A Reunion That Isn't Entirely Joyful (2)
You see them from time to time in life. Parents in places like cafes, laughing and chatting, creating a warm, harmonious atmosphere. But you soon realize that their smiling exteriors are merely masks, and in reality, they are engaged in their own private wars, more intense and vicious than any battlefield. The topic of their discussion is always the same: whose child is more successful.
Once one person starts the engine, the others, as if refusing to lose, begin to bark out their children's careers. "My son discovered a new spell formula while researching ice magic, and the Blue Tower Master sent him a letter of invitation.""My daughter took first place in the entire school at the Cracia Academy in the north.""My son happened to catch the eye of a Count's daughter and they just got engaged."
All sorts of stories spill from their lips, but despite their desperate obsession with bragging about their children's careers, there exists a magic word that can instantly terminate this discussion. The Solaris Empire’s most prestigious educational institution: Lumeris Academy.
If someone mentions that their son or daughter has become a freshman at Lumeris Academy, the gathering is immediately disbanded without further ado. The person who earned everyone's envy is never invited to the meeting again from that day on. It is the ultimate elite institution where merely being admitted makes you your parents' greatest pride, and graduating safely guarantees a glittering future. To students of such a Lumeris Academy, a D-rank goblin dungeon was nothing more than light pocket money.
That is, unless a Majin, a higher species of monster, appeared.
"Awoooooooo!!"
An A-rank Majin, the higher species of werewolf: the S-rank MajinBeastman. A quadrupedal race, they are covered in fur everywhere except for their faces. They use sharp teeth and claws as their main weapons and only appear on nights when the moonlight is clear. Furthermore, they are perpetually hostile toward humans.
On a night when the crescent moon boasted clear moonlight, he fought, risking his life for me, who had exhausted all my holy power. In that desperate situation where I couldn't move a single step, my flesh torn in several places by sharp teeth and my entire body drenched in blood, he fought not a 'fight to win,' but a 'fight to protect' until the very end.
— Why, why on earth are you going that far?
In that urgent situation where our lives were threatened, to my question filled with resentment, shouted as if scolding him, he replied calmly, as if it were nothing.
— I'm not sure myself.
So much time has passed that the memory has faded, and I have recalled the memories of that day countless times to keep from forgetting. Is that why? Now, I think I know. The reason the man who protected me that day could maintain his composure even when his life was in danger.
He wasn't calm; he was acting calm. For the sake of me, who was terrified because I couldn't see. To ease the tension, even just a little.
I had bothered him a lot over the inspection of the church. I was convinced he was a cult leader scamming followers for financial gain, and I always treated him with hostility and suspicion. However, after receiving his help, I sometimes started to think: He is a kinder and more considerate man than I thought. So, I should treat him a little better.
Having had my life saved once, I felt confident that if he even restored my sight, I would be willing to give him my body and soul. Though such a thing would never happen, even if I died and came back to life.
Of course, that would be under the premise that this man would accept me. But the man who brought the panacea was not him. Yuren Stardust. The eldest son of the Stardust Duchy and the top graduate of Lumeris Academy. It was a bit disappointing, but as long as I could regain my sight, it didn't matter. Therefore, I decided to let go of all my feelings for him and follow only one man. The prince on a white horse who made it possible for me to see the world again. That was the reason I loved Yuren, and the reason I had completely forgotten a man named Mate Daylight until I knew the truth.
It was an hour ago that Shirai arrived at the guild branch. Muse Fairfield's eyes and ears exist everywhere in the academy. As soon as Muse heard from her subordinate that the two had separated, she moved as if she had been waiting.
— Long time no see, Shirai.
And, the contact was successful. Muse revealed to Shirai that she hadn't forgotten her memories and brought her to the guild branch under the pretext of having a conversation. It was a connection that had lasted for quite a long time. There was sufficient justification for talking and enough mutual trust. Therefore, once she made contact with Shirai, bringing her to the guild branch was easier than eating rice cake while lying down.
Muse, having brought Shirai to the guild branch, left her with a subordinate and returned to the academy to scrape together the rest of the members. Sia Stella, Judith Moondust, and Mate Daylight. And when she returned to the branch and entered the office with these three, she gave the order to bring Shirai to the office.
— However, do not let her inside. You understand what I mean, right?
— Are you saying I should induce her to eavesdrop on the conversation from behind the door?
At the subordinate's words, who seemed to understand her intentions perfectly, Muse nodded, feeling proud. They could only be employees of the Frey Merchant Guild because they were competent. Muse never keeps incompetent people by her side. The subordinates carried out the mission faithfully as Muse had ordered, and as a result, everything was realized exactly as Muse had planned.
"You... remembered everything?"
Shirai wears an expression as if she cannot believe it, but reality is cruel. Having Shirai realize for herself that Mate's memories are intact—that was the biggest goal of Muse, who planned this meeting. Shirai staggers as if she is about to lose her balance and fall, but Muse's competent subordinate never lets a distinguished guest collapse. Shirai safely arrives at the sofa, supported by the employee's frantic assistance. However, she remains as sickly as a plant wilting from a lack of water.
Mate and Shirai, the two who had been together ever since entering the academy, do not speak; only silence flows between them. Muse Fairfield, who planned all of this. Only she was smiling quietly, savoring victory in an atmosphere that felt cold enough to freeze the body.
"The whole team has finally gathered."
Muse's subordinate left the office. Sia, who had been about to leave the office, also sighed and returned to her seat upon seeing Shirai, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation. Shirai still wears an expression as if she is in shock. Silence from everyone except Muse. Once again, without exception, Muse opened the floor for a new conversation.
"It's a shame, but Yuren seems to have completely forgotten his memories. I had an employee monitor him, but there were no suspicious signs."
Muse sends a sidelong glance to Judith, who is sitting with her legs crossed and arms folded under her chest, as if saying, 'That's a good thing, isn't it?'
"That means you put surveillance on us, too?"
Muse nodded coolly without denying it. It looks as if she had no intention of denying it from the start.
"This is a meeting for people who know that time has been turned back. That is, only those who haven't forgotten their memories from before the regression. In matters of such importance, you need certainty upon certainty upon certainty."
The number of people Muse judged to have not forgotten their memories, with her hundreds of eyes and ears, is five in total. Everyone here, including me, shares a common keyword: 'Those who were Yuren Stardust's companions.' Now that everyone has confirmed with their own eyes that the others haven't forgotten their memories, they must have vaguely guessed by now.
"Isn't it strange, even to you, that not only was time turned back overnight, but only we kept our memories?"
"That time being turned back has something to do with us?"
"It's not just related. What I want to say is, um. So~."
Muse sends a strange look as if saying that. Along with a sly, fox-like smile that is as cunning as ever. "...What if the person who turned back time is among us?"
"Did you take your meds? You should say things that make sense by common standards."
"Judith, I am speaking seriously. Now that time has already been turned back, I cannot rule out the possibility of the question I've raised."
Muse Fairfield, the official genius of Dating in the Academy. I knew she was cunning and capable enough to have nearly succeeded in a revolution at the imperial level. However, she only nearly succeeded, and since I had successfully stopped the revolution in the previous timeline, I might have been a little careless. I admit it. I had been underestimating Muse's brilliance until now.
"I know what you're saying, I do. But it makes no sense that there's someone with such superhuman power."
"What about Sia Stella's resurrection ability right in front of you? Isn't that a superhuman power?"
"Is just resurrecting the same as turning back time? You should compare things that are actually comparable, starting with the weight of the words."
Judith uncrossed her arms, sighed, and said, "No, the very fact that you brought that up means there must be someone you suspect."
"I can't deny it."
"So who is it? The person you suspect."
"At first, I thought it was Yuren. I thought he was pretending to have lost his memories to feign ignorance after turning back time."
Muse scans the four people other than herself with her eyes. As always, with a snake-like gaze, as if trying to pierce through others' psychology. After finishing the left-and-right reciprocating motion of her pupils, Muse laughed with a nasal 'Heh,' and said while twirling the ends of her hair with her fingers, "As expected, I don't really know."
"What?"
"We're comrades who have shared life and death, aren't we? I'm more concerned about each other's feelings than who turned back time."
Muse's gaze naturally shifts to Shirai. "Are you okay?"
"..."
"You've been mistaken for quite a long time, haven't you? About the person who made the panacea."
Judith opened her eyes wide and said, "Mistaken? Yuren made that. That's why Shirai started liking Yuren, too."
"The person who made the panacea is not Yuren."
Even Sia, who had been dejected until now, could not hide her astonishment at this very moment. She cannot hide her bewilderment and looks back and forth between me and Shirai. "From preparing the ingredients to the manufacturing, Mate did it all by himself. You all must have known it as something Yuren made."
Shirai is trembling, her hands gripping her knees as if enduring something. Like a kettle that is about to explode because it has boiled too much. "That's why I regretted tying the knot with Yuren so much I could hit the ground."
"I-is that true? You were the one who made that panacea?"
Judith stood up, slamming her palm against the desk. I close my eyes. Even though the office is infinitely bright, it is strangely pitch-black. In the pitch-black darkness, two chairs and a desk are left alone. I, and Muse sitting on the opposite side, are holding a certain amount of cards. Like playing One Card.
With a bewitching smile, Muse presents a card with a panacea drawn on it. Just as I am about to push the card forward after much deliberation, "So what?" Shirai said in a calm tone, as if she had sorted out her thoughts.
"Who besides me is left by Mate's side?"
Revealing crimson-red eyes that somehow feel eerie. "The past is not important. The present is what matters."
Everyone in the office thought the same thing. That Shirai might be acting as if she had lost her sight. Even though Shirai shouldn't be able to see, she walked to where I was with precise movements and sat next to me. And she covers my right hand with her left, wearing a smile more chilling than when Muse laughs.
"You won't abandon me, will you?"
"..."
Except for me, Shirai is the only one who knows the circumstances of the Daylight Church. Looking into her blood-red eyes, I realized what Shirai's words meant.