Please Save Shion
Is everyone okay!?
Shiina is acting strange.
Not that she's doing anything particularly odd compared to her usual self. It's just that whenever she tries to talk to me, she shows clear signs that something's wrong.
"Miss Shiina, do you have a moment....."
"I'm sorry. I'm not in the mood to talk right now."
Even when I try to strike up a conversation, she walks right past me.
For a second I wondered if she was snubbing me, but if she were truly ignoring me, she wouldn't bother leaving behind a stock phrase like "I'm sorry. I'm not in the mood to talk right now."
Or is that just Shiina's personal brand of cold shoulder? Ugh. Since I can't even keep a conversation going, it's hard to figure out what the problem is in the first place.
"This is just great....."
"What's going on? Shiina, who normally fawns all over you, is reacting like that. Did you two fight or something?"
"Ah, Lady Charlotte. It's been a while."
"....It's only been two days."
Charlotte narrowed her eyes in exasperation.
"So, did you actually fight?"
"No. Lady Charlotte might, but there's no way I would ever get into a verbal spat with Miss Shiina."
"....You're going to keep talking like that, huh? I only came over because you looked pathetic, but should I start treating you coldly like Shiina too?"
"Ahaha, just kidding, Lady Charlotte. I only say these things because I know how generous you are."
When I laughed emptily and scratched my cheek, Charlotte clapped a hand to her forehead like she couldn't take it anymore.
"Anyway, so you didn't fight. Or did you push your pranks too far this time?"
"Miss Shiina does get sulky over my jokes pretty often.... but this time it's really not that. She was fine up until two days ago, then suddenly started reacting like this after she came back from her family estate yesterday....."
"Hmm.... It's definitely ambiguous. It's not like Shiina has any beef with your family either."
"Exactly. I try to ask her what's wrong, but she just avoids talking to me entirely.... It's utterly frustrating."
"Is that so...."
Charlotte fell silent for a moment, cupping her chin.
"Haah, no choice then. As the only comrade in the same boat, I'll have to put in a little effort for you."
"When you put it that way, I can't help but get my hopes up."
"Well, for all the grand talk, it's nothing special. I'll just go ask Shiina myself. If she's avoiding conversation with you, then having someone else ask should work."
"Hmm, simple, yet the most straightforward solution. As expected of Lady Charlotte—brilliant."
"Flattery won't get you anything. Anyway, there's a little time left before class starts, so I'll go now."
Charlotte waved casually at me and set off after Shiina.
Please, I prayed desperately, let Charlotte resolve this stifling situation.
Charlotte chased after Shiina and soon spotted the familiar blue hair, calling out to stop her.
"Miss Astorius, do you have a moment?"
".....Ah. Miss Cervantes. What is it?"
The moment Shiina noticed Charlotte, her expression twisted ever so slightly before she immediately smoothed it into a gentle smile.
Charlotte knew full well why Shiina harbored that faint hostility toward her.
It was probably the quiet jealousy that came from how close Charlotte had gotten to Shion.
What an innocent girl, so honest with her feelings.
"Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry? Enough to coldly brush off Shion, the one you like so much."
"I-I don't particularly like Shion or anything!"
At Charlotte's light jab, Shiina flushed and protested.
"Hmm? I only meant it in the sense of friends. Aren't you and Shion the closest of anyone?"
".....Please stop with the jokes. What business brought you to me?"
Shiina grumbled as she asked Charlotte.
"Did you fight with Shion?"
"No. I have never once had a falling-out with Shion."
"Then why have you been so coldly avoiding him today? If you didn't fight, there has to be some reason."
As Charlotte kept pressing, Shiina's expression grew darker and darker.
At first Charlotte assumed the girl was simply reluctant to talk because she disliked her.
But then Shiina's eyes reddened and tears began to spill, and Charlotte finally realized something was seriously wrong.
"W-What's wrong, Astorius? Don't cry. Okay?"
Panicked, Charlotte patted Shiina's back.
....I've never even seen Shiina like this in the novel.
Shiina was a girl who always pursued an upright, proper image.
Not once throughout the story had she ever shed tears....
Something's wrong.
Sensing the wrongness, Charlotte swallowed hard and asked carefully.
"There. Calm down, Astorius. Breathe in slowly, then out."
"......."
"You have to tell me what's going on so I can help. I don't want to see you suffering."
Shiina wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve.
"....Miss Cervantes, you really are a mysterious person."
"Hm?"
Why was her name suddenly coming up? Charlotte tilted her head and listened closely.
"You not only easily surpassed me—someone who had no rivals at Mikhail Academy—but even when I openly act rude toward you, Miss Cervantes, you always speak to me kindly."
"Ahaha, hearing sudden praise like that...."
Charlotte offered an awkward smile at the unexpected compliment, but her expression hardened the moment she heard what Shiina said next.
"Miss Cervantes is almost..... perfect, like a character who stepped straight out of a novel."
At the mention of a "novel," a chill ran down Charlotte's spine.
"Miss Cervantes..... it feels like you can do anything...."
But watching Shiina begin to sob again only made Charlotte's worry for her grow.
"So..... so...."
Shiina choked out the burning words through her tears.
"Please, save Shion....!"
"W-Wait, what did you just say?"
Save who? Shion? From what?
Charlotte's mind flooded with pure chaos.
First she focused on getting Shiina to stop crying.
In this state, she wouldn't be able to get any proper information out of her.
Thanks to Charlotte's efforts, it wasn't long before Shiina's tears subsided.
"Slowly, and in detail. There's no one around right now, so go ahead."
Charlotte gripped Shiina's shoulders as she spoke.
"Shion..... is suffering from a disease."
"Shion is sick? I've never heard anything about that."
Charlotte's face went rigid as she asked again.
"Shion himself doesn't even know he's sick."
"If even Shion doesn't know whether he has a disease or not, how do you know?"
"Miss Cervantes, have you heard of a disease called Mana Storage Deficiency?"
"No, first time."
Shiina's fists trembled as she spoke.
"I only learned about it myself yesterday while reading a book. It's a disease that occurs when something goes wrong with the mana core, and there are two symptoms. The first is that no matter how hard the patient tries, they can never break past their current rank."
"Wait, that....."
A dizzying thought raced through Charlotte's mind.
She had always wondered. Shion never slacked off in training, so why did he remain stuck at 1-Star?
If what Shiina said was true and he really suffered from Mana Storage Deficiency.... then the question that had nagged at Charlotte all this time would be cleanly resolved.
Shion has Mana Storage Deficiency.
Then why had Shiina begged her to save him?
"....And the second symptom?"
Charlotte asked carefully.
Her heart hammered wildly.
Please, she prayed desperately, let it not be the ending she was imagining as she waited for Shiina's answer.
"The second symptom is..... that the patient dies before reaching the age of twenty."
".......!"
Charlotte let out a silent scream.
In the novel, Shion had always seemed listless and depressed.
....No matter how hard he tried. Because he already knew he was fated to die.
That was why the novel's Shion had lived without any drive.
The fact that Shion had Mana Storage Deficiency was never mentioned even once in the novel.
Which meant that the guy currently possessing Shion almost certainly didn't know either.
And without knowing that, that idiot was always training like he was trying to kill himself....
"A cure—is there a cure?"
Charlotte asked urgently, but Shiina only shook her head.
"Unfortunately, no treatment capable of curing Mana Storage Deficiency has ever existed."
Shion is going to die?
Her only understanding companion was in danger of losing his life.
But what could she—who became endlessly weak without the knowledge from the novel—possibly do for him?
Was she just supposed to stand by and let him leave, unable to do anything?
The world before Charlotte's eyes went dark.
Charlotte returned after finishing her talk with Shiina.
And yet.
".....Sorry. I'm not in the mood to talk right now."
The kid came back infected.
Seriously, what the hell is this?