The sunlight streaming in through the window cast its glow on a woman lying in bed. Her elegant face, sculpted as if it were made of art, was so beautiful that words alone couldn't do it justice. It was dazzling to the point of blinding the eyes.
"Hmm."
As she turned her body, her pitch-black hair cascaded like a waterfall over the edge of the bed.
With a displeased expression, Dienne closed her eyes and sat up, supporting her upper body.
She rubbed her eyes and then slowly got out of bed.
Perhaps due to oversleeping, she splashed her face with water to shake off the drowsiness.
"Phew."
Drip
As she finished washing up and stepped out of the bathroom, she heard the sound of someone knocking on her door, accompanied by the voice of her friend, Yurie.
"Dianne! Are you in there?"
"Yes, just a moment."
Dianne tidied up her bed and opened the door for Yurie.
"Did you sleep in?"
"Yes. I stayed up late reading a book yesterday."
"You were reading those knight magazines again, right? Even if you don't have class today, it's not good for your skin if you keep doing that."
"Yes, yes. I understand, Mom."
"I've never had a daughter like you."
With a playful joke and a smile, the two of them headed out to the terrace attached to their dormitory room, preparing a snack.
Sitting down, they enjoyed their tea in the afternoon sun.
Occasionally, they engaged in idle gossip and discussed Dienne's main interest, which was knights. But when the conversation turned to the Knight Department, Yurie's expression turned bored.
"By the way, what's with your early arrival right after classes?"
"You're asking me that now? I was so engrossed in our conversation that I almost forgot. Do you know about Lucia Everlast?"
"Yeah, I know."
"She succeeded in creating a new potion, and now she's undergoing evaluation at the Loden Tower."
"Oh, Dienne couldn't help but exclaim.
Even she had heard of Lucia Everlast, who was nicknamed the "Sleeping Dragon" due to her exceptional talent. Although her personality was said to be lazy, contrary to her talent.
But now that she had heard that such a person had achieved something, she couldn't help but be impressed.
"I heard she was lazy, but how much of a genius is she..."
"Well, that's true. But it's not surprising for a first-year student to discover a new potion. Even so, it's not an ordinary potion."
"What did she make?"
"It's an enhanced version of the Moheim Stamina Boost Potion. She improved its advantages and completely eliminated any side effects."
Dianne asked half-heartedly, not expecting much, but when she heard the content, even she was amazed.
"Really? Is that possible?"
"I don't know. We'll only find out after the evaluation. Maybe the ingredients she used were legendary herbs or something, then it wouldn't mean anything."
"Well, it's unlikely she would use something like that."
"Still, the fact that the prestigious Everlast family is backing her up gives reason to doubt."
Indeed, it was a plausible doubt, but Dianne immediately shook her head.
"That's not the kind of person Lucia is. Would such a genius not think of something like that?"
"Well, you have a point. Oh, and it's not just Lucia Everlast who made this potion."
"Collaboration?"
"Yes. Brace yourself, it's quite surprising."
Who could it be that Yurie didn't want Dianne to be surprised by?
Yurie's elegance and cuteness, which didn't match at all, melted Dienne's heart.
"Ahem. Please don't joke around and just tell me."
"What? I'm not joking. Brace yourself. The collaborator is... Adrian Cromwell."
"What did you say?"
"Hm, pervert, scumbag, Adrian!"
"Ah..."
Dianne sighed, her face frozen in disbelief.
Adrian, who was more like a crawling worm than a person, had less value than recyclable trash. She couldn't believe it.
No, she couldn't accept it.
"This can't be true."
"That's what I thought too. Most people did. But what can we do when it's the truth? The official announcement has already been made. Check your magic tablet."
Unless it was some extraordinary mistake, it was a fact if an official announcement had been made.
And Dianne knew that the chance of such a mistake occurring was extremely slim.
Still, she reluctantly checked her magic tablet.
"Lucia Everlast, Adrian Cromwell."
Their names were indeed listed together.
"Wow. Our lovely worm prince Adrian, who always crawls around Dienne like he would lick her feet, has been exposed like this! Dianne, how do you feel about this?"
"..."
Without saying a word, Dienne stood up abruptly.
"Dianne? D-Dianne?"
"I need to go out."
"Where to?"
"To meet Lucia Everlast."
Dienne's once icy eyes became as deep as an abyss.
"I have to confirm it myself."
"Heh, heh!"
I tried my best to breathe steadily.
I had to regulate my inhalation and exhalation to run longer.
But my body, which kept wanting to go off track, was the problem.
"Huff!"
Luckily, I managed to complete the distance I had planned before my breathing went awry.
Though I felt a terrible pain piercing my lungs, I stretched as if nothing happened.
Even though I wanted to collapse and gasp for air right away, I endured the discomfort.
The current time was 5 a.m., the break of dawn.
It was the time when I had been exercising every day lately.
After finishing my stretches, I headed straight to the stamina training room.
It was ironic, to say the least, that the stamina training room in the Magic Department had equipment and tools that were on par with those in the Knight Department.
Perhaps it was prepared at the same level due to the complaints of the magic students, and it had become an abandoned spot that no one used.
Well, it was understandable. What use did the guys who were locked up in their rooms conducting magic research have for exercise?
Thanks to that, this place had become my personal gym.
Now, was it time to focus on my lower body?
"Senpai."
"Huff!"
I barely managed to suppress a scream and turned to confirm who was calling me.
"Lucia?"
"Yawn. Good morning."
When I saw her yawning and looking drowsy, an involuntary chuckle escaped me.
"Why are you here?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I was waiting for you, senior. While waiting, I took a nap."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, senior, you don't have a magic tablet. Since there's no way to contact you, I heard you exercise in the early morning, so I've been waiting since yesterday."
I simply couldn't understand.
Why did she have to wait like this just for that?
And why did she sleep here in the first place?
"Senior, today's the day."
"What?"
"What's happening?"
"The evaluation results and the interview. So, you have to come with me to the Matop."
"You've been waiting like this to tell me that? You could've just come yesterday and told me."
"Yesterday, I didn't have time to come because I was held up by some seniors."
It was beyond my comprehension. She had already said that, but she was already half asleep and preparing herself again.
"Get up."
"Just five more minutes..."
With a sleeping bag and a pillow, she remained in bed, falling back asleep.
After observing her for a few days, I realized she was a lazy person who showed no interest in anything except Herbology and Potion Making.
It was astonishing how lazy she was. Despite having a terrible attendance rate, she aced the previous midterm exams, except for Herbology and Potion Making. It was a glaring example of how unfair the world could be.
She was so unconventional and four-dimensional that it was difficult to deal with her. But now, I was starting to get used to it.
Leaving her asleep, I finished today's workout and it was already 7 o'clock.
"Lucia, wake up."
"Ugh... just a little more."
"We have to go to the Matop. Until when?"
"Ugh."
At the mention of Matop, Lucia finally opened her sleepy eyes and looked at me.
"At 7... thirty."
"What?"
I thought I misheard and asked again.
"7 o'clock? 7 p.m.?"
"No, 7:30 a.m."
What did she just say?
Without thinking, I shook Lucia, who was lying there.
"Huh?"
I felt her flinch in surprise, but with some unknown strength, I grabbed her and started running.
"We're late! Run!"
Fortunately, the Matop was within the Academy grounds, near the Department of Magic, so we arrived on time without being late.
Of course, Lucia got off on the way and ran on her own, so we made it in time.
"Lucia Everlast, Adrias Cromwell, right?"
"Yes."
"Follow me."
As we followed the assistant affiliated with Matop, we found ourselves exploring the complex interior of the tower.
From the outside, it looked like a simple cylindrical building, but the interior was as complex as a maze.
Whenever we walked a little, unexpectedly different spaces appeared, and when we thought we were going up the stairs, we suddenly found ourselves descending underground.
"My head is spinning..."
I kept close, not relaxing, as I would have been lost without the assistant.
"Senior, look at that."
As we were rushing around, Lucia gestured somewhere.
When I looked to where she was pointing, I saw a giant purple-colored Thunderbird perched on a perch, scratching its beak.
"Stormbringer!"
"I've only heard about it, but it's amazing to see it in person."
It's a type of creature classified as a magical being.
As the name suggests, it uses lightning and wind. Being a magical being, its intelligence is very high, and it can become a companion if you establish a bond.
I also managed to tame it with countless saves and reloads in the game.
"Huh?"
As we were enjoying the sight of the Stormbringer, we suddenly became perplexed.
"Where did it go?"
The assistant disappeared.
In the span of just 5 seconds, the assistant vanished as if teleporting, leaving Lucia and me perplexed, staring at each other.
"When you're lost, the best option is to stand still."
"Senior, this is the Matop, and even if you stand still, the space keeps distorting."
"...Is that so?"
It was a setting I hadn't seen in the game.
Back then, when the character entered the Matop, they would simply be teleported to the destination according to their purpose of visit.
The process of walking like this wasn't depicted.
"Oh, something just came to mind."
"What is it? Is there a way?"
"No, it's not about that. It's about what you mentioned the day before. You said you were held up by seniors."
Did she have to talk about that now?
I wanted to take a peek into her mind and see what she was thinking and how she lived.
"Senior, are you listening?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Well, one of those seniors who held me back was Dienne Alben, senior."
"Is that so?"
It could very well be that Dianne came to find Lucia.
It was quite common for all the playable characters living in the Academy to somehow meet each other.
They recognized talent and sought out others with talent.
But what did they talk about? Since it was before the start of the game, I couldn't know what events occurred.
"But the reason she came to find you was because of me, senior."
"Me?"
"Yes, senior."
Me? Why?
No, why did Dienne bother to come and find Lucia?
"Because of the potion?"
"Yes. She asked why you listed me as a co-creator. She was very suspicious."
Well, I never expected to be entangled like this.
I didn't want to be involved with Dienne if possible.
"If you look at it that way, you're too entangled with Lucia."
I dealt with it carelessly.
After all, she was someone I believed would die.
"Then?"
"I told her the truth. I said you did everything."
"Hey!"
"Yes?"
"Never mind. You did well."
No!
I can't afford any more attention from playable characters.
If this continues, I'll die faster than in the game, won't I?
I wanted to scold Lucia for her handling, but I couldn't vent my frustrations on someone who knew nothing.
She had shown consideration for me in her own way.
"Senior, it seems like you knew Dienne, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. Not the best relationship, though."
"So, not a good relationship."
Suddenly, an interjected voice made Lucia and me simultaneously turn our heads.
A middle-aged man with his eyes covered by black cloth was sitting on a perch, with one leg stretched out.
And on his arm, a Stormbringer was perched, playfully showing affection.
And seeing that, I shouted without realizing it.
"Bahart Alben...!"