Doubt
Doubt
Before returning to the mansion, I dipped myself in the stream to wash off even a little of the residual radiation.
This alone couldn't remove all the radioactivity, but it was better than nothing. At least it would have washed it down to a level that wouldn't cause major harm to others.
[You came to another world and you're still polluting.]
Sorry, Nature!
After carefully washing and drying even my outer clothes, I returned to the mansion wearing the bare minimum. I arrived around the time the morning dew was nearly dry. Entering through the mansion's back door, I evaded the maids and the butler and made my way up to the second floor.
As expected. The moment I opened the door, the young lady of Saliere was glaring at me with her arms crossed.
"Where did you go."
It was a tone as calm as a lake without a single ripple. But her expression was full of distrust and anger.
I answered in a cowed voice.
"...Pitchblende Mountain."
"And what in the world were you doing there in the middle of the night?"
"Picking up magic stones."
"What kind of reckless behavior is that! What would you have done if you ran into a magic beast or bandits?!"
Rote scrunched up her face and stamped her feet.
For over half an hour after that, I had to listen to her nagging. Being unilaterally scolded by a friend of three months made me think I must be truly blessed.
But trying to properly explain why I climbed the mountain would only sound like an excuse. Who would believe me if I said I went into a dungeon that opened for only ten minutes starting at 2 A.M. to get highly enriched uranium?
So instead of an explanation, I had to bring up something else here.
"I'm sorry."
That was a direct apology.
I, who had been observing the patterns on the floor, lifted my head and faced her. At that single apology, Rote was rendered speechless, like someone who'd swallowed honey.
"Urk...."
Rote swallowed an empty breath and turned her gaze elsewhere. In her sparkling pupils that shone like garnet, I could see a gradually shifting look.
Something was strange. It was as if she was avoiding meeting my eyes.
"I'll tell you before I go out next time."
With another bow of my head, the situation came to a close. After receiving breakfast from House Saliere, I decided to take a walk around the territory with Rote.
A warm late morning. The all-nighter combined with post-meal drowsiness was a lethal combination.
As I strolled along the riverside in a daze, Rote spoke to me.
"Aether, do you have a twin sister?"
"I don't."
Besides, didn't she ask about my family situation last time too?
At my answer, Rote furrowed her brow. I couldn't understand the meaning behind that expression with the information I currently had.
The free time continued even after the walk.
Rote and I opened books and sat together in the mansion's library. It was for the sake of our own self-improvement.
During this time, no one bothered us no matter what we did. If we wanted, we could preview the next semester's material, or pass the time reading general education books. We could even read erotica if we wanted to.
What the two of us chose was research. Each picking up magic paper and an etching pen, we began drafting transmutation formulas as if drawing on a graphic tablet.
"Are you, by any chance... doing something with that Pitchblende magic stone?"
Seeing the uraninite rolling around in front of me, Rote asked with a meaningful look on her face.
"This thing's actually pretty useful. I'm going to research it."
Upon hearing this, Rote's complexion shifted into that of someone who had sunk their entire fortune into Bitcoin.
Rote was acting strange today. To be precise, ever since I'd returned from Pitchblende Mountain, she seemed to be subtly avoiding my gaze.
Still, how much could a person change overnight? Figuring it was just one of those things, I changed the subject.
"Now that I think of it, I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I'm planning to leave here by tomorrow."
**
She still couldn't get that girl's eyes out of her head.
Aether's self-proclaimed twin sister, whom she'd met in the forest. The murderous eyes of that member of the Gold-Eye Tribe kept lingering before her eyes.
At that moment, Rote had instantly detected two emotions.
One was fear.
The other was killing intent.
The former was her own emotion, and the latter was the white-haired girl's emotion.
A Fenrir was a calamity-class magic beast. To date, humanity had never even properly tamed a low-grade magic beast. And in that context, this girl had effortlessly subdued a Fenrir and even forced it to lower its tail?
No way. It couldn't be.
Rote shook her head firmly to dismiss the stray thoughts. And as soon as she saw Aether's hesitant face upon her return, she felt a little relieved.
But it was only for a moment.
"I'm sorry."
The moment she met Aether's eyes head-on, she had turned her head away.
It was an instinctive evasion. It was absolutely not a conscious decision to avoid her eyes.
"Aether, do you have a twin sister?"
"I don't."
Aether's statement and that girl's statement still didn't match. There was only one hypothesis that could make both of their words true at the same time. It was the assumption that the friend in front of her didn't remember anything about her own family history.
Right. Nothing dispels stray thoughts better than studying.
Having steadied her mind with a stroll around the riverside, Rote decided to study the Magic Arts in her father's study.
Developing a new Fire Magic using the Pitchblende magic stone. That was the assignment her father had given her.
Scratch, scratch. The magic paper rustled as she sank deep into thought. Then, a clattering sound came from right in front of her.
Aether had taken out a jar containing fragments of Pitchblende and was turning it over in her hands.
No way.
Rote glanced sideways at the magic paper her friend had written on.
The basic transmutation formula used for composing Fire Magic was written on it.
'Wait, is she seriously...?'
The fact that she was researching the Pitchblende magic stone.
The fact that she was building a test circuit using a transmutation formula from Fire Magic.
These two pieces of information pointed to a single conclusion.
"You, that thing...."
Shaking like a mouse before a cat, Rote asked.
The answer that came back was utterly despairing.
"This thing's actually pretty useful. I'm going to research it."
She'd suspected as much, and sure enough, she was right. Aether understood that the Pitchblende magic stone could be used in Fire Magic.
She'd asked what exactly she was going to research, but Aether hadn't answered that question properly. Her face looked as if she was deep in thought about something.
That was when a single word pierced through Rote's mind.
Flare.
At Aether's urging, Rote had participated in the development of Flare, a supreme-grade Fire Magic, alongside Frey. She had been happy about the fact that she'd gained valuable experience, even if her contribution had been small.
That was, until she heard the news that House Haspelt had been conducting that research first.
Flare was a magic art that House Haspelt was researching in secret. Since the magic itself was confidential, Rote hadn't even known of Flare's existence until Aether brought it up.
Such things were said to be common in academic circles. While feeling guilty toward Professor Kleis, Rote thought there was nothing that could be done about it.
But what if.
What if Aether had morally stolen the Flare that Professor Kleis had been developing back then?
'I must be insane! What am I thinking right now?'
It was a bad thing to suspect someone based on mere speculation without any physical evidence.
That last incident was surely just a coincidence. This one must be a coincidence too, without a doubt.
The thing that shattered the rationalization Rote had been building was none other than Aether herself.
"I'm planning to leave here by tomorrow."
"All of a sudden? Why?"
"I feel bad for imposing on you too much. I can do this research elsewhere, anyway."
Why did it feel like those words were being distorted in her ears?
Aether met her eyes. The eyes of the white-haired girl she'd met in the forest seemed to overlap with hers.
Rote had to give an awkward laugh and avert her eyes. Her lips twitched as she struggled to say something, but the words refused to leave her throat.
Why in the world was she acting like this?
And before the next day had even properly begun, Aether crossed the drawbridge and headed beyond the river. Over there was a wild land where the beastmen lived.
Recently, the Fox Beastmen Tribe had been unifying the tribes and attempting to trade with humans, so the danger level had dropped significantly. Though worried, Rote waved her hand and saw her friend off.
But still, it was strange.
The research conditions here were far better in many ways, so why was she deliberately heading over to that barren land?
"Suspicious."
Rote reflexively clamped her hand over her mouth.
"What did I just say?"
This was no good. Her head was a complete mess.
This was all because of meeting that girl in the dead of night.
Right, the answer was research alone. Reading a book would cool her head a bit. Returning to the study, Rote learned how to refine Pitchblende magic stones from her father and began fitting them one by one onto a circuit board.
"...I've already used them all up."
To gather more depleted magic stones, Rote donned her robe and slipped out of the mansion. Her destination was Pitchblende Mountain.
She collected magic stones at the foot of the mountain while admiring the spiky, rounded leaves. Inhaling the cool air seemed to ease her suspicions about Aether a little.
She was so engrossed in picking up magic stones that the sun had begun to set before she knew it.
"I should start heading back...."
Plip, plop, plip.
That was when it started to rain.
-Whoooosh!
It wasn't just rain; it was a squall. As a torrential downpour accompanied by powerful winds struck, she was transformed into a drenched rat in a matter of seconds.
"There should be a cave around here...."
She remembered a small cave she had discovered while playing here often as a child. Deciding to take shelter there, Rote retraced her childhood memories and moved her feet.
"Found it!"
Rote entered the dark and gloomy cave. Her body had conveniently started to shiver.
She recalled that the cave wasn't that big. And so, she could hear the crackle of a campfire right in front of her.
Wait. The sound of a campfire?
"Oh. It's you again."