Chapter : 28
I’ll Save You in the Bad Ending Route
A New Direction
“W-What… What’s happening! Another spell!”
The thug quickly found another spell and chanted it.
“!”
As the man cast the spell, a powerful gust of wind swirled through the room, aimed at Aaron.
But when the whirlwind reached Aaron, it turned into a gentle breeze. The soft wind ruffled his handsome black hair a few times before fading away.
Aaron looked at the thug with a rigid expression, as if he wanted to say, What a pathetic spell.
“…That girl’s spell…?”
“It’s affected by magical attack power… so it only has a 10% hit rate.”
“…Huh…?”
Rowen looked at me blankly, clearly not understanding.
But honestly, she’s still better than me at it. The illegal magic weapon is strong, and she’s able to extract the full effect of a skill that even I can’t use properly…
“While that guy’s messing around, can you undo this?”
“Ah, yes, yes!”
I pointed at the bracelet, and Rowen quickly cast the spell to break its seal.
“W-What… what kind of magic is this?! Y-You mean we were… being fought against with spells like this?!”
The man waved his rapier up and down, shouting at me as if I were absurd.
I, feeling the listener skill in a bad way, laughed arrogantly.
“It’s not the skill itself but how you use it that matters.”
Then Aaron added a comment.
“…I see. No ignorant fool like you could handle a spell like that. Seems you really do lack talent.”
“I won’t accept that! I won’t! Magic is supposed to be… powerful… truly powerful…!”
The thug relentlessly continued using the useless skill. Aaron seemed to realize he didn’t even need to exert effort to counter my skill. He just stood there and let my magic hit him. Eventually, the thug grew exhausted and started panting.
“N-No… This can’t be! H-How… is this…”
He rolled his eyes and collapsed to the floor.
“So weak…”
I felt the listener skill annoyingly active again.
“Ah, all done.”
As Rowen finally broke the bracelet’s seal, Aaron had easily defeated the thug. Once the bracelet fell from my wrist, the illegal magic weapon lost its power and became nothing more than a chunk of metal.
“Thanks. It’s okay now.”
But Aaron and Rowen, seeing the fallen thug, turned their gazes to me. I sensed something unusual in their eyes.
“W-Why?”
“…I think I need to learn some magic tactics from you.”
“Huh?”
‘Uh… is that a compliment or an insult?’
Anyway, that concluded my kidnapping incident—for now.
The place where I was held turned out to be a cabin in the forest, one of the residences used by illegal weapon dealers. Thanks to my kidnapping, Aaron and Rowen were able to gather a large amount of information about the organization behind illegal weapons.
“They’re producing so many illegal weapons… Their tech seems more advanced than we thought…” Aaron said as he searched the basement.
‘Right. These illegal weapons will be used relentlessly in the war a year from now.’
I had seen so many setups for illegal weapons in the game that I could almost get bored. I thought that if we caught more of the people behind these weapons now, the war a year later might be easier.
“Master, look at this.”
“What is it?”
While searching the basement, Rowen showed a letter to Aaron.
“There’s a lot of info about clients commissioning illegal weapons. This one’s among them.”
Aaron took the letter Rowen handed him and scrutinized it sharply.
“The paper quality is high… must be nobility.”
“The contents are written in code.”
“An unknown code… Judging by how tightly they’ve hidden it, this must be a very powerful family.”
I was organizing boxes of illegal weapons in a corner and approached Aaron.
“Could I see it too?”
“Sure.”
The letter Aaron handed me was covered in a messy, alien-like code. But I had seen similar letters in the game.
As I tried to recall it, <Observer’s Sight> automatically activated.
[‘Letter from Lubfe’ : ? ? ?]
The window that popped up didn’t have much information either. I would need to decipher the code to fully understand it. But it was enough to know it was Lubfe’s letter.
‘…This might be useful later. I’ll remember it.’
[Keyword]
[‘Letter from Lubfe’ : A letter from a noble of a powerful family commissioning illegal weapons. They apparently used a pseudonym and code to hide their identity.]
‘A new window, huh? Nice. Won’t forget it later.’
Satisfied, I returned the letter to Aaron.
“Let me know when you decipher the code.”
“Sure.”
After everything was sorted, the remaining investigation was left to the Aaron family’s knights, and Rowen and I got on the carriage back to school.
‘I’ll just go to my room and rest…’
As soon as I settled in the carriage, all tension drained from me, and fatigue hit.
“I’ll heal you.”
Rowen kept casting healing magic beside me. The golden magical energy flowing from his hands eased my fatigue.
“Thanks for saving me.”
“It’s a relief the injuries aren’t serious… I was really worried.”
Seeing Rowen’s concerned green eyes comforted me. He gently patted my shoulder with his warm hand.
“Yeah, you went through a lot, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared.”
“Thanks for coming to rescue me.”
Aaron didn’t answer and went to continue gathering evidence. Rowen pulled a large book from a small pouch.
“This is yours, right?”
Rowen held the book I had bought at lunch.
“Yes! How did you find it?”
“The messenger birds tracked your trace here.”
‘Guess it stayed where I fainted.’
I opened the book to check for damage. Thankfully, it was intact.
“…Miss…”
Rowen spoke to me cautiously.
“I was thinking while watching your magic today…”
“Huh? Oh.”
Hesitating, he carefully continued.
“How about unlocking a new magic skill?”
I was surprised by the suggestion.
“A new magic skill?”
“Seeing what the intruder used earlier convinced me. Your magic… doesn’t fit your personality and seems too weak.”
“M-My… personality?”
“Yes. Magic tends to follow the caster’s personality and emotions. All your spells are gentle…”
I thought of Airan’s magic. Right, Airan was like that. So maybe I had to act like Airan to use the skill…
“You’re smart and observant.”
“…? Huh?”
Rowen’s sudden words caught me off guard.
“Me?”
I unknowingly made a stunned expression. I smiled like Airan normally does, but Rowen seemed to see past that smile.
“Don’t feel like you have to cling to old magic. If there’s an area you’re confident in or a spell you want to learn, come to me. If I’m okay with it!”
Rowen spoke calmly, showing maturity and care despite being my junior. I paused, wondering if I should respond as myself or as Airan, then removed the fake smile and happily replied:
“I’ll do that.”
So there was a way. Rowen suggested a direction I hadn’t thought of. I didn’t need to force myself to act like Airan after all. Asking Rowen was definitely the right choice.
By the time we reached school, it was already 1 a.m. Aaron and Rowen only returned after finishing their investigation. I dragged my sleepy body back to my dorm room. But as soon as I opened the door, Pina rushed at me.
“Lana!”
“Pina! You’re still awake?”
I froze in shock at the door. Pina clung to my shoulder, sobbing.
“I was worried sick! The professor said you were kidnapped!”
Her voice was high-pitched and sniffly. She must have been crying until I returned. I gently stroked her head.
“Sorry for making you worry…”
“Y-You’re hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“I’m so glad you’re safe… really…”
I caressed Pina’s soft red hair until she calmed down. Being back in my room with her eased my racing heart and grounded me in reality. I reassured her several times that I was fine, nothing happened, and apologized. Eventually, I was able to calm her.
Seeing Pina’s gloomy face made my heart ache, so I prepared myself and sat on the sofa.
Pina held my hand tightly. Her cold hand slowly regained warmth.
I recounted everything that happened today. At first, she listened fearfully, but as I elaborated heroically how I escaped from the intruder, her eyes lit up.
“So that’s how you got out. Really, nothing happened.”
“…Lana has really grown strong. Amazing.”
“Huh? Really?”
“You’re really becoming a wonderful mage…”
Pina blew her nose into a tissue.
“You once said you wanted to get stronger. You were too weak… But now, you’re becoming a mage stronger than anyone else. Truly amazing.”
She smiled widely, showing her teeth. Seeing that, I wondered what the real Airan had been thinking before I arrived.
‘Is that why Airan turned to dark magic?’
I imagined Airan writing in her diary, thinking about her stronger future self. But would she really risk her body for it?
Feeling frustrated just thinking about it, I sighed repeatedly. Pina then got up and lit the magical lamp on the side table.
The lamp’s warmth spread gently, and Pina handed me a cushion, saying:
“Lana, working hard is fine… but today, don’t think about anything. Just rest. The exams are soon, so you need to take care of your condition!”
Her smile gleamed in the light of the lamp. The cushion she gave me was soft, and in the warm air of the heated room, my body began to relax.
“Thanks.”
The sensation of lying in the cold prison all day was fading away.
The next afternoon, thanks to Rowen’s healing, I had no aches or pains. I ate lunch as usual and headed to the Emerald Garden with Prea for a tea party.
The sky was clear, and the garden was warm. Sitting on the mat Prea brought, I found myself receiving unexpected care.
“Airan, aren’t you warm?”
Prea handed me a blanket.
“Yes… very.”
I wrapped it around my lap.
“Here, drink this too.”
This time, she gave me warm cocoa.
“Th-Thank you.”
I drank it while glancing at Prea. She watched me drink before suddenly shouting:
“Wait, why didn’t you tell me you were kidnapped yesterday?!”
“Huh, huh?”
I was startled by the sudden question. Prea didn’t wait for an answer and looked at Rowen.
“Rowen, why did you do that?!”
Rowen, pouring cocoa beside her, sneezed from spilling the cocoa powder.
