Chapter 28. Freshmen Welcome Party (4)
“How about you both join the faction I belong to?”
At that, both Reina and Ridipin widened their eyes in surprise, clearly not expecting it.
Well, it was natural for them to be surprised, not knowing my true intentions.
From the beginning, this faction was created for Reina—I had wanted to recruit her. And now Ridipin had proven herself a promising force, especially since she could shoot a bow, so I wanted to bring her in too.
Ridipin smiled but then lowered her head with a hint of regret.
“I-I’d love to join the same faction as Ban, but I-I don’t think I can… because Senior Lesta hates me.”
“Don’t worry about that. That senior promised to do whatever I asked. If she doesn’t like you, I’ll just kick her out for a while.”
“Is… is that really okay…?”
“I mean, I’m the real power behind the faction, so yeah.”
“S-So that was true…”
Ridipin quietly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked at me with resolve.
“B-Ban is inviting me, so I’ll… I’ll try my best!”
“Great. Looking forward to working with you.”
Now all that remained was the most important one—Reina.
“What about you? I’ll try to meet any conditions you want.”
I thought she’d agree without hesitation, but…
“What about support?”
“Eh? Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t want any?”
“I said I didn’t want excessive support. But none at all? That’s kind of lame. Why join a faction then?”
Well… she wasn’t wrong.
The unexpected question threw me into deep thought.
In three weeks, I was scheduled to receive an elixir from Ria, but since I didn’t have it yet, I couldn’t promise to give her something I didn’t actually have.
As for weapons, I had already thought of a sword I really wanted to give her, but that would only be available in a future sub-event, so I couldn’t offer it now.
Besides, the sword was astronomically valuable—if I gave it to her without the right timing, she’d definitely reject it.
Since I had nothing suitable to offer, I threw out a suggestion in a “whatever” kind of way.
“How about… always being there for you?”
And as soon as I said it, I realized how cringeworthy it sounded.
It’s not like I was confessing! What the hell was that line?!
It wasn’t even dawn, and yet I was acting like I was caught up in some sappy late-night mood. So embarrassing.
But Reina smiled, seemingly satisfied.
“Alright. That’s more than enough.”
“R-Really…?”
That worked? Why?
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why she accepted it so easily.
Maybe my expression gave me away, because she laughed at me.
“After causing such a big ruckus, wouldn’t it be kind of irresponsible to join a different faction?”
“Well… I guess.”
“Besides, you both risked your lives to fight alongside me. I’m not shameless enough to turn my back on people who saved me.”
Ah, so that was it.
To me, saving Reina was a given—but from her perspective, someone she barely knew had risked his life to help her with no benefit.
Reina stood up and bowed deeply toward us.
“I know it’s late, but thank you so much. I’m alive thanks to you.”
Hearing her gratitude filled me with a strange, indescribable emotion.
My chest swelled, warm and heavy all at once. I didn’t know how to define the feeling.
But now wasn’t the time to analyze emotions—it was time to respond to her gratitude.
“If you’re really thankful, don’t ever say something like ‘leave me behind’ again.”
“Sorry…”
She gave a sheepish smile at my scolding.
“Even if you say no next time, I’m going to fight with you anyway.”
I smiled and held out my fist to her.
“So next time, I hope you’ll ask us to fight with you instead.”
Reina smiled brightly and bumped her fist against mine.
“Okay!”
“And you should be thanking Ridipin more than me.”
Unlike me, who moved with the intention of saving Reina, Ridipin acted purely out of goodwill and courage.
It was hard to understand how someone the assassin called a coward could be this brave.
When I shifted the praise to Ridipin, she flailed her hands, flustered.
“N-No! I just shot some arrows. Ban did all the planning, that’s way more impressive!”
“Shooting arrows infused with aura and saying that is just false modesty.”
“A-Ah… B-But I also collapsed while fighting! The one who showed up later and blocked the assassin was even more amazing!”
Have a little more confidence, Ridipin.
Then Reina, after a brief moment of thought, nodded.
“Ridipin was definitely a big help, but that person’s contribution can’t be ignored either.”
“R-Right?! They could use aura and magic at the same time!”
If my identity gets revealed later, this is going to be a real pain.
“Anyway, that means you’re joining our faction too, right, Reina?”
“Yeah. Looking forward to working with you.”
“Then how about a quick toast?”
We each raised a juice glass and clinked them together.
A thought suddenly occurred to me—that one day, I’d like to drink with these two for real.
After graduating from Iris Academy, once we were officially recognized as adults by the Empire, that would become possible. But who knew what would happen to me by then?
Would I return to reality, or remain here?
That train of thought led to one inevitable question: “Why did I possess this world?”
Aside from saving Reina, this game was easy. So why was I the one who ended up in it?
But I had no way of finding the answer. I had too little information.
Somehow, I had a feeling that the Lumen religion’s chief god might know, but I hadn’t had any contact with the church yet.
Still, there was no need to rush. By next year, I was sure I’d make connections with the church.
Even if I saved Reina and returned to reality, making all of this feel like a fleeting dream… I wouldn’t regret it.
As long as I saw her smiling until the very end, that was enough.
Three years from now, whatever becomes of me, I must prepare for the attack awaiting Reina. That hasn’t changed. I should focus on that for now.
Hiding my complicated emotions, I continued chatting happily with the two.
That was when someone approached us.
“Ban Astrea, Reina Serenia, Ridipin Lightjus. I thought I’d find you all together.”
It was Professor Hazen Louser, who was in charge of Joint Tactical Studies.
“Were you looking for us?”
“Yes. I have something to deliver.”
“Why would a professor come personally…?”
Isn’t this usually what assistants do?
“I’m overseeing this initiation ceremony. Since you three faced the intruder directly, it’s only right that I come myself.”
“I see.”
In the game, whenever I stopped the attack, I always did it in disguise—no professor ever visited me directly like this.
But because I’d been with Reina this time, I’d ended up getting involved too.
“Before I get to the message, let me apologize first. I take full responsibility for yesterday’s incident.”
He bowed deeply to us.
“Though I wasn’t officially reprimanded during the faculty meeting, you all deserve some form of compensation.”
“Compensation?”
I thought maybe he’d give us weapons or money, but what he said next shocked me.
“I’ll give each of you a one-time wish. You may ask me to do anything—unless I deem it excessive, I’ll grant it without question. Use it wisely.”
Whoa. A wish?
That was more valuable than any elixir or pile of gold.
Even if it was only once, someone as powerful as Hazen could serve as a one-time cheat key for stopping future attacks.
I’d need to save it for a tough or unexpected situation.
But Reina looked overwhelmed and was about to refuse, so I quickly covered her mouth.
“Don’t—mmph!”
“Haha. Thank you very much for offering yourself for our sake. We’ll gladly accept and use it when the time is right.”
“Good. Now, back to the main point. You three are to report to the headmaster’s office tomorrow by 12:15 p.m.”
Is this for an investigation?
Suddenly, Reina nudged my leg and chuckled.
“Our class got summoned to the headmaster’s office just a week after school started. Probably a new record.”
Why are you acting like this is my fault?!
Still, hearing her say “our class” didn’t feel bad at all.
But wait… could this not be about the investigation?
As I was thinking, Ridipin chimed in cheerfully.
“D-Don’t worry too much! There were no nasty rumors about you today, so I don’t think you’ll get scolded too harshly!”
“Wait, getting scolded is a certainty?!”
Then Hazen corrected her.
“Not just Ban Astrea. You two are coming as well.”
“Huh?!”
Ridipin gave a little embarrassed laugh like she’d expected it, but Reina looked genuinely surprised.
Guess she wasn’t teasing me after all.
* * *
Under the white tent in the central plaza, where the three major factions were fiercely competing to recruit new members, a man and a woman sat across from each other, drinking tea.
The man, Drener, who couldn’t really appreciate the taste of tea, finished his cup in one gulp and said,
“Honestly, I’m surprised.”
“Surprised by what?” the woman asked.
“I didn’t expect one of the leaders of the three great factions to come in person.”
The woman—Serren Astrea—smiled and set her cup down.
It was rare for the head of a faction to personally step forward in recruitment. Even when trying to recruit outstanding individuals like Rayna and Ridipin, it was customary to send the second-in-command.
That was how one increased the value of their own presence.
But Serren didn’t follow such outdated methods. She thought of them as old-fashioned.
“I wanted to see for myself. What kind of talent someone had if my kids ranked them as their second choice.”
Second choice. Drener’s expression twitched slightly at those words.
“What? Not happy about being second?”
“Don’t tell me the first choice is Van Astrea?”
Drener had assumed he beat Van when he saw that Van’s name wasn’t on the rookie shop rankings. But then he saw Rayna at number one, and it left a bad taste in his mouth.
It didn’t feel like he had won—more like he’d been made to lose.
So he asked, and Serren gave a wry smile as she answered.
“Even if I’m a doting sister, I wouldn’t go so far as to bring Van into official matters like this. The first picks are Serenia and Ridipin Lightzars.”
“Then I suppose that’s fine. Still, I don’t understand why you came to see a second choice.”
“Obviously because of the power you showed.”
She was referring to his awakened unique ability, [Spell Breaker], which manifested during his battle with a Mine.
“An ability that destroys magic? That makes you a troublesome opponent for a mage like me. And…”
Serren suddenly stared into Drener’s eyes and smiled.
“There was something I wanted to confirm.”
What was she trying to confirm?
‘Is she trying to find out if I’m of royal blood?’
But Drener quickly dismissed that idea. His hair didn’t have the distinctive platinum hue of the imperial family, and his eyes were an ordinary black.
There was no way she could tell his lineage with her eyes alone.
“Well, in any case, if you’ve already received offers from other factions, it’d be wise to turn them down. Otherwise, I’ll crush you thoroughly.”
Even as Serren smiled brightly while making the threat, Drener didn’t care much.
His goal was to assassinate the Emperor. To do that, he needed to be around someone of direct royal blood—or someone who would one day reach that level of power.
Serren was a direct member of House Astrea, the “Blade of the Empire,” and a strong contender to become the next Archmage. She lacked nothing.
“I doubt I have the right to refuse anyway, so I’ll join.”
“Good choice.”
Serren handed him four documents.
“Wouldn’t two copies be enough—for storage purposes?”
“They’re also for that friend of yours who hangs around with you. Not many seniors are this thoughtful, you know? Oh, and someone from our faction probably went to Laplace’s side to recruit her already.”
“Thank you.”
By “friend,” Serren meant Sonia.
Drener had been wondering what to do about Sonia, so this was a relief.
‘Just how much does she know…?’
Despite how lighthearted her words and actions appeared, there were moments when she pierced straight through him, leaving him unable to get a clear read on her.
Drener still thought of himself as inexperienced and couldn’t help but voice one more question.
“Then, what happens to me if you end up recruiting Rayna Serenia or Ridipin Lightzars?”
“Hmm. Well, we might not be able to provide you with as much support. But don’t worry. Those two will join the faction my younger brother is in.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m his sister. My little brother’s greedy—once he gets his hands on something, he never lets it go.”
Drener shook his head internally but also felt Serren’s guess was probably right.
Thinking back to the first joint tactical monster battle practice, he had a feeling those two would achieve their goals in a way he hadn’t anticipated.
Then suddenly, Serren’s eyes sparkled.
“By the way, are you friends with Van too?”
“Friends…?”
Drener thought about his relationship with Van.
They didn’t have much interaction, so calling him a friend didn’t quite fit. But whenever they spoke, it felt like he was talking to someone he’d known for a long time.
Still, in Drener’s own opinion—
“I think the word ‘rival’ suits us better than ‘friend.’”
“Oh! So you’re rivals!”
“That’s right… but you’re too close. Please back up a little.”
Serren had leaned in too close in her excitement.
“I think our conversation’s done, so I’ll take my leave now.”
Sensing he shouldn’t stay any longer, Drener tried to get up—only to find a shadowy tendril had wrapped around his leg.
“Why the rush? Stay a bit longer.”
“Uh…”
“Anyway! Since you see Van as your rival, that means you think highly of him! I shouldn’t be doing this, but since we’re already here, I’ll tell you all about Van’s strengths to help you beat him!”
“No, I’d rather not—!”
“Don’t worry! Just relax and listen! To start with Van’s strengths, we need to go back to when he was seven…”
Forced to listen to a flood of TMI about Van, Drener couldn’t help but wonder why or how this was happening—but it took him a whole hour to realize:
Those kinds of questions had no meaning when it came to Serren Astrea.
Because Serren Astrea was always—completely and utterly—her own person.
