Delphine’s persuasion efforts came to a successful conclusion.
She sent a silent plea my way with her pitifully trembling eyes, but I firmly shook my head in rejection. Of course, I had no intention of forcing her to accompany me.
I respected Delphine’s opinion above all. Even though I was brimming with passion to develop our characters together, it might be a matter of life and death.
I simply pressed her repeatedly until I could obtain a definite answer. Delphine, who had been pouting, eventually shed tears and spoke.
“Ugh, I’ll go… I-it’s fine if I go…!”
The fact that she was so overwhelmed that she cried meant I had no choice but to acknowledge her true feelings. If she truly wanted to change, it was only natural to want to extend a helping hand.
I was concerned her resolve would waver, but she consistently answered the same. Since the honor of the Yuridina Clan was at stake, there was no chance her heart would change.
Leaving her, who was overcome with emotion, behind, I exited the infirmary.
The cold corridor of the marble temple sent a chill through me. The frigid air made my head feel a bit clearer. That’s when an odd feeling washed over me.
Had Delphine truly cried out of sheer joy?
It was irrelevant now. It was spilled water, and I had managed to secure a powerful ally in Delphine, so it didn’t matter.
Typically, practical training teams were formed with four members. I wanted to take my previous Hunting Festival team, but there was one problem.
Celin and Ceria were still second-years.
Second-years were, in principle, prohibited from participating in practical training. Of course, they could join under special permission from professors, but since they couldn’t substitute grades with practical training like Delphine and me, I couldn’t take them during the finals period.
It was clear it would negatively affect their grades.
Celin had the mission of reviving the Haster Clan in the future, while Ceria bore the heavy responsibility of maintaining her position as the top of the Swordsmanship Department.
I couldn’t put them in a difficult spot. They were undoubtedly two of my most treasured juniors at the academy.
Of course, Delphine had to maintain her position as well, but that wasn’t my concern.
Given how capable she was, I had to think she would have some hidden talents. To be honest, the current distance between Delphine and me was still ambiguous.
We saw each other often, but we had been entangled in unfortunate events to the point where our feelings toward each other weren’t very good.
In fact, my proposal for Delphine to join the practical training had a somewhat impulsive side to it. At first, I merely wanted to know what had happened between her and me, but I had ended up not learning a thing about it.
Still, I was thankful that I had numerous opportunities. Over the two weeks of practical training, we would inevitably have to talk, whether we liked it or not.
While I was organizing my thoughts and preparing to leave, a sudden burst of light filled my vision. Noble silver hair and striking pale pink eyes, vividly painted on pristine drawing paper.
It was the Lady Virgin Saint. As I gazed at her with wide eyes, she only exchanged suspicious glances between me and the infirmary.
“… Why are you here? I heard Sister Delphine is refusing all visitors.”
Clearing my throat, I averted my gaze slightly.
Her attitude was exceedingly picky, perhaps due to the misunderstandings that still lingered. She was an awkward presence for me. We had only met face to face, but I felt an inexplicable awkwardness.
“W-well, there are circumstances… But more importantly, do you still suspect me?”
“… Of course I do.”
The Lady Virgin Saint scoffed at me in disbelief.
“It seems Yulen was somehow deceived, but I’m different. The priests of the Holy Kingdom possess a gift known as spiritual sight, which allows us to see the color of souls. Naturally, as a Saint, my spiritual sight boasts considerable accuracy.”
I fell silent upon hearing that. It was something I had heard somewhere. Nevertheless, my lack of interest in that information indicated it wasn’t very significant.
As I rummaged through the vague memories, I cautiously asked.
“Isn’t that something mages can’t properly discern? I’ve heard it’s not that meaningful.”
Indeed. If that ‘spiritual sight’ were as impressive as she claimed, I would have paid more attention to it. But as far as I knew, it wasn’t a particularly useful ability.
The color of a soul was merely a chaotic blend of murky colors swirling together. No matter how much one tried to differentiate, few could truly do so.
Crucially, the problem lay in the fact that the colors of the soul appeared differently depending on the individual with the spiritual sight.
If a technique could be transmitted and refined to discern the colors, the story would be different, but spiritual sight made that impossible. No standardized methods of distinction were known.
I had heard that specialized individuals trained from a young age to differentiate between soul colors existed. They belonged to the Inquisition of the Holy Kingdom, but aside from those exceptional cases, spiritual sight was more or less a useless ability.
It couldn’t even filter out mages. Souls of humans who had contracted with evil deities became murky, and since most humans inherently had murky souls, it was tricky to tell them apart.
However, in spite of my doubts, the Lady Virgin Saint maintained a confident demeanor. As she puffed out her chest with pride, her notable figure became even more pronounced.
Truly a body laden with sins. I silently made the sign of the cross, repenting to the Heavenly Deity for the Lady Virgin Saint’s lascivious physique.
“My spiritual sight is a bit different. It reflects clearer colors. Though I can’t catch every detailed difference, I can tell if you’re the same person or not.”
“So, am I the same person as I was back then?”
“Yes, of course.”
Her answer was unwavering, signifying tremendous confidence.
It was also a correct statement. According to Reto’s testimony, I was referred to as ‘me’ from the future.
Honestly, I didn’t feel it, but since it was Reto’s words, I had to believe them. Reto was my only irreplaceable friend and boasted the sharpest mind among my acquaintances.
Thinking of the Lady Virgin Saint’s testimony as evidence reinforcing Reto’s viewpoint made it understandable. I quietly nodded and replied.
“Trusting that sight too much could lead to a significant disappointment someday. No matter how many times you doubt your ability to see people, it’s never too many.”
“Hmph, says you.”
Yet the Lady Virgin Saint, annoying as she was, didn’t accept even my earnest advice. Instead, she mocked me, spreading her hands and revealing a hint of her pale pink tongue.
Then there was a sound of ‘be.’
I considered pulling that soft flesh, only to restrain myself.
This was a temple. There was no need to provoke the chosen maiden of the Heavenly Deity and incur punishment. I took a deep breath to calm myself.
As I glared at her with disdain for a moment, noticing my gesture, the Lady Virgin Saint suddenly widened her eyes as if remembering something. She tapped her chin with her index finger.
“By the way, you say you have circumstances with Sister Delphine? The unfortunate fate from the Hunting Festival couldn’t possibly have turned into a fortunate encounter… Could it be that you’re the one who made Sister Delphine like this?”
After saying that, the Lady Virgin Saint let out a laugh, seemingly astonished by her own words.
“Then again, even you wouldn’t do something like that. It’s more like remnants of one-sided torture than combat. After subduing her, you engraved pain and fear into her. Quite a malicious method… but…?”
However, as my silence lengthened, the Lady Virgin Saint’s face began to harden. Until then, I was only avoiding her gaze without speaking.
Her expression immediately crumpled.
“… No way.”
A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily. I knew she wouldn’t believe me, yet I still raised my hands in surrender in hopes of possibly convincing her.
“First of all, I don’t know if you’ll believe me… but I wasn’t myself back then.”
Of course, the Lady Virgin Saint’s expression did not soften even a bit.
After staring at me for a long while with disdainful eyes, she finally said,
“… Garbage.”
With a voice filled with contempt, she turned and left.
Human relationships truly weren’t easy. I let out a sigh and moved on.
I still had many places to visit today.
It was by chance that I spotted a familiar face while walking down the street.
I was on my way to visit Emma after a long time. With the practical training impending, I wanted to check in and hear more details about the seven stars symbolizing the seven deadly sins we had discussed last time.
According to Emma, possessing the power of those seven stars could theoretically allow one to reverse time.
However, she also mentioned that until now, no one had successfully utilized their powers. Conversely, this meant that if one could harness the forces of the seven stars, reversing time wouldn’t be impossible.
This was currently the most promising possibility. Naturally, no other options even existed.
As I wandered through my thoughts concerning the future, I couldn’t help but stop dead in my tracks.
In the distance, two familiar shadows were visible.
Celin and Ceria were walking together. However, they weren’t even glancing at each other and were looking in completely opposite directions with blank expressions.
I couldn’t understand the reason behind them walking together, creating such a frosty atmosphere. Regardless of the reason, encountering two people I liked at once was a stroke of luck.
Feeling delighted, my hand instinctively reached towards the sky. I called out to the two girls.
“Celin, Ceria!”
Immediately, the two startled women turned their gazes toward me. Their faces quickly brightened with colors of joy. Without waiting for anyone to lead, Celin and Ceria approached me.
“Ian brother! We were just looking for you, and it’s perfect timing.”
“Senior Ian… I-I missed you.”
The lively voice of Celin and the shy voice of Ceria poured out simultaneously.
I was taken aback to hear that they had been looking for me, and I gazed at the two women. Celin and Ceria, proud as if flaunting it, presented me with a document.
‘Practical Training Permission,’ my eyes glazed over the title as I absorbed their bright faces.
“You’re going on a substitute training to replace finals, right? We thought you might need us, so we persuaded Professor!”
“I-I, I wanted to be of help to you, Senior Ian….”
As usual, I couldn’t help but smile at the confidence of Celin and the cute stumbling over words of Ceria. They were truly wonderful juniors. The fact that they had prepared their documents beforehand in case they were needed was commendable.
Thus, I couldn’t accept their kindness even more. My head gradually shook in refusal.
“No, it’s unnecessary.”
“… Huh?”
Now it was Celin and Ceria’s turn to look blankly. The hazel and blue eyes were both directed at me with confusion.
So, I responded with a faint smile.
“I already got a team, ahead of you.”
The complexions of the two girls slowly hardened. To ease their growing concern, I added a few words.
“Delphine decided to join me. You know, that girl. Although she isn’t the best in personality, her skills are top-notch. So it means you don’t have to join in.”
Then silence ensued.
The hazel eyes grew icy, and the deep blue ones began to lose their sparkle like sinking into a dark sea.
The atmosphere quickly heated up.
