Chapter 337
Chapter 337
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 337
>Chapter Title: One Step Closer Again
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Farewell.
It was a predetermined flow.
Just as flowers bloom in spring and summer arrives when those flowers fade. As autumn follows when the heat subsides, and winter comes when the chill sets in.
Farewell naturally follows meeting.
Aster knew this better than anyone.
* * *
Early dawn.
Aster walked across the snow-covered academy grounds.
The snow that had begun falling around the end of finals showed no sign of stopping even after several days, piling up so thick it was hard to walk through.
And atop that snow, Aster walked.
One step, one step.
No footprints were left behind.
His strides were unimpeded, as if treading solid ground.
The steps that seemed like they would never stop came to a halt soon enough.
“…….”
An open clearing whipped by snowflakes.
Aster stood blankly, taking in the sight ahead.
In the clearing where snow had piled up to his waist, a single boy had already taken his place.
Cold, perhaps? A bright red nose. The boy, ears covered, rubbed his hands together repeatedly as if they were numb, but Aster's gaze remained fixed on him.
How long did he gaze at the boy in silence?
The boy, spotting Aster, gave an awkward smile.
“You're here?”
Up to this point, it was the same as always.
The boy who rarely smiled... even Sallie smiling. But the silence that followed was a little different from usual.
Sallie smiled awkwardly as he looked at Aster, and Aster pushed through the snowflakes to meet his gaze.
Sallie's eyes wavered.
What emotion lay within them?
......Fear.
Or anxiety.
As Aster gauged that emotion, Sallie's lips twitched.
“The family......”
“......”
“......The family sent word.”
The awkward smile soon turned bitter. Aster watched the change with impassive eyes.
“They told me to come back immediately.”
“......”
“There’s no reason to stay at Jenion Academy anymore. They’re sending an escort this afternoon with orders to return.”
......Orders.
From that word, Aster knew Pahren had summoned Sallie. Who else could issue a “command” to the Young Patriarch? Even if it was a nominal title.
“The graduation ceremony?”
“I’ll receive the diploma through a proxy. ......Probably.”
Aster had asked about the ceremony, but Sallie spoke of the diploma. Meaning he couldn’t attend the ceremony.
It wasn’t an uncommon case.
Some students took jobs before graduation due to personal circumstances.
“So today’s the last day?”
“......Yes.”
“I see.”
A calm reply. Sallie’s smile grew even more bitter.
He hadn’t expected the masked man to show regret, but neither had he anticipated such composure.
Still, such emotions were quite familiar to Sallie.
That must have been why.
He could offer his farewell while feigning composure.
“Thank you for everything, Master...... no, Teacher.”
Amid the swirling snow, Sallie bowed politely. Neither excessive nor stiff.
His low voice settled into the silence.
“It was the first time.”
Sallie recalled the day they first met.
- Hey.
- ......?
A carefree voice.
- Wh......o?
- Doesn’t matter who I am. You got troubles?
- ......Pardon?
- Don’t you ever feel like chopping off some brat’s hand, or snapping a leg, like that? When you see some punk with an attitude, don’t you wanna cut their throat?
He’d thought the guy was insane.
- Tsk, so this is how that bastard grew up?
Incomprehensible words, and that deranged threat about smashing his head unless he confessed......
He remembered it clearly.
- If you’ve got ‘em, spill. I’ll smash their heads for ya.
Fists twitching with excitement.
He hadn’t imagined it back then.
- If you swear your heart won’t change, I’ll teach you until you graduate the academy.
That madman......
- I can’t do anything about your dull talent, but I’ll help you carve your own path, step by step. It’ll be slower than anyone else, but at least your efforts will bear fruit.
The intruder who’d looked at him with eyes full of loathing......
- Believe it.
- Is there...... potential?
- As long as you don’t change.
Would reach out a hand to him.
No one had ever said “you can do it.”
Not a single soul in his family.
So...... it was the first time.
The only one who’d looked into his eyes and said “you can” without a hint of hesitation.
Was the masked man before him.
That’s why.
“Thank you......”
Sallie couldn’t say anything more.
A faint silence descended after that.
But it wasn’t quiet.
The howling wind and fierce snowflakes filled the stillness.
In that unrestful white silence, Aster silently regarded the small Decullan bowing before him.
Was it the cold weather?
For some reason, a corner of his heart felt numb.
Not because of Sallie.
He simply knew.
That this prepared farewell wasn’t the end.
But Aster shook off the thought and looked at the small Decullan before him as he was.
No matter what farewells lay ahead, the immediate one was what mattered now.
What should he say to this small Decullan?
Aster didn’t know that himself.
But he didn’t dwell on it deeply.
He simply murmured the one line from his heart.
“Live well. Don’t break.”
“......Yes.”
“And remember this. The only one who can break you is yourself. If you endure without breaking...... you’ll surely rise.”
......Even if it takes an eternity.
Aster truly believed it.
That Sallie could reach the horizon he desired.
“Thank you......”
Though the snow swirled fiercely, the disappointment that had settled in Sallie’s heart melted away like spring snow.
......This was the first farewell Aster faced.
* * *
That afternoon.
Sallie left the academy with the escorts from Decullan.
As he passed through the main gate, memories of his first arrival at Jenion flooded his mind.
He had been afraid then.
He knew full well.
Why he had to come to Jenion Academy, and what political use he served.
He was a hostage.
A scapegoat to bear the fury of those enraged by the Trial of the Crown incident, a guarantee of safety.
But.
“......”
Sallie walked to where the carriage waited, then stopped in the middle of the main road and took in the academy.
......At least for Sallie, Jenion Academy had been a thorny path.
But the reason his feet wouldn’t move now was something else.
- Live well. Don’t break.
- And remember this. The only one who can break you is yourself. If you endure without breaking...... you’ll surely rise.
Because he had this one piece of memory to take with him.
Sallie gazed at the gate for a long while before turning at the escort’s urging: “Young Patriarch, shall we go?”
‘See you again.’
......Teacher.
A word Sallie could never bring himself to say aloud.
Perhaps one he could never utter in his lifetime.
* * *
A week later.
The snow stopped.
Even after Sallie left, Aster’s daily life didn’t change much.
He’d wake and deploy his breathing technique, turning Sallie’s lesson time into personal training.
Then grab a simple breakfast and head to class.
The post-exam classroom was chaotic.
Professors would have reined it in before, but with graduation looming, they tolerated a certain looseness.
Yet amid that, Damian, Chenbi, Evelyn, and himself gathering like this was rare.
Damian threw himself into training as if he’d become a different person over break.
Aside from class time, he holed up in the personal training room, never showing his face.
They only crossed paths at lunch.
Evelyn was just as busy.
Something to handle, perhaps.
After finals, she stopped coming to class altogether.
He’d heard she’d borrowed a small office in Hazen.
He’d told her to seek him out for urgent matters, but Aster saw no reason to seek her.
Everyone steadily pursuing their paths, Chenbi was the busiest.
‘......Recommended for a research institute?’
While job-hunting, someone had offered Chenbi a letter of recommendation.
The recommender was Tohoman, a member of the Nine Star from the Blandoga Family.
Having taken a liking to Chenbi, he’d written a letter for the institute he’d once been part of—not as Blandoga, but personally.
Faced with an unmissable opportunity, Chenbi whipped himself into gear again.
He rewrote an experimental paper to fit the institute’s recent research, filled out his intro items.
And finally, today.
“......Interview day, right?”
In a corner of the cafeteria.
Damian nodded at Evelyn, who’d visited the academy for the first time in a while.
“Yeah.”
“And results come out today?”
“That’s what I heard.”
At Damian’s calm reply, Evelyn grabbed her shoulders and shivered.
“Eek, you must be nervous.”
Evelyn didn’t tense for things like this, but even she couldn’t help it this time.
How could she not?
......The Valpucart Institute.
One of the top three research institutes on the Eastern Continent.
And Chenbi had ditched all other interviews to go all-in on this one.
So, the result of three years hung on this single interview.
That’s why Aster, Damian, and Evelyn had gathered after so long.
Today was more important to Chenbi than any other.
To share joy if it went well, or ease sorrow if not.
That’s why.
“When’ll he show...... When’s he coming?”
Evelyn anxiously eyed the cafeteria entrance, while Damian pressed his lips tight, tense.
Only Aster remained unperturbed, watching them with relatively calm eyes.
‘......Not bad.’
He wasn’t without worry for Chenbi, but this scene felt fresh.
Gathering like this amid everyone’s busyness, to share joy or console sorrow.
This peaceful sight felt unfamiliar because such days were numbered.
Thus, Aster etched the moment into his mind.
The temperature of the day, the humidity in the air, the faint coffee aroma lingering in the cafeteria.
How much time passed like that?
“Huh? It’s snowing.”
At Damian’s words, their gazes turned to the window.
Snowflakes falling one by one.
“It really is.”
Despite the tiresome snow of recent days, Evelyn’s eyes sparkled as if seeing it for the first time.
Aster watched the snowflakes too.
“Guys.”
“......?”
They all turned at once. There stood Chenbi.
His height had shot up over the second semester.
Dressed in a suit tailored for the interview, a gentle smile played on his lips.
Thus, Chenbi spoke with a smiling face.
Or tried to.
“I......”
“You passed?!”
“Party! We need a party, right?!”
Chenbi smiled faintly at Evelyn and Damian cutting in.
“Yeah, I passed.”
At those words, Evelyn turned into a wyvern. Her cry drew every eye in the cafeteria.
But no one at the table minded.
They simply.
“Party! It’s party time today!”
“Good work.”
Celebrated Chenbi from the heart.
......But not all news was good.
“But they want me starting next month.”
Evelyn mentally counted the days. Then reverted from wyvern to human.
“Next month means......”
“Probably won’t make graduation together.”
One step closer again.
Farewell approached.