The Vanished Miracle
"Ah, hello... Lady Rosewin..."
".....Yes."
A few days after the final battle between the Demon King and the hero party, Rosewin visited the academy.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Ah, yes, of course."
And she had taken on the roles of both lead investigator and representative of the hero party.
Of course, she hadn't originally been slated for such an important position.
But with high-status figures like Isolet, Clana, and Serena in seclusion, along with core party members Kania and Irina, Rosewin—automatically the highest-ranking among those left—had been tasked with verifying the shocking facts revealed at the press conference.
[Frey's Diary]
Do not touch without permission.
As she conducted her investigation, Rosewin received the diary from Frey's younger sister, Aria.
To verify the authenticity of the intense records written in "Hangul"—a script used from just before Frey became the hero onward, amid otherwise mundane daily entries—she had come to Sunrise Academy for the first time in ages.
Today, I gave Rosewin a single rose. Then, wearing the Deception Robe, I had lunch with the student I'd scheduled in advance. Other students cleverly divert their stipends to food or entertainment, but this shy girl has never done that even once. So, I occasionally treat her to a fancy restaurant like this. In my parched life of countless regressions, this is one of the few entertainments left. Good deeds aren't as fun as they used to be, but seeing people's smiles makes me want to smile along inexplicably.
"...Hmm."
Rosewin pored over the notebook Serena—now in seclusion—had made detailing how to interpret "Hangul," translating the diary's script in real time.
"Um..."
In the academy library—half on hiatus due to the final battle with the Demon King—she encountered her first-year senior.
The very girl whose diary noted daily library study without fail, and the reason Rosewin had come to the academy today.
"...Could we talk for a bit?"
"Ah, y-yes..."
The girl, glasses on as she read, answered timidly to Rosewin's question.
"Do you know the so-called 'Hero of Money' who helped academy students materially and spiritually for the past few years?"
"Yes! Such a wonderful person!"
But to Rosewin's follow-up, her eyes sparkled as she launched into her story.
"He gave us stipends when we had nothing, bought us meals. He's truly warm-hearted! In a word, our benefactor!"
"I see..."
In stark contrast, Rosewin's face gradually darkened.
"Then, did you perhaps have a meal with him on this date...?"
"Hm... Yes! I ate with my benefactor around then!"
As the girl confirmed it emphatically, Rosewin began to break out in cold sweat.
"He always bought delicious things... Gave me pocket money, sometimes asked how school life was going."
"I-is that so..."
"I'm so grateful that after graduation, I want to help him in return."
The girl smiled warmly as she said it.
"My dream is to get a job at the charity foundation he founded once I graduate this year."
"Ah..."
"He never accepts repayment, and his identity is a mystery... So that's the only way to pay back his kindness, right?"
A shiny badge gleamed on her uniform.
"Th-that's..."
"Ehehe, you noticed? I'm a fan of the Hero of Money."
It was the shiny coin-shaped badge sold by the charity foundation.
"He's not as popular worldwide as Lady Ruby... But in my heart, the Hero of Money is my hero... Ah."
The girl's pleased expression as she caressed the badge darkened.
"Uh, um... I mean... No."
Noticing Rosewin's crumbling expression, the student quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, right. Why are you asking about this?"
"Ah, well... You see..."
"Lady Rosewin, do you know the identity of the 'Hero of Money'?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean... Um..."
Struggling to phrase it delicately—after all, as an underworld heavyweight handling hero party intel, Rosewin's turf overlapped with the Hero of Money's—the girl gave up circumlocution.
"Anyway... If you know him, could you pass this to him?"
She pulled something from her pocket.
"...This is?"
"It's nothing much... A flower. An unfading flower."
True to her word, Rosewin stared at the flower—long since wilted in appearance, yet still vibrant.
"I saved every penny he gave me to buy it. Skimped on meals and snacks."
"Ah..."
As the diary's mentioned details surfaced, she let out a quiet groan.
"Graduation's so close now; I was going to give it to him somehow... But he hasn't shown up lately."
".....Ugh."
"It's weird. He used to come every three days without fail... Nothing bad happened, right?"
Rosewin's face twisted in anguish at those words.
She took the flower.
"Ah, you took it. So you do know who he is?"
The girl beamed innocently.
"Please give it to him. It seemed like what he needed most."
"...Pardon?"
"Every time we met, he talked about flowers. What flowers women like. If women hate roses. What flower I'd want if I received one."
Then, a diary line flashed in Rosewin's mind.
Today, I gave Rosewin a single rose.
A flat, report-like entry.
"At first, it was casual, but he got more serious..."
"...And then?"
"By the end, he asked so desperately it was pitiful. I'd never seen him show emotion like that."
"Wh-when was that around?"
"Hm... Let me think..."
The girl pondered Rosewin's trembling question.
"...The day before Frey was captured."
She glanced warily at Rosewin.
"S-sorry. I'm so buried in studying, I lose track of time..."
"That day... That day..."
Ignoring her, Rosewin murmured, face ashen.
"The last day Frey gave me a flower."
True enough, Frey had visited her the day before his arrest.
"Rosewin, long time no see? Um, a favor..."
"How many times do I have to say it, Frey?"
Rosewin had replied coldly.
"I won't take flowers from you even for a fortune."
"Sorry about that. I couldn't get the 'unfading flower' I promised last time... But this rose is still pretty nice..."
"Keep it up, and I'll call the hero."
Clutching her custom Ruby doll.
"The days of fawning over you to curry favor are over. No reason to take those tiresome flowers anymore."
"Um."
"So get out. Please."
Deep in her Ruby obsession, Rosewin had turned him away at the door.
"...What? When did he leave it?"
She'd tossed the flower he'd left into the trash.
'Why was he so desperate to give me flowers? Why? Why...?'
Snapping from her reverie, Rosewin heard the girl's plea—she'd been staring all the while.
"Um... And if possible, could you pass on my words too?"
"...Yes?"
"Thank you for giving hope to my hellish life."
To Rosewin, the girl spoke earnestly.
"You noticed me living in the library without a home, helped me escape the underworld... Saved my friends from being sold to bad nobles..."
"Y-yes?!"
"...Rescued my enslaved comrades, saved innocent commoners. Above all, founded a charity helping countless poor souls. Thank you."
The girl sighed.
"Everyone he's helped asked me to pass it on. He accepts no thanks or repayment."
"U-ugh."
She smiled brightly.
"So now, not as commoner rep Aris... But as secretary of the charity foundation."
Hearing words that could never be delivered, Rosewin bit her lip unconsciously.
"Anyway, I'm worried. Why hasn't he shown up lately?"
Aris picked up her book again, face darkening suddenly—Rosewin flinched.
"Contacted the foundation; he's been MIA for months. Operations are struggling... He didn't get hurt, did he?"
"........."
"Hiding his identity, seems like dangerous work... I'm really worried lately."
Still believing Rosewin a business partner of the Hero of Money, Aris asked hopefully.
"...Do you know anything?"
"I-I'll be going now!"
"Pardon? Ah, take care... Oh, wait."
Unable to endure, Rosewin bolted up; Aris turned, desperate.
"...Please tell him his confession will succeed!"
—Step, step.
Rosewin left the library, wandering in a daze.
—Screech...
She arrived at her room in the now-quiet noble dormitory, most evacuated abroad or to safehouses.
".....Ugh."
She'd come to cool her head from the encounter but soon regretted entering.
Her room overflowed with:
Ruby photos, photos of her with Ruby, memos full of Ruby's praise, handmade Ruby dolls.
And flowers Ruby had given her.
—Crackle!
Reaching tremblingly for the largest Ruby photo, Rosewin recalled the powerful protection magic and gritted her teeth.
"This is..."
Clutching her mangled hand from the backlash, she shuffled forward.
[Frey Raon Starlight]
- Must kill.
- Worst scum in the world.
- Keeps trying to give flowers. Sick of it.
- Enemy of the hero.
"....."
She was speechless at the memos stuck right before her desk.
—Flip!
After zoning out, Rosewin opened the worn diary and resumed translating.
Today, I gave Rosewin a sun-greeting flower.
Today, I gave Rosewin a moon-greeting flower and star-greeting flower.
Today, I gave Rosewin a puppy love flower.
Today, I gave Rosewin a canary flower.
Today........
"Why... Why record all this?"
Continuing, her trembling gaze fixed on the constant front-page phrase.
"What the hell..."
She turned to his photo beside the memos.
"........."
Staring long at the photo, she finally cracked.
"F-fine, say you're the hero. But... I had no choice."
"I-if I'd known, I'd have helped. The Sunset family's 'Destiny' is to aid the second hero. So of course I'd have helped if I knew you were the hero."
Words poured out.
"F-first off... Your power meant we couldn't catch you doing good deeds. You tricked us. S-so... We're innocent. We had to be fooled."
Avoiding the beaming Ruby gazes filling her room.
"M-my lifelong dream was to support the hero... My life's wish..."
Vacant-eyed, she fixed on Frey's photo.
"...The hero keeping me alive all this time was you, not Ruby?"
Of course, the photo gave no reply.
"...Huh?"
Bowing under complex emotions, Rosewin spotted it.
"That..."
In the trash: the wilted rose.
"The last one he gave me..."
Staring hollow-eyed, she reached carefully.
"...I should have accepted it then."
As her hand touched the rose—
—Bzzzzt!
".....!!!"
Light erupted from her hand.
"Wh-what?!"
She jolted back, tumbling—and before her eyes:
"...Huh?"
A translucent window appeared.
Supporter System
A small miracle for the one who cherished the hero when all hated him.
This system descends upon the Sunset family by ancient contract from a millennium ago...
".......???"
Confused by the flurry of windows:
Permanently terminating Supporter System.
A red window halted them; she panicked.
".........Ah."
At the final one:
Death of Hero, Frey Raon Starlight
"...A-ahh."
Her face drained of color as she uttered blankly.
We express our regrets to you, who supported the hero materially and spiritually.
The small miracle vanished with that message.