Ch. 26

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After the sparring match had ended.

Classes had wrapped up, but with the teleportation gate needing a bit of time before it could operate again, everyone got a short break.

People gathered in small clusters, chattering away about the sparring matches.

Naturally, plenty of that chatter involved me.

I usually didn't care much about attention from those around me, but for whatever reason, having apparently had a lot more blood drained by the cursed sword than I'd realized, an odd fatigue washed over me, so I quietly shifted away, thinking I'd find somewhere to lie down.

Only once I'd moved far enough that no other students were in sight did I finally let out a sigh and speak.

"Why are you following me?"

"..."

Turning around, the first thing that caught my eye was blue hair swaying gently in the cool breeze.

A face so beautiful that calling it that felt almost wasted on a man, and deep eyes carrying a melancholic sorrow, as if he'd just experienced something tragic.

If this moment were a novel, he was someone who could confidently be called the protagonist without a hint of exaggeration: Aden.

"Benjamin, actually, there's something I wanted to ask you."

He asked, looking me directly in the eye.

His expression looked like someone who'd made up his mind about something.

"What exactly are you?"

He surely didn't want to hear something like, "Hello! I'm Benjamin, a first-year Magic Department student!"

What kind of story did he actually want to hear?

He was probably questioning the sudden existence of "me," someone who hadn't existed in his previous life.

Whatever it was Aden was actually asking me, I decided to play dumb for now.

"I have no idea what nonsense you're talking about. Actually, perfect timing. There's something I really wanted to tell you too."

The moment I'd decided to reveal a certain amount of my ability, I'd already anticipated that Aden would eventually start questioning my existence, given I hadn't existed in his past life, and would probably ask something like this.

And I'd already thought of a way out to prepare for exactly that.

Deliberately manipulating doubt to cloud someone's judgment, a technique otherwise known as gaslighting.

"Something you... wanted to tell me?"

"Yeah. There's definitely something I wanted to say to you."

"What is it?"

"Thank you."

"...Thank you?"

"Yeah."

Aden, apparently unable to make sense of what I'd said, furrowed his brow slightly.

Wow, even frowning, he's still that handsome.

Marveling at Aden's face for just a moment, I snapped back to my senses and continued.

"Thank me for what, exactly? Wasn't this the first time we've met today?"

"You might be seeing me for the first time, but I'm not. I owe my life to you."

"...What?"

"Do you remember the day the mermen attacked?"

"..."

How could Aden ever forget that.

For him, whatever happened that day was surely destined to become a burden he'd carry for the rest of his life.

"Do you remember who was there at the time? A second-year Knight Department student, Lancia Fei... Feibr..."

"Senior Lancia Feibrin?"

"Ah, right. If you ask her, you'll know, but back then, my body wasn't in as healthy a condition as it is now."

Even now, I wasn't exactly bulky or particularly muscular, but back then, having only recently escaped slavery, my body had been on the frail side.

I'd only had a Body score of a measly 10, after all.

"I did manage to take down a fair number of fishmen back then too, but since I was fighting without a sword, my body couldn't hold up in the end, so I ended up hiding in the shelter."

I explained things a bit differently from what had actually happened, but since I'd headed toward the rooftop garden killing fishmen, confirmed Aria was safe, and then moved straight to the shelter, even if Aden checked my exact movements, he wouldn't find anything particularly out of place.

"But apparently, I later heard that you'd already taken out a significant number of the fishmen, which was exactly why I was able to reach the shelter safely."

"..."

"If it weren't for you, I would have died that day."

It was a plan meant to subtly plant the idea that the reason "I" existed now, someone who hadn't existed in his previous life, was, of all things, because of him.

Since Aden had headed to the rooftop garden to save Aria, it was also true that, unlike his first life, he'd ended up killing a significantly larger number of fishmen this time around.

And it was equally true that, thanks to that, more people who otherwise would have died to fishmen had survived instead.

Pretending to be just one of those survivors was the method I'd chosen.

At this point, even if some lingering doubt about my identity remained, it should at least settle into something he could dismiss as plausible.

"Do you remember when we were staying at the temporary lodging before?"

At my words, seeming to have accepted this to some degree, he nodded quietly, his expression open and trusting.

"I went there meaning to thank you... and I happened to overhear something you were muttering to yourself."

At my words, his eyes wavered.

He probably felt as though something he'd wanted to hide, some embarrassing part of himself, had just been exposed.

Even seeing how flustered he looked, I continued speaking slowly.

"I don't think people can ever be perfect. Besides, you already know it was essentially impossible to protect everyone in that situation, right? If that's the case, I think it would make more sense to draw strength from the people you did manage to protect, rather than suffering over the ones you couldn't."

"But...!"

"Right, I get it, right now the people you couldn't save probably come to mind more easily. But that doesn't mean you should forget them. If you're going to insist their deaths are your responsibility, then I'm saying you should carry that responsibility properly."

"Carry it properly?"

"Yeah. Carry it properly. Look at yourself, completely hollowed out like that. You think that counts as carrying it, when you're already this collapsed? From where I'm standing, it just looks like you're being crushed under guilt."

"...Then what exactly am I supposed to do?!"

"Aden, snap out of it! I just told you. Right now, you're just collapsed, being crushed. So what do you think you should do first?"

A brief silence followed.

But he was a smart guy, so he surely already knew the answer.

"...I need to get back up, is what you're saying."

"Exactly. So stop making those half-dead eyes and actually get back up."

The reason I chose to address Aden's pain through such an aggressive approach was partly because I figured it would create the least confusion, but more than anything, it was because I genuinely wanted to ease his suffering, even just a little.

[The Academy's Rank X Sword God]

Having read the book that recorded his life so deeply immersed in it, I knew all too well just how relentlessly he'd continue to suffer over this.

After my words, a silence followed, not too long but not too short either, before Aden finally spoke.

"Benjamin, actually."

"...?"

"I'm the one who's more grateful."

Aden began speaking, his expression noticeably more relaxed now, as if his thoughts had finally settled.

"I only ever thought about the people who died because I couldn't protect them... I think I was only seeing one side of things. Thank you for letting me know that there are also people alive because of me."

Stepping closer, he bowed his head toward me, expressing his gratitude.

"And thank you for helping me realize that, even while going on about it being my responsibility, I wasn't actually properly taking responsibility for it at all."

Why was it.

Even bowing his head, Aden didn't look servile at all; if anything, he looked even greater than before.

Just then, from his lowered face, a single small droplet fell, striking the ground as if knocking on it.

"And... thank you for telling me that I was able to save people, because of me..."

Watching him with a stunned expression, Aden roughly wiped away his tears with his sleeve, then lifted his head with a smile and extended a hand toward me.

I couldn't bring myself to refuse that hand, so heavy with emotion, and grasped it in return.

Watching him smile, as if he'd finally let something go, I found myself sinking into various thoughts.

The words I'd just given him might feel like nothing more than encouragement for now, but they were, in truth, words that could end up bringing him even greater pain down the road.

Rising to his feet by looking at the people he'd managed to protect, only to eventually watch them, too, meet death in the end.

When those deaths, piling up one by one, finally left him without even the will to rise again.

I had ultimately collapsed under the guilt of having protected no one at all, but I genuinely hoped, with all my heart, that he would end up differently from me.

What mattered most was making sure Aden regained his composure at least a little faster than he had in any of his previous regressions.

Whether it had been intentional or not, with Aria now sticking close to me and no longer getting bullied, I could no longer expect to see Aden go on a rampage in the Magic Department trying to protect her.

Which meant I needed to find some other way to forge a connection between Duke Snowtier and Aden.

And I'd just managed to complete a rough outline of a scenario for exactly that, sparring against the Duke's own daughter.

The scenario's title: A Clash of Two Prideful Geniuses.

The plan was to forcibly manufacture a rivalry between Aden and Jane.

Originally, after regressing, Aden would maintain his grades at a decent enough level while focusing entirely on rooting out Silver Ring.

Which meant, in truth, he'd almost never crossed paths with Jane at all.

But if I deliberately tangled the two of them together and let them naturally catch the Duke's eye, then the Duke, someone who put on a stern, dignified front in front of his daughter but was, in reality, hopelessly doting on her everywhere else, would surely take notice of Aden purely from that alone.

If that happened, there was a good chance Aden would end up learning Spatial Severance, just as he had in the original story.

"Ah, right. I saw you with Aria earlier."

"Aria? Right, she's your childhood friend, isn't she? She seemed pretty worried about you."

"Ahh... this is... I feel bad about that."

Aden scratched his head, laughing awkwardly.

If he felt that bad, I really wished he'd go back to hanging around her as soon as possible.

She talked so much I still felt like I could hear phantom echoes of her voice ringing in my ears.

"Then you can just apologize to her face to face. There's probably still plenty of time before the teleportation activates, so go on ahead."

"Right."

Aden turned to leave, then paused for a moment.

"Did you and Aria end up becoming friends?"

"I didn't think we were... but she got mad about it."

"Hahah, then I guess you're friends."

Wanting to rest even a little now, I just hoped he'd think whatever he wanted about "friends" and go on his way already.

As I nodded vaguely, wearing a tired expression, and lay down on the ground, Aden let out another burst of laughter, apparently finding my behavior amusing.

"Since you're friends with Aria... let's be friends too."

"...Friends?"

Being friends with Aden, huh...

Had my words somehow moved him more deeply than I'd expected?

I hadn't anticipated him reaching out this warmly, so I froze for a moment, but soon gave a nod.

Being able to keep a close eye on him was probably a good thing, I supposed.

'...Or maybe not? Won't people start comparing me to that face if I'm always around him?'

"Then I'll see you around again, friend."

With that final farewell, Aden turned and headed off toward Aria.

He'd probably meet up with Aria, who'd surely been struggling all this time, and clear up whatever misunderstanding lingered between them.

By the way, maybe it was because I'd gotten too used to the rough mercenary world, but a phrase like "see you around again, friend" felt almost unbearably awkward to hear.

Still, it didn't leave me feeling particularly bad, either.

Just as I was thinking that living at the academy might not turn out to be entirely bad after all, a chilling voice reached me from behind.

"How about conversing with me for a bit too?"

Practical leather armor and blazing red hair.

Pushing through the trees toward me was none other than the first-year Knight Department's combat practicum professor, Anna Jordaye.