Chapter 31

Edel was a girl who understood the darkness of the world better than anyone.

She belonged to the imperial family’s direct assassination unit, “Nightmare.”

True to its name, “Nightmare” was completely unknown to the public and operated solely under the emperor’s command.

Even Lumina, a princess of the imperial family, had no knowledge of “Nightmare” existence.

At present, she likely only saw Edel as “a girl with slightly above-average swordsmanship”.

Of course, being the second-ranked student in the Knight Department was impressive, but her standard was set by Ariel.

In reality, the gap in swordsmanship between Ariel and Edel was so great that the title of top and second-ranked barely seemed to apply. Ariel was overwhelmingly superior.

But that was only when Edel refrained from using assassination techniques and fought purely with the sword.

At any rate, the moment when Edel would truly shine was a little further ahead in the story.

Still, seeing Aslan and Edel together like that now felt strangely out of place.

Early in the novel, Edel had clearly disliked Aslan.

Having grown up witnessing all the darkness in the world, Edel naturally clashed with Aslan, who tried to understand and view such a world in a positive light.

And that contrast would later be revealed during a sparring match within the Knight Department.

Edel, putting in a bit of her true intent, would use her assassination techniques, and Aslan would manage to respond to them.

Through that, Edel would come to acknowledge Aslan… something along those lines.

The reason this was worth mentioning now was because it related to an upcoming part of the story.

The plot that would unfold following the first episode, the “Combat Practice Class”.

It was the “Departmental Combat Practice”.

If the previous “Combat Practice Class” had been a practice session held among students of the same department, then the upcoming “Departmental Combat Practice” involved students from different departments facing off against each other.

In other words, it meant that students from the Knight Department and the Magic Department would engage in combat practice.

The most important event in this episode was none other than “Ariel’s defeat”.

Her opponent was, of course, Lumina.

With Lumina and the Magic Department winning both major duels, they began to look down on the Knight Department. Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, the Knight Department students rallied around Ariel and confronted the Magic Department, leading to escalating conflict.

This was the essence of Chapter 1.

In the rematch that followed, Ariel injured Leena, which prompted a backlash from Aslan and Lumina, who had been observing the situation. This clash ultimately resulted in open hostilities between the two departments.

Although Ariel, who had caused the incident by injuring Leena, apologized to both Aslan and Leena and asked them to understand that things had gotten a bit too heated….Aslan who was upset that his childhood friend had been hurt rejected Ariel and sided with Lumina in opposing her…

That was how Aslan and Lumina emerged victorious, and Ariel was pushed to the sidelines as the first chapter came to an end.

In that sequence of events, Edel had no role.

She couldn’t reveal her assassination techniques, and being originally aligned with the imperial faction, she ended up losing to a student from the Magic Department, despite being the second-ranked student in the Knight Department.

However—

The situation had changed.

Now that she had shown a bit of her ability while taking care of Aslan, it was unclear how that might influence the story moving forward.

“What are you doing?”

And it was also uncertain how Ariel’s future might change.

Although the tension between the Knight and Magic Departments still remained, Ariel hadn’t used that conflict to form her own faction, nor did she have any real connection to either Aslan or Leena.

In this situation, whether Ariel would act aggressively toward Leena and whether that would trigger the opening of Chapter 1 remained unknown.

“What are you doing right now?”

But in any case, it was all something I had to take responsibility for.

Even if I had lost my memories, it didn’t change the fact that I had been the one to set all of this in motion.

Anyway, I was now trying to take responsibility for it…

“How long are you going to just sit there?”

Ariel’s cold voice rang in my ears.

“…I’m just taking a short break.”

“You’ve been resting for twenty minutes after doing just ten push-ups.”

“…….”

Well, what could I do if this was the limit of my physical ability?

***

After briefly telling Ariel that I was going to the restroom, I slipped out of the Knight Department’s training hall.

The place I headed to was the drill ground located right next to the training hall.

It was to check on Aslan and Edel in preparation for the progression of the upcoming story.

As expected, Edel wasn’t properly taking care of Aslan.

It was more like a one-sided beating than a sparring match.

Still, since Aslan was essentially a blank slate, even that would be of some help.

After all, Aslan was the protagonist.

Even in that situation, he was probably learning Edel’s sword techniques.

As I silently watched the two of them, Edel’s eyes met mine.

After meeting my gaze, she briefly abandoned Aslan and began cautiously approaching me.

“Hi. I’m Edel.”

Before I knew it, she had come right up to me and greeted me in a flat, expressionless voice.

That was part of Edel’s charm.

There was something about her small frame and blank expression that stirred a protective instinct.

Even so, I couldn’t forget the fact that she was an assassin.

“Ah, yeah. Nice to meet you. I’m Ethan Bernard.”

She greeted me, so I had to return it.

At my greeting, Edel nodded and plopped down beside me.

It was a bit surprising how easily she sat down next to someone she had just met, but I figured it was just because she was indifferent to that sort of thing.

“I heard about you. That you’re close with Her Highness. I’m close with her too. So, that means we…”

“What, we’re friends or something?”

“No. There’s no such thing as friends in this world. Only rivals, or temporary allies whose goals happen to align.”

“So, are you saying we’re just temporary allies for now?”

“Mhmm. Probably. As long as things stay the way they are.”

At her core, Edel was a girl with negativity built into her like a passive skill.

Considering her backstory, it wasn’t something entirely incomprehensible.

“What are you doing here? This is the Knight Department.”

“I know. Someone called me.”

When I turned my head toward the training hall, Edel followed my gaze and looked in the same direction.

There stood Ariel, her hair tied back, silently staring off into space.

“I know. Top of the Knight Department. Heir to the House of Prodenteia. I heard you’re close with her too.”

“That’s right.”

“Why.”

Her voice was so flat that I wasn’t sure if it was a question at first, but the way she looked at me with those bright, curious eyes made it clear that it was.

“I don’t know, really. Apparently, we had some kind of connection a long time ago.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

I still wasn’t used to her monotone way of speaking.

“I thought there’d be more to it. Her Highness the Princess, and Lady Ariel….they’re both the kind of people it’d be good to get close to.”

“I won’t deny that, but being someone it’s good to get close to is a slightly different thing.”

“Like what.”

“Someone who can laugh with you, and cry with you. That’s the kind of person it’s good to get close to.”

“…….”

Edel tilted her head slightly with a puzzled expression on her face.

For a girl who had lived her life bearing the weight of the world’s darkness, it might have been a difficult concept to grasp.

“What do you mean by that?”

See?

She didn’t get it.

Not that I expected her to understand it all at once anyway.

The darkness etched into her soul was psychological. No matter what I said, it wasn’t something that would change instantly.

“In short, I mean someone you can trust. Someone you can open your heart to. Who will understand and empathize with you.”

“There’s no such person. The people I know…”

“I get what you’re thinking. But it’s not that such people don’t exist. They’re just rare. It just means you haven’t met one yet. But maybe you will, someday.”

Edel stared blankly at me.

It was hard to read the emotion in those dazed eyes, but I could tell she was grappling with something internally.

Truthfully, what I said was about Aslan.

Someday, Aslan would come to truly understand Edel and bring her comfort.

“Her Highness and the noble lady. They’re both that kind of person to you.”

“That’s not quite right. If I had to choose, maybe Ariel could become that kind of person.”

“Why. Between Her Highness and the noble lady, obviously it’s Her Highness.”

“Like I said earlier, status isn’t what makes someone worth getting close to.”

According to Lumina, I had spent her birthday enjoying the festival with Ariel.

Honestly, I don’t remember much of it. But if I were to go back to that time, stripped of my current memories, I think I’d make the same choice.

The reason is simple.

I want to see the epilogues of the other “losing heroines”.

It’s a thought that’s stayed with me ever since I became aware of my past life.

That’s probably why the me from before losing my memory made that choice. And I had to take responsibility for the changes that came from it.

Even if I’ve lost my memories, I’m still me.

And naturally, Edel was included among those affected.

“And I… I’d like for you to grow closer to me too.”

Hearing my words, Edel continued to stare at me with that same blank look.

I felt like I’d said something kind of profound, but with no real reaction, it was starting to feel a bit awkward.

“Okay.”

With just that one word, Edel walked away.

And still, I had no idea what she was thinking.