lighten the mood.
Nevertheless, she soon gave me a warm smile, along with a sincere thank you.
"...Yeah, thanks."
She was a kind woman. I wished she had a bit more confidence, but we weren't close enough for me to interfere in such deep-seated issues, so I held my tongue.
However, as I talked with Emma, a memory surfaced.
The letter. That letter that supposedly flew here from seven years in the future crossed my mind for some reason.
"...Hey, Emma. By any chance."
"Hm? What is it?"
Emma looked at me with a bit of surprise, as if wondering if I had more to say. It was indeed about time for me to leave.
But since Emma was the only person I could ask about the sudden doubt that had occurred to me, I asked her.
"Is it possible for a letter to come from seven years in the future?"
Emma seemed to find my question out of the blue; she stared at me in silence before tilting her head.
Indeed, it was a ridiculous idea. A letter from seven years in the future.
It was probably just a prank played by someone during that week I lost my memory. I shook my head as I said that.
"No, never mind. I asked a pointless question. Well, I'll be going—"
"It's not impossible."
However, the answer Emma gave after a moment of thought was so unexpected that I froze in the middle of standing up.
My puzzled gaze turned toward Emma. She was lost in thought, arms crossed, humming to herself.
Soon, she walked toward a corner of the lab. When she pressed a button there, a hemispherical map unfolded in the air.
It was an Astronomical Chart, a map used by all magic and alchemy based on astrology.
"You know that every single star in the sky holds myths and history, right?"
"Uh, I've heard of it..."
Emma waved her hand before I could even finish my answer. With a whoosh, the seven stars embedded in the center of the sky were magnified.
"Excluding the sun and the moon, these seven stars hold the strongest power. They are the stars that symbolize Delphirem, the first traitor to humanity, and the seven sins he committed."
Delphirem. I froze upon hearing that name.
In the dream I had that night, the man had told me.
'Delphirem is coming.' But wasn't that just a story from mythology?
"You know it too, right? That the concept of death didn't exist for the first humans. But Delphirem sacrificed seven offerings to the Evil God, and thus sin was born, and from that, death was created."
"...And?"
My voice had turned stiff without me realizing it. But Emma, lost in her thoughts, didn't seem to notice my state as she held her chin and laid out her hypothesis.
"They are stars with enough power to twist the heavenly principles... With that power, it wouldn't be impossible to regress through time. After all, it was an event that birthed a concept that didn't exist in the Heavenly God's plan."
I, who had been frozen in a half-standing position, slumped back into my chair.
A foreboding feeling washed over me. That vivid dream from that night. And the letter, which was far too elaborate to be dismissed as a mere prank.
I suddenly recalled one of the contents of that letter. Right, Emma's name had appeared in that letter too.
It said she would be attacked by a demonic beast and fall into a coma. I stood up abruptly, startled.
And just as I was about to leave some kind of warning for Emma.
"Of course, there's no way that would actually happen. Ahaha..."
At Emma's playful voice, I was left stunned, staring blankly at her.
Emma seemed to find my reaction unexpected and giggled, as if everything she had said up until now was just a joke.
"Were you surprised? But it's just a story about how it's theoretically possible. There have been many attempts to harness the power of those stars, but not a single one has ever succeeded."
"...I-is that so?"
Persuaded by Emma's confident tone, I let out a sigh of relief and sat back down.
Right, of course not. A letter from seven years in the future?
It seemed my mind had gone a bit strange after experiencing so many odd things lately. With a bitter smile, I shook my head.
Let's just put it out of my mind. The moment I made that decision, Emma's words reinforced it.
"Don't worry about it too much. I don't know where you heard such a thing, but it's probably just a wild rumor."
I let out a long breath and nodded. I had wasted mental energy on something pointless. I finally pushed myself up from the chair.
And as I was about to leave after saying goodbye, something bothered me, so I asked Emma.
"Emma, by the way, when are you going to the forest?"
"Hmm, I'm thinking of going once this evening... why?"
Should I tell her what was in the letter, or not?
I hesitated for a moment, but then I just left her with one sentence and a bitter smile.
"Just... be careful."
"Oh, you again... I told you not to worry. Oh, look at me! I almost forgot to mention this. I have a secret weapon."
With a cute "Ta-da!", Emma pulled out a small potion bottle. It was a potion with a grayish tint.
"It's a Scent-Concealing Potion. I succeeded in making it not too long ago. Once I start mass-producing this, it'll help prevent hunters and herbalists from dying quite a bit."
Emma insisted on pressing a bottle into my hand, telling me to try it out. Her face was full of pride, like an alchemist boasting about her research results.
Since her father was an herbalist, this potion likely represented her long-held dream.
Even when I told her to use it herself when she went to the forest today instead of giving it to me, she was stubborn. She said the smell of the materials she was gathering today was so strong that it wouldn't matter anyway.
And so, Emma saw me off with her usual gentle smile. And then.
The next day, Emma was found collapsed in the forest.
She had been attacked by an unidentified demonic beast, and her intestines were spilling from her stomach.