“Gasp!”
With a scream full of wind, Selian abruptly sat up.
Right away, she lifted her hands to grope her face. The sensation felt incredibly vivid at the tips of her fingers, which should have been swinging through the air. Conversely, the feeling of her palm touching her face was that of a hand which, though calloused, still retained much of its softness. To Selian, who had lived knowing nothing but wielding her sword since the death of Alicia, these were the delicate hands of a girl she had thought she would never see again.
Along with the confusion, she felt the soft cushioning of the mattress and the gentle touch of the blanket beneath her. For Selian, who had been on the expedition to slay the Demon King, it was a sensation so long forgotten that she could barely recall the last time she had felt it.
Her destinations had always been barren lands, and even when there was a village, lying on a hard wooden bed with any kind of blanket was a stroke of luck. Such luxurious bedding was a dream, a fantasy far beyond her reach.
Also, the sunlight streaming through the curtains spread wide open and the chirping of birds outside the window were all distant memories to Selian.
Lost in confusion amidst the sudden situation, her first thought was that she might still be in the state of reliving memories while actually Glen’s tentacle from the Four Heavenly Kings was heading toward her head in reality.
However, the movements of her body and the sensations she felt were too vivid to simply be a mere replay of memories.
Next, she wondered if this place might be the rumored paradise. Even though it looked nothing like the image she had imagined, she thought that perhaps paradise, as a place one goes to after death, might not be that different from reality.
But Selian soon realized this was not paradise. If it were, she could never be here like this.
Looking around after regaining her senses, the view of the room—every piece of furniture and small accessory—was so vividly nostalgic that she could picture it even with her eyes closed. It was exactly the room from her academy days, something she had longed for.
Academy memories were a source of nostalgia for Selian, but they were also painful recollections as they reminded her of Alicia.
So this place could not be paradise.
‘Then where am I…’
Knock knock.
While Selian was bewildered by the incomprehensible situation, the sound of a knock on the door rang out. Still buried under the blanket, she stared blankly at the door, and again the sound of knocking was heard, accompanied by a voice.
“Student Selian?”
Perhaps due to the appearance of the dormitory, the voice beyond the door sounded like the dorm supervisor’s voice, one she hadn’t heard in a long time.
At the urging call of her name followed by continued knocking, Selian had no choice but to rise. She pulled her legs out from under the covers, stepped onto the floor, and slowly made her way to the door.
Creak, the sound of the floor groaning slightly echoed. For the expensive private room that she lived in, it was odd that the floor near the bed would always make that familiar noise, identical to her memory.
Click, as she opened the door, there was the dorm supervisor standing in front of it. Yet, despite the years that had passed since their last meeting, the supervisor looked even younger.
“…If you want to lead a proper academy life from now on, it would be better not to oversleep like this, Student Selian.”
In the confusing situation, the supervisor’s words were unsurprisingly also confusing.
Selian could only nod dumbly with a vacant expression.
“Alright. I’ll just quickly brief you. You should hurry and head out to wash your face. As the entrance ceremony is scheduled to take place in an hour, Student Selian might be running out of time to finalize her preparations.”
“Entrance… ceremony?”
“Is something wrong? Well, while some students among the others may have difficulty believing they’ve been admitted to Griffin Academy, I wouldn’t think that applies to you, Student Selian?”
It wasn’t disbelief in the fact of her admission that was hard to accept. It was hard to believe that there was going to be an entrance ceremony in one hour.
All the more because, her entrance ceremony had already ended years ago.
“…You seem to need to wash your face to shake off the daze, it might do you some good. Then, be careful not to be late on the first day.”
The supervisor, turning away from Selian who stood dumbly at the open door, moved on to wake up the next private room resident.
Without knowing if it was a dream or not, if it was the afterlife or not, in a daze, Selian began her preparations to go out. Similar to that day, years ago, she went to the bathroom, washed her hair, splashed water on her face, dried off, did a light makeup, awkwardly put on her school uniform, and stood in front of the mirror.
It was truly… truly a sight she hadn’t seen for a long time: herself in an academy uniform.
Not the form of herself, who had become a grown woman over the age of twenty, abandoning makeup to become a hero, but rather the unmistakably fresh image of a teenage girl.
For this reason, a flicker of anticipation began to rise within her. Since seeing the face of the dorm supervisor just now, she couldn’t help but entertain a hint of hope.
Now, Selian stepped out and headed toward the location where the entrance ceremony would take place. Students and faculty who recognized her began to approach and speak to her. As a famous hero candidate, even without the ceremony, many people recognized her.
However, she ignored the calls from others who were shouting her name and hurried her steps even more. Finally, arriving at the hall where the entrance ceremony was to be held, Selian busily looked around for any unlikely case.
It wasn’t late, but her preparations were delayed due to insufficient situational understanding, so most of the other students had already lined up with their respective classes.
And among them, she spotted the line of students from Swordsmanship Class 1. Selian slowly moved toward the end of the line.
She would normally stand at the very back in the order they arrived, but she slowly moved forward, pushing past each individual.
Passing by familiar wine-hued hair and red hair, Selian finally found.
The silver-haired girl. Though she could only see the back of the girl, she instinctively knew who it was.
Elysia Frentz.
The girl she had yearned for, and yearned for, and yearned for again, was within arm’s reach.
For that reason, she tried to suppress the swelling tears and extended her hand slowly. But her hand hesitated right before Elysia’s back, unable to move further.
What if, by turning around, this silver-haired girl wasn’t the Elysia she had missed so much? What if, at the moment of facing her, she would wake up from this dream-like situation and return to reality?
When another student behind the silver-haired girl looked at Selian strangely, the silver-haired girl slowly turned and looked back, perhaps feeling the movement.
The side of her face, then her front.
It was Elysia Frentz, the girl who had saved her but lost her life in the process.
“Guh…”
But Selian could only emit a small sound, unable to call out Elysia’s name.
“Uh… Is everything alright?”
The sight of Elysia tilting her head and asking as if they were meeting for the first time.
Of course… If this were the time of the entrance ceremony, then naturally she and Elysia were meeting for the first time, so it was an expected response. They could slowly build memories with each other from now.
Thinking that way, Selian tried again to call out her name, extending her hand, but another memory surfaced.
‘We may have difficulty identifying the identity of the assassin who targeted Miss Selian.’
It wasn’t a question of whether she had the right to call Elysia’s name.
If this wasn’t a dream, but a real return to the past, then perhaps the assassin who targeted her life was also still around. Though she remembered the face of the assassin she had killed that day, she couldn’t be sure if they would appear with the same face.
Maybe, even as the entrance ceremony was taking place at this moment, the assassin could be hidden among the new students, still targeting her.
That was why she couldn’t call out Elysia’s name. She worried that the terrifying memories of that day would repeat themselves. No matter how strong she had become as a Sword Master, she couldn’t rest easy until she could decisively deal with the assassins who were targeting her life within the academy.
“Miss Selian… Is that correct?”
While Selian hesitated, Elysia recognized her face and called out her name. This call only further fortified Selian’s resolve.
“…Sorry, I must have mistaken you for someone else.”
Selian apologized to Elysia, who had recognized her, turned her back, and returned to the end of the line. Although it was painfully distressing to push Elysia away, this was the best she could do for Elysia. Of course, there might have been a better way, but she at least thought so.
Because she got to see her face once more.
Because she could make sure Elysia wouldn’t lose her life due to her.
Just that alone allowed her to suppress and suppress this crazy, painful heart. She had confidence in her ability to endure. After all, she had endured a heart-wrenching experience once before, even to the point of death.
…
“Hello, Miss Selian.”
“Ah! Miss Selian, let me carry it for you.”
“Miss Selian, I’ve found a nice café nearby; would you like to come along?”
Miss Selian, Miss Selian, Miss Selian…
Yet, regardless of her suffering, did Elysia know or not, she persistently approached her. No matter how many times Selian ignored her, pushed her away, or sometimes shot sharp words she didn’t feel, Elysia showed no signs of tiring; she continued to approach with her characteristic bashful expression and giggling smile.
If only she could quickly uncover and eliminate the identity of the assassin targeting her, then she could have been with Elysia once again without reservation, but she couldn’t find any assassins among the academy students who seemed suspicious.
Rather, Selian even hoped that when she awakened as a hero again, the desperate assassin might boldly approach her.
Yet, even after awakening as a hero, there were only the classmates and professors who had accompanied her since the start of the semester near Selian, no face of unknown origin.
And then, on a day when Elysia approached Selian as usual, her blood ran dry.
Elysia, who approached Selian as usual that day, had a noticeably sad expression compared to normal as she called out to her.
“There… Miss Selian?”
“What is it?”
Although a curt and sharp reply came back, Elysia paid no mind and continued speaking.
“I must have caused you so much trouble up until now… I apologize. I won’t bother Miss Selian any longer going forward, but… could you fulfill one more request of mine?”
Though Selian had ignored her words many times already, the sadness seen beyond the ruby-like red of Elysia’s two eyes reminded her of the Elysia from her previous life, with whom she had their final farewell.
When Selian lost her words and stayed silent, Elysia seemed to take it as her consent and continued.
“There’s an open space behind the dormitory, isn’t there? Later this evening… could you come out to that place for a little while? I have something I’d like to talk about privately….”
Why specifically that place, that time? Even the request framed as a last one…
Yes… Since she called it a last request, surely it wouldn’t be a problem to agree just this once.
Because it felt like her previous life’s Elysia was making the request, Selian ultimately nodded and couldn’t reject it.
…
The open space, which people rarely visited, remained mostly unchanged from her previous life. Only the grass and flowers that had grown were slightly different due to the seasonal difference of a month or two.
On an evening without rain, compared to the last time, Selian walked to the spot in the center of the open space where Elysia had lain down last time.
Even after so much time had passed… This spot, Elysia’s figure closing her eyes in her arms, was still vividly clear.
As she crouched down and absentmindedly stroked the soft earth, a presence was felt from the entrance of the open space.
The sound of Elysia’s approaching footsteps was so light that it was almost inaudible, but it couldn’t escape the senses of a Sword Master.
“You’ve come, Miss Elysia.”
“Miss Selian…”
Elysia slowly approached until she was just one step away from Selian, extremely close.
What kind of request could Elysia possibly make? Is it a request that she could fulfill? While worrying about this, Selian suddenly felt something foreign in her chest and slowly looked down.
Her sword was pierced straight into her chest, precisely at the heart.
It was natural for Selian to be bewildered in a situation she neither understood nor wished to comprehend.
“Truly… I’m sorry. Though this sin may be beyond redemption… please understand that my apology is heartfelt.”
Even with the strength of a Sword Master who effortlessly recovered the Holy Sword, Selian found that she could not draw the sword from her waist.
How could she strike Elysia, who had sacrificed herself for her?
How could she kill with her own hands the Elysia, who once died for her, even if that Elysia had plunged the sword into her heart?
Instead, Selian slowly raised her hand toward Elysia’s face.
Elysia flinched when Selian’s hand touched her cheek but found no intention to attack within Selian.
She only gently, softly, tenderly caressed Elysia’s cheek with affection.
Even Elysia herself, unknowingly, had tears rolling down her eyes and dripping onto Selian’s hand that rested on her cheek.
A single drop of Elysia’s tears on her hand.
That was Selian’s final memory of her second life.
