Ellnor.

The day after. In the captains' room.

A visible gloom shrouded the space as several individuals sat alongside the table.

"There's a Mirror Crack, and a Terror rank Hellhound alongside a few lower ranked ones. That's not accounting for the Necromancer whose strength appears to be around the same level if not stronger."

Professor Hollowe was the one to speak.

"I've already asked for reinforcements. The Empire will soon send a platoon to our aid."

His expression was extremely gloomy, and besides him and Professor Bridgette, no one else from Haven was present.

The cadets had no business being here.

".....How long will the reinforcements take?"

Captain Travis asked from his seat.

"Will they send reinforcements immediately, or will they wait a while?"

"I don't know."

Professor Hollowe answered with a frown.

Central had only told him that they'd send some troops and high-ranking knights to deal with the situation.

However, he wasn't sure how long it would take for them to come.

Especially since the situation was still manageable on their side. While high-ranking knights weren't sparse, they were still highly sought after.

It was hard to mobilize them quickly unless it was an emergency.

"Tsk."

The Professor clicked his tongue at the realization.

Recalling the scene from the day prior, his eyes closed. Memories of the past resurfaced, and his eyes twitched.

'Again, I've failed.'

"Professor Hollowe."

A voice broke him out of his thoughts. It was none other than Professor Bridgette.

"What should we do about the death of the cadet....?"

"....."

What sort of expression was he currently making?

Hollowe asked him to himself, leaning back on his chair.

They had already relayed the news of the cadet's death to the Academy. Had it been any other cadet, the situation wouldn't have been as troublesome.

However, this was the 'Black Star'.

The strongest first year within Haven. One of the Empire's most promising geniuses.

It was an extremely sensitive situation.

Would the Academy send someone over to retrieve his body?

'But what if he's not dead?'

Professor Hollowe rubbed his forehead. He had seen him get swallowed up by the undead. There was no way he was able to survive.

It was unrealistic.

With such thoughts, he sighed.

"For now, nothing."

Gradually, Professor Hollowe found his voice.

"I've already relayed everything to the Academy. What happens next, will be up to them."

He helped himself up from his seat.

Taking a moment to look around, he grimly nodded his head.

"Meeting dismissed."

***

At the same time. In another part of the town.

Leon sat down and stared at the flowing river. The water was crystal clear, and the cold wind swept over, scattering his hair all over his face.

"....."

In the silence that surrounded him, the chair on the opposite end of his table scraped and a figure sat down.

"What are you doing?"

Leon turned to look in the direction of the figure.

With long flowing purple hair, it was none other than Evelyn. Her gaze. It looked strange to him.

"Do you..."

So was her tone.

It sounded like a mix of sorrow and confusion.

".... not feel anything from his death?"

"His death?"

Right.

Julien was dead.

Or at least, that was what everyone thought. He knew he wasn't. Especially not after seeing his gaze at the end.

Leon knew then that Julien had something planned.

He was always like this. At the very least, the current version of Julien. He was someone who surprised him time and time again.

It was for this reason that he wasn't worried.

Rather, he was curious.

What exactly was he going to do...?

'I'll play along for now.'

".....I don't know how I'm feeling."

"Haa."

Evelyn sighed while leaning her head over the table and massaged her forehead.

"I also don't know. I really don't know."

She appeared lost.

"Do I hate him? Or do I not hate him?"

Rumbling to herself, she ruffled her hair.

Eventually, she stopped and raised her head to face Leon.

"What even is he?"

"....?"

"Every time I see him, he's a completely different person. I know you told me he's not the same Julien from the past, but I can't get the image out of my mind. What the hell am I even supposed to do...?"

Evelyn's voice cracked at certain points but no tears came out of her eyes.

In Leon's eyes, he could tell that while her lingering feelings from childhood were still there, they had majorly faded.

They weren't romantic, but they were still there.

It was for this reason that her gaze felt burdensome.

Especially when she went on to ask,

"Which version of Julien died?"

"....."

Which version?

Leon didn't know how to answer that.

But since he said he was going to play along, he eventually gave her an answer.

"The one that you don't know."

"The one that I don't know...?"

Evelyn blinked, tilting her head in confusion.

"What does that eve-"

"The current Julien is not the same Julien from your memories."

"I know."

Leon placed his hand over the table and stood up.

"If you know then you should already know the answer."

"Uh...?"

Evelyn blinked again, seemingly unsure of how to react.

Taking one last look at her, Leon answered.

"Wiping away all previous memories of the Julien in your memories. What do you feel about the death of the Julien you met at the Academy? The Black Star."

He tapped on the table once.

"....That's the Julien that died."

Leon left shortly after that.

"What...?"

Evelyn sat there in silence for a long time. It appeared as though she was in deep thought. She wasn't the only one.

Not far from her, another figure sat.

Having overhead the entire conversation, Kiera put her pencil down.

"....."

Before her were several books.

Right, she was studying. Why was she even studying to begin with?

And these questions.

Why were they so fucking hard?

"Fucking hell."

Skrrtckk

Scrunching up the paper before her, Kiera cursed and tossed it to the side.

".....So annoying."

Studying was meant to be something she had started to like.

And yet...

Why was it so fucking annoying all of a sudden?

"Damn it."

***

"You're awake again. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. My head throbbed, and just everything hurt. However, that sensation didn't last for very long.

".....Um."

Channeling my mana, I found that my injuries had healed yet again. Of course, they were still not fully healed, but I had worsened them during my training.

My gaze unconsciously drifted towards the one in question.

"Thank you."

And words came out of my mouth.

"...."

They were met with silence as she kept her back facing my direction.

I didn't mind it.

I had started to grow used to her quietness.

"What a rude lass."

Daphne, who was sitting beside me, shook her head.

"She used to be a lot more cheerful you know?"

"Hurr... Hurr... She used to swing on my arms at times."

"Right, right! I remember that. She was so cute."

"Hurr. Hurr."

"Aurelia? Do you want to swing on Gork's arms again?"

"....."

"Hahaha."

"Hurr. Hurr."

"Aurelia? Do you want to swing on Gork's arms again?"

"Hurr. Hurr."

While the two laughed, I helped myself up. My eyelids felt heavy, and I wanted nothing more than to sleep.

But I had no time for that.

I needed to continue to train.

I needed to upgrade [Hands of Malady]. I was close.

95%

I was just missing 5%.

I was close and yet it felt so far. Especially when the progress was starting to stagnate.

"Haa."

Right, whatever.

I should be able to get it in the next session.

Or the one after.

"....."

Yet again, I lost track of time.

Time seemed to flow at a different speed as I just focused on absorbing the [Curse] element in the air and tried to understand it.

A familiar pattern started to set.

I'd first lose track of time.

Drip!

Then, the sweat would come.

As if the two had some form of agreement, pain would come right after that.

It stabbed right through my body. Like thousands of needles had punctured every part of my body.

"Uhk...!"

I'd withhold the pain for as long as I possibly could.

My pain tolerance was high.

And yet, even I had no choice but to succumb to it after a certain point.

The world would turn dark, and I'd wake up again.

"Wakey~ Wakey~ How are you feeling?"

A familiar greeting.

It had almost become a routine for me.

"Like shit."

Rubbing my eyes, I looked around me.

The pain was gone again, and my body was healed. It was time to start again.

I waved my hand to check on my progress.

"...."

Only to find myself pausing and blinking my eyes.

95%

"Uh...?"

I covered my mouth. For a moment, I felt like laughing.

"Haha."

No, I did laugh.

It just came out of my mouth without my permission.

I blinked to make sure that I was seeing correctly.

And yet...

95%

The results remained the same.

There was no change.

I felt my lips tremble.

'Did I just waste a day...?'

All that pain, and time. What was it for?

I rubbed my head.

'No, now is not the time to panic.'

Perhaps I had not been training hard enough.

I looked around me. My gaze eventually paused on Aurelia. The entire time, her only focus was the Dragon.

It was as if everything else mattered little to her.

I opened my mouth but closed it again.

'Again.'

I repeated the cycle once more.

I had no choice but to.

The only person I could rely on was myself.

Closing my eyes, I went through the cycle once more.

It would first start with the immersion.

Then, the sweat.

Pain at last.

And then...

Black.

95%

"....."

I blankly stared at the window with my back on the ground.

"I don't understand."

Why...?

Why had the progress halted?

Was there something that I was missing? Clearly, this method had been working up to now. Why wasn't it working anymore?

"Why?"

My eyes yet again unconsciously drifted towards Aurelia.

I wanted to ask her but stopped myself again. I knew she wouldn't answer me. This was something that I needed to find for myself.

"....."

But regardless of how hard I tried, my mind remained blank.

I couldn't think of anything.

'This isn't something I can do.'

The painful realization of my situation became clear to me.

Raising my hand, I blocked the distant sun. It was shining brightly, and my eyes were starting to hurt.

A shadow cast over my face as I did.

Clenching my fist, my hand slowly turned purple.

"..."

Feeling the rough surface of the ground with my back, I turned my palm and looked at my hand. It was entirely purple due to [Hands of Malady] being in effect.

A simple touch and I'd be able to cast the spell on another person.

A rather convenient skill when used alongside Etherweave.

"I wonder how it feels."

I had used it so many times on opponents, and yet, I still wasn't sure how others felt when put under the spell.

Would they just feel weak? ....Or was there more to it?

"..."

A sudden thought crossed my mind.

Before I knew it, my hand was near my face.

And then...

I placed it over my face.

"..."

I couldn't remember anything after that.