The slightly delicate atmosphere we were maintaining naturally led us to part ways.
The way home was something we all knew in our heads, and since we had spent a week in this place, going back home was no problem at all.
After that, we wandered around this world for quite a long time, taking in the sights with our own eyes.
Even though it wasn’t the world we originally lived in, I felt as if I was having a new experience, and Aria was finally seeing the world she thought she would never see with her own eyes.
Though it was a different world, seeing the real thing with her own eyes made me enjoy every day just by seeing Aria’s happy expression.
Aria also seemed to be having a good time.
It was one of those days when we were spending our time like that.
“Amusement park?”
“What do you think? Isn’t it perfect for everyone to go together!”
“Well… I thought it would be nice to go, so I brought it up. Do you all want to join?”
Although it was sudden, Stella’s suggestion of going to the amusement park put me in a dilemma.
It might have been strange to say this after having fun for two weeks, but I kept feeling that this couldn’t continue forever while living in this world of trials.
Of course, it wasn’t wrong to be undergoing trials like this right now.
I didn’t know what happened to Stella and Uriel, but since Aria said there was no need to worry about them, there was probably no need to be concerned for the moment. After all, it was a little different now, but we were in a dungeon and facing trials.
That said, it was hard to believe that the trials we were currently experiencing were fake.
If they could create a world like this, it was probably some of the ancient technology Aria had mentioned, and the necklace I received from the trial of strength helped me harness my power as a hero.
I definitely believed that if I successfully passed this trial of wisdom, it would lead to something good.
Yet, this uneasy feeling in my heart probably stemmed from the fact that… I hadn’t found any clues about this trial or how to pass it.
Even though it had already been two weeks since I entered this world, I hadn’t come across any substantial leads.
I thought the first week was fine.
In fact, amidst a situation where I didn’t know anything, I felt I had grasped some understanding by focusing on the word wisdom.
This world was a strange place overflowing with those things we lacked and the things we desired, so I thought the trial dungeon would challenge us in that way.
But that was all.
It merely indicated that something related to wisdom was being demanded, and beyond that, I hadn’t discovered anything more.
If we only considered the term trial of wisdom, it meant that we had to prove something related to wisdom to pass the trial… but getting dropped here without any explanation made it impossible to figure out what that was.
From the very start, they said they would initiate the trial and then dropped us somewhere, bringing us to this world and leaving us in silence, right?
Isn’t it unreasonable to expect us to find clues in a situation where there wasn’t even a minimal indication of what we were supposed to do?
It might have been understandable if it were just a day or two, but since half of the time had passed since the initial setting, and I hadn’t found anything yet, I was getting anxious.
“…”
I looked back at Aria.
If it were up to me, I would have liked to ask her about this dungeon one more time.
Of course, asking Aria about the dungeon wouldn’t really mean much.
Just recently, when I asked her whether she knew anything about the dungeon, she only said that what was written in the ancient texts was about where the trial of wisdom existed. She didn’t say what kind of trials that dungeon imposed.
In other words, Aria only knew that there was a trial dungeon here, but she didn’t know the details.
She had no reason to lie as we were both undergoing the trial, and even beyond that, I couldn’t suspect Aria.
‘This is hard.’
While the trial of strength was simply about pushing all my power to the limit, I had no idea how to approach this trial.
I even started to doubt whether I could pass this trial.
I looked at Aria with a troubled expression.
I knew this couldn’t go on.
With only half the time left until the semester started, and not discovering any real clues yet, I could no longer afford to just waste time.
It was really time to do something, but even though I wanted to try everything I could, I didn’t know where to start, so I found myself stuck.
Even when trying to look for information, I didn’t know where to obtain that information.
It was a frustrating situation.
Despite being clearly in such a situation, I wondered why it was.
‘Even a little… I want to see Aria enjoy herself more.’
More than that, I wanted to go to the amusement park with Aria.
Aria had lived with a disability since she was a child.
She probably hadn’t had a chance to truly enjoy herself since she was young.
Not to mention, as a saint chosen by the goddess, she had been sacrificing herself for the world all this time.
She had to live bearing the duty of being a saint who was chosen to defeat the Demon King and save this world, right?
It had only been two weeks since she had finally taken a break.
It had only been two weeks since she could see with her eyes and hear with her ears, something she must have thought impossible.
Even if it wasn’t the original world, I wanted to show her so many more beautiful things.
There were still two weeks left, so it wouldn’t be too much to take a day or two off to have fun, right?
…
…
I knew what I wanted to say.
I smiled and asked Aria.
“Aria, what do you think?”
“Are you talking about the amusement park?”
Aria, who had been startled by my question, turned to me and asked.
I nodded my head in response.
“Yeah… the amusement park. Do you want to go?”
Even though she wasn’t showing it, I could tell.
She wanted to go to the amusement park.
‘… Huh?’
For a moment, Aria’s expression seemed strange.
She had a look as if she were yearning for something.
What could she possibly be longing for at a place like this to make that kind of expression? I thought it was probably just my imagination, but…
‘What was that expression just now…?’
It was something I couldn’t just overlook… a look I had never seen on Aria before.
“… Yes.”
In the meantime, after a moment of deep thought, Aria quietly nodded and answered.
At that, Uriel smiled brightly.
“Then let’s head out right away~!”
Uriel cheered joyfully, while Aria looked happily at Stella, who was saying we should go on the weekend since classes weren’t over yet.
Hearing that, I suddenly recalled an important fact.
Now that I thought about it, going to the amusement park would require time, so we would ultimately have to go on the weekend.
I had forgotten that school was somewhat similar to the Academy.
No, it was freer than the Academy, but still, during a set time, we couldn’t go out freely.
…
Everything went dark before my eyes…
*
After spending one more day, we finally set out for the amusement park.
Although it was unexpected to delay by another day, since we had decided to go together, I couldn’t back out now.
I had no intention of backing out in the first place.
“Wow~ There are so many people~!”
“Well, it’s only natural to have a lot of people during this time. It’s the peak season.”
Amusement parks tend to have large crowds on weekends, enough that they could be referred to as peak season, causing lines to naturally stretch out.
As I looked around, amazed by the number of people, Stella turned to us with a somewhat displeased expression.
“Hey, aren’t you all too close together?”
“…”
“What do you expect me to do about this crowd…?”
There were so many people that we were jammed together with Aria.
Aria didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts, but… no, maybe she was feeling the heat since there were so many people around.
Stella seemed quite dissatisfied, glaring at me with a disgruntled look.
Of course, I didn’t mind being close; in fact, it felt good, but being given such looks when it wasn’t intentional might feel a bit unfair.
More than that, I really didn’t understand why Stella kept giving such looks…
