Edsilla National Magic University's campus. I'm aimlessly walking around that vast and expansive place, just out of curiosity to know what it feels like.
It was once a dream of mine.
To walk leisurely through a university bursting with flowers, student ID tucked in my pocket.
Huff-puff─ Huff-puff─ Huff-puff─
──Faster!
"... what the hell?"
But, the scene unfolding before me is the complete opposite of that dreamy landscape.
Huff-puff─ Huff-puff─ Huff-puff─
A bunch of people sprinting at full speed on the sports field. Among them, I can see the faces of Kain, Asher, and Gerkhen.
It seems to be the welcome party for the freshmen of the Knight Department.
I'm glad I didn't go.
"Even though it's the entrance ceremony today, they're doing that."
"They're desperate to join the fraternity."
Elise responded to my muttering.
"What? When did you get here?"
"...I've been here from the start."
Elise flicked her hair with a glance at me.
"Don't you have any such aspirations?"
"What aspirations?"
"The fraternity."
The 'fraternity' that only men can join, and the 'sorority' that only women can join.
They are loosely referred to as the 'final clubs' of the university social scene, and their influence extends far beyond the university to all fronts of politics and finance.
I already have a firm grip on Libra, so it doesn't concern me.
"Not really. What about you?"
"I'm going to the Magic Tower anyway."
Elise shrugged her shoulders.
"Besides, I've already received countless offers."
"Congratulations."
"Not really? It's not something to congratulate me on. It's not a boast for me."
"Was that sarcasm just now?"
"...What?"
She furrowed her brow. She's surprisingly oblivious.
"More importantly, have you been on [Bethune]?"
"No. I'm on a break."
Elise snorted.
"I've been diligently connecting. Raised my level a bit. Laying the groundwork. It's going to be the real world soon, right?"
"I'm envious."
"..."
Elise looked at me with an inscrutable expression, trying to gauge whether I was being sarcastic or not.
"I was just playing along."
"What are you... Anyway. Sir Raelro called for you. Come to the building by next Monday at 3 PM."
"Okay. I'll go."
I walked through the campus quietly and reached the dormitory. It was the site of the Knight Department's dormitory. The names were simply Dormitory 1 and Dormitory 2.
Elise asked.
"Are you staying at the dorm?"
"I've applied for it."
"You've applied, huh..."
That's when it happened.
Click─
The sound of a camera shutter echoed from somewhere. It rang clearly in our keen ears, and we immediately turned to look in that direction.
There was a reporter.
"Ah, that person...!"
Elise gritted her teeth in anger as she glared at the fleeing figure.
"What is the university doing, not managing outsiders properly..."
"Is that the reporter who spread the dating rumors?"
Elise flinched at my words.
"...That's right. That's the reporter who spread the rumors. Lately, they've been sticking around like paparazzi..."
She paused for a moment and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't you care?"
"About what? It's not true, so why bother."
"...Must be nice. You're so carefree."
Elise pouted as if she was dissatisfied with something.
Swoosh──
Suddenly, a 「Delivery Box」 flew in from the sky. It was a box adorned with a bright gold color.
"What's this? Is this your box?"
"No."
Elise took the box and showed me one side. Engraved on the surface was the initial 'KEN'.
Ken.
It's Ken Petra.
"Does your father use this too?"
As the developer of the 「Delivery Box」, I was once again amazed. And proud, too.
Of course, strictly speaking, it's knowledge invented by someone completely unknown in the future, but I'm the one who refined it to be much more useful, right?
"Didn't I tell you? This 「Delivery Box」 is quite useful."
Elise took something out of the box. It was a sealed letter. It seemed to be a letter from her father.
"Why not just text?"
She read the letter and replied.
"It's election season. You never know when you might be wiretapped or eavesdropped on."
"That's intense."
"Intense?"
Elise put down the letter and took a step back from me.
"The re-election is almost certain. The problem is the Round Table."
The Round Table. Simply put, it means 'a table where re-election is not necessary'.
Only thirteen families can ascend to this Round Table, and as long as they are not challenged and ousted by other families, they reign as Senators indefinitely. Since it's a right given to the family itself, it naturally becomes hereditary.
The Petra family is aiming for a seat at that Round Table.
In other words, they have to go to war with one of the thirteen families.
"I see. That's going to be bloody."
Elise looked at me. Her eyes were slightly moist in a strange way.
"...I'll go."
"Yeah."
Elise turned around. She took a step back as if dancing a waltz.
But her legs quickly stopped.
"Should I not go?"
"...What?"
At my reply, Elise shook her head.
"It was nothing. Just talking to myself. Go ahead."
She tells me to go but leaves first herself. Step by step. She walks away like a noble.
I watched her back and let out a hollow laugh.
"Am I sick?"
...
In the shaded park of the national university campus, Elise sat on a college bench looking up at the sky.
"Sigh..."
She let out a light sigh and lifted her father's letter.
[Congratulations on becoming a university student. However, from now on, be sure to distinguish who you associate with. I hope there won't be any more useless articles like last time. You are not an ordinary person. You are the heir of Petra, a noble, and now an adult. You must take care of yourself.]
A letter clearly meant as a warning. Considering the timing, someone from the family within the university must have already reported something to her father.
Probably, Shion is not included in the 'people to associate with' that her father mentioned.
No, perhaps it was because of Shion that he sent this letter.
But… does Father remember?
The day he led Shion's mother to her death.
"Tch."
It would be a relief if he had forgotten.
She felt uneasy instead.
That Father, even remembering that fact, might act as if nothing was wrong. That he might not feel a twinge of guilt.
"...'You have to take care of yourself.'"
Elise read the last line of the letter.
"Independence..."
That's partly why she was genuinely investing time in [Bethune].
Right now, her foundation is all Petra. The buildings, the house, the clothes, all are given by the family.
Therefore, she wants to have something that she has built on her own, even if it's a small part.
Of course, that doesn't mean she intends to reject the family. There's no reason to.
Because the family is precious.
Because they are family.
...But.
She quietly picked up her smartphone. In the Notepad app, there were notes like 'Classes Shion Ascal is trying to register for', 'Whether he has a dorm or not', 'No thoughts of joining a fraternity'.
Why did I record such things?
Shion Ascal is incompatible with Petra.
Surely, one day, I will have to abandon one of the two….
"Sigh..."
She quietly clenched her head.
There was a severe pain in her temples.
* * *
In the residence of the Endex building. Having returned from the university, I am slowly organizing my things.
"Shion. Are you really going?"
Soliette looked at me with somewhat pitiful eyes.
"You can go too if you want. Room assignments are automatic."
The dormitory of the Knight's Academy is automatic admission without application. The dormitory fee for the Knight's Academy is free, and there are always extra rooms. There are only about 150 new students a year.
Soliette shook her head.
"I will stay here. I'm used to this space now."
"...I thought so."
I took out a cage I had brought in advance. I had asked Grawl to bring a little guy over.
"Here."
I opened the cage. A small cat walked out from inside.
"...Oh."
Even if it was fully grown, it was only the size of a human palm. An orange-furred cat.
Soliette's eyes went blank for a moment.
The little one waddled over and then meowed, making a cute sound with its mouth shaped like a little triangle.
"How about it."
I can't always be by Soliette's side. That dependency isn't good for Soliette either. The insomnia caused by loneliness must be cured.
Meow-
The cat meowed and approached her, rubbing its body against her feet.
"Wow... Shion, look at this."
"I see."
I had asked for the most affectionate one, and indeed it was very affectionate.
I told Soliette.
"Live with this one. Keep the old man Belthos company too. It's good for the old man."
"...Yes. I understand."
"Let's live a normal life."
Then Soliette turned to look at me.
"Someday, even when the revenge is over."
"..."
She wore a smile-like expression.
"I'll try, but a cat's lifespan is shorter than a human's."
"Thinking about parting from the moment of meeting makes many things tiresome."
I put my finger on Soliette's forehead.
"In the end, the process is important."
That's why everything has a lifespan. It's precious because it disappears, and it's beautiful because it's not eternal.
If the default value of humans was immortality, wouldn't they eventually go extinct, not having offspring and committing suicide one by one...
I, a time-limited person, am rationalizing it like that.
"I know. But, the happier the process, the greater the sorrow of parting, isn't it?"
"Then just kill it now."
"...What?"
Soliette narrowed her eyes.
"I said, just kill it now."
"..."
"Don't you like that either?"
Soliette growled silently and held the cat in her arms. Anyway, she must mean she'll raise it.
Ding-
Just then, a message came on my smartphone.
[Deployment order]
[Recommended arrival within 30 minutes]
[Coordinates]
I put my phone away and said,
"Decide on a name by the time I come back."
"I've already decided. It's Solmandy."
"...Okay."
Watching Soliette gently stroking the little one, I smiled a small smile.
* * *
Late at night. I arrived at the deployment location. It was a restaurant.
"Hey. Is it right to come later than your superior?"
Bell Moore was already there. He was cutting a steak and gestured to me.
"Go down first. I'll eat, then go."
"Where is downstairs?"
"Go to the kitchen."
"..."
At the back of the restaurant. There was a person leaning against the entrance to the kitchen.
As I slowly approached, he opened the door for me.
I quickly scanned the interior. The kitchen scene was ordinary. Cooking busily, washing dishes, flames rising...
"Are you the rookie?"
Then a black man looked at me and chuckled.
"Follow me."
He went into the storage room on one side of the kitchen. I followed him.
"It's your first time. Don't be surprised."
Bang!
He closed the window door.
At that moment, the entire warehouse vibrated. It was going down like an elevator, down, down.
Then I realized.
It's the [Intelligence Agency].
The independent facility where Libra's 'Chaser' works. Libra's underworld, reconstructed as a single facility under Edsilla.
Ding──!
Soon the warehouse door opened.
Beyond it was a gray space. People in suits, without a word, coming and going like dust in a desolate atmosphere.
"Welcome."
This place not only eavesdrops and wiretaps, but also collects all information domestically and internationally in Edsilla, and operates accordingly-
"Welcome to Libra's Shadow."
"...Is the restaurant the entrance?"
This was my first time at the Intelligence Agency as well.
It was such a massive facility.
"No. There are multiple entrances. We'll only tell the rookie one. As you accumulate years, you'll learn more. Now, get to work~"
The black man went back up, and Bell Moore appeared from the opposite side.
"Hey."
"Weren't you having a meal?"
"I finished eating and came down. Follow me."
He guided me. I followed Bell Moore through the offices.
The rustling sound of papers being flipped.
The scratching sound of a pen writing.
The footsteps of the employees.
It was a remarkably bland space.
"Here, you can't use electronic devices at all. Even mobile phones don't work. So, everything is analog. It's inconvenient, but, well, most of the work is covered by an Artifact."
At the exit of such a quiet office, when he pushed open the door leading outside, it was a wide tunnel.
"…A tunnel?"
"Yeah, an underground tunnel."
Bell Moore rummaged through his pocket and took out a car key.
Beep-
One of the many parked SUVs responded.
"The Intelligence Agency is very wide. It's divided into sections. Get in."
He got in the car first. I also got in the passenger seat.
"Let's go."
* * *
We reached quite a deep place within the Intelligence Agency. To my eyes, it was a 'prison'.
"Here it is."
Libra was operating a prison at the family level. It was mind-boggling.
"It's a prison."
"Yeah. It's for prisoners who have committed crimes against Libra. But… today's work is not here. Follow me."
Bell Moore led me to some kind of interrogation room.
Knock, knock-
He knocked and opened the door.
"Oh. Everyone's here."
There were two other Chasers in there. One was a man, and one was a woman.
"The rookie?"
"Yeah. I'm going to switch."
"Be prepared. This bastard won't open his mouth."
Beyond the reinforced glass, a man was sitting. His head was deeply bowed.
"Good luck."
Two Chasers patted my shoulder in turn and left. I asked Bell Moore.
"What's going on?"
"Well, we need to make that bastard talk."
Bell Moore sat down on a chair.
"What do you mean by 'make him talk'?"
"Do you know a Libra Chaser has been kidnapped?"
"I don't."
"Anyway, they've been kidnapped. The one who kidnapped the Chaser is a guy named 'Welton', and during the kidnapping, that guy over there had his leg cut off. That's why he couldn't run away."
I glanced down. Indeed, one leg was missing.
"We're interrogating him right now… but he's not talking. The purpose of the kidnapping. Who he is. Who's backing him."
I scanned him from bottom to top.
His only leg was pitch black. It was all hair. Almost no gaps, densely packed. His hair was just as thick, and his beard and mustache were deeply connected.
However, when I saw a part of his bare face not hidden by hair,
"..."
I almost laughed without realizing it.
Indeed, it was someone I recognized.
A person etched into my memory.
And in my final memory at that…
"Ah. This bastard is opening his eyes again. Do you know who he is?"
Bell Moore startled and stood up.
At that moment, I felt the need to control my emotions, but today, I couldn't help it.
"No, I don't know. But…"
"He kidnapped a person from Libra, so he can't be forgiven?"
"...Well, yes."
I answered, grinding my teeth. But, ironically, I also smiled.
"He can't be forgiven. At least not by me."
The guy on the other side of the reinforced glass is as hairy as a beast.
He's actually half a beast.
A werewolf── a wolf-man.
The one who killed me before my regression.