MTLNOVEL Chapter 106
✦ Chapter 106 ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝
“You’re here?”
“Were you waiting long? I hope not.”
“…No, I just arrived… hehe…”
I followed the spirit’s signal and headed straight to the clearing in the mountains. Selene, who was sitting on a stump waiting for me, jumped up and waved. Her green hair fluttered pleasantly in the afternoon breeze.
“Come to think of it, this is our first time meeting here at this hour. It feels a bit strange…”
When she heard my words, Selene put on a slightly hurt expression.
“…Does Edwin feel awkward? I’m just happy… I can see you better too…”
“…I didn’t mean to say that. I like it too. Is it because it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other?”
“…My name…”
“Hm?”
“The name you gave me… can’t you call me just once…? I haven’t heard it in so long…”
“…Selene?”
“…Yeah. Hehe. It feels so good to hear it after so long…”
She whispered earnestly, as if making a momentous request. And as soon as I called her name, a refreshing smile spread across Selene’s face.
“You really like everything…did you have a good vacation?”
“…Not really…”
I threw the words out casually to continue the conversation, but it backfired. Selene’s expression changed in an instant like a switch, suddenly looking as pitiful as a drenched puppy.
“I really had a hard time…what was I supposed to do when I suddenly faced something like that…”
She began recounting her encounter with a corrupted spirit. The letter had only briefly mentioned it, but hearing it directly revealed the true extent of the ordeal. Selene’s story was mostly invested in describing the brutality of her own situation, and I soon found myself a silent spectator listening to her words.
“…So I was cornered, and something I used to practice with you all the time suddenly came to mind…? So I used that…”
After a while, Selene finished her tale of bravery with a relieved expression. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she glanced at me lightly, glaring.
“…I wanted to be the first one to brag to you…and I wanted to be praised too…but you didn’t even reply to my letter…I waited until dawn every night and fell asleep out of exhaustion…”
Her words left me speechless. I never thought she would have waited that long that earnestly…
“…And who was that girl earlier, acting all friendly? It’s because of her that I fought with Eugene last time…”
Selene continued talking, and her resentment reached its peak when she brought up Cecila. From what she said, it seemed that she held quite a grudge against Cecila for putting her in that situation.
I wondered if that’s why she was glaring at Cecila earlier.
“Well, you see…”
Thinking about it, I had only replied to Selene saying I had my reasons, without going into the details. At the time, I didn’t think it was necessary to write it in a letter, but it seems that if I don’t explain everything to her now, her resentment won’t be easily resolved.
I first calmed her down and then calmly explained what had happened in the meantime. The attack on the mansion, the appearance of the Inquisitors and Cecila, the appearance of the Necromancer, and the final fight.
“So that’s when my shoulder was pierced by dark magic…”
“What…? Oh no…!”
As I continued, her face grew increasingly distraught. And it reached its peak when I mentioned the shoulder injury.
“Are you really okay now…? What should I do…”
“It’s all healed now, so you don’t need to worry so much…”
I then continued to tell her the rest of the story without leaving anything out. Since I had no knowledge of what happened after I collapsed, I relayed what Cecila had told me.
When Selene heard that the necromancer had been eliminated, she let out a sigh of relief. And then, slumping her shoulders, she couldn’t look at me properly. All the vigor she had shown earlier was gone.
“…I’m glad it all worked out… And here I was, not knowing any of this…”
“It’s okay. You couldn’t have known if I didn’t tell you… It’s natural to feel upset too…”
“…I’m really sorry… What I went through was nothing compared to this…”
“What are you talking about? What you did was much more impressive. In the first place, no one but a fellow spirit mage can deal with a corrupted spirit.”
“But still…”
“I mean it. So let’s just say we both suffered. Then it’s okay, right?”
“…Okay…”
Her expression had eased somewhat, but she still seemed to have something she wanted to say to me. After waiting for a moment, Selene, who had been glancing at me repeatedly, cautiously spoke again, “…Did I really do a good job…?”
“Of course you did…”
“If I did a good job, can you just grant me one request…? As a sort of… praise…”
“What is it?”
“Um… my head…”
“Your head?”
“…Could you pat my head just once…?”
“Huh? I mean, I can, but… is that really your request…?”
When I asked her back in disbelief, she bowed her head deeply and murmured softly in a voice like an ant’s.
“Yes… I’d really like that…”
“…Alright.”
I got up and approached her. As I stood in front of her, she flinched and bowed her head even deeper. I reached out and placed my hand on her head, feeling the texture of her rough hair.
“………….”
I wondered if this was right, but it wasn’t easy to refuse her when she looked so earnest. I held back my wavering heart and began to stroke her head back and forth with my palm.
“Haa… huu…”
A strange moan escaped Selene’s lips. Her skin, already pale, had been flushed red up to her earlobes for a long time. If she was going to be this embarrassed, why on earth did she make such a request?
“Ah…”
When I took my hand away, a small sigh of disappointment escaped her lips. As if she regretted it ending. But she quickly composed herself and looked up at me with a faint smile.
“Hehe… that felt really nice… thank you…”
“It’s nothing… don’t mention it… But how did the rumor about you being a spirit mage start? Normal people can’t see spirits, right?”
“When the corrupted spirit vanished, there was this burst of light… Someone must have seen that and misunderstood… I was so surprised when I heard the rumors…”
“I see. Anyway, that’s how I became friends with Cecila too. She’s already apologized for what happened before. So you don’t need to dislike her so much.”
“…It wasn’t because of that…but come to think of it, that’s a bit annoying too…”
She mumbled something to herself with a strange expression. And then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she looked at me and asked.
“Hey… can I ask you one more thing…?”
“What is it?”
“Um… who are you closest to among the three of us…? Me… Ellie… or Cecila…?”
Her question made me feel like the air had been knocked out of me. The way she fidgeted with her fingers and bowed her head suggested she had agonized over asking this.
It was usually an inappropriate question, but I could understand her position. Her emotions still seemed volatile, and she had already experienced drifting apart from a childhood friend because of a new one. So I could somewhat understand her anxiety.
If we’re truly close friends, it shouldn’t be possible to measure the degree of closeness. And I believe that’s the case between me and the three of them. But that probably wasn’t the answer she was looking for.
In these kinds of situations, the person asking the question usually has an answer they want to hear. So my job was simply to meet that expectation.
“Of course I’m closest to you…”
Hearing my answer, Selene straightened up like a rabbit. She looked at me with an expression full of joy.
“…Really…? You’re not just saying that for my sake…?”
“It’s not like that. Have I ever lied to you?”
“…No… Hehe… Really…? …Hee…”
She stood up and started bouncing on the spot. Suddenly, spirits summoned by Selene appeared, decorating the air around us. The number of spirits had more than doubled since I last checked.
On her second finger, I noticed a ring with a green emerald embedded in it.
“Selene. Is that the ring you mentioned?”
“Huh? Yeah… When I wear this, the number of spirits increases a lot… How is it…? Does it suit me…?”
She carefully raised her hand to show me. The light green color, matching her hair perfectly, sparkled in the sunlight. It felt like a ring made just for her.
“…I’ve saved the other fingers…”
Selene said something incomprehensible, then suddenly started fanning her face with her hand.
* * * * *
“………..”
Wasn’t everything resolved yesterday? In the Class-C classroom, I felt a heavy gaze from my left. It was coming from Selene’s seat, though it wasn’t directed at me. Instead, it was fixed on the girl with gray hair.
Cecila had naturally taken the seat beside me, but few paid her any attention. As a foreigner, she enjoyed a certain degree of freedom in that regard.
Only two people in this classroom seemed to care about her position — Fiore, Cecila’s friend, who was nearly foaming at the mouth with frustration, and Selene, the source of that intense gaze.
The students’ main topic of conversation was still the hero and the holy sword. And today’s first lesson, combat practice, was perfect for unleashing that excitement. Cadric, the combat instructor for the first years, entered the classroom and tapped the podium.
“Tsk tsk, you silly lot. You think the holy sword will choose you just because you talk about it? If you truly want to walk that path, you should prove yourself with actual skill.”
Cadric clicked his tongue and pulled out a small bundle of papers from his chest. He flung them towards the air, and each paper flew to a seated student.
“For the first duel of the second semester, let’s do random matchups. Check your opponent carefully, prepare, and then gather at the dueling grounds.”
I unfolded the halved paper and infused it with mana. Black letters slowly began to engrave themselves on the blank paper. When all the letters appeared, I could only stare at the paper with a dumbfounded expression.
Edwin Reed
Eugene
— End of Chapter —
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