"You personally went in and saved her?"
"Yes. To make a long story short, that's what happened."
Afterward, Adrias' story to Ivy was exactly the same as what Vivian herself remembered.
"Adrias met the fairy queen."
Vivian tried to calm her excitement while gripping her own mouth and collar.
What should I do now? What should I say to Adrias...?
"Is the explanation sufficient now?"
"...."
"If you have nothing else to say, I'll be going."
"....Yeah. I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
With those words, Adrias left the training grounds.
After he left, Ivy remained lost in thought for a moment and then suddenly spoke up.
"Hey. I knew you'd been hiding there since earlier. Who is it?"
Cautioning her steps, Vivian cautiously emerged from behind the pillar.
Surprised to find Vivian there, whom she had no idea would be present, Ivy widened her eyes before calmly speaking.
"Well, since you're involved too, it doesn't really matter. Did you hear everything?"
Vivian nodded.
"Yeah. I got it all. What Adrias said just now, is it true?"
Vivian nodded again.
"Yeah. I understand. I think I've been overly sensitive lately and accused the wrong person. Forget about everything that happened here."
With that, Ivy spat on the ground and left without another word.
As she left, Vivian was left alone in the empty training grounds, staring blankly at the ground.
"Adrias... met the fairy queen."
Because of that, her life was saved.
Although the past hadn't actually changed, many of the unpleasant emotions that would have tormented her were greatly diminished.
I am special.
With just that one fact, it felt like a thin veil that had enveloped her had been lifted.
"So... I have to repay the favor."
Despite having a pretty severe case of scarlet fever, the evaluations for the other subjects continued as usual.
Fortunately, thanks to my efforts, I managed to receive average scores in all the subjects.
"I'm relieved."
I sighed in relief as I checked my grades.
Of course, with the Everlast Potion, a substantial amount of money would be coming in.
But maybe because I had been living in poverty, the thought of receiving a scholarship made me feel happy.
"Amy said she moved to the Apple Tree Mansion."
In fact, a few days ago, I received a letter from Amy.
It didn't contain much, just news that she had successfully finished moving, met Rufin after a long time, and that their families were coming in to live together.
One strange thing was that she asked me to visit home as soon as possible, but I didn't know why.
"The evaluations are over, and tomorrow is the weekend. Maybe I should drop by for a visit."
Since I had decided to take occasional breaks, it wouldn't hurt to stop by home during this time.
Moreover, there were still about two weeks left until the end-of-year event.
With that in mind, I prepared to head to the Apple Tree Mansion, a place that existed only in my memories.
Wilton Territory, where the Apple Tree Mansion where I used to live was located, was a small land to the southwest governed by Llama Wilton.
It wasn't particularly memorable nobility, so now my memories were hazy, and the only thing that came to mind was that it was a pleasant place to live.
"I used to run around everywhere in the territory."
It's puzzling how Adrias, who used to be so active, turned into such a gloomy person.
Due to Rodren Academy being attached to the eastern side of the capital, it took a little time to reach Wilton Territory in the southwest.
During the approximately four-hour journey, I spent my free time reading a book, as usual.
Thump!
"What's this?"
I looked up at the ceiling of the train as I suddenly heard a sound from above my head.
Was something heavy falling?
As that thought flashed through my mind, the noise came again.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
It sounded as if someone was walking on top of the train.
The sound continued until it reached the door of the train, and then with a creaking sound, the door opened.
"What is that?"
A seemingly ordinary man entered as he opened the door.
He appeared to be the type of person you could see anywhere, yet he seemed outrageously confident as if coming down from a running train would be a lie.
He brushed off his clothes as he entered and then, with a bewildered expression, handed a gold coin to the attendant who was looking at him.
"Here's the train fare."
Then he casually looked around, and when he noticed me, he raised his hand with a cheerful smile.
"Hey! Long time no see."
Me?
He's talking to me?
The gazes of all the passengers were directed at me.
I felt a mixture of embarrassment and confusion, but he approached me with a smile.
"What? Did you forget about me? I'm a bit disappointed."
From his attitude and tone, someone came to mind.
Could it be?
"...Salem?"
I couldn't bring myself to say the name of the person who had an enormous bounty on their head.
But even with just that, it seemed my intention got through, as Salem smiled brightly and sat next to me.
"I noticed a bit late, but I can let it slide."
"How did you even know I was here?"
"You arrogant brat. At times like this, you're supposed to ask how I've been."
As he spoke, he casually tossed a gold coin to each of the approaching train security officers and placed his arm around my shoulder.
"How have you been lately? Are you doing well?"
"Yes."
"Hmm? It couldn't be. I distinctly heard the news about me coming."
Is he talking about the Kidwell raid incident?
Honestly, since the mercenary duo were the ones directly targeting me, this raid didn't affect me much.
In fact, I saw it as a good thing since it confirmed Tymur's strength.
"It wasn't particularly dangerous."
"Oh? Well, in that case, I guess it's not needed."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Thanks to you, I was able to intimidate the guy who was involved in that incident and extend the rental of the toys for another week. I was grateful, so I came to find you..."
"I never said it wasn't necessary."
There was no reason to refuse whatever Salem was offering.
I hastily cut off his words and firmly expressed my opinion.
It seemed that my reaction amused Salem as he chuckled to himself and lowered his head.
"Alright. You were a brat. Anyway, where were you headed?"
"...I just had some business to attend to for a moment."
"So, I'm asking what that business is."
Tell Salem the location of our house.
Have I gone mad?
Sure, with Salem's abilities, he could easily find out not only where my family lived but also everything about them. But I hesitated to say it out loud.
"I was taking a trip to clear my head for a bit."
"Oh? Well, that's good. While you're clearing your head, I'll take a look at your magic a bit."
I was slightly taken aback by Salem's unexpected words, but I nodded.
"Thank you."
"So, where is your destination?"
I tried to casually look around, pretending to forget about the train ticket with the destination written on it that I had put in my coat pocket.
"Probably the next station."
"Oh? It's close then. Wake me up when we arrive. I'm going to take a nap."
After saying that, Salem didn't even last three seconds before closing his eyes and falling asleep.
It would take at least 30 to 40 minutes to reach the next station I mentioned.
Quietly sighing, I finished reading the book I had been reading.
After unexpectedly getting off at the Condit Territory, Salem and I stopped by a decent restaurant to have a meal.
"What? Is reheating your only accomplishment?"
Salem, who had been drinking beer since the middle of the day, looked amazed when he heard my story.
I could understand him to some extent.
I cursed myself silently when I first saw my stat screen, realizing how lacking I was. Moreover, as I was busy rebuilding from the basics, I hadn't had time to learn other magic.
"Hmm. I didn't expect it to be this limited. How on earth did you survive?"
"I was lucky."
He didn't seem particularly skeptical of my answer.
From the beginning, it seemed like something I just blurted out. He listened without much thought, lost in his own thoughts.
"Alright. I was planning to teach you something else, but it seems you won't be able to handle it."
He finished organizing his thoughts, took a gulp of beer, and let out a satisfied sigh before speaking again.
"I'll teach you something very, very basic."
"If you're willing to teach, I'm willing to learn anything."
I was already thirsty for knowledge.
Although I attended lectures at the academy, the content was much higher than the level I needed to learn, so it wasn't actually helpful. If not for that, I probably would have failed all my evaluations.
"For now, let's finish eating, and I'll teach you around dinner time since I'm feeling lazy."
Wait, isn't the devil who seeks the truth supposed to be diligent? It was different from what I had imagined.
After finishing our meal, we wandered around the city, not for sightseeing but for unconventional sightseeing. It was only in the evening that we finally climbed a shabby hill near the city.
"I'll teach you here."
"Do you really have to?"
"If I want to, you just have to take it."
"Yes."
With a cloth wrapped around a venomous snake on his back, Salem began drawing a picture on the ground.
"This is what I was going to teach you originally."
I tilted my head as I looked at the picture he drew.
"What is this?"
"Tsk. You really have no talent. Do you remember when I used that mana wave against the dark mages who were trying to raid you?"
"Yes. It was just a simple mana wave..."
"That's right. What I was going to teach you was that originally."
He scattered the drawing on the ground in various directions.
But no matter how I looked at it, all I saw were doodles and some illegible characters.
"You gather them and then explode them. Like this. And then, even with a simple mana wave, you can blow your opponent away. What if you use it in magic? Or apply it to physical activity with mana?"
Although I didn't understand what it was, if the principle behind the mana wave he used could be applied to magic or physical activity with mana, it seemed to have tremendous destructive power.
The problem was that even if he showed me how to do it, I couldn't learn it. But I nodded as if I thought I was capable.
"Thank you."
This time, I sincerely thanked him.
Considering that even the self-proclaimed master, Karun, hadn't spoken to me lately, I was in a position where I had to be grateful even for the intention to teach.
"Now erase this and let me teach you something that you can handle. It might be helpful to you."
Salem showed a broad smile, radiating confidence.