How to End a One-Sided Love – Episode 17 (17/110)
“According to Linus’s investigation, it’s not that serious and the number of creatures is relatively small, but I’d feel uneasy if you got hurt.”
The senior looked down at me quietly and continued speaking in a calm voice.
I found myself at a loss for words.
Even though I knew he was just worrying about me as a person.
“…Senior, you’re really kind.”
A gentle person.
How cruel it is—how could I possibly not like someone like this?
“W-Well, if you say things like that, I won’t even be able to insist anymore.”
I awkwardly smiled and scratched my cheek.
“Still, looking at the curriculum for next semester, there’s content related to monsters, and there are also newly modified magic circles this time….”
I’m truly sorry, but I really want to accompany you at least once. Would that be alright?
I looked up at him with my most earnest expression.
“I can handle myself.”
“I know your skills are good.”
I knew it was rude to ask so suddenly. But when would I ever get an experience like this again?
I opened my mouth again, hesitantly.
“I’ll stay right by your side.”
“……”
After a brief silence, the senior slowly turned his head.
“I’ll at least ask.”
“Thank you.”
That was step one completed.
I organized the magic circles I would sketch in my head. There were countless things I wanted to try, but I narrowed it down to the ones I was most confident in.
Still, persuading my father would probably be the hardest part.
“I’m hungry. Shall we go eat?”
Ah, whatever. Let’s fill our stomachs first and think later.
I ran my fingers through my hair, cleared away the empty food bowl, and stood up.
Throughout lunch, I couldn’t tell whether the food was going into my mouth or my nose.
The subjugation was tomorrow—when would the senior speak? Surely he hadn’t forgotten? Or was he just too lazy to mention it?
As various questions floated around in my mind while the meal neared its end—
“Would Caitlyn be able to accompany us for tomorrow’s monster subjugation?”
“Gah!”
A piece of potato got stuck in my throat, and I started coughing. Of all times, he waited until I had almost finished eating to bring it up.
Oh, that startled me.
Patting my chest, I drank the water Noah senior handed me and then spoke.
“Has your daughter agreed to this?”
“Yes, I asked her myself. I wondered if she could accompany us.”
“Kate…!”
My father exclaimed in surprise, while Linus tilted his head with a smile.
“I’m afraid it might be a bit too demanding for the young lady.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll be of help, but I promise I won’t be a burden. My stamina isn’t bad, and I’ve been to the Grania Forest before when I was younger, so I know the terrain.”
Father, please. You don’t doubt your own daughter, do you?
I lightly pounded my chest and confidently spoke, then turned my bright, pleading eyes toward my father as he frowned in thought.
“…I ask for your consideration, Lord Linus.”
Unexpectedly, my father even made a formal request to Linus with a serious expression.
“My daughter is not someone unreliable. Whatever happens, I will not hold Lord Linus responsible.”
“Father….”
I murmured, feeling a lump rise in my chest.
Linus, after hearing my father’s request, let his red eyes glimmer as he pondered briefly. The dark-blue-haired man named Aiden remained silent as ever.
“Aiden, is it alright?”
“Do as you please.”
As Aiden shrugged in reply, Linus broke into a bright smile.
“You may accompany us, young lady. However, you must not stray from Noah’s side.”
“Of course!”
I smiled brightly, simply happy to have been granted permission.
“Still, Noah asking for something is unusual. You must be close.”
Linus chuckled, narrowing his eyes at Noah senior.
Noah glanced toward me and replied calmly.
“Yes, we are close.”
Really?
Unaware, my heart began to race again.
“Ha….”
Leaning against the wall, I let out a hollow laugh repeatedly.
I really have no hope.
It’s fine. Once the next semester starts, I’ll keep my distance. The senior doesn’t feel anything toward me anyway. I’m just a slightly close junior—that’s all, right?
“One, two, three.”
See? Even if the senior leaves in a week, there are still three weeks of vacation left. If I keep myself busy during that time, I’ll be able to give up.
As it happened, I had been invited to the Jenkinson estate the week after next. Echo would probably be there too. I’d chat, play cricket, and forget everything.
“You’re already out here, young lady.”
“If I didn’t feel excited, I wouldn’t be late.”
I smiled awkwardly and clasped my hands behind my back.
Linus tilted his head, pointing at what I was holding.
“Is that yours, young lady?”
“Oh, yes. I’ve taken a lot of notes recently. Could you take a look at my magic sometime?”
I held up my thickest notebook filled with magic circle notes and smiled.
Over the past semester, I had organized all the magic circles I had newly learned and practiced.
However, since I wasn’t a veteran who could memorize and use all of them freely, I needed reference material to use a wider variety of magic.
“I’ll take a look.”
Noah senior stepped in between Linus and me and said.
I wasn’t sure where he had appeared from without any notice, but as always, he looked very beautiful.
Perhaps for ease of movement, his silver hair was tied up. Long silver eyelashes and sparkling golden eyes. Perfect ten out of ten. A magnificent sight.
I almost clapped without realizing it, but held back and greeted him instead.
“Good morning, senior.”
“You too. Did you sleep well?”
“I was too excited to sleep properly.”
“Is it alright for you to come?”
“Enough small talk.”
Linus cut off our conversation and gently pushed Noah senior forward.
Aiden was already in the courtyard drawing a teleportation magic circle.
Noticing our arrival, he stood up.
“If everyone’s ready, let’s depart.”
Once we were all within the circle, it began to glow blue. The scenery twisted and blurred, and soon an entirely different view appeared.
It was the entrance to the Grania Forest. Though I had only played here when I was very young, some memories still remained.
“The apples from that apple tree used to be very sweet.”
Muttering that, I turned to look—and there it was, the same apple tree from my memory. It hadn’t changed much in shape either.
I stared at it absentmindedly, finding it oddly nostalgic, when Linus asked me,
“To find the core of the monster, we’ll need to go deeper into the forest. Do you know the way, young lady?”
“Oh, yes. We just need to go further in that direction.”
I pointed toward a bush draped with green leaves.
“That’s right.”
Aiden, holding a magical tool in one hand, nodded.
So that’s how it works. And that tool looks incredibly high-end.
As we continued walking, admiring a magical tool far beyond anything I had ever seen, a chill ran down my spine.
“Doesn’t it feel like we’re going in circles?”
I looked around nervously as the surroundings seemed to darken.
“Now that you mention it.”
Noah senior also seemed to sense something was off and nodded.
As I scanned the area, I furrowed my brows.
That apple tree. For some reason, we kept seeing it too often. The drooping leaves and branch lengths were identical each time.
While I was sensing something strange, Noah senior walked toward the apple tree and spoke seriously.
“This is a barrier.”
“A barrier?”
I asked back, surprised.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen one.”
Strangely, Linus and Aiden looked completely unfazed.
Am I the only one feeling uneasy right now? A monster capable of setting up a barrier would be quite high-level. Good heavens—something like that was in our territory?
Judging by their calm demeanor, they were probably confident.
“So what do we…?”
Just as I was about to speak—
A golden magic circle appeared on the ground, and the apple tree and its surroundings vanished as if they had never existed.
That golden magic power belonged to Noah senior.
I stared at the scene with my mouth slightly open.
Feeling a subtle sense of pressure from Noah senior, who had cast such high-level magic and yet stood there calmly, I unconsciously took a step back.
At that moment, a rustling sound came from a broken branch.
“Hmm?”
The area I had stepped on was covered with many branches, as if forming some kind of pattern.
“…Huh?”
As I looked around out of curiosity, suddenly the branches surrounding me began to glow, flashing in a dark reddish hue.
My mind went completely blank.
A teleportation magic circle.
Ah, I’m done for.
And the last thing I saw was Noah senior reaching out toward me with a startled expression.
Whoosh.
I gripped the book in my hand tightly, as if it were a lifeline.
Soon, a sensation as though my insides were being turned upside down washed over me. Even though it was a high-level monster, since it had drawn the magic circle, the arrangement of formulas and symbols was uneven. Naturally, the teleportation was unstable, making me dizzy. It felt unbearably uncomfortable. Seriously, what terrible craftsmanship. If this were an exam, it would be a zero. A zero.
“Ugh.”
I held my spinning head and stood up.
Where am I?
Something flickered in my blurry vision.
The lush green forest from moments ago had turned into a dim cave.
“…?”
As I tried to make sense of the environment through my disheveled yellow hair, strands of silver hair entered my view.
“Senior?”
It was Noah senior, holding his forehead as if dizzy.
“…Are you alright?”
“You came here too, senior? What just happened?”
Feeling oddly relieved by his presence, I began rambling.
“As soon as the barrier broke, the magic circle activated. Either there was a gap in the barrier or….”
As I was talking, I finally noticed something touching my hand.
“…Ah.”
We were holding hands tightly. It seemed he had grabbed me during the teleportation. The warmth of his hand made me feel strangely shy.
I hurriedly pulled my hand away and lowered my head.
“I’m sorry, because of me….”
“It’s nothing.”
Noah senior, who had been looking somewhere since earlier, pointed deeper into the cave and replied.
“On the contrary, this might be over sooner because of you.”
Following his gaze, I turned toward the cave interior and slightly opened my mouth.
“…!”
That’s right.
Inside the cave, a massive number of monsters were gathered in a circular formation.
“So… there weren’t few in number?”
They were all gathered here.
I covered my mouth in shock.
“I wouldn’t have brought you if I’d known this.”
The senior muttered in a low voice.
I coughed and brushed the dirt off my clothes.
“It seems that when the barrier was broken, it triggered a teleportation to this place.”
The moment the apple tree disappeared, the branches had glowed. Until then, we hadn’t even sensed the presence of magic.
