How Truly Fortunate
How fortunate. How truly fortunate!
"Look at this, Kyle. It's a method for overlaying even greater power onto existing shamanism!"
"Is that so? Sounds good?"
"It's incredible! Layering one shamanic formula over another is supposed to be ridiculously difficult!"
"Ah. I get what you mean. Congratulations, Tisha."
"It's all thanks to you, Kyle! How on earth did you even find a book like this?!"
Remembering the locations of fateful opportunities was essential knowledge. You always had to prepare for regression, after all.
Muttering that to himself, Kyle simply answered that he had gotten lucky.
He had been searching for anything that might help Tisha and just happened to stumble across it.
Honestly, "luck" was nowhere near enough of an explanation. Even Tisha, who was an expert in shamanism, had been desperately searching for this kind of material. That meant the book was quite important—yet not a single person at the Academy had known about it.
It was to the point where one could only conclude that some transcendent being had arranged the opportunity in advance.
I was honestly worried she'd look at me deadpan and ask if that story even made sense.
Fortunately, Tisha was far too absorbed in examining the book to care.
Only moments ago she had been completely dejected, shoulders slumped. Now her eyes—no, her entire body—were burning with academic passion as if none of that had ever happened.
"Tisha."
"Prepare the following materials and form the array…"
"Tisha!"
Only when he raised his voice a little did she finally lift her head.
Her eyes were full of the silent question: What? Why did you call me? If it's not important can I go back to the book?
"No one knows about this place and no one ever comes here anyway. So calm down a bit."
"But…"
"I'm thinking of heading out soon. Are you going to stay here? Sending me off alone?"
That finally seemed to snap her back to reality; she shook her head hard, insisting that wasn't the case.
"Leave the book here for now and let's go. We've already been here a whole hour."
"…What? W-wait a second. An hour? Not ten minutes?!"
"An hour, yes. Thanks to that I got so bored I even dozed off."
That was a lie. In reality, while Tisha had been reading he had sat right beside her doing squats and push-ups. Even that hadn't felt like enough, so he had grabbed a thick book in place of a dumbbell and finished a full set of arm work.
Wherever you were, you had to make up for muscle loss. A quiet corner of the library was no exception.
Of course Tisha, who had been completely lost in the book, had no way of knowing any of that and was thoroughly flustered.
"I-I'm so sorry, Kyle! Y-you should have said something sooner! Once I fall into a book I can go for hours without eating or even noticing the world, just reading and reading!"
"I couldn't bring myself to interrupt. You looked like you were having too much fun."
"Ah…"
Tisha's face flushed crimson for a moment, but Kyle missed it entirely.
He had already turned away to return the book she had handed him to its proper shelf.
"Remember this spot carefully. Next time you'll have to come alone."
"Um, Kyle… this is something your brothers or sisters worked hard to discover, and you must have spent time looking for it yourself. Is it really okay to just tell someone else like this?"
"You're not 'someone else.' We got our recommendation letters together from the Margrave and came here together. What's the point of having friends if you can't do at least this much?"
"That's not what I meant…"
"Things should go to the people who need them. Anything related to shamanism belongs with you, Tisha."
So don't feel burdened. There was absolutely no need.
With those words Kyle started down the stairs first.
"Um, Kyle."
As they left the library, Tisha thought to herself.
Knowing Kyle's personality, now that their business was finished he would probably suggest they go their separate ways. But would it really be proper manners to simply send him off like that?
Considering everything he had done for her today, she absolutely could not let that happen.
That was the respectable justification.
On top of it, the feelings she had been nurturing while preparing earlier rose up again inside her.
Wouldn't it be all right now? Yes… I think it would be all right.
After he had given her such a precious gift, the least she could do was treat him to a nice meal.
Their previous get-together had felt somehow short and unsatisfying. She had even sworn that if another chance like this ever came she would not make the same mistake.
She just never expected the chance to arrive this quickly—but good things were good things.
"S-so, about dinner tonight… would you like to eat together?"
"Dinner? Uh, didn't we already eat together a few days ago?"
"W-well, yes, we did. But, um… I found a place I think you'd like."
If she looked carefully there had to be restaurants that served milder food. She had heard of places that used only a little salt so the natural flavor of the ingredients could shine. At a restaurant like that, Kyle wouldn't feel pressured—or so Tisha thought.
"Tonight, huh… tonight…"
It was a little awkward. He had been so busy with one thing after another that he hadn't even gotten a proper workout in today. He was thinking he needed to redesign his entire training routine to fit Academy life, and once he got back he planned to scrap everything he had been doing and build it from scratch.
What do I do…
His rational mind was screaming at him to accept the invitation already, while his body was screaming that if he went he wouldn't get any training done. He was stuck in a complete dilemma, unable to choose either path.
As Kyle's silence stretched on, Tisha's eyes grew anxious as well.
She had dressed up this prettily and even proposed dinner. If he still refused, it would be fair to take that as proof that his heart simply wasn't with her—especially when she even had the perfect justification of wanting to repay a favor!
What do I do? Ugh, this is tough…
What do I do? If he turns me down, what am I actually supposed to do?
While the two of them were busy agonizing for similar yet different reasons—
…
—a figure watching them from a distance finally started walking.
Hood pulled low, the figure came right up beside them and whispered in a small voice:
"What are you doing here, Brother?"
"What are you doing here, Brother?"
At that question Kyle reacted with a sharp snap.
That voice—he had definitely heard it just a few days ago. There was no mistake!
"Saintess?"
"Yes. It's me, Brother Kyle."
She lightly pushed back her hood, revealing hair of a soft silver-blue. Within it, mysterious silver eyes shone clearly.
"We meet again like this. It hasn't even been that many days, but… you've been well, I hope?"
"Thanks to the Saintess's prayers I've been doing wonderfully. But… did you come alone again?"
"I actually do have escorts, but every once in a while I want to walk around by myself. And this Academy is every bit as safe as the Imperial Capital, so there's nothing to worry about!"
As the Saintess said, the Academy was the safest place in the Empire after the Imperial Capital itself. Built on land under the direct jurisdiction of the Imperial Family, the Academy and the city surrounding it formed a single secure zone.
Which was exactly why the John Nassen Academy-half-destruction incident had been so shocking.
"Saintess…?"
At that moment Tisha murmured in a dazed tone, as if wondering what on earth was going on now.
"Ah. Saintess, this is Tisha. She may be a commoner, but she's the kind of person you could truly call a model student—someone who strives harder in everything than any noble."
"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sister Tisha."
When the Saintess held out her hand, Tisha reflexively took it.
Of course, her eyes were still screaming What is even happening right now?!
"Are you… really the Saintess?"
"If a fake claimed to be real, the Goddess would strike them down with divine punishment. Like this—kwa-kwa-kwang!"
She spread her arms wide as if trying to express something grand, though it didn't quite land.
"I heard the chapel was finished, but I never expected you to arrive this quickly."
The idea of a Saintess taking up residence in a mere chapel would normally be waved off as absurd. But this was the Imperial Academy—the second most important place after the Imperial Capital. It was the educational ground where the children of every noble house and every talented commoner gathered, the future core of the Empire. Naturally the Holy Order wanted to establish ties early.
If the Order failed to link itself with power, even the Church would find the burden too great. So they reached a conclusion: dispatch the Saintess and focus on expanding the Order's influence!
"This is the place where all the Empire's talents gather, after all. I felt it was my duty to help bring their hearts greater peace and light."
Of course the Saintess herself simply wanted to do what a member of the Order ought to do, free of worldly motives. Still, with interests aligning this way, the chapel had become her new base.
"You seem to have taken a real interest in the Academy."
"Heheh! You caught me, Sister Tisha! Honestly I just couldn't wait any longer, so I hurried here!"
She even threw in a cute little "Tada!" while flapping both arms adorably. The sight made not only Kyle but even Tisha lift the corners of their mouths.
"By the way, Sister Tisha. Just a moment ago it looked like you and Brother Kyle were talking about something, but your expression didn't seem very bright. Is something the matter?"
"Huh? Ah, well, that's…"
Tisha snuck a glance at Kyle. Should she say it or not?
After a brief hesitation she squeezed her eyes shut and explained the situation just now: how she had received enormous help, how Kyle was always the one giving, and how she desperately wanted to repay him—yet he still hadn't given her an answer.
"Mmm!"
The Saintess nodded vigorously as if she understood perfectly. Then she suddenly turned to Kyle and crossed her arms.
"You must not do that, Brother!"
"Pardon?"
"Unless you intend to leave a debt of the heart unpaid, you should accept Sister Tisha's dinner invitation!"
"Well, Saintess, I…"
"I understand that it feels sudden, Brother. But this is not the way. If the answer is no, then refuse cleanly. Leaving room for hope is one of the most painful things you can do. The one who knows your own heart best is you, so the decision must also be yours."
At the Saintess's words Kyle looked at Tisha.
She was watching him with thoroughly nervous eyes.
In the beginning he had simply paid attention to her because she was one of the main characters. After that he had looked after her because he felt sorry for how much stress Ian caused her. And after that… after that… well. Why had he never put any distance between them?
"Tisha."
"Y-yes, Kyle."
"Let's go. The two of us."
"Really?!"
As for the reason… he would have to figure that out slowly, little by little, from now on.