Chapter 340
Chapter 340
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 340
>Chapter Title: Me Too
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Chenbi submitted his employment application to the academy.
Before leaving, they even held a farewell party.
He thought they’d already said everything that needed saying back when they buried the time capsule, but the four of them still laughed and chatted through the night at the send-off.
Repeating the same words over and over.
Most of it was redundant, but no one grew bored.
“Take care, and stay in touch.”
The three who’d pulled an all-nighter waved as they watched Chenbi’s back disappearing into the warp gate.
……Time flew by.
The snow melted.
Fresh snow piled up over the melted slush.
Just like Chenbi had done, some left the academy, while others prepared to depart.
Few students hoped to advance to the intermediate class.
By the time a month or so had passed after finals, the dorms had quite a few vacancies.
No, actually, there weren’t that many empty rooms.
But they felt numerous all the same—probably because of the emptiness.
Even amid that chaotic atmosphere, time raced on.
The academy, somehow quieter now.
It regained its vibrancy only when no more vacancies appeared.
……Graduation day was approaching.
* * *
While the first- and second-year grounds lay silent in vacation hush, an unexpected crowd gathered at the third-year grounds.
A procession for the graduation ceremony.
At the end of that line stood the grand auditorium.
“……He probably won’t come, right?”
Evelyn, draped in her graduation gown, kept glancing at the entrance as she asked.
Aster’s reply was even.
“Probably not. He said he’s busy with some training program or whatever.”
“It’s too bad Chenbi couldn’t make it.”
Her voice dripped with regret.
Aster quietly took in the sight of her.
“What? Why’re you staring?”
“No, just… it’s fascinating.”
“Fascinating? What is?”
“Nothing.”
“……?”
Evelyn tilted her head in confusion, and even that gesture struck Aster as novel.
Think back to when they first met.
‘Back then, she was really…….’
Evelyn had been the epitome of a ruthless merchant.
Any shred of humanity?
Barely there.
The kind of person who’d sell a friend of ten years without hesitation if the price was right.
Trust in others? Practically nonexistent.
Yet here she was, lamenting the absence of a ‘friend.’
A monumental leap forward.
Honestly, this change in Evelyn wasn’t all that surprising to him.
Unlike others, Aster had watched her transform up close.
Still, only noticing it now, today of all days…… Well, maybe he’d grown sentimental himself.
“…….”
As Aster gazed at Evelyn, he lifted his eyes to the stage, where graduation preparations bustled.
No, more precisely, he took in the space itself.
……Graduation.
The academy’s end.
Finals felt like yesterday…… No, enrollment did, and now here he was at the finish line.
How could he stay detached?
Aster stood still, absorbing the scene.
And thought.
‘Maybe…….’
It wasn’t just Evelyn who’d changed.
Getting sentimental at an academy graduation he’d once dismissed, feeling this…… regret.
No, looking closer, it wasn’t just him and Evelyn.
Everyone here was different from three years ago.
‘……Three years.’
That’s when Aster’s thoughts were interrupted.
“Friend.”
Damian, back from meeting the Blandoga Family folks, called out to him softly.
Then asked.
“How was it?”
What was “it”?
Aster tilted his head quizzically, and Damian clarified.
“The academy.”
“…….”
“It was fun for me.”
Aster looked at him with fresh eyes. He recalled the day they first met.
Still innocently cheerful and bright-eyed…… but Damian’s gaze had deepened, much like his sudden growth spurt.
Aster met that gaze and curved his lips into a smile.
“Fun, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.”
Damian grinned.
“Then I’m glad.”
Damian smiled as purely as the day they met. Then he glanced up at the sky.
“Chenbi must be happy too, right?”
“……?”
“I hope he’s at peace there.”
“…….”
……Maybe Damian hadn’t changed at all.
A short while later.
[Attention, students and esteemed guests in the auditorium.]
The graduation ceremony began.
* * *
The opening was dull.
With announcements like ‘We now commence the Jenion Academy Basic Class Graduation Ceremony,’ the emcee droned on about the academy’s history.
The profound meaning behind the founding principal’s establishment of the academy, and Jenion’s place in history.
Content every student had heard dozens of times, recited without a single abbreviation.
Yet the students in the grand hall listened attentively, without a hint of boredom.
Why wouldn’t they?
History.
As of today, they were part of that long tapestry.
Meanwhile, Aster let it flow in one ear and out the other, quietly taking in the space.
‘History…….’
No stirring emotion touched him.
Even inheriting the great sage’s teachings, even sharing roots with nation-saving heroes.
No real thrill.
Why?
He already knew the reason.
Jenion Academy.
This place had become special to him, but not because of its historical weight.
Rather……
“…….”
Aster turned to Damian beside him.
Then to Evelyn farther ahead, and even Bellrose beyond her.
After scanning the three, he looked to Principal Schubertz on stage, Professors Parun and Pelina, and finally pictured the absent library chief, Teheman.
Yes, ‘Jenion Academy,’ these three years—they’d become special because of the people.
Because of the time tangled in deep and shallow bonds.
And because he knew.
Who had sacrificed what to give him this time.
That’s why it mattered.
Every connection made here, every moment, and all the days ahead carrying those bonds and times.
……A sudden thought struck him.
‘What if.’
What if he’d quit Jenion midway? Or refused the Blandoga enrollment offer? Or, going further back, never met Damian.
Or never met Principal-senpai, Muspellun-senpai, never ventured to the Second Black-White Slums.
If he hadn’t taken Chenbi’s hand when he approached, hadn’t helped Evelyn.
What then?
……If, if, if.
If none of it happened, if he’d never met Damian and just scraped by in the Seventh Black-White Slums before leaving for the world.
What then?
……Perhaps.
“…….”
Aster’s focus sharpened. On stage, Principal Schubertz had taken his seat. He wore his usual benevolent principal mask, delivering a tedious speech.
For a moment, Schubertz’s gaze met Aster’s, then slid away.
Aster thought, watching him.
……Perhaps he’d never have seen that bastard senior again. Or even if he had, not like this.
His gaze moved to Parun, to Pelina, sweeping over everyone he’d connected with at the academy.
None of these bonds would be the same. He might not have formed them at all.
If so.
Aster clenched his fist tightly, then opened it. He glanced down at his hand.
Without these connections, would this version of him exist?
He pondered.
And answered.
‘……No.’
He wouldn’t.
Reflecting deeply, he’d received far too much.
Hard to pinpoint ‘what’ exactly—
‘……Tch, nah.’
Truth be told, most were transactions.
‘Except Muspellun-senpai.’
Even on a sentimental day, a miss was a miss—Aster shook his head.
But he wasn’t ungrateful.
Why?
‘……Why?’
Aster mulled it over.
Why grateful?
The answer wasn’t hard—
‘……It is.’
Honestly now.
Hadn’t he given more than received?
He’d saved every student here, sparing professors from unemployment. Principal-senpai too.
And recently, thwarting the Second Prince’s schemes—saving them twice.
‘With Principal-senpai…….’
Hamern Great Forest hell counted as a bargain.
‘Parun?’
Contract from the start.
‘Professor Pelina?’
No need to say.
Faces of others flitted by, but no matter how he sliced it, given outweighed received.
Except Muspellun-senpai and Teheman-senpai.
And…… anything else?
‘Nope?’
So, correction.
‘Not super grateful.’
But……
Why?
“Well, it wasn’t bad.”
Aster’s murmur drowned in Principal Schubertz’s voice. But the smile on his lips was clear.
And so.
[……With that, the graduation ceremony concludes.]
Life at Jenion Academy drew to a close.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that moment.
Decullan main estate.
Light flickered in the dim training room.
Crackle, snap—
Once, twice, three times…… A magic that bloomed and faded like a strobe.
Salrie closed his eyes, sharpening his senses.
‘Steady. Steady. Steady…….’
The first cast must match the second exactly. The third must match the prior two.
Seemed simple at a glance.
It was, in practice.
No need for genius—even a modestly talented mage could manage without much trouble.
Yet Salrie poured his full focus into this simple task.
As if mastering a secret technique lost to time.
Foolish.
Useless.
The spell Salrie cast was mere basic magic, and basics remained basics no matter the mastery.
If seen, someone might tsk at his stupidity, mock his talent.
But Salrie persisted.
As if it were the world’s greatest secret art.
How much time passed?
“Young Patriarch, the Patriarch summons you.”
Salrie halted the spell, narrowing his eyes.
‘Father……?’
Realization paled his face. Breath quickened, heart pounded.
Overwhelming dread.
Like a mouse facing a snake.
Frozen there.
“Young Patriarch, the Patriarch summons you.”
The dry voice repeated.
“…….”
Salrie steadied his breath.
No escaping.
He steeled himself and left the training room, following the impassive attendant to the Patriarch’s chambers.
……When the meeting ended.
“…….”
Salrie stared blankly out the window. He didn’t recall returning to his bedroom, or how. Not that it mattered.
Soul adrift, he gazed outside, then down at his hands.
Trembling fingers.
What words could provoke this?
Simple.
- I have a task for you. Succeed, and I might see you again.
‘See you again’—those words set Salrie’s heart racing. He craved his father’s affection too.
The task?
- There’s a fragment of a grimoire.
Find it.