Everyone's Happy Except Me
Everyone's Happy Except Me
The announcement ended.
I hurried up to the deck.
Blue sky.
A brilliantly blue sea.
Part of me wanted to enjoy the scenery just a little longer.
But as I stood on the deck savoring the breeze, students from other classes began trickling out one by one.
'The atmosphere's gotten a lot more serious.'
This was a prime opportunity to size up my fellow students—the competitors I'd have to survive against.
"I-Ian...! Have you found a team yet?! If not, why don't you join up with me!"
Take this guy, for example. I'd only seen his face in passing before.
Like him, plenty of students were dashing around frantically trying to cobble together a party.
Maybe half of the total student body?
Scrambling for teammates at this stage was pointless. Every person on this ship came from either the Knight or Mage Departments, so putting together a well-balanced composition was a tall order.
"Sorry. Already got my team."
"Ah... S-so even you managed to...!"
The guy staggered off wearing an utterly dumbfounded expression.
Great. You.
If I run into you down there, you're dead.
...I scanned the deck with idle thoughts like that in mind.
About a quarter of the students had already put their groups together and were chatting leisurely.
Those were the ones who'd be my main competition—I'd better file them away carefully in my head.
One in particular kept catching my eye.
Gigantic height. A vicious, brutish build.
A giant from the Knight Department, Yan Victor.
A villain with the unique backstory of being a Barbarian half-breed, which made him stick in my memory...
'That guy's making me uneasy.'
Why does he keep locking eyes with me?
I'll put him on my watchlist for now.
There were also students standing around vacantly, as if they'd already given up.
These types felt less like competitors and more like loose cannons.
People with nothing to lose are always the scariest.
One among them caught my attention in particular.
At the railing's end.
A girl whose blue hair, indistinguishable from the sea, fluttered in the wind.
"Wow. Miss Sharon's aura is no joke."
Someone muttered those words, and they were spot on.
She stood alone, staring vacantly down at the sea beneath the sky, radiating such deep gloom that a thought surfaced unbidden.
'Is she going to jump?'
"I find myself terribly curious about what transpired between you and her, Brother."
"I told you, nothing happened."
I snapped at Elena, who had been chattering away at my side, spinning rumors.
Wait.
"...?"
Why is she even here?
"Didn't your Priesthood Department take a different ship? What are you doing on this one?"
"Our ship was full, so we were sent over here! I looked everywhere for you, Brother Ian, and only just found you."
So that's how it happened.
"I have no friends, Danya is so terrifying, and I have a fear of heights. Brother Ian, you are my sole hope! I'm frightened, so please, let us go inside at once!"
"Perfect timing. We can use this chance to go over a more detailed strategy—"
"B-Brother."
"Hm?"
Elena pointed a finger toward Sharon.
A few students were approaching her.
◆
Sharon stared down at the sea.
Far below.
The sea heaved as if drawing one great breath after another.
Maybe that vast ocean would accept even someone like her.
She wanted to throw herself into its embrace that very moment.
"......"
Sharon buried her face in her hands.
The missed opportunities she herself had kicked away replayed in her mind.
Ian's embrace had once been that vast too.
And the one who had turned it into an impossibly hard, cold wall was none other than Sharon herself.
"Ah..."
A life lived in pursuit of nothing but her principles.
Those principles had been wrong.
And now she had come to realize what was right.
So she had to move toward that righteousness.
Her wrongness, her arrogance, her atrocities—she had to reflect on them all.
"Aaah..."
But she couldn't move forward.
She was blocked by a massive wall, stuck walking in place.
A deep lament escaped her lips.
If only he'd insulted her.
If only he'd repaid her, act for act, everything she'd done to him. If only he'd trampled her and struck her, telling her he couldn't stand the sight of someone like her.
If he'd shown her even that much attention, it wouldn't hurt this badly.
While she was drowning in despair, a voice reached her.
"Hey, Sharon?"
For a fleeting moment, hope surged.
It wasn't Ian's voice.
Thinking about it rationally, there was no way it could have been.
"......"
"I-If you're okay with it, want to team up? You'd take half our party's coins, that sort of deal."
"Not interested."
She answered coldly, as she always did.
And then she froze.
'... This. This right here was the problem.'
Herself, who paid no mind to the feelings of others.
Herself, who had lived only for her own pride.
When Ian had looked after her, if she had only considered his feelings even a little...
She regretted everything so bitterly.
Because she was the one who had spurned everything Ian had offered.
So.
She had to change, starting now.
She had to practice.
She had to change, for the sake of whatever next chance might or might not come.
"... I'm sorry."
An apology slipped from Sharon's lips.
The group that had approached her flinched in shock.
That rigid and aloof Sharon, apologizing?
"N-No, it's fine...! W-We'll look for someone else. Bye!"
Even as they retreated, their shock showed no sign of fading.
"D-Did Sharon really just apologize?"
"I can't believe it. That cold, icy Miss Sharon, apologizing like that. She was like thawing ice!"
"Right? She's a little less insufferable now. Did something happen to her?"
The group exchanged glances and shivered quietly.
"Just how staggering an event would it take to change Miss Sharon like that..."
Meanwhile.
Their gossip never reached Sharon's ears.
Or perhaps she simply ignored it.
Ian.
If she could find even a pinhole in that great iron wall, she could endure any humiliation or commotion the academy threw at her.
"Maybe this is a blessing in disguise."
Even if she had to suffer insults like this, the academy was still the only framework tying her and Ian together.
After all, hadn't they ended up participating in the same promotion battle?
An island began to come into view in the distance.
It looked less like an island and more like a small continent.
'They said enormous things roam around inside.'
She recalled the professor's explanation.
They had clearly said there would be enemies that the students' skill levels couldn't handle.
In that case... it was an opportunity.
A chance to be of some help to Ian, no matter how small.
Sharon looked down at her own stamina.
Because of her unexcused absences from class, it was pathetically low—barely a quarter of what the other students had.
Even so, Sharon clenched her fist tightly.
"......"
The final practical activity of the semester.
There would be no other chance to become something he needed as much as this promotion battle.
"Even if I have to give my life, I'll help him."
Gazing at the island, Sharon swore in a hardened voice.
◆
"Everyone gather around."
A small storeroom below deck.
At my instructions, my party members huddled together on the floor.
"You all heard earlier that our starting locations are going to be randomized."
"That's right, meow! How do we meet up?"
Danya shouted as if she'd been dying to ask.
Why was I so grateful for that question?
I'd been noticing lately that Danya fills the voice-of-reason role in this party.
Take Rina, for instance—she was beaming with a look that said, 'I'll do whatever you tell me to!' And Elena was just staring blankly with a 'Uhehe' face. Judging by the drool, was she daydreaming about food or something?
Anyway.
"Good question. Thanks, Danya."
"Hmph. It's nothing."
"Everyone, take a look at this for a second."
I pulled a map out of my pocket.
A map of the island drawn by my own hand.
"What's that, meow?"
"A map."
"... A map? You don't mean... a map of Volta Island...?"
Danya tilted her head, her expression full of doubt.
'... I figured as much.'
Honestly, I'd agonized over whether I should show this to my teammates.
'I've already leaked way too much information about the future.'
Just like during the dungeon raid not long ago, I'd started to feel eyes on me that seemed to ask, 'How on earth does he know this stuff?'
For a while now...
- Whoa, amazing, Ian.
- How do you know something like this, meow?!
- You really are an incredible Brother.
The people who used to react like that were now reacting like this.
- Y-You know this too?
- Ian... are you an astrologer?
- Brother. When will the Age of the Tomato arrive?
That meant they were starting to grow suspicious about the source of my information.
We were teammates, so we did trust each other.
But that didn't mean I could just yell, "I'm a possessor!"
That was why I'd waited until after the professors' briefing to pull out the map—to avoid their suspicion.
If they asked where I got it, I planned to just vaguely say I'd drawn it from the briefing.
And sure enough.
Danya narrowed her eyes at me while examining the map.
Fine. Ask me whatever you want.
I'm ready with my answers.
Her lips parted.
"This is... a map?"
Elena chimed in from the side.
"That can't be right! It looks just like the stained glass you'd see hanging in a great big church! It's abstract art!"
Rina delivered the finishing blow.
"Pffft! So you're bad at drawing, Ian?"
... You little—!
Then don't look at it!
Danya hurriedly grabbed my hand as I tried to shove the map away.
"S-Sorry, meow. D-Doodle. I mean m-map... Pffft! Leave it out, meow. I won't make fun of you anymore."
"Almighty Deus, I beseech you, grant me the strength to overcome this trial."
"It's okay, Ian! We'll work hard. I got all my laughter out just now, so it's not funny anymore. I'll try to hold it in... hhgk... hic!"
Ahh.
How long had it been since I'd felt this utterly humiliated?
Fine. It's been a while since I've taken such a blunt hit. I'll let it slide this once.
I took out a pen and drew a circle on a point near the edge of the map.
"We'll regroup here, on the outskirts."
"... The outskirts? Not heading inward? Are you planning to give up on the stronghold the professor mentioned, meow?"
Danya tilted her head.
"Yeah. We've already prepared thoroughly, haven't we? There's no need to fight with the others over food or a place to sleep."
The students were each allowed only one backpack.
We had diligently packed essentials like rations and capsule tents.
"We'll secure coins quickly. We gather on the outskirts, then immediately take down a monster."
"A monster?"
"Yeah. In the map Violet unfurled, these oddly animal-shaped rock formations stood out. There's definitely something there. Plus, they're big and distinct, so they'll be easy for us to use as a rendezvous point."
Everyone nodded, mostly convinced.
But then Danya and Rina subtly signaled Elena.
After shaking her head vigorously, Elena reluctantly raised her hand.
"U-Um, but Brother, what kind of animal is the rock you marked on the map supposed to be? A big... hamster?"
"... That rock is shaped like a crocodile."
A brief silence.
Rina broke it.
"Snrk... snrk, pffaha! A crocodile, he says!"
"I-I've never seen an adorable crocodile like that in my life, meow! Pfft-hehe!"
Oh, for the love of—!
◆
The commotion died down.
Soon, a voice magically amplified echoed throughout the ship.
— This ship has now arrived above the island. Everyone, stand upon the magic circles on the deck.
Each magic circle had a number written on it.
Those with the same number appeared to be dropped in the same zone.
I led my party to the numbers corresponding to the zone closest to the 'crocodile-shaped rock.'
My party members lined up on the magic circles bearing the same number.
Elena, who had still been giggling about "Ha, a crocodile, snrk," looked at the rigid square magic circle beneath her feet and started trembling.
"W-We're not actually falling from here, are we? Brother?"
She did mention a fear of heights.
"Just focus on landing safely and wait for us, Elena."
"...Huh?"
— Initiating randomized teleportation. Brace for impact, everyone!
Right on cue, the floor beneath Elena's feet lit up.
Did she sense something ominous?
Elena looked up at me, both eyes brimming with tears.
Even if you stare at me with those eyes, there's nothing I can do, you know?
"It might feel like falling, but don't worry. It's basically teleportation."
"D-Does it really... really feel like falling?"
"The floor."
Following my gesture, Elena looked down at her feet.
The square tile she stood on was sparkling brightly.
With perfect timing.
— Clunk!
The floor beneath Elena's feet literally vanished.
"Kyaaaaa—!"
Elena's figure disappeared into the depths below.
Her screaming all the way down.
Even if I told her it only feels that way.
Still, watching that does lift my spirits.
Guess I'm not much of a gentleman either.
One by one, the students' forms vanished.
The promotion battle had begun.