Chapter 193

Chapter 193. Interlude – Because You Were There, I Was There.

The evening after returning from the school trip.

Burying the joyful memories in nostalgia, preparing to return to daily life.

[Everyone, gather in Professor Elisha’s office.]

I sent a message to my comrades, who were resting in their rooms after the trip, saying I had something important to tell them.

Thus, gathered in Professor Elisha’s office were Iris, Yurina, Camila, Sophia, Berald, Lanes, and finally, Professor Elisha.

Everyone was looking at me with bewildered expressions, sitting silently due to the sudden summons.

“Something important… Did something happen?”

Yurina asked with a worried voice.

“It’s the first time Dale has called everyone like this, isn’t it?”

“True. Calling us right after returning from the trip must mean it’s quite urgent.”

“Ho, perhaps… Ah, did you fight with Iris…?”

The atmosphere in the room grew restless.

I looked at my murmuring comrades and let out a deep sigh.

‘I knew I had to tell them someday.’

The story of my past life.

I had been pondering the right timing to reveal it.

‘Who would have thought… it would come to this.’

I wiped my face with a complicated expression.

Glancing at Iris, I saw her looking at me with an anxious expression.

I hadn’t told her in detail about my past life yet.

‘If I’m going to reveal it, it’s better to do it when everyone is together.’

I considered telling only Iris, like I did with Professor Elisha, but in this situation, I thought it would be better to tell everyone rather than hiding it from some.

After all, I had already told Professor Elisha long ago, and with the overflowing trust built with my comrades, there was no reason to hide it any longer.

“Candidate Dale. You’re not… planning to talk about that, are you?”

Perhaps guessing what I was about to say from my expression.

Professor Elisha trailed off with a stiff expression.

I nodded quietly and began to speak.

“Everyone… it might be hard to believe, but please listen to my story.”

And so began the story of my past life.

The long tale of failures experienced by a former hero.

The story that started in the early evening continued until the time changed.

“Phew. That’s how… it came to be now.”

Perhaps because I spoke too much, or maybe because of the increasingly stiff expressions of my comrades as the story progressed.

I drank the water on the table, moistening my parched throat.

“Such a…”

“Huh… it’s so shocking that my head is spinning.”

After the long story.

My comrades had complex emotions tangled in their expressions, hard to put into words.

Well.

If I were in the same situation, I would have reacted the same way as my comrades now.

“……”

“……”

The silence continued.

My comrades, each lost in thought, remained silent, then began to let out soft sighs as if something came to mind.

“Then, the reason Mr. Dale made a sad expression when he first saw me…”

“Ah. That day.”

Camila frowned as if remembering the first time we met.

“Right. When Mr. Dale sent Camila flying.”

“Se, sent flying…! It wasn’t that bad!”

“Dear, as I recall, you did a splendid somersault in the air, didn’t you?”

“Ugh…”

Camila swallowed a groan.

Camila let out a short sigh and nodded.

“Indeed, I thought it was strange. No matter how careless I was, I couldn’t understand how someone who was always at the bottom of the class could subdue me with a light gesture…”

“Sorry about that. I had just regressed, and my emotions were running high.”

“Ahem! I, if I hadn’t been careless, I wouldn’t have been defeated like that!”

“Right, right.”

I nodded with a bitter smile.

“Brother, was the reason you suddenly offered to teach me martial arts also because of your past life?”

“Correct.”

“Ah… I see. It makes sense now.”

Berald looked down at his hand wrapped in old bandages and continued.

“I always wondered why you named the martial arts you taught me ‘Berald Martial Arts.'”

Thinking about it, it doesn’t make sense.

You wouldn’t name a technique after the recipient, but after the teacher.

“Then, the martial arts I learned from you…”

“Berald, it’s the martial arts you created.”

I nodded and continued.

“I just passed on what I learned from you back to you.”

That’s why.

Even though I knew it was strange, I couldn’t name it anything other than ‘Berald Martial Arts.’

I didn’t want to change the legacy, the memories, and the recollections he left behind.

With my own hands.

“So, I created it…”

Berald looked down at his fist with a complicated expression.

“Then, did you learn magic from me?”

Senior Sophia, with her arms crossed, looked at me.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Hmph, no wonder your magic skills are unusually good for a warrior. It’s because I taught you.”

I chuckled and nodded.

“Thanks to having a good senior.”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?”

Senior Sophia, puffing up with pride, soon wore a lonely expression.

“Then, in your past life… you and Professor Jade were always enemies, right?”

Her magic underwent a significant change after meeting Professor Jade.

But my current magic is from before she met Professor Jade, unchanged.

She wasn’t foolish enough not to realize what it meant that I was learning it.

“Yes.”

“…I see.”

Senior Sophia smiled faintly as if she had expected it.

“Then, it’s thanks to you that my future changed.”

“……”

“Thank you. For changing my future.”

Thank you for changing my future.

For some reason.

Those words shook my heart unbearably.

“Dale. I also have something to ask.”

Yurina slowly stood up.

She slowly removed the pendant around her neck.

With a dazzling light, she returned to her original form.

“In my past life… I eventually became ‘Yuren,’ right?”

“…Yes.”

I nodded with a heavy expression.

“Haha. I see.”

Yurina, with a complicated expression, looked at the mirror on the office wall and turned to me.

“Then, Dale, you changed my future.”

“Not just yours, Yurina.”

Iris looked around at the gathered comrades and continued.

“Mr. Dale… changed the future of everyone here. All by himself.”

“…No.”

The gazes turned to me.

Overwhelmed by indescribable emotions, I clenched my trembling fist.

“I didn’t change it alone.”

Suddenly, a memory came to mind.

A starry night.

Sitting around a warm bonfire, drinking with Berald.

Iris watching us with a smile.

Yuren leaning against a tree, sipping tea, and Senior Sophia reading a book indifferently.

‘I…’

Even if they don’t remember.

I remember.

The warmth of that day.

The days of utmost happiness.

“The reason I can be here now… is because all of you were here.”

Rather, I should be the one thanking them.

“Thank you.”

Because you were there.

I was there.

“…Thank you.”

Lowering my head, I swallowed my tears silently.

For some reason.

It felt like the comrades in my memory were smiling at me.

* * *

Everyone still had a lot to say, but as it was getting late, Professor Elisha suggested everyone return to their lodgings.

On a night sparkling as if stars were pouring down, just like in my memory.

Instead of going straight to my room, I went up to the rooftop and gazed at the night sky for a while.

“Here you are.”

Then, Professor Elisha followed me to the rooftop.

“How did you know I was here?”

“A woman’s intuition.”

Saying so, Professor Elisha retracted the ‘spider thread’ attached to me.

I swallowed a chuckle and nodded.

“How do you feel after spilling everything?”

“Well… relieved.”

When I first called everyone together, I felt suffocated, wondering if it was the right time to reveal everything.

But now that I’ve told them, it feels like I’ve put down a heavy burden.

“For me, it’s a bit disappointing that the secret I alone knew is gone.”

Professor Elisha sat beside me with a playful smile.

Taking out a cigarette and lighting it, she spoke softly.

“I wondered why now.”

“Why what?”

“Why Candidate Dale suddenly decided to reveal the truth about your regression.”

She looked at me with a faint smile.

“Well, I had been thinking I should tell them someday.”

“But why now?”

“Well…”

If I had to give a reason… um…

There is a reason…

“Is it because of Candidate Iris?”

“…!!!”

“Hoho. Hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”

Professor Elisha nodded as if she had expected it.

“Well… you see, it’s like this…”

“Ah, no need to explain. I can roughly guess the situation.”

“……”

You can guess?

“Being with Candidate Iris, you must have felt complex emotions. The fact that you were lovers in your past life, which you’ve been hiding until now.”

“Well…”

“Guilt, perhaps? Something similar. After all, you were deceiving her.”

“No, it’s not that…”

It’s not because of guilt.

There’s another reason…

“Don’t worry too much. Everyone knows that the reason you kept the truth hidden was for everyone’s sake.”

Professor Elisha extinguished her cigarette and smiled faintly.

“I followed you to tell you that.”

“……”

“Was it… very hard?”

Professor Elisha gently stroked my cheek as she asked.

I looked at her…

“Yes. It was… always heavy on my heart.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes.

“I didn’t want to lie… to my precious comrade… no, to my beloved lover.”

“Right, right.”

“Thinking about how long… I had to live wearing a mask… it was so suffocating and painful.”

“I understand.”

Professor Elisha patted my back and smiled brightly.

“Hoho. Looking at you, Candidate Dale, you’re really… too pure, aren’t you?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing to me for? Anyway, now that you’ve spilled everything, there’s no need to suffer from guilt.”

And so, with Professor Elisha’s kind comfort.

The night of truth ended, and a new morning dawned.