I Stole the Heroines’ Tragedy Flags

"Ugh―!"
"…Ah, it's already time."
I looked up at the vibrating sound coming from my pocket and checked the time. Evening was already approaching.

"Was that sound just now?"
"When you're training, time flies by so quickly. That was a magic tool Ron gave me, telling me to stick to the schedule."
"…Ron?"
"My twin sibling. We always have dinner together at this time."
"..."
With that, I stood up from my seat. But for some reason, my feet wouldn't move easily today. Realizing why, I turned around with a sense of anticipation and asked him.
"Ain. Do you want to have dinner with us?"
"No."
"…Why?"

His response, swift and without hesitation, made me feel inexplicably down. As I shifted my gaze to look at him, he seemed to be thinking deeply about something with a peculiar expression.
"...I have something to do for dinner as well."
"……I see."
At his reply, I forced my lips, which were about to stick out in protest, back into place and turned away, holding back my disappointment. But I asked again, as though confirming it with him.

"You’ll come tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is it a must?"
"I said I will, didn’t I?"
Once I heard his definitive answer, I could finally leave, feeling at ease.
...

‘Ain… Ain…’
I kept muttering his name in my mind. The more I said "Ain," the more a smile spread across my lips.
‘How strange.’

I had approached and spoken to someone I had just met for the first time. Even though I needed a training partner, was I the type to ask a complete stranger to do that?
But those doubts became meaningless the moment I faced him.
Even though this was our first meeting today, for some reason, when I looked at his face, my heart raced, and when I learned his name, my emotions soared.
I could feel something entirely different from the usual.
‘...Did I fall for him at first sight?’

That thought came to mind, but I quickly shook my head.
It felt similar to such feelings, but somehow, it was different. It felt as if I had found something precious I had lost—
"Ren."
At that moment, a familiar voice broke through my thoughts. Only then did I stop walking and look at the owner of the voice.
"Hey, Ron."
"…Ha, you're late. I gave you that magic tool so you wouldn’t be late."

With a sigh, Ron closed the magic book he had been reading and stood up. He was a boy with the same gray hair as me.
He, who had always seemed playful, was now an adult. Gone was the awkwardness of his past.
"Ren, you've been so careless lately."
"It’s you who has matured too much. I liked you better when you were younger."
"Do you still think I'm a kid?"
"Yeah."
"…Tch. I can’t even smack you."
"You can hit me. It won’t hurt anyway."

The physical attack of a mage, whose fist was as soft as cotton, was meaningless. Ron, knowing this all too well, lowered the fist he had raised.
"…By the way, why are you late?"
"Sorry. I had a little duel. The usual training took longer than expected."
"A duel? With whom?"
"It was someone I met for the first time today. His name’s Ain—"
He paused.

Ron, walking alongside me, suddenly stopped. Then came the immediate question.
"Who did you say you dueled with?"
"…Huh? I said I dueled with someone named Ain."
"…"
Every time I said Ain's name, Ron furrowed his brow. I tilted my head at his reaction and asked.

"Do you know him?"
"…No."
"Then why do you look like that?"
Ron, who had entered the mage tower and had become less expressive due to fatigue, was showing a serious reaction for the first time.
I felt like I had seen him make a similar expression before, but…
‘…When was it?’

The memory in my head was fuzzy, like noise.
While I tried to recall the distant memory, Ron walked back to my side and continued walking. His expression had returned to normal.
"...I guess I mistook it. The name’s just too similar. It’s nothing."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Let’s go eat."
With his last words, Ron started walking ahead. So, Ren couldn’t see his face.

His face, which had become so cold that it could be described as chilling.
Thinking of someone Ren had just mentioned, Ron’s sharp eyes flickered.
 
***

‘...I’m tired.’
I had always been tired, but today, my body felt especially heavy.
I buried my head on the desk and gently tapped my sore back.
I suppressed the impulse to lie down immediately and listened attentively to the professor’s voice echoing in my ears.
The class was in full swing.
The class I was attending was a beginner’s magic course.
Along with weaponry classes, it was one of the most popular subjects at Ella Academy.

‘…I guess it’s just because it’s a beginner’s class. There’s nothing new to learn.’
Even so, since I had already reached a certain level as a mage, this level of class didn’t provide much value.
Like with swordsmanship, I needed to be in a more advanced class.
I spun my pen and reminded myself of my future plans.
‘I’ve already checked most of the places yesterday.’

While playing the game, there was an element called random events.
Along with the main episodes, these events took up a significant part of what happened in the game world.
As the name suggests, they were events that happened at random times and at various locations.
After my duel with Ren, I had wandered around in the evening to quickly scout several places.
I was checking the locations where events from the game had ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) occurred.
Though it was a bit rushed in such a short time, it was something that absolutely needed to be done.
Unlike the main episodes, the random events, whose timings were unclear, were quite ambiguous and dangerous.
Most importantly, too many playable characters, as well as major and supporting characters, died due to those events.
Since random events could occur simultaneously depending on the characters' conditions, they were effectively a system that determined the difficulty of the game.

‘The ones to be most careful about are the random events with the saint and the hero…’
I pulled out all the knowledge I could remember and wrote them down.
I had barely written a few, but seeing the paper filled with notes made me sigh deeply.
It made me feel once again how much this world sucked.
"Alright, that’s all for today’s class. Everyone, good job~"

As I focused on writing, the class had already ended.
I stopped my pen and got up from my seat.
I’d finish the rest after lunch—
Just as I was thinking that, it happened.
"Ain. It’s you, right?"
"…?"

I turned at the sound of my name being called.
There, a boy with gray hair, wearing a familiar expression, was looking at me.
Ron Aizel. Ren’s twin sibling and a playable character.
"Let’s talk for a minute. Follow me."
"…Why should I?"
I reflexively rejected the idea and tried to ignore him.
But after hearing what he said next, I couldn’t just let it go.

"Are you trying to run away again without saying anything?"
"…"
"…It’s about Ren. So, give me some time."
In the end, I had no choice but to agree to his request.

...
"It should be fine now."
Once we arrived at a place with almost no people, Ron stopped.
He then gathered his magic and began to cast.

—Woosh!
A single wave.
And at the same time, the atmosphere around us shifted drastically.
Even the faint noises disappeared in the silent space.
‘Space distortion magic with multicasting… He really is a monster.’

It was even cast without chanting.
At this level, he would probably reach the 7th circle soon.
Witnessing such overwhelming talent made me momentarily nostalgic.
Back to the days when I first taught him magic theory, a time when he was still immature.
The mischievous side of him from back then was completely gone, replaced with a sharp gaze, now a young aristocrat.
Since entering as a disciple of the tower master, he had matured noticeably, and his impression had changed a lot.
"You can speak freely now. There’s no way anything we talk about here will leak outside."
"…Is that so."
"…"
"…"

An awkward silence hung in the air.
Now that we were facing each other like this, I found it hard to say anything first.
‘It’s still a bit uncomfortable.’
My relationship with Ron felt different from that of other playable characters.
The main reason was that my plans had gone awry in the past.
His arch-enemy was still alive, even now.

"Ain. Do you remember what I last told you three years ago?"
Breaking the silence, Ron spoke first.
At his question, I easily recalled the memory from the past.
"…’Next time we meet, make sure to ask for my help?’"
"You remember well."

Leaning against a tree, Ron continued his story.
"I knew you were intentionally making Ren hate you."
"…"
"I also know about the things you did at the cathedral. The events from three years ago."

I quietly listened to Ron’s words.
From his slightly trembling voice, I could sense emotions that were hard to describe.
"So, is this the result of living while being hated?"
"…"
"You’re the one who’s been hurt, and in the end, Ren began to lose his memories."

The surrounding magic fluctuated.
Like an expression of his feelings, a strong wind began to blow.
"You took everything onto yourself, but I, even though I’m family, couldn’t do anything for Ren."
So—

Ron detached his back from the tree and, bowing his head toward me, made his request.
"…Please, let me help this time. I beg you."