Chapter 21
Chapter 21
The Thorn Forest expedition was scheduled for next week.
That week flew by—fast, but dense.
At 5 a.m., I went out to the grounds and jogged with Professor Wilhelmine.
“You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
That was enough.
As if we had agreed beforehand, we ran the track together.
The next day.
“You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
No more conversation after that.
We ran in silence.
The day after that.
And the next.
And the next.
There were many days I wanted to quit, but I didn’t.
I ran in a state of near-emptiness.
After about a week, Professor Wilhelmine stopped running ahead and started waiting for me.
We didn’t need words anymore.
We exchanged a glance with her red eyes and ran.
“Huff… huff…”
I pushed myself to the limit.
But I didn’t just run blindly.
I carefully observed Professor Wilhelmine’s posture as she ran.
Her form was stable. Something worth learning.
Maybe because I was staring so intently, she noticed I was observing her and subtly slowed down, showing me the “correct form.”
I copied her movements—the angle of the soles touching the ground, the unwavering center of gravity, the efficient use of muscles.
Thud, thud, thud!
My body became much lighter.
My balance improved. My knees hurt far less.
[Stamina increases by 1]
[Stamina increases by 1]
[Stamina increases by 1]
The more I ran, the lighter I felt.
My stamina increased noticeably.
Is this the potential of a growing body?
Motivation surged within me.
I ran without knowing my limits.
That was arrogance.
I collapsed mid-run.
“I told you to be careful.”
Professor Wilhelmine lifted me in a princess carry and laid me down on a bench.
Then she sat beside me and stayed there.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Be careful next time.”
“Yes.”
“Drink water too.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
During swordsmanship class, I sparred with Yuri.
Clang, clang, crack!
I lost every time.
The difference in skill was overwhelming.
Still, I picked up the sword.
Even as I was completely crushed, I learned something.
[Skill ‘Basic Free Swordsmanship Lv.1’ acquired]
Finally, I gained a new skill.
Basic Free Swordsmanship.
The beginning mattered.
I was still the weakest in the classroom.
The only ones I could beat were Tiana and Joy.
Well, Joy…
“Ah! I tripped…!”
Let’s just ignore that old bachelor.
Time passed like that, and before I knew it, the day of the Thorn Forest expedition arrived.
A week really passed quickly.
The exploration area: Thorn Forest.
A place where the unknown breathed.
Our team had four members.
Me, Yuri, Ohen, and Damian.
The difference from the original story…
“I went in instead of my sister.”
In the original, Yuri Ayende and my sister were in the same group.
Other than that, nothing had changed.
Since that day, I hadn’t exchanged a single word with my sister.
…“I’m disappointed in you.”
That one sentence remained lodged in my chest like a thorn.
But I had no intention of reaching out first.
Haah…
Why did I say something that provoked her like that?
Regret washed over me, but I couldn’t take it back.
Fortunately, Ophelienne didn’t retaliate.
Whenever we crossed paths, she would pass by with a faint, complicated expression, as if she had forgotten her usual arrogance.
We didn’t have much chance to see each other anyway.
I was a first-year, and she was the top third-year.
We lived as if the other barely existed.
“Hi.”
“Whoa, you startled me.”
I flinched at the voice from behind.
Yuri stood there in her uniform.
Her short silver hair swayed in the wind drifting out of the forest.
We had already agreed on the meeting place through our watches.
Right in front of the Thorn Forest.
“When did you get here?”
“A while ago. You?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
After greeting me, Yuri turned around.
She crouched down and began carefully observing ants.
Since I had nothing to do, I joined her.
It was oddly immersive.
As we idled like that, the others began to arrive.
“Huff, huff… good thing I’m not late.”
Damian was drenched in sweat, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.
The last to arrive was Ohen.
“Hmph.”
The moment he got there, he smirked at me as if he’d found a weakness.
What’s with this guy?
“I heard everything. The crystal orb didn’t shine at all, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t pretend you’re fine. Professor Kennedy couldn’t hide his disappointment… that says it all.”
Ohen grinned, clearly thinking he’d landed a decisive blow.
I felt nothing.
I pulled out my compass and looked him in the eye.
I didn’t want to waste time.
“If you’re done talking, can we go now?”
“Huh?”
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, let’s go.”
“Ah… right.”
We stepped into the Thorn Forest.
After the students fully entered the forest—
Rustle.
“….”
Two masked figures quietly emerged from behind a tree.
They looked at each other.
Nod.
Exchanging glances, they followed Matios’s group into the forest.
The Thorn Forest lay on the outskirts of the city.
Dark-colored trees greeted us ominously.
The trees looked as if they had been charred black, rising like screaming figures.
There wasn’t even the sound of birds—no sign of insects either.
I checked the compass and led the way.
Somehow, I had been chosen as the team leader.
I didn’t like it, but it couldn’t be helped.
Damian and Ohen kept looking around nervously.
On the other hand, Yuri walked silently, her black academy-issued cloak fluttering, one hand resting on her sword hilt, eyes fixed forward.
“H-hey, Matios! Are you sure this is the right way?”
Ohen asked, his voice strained.
He kept shrinking his neck as if something might jump out at any moment.
“We already explored the outskirts. We need to go to the center.”
“I-I know, but…”
Ohen kept whining like a restless puppy.
“What, scared?”
I said without turning back.
Ohen snapped.
“N-no way! Let’s just go!”
His tone was confident, but the hand holding his sword trembled.
The Thorn Forest wasn’t an ordinary forest.
Just walking through it made you feel an eerie pressure.
The heavy air felt like it contained tiny thorns, pricking at your lungs.
“Um… why is it called the Thorn Forest?”
“Idiot commoner. You don’t even know that?”
When Damian nervously asked, Ohen snapped back as if he knew everything.
“It’s because this is the grave of the Thorn Witch. When she died, she spread a curse here.”
“A curse…?”
“It’s nothing much. Just a gloomy atmosphere and some discomfort breathing.”
Yuri asked indifferently.
“Who killed the witch?”
“Uh… I don’t know that…”
Embarrassed, Ohen scratched his head.
Damian asked again.
“There aren’t ghosts, right…?”
“Ghosts? Don’t be ridicu— HURGH!!!”
Ohen suddenly screamed and collapsed to the ground.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“G-ghost!!”
He pointed somewhere, trembling like a leaf.
“Where?”
“Over there!”
Yuri instantly half-drew her sword.
But where she pointed—there was only a dried tree root.
There was no ghost.
“I swear there was something…!”
Damian looked at Ohen with narrow, unimpressed eyes.
Acting brave earlier, but he was the most scared.
“Hey, fatty. What’s with that look?”
“…N-nothing.”
Damian lowered his head.
I shook my head and continued forward.
I knew what Ohen had seen.
‘So it’s that.’
The Thorn Witch was dead.
Her curse spread through the forest.
The one who defeated her was Roshka.
At the time, the leader had sought mercenaries to subjugate the Thorn Witch.
She had lived here, harvesting people’s souls.
Countless innocent lives were lost.
She traded those souls with a demon for greater power.
No one accepted the request.
It was a death sentence.
Except for Roshka.
He killed the Thorn Witch without asking for any reward.
When she died, a massive amount of demonic energy spread through the forest.
If left alone, it would have turned into a demonic realm.
—I’ll stay here. Roshka.
His “friend,” worried about that future, chose to remain here.
What Ohen saw was probably that “friend.”
“Let’s finish quickly and leave.”
“How? Split up?”
“No, just in case—pairs.”
This was a cursed forest.
Even if the curse had weakened over a thousand years, you never knew.
We decided teams with a simple game.
Rock-paper-scissors.
Yuri and I got rock.
Ohen and Damian got scissors.
“Damn it. I’m stuck with this pig?”
Ohen cursed.
He probably wanted to go with Yuri.
He left with the anxious Damian.
“Let’s meet here in an hour.”
“Got it.”
We split east and west.
Yuri and I headed west alone.
“What exactly are we investigating?”
“Any anomalies unique to this forest.”
“But hasn’t everything already been studied?”
“Yes, but that’s not what the professor wants.”
“Then?”
“What we see and hear.”
Professor Generica didn’t want new research findings.
There was no way she’d assign something like that to students.
That was for experts.
“Experiencing a mysterious place firsthand… that’s what she wants.”
“I see.”
Experiencing something directly was very different from just reading about it.
We moved around, investigating anomalies.
There were no living animals.
And another discovery—there were no shadows.
And then, in one part of the forest—
“…What’s that?”
“The place where the Thorn Witch died.”
A clearing covered in deep shadows.
Thorns of all sizes jutted out randomly.
It was her grave—her body transformed into thorns.
“Should we investigate that too—”
I grabbed Yuri’s shoulder as she tried to approach.
Crack—
In that instant, a massive thorn shot out at unnatural speed, stopping right in front of her chest.
Yuri stepped back.
The thorn lost its vitality and returned.
“It’s a curse. It’s dangerous to get close.”
“…Thanks.”
Cold sweat ran down Yuri’s face.
“Be careful.”
She nodded.
After investigating a few more things, we returned to the meeting spot.
“….”
“You don’t look good. What’s wrong?”
“…I drank too much water.”
“Then go take care of it.”
She nodded and disappeared into the forest.
Left alone, I sat against a tree and chewed on jerky, scanning my surroundings.
It was about time.
‘Where is that one? I’m sure it’s in this forest…’
That’s when it happened.
A faint rustling sound.
Then something light as a feather settled on my shoulder.
“That’s interesting. How do you have Roshka’s star?”
I turned my head.
A tiny girl, small enough to fit in one hand, was sitting there.
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she stared at me.
‘You’re here.’
The real reason I came to the Thorn Forest.
Roshka’s “friend.”
I met her starlike gaze and answered.
“I read the book he left behind.”
“A book? …Ah, that one.”
“He said a friend helped him.”
“Yeah.”
She gazed into the distance, as if lost in memory.
Then she smiled brightly, her water-colored hair swaying.
“I’m Shu. Nice to meet you.”
“Matios.”
“Matios. You smell like Moretti.”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, it’s just strong.”
Does she have a dog’s nose?
“You’re not wrong, but I’m not from the main house. Do you know our ancestor?”
“I’ve seen him a few times. He taught Roshka things.”
That wasn’t recorded in history.
The weight of time she carried felt real.
“How long have you lived?”
“I didn’t count. But I remember the emperor. He unified the continent. Karl, I think.”
Karl—the founding emperor.
“…That’s a long time.”
That meant this fairy had lived here since the empire’s founding.
Fifteen hundred years.
“Who’s the emperor now?”
“The 157th emperor, Friedrich.”
“…So much time has passed.”
Loneliness filled Shu’s eyes.
After a long silence, she spoke carefully.
“Matios… can I come with you?”
“I don’t mind, but what about the forest?”
“The witch’s curse has weakened. It’s no longer a threat.”
“Then why stay?”
“I had nowhere else to go.”
I didn’t ask further.
Instead, I held out my finger.
“Then come with me, Shu.”
She stared at it, then smiled brightly and held it with her tiny hand.
“Hehe, thank you.”
“Can others see you?”
“Hmm? No. Not unless I show myself. Your girlfriend can’t see me.”
“Girlfriend?”
“The silver-haired girl.”
“Not my girlfriend. Just a classmate.”
“For now.”
“It’s not like that. But you must’ve been bored, scaring people like that.”
“?”
“I saw it. You almost made Ohen pee himself.”
“Ohen? Who’s that?”
“The rude-looking one.”
“I scared him?”
She pointed at herself, confused.
Something felt off.
“…You just said—”
“This is the first time I’ve shown myself to a human. I’ve never shown myself to anyone else.”
“Then what Ohen saw?”
“Not me.”
“…Huh?”
“Hmm?”